New to Ireland - car due for NCT, any pre-NCT garage trip required?

smallbrowncat

Hi all

Am relatively new to Ireland (less than 1 year) and just got a letter in the post saying my NCT is due soon (I think it's due in April, have to go look on the car when my husband gets home).

Just wondering if it's common for people to take their car to a garage for a service/some kind of preparation? Not sure if it's a good idea or not - some people I know have said yes, but these are people who think spending money = best idea in any situation. Obviously the car dealer when I bought it encouraged me to bring it in for a look-over.

Car is a 2001 VW Golf 1.4, in quite good condition, drives nicely with no problems since we bought it. Has spongey shocks but that seems a fairly common condition for secondhand cars in Eire (what with all the roadbumps etc).

Many thanks... just wanting to gauge if other people generally do any preparation before NCT!

Thanks :pac:

coylemj

We don't refer to ourselves as 'Eire' - I know it's on the coins and stamps but we don't use the term here at all. If you want to distinguish the Republic from Nth. Ireland you can just say 'the south' or just 'Ireland' is fine - never 'Eire'

Best advice if you think the car is in good order is to submit it for test rather than give a dodgy garage an excuse to find 101 things wrong with the car that need fixing.

smallbrowncat

Cheers!

Also I sometimes use Eire because.... errrr it's faster to type than Ireland! Keys for those letters are conveniently placed. :pac:

bazz26

Pre NCT checks are a waste of money imo and an excuse for people to be fleeced for things that might or might not fail. Use the NCT itself as a pre test. Just send it through, if it fails they will give you a list of things it failed on. Then you go to a mechanic to have the things on the list fixed for the retest.

challengemaster

It's generally NOT recommended to go to a garage for pre-checks and the likes, as the garage could find problems that the NCT would never have found, and vice versa.

What is the more sensible thing to do is put the car into the NCT, let them find any faults with it, you'll then have on paper what they found wrong to get fixed. And the re-test is only €28 (or free if only a visual inspection)

Soarer

bazz26 wrote: »

Pre NCT checks are a waste of money imo and an excuse for people to be fleeced for things that might or might not fail. Use the NCT itself as a pre test. Just send it through, if it fails they will give you a list of things it failed on. Then you go to a mechanic to have the things on the list fixed for the retest.

In one.

Close the thread!

mickdw

Agree with all of the above re pre tests being a waste of cash. ONe thing I would add though is to have a look around it yourself for any obvious visual stuff - bulbs, tyres etc just so you dont fail on something silly. When going for test, have the car clean and any wheel trims taken off.

Zubeneschamali

mickdw wrote: »

When going for test, have the car clean and any wheel trims taken off.

Also empty the boot of clutter so the guys can get at the spare, and make sure the seatbelts and buckles are all visible (I usually buckle them all, just to be sure I can).

You can check your own lights and tyres, which covers most failures. From the NCTS website:

The main failure items for 2010 were:
1. Brake lines/hoses
2. Headlamp Condition
3. Indicators/ Tell Tales
4. Tyre Condition
5. Tyre Specification

delly

As said above OP, let the NCT tell you what's wrong and then fix it.

As regards using 'Eire', regardless of what others may say its a term your allowed to use. Some people just like to be pedantic, and its not like we wouldn't know what your on about.

biko

There are places offering pre-NCT checks, some do it free.
However they're just trying to get your money.

As said above, put it through first and then fix whatever they find. Mind, do replace light bulbs or other stuff you know should be working but isn't.
For instance, if you know your headlights are misaligned now then get that fixed beforehand.

smallbrowncat

Ah you're all brilliant - thanks so much for the advice!!! Really do appreciate it!

Was very uncertain about what was the best thing to do before the NCT. Back in New Zealand you have to take your car for its Warrant Of Fitness every six months, and it's pretty easy for your car to pass even if it's got a few rusty bits. No idea how strict the NCT is in comparison - but of course the car dealer and my spendthrift mates were keen to play up the need for a pre-check! Obviously just a bit of a con

Will make sure we spend a morning checking the car and giving it a good rub-a-dub-dub inside and out beforehand!

Break all ties

Back in New Zealand you have to take your car for its Warrant Of Fitness every six months, and it's pretty easy for your car to pass even if it's got a few rusty bits.

Sounds a bit like a Bulgarian annual inspection. All they check is the brakes and that the chassis number matches the registration card. No one fails it.

slimjimmc

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Also empty the boot of clutter so the guys can get at the spare, and make sure the seatbelts and buckles are all visible (I usually buckle them all, just to be sure I can).

You can check your own lights and tyres, which covers most failures. From the NCTS website:

The main failure items for 2010 were:
1. Brake lines/hoses
2. Headlamp Condition
3. Indicators/ Tell Tales
4. Tyre Condition
5. Tyre Specification

Don't worry about the spare tyre either, it's not even part of the test and a defective or missing spare is not a failure. The only reason they need the boot emptied is so that they can check the condition of the boot floor (as it forms part of the primary body structure).

Stinicker

It depends really, the age of the car is a big factor also, if the car is driving fine then you can check all the easy failure things yourself like blown bulbs etc.

If the car feels off then it can be no harm to get it checked out in advance, My cars brakes were getting a sluggish and needed a new ball joint so I knew well that it would never pass the NCT until I got it seen to, these things were fixed and it passed the NCT no problems there after saving me the retest fee.

