NCT The Sillyness needs to end

Eeeyore

Hi all

Ok so this NCT business needs to end I do not mean the test itself but the parts of the test that has no relivence to Road Safety.

I had my NCT on Saturday over I Fonthill all was good the Car had no issues except the guy would not give me the NCT Cert as the Light-bulb on my Rear Fog-light Button on the Dashboard did not light up when pressed. (What) is that really a safety an issue.

Anyway he gave me until 06/05/2013 to bring it back for a visual so that means no extra charge or appointment needed, so I went home and it was annoying me a little so I took the Cover of the Button off the casing exposing the Light-bulb inside I pressed it in and it lit up so I said screw it I will bring this back over now and see what they say so I went back over told them I had a visual inspection your man came out pressed the button it worked and he said that is grant come in and I will give you your Cert.

How can a exposed Dashboard Panel be more safe then an enclosed panel but just not the light -Bulb working on something that quite frankly is insignificant these guys on the NCT must be on a power trip or something.

I would just like to note that this was the Dashboard button light to tell you it is on and not the Rear outside Fog Light itself.

Anyone else had their Car fail on something silly.

john kinsella

They are only doing their jobs.

If the dash light didnt come on then you could be driving around with your fogs on all day without knowing.

Id find that a litlte dangerous if not the most annoying thing ever if i was behind you

smash

Eeeyore wrote: »

Anyone else had their Car fail on something silly.

Yea, who need good tyres any way...

eamonnq

Had a car fail because the aerial was broken. I kid you not!!

Fratton Fred

john kinsella wrote: »

They are only doing their jobs.

If the dash light didnt come on then you could be driving around with your fogs on all day without knowing.

Id find that a litlte dangerous if not the most annoying thing ever if i was behind you

Maybe that is why there are so many pricks driving around with their fog lights on?

MidlandsM

in fairness, for €55 you get a complete car check to ensure a car is safe to be on the public roads.

The only things that bug me about the nct is that the cost, i thing €55 is too expensive, it should be €35ish ......and that you can't nct a car at any time (only can from when its 3 months early from expiry) and the one year nct on cars over 10 years, a pain in the rocks that is.........

kneemos

Of course it's a safety issue,your fog light may not be working proberly.

inforfun

Just be glad with the way it is done here.
Had to go through the NCT 2x so far, resulting in 1 visual (1 tyre was the wrong way around) and 1 without any issues.

Back in my own country, where the equivalent of the NCT is done by garages, there was always something wrong that needed repair(s).

NCT centres here have no (financial) interest to fail your car other than maybe for a paid retest.

davet82

I don't bother with nct's the guards couldn't give a shyte its only there if they pull somebody in they don't like or the car looks like a death trap

under 1% of fatal/serious injury car crashes could be connected to defective (no nct) vehicle (5 penalty points)

over 40% of fatal/serious injury car crashes connected to no seat belt (2 penalty points)

heard that on the last word a few months back, tells a story really where the priorities lie

Yawns

MidlandsM wrote: »

in fairness, for €55 you get a complete car check to ensure a car is safe to be on the public roads.

The only things that bug me about the nct is that the cost, i thing €55 is too expensiver, it should be €35ish ......and that you can't nct a car at any time (only can from when its 3 months early) and the one year nct on cars over 1o years, a pain in the rocks that is.........

In the one post you've managed to praise that you can get a complete car check for only €55 whilst also complain that the cost is too high...

MidlandsM

Yawns wrote: »

In the one post you've managed to praise that you can get a complete car check for only €55 whilst also complain that the cost is too high...

yeah, so - im praising the ethos of the test, but just saying its a tad dear as you can mot a car in the uk for £30.

flutterflye

I gave my car to my brother and he took it for nct there few weeks ago. It failed because the attachment where the wipers go into were the wrong model for that car. I had that car 5 years and it had 2 ncts - No one ever mentioned it before - Those attachment yolks weren't changed since I got the car like. And they worked perfectly too - Even your man in the nct place told my brother they worked fine, but he needed to get the correct make and model ones for that particular car.

davet82

if they're so concerned about safety it should be free, we pay enough motor tax anyways!!

NIMAN

Got my car NCTd a few weeks ago and it passed but I too did not get the cert cos I didn't have my licence with me (it was in the OHs car).

I know they are only doing their job, but a little OTT for me.

I heard the person before me get their FAIL report and I heard the guy saying that there was a jagged edge on their number plate (although not sure if this alone caused the FAIL).

