Nct retest scam

tiempo

Anyone have a similar problem to this:

My peugeot 206 failed the nct on the brake control valve not working properly. I had the problem fixed by a garage. But it failed the retest because the valve was now leaking fluid! I got on to the mechanic and he swore that he'd checked the valve for leaks, even sprayed it with white undercoat to highlight any problems.
When I took it back to him he raised the car and we both checked the valve. He had sprayed it and there was no hint of a leak. 'I guarantee you, that car will pass when you bring it back,' the mechanic said. Which is exactly what happened. He hadn't touched the car apart from putting in on the ramp.

Seems like a nice little €28 euro scam. When I 'queried' how a leak could repair itself with the centre's supervisor, he kept insisting there had been a leak. At one point he actually said the leak hadn't been there originally then quickly changed his mind. He also said he remembered the car, although it wasn't him who'd checked it!

Stheno

I take the following view to the nct.

1. depending on the time of day, I am more likely to fail
2. if I have not serviced the car in the year previous, I expect it to fail
3. If I have a car that has faults I'd expect them fo find something.
4. If my car is old, I expect a fail


In all my NCTs, all my cars have been ten years plus. Never passed one first time, most of the time the faults have been genuine, one out of five my mechanic has quibbled with.

So in fairness I'm happy with it, some of the faults they have found would be hard to find on a routine service.

tiempo

Ever had a hydraulic leak that repaired itself, Stheno?

Tigger

I service our cars bikes an vans and everything passes their tests
There is no scam
Or no scam the west anyway

tiempo

And the leak that repaired itself?

Cerco

I failed my NCT once because brake valves were leaking fluid. I had just had the car services and the mechanic had failed to replace the covers on the valves tightly. The NCT guys will not fix anything no matter how small. I think this is right as they are only responsible for testing.

So the leaks did not fix themselves but the mechanic got it right second time around.

Frankie Lee

The likely scenario is that the garage freed up the equalizer valve with WD40 or similar but the NCT tester probably mistook whatever stains were left for being a leak. A mistake rather than a scam imo but an inconvenience to the op.

dgt

I failed on leaking fluid once. Turns out it was the clutch slave cylinder. Engine out, box off job :mad:

Wheelnut

I have five cars in the family fleet that I generally manage to get through the NCT with a bit of careful preparation. Any time one of them failed and I disagreed, I had to eat my words because on dismantling the part a fault was found.

The most likely explanation is what Frankie Lee says however Tiempo is determined to believe there is a scam and far be it from me to spoil his gratification.

tiempo

Cerco, you seem to suffer with add. There was not the slightest sign of a leak. There was no 'getting it right the second time around.' Until I saw it myself I believed the nct guy, not my mechanic. But when I saw there was not the slightest hint of a leak on the unit. The mechanic raised the car with me there, we inspected the unit and lowered the car without touching it. I've more to be doing with my time that writing a post about a fabrication. And why would a test centre allow a car be driven away with a leaking hydraulic system? A 'fail dangerous' requires the owner to have the car towed away from the centre. Is a leaking brake system not dangerous?

corktina

as scam ? all that trouble for €28? get real....

bidiots

tiempo wrote: »

Cerco, you seem to suffer with add. There was not the slightest sign of a leak. There was no 'getting it right the second time around.' Until I saw it myself I believed the nct guy, not my mechanic. But when I saw there was not the slightest hint of a leak on the unit. The mechanic raised the car with me there, we inspected the unit and lowered the car without touching it. I've more to be doing with my time that writing a post about a fabrication. And why would a test centre allow a car be driven away with a leaking hydraulic system? A 'fail dangerous' requires the owner to have the car towed away from the centre. Is a leaking brake system not dangerous?

I think you need to take a few deep breaths and calm down a bit there....

Licencetokill

corktina wrote: »

as scam ? all that trouble for €28? get real....

if ten cars "fail" then ten cars have to do a re test so at €28 each time that's a good profit. If they do that once a week for a year that is alot of money.

bidiots

And who gets the money?

George Dalton

As other posters have said it is a mistake not a scam. Appeal it and you will get the money back. Posting here isn't going to achieve anything.

biko

tiempo wrote: »

Cerco, you seem to suffer with add.

If you want to keep posting in this forum I suggest using a more civil tone.
This time I will only lock the thread.

Good luck with claiming your fee back from NCT.