Expired NCT, caught at checkpoint

djdunny

hey guys, just looking for a bit of insight here. was stopped at a checkpoint yesterday. my nct is expired since october 09. i have put it through the test but failed for rear bushings. im the mean time i have been trying to find a reasonable mechanic and getting a test date to suit.

anyway the guard gave me till the 30th of april to get the nct done and present the cert to my local station. but the dilemma is i've decided to change my car and had already been given a trade in price on my car. when i told the guard that i was possibly changing that car in the next 2 weeks he informed me that he would send me a summons if i traded the car in as it "would be taking the easy way out"

just want to get people opinions on what i should do. take the chance and hope he forgets about it and argue my case "if" it does come up or do what the nice man tells me and get the nct done and report as instructed.

ps the dealer told me that i was getting the same price trade in for the car regardless of having the nct or not.

djk1000

You don't have a case to argue, you broke the law and got caught. The garda gave you a way out of a fine of up to €1500 and up to 5 penalty points, take it! Get the NCT (which should help the trade in value a bit) and save yourself the headache.

Juwwi

djdunny wrote: »

hey guys, just looking for a bit of insight here. was stopped at a checkpoint yesterday. my nct is expired since october 09. i have put it through the test but failed for rear bushings. im the mean time i have been trying to find a reasonable mechanic and getting a test date to suit.

anyway the guard gave me till the 30th of april to get the nct done and present the cert to my local station. but the dilemma is i've decided to change my car and had already been given a trade in price on my car. when i told the guard that i was possibly changing that car in the next 2 weeks he informed me that he would send me a summons if i traded the car in as it "would be taking the easy way out"

just want to get people opinions on what i should do. take the chance and hope he forgets about it and argue my case "if" it does come up or do what the nice man tells me and get the nct done and report as instructed.

ps the dealer told me that i was getting the same price trade in for the car regardless of having the nct or not.

what case have u got to argue?

try telling the judge u have been trying for over 4 months to find a resonable mechanic and get a nct time that suits u and u wont get very far.

PCPhoto

djdunny wrote: »

hey guys, just looking for a bit of insight here. was stopped at a checkpoint yesterday. my nct is expired since october 09. i have put it through the test but failed for rear bushings. im the mean time i have been trying to find a reasonable mechanic and getting a test date to suit.

anyway the guard gave me till the 30th of april to get the nct done and present the cert to my local station. but the dilemma is i've decided to change my car and had already been given a trade in price on my car. when i told the guard that i was possibly changing that car in the next 2 weeks he informed me that he would send me a summons if i traded the car in as it "would be taking the easy way out"

just want to get people opinions on what i should do. take the chance and hope he forgets about it and argue my case "if" it does come up or do what the nice man tells me and get the nct done and report as instructed.

ps the dealer told me that i was getting the same price trade in for the car regardless of having the nct or not.

Am I correct in reading that the garda told you that you will get a summons if you trade in the car (as its some kind of loophole maybe) ..... does that mean he wouldnt have summonsed you if you keep the car ? (smells of a garda trying to influence you)

you are perfectly within your right to change your car whenever you want (my understanding of the law) as long as you can afford to.

if you receive a court summons then you must explain to the judge why you were driving around without an NCT cert .... of course theres no reason why you wouldnt tell the judge exactly as you've told us - couldnt find a mechanic cheap enough/fast enough and let the judge decide if he believes you or not.

CamperMan

face it, you broke the law and got caught

corktina

its one thing the NCT being expired but the car OK and quite another it having failed and you still driving it 4 months later...its a SAFETY check...

biko

Oct 09? That's almost 6 months, I'd say you got lucky he didn't fine you.
Book NCT tomorrow and take whatever slot they give you. Get any mechanic to do bushing or do them yourself. Stop messing about

djdunny

CamperMan wrote: »

face it, you broke the law and got caught

wow thats stating the obvious. im aware i broke the law. ive been talking to numerous other people, 2 of which work within the legal system and both had the attitude of "leave it off n chance it"

and yes i am aware of the consiquences of if it does go to court.

i mainly just want to know has anyone else on here ever been in a similar experience as myself.

brembo26

Could you not just put it through the test again without fixing it and then show the gaurd the "failure" cert and then trade the car? Cant really do anything to ya if you showed him paperwork and don't have the car in question anymore.

