Is an NCT a guarantee of a decent car

giftgrub

Looking to buy a car for the first time.

I know bugger all and havent got a huge amount of cash, 1500-2000.

Ive seen some ads that have the car NCT'd until next year, is that a safe enough bet that it wont collapse in a heap a mile down the road after i pay for it?

I do plan on bringing a mechanic to a viewing....

Moneymaker

No, it's not.

Cleveland Hot Pocket

It's better than not having it.

NIMAN

What Cleveland said.

My brothers car passed the MOT in the North, and a couple of days later the brakes failed on him when cornering.

The test is only saying it was ok the day it was tested, things may have changed since then, but if its passed very recently then its a fair likelihood of not being in too bad a nick.

Geomy

If you can pick up a Toyota corolla ot yaris or starlet from the years 1996 to 2001 you shouldn't go wrong. ..
Grand solid cars ;-)

ted1

It's a guarantee that you can legally drive it without having to spend money on it. My opinion is that unless you know about cars you would be made to get a car without one.

An NCT doesn't really check the mechanics of a car

michael999999

giftgrub wrote: »

Looking to buy a car for the first time.

I know bugger all and havent got a huge amount of cash, 1500-2000.

Ive seen some ads that have the car NCT'd until next year, is that a safe enough bet that it wont collapse in a heap a mile down the road after i pay for it?


I do plan on bringing a mechanic to a viewing....

I passed the nct years ago with the head gasket gone in a car!

CJhaughey

All it means is that the running gear and exhaust and lights were ok on the day it was tested.
The NCT doesn't check engine condition beyond emissions.
It won't tell you if the timing belt is overdue or if the HG is gone or anything engine related.

wexie

CJhaughey wrote: »

All it means is that the running gear and exhaust and lights were ok on the day it was tested.
The NCT doesn't check engine condition beyond emissions.
It won't tell you if the timing belt is overdue or if the HG is gone or anything engine related.

I had a car pass the NCT with a big gaping hole in the exhaust down pipe, pretty sure it was the only reason it passed the emissions test as very little of the emissions were actually making it to the back of the car

Akrasia

wexie wrote: »

I had a car pass the NCT with a big gaping hole in the exhaust down pipe, pretty sure it was the only reason it passed the emissions test as very little of the emissions were actually making it to the back of the car

I passed with a fractured exhaust manifold. More emissions inside the car than outside

wildefalcon

And, of course, it doesn't mean the seller didn't swap the nice new tyres (or any other parts) on the car for the NCT, for some banana skins that last saw service on a scrap car in thailand.

JonKelleher

No

Akrasia

wexie wrote: »

I had a car pass the NCT with a big gaping hole in the exhaust down pipe, pretty sure it was the only reason it passed the emissions test as very little of the emissions were actually making it to the back of the car

I passed with a fractured exhaust manifold. More emissions inside the car than outside

giftgrub

I would have thought a pass was a way of telling if the car had met certain standards?

God this is scary...

wildefalcon

It sure is, add into the mix sellers who clock the car (reduce the mileage) and undeclared repaired accident damaged vehicles and you'd really worry about buying a car.

Which isn't to say there are genuine cars out there - it's just finding them.

gizafagila

It's a gamble either way.

I got a Honda Civic for €600 with the NCT expired by 4 months.

I booked it into the NCT a month later and it FAILED .... on a lightbulb. So I drove across the road to a garage, got the lightbulb for €5, then went back and got my NCT cert. I brought it for a service recently and the only thing wrong with it really were the brake discs, which the mechanic recommended replacing in the next 10,000 miles.

Looking back, I would say definitely buy a car with NCT. It was a real pain in the arse driving around without one, afraid to leave the city in case I come across a checkpoint. Also, I was pretty stressed anticipating an NCT failure, preemptively checking car part prices online and wondering how many hundreds it will cost to fix it up.

djimi

giftgrub wrote: »

I would have thought a pass was a way of telling if the car had met certain standards?

God this is scary...

It is, at a point in time on a certain day. I could write the car off when driving home from the test center, patch it back together with sellotape and still have a valid NCT for 1-2 years.

No NCT is something to be concerned about. A current NCT means next to nothing. Only a good check from a mechanic will give you an indication of the current state of the car.