Yawns

MidlandsM wrote: »

yeah, so - im praising the ethos of the test, but just saying its a tad dear as you can mot a car in the uk for £30.

But the MOT is done by garages over there and it's in their interest to find something wrong so they can hope to get you to part with more cash for repairs that may or may not be needed.

Plus with the way our prices over here are generally more expensive due to higher overheads and wages etc, €55 would prob be the equivalent cost in terms of the £30 being charged in the UK.

MidlandsM

Yawns wrote: »

But the MOT is done by garages over there and it's in their interest to find something wrong so they can hope to get you to part with more cash for repairs that may or may not be needed.

Plus with the way our prices over here are generally more expensive due to higher overheads and wages etc, €55 would prob be the equivalent cost in terms of the £30 being charged in the UK.

no

Yawns

MidlandsM wrote: »

no

Ok you win with that compelling argument.

Eeeyore

john kinsella wrote: »

They are only doing their jobs.

If the dash light didnt come on then you could be driving around with your fogs on all day without knowing.

Id find that a litlte dangerous if not the most annoying thing ever if i was behind you

I have been driving for 10 years and probably had to use that button once + if it was on when I stop and open my Door the Light on sound goes off so that would tell me it is on, also during the day you would not see that small LED yellow light but I would see that the button was pressed in so I would know it was on.

af_thefragile

MidlandsM wrote: »

the one year nct on cars over 10 years, a pain in the rocks that is.........

Agree with this!
NCT should depend on the condition of the car, not its age.
A car that's over 10yrs old but very well looked after and has been thoroughly fixed will be in a better condition than a 5 or 6yr old car that has been driven thousands of miles or has been thrashed around everywhere and been looked after very poorly by the owner.

Just because the car is older than 10yrs is no reason to be paying an extra 55eur to maintain it every year for what is a very basic check up.

Peanut2011

I had a car fail on the wheel nut. One of the nuts was the wrong way round. All I had to do was change it round and hey presto it passed.

Banjo String

Is the nct still bi/yearly?
AndThe equivalent in the North and the UK (mot) is yearly.

Solair

Yawns wrote: »

But the MOT is done by garages over there and it's in their interest to find something wrong so they can hope to get you to part with more cash for repairs that may or may not be needed.

Plus with the way our prices over here are generally more expensive due to higher overheads and wages etc, €55 would prob be the equivalent cost in terms of the £30 being charged in the UK.

That and £30 was worth a fair bit more in € a few years ago. It's only about €35 now.

Peanut2011

SamHall wrote: »

Is the nct still bi/yearly?

That depends on the age of the car.

Yawns

Agree that it's only about it being only about €35 but the overheads over here cost more. I wouldn't deem it too expensive for what it is. Anything that helps to get the worst of the cars off the road.

yeppydeppy

Peanut2011 wrote: »

I had a car fail on the wheel nut. One of the nuts was the wrong way round. All I had to do was change it round and hey presto it passed.

How can a nut be the wrong way around? You'll have to explain this further?

MidlandsM

Yawns wrote: »

Agree that it's only about it being only about €35 but the overheads over here cost more. I wouldn't deem it too expensive for what it is. Anything that helps to get the worst of the cars off the road.

it's TOO dear from a closed shop operation - there isn't consumer choice in car testing, with another licenced 2 or 3 companies doing it, it'd bring down the price and over more choice.

kneemos

Eeeyore wrote: »

I have been driving for 10 years and probably had to use that button once + if it was on when I stop and open my Door the Light on sound goes off so that would tell me it is on, also during the day you would not see that small LED yellow light but I would see that the button was pressed in so I would know it was on.

Don't see what your worked up over it didn't even cost anything,it's on their list it has to work and rightly so.

jimmy180sx

yeppydeppy wrote: »

How can a nut be the wrong way around? You'll have to explain this further?

I had to read this twice also. Thought maybe someone was having a laugh!!

Eeeyore

kneemos wrote: »

Don't see what your worked up over it didn't even cost anything,it's on their list it has to work and rightly so.

Explain to me why it is important that a little LED light on my Dashboard works or not if this is a safety Test and meant to determine if a Car is Road Worthy or not how many Road accidents have been the cause of a non working LED Light, The cost is not the issue here how about wasting my time it is just people having a slight bit of power and just deciding to fail on silly things, sure when I brought it back your man who did pass it seemed surprised it was failed on that so a bloody Jobsworth failed it if you ask me.