And yes this happened to me before, twice :P on both occasions I came upon a checkpoint and both times they took the car off me and I had to pay €125 each time to get the car back. Nothing ever happened after that. This was the start of last summer.

rolion

my advise:get your car fixed,get the NCT,go to local Station and deal with:close the matter.

you were doing an illegal offence,the officer was "nice" to you to give you a a time to fix it...

normally,they note in their booklet whatever car reg no,driver name and date and after few days they are reviewing the booklet AND take action ! I'm telling you from my experience,they gave me 10 days to show with license and certs,ignore it AND fcuked my Irish citizenship application as being a criminal record ! !

So do it and close it !

Rgds...

dekbhoy

brembo26 wrote: »

Could you not just put it through the test again without fixing it and then show the gaurd the "failure" cert and then trade the car? Cant really do anything to ya if you showed him paperwork and don't have the car in question anymore.

And yes this happened to me before, twice :P on both occasions I came upon a checkpoint and both times they took the car off me and I had to pay €125 each time to get the car back. Nothing ever happened after that. This was the start of last summer.

nail on the head right there , its not the guards business if it fails , he doesnt have to know about previous tests , get it done show him paper work and thats it. As far as he is concerned you went for it but couldnt get it so you dedcided to get rid of car where by its someone elses problem...... too many doo gooders on this forum.

Mc Love

My NCT has been expired since January and the only date I could get was March in Limerick. I do carry the confirmation email with me incase i do get stopped. Will be selling the car too prob without the NCT so hopefully it will be alright

smash

To be honest, I'd go to the station and explain that your car failed the NCT, you were going to sort it but decided to trade up instead. This will be happening in the next 2 weeks... see what they say!

Zubeneschamali

dekbhoy wrote: »

nail on the head right there , its not the guards business if it fails , he doesnt have to know about previous tests , get it done show him paper work and thats it.

Eh, no, he can still do the OP for driving with no NCT.

If the OP want to be let off, he should do exactly what the nice guard told him to do.

Anan1

brembo26 wrote: »

Could you not just put it through the test again without fixing it and then show the gaurd the "failure" cert and then trade the car? Cant really do anything to ya if you showed him paperwork and don't have the car in question anymore.

?? The OP was caught driving without a valid NCT. The choice is simple - get the NCT or face court. I know which i'd choose.

Nonoperational

Jesus just do the NCT, 5 months and your still looking for ways out of it. It's the law like it or not.

Dempo1

I think you were lucky it was a Sunday you were caught as the car could have been seized, i think you should just get an NCT test done, OK if it fails it will only cost you €50, prove you made the effort and then dispose of the car (if you can in the current climate) i think the Gardai have been reasonable on this occasion.

Bearcat

I can confirm they are seizing cars......they literally threw a pal of mine and her two youngs kids out on the side of the road and seized her car. Yes, she didnt NCT it and thats what some heartless aggressive cops will do.....(not a word of lie re the kids left high and dry...I thought they'd have given her a chance to get it home but thats the numb skull society we are in now)

TestTransmission

You've had 5 months to get it sorted?Utter BS if you ask me,its hilarious some people think its one law for themselves and one for other people.
Enjoy the day in court

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055706130

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055689997

Anan1

Bearcat wrote: »

I can confirm they are seizing cars......they literally threw a pal of mine and her two youngs kids out on the side of the road and seized her car. Yes, she didnt NCT it and thats what some heartless aggressive cops will do.....(not a word of lie re the kids left high and dry...I thought they'd have given her a chance to get it home but thats the numb skull society we are in now)

If you ask me, she left her kids high and dry when she decided not to bother doing her NCT.