You could have an undetectable problem also which is not obvious to the driver so in this case if you think the car might pass then put it through and see how it goes. In 2008 I put mine through about 99% sure it would pass and it failed on a rusty brake line which was totally unknown to me, and the metal pipe taking the brake fluid from the servo to the brakes had a tiny bit of corrosion on it and they failed it, got the pipe replaced and it passed afterwards.

50:50 especially if you are clueless about cars

Del2005

Stinicker wrote: »

It depends really, the age of the car is a big factor also, if the car is driving fine then you can check all the easy failure things yourself like blown bulbs etc.

If the car feels off then it can be no harm to get it checked out in advance, My cars brakes were getting a sluggish and needed a new ball joint so I knew well that it would never pass the NCT until I got it seen to, these things were fixed and it passed the NCT no problems there after saving me the retest fee.

The problem with doing repairs before the NCT is if something big fails you've potentially wasted money.

Unless it's cheap and easy to fix send it in as is. It's only €28 and a few hours to get it passed after the work has been done.

CiniO

smallbrowncat wrote: »

Car is a 2001 VW Golf 1.4, in quite good condition, drives nicely with no problems since we bought it. Has spongey shocks but that seems a fairly common condition for secondhand cars in Eire (what with all the roadbumps etc).

Are they spongy because that's just the way this car is, or are they spongy because they are gone?
Check if they are not leaking.
If they are gone, you will certainly need some, if not for NCT, just for your safety - especially on Irish bumpy roads.

Del2005

CiniO wrote: »

Are they spongy because that's just the way this car is, or are they spongy because they are gone?
Check if they are not leaking.
If they are gone, you will certainly need some, if not for NCT, just for your safety - especially on Irish bumpy roads.

The NCT will tell the OP if they're safe(ish).

But if they look anyway bad and even if it passes the NCT ,since equally 2 bad shocks sometimes pass, get them checked out properly after the NCT.

Soarer

slimjimmc wrote: »

Don't worry about the spare tyre either, it's not even part of the test and a defective or missing spare is not a failure. The only reason they need the boot emptied is so that they can check the condition of the boot floor (as it forms part of the primary body structure).

Is that 100%?
I've the NCT on Tuesday, and I swapped my spare for one of the worn tyres on the car. Was gonna have to get some sort of part worn yoke to sit in the boot for the test, but if it's not needed, I'll leave it out altogether and save myself a few quid.

Captain Commie

the O/H has owned 2 cars, when they were due NCT she sent them to mechanic who charged a clean fortune and BOTH cars failed on stuff he said he had fixed. Needless to say when my car was due its nct i got my m8 up north to give it the quick once over (FREE) and put it through, failed on something really stupid which cost me about €20 to fix, put it through again and as was a visual was free as well.

Never ever go to a garage for a pre-test, they see people coming for a pre-test and know straight away that they will be eating steak that night, its a money grabbing con. If ur car fails the nct on something then get them to fix that and only that

Zubeneschamali

Soarer wrote: »

Is that 100%?
I've the NCT on Tuesday, and I swapped my spare for one of the worn tyres on the car. Was gonna have to get some sort of part worn yoke to sit in the boot for the test, but if it's not needed, I'll leave it out altogether and save myself a few quid.

From the NCTS manual:

SPARE WHEEL AND CARRIER (External Carrier Only)
Method of Testing
1. Examine the spare wheel carrier, if fitted, for security of attachment to vehicle.
2. Examine the mounting points and the structure of the carrier to see that they are free from fractures.
3. If there is a spare wheel in the carrier, check that this is securely held in the carrier.
NOTES
1. Defects in a spare wheel tyre should not be considered a reason for failure.

poggy

smallbrowncat wrote: »

Was very uncertain about what was the best thing to do before the NCT. Back in New Zealand you have to take your car for its Warrant Of Fitness every six months, and it's pretty easy for your car to pass even if it's got a few rusty bits. No idea how strict the NCT is in comparison

was in New Zealand for a while and got a 1990 lancer through a warrant of fitness with one worn CV join, two split CV boots, worn shocks ect. Was in generally rough condition, only had to replace one Tyre to get it to pass, was backpacking so only kept it 6 months.
Different story over here as the NCT is not run by garages like in NZ, but what was said above is true send it through and see if it fails first, good luck.

CiniO

poggy wrote: »

was in New Zealand for a while and got a 1990 lancer through a warrant of fitness with one worn CV join, two split CV boots, worn shocks ect. Was in generally rough condition, only had to replace one Tyre to get it to pass, was backpacking so only kept it 6 months.

Heh that reminds me of the tests in Poland some time ago.
I had a car with was leaking oil a bit (I spend plenty of time trying to find out what where was it leaking from, but didn't manage to), cathalytic converter was cut, and replaced with just a pipe, and few other things.
I intentionally went to small test centre on countryside instead of one of those big city garages.

Guy while testing the car, said there was a oil leak, but it's not so serious, as there was only few drops per minute :eek:, while checking emissions he said that CO is above the norm by small bit. I actually asked him what is the norm, so he said it was about 200. Then I looked at device, and it was showing something over 1500 :eek:
I started laughing with this "a small bit above the norm".

Then when he was stamping the pass cert, he said that he knows that cathalitic converters were expensive, but advices me for the future that it might be reason to fail the test in the future if I'm unlucky..