The NCT test and the '80s cars issue

carchaeologist

Having read a post on another thread tonight got me thinking.
More stuff than ever is getting crushed. Its wreckless. What scrapyards are there are bigger than ever. My local yard has 20 times the cars in it now than it ever had and loads of newer stuff 99/00/01in there, many scrapped because of relitively small issues.I agree there is many more cars on the road than ever before, but its still crazy.
On one hand you have the NCT test for roadworthiness, on the other the scrappage scheme to get rid of your 'polluting old banger', which, if having passed an NCT test is up to the required mechanical and envirenmental standard for the road. Anyone that has any brain in their head can see the environmental cost of scrapping and recycling the old car and constructing a new one far outweighs keeping the original car in good mechanical order and using it. Especially nowadays in the days of catalytic converters and other such devices.
New cars are sold on the idea that 'old' cars(over 10 years or so) are killing baby seals with their 'Pollution' which in nearly all cases, providing you pass your NCT test isnt an issue.

There is going to be a big void for '80s/'90s cars in years to come because of;
1. The NCT Cutoff point, Paddy irishman always will go for the cheaper getout option and buy a '79 or ring his '80s car back to '79 or before if possible.

2. The percieved age of a 'classic car', this will be determined by the NCT cutoff, '80s/'90s cars will get overlooked and only the diehard fans will run and repair them. If the classic roadtax exemption gets locked down its curtains for '80s/cars and newer in the future.

3. The increasing complexity of late '80s and early '90s cars will make things harder for the average guy to repair and run them as parts get scarce and the NCT test looms large every year.

4. The current lust for scrap metal means everything ferrous is being hoovered up for recycling, who knows how long this will continue. Never before has there been such a rush on scrap.There wont be a car left in a hedgerow of barn for spares.

I guess '80s cars will also become less valuable in favour of their older conterparts? I wonder has this started to happen already?

Anyone else have a view on this, am i missing something or just the point entirely?:o

shawnee

carchaeologist wrote: »

Having read a post on another thread tonight got me thinking.
More stuff than ever is getting crushed. Its wreckless. What scrapyards are there are bigger than ever. My local yard has 20 times the cars in it now than it ever had and loads of newer stuff 99/00/01in there, many scrapped because of relitively small issues.I agree there is many more cars on the road than ever before, but its still crazy.
On one hand you have the NCT test for roadworthiness, on the other the scrappage scheme to get rid of your 'polluting old banger', which, if having passed an NCT test is up to the required mechanical and envirenmental standard for the road. Anyone that has any brain in their head can see the environmental cost of scrapping and recycling the old car and constructing a new one far outweighs keeping the original car in good mechanical order and using it. Especially nowadays in the days of catalytic converters and other such devices.
New cars are sold on the idea that 'old' cars(over 10 years or so) are killing baby seals with their 'Pollution' which in nearly all cases, providing you pass your NCT test isnt an issue.

There is going to be a big void for '80s/'90s cars in years to come because of;
1. The NCT Cutoff point, Paddy irishman always will go for the cheaper getout option and buy a '79 or ring his '80s car back to '79 or before if possible.

2. The percieved age of a 'classic car', this will be determined by the NCT cutoff, '80s/'90s cars will get overlooked and only the diehard fans will run and repair them. If the classic roadtax exemption gets locked down its curtains for '80s/cars and newer in the future.

3. The increasing complexity of late '80s and early '90s cars will make things harder for the average guy to repair and run them as parts get scarce and the NCT test looms large every year.

4. The current lust for scrap metal means everything ferrous is being hoovered up for recycling, who knows how long this will continue. Never before has there been such a rush on scrap.There wont be a car left in a hedgerow of barn for spares.

I guess '80s cars will also become less valuable in favour of their older conterparts? I wonder has this started to happen already?

