Passed the NCT this morning! + quick review of the experience :P

Vorophobe

Hey all! This is the first time I've put a car through the NCT so I thought I'd post my experience with it (common questions etc). I drive a '96 VW Golf, nothing fancy but it's a solid car ^-^

How long are the wait times down to now?
1 week (for Ballymun 2 centre anyway) When I booked in June the wait times were 5 months O_o ... they had problems due to some 'new law' that was causing backlogs. Anway I missed my retest and needed to book a whole new test this month.. and it took 7 days to get me in. Fabbo

I know my test date, but I don't have any documents... will they allow my car to be tested on the day?
YES! (from what I found). I rocked up with just my laser card and she was happy to just confirm my details via the computer and have me pay. I didn't need no NCT booking letter, no car reg book/cert/licensing cert... just payment :P

What are the NCT testers like?
Really nice guys I found! Very polite and professional. They're from all over, German/Irish/South African

How long does the whole the test take?
After you speak to the receptionist, you should be getting the results in about 30mins

That's it! Big thanks to a random guy at the centre for helping me out with a brake bulb problem after he overheard that I could possibly be failing because of it. We changed it in the parking lot and the tester was happy and passed my car. Don't know if you read boards.ie... but cheers mate you're awesome XD

Muckie

Glad you passed, always nice getting the NCT cert first time.
Bein thru the test quite a few times with different cars, have
found the service to be getting better.

kona

Ballymun is excellent. Very nice guys up there, couldnt have been anymore helpful.

ToxicPaddy

Yeah I did mine 2 months back, booked in May but it took 5 months to get in the door.. same as yourself, very quick and efficient. I went in on a Sunday morning.

Guy at the desk was sound, in good form too cracking jokes and chatty.

In and out in 20 mins , the guy told me the car had no issues but I would need 2 new front tyres in about 1-2 thousand miles as they are coming near their sell by date but I had new tyres lined up anyway..

All in all a pleasant experience especially all I had to do was wash the car to pass

Tox

bookerboy

I'm back for a retest tonight at 10pm so they must be working late to get the times down.Only asked for a retest four days ago ,so they are working on getting waiting times down.

L-M

I had my own car in for the NCT last week and it failed on emission. They were all out by a good bit, through in an 8 euro bottle of STP Pre NCT and had the retest four days later. They were all well well under, couldn't believe the difference it made to them...

Mind you, that was after a four month wait.

zilog_jones

Limerick man: Was your engine cold when it failed on emissions? Temperature can make a big difference.

L-M

zilog_jones wrote: »

Limerick man: Was your engine cold when it failed on emissions? Temperature can make a big difference.

Lol, I'd be in and out the dual carrage way a few times beforehand the first time ... Although it was sitting for 20 odd mins before it went it. I hadn't left it idle at all though.

Yakult

Have my nct monday, do they look for the logbook?

L-M

R_H_C_P wrote: »

Have my nct monday, do they look for the logbook?

It's on the list, but no, they don't. Bring it just incase.

snowman707

R_H_C_P wrote: »

Have my nct monday, do they look for the logbook?

all they look for is €50

bookerboy

Just passed the emissions this evening.Its a diesel engine.I put €5 petrol into it yesterday and drove the last couple of miles to the test centre in second gear to clear all the crap.
Passed no prob.

sk8board

not sure if this is a stupid question, but do I need a working speedo to pass the NCT? (i.e. would it be noticed??)

my 10 yo car is due an nct in Jan, and the speedo stopped working last week; crappy timing.

kippy

sk8board wrote: »

not sure if this is a stupid question, but do I need a working speedo to pass the NCT? (i.e. would it be noticed??)

my 10 yo car is due an nct in Jan, and the speedo stopped working last week; crappy timing.

Id say its a fairly importent aspect of what they check for to be honest.
Not sure, but logicilly I would think its checked....(during the brake/handbrake test)

argosy2006

bookerboy wrote: »

Just passed the emissions this evening.Its a diesel engine.I put €5 petrol into it yesterday and drove the last couple of miles to the test centre in second gear to clear all the crap.
Passed no prob.

a 2 litre can of new vegetable oil to 40 of diesel does the same trick

kippy

argosy2006 wrote: »

a 2 litre can of new vegetable oil to 40 of diesel does the same trick

Do these tricks REALLY work?
I have a 00 focus, 1.8 Tdi. Due for test in March, last time the mechanic said it barely passed the emissions test so I assume after two years it'll have gotten slightly worse.

zilog_jones

sk8board wrote: »

not sure if this is a stupid question, but do I need a working speedo to pass the NCT? (i.e. would it be noticed??)

It's part of the test, whether it will be noticed is another thing.

Reasons for failure:

Speedometer

• Missing or not working.
  
• Cannot be seen from driver’s seat.

Lighting of Speedometer

• Not working.

sk8board

what if my speedo is currently my Sat Nav, which won't work when standing still on the rolling road?! Is that clutching at straws just a wee bit. I have a feeling the problem is with wiring and not the ECU, so could be expensive versus the value of the car if I'm trading it in

Esel

If they notice your speedo not working, you definitely won't get away with claiming your satnav is the replacement! Made me laugh, though.

zilog_jones

sk8board wrote: »

what if my speedo is currently my Sat Nav, which won't work when standing still on the rolling road?! Is that clutching at straws just a wee bit. I have a feeling the problem is with wiring and not the ECU, so could be expensive versus the value of the car if I'm trading it in

Is it even an electronic speedometer? It could just be cable operated, which wouldn't be too complicated to sort out. If you yell us what car it is someone may know...

sk8board

zilog_jones wrote: »

Is it even an electronic speedometer? It could just be cable operated, which wouldn't be too complicated to sort out. If you yell us what car it is someone may know...

this morning I checked it in with a local fella to put it on diagnostics early next week. Lets see what that turns up.

Its a '00 megane; the speedo works off the ABS, so if it was wiring failure between the ECU and the dashboard it would be usually accompanied by various other warning lights too and ECU failure is accompanied by the ABS light, neither of which I have, its just a dead speedo, so it needs a little more thought.

googled it last week and its a common problem with '00 scenic's, meganes etc.

other than the speedo, the car is in pmo.