Car service and nct precheck need advice on a garage

thegame

I live in dublin 6 and i never got my car serviced before in dublin.my nct has expired on my car and i need it serviced as well..can anyone recommend a garage that is cheap and nearby me..was thinking maybe of advance pitstop in dublin 2 ..

Captain Slow IRL

It might be easier on your wallet if you don't bother with the pre-nct check. Just get your headlights aligned, get whatever service work done, and send it to the nct.

It's possible that the pre-nct won't show up everything and you'll still fail the test. Depending on the garage, it's possible that they'll recommend a lot of stuff be replaced that doesn't need it.

mickdw

NEVER pay out cash for a pre nct check. THe cheapest & best test is the actual NCT itself. They will tell you what exacty needs doing, nothing more, nothing less. No garage can do that as nct testers differ etc.
I would say just do anything that defo needs doing, so if a service is due, get that done and then send it through.
It would be interesting if you did go to advance, Id nearly put money on your car needing new tyres & rear shocks!...... according to advance.

Captain Slow IRL

mickdw wrote: »

................ Id nearly put money on your car needing new tyres & rear shocks!...... according to advance.

Slightly OT - I'm not trying to defend Advance but I work in a garage and we've seen a crap load of rear shocks being replaced recently - don't know if the frosty weathers effect on the roads earlier on in the year is starting to manifest itself now!

slimjimmc

mickdw wrote: »

NEVER pay out cash for a pre nct check. THe cheapest & best test is the actual NCT itself. They will tell you what exacty needs doing, nothing more, nothing less. No garage can do that as nct testers differ etc.
I would say just do anything that defo needs doing, so if a service is due, get that done and then send it through.
It would be interesting if you did go to advance, Id nearly put money on your car needing new tyres & rear shocks!...... according to advance.

I'd say no garage can do that because they don't have the test equipment, side-slip lanes, shaker plates, brake efficiency testers, glass tint meters, etc. Except for the visual checks the guys doing the test have very little decision making, most tests results are determined by the test equipment.

dr.fuzzenstein

Absolutely, you go in for pre-NCT you'll need brake pads and disks, shocks, tires, exhaust and some other things.Once got fleeced so badly because I was young and dumb and they saw me coming a country mile off, it cost me thousands for a car that was worth hundreds.And that was in Germany.As said above: Get car serviced, lights adjusted, do NCT and then get fixed whatever needs doing, no garage will do a test as cheap and thorough as the NCT. I actually see it as a good value car check and part of my service routine.