Passed NCT - thanks to a black marker...

Dades

First off - hurrah! Another year of legal motoring ahead.

Had to fight my cause in the NCT centre this morning, however. Car passed on the fuel line I got replaced since I was in last month, but the guy tried to fail me on having non-standard plates!

Obviously these weren't an issue the last 3 times I'd been in with them, including a full test last month so I was somewhat aggrieved. Had a good 5 minute "chat" with a Supervisor who brought out the book and showed me the "example" plates and rules - at which point I pointed out that there was no mention of fonts whatsoever. I also pointed out that at least two cars in their staff parking area had different fonts on their standard plates.

Long story short, I suggested filling in the white gap in my Germanic zero (which he seemed to be grasping onto) with
a black marker, and peeling off my little Stuttgart decals, and he agreed to pass me.

According to wiki, Irish plates only require a san-serif font... so was I right to hold my ground??






Happy Days!

Tommyboy40

Have to say i was going to put german plates on these babies but since the felt brigade have adopted them I'm not so sure. Both mine are due nct too

macplaxton

Here's my tuppence on it.
No, you weren't totally right to stand your ground and I'll put forward my case.

You are correct to say there is not a particular font required for a plate, providing it complies with the height/width/stroke width requirements.

The stroke width could possibly be deemed not to have been met in the case of a German zero as it could be argued that we don't print zeros like that around here.

The other points I'm trying to decide are:

a) Should it have none or two hyphens and not just one on the right?
b) The spacing between the year and county should be the same as that between county and serial?

Just because it has been overlooked on the last three occasions doesn't make it a legal or NCT compliant plate. If you prefer to run with alternative plates then for the sake of four screws just fit some plates of the prescribed format on for the purposes of the test or live in Germany.

I don't really get this German/French whatever plates thing anyway.

Good to see you got a pass certificate, but do consider that the testers have to test the testable items, else they are not doing their job. Yes, it's very minor, but if you had some big cheese watching over your shoulder (and wanted to keep your job) you'd probably do everything to the letter.

Dades

Well the guy only really had an issue with the font, once we agreed I could peel of the decals.

The point was there doesn't seem to be any particular font guidelines on which to base a failure. I've no problem being pulled up if it's a case I can be shown why and on what basis. Yeah, the German plate thing is an affectation, but if not illegal, then it's a free world.

I guess the important thing is we compromised, and we parted amicably.

macplaxton

With no "prescribed font", then things are of course open to interpretation to a degree, but there is a stroke width element, which fashions the font to a certain extent (so only font's with thick 'n' thin strokes are out of the window)

If I were Mr Tester and had to follow the manual (which is far more general than the regs) I wouldn't complain about the zero at all, because it isn't even worth bothering about. The Reasons for failure are:

1 One or both plates missing, insecure or not clearly visible.
2 Numbers or letters missing or illegible or incorrect size (see page 9).
3 Numbers, letter or background of incorrect colour (see notes above).
4 Marks, other than those prescribed, on the plate
within the boundary shown in the diagram.

Hence the two roundels fall foul of this.

If I were Mr Vehicle Presenter, I'd just screw on a couple of bog standard Irish acrylic plates for the duration of the test.

As an aside, what were the braking figures like?

TRNIALL

I would be inclined to say that those Plates are a failure also:eek:
The spacing on the Numbers and Letters are incorrect;).
But then again Well Done on the Pass.

Dades

If I were Mr Vehicle Presenter, I'd just screw on a couple of bog standard Irish acrylic plates for the duration of the test.

TBH, I think I might do that next year. (Or maybe not because I'm stubborn. )

As an aside, what were the braking figures like?

I took this earlier for LIGHTNING, so I might as well post it.

Eireplates

You were right regarding the font. The font type is not specified only the height and stroke width.

Saying that you were chancing it going in with the Stadt seals on. It was going to draw you unwanted attention.

For a pre 87 car all you need are black fonts on a white backround/ silver fonts on a black background, or white/red plates with black fonts - nothing else. You generally complied with that except for the non standard spacing and the odd hyphen.

unkel

macplaxton wrote: »

Just because it has been overlooked on the last three occasions doesn't make it a legal or NCT compliant plate.

True.

It's not quite clear from the OP whether this NCT test was a re-test or a full test (previous test last month was a full test, but that might have been more than 28 days ago)

If it was a re-test, I would expect only fail items to be tested (so not the numberplates). If it was a full test, everything is fair game. And the requirements seem to get stricter all the time too...

And like you say, testers might test more closely to the letter (no pun intended) of the rules or might be more closely supervised since a recent TV programme

Anyway, I once failed the NCT for the C in Cliath that looked more like an O

Dades

unkel wrote: »

True.

It's not quite clear from the OP whether this NCT test was a re-test or a full test (previous test last month was a full test, but that might have been more than 28 days ago)

If it was a re-test, I would expect only fail items to be tested (so not the numberplates). If it was a full test, everything is fair game. And the requirements seem to get stricter all the time too...

It was a retest within 28 days of a single item (fuel line) that failed a visual...

Hence the annoyance at having been told to come back again for something different.

Anyhow, I hope this thread might prove useful to someone going in for either a first or second test!

macplaxton

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Whats the story with the weights that are on the NCT certs

From my memory, it's the weight of the car plus a couple of persons.

carchaeologist

LIGHTNING wrote: »

generated by a random number generator

Wonder is it similar to the the random number generator they have for the number plates?:rolleyes:

macplaxton

carchaeologist wrote: »

Wonder is it similar to the the random number generator they have for the number plates?:rolleyes:

Nah, it's the Johnny Ball approach the Revenue Commissioners are using.

(You can see the inspiration for the new starting numbers on the set;))