Anyone else have a view on this, am i missing something or just the point entirely?:o

I would say you are spot on in your views. Added to this the cost of taxing and running 82/90 cars at present is putting off many from buying classics. That area was flying while things were going well but there ain't much money around for toys now. Ah well , times change !

krissovo

Most 80's vehicles will never have a the same appeal, its more the blame of manufacturers than any Irish vehicle policies to build cars with zero character. Cars that deserve to be preserved will be, vehicles that jump into my head right now are VW Golf, Audi Quatro's, Cosworth's, Capri etc so I will not panic that nice cars will be saved.

Holding onto a characterless car just to prevent NCT requirements is a joke, let them rot or be turned into a bake been can. If anything bring in NCT testing to pre 79's

bijapos

Good post carchaeologist, I agree with pretty much everything you've said but thats the way the world works.

carchaeologist wrote: »

. Anyone that has any brain in their head can see the environmental cost of scrapping and recycling the old car and constructing a new one far outweighs keeping the original car in good mechanical order and using it.

Its the desire to own a "new, more improved" car that makes people buy new ones, this has always been the case and will continue to be so. Costs don't really come into it for most people. Cars continue to evolve, and have become safer, more comfortable, more reliable and easier to drive over the years. Drive a 2011 Focus and compare it to a 1971 Escort and you'll see why the vast majority of people strive to buy a new car. Some people don't care, they want a reliable car, others strive to afford the newest model they can afford, even if it means a bank loan, others drive a car that is desirable to them. And then there are some like ourselves who are happy to plod around in something with a bit of charachter or charisma. Different strokes for different folks.

There is going to be a big void for '80s/'90s cars in years to come

There is always a certain void for cars, usually when they are between 12 and 25 years old. They are at that difficult age where they are considered "old, cheap etc" and not old enough to be "cool, rare or a headturner". Good examples of this are Mk1 Mondeos, which may be desirable in 10, 20 years time. When was the last time you saw one, but everyone knows someone who had one in the past. Golf II's are just coming out of this phase and are now desirable for a lot of people, Golf I's are imo already there. But its not that long ago when a Golf I was good for nothing other than a chicken shed for most people.

1. The NCT Cutoff point, Paddy irishman always will go for the cheaper getout option and buy a '79 or ring his '80s car back to '79 or before if possible.

For the time being, and yes cars such as the Golf I will always fall into this category because it could be pre 80 or post 80 to a casual observer, but it will sort itself out over time. There will never be a point in trying to ring a Golf II. I personally think the chassis number check should be a part of the NCT. If it doesn't match, they don't release the car and they ring Guards or the revenue.

2. The percieved age of a 'classic car', this will be determined by the NCT cutoff, '80s/'90s cars will get overlooked and only the diehard fans will run and repair them. If the classic roadtax exemption gets locked down its curtains for '80s/cars and newer in the future

Same in every country, just the diehards run them. Mondeo is a good example, anyone who has an early one is probably looked on as being at bit strage at the moment.

3. The increasing complexity of late '80s and early '90s cars will make things harder for the average guy to repair and run them as parts get scarce and the NCT test looms large every year.

True, and its getting worse with the complexity of electronics and management systems in newer cars. Might be a good business to get into.

4. The current lust for scrap metal means everything ferrous is being hoovered up for recycling, who knows how long this will continue. Never before has there been such a rush on scrap.There wont be a car left in a hedgerow of barn for spares.

Scrap will continue to be in high demand, its construction and demand for consumer products in developing countries that is responsible for a lot of demand. I think the long term price of scrap is only going one way, and that up.

I guess '80s cars will also become less valuable in favour of their older conterparts? I wonder has this started to happen already?

Its temporary, they are becoming more desirable and will continue to do so. Good example is the price of a W123, could be got for peanuts a few years ago, now rising quickly.

galwaytt

krissovo wrote: »

Most 80's vehicles will never have a the same appeal, its more the blame of manufacturers than any Irish vehicle policies to build cars with zero character. Cars that deserve to be preserved will be, vehicles that jump into my head right now are VW Golf, Audi Quatro's, Cosworth's, Capri etc so I will not panic that nice cars will be saved.

