NCT and bodywork damage

Merch

Hi all,
I am just looking for some advice on a car passing the NCT with some slight body work damage.
My other half scrapped the side of her car on a pillar in a car park.
The car isnt new but it runs great, its a small 2 door hatch.

She too a left turn into a space too short and scratched the passenger door (I'm not concerned about that) but also she put a slight dent just beyond the passenger door within a centimetre or so of where the panel meets the door, its about a cm or so deep and about 8cm long and 8cm high but the paint isnt damaged like on the door as the trim took the scratch and pressed the panel in. It doesnt look terrible, but it doesnt look to good either.

Is this a fail item in the NCT?

The car isn't worth getting professionally done, so I want to repair the paint work, mostly to keep the door from rusting and looking bad,
I dont want it to look like I'm covering something worse when it comes to the dent though.

Any opinions?

colm_mcm

they'll fail it if they think it's a danger to pedestrians, particularly if there are jagged edges etc. From what you say it doesn't sound like they'd fail you.

Merch

No jagged edges, just that the dent is so close to the door pillar, had me wondering.

The damage on the door is mostly cosmetic with a few scrapes and gouges.
I just dont want it to look like something worser has been covered as I've never tested my bodywork repair skills,

Was concerned that if they failed it and if I then repaired it, they might notice it still and say its a fail.
Mostly I want to do the door cheaply to keep it rust free for the next 2 years+/stop it deteriorating with rust.
It's a great runner, 12 years old, I hate to see it not pass and it's not even my car

Cant get a bloody test on the website for months now anyway, maybe another centre

Merch

Worse not worser bad at typing, not spelling

colm_mcm

if the scrape has gone through the metal you can put a rust inhibitor on it.

Merch

I might get some rust inhibitor like you say,
I was just going to sand it down, get the rust out, wipe it down with some kind of degreaser and put a body filler on it

and obviously sand that, prime and paint afterwards, I wasn't going to do the rust inhibitor (Ithought if I sanded it all out I would be ok) but I think I may as well if I'm going the full hog.

Its an old car so while I would try match it good I wont be worried about it matching perfectly, hmm might take some pictures as I do it see how it progresses

colm_mcm

it may well look worse afterwards though.

Merch

Ha ha I wont mind if it protects the body work
It will be a good small project, I'd like to see how it turns out, I just wondered did I need to rush do it before the NCT if it will pass anyway

I'm a bit of a perfectionist but I wont be doing on a father ted on it I hope

challengemaster

If the car goes through the NCT and ONLY fails on bodywork damage, a retest will be free as it doesn't need to use any of the test equipment, only a quick visual inspection once fixed

Merch

Thats good, def do the test first then
I never used to like this type of car but its grown on me as a great runner
(even if little small inside though) and its not even mine

johndaman66

I reckon that an amateur job done at home on the car may well in all probability end up making it look worse than it already is. Not trying to be smart when I say that so please don't take it as such and am always for doing a job yourself to save a few quid as long as you can do it with a decent enough end result. I attacked patching up my back bumper once after I accidently reversed into a gate but ended up with a terrible looking job and took it to a bodyshop in the end anyway.

As far as I know and as I think which was previously pointed out sharp edges may be what will fail you for bodywork damage on such an area of the car body. Regarding rust if they are able to shove a screwdriver through it with little effort then that would be a fail as far as I know. Bodywork is the one area they are able to apply a wee bit of their own disgression or at least such used to be the case so it may well end being depending on the individual who tests your car...I obviously say that without seing the damage or being an absolute expert for that matter.

Merch

Nah no worries no offence taken, its in reasonable condition but I just dont think its worth getting done without giving it a bash (no pun intended) myself, got a quote for it and it was €450, the car is hardly worth two or three times that

Part of the scratch on the door has only started to rust on the surface so there will be no chance of pushing a hole in it,but the paint on the dent in the panel behind the door (rear quarter) hasn't even lifted.

It may look obvious its done, but I am hoping it will protect it a bit and not look more obvious than the current scratch/damage.

I'm a bit more confident it will pass but just in case it failed for something else I wouldnt want to have put the guts of €500 into it