Zubeneschamali

Bearcat wrote: »

she didnt NCT it and thats what some heartless aggressive cops will do.....

Their jobs?

cpoh1

You got pretty unlucky there i must say. I drove an car i had a year or so ago for over a year without an NCT (expired 9 months) through numerous check points and never a word said. Most garda couldnt care less about the NCT compared to tax and insurance in that order.

Pop down to the garda in question (ring ahead to make sure he's in!) and have a chat to him in a friendly manner, im sure he'll understand and leave it go. Leaving it go altogether will more than likely be the end of it but its not worth it if it does end up with the inconvenience of a day in court.

Worn bushings are not a safety issue in my eyes (unless the bushing is broken - a different story altogether) and the OP should have no moral "safety" story to answer here.

Henry Ford III

cpoh1 wrote: »

Worn bushings are not a safety issue in my eyes

Wear means unwanted movement, which means sloppy handling.

corktina

cpoh1 wrote: »

Worn bushings are not a safety issue in my eyes (unless the bushing is broken - a different story altogether) and the OP should have no moral "safety" story to answer here.

doesnt matter a hoot what is or isnt dangerous "in your eyes"... NCT is a safety check and needs to be taken MUCH more seriously. If the risk of having your car seized will make people do this, then Amen to that.

Hooch

I havint read all the posts so sorry if this has been covered.

Just so the O/P knows there are several summons.
No NCT,
No NCT displayed
Non production of NCT,
Failing to fix a defect (as nominated by failed NCT)
Failing to maintain vehicle,
And possibly.....dangerous defective vehicle.

My advice....is NCT the thing. Whether a Judge "believes" your story or not it doesnt matter. Fact is your drove with no NCT. Cold hard truth. Sorry....

bazzachazza

Whichever way the OP puts it he is simply trying to get out of maintaining his car to a safe standard then trying to dodge having to pay the fine and points he got for being lazy and to top it off pass his car off to someone else to worry about and fix.

In the 5 months since October how regularly did you "Attempt" to find a "Reasonable" mechanic. Me thinks not very often.

Good luck in court cause your going to need it !

wli

U will be lucky to get an nct by then, end april.
If u booked today, you could be waiting until then to hear bac from nct and not get a date until may or june,
you should aways book nct before the nct expires

cpoh1

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Wear means unwanted movement, which means sloppy handling.

99% of new cars handling is sloppy at best out of the factory nowadays anyway

corktina wrote: »

doesnt matter a hoot what is or isnt dangerous "in your eyes"... NCT is a safety check and needs to be taken MUCH more seriously. If the risk of having your car seized will make people do this, then Amen to that.

Worn bushings are not a safety issue in anyones eyes not just mine. You need to wake up if you think the NCT is a safety check. My car failed the alst nct check for not having the county name over the reg plate. Safety my arse.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Zubeneschamali

cpoh1 wrote: »

Safety my arse.

So, a quick history check:

Your car failed the last NCT. You drove a car with no NCT for 9 months last year. You've been done 3 times for speeding since penalty points came in but dodged all the points. You were in court for non production/display of insurance, and the guard got a bollocking from the judge, not you.

I think you're pushing your luck.

neilthefunkeone

ha ha ha ha 5 months to source a mechanic for what is at most a half days work... How lazy is that.. No excuse..

cpoh1

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

So, a quick history check:

Your car failed the last NCT. You drove a car with no NCT for 9 months last year. Correct, my current car was re-tested the same afternoon and passed, You've been done 3 times for speeding since penalty points came in but dodged all the points. Correct, 3 speeding offenses in 7 years is good going in my book You were in court for non production/display of insurance, and the guard got a bollocking from the judge, not you Correct, i HAD produced, the system fcuked up and i had all my documentation in order.

I think you're pushing your luck.