Holding onto a characterless car just to prevent NCT requirements is a joke, let them rot or be turned into a bake been can. If anything bring in NCT testing to pre 79's

...sorry, but I disagree. The 'Classic' shows of this world are packed to the rafters with pre '80's cars of zero character, but which remain to this day, sought after. BMC cars of the '60's and '70's, for example. They have become 'classic' because of the societal memory of people for the period these cars were around in, and often with a personal angle for the owner. Maybe it's a car his family had as a child, and he has fondness for that time. Maybe it's because it's the car-he-always-wanted as a child.........and there's a desire to be sated, there. Short of you pulling a Dellahaye out of the bushes, or pension-fund investment (SL300's et al...), the majority of all this 'classic' business is driven by sentiment, and affection - it has nothing to do with the merit's of the cars themselves - and so, for a lot of people, even the most technically awful, and characterless will always find a home and some tlc. The '50's and '60's in particular, and 70's, are cherished by a population who are fond of the age, and the link is the car. That it coincide's with a boom in the State is probably a factor too.

Which bring's us to the '80's. Oh dear. I'm a 'child' of the '80's - and did my Leaving Cert in 1984. To this day, even in these awful economic times, I cannot remember a time more dire, an economy more depressing, an era best forgotten. Or do I ?

I find myself now lusting after my Dad's 1981 Lancia Trevi. Eeek, what's that about ? I now look with rose-tinted glasses at the rust-haven that was a succession of Fiat 131's we had. Or the series of Audi (C1) 100's -both LS and, shock - GL ! Brilliant cars. But rust-heaps. Mazda BD series 323's? Great. But hardly inspiring. Audi 80 B1/B2. Great. Rusters. Bland. But I still want one, now.

Do we think that the children of the '80's are any less inclined to develop an affection for a time.........and then lassoo their car interest to it ? I think not. Just look at the popularity of the MKIV/V Cortina. Add in the fact that so many rusted away, or got scrapped, and the pool is actually smaller than for the cars of previous generations.

But I'll stretch the dilemma further -and we're there already: cars of the 90's. I have 3. Not because I think the 90's were Nirvana, but I like the cars and, lo and behold, time has sped by and snuck up on me, and, yikes, they're on the 18/19/20 yr old mark already - gosh, how time flies. But an awful lot more of 90's stuff got the crusher thanks to 'scrappage'. And if it was unfit for use, then that's fine. But if it wasn't, and it was just driven by number-plate-age mania, then.........that's NOT fine. That is just destruction of a perfectly good .....product/device. And it's unjustifiable.

...which brings us to the issue of the NCT.

Now, there certainly was a case that many car's that ended up in Galway Metal, or Hammond Lane rightly did so as they were death traps - and the NCT had a place in that.

But, now that that backlog has essentially been cleared, it's nearly looking for a reason to justify it's existence. Consider - if you bring in a car, up to 10 years old, it is inspected, and if deemed fit, given a 2yr clean bill of health. Bring a 10 yr old car, exact same test -but you're only given 1 yr. There is no technical merit whatsoever for that - it is purely commercial, and driven by the need to generate income. It is also, I submit, a cynical move engineered to make the tender process for the renewal of the NCT contract attractive, when it came up last time - and which saw SGS lose the job to Applus. The attraction of a number of the car 'population' now being tested twice-as-often was a critical factor in sweetening the tender pot for interested parties, and brought €€ into the State coffers.

Put it another way. If my 10 yr old car has a shorter cert - it should be a cheaper cert as well, and, logically, half the price. And the test should be different.

The future for cars in the 10 to 30 range is far from certain.

Carchaeologist +1. Amen etc.
But I'm not sure that the issue of parts availability is the big driver - even if parts are available, it'll be down to cost. There was a time when Porsche 928's were considered 'un-fixable' due to electronics. The intervention of the internet, and clever soul's on it, means you can now get anything, and anything repaired on them, quite reasonably. So in that example, the experience is a complete u-turn to ..........15 years ago ?


[HIJACK]...someone has just walked into my office, and his 06 Transit won't go, and has to be towed to the Main Dealer. Reason ? ...the transponder chip on the key is suspect.............mmmm.......discussion on the viability of 'noughties' car instead ?? :P

gyppo

I was engaged in a similar topic on the motors boards here regarding how modern cars have become too clever for their own good.