Play To Kill

yeppydeppy wrote: »

How can a nut be the wrong way around? You'll have to explain this further?

I presume the tapered end of the wheel nut was facing inwards.

blade1

yeppydeppy wrote: »

How can a nut be the wrong way around? You'll have to explain this further?

They can!
One end of the nut is kind of tapered so it tightens into the hole in the wheel more.

kunst nugget

af_thefragile wrote: »

Agree with this!
NCT should depend on the condition of the car, not its age.
A car that's over 10yrs old but very well looked after and has been thoroughly fixed will be in a better condition than a 5 or 6yr old car that has been driven thousands of miles or has been thrashed around everywhere and been looked after very poorly by the owner.

Just because the car is older than 10yrs is no reason to be paying an extra 55eur to maintain it every year for what is a very basic check up.

How are they going to deem the condition of the car unless they can see it.?That can only be done if the car is brought into them. And that can only be done if a person is legally required to bring in the car for some sort of test. Hmmm, only this could be done on some sort of annual or biennial basis…

LordSutch

My diesel failed the NCT last year due to the emissions being slightly off, I also got a warning re one of my tyres
(that may need replacing) before the next NCT, fair enough . . . .

I got the emissions sorted, the car had passed its NCT and I drove home a happy driver. Looking in the rear view mirror as I drove home
in the rain I smiled as I noticed that the rear wiper rubber blade was in tatters, literally the rubber had perished and was in tatters,
but hey I had my NCT and the emissions were sorted

shedweller

yeppydeppy wrote: »

How can a nut be the wrong way around? You'll have to explain this further?

The fancy chromed ones cannot go on the wrong way but the cheaper plain steel ones can due to the threaded hole going all the way through. The taper would be facing out and therefore not supporting the wheel properly. Although the centre of the wheel locates on the hub and provides support, the tapered holes do too.

kneemos

Eeeyore wrote: »

Explain to me why it is important that a little LED light on my Dashboard works or not if this is a safety Test and meant to determine if a Car is Road Worthy or not how many Road accidents have been the cause of a non working LED Light, The cost is not the issue here how about wasting my time it is just people having a slight bit of power and just deciding to fail on silly things, sure when I brought it back your man who did pass it seemed surprised it was failed on that so a bloody Jobsworth failed it if you ask me.

So fog lights are working proberly and people know when it's on,a malfunctioning bulb could mean a faulty circuit presumably.

Larbre34

All the little loopholes are closing fast. Wont matter about the Guards pulling you in for no NCT, it'll be a case of if you don't have any of tax, insurance, or NCT you wont be able to apply for any other, ie no tax-no insurance-no NCT-no insurance-no tax.

'Off the road' declarations are gone as well, if you own the car, even if you're using it as a chicken coop, itll need tax on it boss.

My major car based gripe is that my 8 year old Diesel with modern particulate filters which makes it clean and efficient even to todays standards would cost me €390 to tax if it were on a >2008 plate, but because I cant afford to change it for a newer car, costs me €673. Utter bullsh*t.

anncoates

davet82 wrote: »

I don't bother with nct's the guards couldn't give a shyte its only there if they pull somebody in they don't like or the car looks like a death trap

Not true. Or maybe it's the case down the country.

I know two different people who had their cars taken off them there and then because their NCT was so out of date.

Eeeyore

LordSutch wrote: »

My diesel failed the NCT last year due to the emissions being slightly off, I also got a warning re one of my tyres
(that may need replacing) before the next NCT, fair enough . . . .

I got the emissions sorted, the car had passed its NCT and I drove home a happy driver. Looking in the rear view mirror as I drove home
in the rain I smiled as I noticed that the rear wiper rubber blade was in tatters, literally the rubber had perished and was in tatters,
but hey I had my NCT and the emissions were sorted

That is exactly what I am talking about if it was a standardised Test then fine but it is not as it all depends on the person you get on the Day others may have and I am sure in the past they did not even touch that button to check if the little LED lights up or not, What about cars that do not have little LED lights are they all failed automatically or are they told to update their Dash to a blinking light version seriously give me a break here.

yeppydeppy

Mea culpa - I was mixing my nuts with my bolts. All the cars I've had, have had wheel bolts not wheel nuts.

kirving

Yawns wrote: »

Anything that helps to get the worst of the cars off the road.

How far do you want to go with 'worst'? Anything without the best tyres available, anything without ABS, anything without a 5 star crash rating? The most dangerous thing about any car is the driver, so there has to be some reasoning behind the cost and frequency of the testing regime.

