NCT

jeffk

Is it me or is everyone failing it this year?

Just back from mine
Metal/rubber break line(replaced a metal one last year and rest where ok)
Lights off(had them set last year)
Cloudy headlights, had an idea these where bad, but no more bad that other years

Herself and a friend of the family also failed and from the sounds of it a lot more in the test centre this morning

To top it all off, my old NCT cert isnt up till 19th Aug,I did the right thing and booked or tried to a month in advance, then get emailed todays date. No wonder they are behind with fails galore

obezyana

I was in with mine recently it failed first time passed on re test. The day of the re test in the time i was there 10 people were ahead of me 9 of them walked out with fail sheets. One thing i did notice, an NCT inspector was was walking around the centre checking in on the testers. Dont know if it was the reason 9 out of 10 failed or that it was the owners just didnt bother their arses maintaining their cars.

bop1977

I got a free test this year and passed first time even though my tyres were borderline legal.
A lad at work failed the test on a well worn ball joint, then failed the retest on wheel alignment caused by fitting the new ball joint.

Atlantic Dawn

Last time I was there I would say 30-40% of the cars failed because of non working bulbs, the easiest and most basic thing that a complete idiot who knew nothing about the mechanical runnings of a car could see first. Some even got agressive with the tester when told the lights were not working, wtf?

jeffk

Atlantic Dawn wrote:

Last time I was there I would say 30-40% of the cars failed because of non working bulbs, the easiest and most basic thing that a complete idiot who knew nothing about the mechanical runnings of a car could see first. Some even got agressive with the tester when told the lights were not working, wtf?

To be fair it's much harder to change bulbs on newer cars, especially with big hands.

But if you can't or dont bother to pay even €10 for bulb and fitting you shouldn't be driving

Atlantic Dawn

jeffk wrote: »

To be fair it's much harder to change bulbs on newer cars, especially with big hands.

But if you can't or dont bother to pay even €10 for bulb and fitting you shouldn't be driving

If all the lights are not working they should not be on the road, the NCT is the only reason some people do any maintainance of their car at all.

Stheno

jeffk wrote: »

Is it me or is everyone failing it this year?

Just back from mine
Metal/rubber break line(replaced a metal one last year and rest where ok)
Lights off(had them set last year)
Cloudy headlights, had an idea these where bad, but no more bad that other years

Herself and a friend of the family also failed and from the sounds of it a lot more in the test centre this morning

To top it all off, my old NCT cert isnt up till 19th Aug,I did the right thing and booked or tried to a month in advance, then get emailed todays date. No wonder they are behind with fails galore

How often do you check your oil/water/coolant/lights/tyre pressure?
And how often do you service your car?

I noticed recently the lights on my car are getting a bit cloudy when looking at them in daylight, so will be doing a restoration job on them.

I check everything else above at least every fortnight, and my car gets serviced twice a year.

OH is the same, I used have alfas which failed on suspension stuff a lot, but current car went through fine, and my OHs car which is a Merc sailed through 3 then failed on a light issue which we resolved the same day and passed on visual retest

womandriver

jeffk wrote: »

Lights off(had them set last year

Last year? They advise having the lights aligned before the test as the alignment is easily thrown off by speed bumps or potholes so could hardly complain if they haven't been done for a least 7 months before the test!

Stheno

womandriver wrote: »

Last year? They advise having the lights aligned before the test as the alignment is easily thrown off by speed bumps or potholes so could hardly complain if they haven't been done for a least 7 months before the test!

That's the thing OP seems to be seeing the NCT as a reason to identify what work he needs to do on his car as opposed to regularly checking and servicing it

CiniO

jeffk wrote: »

Is it me or is everyone failing it this year?

It's just you.
So far I had 1 NCT this year and passed.

Generally over last 8 years, I put around 10 different vehicles through at least 30 NCT tests, and out of all them I failed only twice. Once on something completely silly that took 30 seconds to fix and was visual retest only. And other time on rear suspension bushings loose which I somehow didn't notice before the test. Beside that, all tests were a pass.

pred racer

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Last time I was there I would say 30-40% of the cars failed because of non working bulbs, the easiest and most basic thing that a complete idiot who knew nothing about the mechanical runnings of a car could see first. Some even got agressive with the tester when told the lights were not working, wtf?

Ive had a bulb fail on the way to the test centre

Pov06

pred racer wrote: »

Ive had a bulb fail on the way to the test centre

That's why I carry a few different types of spare bulbs in the spare wheel well :pac:

cletus

Had a free test, passed first time. Think I've failed the NCT twice ever, no complaint either time

jeffk

@Stheno
I regularly check them and keep an eye and ear on how my car is going everyday.
Plus who doesn’t use the NCT to pick out faults? I mostly certainly couldn’t say my break lines where rusty/perished enough to warrant changing them.

Serviced once a year as I don’t do much driving

The lights have been in the condition they failed for a few years and passed
I got a fella from Ashbourne to restore them up €45 with call out charge and they look like new(I know people have/will suggest toothpaste etc, but I didn’t chance anything with NCT)


@womandriver
The lights passed the NCT last yeat and then the garage said the lights needed doing. Even the tester said they barely failed, the margin is very tight, so not like they are miles off