It my opinion that very very few cars built in the last decade will ever become classic due to the complex engine management systems employed, coupled with the fact that modern cars are designed with a planned finite lifespan.

Many of the electronics modules in modern cars will result in the car being worthless from a repair viewpoint when they eventually fail. The irony is that much electronic wizardry packed in todays cars are there for environmental reasons - yet when such items fail, they can be the cause of scrapping the car, with resulting increased environmental costs.

carchaeologist

Interesting angles there lads. I wonder will ringing be more a pre '87 thing or a pre '80 thing. is it the old irish reg, or the lure of the non test?
Mk2 golfs are defiantly on the up in the last year or so, but stuff like the Ford Sierra has hardly made a blip on the radar, apart from guys welding up the diffs for crossroad grand prix.

carchaeologist

This sums it up in a nutshell really.

...sorry, but I disagree. The 'Classic' shows of this world are packed to the rafters with pre '80's cars of zero character, but which remain to this day, sought after. BMC cars of the '60's and '70's, for example. They have become 'classic' because of the societal memory of people for the period these cars were around in, and often with a personal angle for the owner. Maybe it's a car his family had as a child, and he has fondness for that time. Maybe it's because it's the car-he-always-wanted as a child.........and there's a desire to be sated, there. Short of you pulling a Dellahaye out of the bushes, or pension-fund investment (SL300's et al...), the majority of all this 'classic' business is driven by sentiment, and affection - it has nothing to do with the merit's of the cars themselves - and so, for a lot of people, even the most technically awful, and characterless will always find a home and some tlc. The '50's and '60's in particular, and 70's, are cherished by a population who are fond of the age, and the link is the car. That it coincide's with a boom in the State is probably a factor too.

carchaeologist

Double post...apologies.

ahal

Spot on OP. I had my own bad experience with the 440 lately, and the NCT these days seems to simply mean "buy a new car". They found a letterbox - sized hole in one of the sills, which apparently broke out suddenly since the car was there 1.5 years ago. A bit of rust on the wheelarches (not the panel, rather the ridge over the wheel) which was deemed okay last time wasn't this time, and last but not least the car was deemed to be running fractionally lean, of the fractional variety that could return a pass result on a second go.

The biggest enemy of the motorist is the NCT imho. After 11 years they have still not decided how to test 17 year old cars like mine: they can move the goalposts as and when they choose. The RSA (who run the show) frequently ignore my emails, so we're basically living in bandit country. The British and French are much better at protesting than we are. I think it's time that the 1.2 million + motorists in this country got good at protesting.

Incidentally I know that a hole in the sill is a safety issue. I just find it odd that it was never noticed before. Their attitude is that putting older cars off the road is a good thing, so need to be too bothered.

Dades

I think as long as the tax exemption continues to roll, there will always be (for the reasons galwaytt alluded to) plenty of people who are willing to act on their affection for the 80's era in return for the promise of cheap motoring.

There's a bucket of 80's cars that would be on a lot of people's shopping list were it not for an annual tax bill half (or all) the price of the car. I don't think it's the NCT putting people off them.

But yeah, lose the rolling tax exemption soon and it will be dark days for the 80's cars. NCT or not.

Means Of Escape

Selection of an 80 s car is done based on emotion ie what people grew up with and the car their da drove etc.on the flip side one cannot over look the gems that came out in the 80s that thanks to the NCT have been canned in the last ten years.Mercedes SEC Opel Monza ,Audi Quattro Capri brooklands,Lancia Integrale etc. Yes they were few and far between and this makes them very desireable.pull up to the lights in an original Irish Monza and see the reaction.they are iconic for that decade and regardless of NCT they will increase in value.
Price a Lotus Carlton from the 90s!?!?