Captain Chaos

Larbre34 wrote: »

All the little loopholes are closing fast. Wont matter about the Guards pulling you in for no NCT, it'll be a case of if you don't have any of tax, insurance, or NCT you wont be able to apply for any other, ie no tax-no insurance-no NCT-no insurance-no tax.

Then how are new first time drivers supposed to start off with your catch 22 situation you just pulled out of thin air.:rolleyes:

Eeeyore

kneemos wrote: »

So fog lights are working proberly and people know when it's on,a malfunctioning bulb could mean a faulty circuit presumably.

No because all the other electrics worked and he even said it was a fuse issue or anything like that so not affecting anything else in the car.

kneemos

LordSutch wrote: »

My diesel failed the NCT last year due to the emissions being slightly off, I also got a warning re one of my tyres
(that may need replacing) before the next NCT, fair enough . . . .

I got the emissions sorted, the car had passed its NCT and I drove home a happy driver. Looking in the rear view mirror as I drove home
in the rain I smiled as I noticed that the rear wiper rubber blade was in tatters, literally the rubber had perished and was in tatters,
but hey I had my NCT and the emissions were sorted

Don't think rear wipers are tested.

shedweller

flutterflye wrote: »

I gave my car to my brother and he took it for nct there few weeks ago. It failed because the attachment where the wipers go into were the wrong model for that car. I had that car 5 years and it had 2 ncts - No one ever mentioned it before - Those attachment yolks weren't changed since I got the car like. And they worked perfectly too - Even your man in the nct place told my brother they worked fine, but he needed to get the correct make and model ones for that particular car.

This, is amazing!
Whenever i have replaced a wiper i have never replaced it with an original. Not deliberately mind. Just shopped around and got one that was more reasonable. I even bought two sets for out two cars online and all four blades were different. Correct size and fit, just that three were mono blades from different manufacturers and one was the older style cantilevered blade!
Both cars passed nct.
I've never cleaned underneath the car either. A run of the hose alright but not up on a hoist and pressure washed! Thats just mad!
I suppose the nct lads where i go are from the country and know it's impossibru to clean a car like our city brethren.

davet82

anncoates wrote: »

Not true. Or maybe it's the case down the country.

I know two different people who had their cars taken off them there and then because their NCT was so out of date.

you're friends must be little scumbags then

I've driven cars with not even an nct disc in the window and been sailed through many a check point, the cars they must have been driving must have been in really bad condition, once you are taxed and insured most guards will let you away with I just booked the nct even though the disc is out 4 years

Peanut2011

yeppydeppy wrote: »

How can a nut be the wrong way around? You'll have to explain this further?

jimmy180sx wrote: »

I had to read this twice also. Thought maybe someone was having a laugh!!

Play To Kill wrote: »

I presume the tapered end of the wheel nut was facing inwards.

The Nissan Almera has wheel bolts coming out of the disk and you secure the tyre on them and tighten with the nut (image below)

images.jpg

anncoates

davet82 wrote: »

you're friends must be little scumbags then

They know the difference between your and you're, to be fair.

Grimreaper666

If you think it's bad now just wait till the new wave of emission tightening measures come into play!! The next generation of cars on the way will have duel catalytic converters to add to the crap we already have to put up with! I am just soooo sick of all the rules and regulations here and the ones being imposed on us from the EU. The bottom line is all about control and taxes, comply sheeple and pay ye're taxes or we'll fine ye!!

davet82

anncoates wrote: »

They know the difference between your and you're, to be fair.

educated scum, lovely

Yawns

Kevin Irving wrote: »

How far do you want to go with 'worst'? Anything without the best tyres available, anything without ABS, anything without a 5 star crash rating?

Back before the NCT testing, there was some shower of ****e cars on the road. It's been drastically reduced. How far do I want them to go with it. Once the vehicle is in a safe roadworthy condition would be fine. They do have some stupid fails but generally the stupid ones are a free visual test that can be done by the car owner themselves.

The most dangerous thing about any car is the driver, so there has to be some reasoning behind the cost and frequency of the testing regime.

I'd be in favour of drivers having to re-sit a driving test every set number of years. I'm sure most of the motorists would fail. How many times when driving do you come across an idiot driver. Wrong lane on motorway, wrong lane on roundabouts, inability to use lights correctly or at all in some cases.

anncoates

davet82 wrote: »

educated scum, lovely

If you had to say that to either of their faces. you;d wet your pants.

Now, run along. The grown-ups are talking.