Failed NCT!:(

rachieqtpie

Hi, i have just come back from the NCT centre and my car has failed for the 3rd time.

The first time being in March a got a friend of a friend to do a full service and pre-NCT check for me they said it would pass, it failed and brought it back to them to fix what the faults were. It failed the second time on the same faults as the first kus the mechanic fixed the wrong thing.

Due to the backlog today was the first date i could get since then. I decided to bring it to a garage today, got charged €250 for a service and NCT check but it failed on what the first mechanic had fixed wrongly the last time. Can i bring it back to the garage and expect them to fix this free of charge seen as he said it would definitly pass this time. I just don't have the money to kepp handing out and not getting a cert at the end of it??

Thanks

PauloMN

What's it failing on?

A service is just that, a service, and does not guarantee that a car will pass the NCT. A garage may check headlight alignment (if they have the equipment), steering, brakes, emmissions etc.. or they may not. Most garages won't have the equipment used by the NCT centres for checking suspension and measuring brake performance.

rachieqtpie

PauloMN wrote: »

What's it failing on?

A service is just that, a service, and does not guarantee that a car will pass the NCT. A garage may check headlight alignment (if they have the equipment), steering, brakes, emmissions etc.. or they may not. Most garages won't have the equipment used by the NCT centres for checking suspension and measuring brake performance.

it failed the first two times on the flexible brake pipes? the garage today fixed that for me. Today it failed on the parking brake by 1%?

mickdw

Ye details please. If the garages are making silly mistakes were I would get annoyed with them but if for example its failing on emissions, it might not be so straight forward to fix it first time without specialist knowledge/equipment

Edit:
Ya that pretty crap. How could the first guy not replace the flexible brake hoses properly. Saying that you still need to sort out the rear brake balance or force (which ever one the 1% refers to)
Why did you pay for a service again? The brake lines would be F. All fitted.

rachieqtpie

Also the garage advertisies that it does a pre-NCT check, surely this means they would have the equipment necessary?

DannyBuoy

rachieqtpie wrote: »

Also the garage advertisies that it does a pre-NCT check, surely this means they would have the equipment necessary?

Because all advertising is correct..?

Lots of places advertise pre nct check, but they may not have the equipment or the knowledge, its what a garage thinks it should look at before a test. I've seen cars that had loads of stuff done that has nothing to do with the nct, and conversly I've seen cars fail because the garage didn't do something that was required for the test.
In your case it seems you were caught by a succession of failures on the part of the mechanics that were working for you. I think you have a case for some 'assertive' comments to the people working on it.
And some advice, anything that requires work to the brakes or steering, please make sure you're dealing with people who know what they're doing, for your own safety and other road users.
Sorry for rant, lost a good friend years ago to some faulty workmanship on a car.

bazz26

rachieqtpie wrote: »

Also the garage advertisies that it does a pre-NCT check, surely this means they would have the equipment necessary?

There is no such thing imo. Garages do not have the same testing equipment that the NCT centre use afaik. All they can offer is to go through a check list of most probable failures on your car.

galwaytt

..one in Oranmore has ALL the NCT machinery for checking, including shocks, floor brake dyno etc.

maidhc

1995 Mondeo diesel, 230k miles, passed first time around today.

Cost to get through NCT: €0

Can I feel smug?

biko

Unfortunately a pre-NCT service does not mean it'll pass or money back, at least I never heard any promise like that.

Advanced has a free service but it's part of their master plan to get you into their shop and have them fix everything wrong with it...

pred racer

maidhc wrote: »

1995 Mondeo diesel, 230k miles, passed first time around today.

Cost to get through NCT: €0

Can I feel smug?

yes:D

I also think you should copy it and post in all nct threads;)