Means Of Escape

And yes the gems have been dumped.road tax put them off the road, few people saw them for what the truly were , they were left in a field and cashed in . So many of these iconic cars were imported not because they were not available here but few could afford them and those that survived the bulk of them were scrapped .
The rolling tax 3o year rule should not be scrapped in fact there should be a sliding scale for hi cc engines that are maintained properly
noone could afford to drive a 4 litre 80s jag every day and that's why they are mostly crushed.
There are beautiful examples of restored high cc engined cars in this country that will go to the uk if our money grabbing govt mess with the vintage tax band

end a eknny

have been to the scrap merchants a few times and the type and condition of some of the cars being melted down is sad, was making me think if i held on to a few '80's cars there rarirty would make them very valuable come the next boom and all those children of the 70 and 80's

DaveJac

If your car has no NCT you cant get scrappage on it, it can only be out a few weeks. its a disgrace some of the cars that we have scrapped in work cars in perfect working order... the newest car ive owned is 96 have no real interets in newer cars. working as a storeman in a main dealers they are just trouble with electrics. If you have the likes of a 00 astra for example and your ECU goes a new one is close on a grand not worth fixing it, we have a 02 vectra with wiring trouble first of the vectra c's they had canbus wiring car is not worth fixing even using second hand parts labour ect,,, old cars are easier keep simple as and will stay going longer my 96 astra will out last any 06 one haha

carchaeologist

I know the reasons why, but it's such an irony that your car needs to be NCT'd (and as such totally roadworthy in the eyes of the law)to be scrapped. And a total crapper won't qualify!

unkel

Bearcat wrote: »

as the owner of a 20 and 30 year old car I find your comments crass.....actually of the bell end variety.

Let's not personally abuse other posters here, thanks

G Luxel

In Singapore and the U.A.E. it is compulsory to scrap a car after 10 years, no exceptions....we should count ourselves lucky that we still have cars over 10 years and older.........:)

Bearcat

unkel wrote: »

Let's not personally abuse other posters here, thanks

I apologize and removed post. When one puts their heart and soul into maintaining an older car(s) and to be told bin them all, it gets a reaction.:(

unkel

Bearcat wrote: »

I apologize and removed post. When one put their heart and soul into maintaining an older car(s) and to be told bin them all, it gets a reaction.:(

No problem

macplaxton

G Luxel wrote: »

In Singapore and the U.A.E. it is compulsory to scrap a car after 10 years, no exceptions....

In the case of Singapore (where I have relatives who explained the mumbo jumbo of PARF/non-PARF, ARF and COE to me), it's not compulsory to scrap after 10 years old. However the taxation system is so heavily stacked against vehicles over 10 years old, that unless you are an eccentric multi-millionaire, then it's economically prudent to scrap or export the vehicle.

The end result is the same though.

kja1888

carchaeologist wrote: »

I know the reasons why, but it's such an irony that your car needs to be NCT'd (and as such totally roadworthy in the eyes of the law)to be scrapped. And a total crapper won't qualify!

It doesn't even need to be NCT'd - just to undergo the test! i.e drag your car in on a truck, have it tested and failed, get results, drag car away to be scrapped.

DanWall

I do not agree that modern cars are more reliable, they seem to be getting some fundamentals wrong now, i.e. Timing chain problems, Head gasket problems, Oil burning problem, and of course electrical problem due to high tech systems. As DaveJack say he works in main dealers and can see this in electrical spares.

gn3dr

I have to agree that a lot of modern stuff is definitely not as reliable as some older stuff. I'd say the sweet spot for the best balance of technology & old skool driving pleasure is maybe '85 to '95.

At the end of the day though I don't think it is the NCT which is killing off these cars - it's the penal car tax rates we have in this country. There are not many people who will stomach paying more in annual tax than the market value of the car and really it;s hard to blame them. It's a real shame that perfectly functional cars get crushed because of this though.

ahal

There are many different ways of looking at it. Yes, motor tax on luxury barges which don't fall into the 30 years old bracket is high, but this is offset by the fact that purchase prices in that sector have all but collapsed.

In my own case my '94 was failed on a load of things that range from probably there the last time the car was tested, to purely whimsical. The car has done about 8,000 miles since the last test. To put all of this right will cost near enough a year's tax in monetary terms.

