NCT - nearly half of the 1.5 million vehicles that did the test last year failed

this is a tricky one, theres probably many reasons for the failure rate, many probably simply cant afford to move onto another younger vehicle, as is the case with myself, which means im forced to keep an aging car going, and typically its becoming harder and harder, as its at the end of its life, yet ive virtually no other options, so.....

then of course theres the elephant in the room, the way the whole system is structured means, maintaining an elevated failure rate actually benefits the owners of nct itself, ive had someone in the trade claim recently, it should be publicly operated, to reduce this exposure, shur who knows....

Are there any stats for the NCT equivalent in the north? It would be interesting to see if there are any differences.

I've had family members return from NCT for simple fail reasons - lights out, worn tyres, bad alignment, or worn brakes. It's not rocket science to check these prior to test but as mentioned above - a lot of people either don't care or use the NCT as list of problems for the garage to fix.

Personally had mine in at the start of december, passed without issue (https://i.imgur.com/XSKl1Hr.jpg). Had 4 new tyres fitted, alignment done, and checked brakes + lights the week prior to NCT. Hence the result. Still going to sort out the brakes all-round though in a few months as it's got the original 2015 rotors and rear drums.

I think it would be a terrible idea to scrap the NCT - it forces people to drive cars that are safe to a reasonable level. There's still far too many cars on the road with blown lights, worn tyres, and half falling apart as it is.

I don't know about resentment but there is a fair bit of "Send it in as it is, get the list of things to fix, get them fixed, pass" which is going to have a major impact on the initial failure rates.

This way of doing things makes a lot of sense (unless of course there's a fairly obvious issue with the car that needs to be sorted asap) and I can see that it makes a lot of sense to do things this way.

Scrapping the NCT would be a serious issue and I don't think we can - it was probably brought in back in the day as some sort of EU directive no doubt and it's a relatively cheap way to keep your car monitored and as such roadworthy.

again, some people simply dont have time or money to keep up with all of that....

some people truly dont have 100+ quid to fix stuff, hence why theyre driving around in death traps, failed tests, false tests etc etc

...so does pointing the finger at customers actually do much for issues such as lengthening waiting times etc?

The more vehicles that have to go back for a second test (except visual inspection) utilising test machinery is surely impacting on the waiting times where centres are at or near capacity. Take some or the retests out of the equation and automatically there are more slots available, thus shorter wait times for all.

I think almost everyone at this stage uses the NCT as a shopping list to see what needs done. Just get the basic service if it passes.

Its a licence to print money for the operators, private garages should be allowed tender for the business.

Is this failure rate out of sync with previous years? I didn't do a pre test inspection other than tyres and bulbs and it failed on headlight alignment. Garage told me the alignment measurement changed in the last year and loads of cars failing on it. The new standard for me (and him) makes the lights point down too low in my opinion. He told me on his and his wifes cars he aligns to pass the test and then re aligns them to the old standard. Makes a huge difference. Wonder if it has any impact on the increased fatalities last year?

RSA levy NCT

see page 82 of https://www.rsa.ie/docs/default-source/about/rsa-annual-report-and-accounts-2021.pdf?sfvrsn=915de985_7

Should they be receiving so much?

I consider their Advertisements offensive and depressing and have zero effect on those who live chaotic lives resulting in accidents.

I also feel they take credit for reducing injuries when road improvements and improvements in active and passive safety of vehicles are really what is helping most.

It has been suggested that the new Asian testers are testing with much gusto but I only have anecdotal evidence to support this.

That doesn't mean there is nothing wrong with your car though.

The next is a basic check of certain basic safety items, it's not a comprehensive test of the entire car.

Hmmm, how come there werent 1.5 million deadly crashes last year so?

I don't know anyone who called or went onto the priority list online who didn't get an NCT before their current NCT expired. If you are waiting months for an appointment it's because you want to.

We had private garages doing the DoE on commercial vehicles and it was such a corrupt sh1t show that the UK had to embarrass us into reforming it, nearly every Irish truck failed their roadside inspections even with a fresh DoE. The UK MOT is also riddled with corruption and extortion, Northern Ireland followed our system instead of the rest of the UK for their car checks.

There is some corruption in our system but with private garages doing the test it would be way worse.

Garages practically encourage people to just throw the car in NCT and then come back with a list of stuff to repair rather than look at the car twice. The stat isn't at all surprising.

Besides bulbs, tyres and levels there isnt a whole lot else that a lay person is going to be qualified to maintain anyway, certainly not the out of sight innards. Many drivers aren't mechanically minded and dont really have a clue about their cars and what makes them go.

That article is from 2006, I think if it was actually an issue we'd have heard about it by now🙄

Exactly, I completely forgot the NCT was due on my Golf after getting it serviced in September, managed to get a slot 3 weeks later. Can't remember what it is exactly but they've changed their booking now so something like 1/3 of their slots are online only for 2-3 week availability so you can definitely get a slot. And this is Dublin Fonthill which is busy. In the pre-Covid/lift issues I had to go somewhere in Kildare.

#tinfoil hat #thetruthisoutthere

The NCT was set up under an EU directive that required the tests take place in a state owned facility. Lots of other EU countries have the same set up.

Any business can tender to run the testing service when it up for renewal. We will never have an MOT style testing regime.

A licence to print money is something like the M50 toll bridge or the mobile phone licences. Upfront cost but endless profits thereafter. The NCT and other State contacts are not like that.

While Applus make a good profit, they have to invest in their business to run it, hire staff and train them an all that entails. After 5 years the RSA can just give that business to someone else. They take the risks and face fines for under-performance etc. The State shifts huge risks to the private sector by doing it this way.

It's true but if the tester can't find it the onus is on the owner to find it or fail the car safety test

Some new models have it behind the plastic door frame cover and testers are reluctant to take that off in case it breaks

The average age of the Irish fleet is now 9 years, up from 5.8 in 2007.

With the removal of the UK market as a source of newer used vehicles, the average age is only going to increase, and failure rates will rise.