I think if I wanted your opinion on how I drive and in fact lead my life I would have asked for it. Pushing my luck my arse.

Theta

cpoh1 wrote: »

Pop down to the garda in question (ring ahead to make sure he's in!) and have a chat to him in a friendly manner, im sure he'll understand and leave it go. Leaving it go altogether will more than likely be the end of it but its not worth it if it does end up with the inconvenience of a day in court.

If I was the Garda and you came upto me and tried to have a nice chat id just issue you the summons. In my mind he already gave you your get out of jail free card and to ask for another would piss me off to no end.

Zubeneschamali

cpoh1 wrote: »

I think if I wanted your opinion on how I drive and in fact lead my life I would have asked for it. Pushing my luck my arse.

I look forward to reading about your next day in court.

djdunny

everyone thank you for all you replies. to those people that are saying i should just put it through the test again and let it fail, im not sure if he'll let me away with that. he said to get it sorted. now id understand that to be get your car passed and then come back to me.

cpoh1

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

I look forward to reading about your next day in court.

Dont count on it, the partner being a solicitor has worked wonders in the past and will continue to do so in the future

cpoh1

djdunny wrote: »

everyone thank you for all you replies. to those people that are saying i should just put it through the test again and let it fail, im not sure if he'll let me away with that. he said to get it sorted. now id understand that to be get your car passed and then come back to me.

You ahve nothing to lose from popping into him and telling him that the car is being traded in next week, im sure hell understand that there is no point in getting a car nct'd when you are getting rid of it way before any nct date will become available. Common sense has to win the day here.

Theta

cpoh1 wrote: »

You ahve nothing to lose from popping into him and telling him that the car is being traded in next week, im sure hell understand that there is no point in getting a car nct'd when you are getting rid of it way before any nct date will become available. Common sense has to win the day here.

Ehhhh im sure he will see the point that he has been driving it around since October with no NCT.

Anan1

djdunny wrote: »

everyone thank you for all you replies. to those people that are saying i should just put it through the test again and let it fail, im not sure if he'll let me away with that. he said to get it sorted. now id understand that to be get your car passed and then come back to me.

Me too. Like I said, your choice is to get an NCT or go to court.

@cpoh1 - I've NCTd a couple of cars recently, the OP can get a cancellation for the following day if they want.

galwaytt

corktina wrote: »

its one thing the NCT being expired but the car OK and quite another it having failed and you still driving it 4 months later...its a SAFETY check...

corktina wrote: »

doesnt matter a hoot what is or isnt dangerous "in your eyes"... NCT is a safety check and needs to be taken MUCH more seriously. If the risk of having your car seized will make people do this, then Amen to that.

First things first: it's NOT a safety check. It's a revenue earner (now) for a Spanish company, to the tune of €400 million over 10years.

If it was what you say, every assessor in the country would have died of starvation.

There is no shortage of examples of good cars failed, and bad cars passed, to show it's just another load of administrative bollox.

The new 10 yr rule is proof of that, imho.

Anan1

galwaytt wrote: »

First things first: it's NOT a safety check. It's a revenue earner (now) for a Spanish company, to the tune of €400 million over 10years.

If it was what you say, every assessor in the country would have died of starvation.

There is no shortage of examples of good cars failed, and bad cars passed, to show it's just another load of administrative bollox.

The new 10 yr rule is proof of that, imho.

Seriously, how can you argue that the NCT is not a safety check? It may be imperfect, but it's a safety check nonetheless.

Bearcat

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

I look forward to reading about your next day in court.

I tweaked it....your one of those gardai we all talk about or just a self appointed guardian of our society. I'll sleep soundly tonight knowing your policing the boards.

djdunny

ok just to keep you all filled in. i rang the garda station today and spoke to a guard that answered. i explained my situation and that i cannot get a booking for the nct till may (i had rang them earlier in the day). he advised me to call in with the copy of the booking appointment and they would put it on the system that i produced the form and to proceed with the trade in. he said he highly doubted it would go to court.

im just saying what i was told, i am aware that i cannot hold one guards word over another. i know i broke the law. and i know it still might go to court.

corglass

did you fix the car?