About half of the cars I see on Donedeal from the '80's have no NCT. I wonder why :rolleyes: As far as I can see the NCT has become one last push to get all of the older cars it deals with off the road. Trade happy, Government happy, end of. It's all for safety and nature of course!

galwaytt

macplaxton wrote: »

In the case of Singapore .... ...that unless you are an eccentric multi-millionaire, then it's economically prudent to scrap or export the vehicle..

..care to guess which country imported a shed-load of ex-Singapore W211 E200K's in recent years..........?? :P

ahal wrote: »

There are many different ways of looking at it. Yes, motor tax on luxury barges which don't fall into the 30 years old bracket is high, but this is offset by the fact that purchase prices in that sector have all but collapsed. I wonder why :rolleyes: As far as I can see the NCT has become one last push to get all of the older cars it deals with off the road. Trade happy, Government happy, end of. It's all for safety and nature of course!

Yes, the tax is a travesty, and even getting a luxo-barge for free doesn't make a 4-figure sum for tax easy - or right - to swallow........ :mad:

As for NCT et al: well, cutting taxes on new cars saw car related taxes fall by €300m, so 'making' people scrap older cars is actually financially counter-productive.

flutered

galwaytt wrote: »

..care to guess which country imported a shed-load of ex-Singapore W211 E200K's in recent years..........?? :P



Yes, the tax is a travesty, and even getting a luxo-barge for free doesn't make a 4-figure sum for tax easy - or right - to swallow........ :mad:

As for NCT et al: well, cutting taxes on new cars saw car related taxes fall by €300m, so 'making' people scrap older cars is actually financially counter-productive.

the tax which caused this was ideaoligy, has it made this country any greener ?

ahal

galwaytt wrote: »

Yes, the tax is a travesty, and even getting a luxo-barge for free doesn't make a 4-figure sum for tax easy - or right - to swallow........ :mad:

+ 1000

galwaytt wrote: »

As for NCT et al: well, cutting taxes on new cars saw car related taxes fall by €300m, so 'making' people scrap older cars is actually financially counter-productive.

I agree totally. Both the Govt. and motor trade lobbyists thought the good times were going to last forever, and shot themselves in the foot completely back in 2008. I have zero sympathy for either. They tried to kill off the second hand market just before the recession hit and most people wanted second hand cars. Bloody fools.

zilog_jones

A completely fuel-based road tax sounds like a good solution for this... in theory...
- The people who consume the most will pay the most, i.e. not classic owners or 90's/'80s car owners, and this would actually make sense environmentally unlike the current load of bollocks
- There could still be some special rate for vintage owners, either by some card system, rebates or something

If I ever get the space I'd love to buy some old-ish ('90s) barge with 6+ cylinders, but the tax is completely unreasonable for something that would essentially be a weekend car.

Regarding newer cars and all the electronics, we've probably got to the stage where early ECUs from the '80s can be reproduced easily enough with an FPGA (one chip instead of a load of discrete components) and the know-how. Replacement or add-on ECUs are already available for a lot of performance engines.

Means Of Escape

zilog_jones wrote: »

A completely fuel-based road tax sounds like a good solution for this... in theory...

That idea was all fine and dandy when petrol was 1.25 a litre and maybe 20 cents put on all fuel and eliminate road tax
however doing that now at 1.54 a litre would be madness
by the way it's motor tax according to the head office so we can't piss and moan about the ****ty roads
the grabbing government will keep hiking road tax AND ream us with ridiculous petrol prices because they can.
Besides they don't give a rats ass because they get it ALL for free

DanWall

I wonder if people with new car on low road tax because of CO 2 emissions, may see their tax go up when there is sufficient registered it will become the norm.

galwaytt

DanWall wrote: »

I wonder if people with new car on low road tax because of CO 2 emissions, may see their tax go up when there is sufficient registered it will become the norm.

There is no 'if' - a €100 p.a. increase was published as part of Fine Gael policy in the last election.

