No license plate malarky this time

unkel

Passed the NCT tonight, so I'm well chuffed

colm_mcm

Well done! Sitting in the viewing area watching them do the test is almost like watching a loved one undergoing a serious operation!

Steve

Well done, always a reason to be chuffed.. especially if you've had to do some work on the car and are unsure about whether it was good enough..

Seth Brundle

congrats
did you have the new plates on it or did you try it with the old dangerous ones?

Anan1

kbannon wrote:

congrats
did you have the new plates on it or did you try it with the old dangerous ones?

Dangerous plates? My imagination is having a field day here!

Seth Brundle

well it was! You could hardly read the Baile Átha Cliath!

Steve

kbannon wrote:

did you try it with the old dangerous ones?

nearly lost an arm to one of those..

unkel

Cheers dudes

kbannon wrote:

well it was! You could hardly read the Baile Átha Cliath!

Indeed. To explain for all those that weren't around 2 years ago: Cliath looked a little bit more like Oliath on my rear license plate. Hence the NCT failure the last time 'round. Ah well, I can laugh about it now

stevec wrote:

especially if you've had to do some work on the car and are unsure about whether it was good enough..

Indeed, stevec. My car is an 11 year old BMW 735 with 137k miles on the clock. I've owned the car for nearly 4 years now and the only thing gone wrong until recently was a window regulator. I've spent serious money - about a grand this week to get the suspension sorted, so I was nervous alright

unkel

Another thing. It took more than 40 minutes for my car to progress from entering the NCT station to exiting it. It took 40 minutes the previous time too. I've personally NCT'd 5 cars this year and all other cars typically took about 20 minutes if even that

Am I paranoid, or are NCT testers paying closer attention to big / old / heavy / expensive cars?

Wishbone Ash

unkel wrote:

Am I paranoid, or are NCT testers paying closer attention to big / old / heavy / expensive cars?

.......more attention to big / old / heavy customers!

Esel

unkel wrote:

Am I paranoid, or are NCT testers paying closer attention to big / old / heavy / expensive cars?

Nah, just takes longer to check the interior for valuables!

nialler

unkel wrote:

Cheers dudes
I've spent serious money - about a grand this week to get the suspension sorted, so I was nervous alright

You and me both. Two weeks ago it was after failing NCT:

Seat Sensor
Ball Joint (2) on Drivers Side
Airmatic Compressor

All came in at a massive €1400 incl labour. pissed off to say the least, but well done anyway.

oleras

unkel wrote:

Am I paranoid, or are NCT testers paying closer attention to big / old / heavy / expensive cars?

11 year old 735....

big, yes.
old, yes.
heavy.yes.
expensive. ? ? ?

MercMad

I have also noticed them paying more attention to larger cars. last time I went in with the C-Class, which was perfect mechanically, it was only there for 20 minutes but there was a 2002 E320 in the near lane. They really went through it, even called another few guys over and they all looked and poked and swung out of the suspension.

Now I know for a fact that the front suspension gets clunky on these so maybe they have experienced certain issues with certain cars, rear arms on E39's, front track rods on W203/209/211's, and are more thorough, no bad thing IMO, but it IS nerve racking !

Cyrus

oleras wrote:

11 year old 735....

big, yes.
old, yes.
heavy.yes.
expensive. ? ? ?

when new, yes and to have repaired yes!

hence some people dont take proper care of them

unkel

Wishbone Ash wrote:

.......more attention to big / old / heavy customers!

LOL

The tester said the car was "perfect" and when I showed him my relief and told him I spent a lot of money on it, he said "yes, I saw that"

Sure we can talk about the whole NCT system and its rights and wrongs. Some people would call me a fool for letting the NCT touch my car. Fair enough. Some people say the Gardai do not check NCT certs because their union says they shouldn't until their salary is upped even further to take account of NCT checking skills. Fair enough. Some people even say that the very insurance companies themselves do not check the NCT status of a vehicle involved in a claim :eek:

peasant

As for paying attention...

How about the whole NCT centre coming to a standstill and every single body in a NCTS uniform climbing over, under and inside your vehhicle, having a good nosey around?

Happened when I put mine through ...:D

As a form of compensation I got allowed have a poke myself while it was up on the ramps ...

Esel

peasant wrote:

As for paying attention...

How about the whole NCT centre coming to a standstill and every single body in a NCTS uniform climbing over, under and inside your vehhicle, having a good nosey around?

Happened when I put mine through ...:D

As a form of compensation I got allowed have a poke myself while it was up on the ramps ...

Customs do this kind of thing too, but not because they think your vehicle is cool..... :eek:

Curran

MercMad wrote:

Now I know for a fact that the front suspension gets clunky on these so maybe they have experienced certain issues with certain cars, rear arms on E39's, front track rods on W203/209/211's, and are more thorough, no bad thing IMO, but it IS nerve racking !

My E39 was in 2 weeks ago and it took a fair amount of time to test it - and the guy was having a very very good look under mine and even called another guy over to have a look also - anyways, the car failed for a bald tyre on the inside of the drivers side and the tyre has near full depth on the rest of the tyre.
Reason being a problem witht the suspension - never said anything about it - just said it needs a new tyre
Thought it very strange, considering the very very unusal tyre wear that he didnt try to find problem.
Anyways - glad he didnt fail it for the suspension, cos i was broke at the time - i know about it now and will be getting it sorted in a few weeks before the new tyre gets ruined like the previous one :rolleyes: