NCT carwash- they're getting sticky!

kmurray3

Hey,
had my NCT retest in Drogheda today. Failed the first time on lights and roll bar. They said the brake pipes were dirty and couldnt test. I live in a town and drive mostly on town roads. My dad today cleaned the brake pipes and around the wheel arches. Had retest, it failed again because they said the undercarriage was too dirty to test. So people don't automatically trust the old posts that say unless you were off-roading your car will be fine, looks like undercarriage wash essential now. have to go get full test again and car wash so huge money on very little

Owen

A woman I know was failed because her windscreen was too dirty. Only a visual retest though.

sean1141

why do people expect mechanics to work on or inspect a car that is filthy dirty? it takes about 15 mins max with a power washer to clean in around the wheel arches and knock the big dirt off the underbody. nobody is going to be expecting it as clean as the day it left the factory or anything but a quick wash befort the nct or a trip to your mechanic wont kill you!!

eth0

Sounds like a money racket, government getting everyone to pay for an "NCT wash".

Never had problems meself, or heard of anyone being failed for this. Never paid to have the car washed either

Stark

Only applies to cars that are completely filthy underneath. Never had to do it myself. Though I do keep it reasonably clean.

Esel

Owen wrote: »

A woman I know was failed because her windscreen was too dirty. Only a visual retest though.

I read recently that not having a clear windscreen (due to dirt, condensation inside, ice not cleared etc.) will soon be a penalty points offence. About time too, imo.

michellie

sean1141 wrote: »

why do people expect mechanics to work on or inspect a car that is filthy dirty? it takes about 15 mins max with a power washer to clean in around the wheel arches and knock the big dirt off the underbody. nobody is going to be expecting it as clean as the day it left the factory or anything but a quick wash befort the nct or a trip to your mechanic wont kill you!!

Not only that but would you like a mechanic to get out of a filthy car and into your one ?

eth0

I wouldn't go so far as to call a lad after a FAS course on looking at a few numbers on a computer and have a quick gawk at the bottom of your car a mechanic.

michellie

eth0 wrote: »

I wouldn't go so far as to call a lad after a FAS course on looking at a few numbers on a computer and have a quick gawk at the bottom of your car a mechanic.

But that's what they are.

tippspur

Just goes to prove that it's just a money making racket.

Nissan doctor

eth0 wrote: »

I wouldn't go so far as to call a lad after a FAS course on looking at a few numbers on a computer and have a quick gawk at the bottom of your car a mechanic.

You have to be a qualified mechanic to work in the NCT. Although many are not very experienced at working as real world mechanics.

I'm well aware that some NCT fails are ridiculous, but it bugs me a little when people come running in with the 'money racket' comments.

The truth is that most people see having to spend money on their car as a grudge spend any testing body which exists to make sure they do spend money on maintenance will always be perceived as a 'money racket'.

eth0

michellie wrote: »

But that's what they are.

I find it very hard to believe that every one of them boyos is a fully qualified mechanic.

johnayo

http://www.nct.ie/pdf/nctmanual.pdf


Quote from page 5.

Testers may refuse a test in the following circumstances:
(i) where in their opinion any part of the vehicle or its
equipment is in such a dirty or dangerous condition as
to make it unreasonably difficult to carry out the test.

eth0

eth0 wrote: »

I wouldn't go so far as to call a lad after a FAS course on looking at a few numbers on a computer and have a quick gawk at the bottom of your car a mechanic.

eth0 wrote: »

I find it very hard to believe that every one of them boyos is a fully qualified mechanic.

Some of them are fairly poor alright but they all have the paper work, or at least should do.

Marcin_diy

My car failed NCT and needs to go for a visual retest cos of slightly worn brake pedal rubber ( ok, fine I can agree on this, and it is 8 euro to get a new rubber) and becouse there is a small crack on the fron fog light....
Everything else is absolutely fine, all other important things passed with no problem.


- fog light is working fine, no water inside
- front fog light is not a mandatory on any car, so it shouldn't be a subject of NCT test

I had a conversation with "mechanic" and he said that if it is installed it must be ok....

Honda charge 150 euro for a new fog light and 200 for labour as all front bumper must be taken off to replace light - thats 350 euro for a stupid crack on fog lamp.........


Can i just cover these fog lights with a plastic and tell "mechanic" that i don't have these lights any longer?


other solution is to get it from micksgarage for 90euro and spend half a day myself taking off bumper and replacing it...... I'm just not sure if I can put it back together........

NCT is stupid thing , I Can't get NCT now cos my car is danger on the roads.
and all other wrecked cars with huge mileage and worn tyres etc that have valid nct and have no front fog lights are much safer to drive, than my 6 years old car with 60k miles on the clock.

ehh

Mar4ix

Marcin_diy wrote: »

My car failed NCT and needs to go for a visual retest cos of slightly worn brake pedal rubber ( ok, fine I can agree on this, and it is 8 euro to get a new rubber) and becouse there is a small crack on the fron fog light....
........................
ehh

Why go to honda ? could get second hand foglight from breakers, and fit in to indys garage .... roughly it would be deffo half price cheaper.

Marcin_diy

I was already in 5 scrapyards and couldnt get it.

I just read manual for "mechanics" downloaded from nct webpage with guidelines and instructions, and it is written there they cant fail car for cracks in auxiliary lamps -front fog lights as long as they cant fit sheet of paper used to print nct results in these cracks. :-) it looks like ill have to have a chat with a test centre manager tomorrow...

Markcheese

Marcin_diy wrote: »

My car failed NCT and needs to go for a visual retest cos of slightly worn brake pedal rubber ( ok, fine I can agree on this, and it is 8 euro to get a new rubber) and becouse there is a small crack on the fron fog light....
Everything else is absolutely fine, all other important things passed with no problem.


- fog light is working fine, no water inside
- front fog light is not a mandatory on any car, so it shouldn't be a subject of NCT test

I had a conversation with "mechanic" and he said that if it is installed it must be ok....

Honda charge 150 euro for a new fog light and 200 for labour as all front bumper must be taken off to replace light - thats 350 euro for a stupid crack on fog lamp.........


Can i just cover these fog lights with a plastic and tell "mechanic" that i don't have these lights any longer?


other solution is to get it from micksgarage for 90euro and spend half a day myself taking off bumper and replacing it...... I'm just not sure if I can put it back together........

NCT is stupid thing , I Can't get NCT now cos my car is danger on the roads.
and all other wrecked cars with huge mileage and worn tyres etc that have valid nct and have no front fog lights are much safer to drive, than my 6 years old car with 60k miles on the clock.

ehh

If it's just a cracked lens get some clear silicone and fill the crack, always worked for me....don't think nct is a scam but do think they should test the car and not the optional extras ....

corktina

if its a scam making you do a retest, then I can think of dozens of better ways to make €28!

In fairness, you should do a simple visual check yourself before the test and a spot a simple hairline crack or dirt underneath..

dahamsta

According to the OP's research they didn't need to though, it's just another case of a tester failing someone for something that isn't actually a fail.

I don't think it's a scam either, at least to the level that some people make out, but I've seen a spate of incidents like this recently on motoring forums. Either there's been an influx of new, badly trained testers, or the ones there are trying to keep themselves in a job.

Jimdagym

Or, and this is a crazy one, the op's car was actually dirty underneath and the tester was right :eek:

dahamsta

Pretty sure the person with the cracked fog is someone else entirely.

Jimdagym

dahamsta wrote: »

Pretty sure the person with the cracked fog is someone else entirely.

Yeah, it is. I didn't quote you because I was talking more in general terms.

Seth Brundle

Marcin_diy wrote: »

My car failed NCT and needs to go for a visual retest cos of slightly worn brake pedal rubber ( ok, fine I can agree on this, and it is 8 euro to get a new rubber) and becouse there is a small crack on the fron fog light....
Everything else is absolutely fine, all other important things passed with no problem.


- fog light is working fine, no water inside
- front fog light is not a mandatory on any car, so it shouldn't be a subject of NCT test

I had a conversation with "mechanic" and he said that if it is installed it must be ok....

Honda charge 150 euro for a new fog light and 200 for labour as all front bumper must be taken off to replace light - thats 350 euro for a stupid crack on fog lamp.........


Can i just cover these fog lights with a plastic and tell "mechanic" that i don't have these lights any longer?


other solution is to get it from micksgarage for 90euro and spend half a day myself taking off bumper and replacing it...... I'm just not sure if I can put it back together........

NCT is stupid thing , I Can't get NCT now cos my car is danger on the roads.
and all other wrecked cars with huge mileage and worn tyres etc that have valid nct and have no front fog lights are much safer to drive, than my 6 years old car with 60k miles on the clock.

ehh

Yes your car is a potential danger because your brake pedal is inadequate. You did not disagree with this judgement.
However with regard to tour car not passing the transparent (sic) rules is not the fault of the "mechanic" (your critical quote marks). Still, I can't tell whether you are annoyed over the crack or having to pay Honda prices but either way was it the NCTS' fault that your car failed for two faults that you yourself could have easily spotted and remedied?

Nissan doctor

dahamsta wrote: »

According to the OP's research they didn't need to though, it's just another case of a tester failing someone for something that isn't actually a fail.

I don't think it's a scam either, at least to the level that some people make out, but I've seen a spate of incidents like this recently on motoring forums. Either there's been an influx of new, badly trained testers, or the ones there are trying to keep themselves in a job.

After the NCT's 5 mins of fame on RTE a while back they are under extreme pressure to make sure they don't miss anything and unfortunately this means some over cautious fails sometimes.

It used to be a case that you would get some cars that fail on stupid things and some where obvious faults go un-noticed but the trend has changed to one of mostly failure on very minor things.

MugMugs

My last test my Motor was filthy. I scrubbed her silly the weekend before and hosed underneath and the morning of the test had her on some of our finest roads and she looked worse than before I washed her. Wasn't much I could do about it to be honest, I had to work..... I passed anyway and that was in Drogheda too....

trixyben

The underbody of the car has to clean to some degree for the tester to do his job correctly, if he cant see brake lines etc he cant carry out his test, so to avoid having to retest because car to dirty have it washed the day before.

I wash my own with the powerwasher and have never had a problem, nearly every tyre place nowadays has ramps to do nct wash so failing on this is rally your own fault and nt the testers imo...

Marcin_diy

kbannon wrote: »

Yes your car is a potential danger because your brake pedal is inadequate. You did not disagree with this judgement.
However with regard to tour car not passing the transparent (sic) rules is not the fault of the "mechanic" (your critical quote marks). Still, I can't tell whether you are annoyed over the crack or having to pay Honda prices but either way was it the NCTS' fault that your car failed for two faults that you yourself could have easily spotted and remedied?

brake pedal rubber is replaced... I wrote this and I'm no arguing this. I'm much more concerned about failing on cracked not mandatory front fog light where in NCT "mechanics" handbook is clearly written on page 50, section 32, under auxiliary lamps, that cracked front fog light is not a reason to fail test as long as you can't put a sheet of paper through the glass to inside of lamp...
thats what im questioning and please be more carefull when reading.


my lamp has cracks, but you wont put a single hair through...

so why "mechanic" failed car on this?

sean1141

corktina wrote: »

if its a scam making you do a retest, then I can think of dozens of better ways to make €28!

if it was only a brake pedal rubber and a cracked light there would be no retest fee.

Marcin_diy wrote: »

brake pedal rubber is replaced... I wrote this and I'm no arguing this. I'm much more concerned about failing on cracked not mandatory front fog light where in NCT "mechanics" handbook is clearly written on page 50, section 32, under auxiliary lamps, that cracked front fog light is not a reason to fail test as long as you can't put a sheet of paper through the glass to inside of lamp...
thats what im questioning and please be more carefull when reading.


my lamp has cracks, but you wont put a single hair through...

so why "mechanic" failed car on this?

a crack in the lense can distort the beam from the light and this may blind on coming traffic.. i will agree it is a stupid reason to fail a car all the same

lifer_sean

Marcin_diy wrote: »

My car failed NCT and needs to go for a visual retest cos of slightly worn brake pedal rubber ( ok, fine I can agree on this, and it is 8 euro to get a new rubber) and becouse there is a small crack on the fron fog light....
Everything else is absolutely fine, all other important things passed with no problem.


- fog light is working fine, no water inside
- front fog light is not a mandatory on any car, so it shouldn't be a subject of NCT test

I had a conversation with "mechanic" and he said that if it is installed it must be ok....

If you are worried about the cost of the lamp, just take both front foglamps off and the car will pass, and you will get your NCT cert.

Then repair lamp with silicon and/or tape, and re-fit.

They don't usually fail cars for cracked foglamps.

Wexfordian

I usually take the car through one of the underbody washes if its going to need to go on a ramp, be it for NCT or service or anything else. Its just good manners.

Marcin_diy

sean1141 wrote: »

if it was only a brake pedal rubber and a cracked light there would be no retest fee.



a crack in the lense can distort the beam from the light and this may blind on coming traffic.. i will agree it is a stupid reason to fail a car all the same

Sean
I need to go for visual retest only , no fee for this.

Section 33 of NCT manual says, that if car is fitted with Auxiliary lamps like front fog lights, they need to be tested - the upper edge of the beam cannot be more than 2% above the horizontal line.

It means that my cracked fog lamp passed this test, otherwise it would be written in the reason for failure, and I would have to go for 28Euro paid retest.

Heh I'll see tomorrow what they say about this. Doesn't matter if this is 350 euro to replace or 175 - thos expense is not in my budget

sean1141

I have been to the nct with every car I have owned. All had factory fitted fog lights except one, but this had fog lights fitted and it was the only car that was ever tested for fog/aux lights.

they may not have tested it but just failed it because it was cracked which I agree is stupid buy that is the joy of it.

What car is it?

Marcin_diy

accord it is her 2nd nct.

fasttalkerchat

Esel wrote: »

I read recently that not having a clear windscreen (due to dirt, condensation inside, ice not cleared etc.) will soon be a penalty points offence. About time too, imo.

I heard of someone getting points for ice on the windscreen but that was up north.

haminka

This must be the only country in the world where people moan about standard things such as having a car regularly serviced and checked and tested with the mechanics requiring a clean car to work on as a way of the government just thinking up new rules and taking over people's lives. Try taking or reducing any of the generous allowances given by the government and they protest again.
Having a reasonably clean car is normal and why should the NCT guys clean the car themselves. If they need to check the underside, how do you expect them to do that if it's covered in dried out mud?
I never washed my car before the NCT but it was reasonably clean where it was supposed to be checked and never had a problem.

Marcin_diy

hello again. I went for a retest this morning, asked fo supervisor/manager , showed him replaced antislippery rubber on the brake pedal, then told him, that i was unfairly failed under section 32 auxiliay lamps, where is written that cracked front fog light is not a reason for failure and a minute later left office with a new cert.

kmurray3

My dad did that, still failed

kmurray3

Oh and only NCT carwash ramp in Longford is broken so no idea where I can get it washed now. Will drive to Mullingar and get it done but will surely get dirty in the drive back