Mind you, they said they're putting cc-based tax up by €100 as well..........:mad:

The only thing we don't know is.........the date.

unkel

Great. Now the cancer causing diesel brigade are paying €156 per year even if they do 100,000 miles. And us with our not yet 30 year old big engined petrols doing only 1,000 miles and we are paying €1,566. Thanking you the green party. I guess you will not get into government again for at least another generation

ahal

unkel wrote: »

Thanking you the green party

What green party?

BostonB

I think a lot of post 2000 ish cars seem to suffer from a lot of technical problems, like ABS, ECU, turbo failures things likes that. They are kinda the things that killed a lot of luxo barges in the 90's for second sales.

To of the most reliable cars I had were a 91 Hionda, CRX, which I got rid of because it was too expensive to fix after someone ran into, and someone damaged it strying to steal it. Also the premium went from 700 to 3k. And a 99 K11 Micra. Neither car had any problems other then the expected service and wear and tyre. Much better then any VW we had.

carchaeologist

BostonB wrote: »

To of the most reliable cars I had were a 91 Hionda, CRX, which I got rid of because it was too expensive to fix after someone ran into, and someone damaged it strying to steal it. Also the premium went from 700 to 3k. And a 99 K11 Micra. Neither car had any problems other then the expected service and wear and tyre. Much better then any VW we had.

You can have your VWs Mercs and Audis, but the Japanese consistently build the most reliable motors, and have done for years.

spooky donkey

Well I plan to nurse my 84 car into its old old age.... If the tax laws make it to expensive ill just keep it and leave it off the road.

I remember when I was young in the 80s and heaing of a young lad who got a big claim and got him self an Xr3i. I though I will never get one of them so now I do. It has a lot of appeal for me as a result.

NCT is not a big thing for me as I do not drive it a lot. The night I baught it and was driving it for the first time I got stoped by the guards. I told them I had just baught it and only had Insurance on it at the time, his only response was to say get it taxed soon. And I did. No mention of the NCT. I think they assume all old cars are exempt or somthing. Ive never been stoped in my every day car with out it having an NCT so im not sure how they would have delt with that.

Any way I still say fair play to anyone who takes the time to save an 80s classic. Or any classic for that matter.

unkel

LIGHTNING wrote: »

I think my car needs to be NCT`d under the new laws but I am not sure.

Under the new laws, every car first registered after 31/12/1979 needs to have an NCT every year.

Dades

^^ Consider yourself "served", LIGHTNING.

Bearcat

unkel wrote: »

Great. Now the cancer causing diesel brigade are paying €156 per year even if they do 100,000 miles. And us with our not yet 30 year old big engined petrols doing only 1,000 miles and we are paying €1,566. Thanking you the green party. I guess you will not get into government again for at least another generation

my sentiments also 100%

aidhan

unkel wrote: »

Under the new laws, every car first registered after 31/12/1979 needs to have an NCT every year.

Two penalty points for having no nct. The judge himself told me, not some bloke in the pub.

davoxx

aidhan wrote: »

Two penalty points for having no nct. The judge himself told me, not some bloke in the pub.

did he then drive home

Esel

aidhan wrote: »

Two penalty points for having no nct. The judge himself told me, not some bloke in the pub.

It's five points and up to €1,500 fine, upon conviction.

maidhc

Esel wrote: »

It's five points and up to €1,500 fine, upon conviction.

Indeed.

Judges don't (need to) know about penalty points, Shannon deal with them.

Means Of Escape

More concerned if you've booze drunk no insurance or tax .
Haven't heard of anyone done for expired nct.
Having said that after the Prime Time programme that will changed.

dtm

brilliant reading lads.

There has been more genuine thought/debate put into the last few posts about this whole nct/tax system for old cars that there will ever be put into it from this government that rule it.

alpina

Unfortunately that's the problem with the whole system, legislation by the ill informed. There is more intelligent car related banter discussed here in an evening, than that is entertained in a whole dail term...

galwaytt

...well my 166k mile, 18yr old 968 sailed through it's NCT again today, so I'm good 'til 2013

I didn't change oil, or air filter, and it flew through the emissions test - just goes to show rudimentary maintenance, and regular use, is Good for You. And what a complete load of bollox all that emissions bull**** to save the World is........