Sofiztikated

cpoh1 wrote: »

Dont count on it, the partner being a solicitor has worked wonders in the past and will continue to do so in the future

So being a tit, and using your partners position is a better way of doing things than not being a prick, and not getting caught?

cpoh1 wrote: »

You ahve nothing to lose from popping into him and telling him that the car is being traded in next week, im sure hell understand that there is no point in getting a car nct'd when you are getting rid of it way before any nct date will become available. Common sense has to win the day here.

That would be all well and good, IF he did that 6 months ago. But he's been getting away with it for 6 months, that is just pushing his luck.

djdunny wrote: »

ok just to keep you all filled in. i rang the garda station today and spoke to a guard that answered. i explained my situation and that i cannot get a booking for the nct till may (i had rang them earlier in the day). he advised me to call in with the copy of the booking appointment and they would put it on the system that i produced the form and to proceed with the trade in. he said he highly doubted it would go to court.

im just saying what i was told, i am aware that i cannot hold one guards word over another. i know i broke the law. and i know it still might go to court.

Fair play, if they do let you off, learn your lesson, don't break the law, or if you do, rectify it as soon as you can.

Seriously though, 6 months to find a mechanic, thats a half arsed excuse.

-Corkie-

Hope you do get a summons and 5 penalty points and a fine. The guard you met was totally sound he should have seized your car on the spot. I have vehicles on the road for a living and i test them a month before they are due in case extra work must be carried out. You left it 6 months after and never would have bothered until you were stopped. Shame on you

cynder

Just wondering No NCT means car isnt road worthy if you had a crash insurance would not pay out. would that be the case????

-Corkie-

Thats correct there was a thread where someone crashed a fairly new car into a wall. They had fully comp and the insurance wouldnt pay up because when the accesor looked at it the tyres wer below legal limit.

Drummerboy08

Let me get this straight.

Your NCT is out almost 6 months, due to failure on a fairly important componant of the vehicles suspension.

You get stopped at a checkpoint recently, and now you are looking at 5 points and a thousand euro fine.

However, you seem to feel this is unjust, so your looking for a way out.

How many opportunities have you had in the last 6 months to repair the car and book a retest? I could have built a car from the wheels up in 6 months, never mind getting this work done!

Your middle name must be Shylock.

galwaytt

grindelwald wrote: »

Just wondering No NCT means car isnt road worthy if you had a crash insurance would not pay out. would that be the case????

No, incorrect. Under the Road Traffic Act, once you have a valid insurance cert, they MUST pay out. However, they may come after you for some/all of the cost of the claim, afterwards, in a civil case, which they'll have to prove. The possibility of being prosecuted for non-insurance does not arise.

SARASON wrote: »

Thats correct there was a thread where someone crashed a fairly new car into a wall. They had fully comp and the insurance wouldnt pay up because when the accesor looked at it the tyres wer below legal limit.

Sorry, you're not quite right. Yes that case you mentioned was one where the tyres were deemed (by the ins co assessor), to be sub-legal at the time of the accident, and so the driver was deemed negligent, and they wouldn't pay up. However, the car could still have a 100% legit NCT cert on the windscreen (because at time of test i.e. any time inside the previous 2 years, the tyres were entirely legal...). This proves there is no connection between NCT and insurance, and both stand independant.

daveharnett

grindelwald wrote: »

Just wondering No NCT means car isnt road worthy if you had a crash insurance would not pay out. would that be the case????

Not necessarily. For example, a car can fail the nct because of a hole in the exhaust and be perfectly safe to drive. Equally, a car could have a year left in it's nct and be running on tyres which are worn down to slicks.

Insurers/Assessors don't care about NCTs, they care about whether the car was roadworthy at the time of the incident.