NCT passed on a car that should have failed?

Thedivision

I bought a car on the 24th May, that had NCT passed and done on the 16th May.
When driving the other day, the suspension came lose behind the tire and was making a loud clanging, so I jacked it up and took off the tire to inspect it.
Thank god I did.
The axle is so badly cracked and corroded, and the tire has been losing rubber constantly from the inside causing friction as I drove.
I can't believe it passed NCT only 3 weeks ago, because the axle is genuinely a death trap waiting to happen.
I contacted the NCT and they're claiming an investigation has been launched with the photos I provided and a long email I had to type with details.
Has anybody done this before?
And if the onus is on the NCT what can I expect?

Sam Kade

Why did you buy it without checking it out?

Thedivision

Sam Kade wrote: »

Why did you buy it without checking it out?

It was very carefully checked out, the clutch especially, it was driven and it seemed perfectly fine, but I didn't get under the car to inspect the axle as it had passed NCT a week before and I inspected the certificate.

cnoc

Thedivision wrote: »

It was very carefully checked out, the clutch especially, it was driven and it seemed perfectly fine, but I didn't get under the car to inspect the axle as it had passed NCT a week before and I inspected the certificate.

What make, year and mileage?

Sam Kade

Thedivision wrote: »

It was very carefully checked out, the clutch especially, it was driven and it seemed perfectly fine, but I didn't get under the car to inspect the axle as it had passed NCT a week before and I inspected the certificate.

Amazing how it past the NCT especially with some of the silly things they fail cars on.

Thedivision

cnoc wrote: »

What make, year and mileage?

00 Opel Corsa, 120k miles.

Literally bought because of the fresh NCT.

visual

NCT dont guaranteed any car so their is no liability on them if car self destruction following day.

You bought a pup go back to seller and dont allow seller to pass the buck on to NCT.

Thedivision

Sam Kade wrote: »

Amazing how it past the NCT especially with some of the silly things they fail cars on.

My last car failed the NCT because of really tiny wear on a break pipe, how this made it through with an axel that's literally a deathtrap is beyond me.

They gave me a story about the integrity of their test being questioned and opened an investigation, just unsure of what to expect from the outcome.

Sam Kade

visual wrote: »

NCT dont guaranteed any car so their is no liability on them if car self destruction following day.

You bought a pup go back to seller and dont allow seller to pass the buck on to NCT.

Going back to the seller will be like going to the goats hole for wool if it were a private sale.

Thedivision

visual wrote: »

NCT dont guaranteed any car so their is no liability on them if car self destruction following day.

You bought a pup go back to seller and dont allow seller to pass the buck on to NCT.

See the issue is that this wear on the axle was exactly as it appeared when it went in. So the car was passed when it's severely dangerous.
Seller is having none of it, purely only responds to tell me to F off and contact NCT

Atlantic Dawn

Are you sure the NCT is genuine? Have you put the reg in to https://www.ncts.ie/ to see when it is due? Was the seller the owner of the car or a part time off books dealer?

Thedivision

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Are you sure the NCT is genuine? Have you put the reg in to see when it is due? Was the seller the owner of the car or a part time off books dealer?

Yeah they have it on record in the text centre as being tested and passed there
He was the owner apparently but struggling to believe him now

foggy_lad

Thedivision wrote: »

See the issue is that this wear on the axle was exactly as it appeared when it went in. So the car was passed when it's severely dangerous.
Seller is having none of it, purely only responds to tell me to F off and contact NCT

If the seller is a car dealer, even if only selling a couple of cars a month, then you have rights as a consumer, did or does the seller have many cars for sale?

Thedivision

foggy_lad wrote: »

If the seller is a car dealer, even if only selling a couple of cars a month, then you have rights as a consumer, did or does the seller have many cars for sale?

There was one other car on the drive and he said that was being done up to be sold by his brother.
He had a moped for sale online too.

Atlantic Dawn

Thedivision wrote: »

There was one other car on the drive and he said that was being done up to be sold by his brother.
He had a moped for sale online too.

Who's name and address was on the logbook when you signed it?

Thedivision

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Who's name and address was on the logbook when you signed it?

That's exactly it, the logbook was sent that night supposedly by him, no sign of book, chased him down three times, still no book.
So the Garda and the department gave me the information that it's not in his name but it also hasn't been reported stolen.
The guy I bought from also won't tell me why his name isn't on the logbook.
They've sent me the form to get it myself though thankfully.

Renegade Mechanic

Corsa? Did the axle look like this?



It happens, but afaik not often enough to be well known. It corrodes from the inside out until it gets weak enough to break once you hit a bump.

It's possible this happened after an NCT test, the tester wouldn't have seen it (the clanging during the shock test would definitely have drawn their attention)

Still though, it's suspicious that the owner immediately got his back up and told you to **** off, though....
Which makes me suspect a pretty poor welding job was carried out to get it through the test, and the weld failed afterwards. Look closely for seams of weld that look out of place.

I'm wagering the previous owner knows full well and the tester had been caught out by a welding job that failed on you later.

Atlantic Dawn

Thedivision wrote: »

That's exactly it, the logbook was sent that night supposedly by him, no sign of book, chased him down three times, still no book.
So the Garda and the department gave me the information that it's not in his name but it also hasn't been reported stolen.
The guy I bought from also won't tell me why his name isn't on the logbook.
They've sent me the form to get it myself though thankfully.

How much money did you part with not knowing who actually owns the car you bought?

Thedivision

Renegade Mechanic wrote: »

Corsa? Did the axle look like this?



It happens, but afaik not often enough to be well known. It corrodes from the inside out until it gets weak enough to break once you hit a bump.

It's possible this happened after an NCT test, the tester wouldn't have seen it (the clanging during the shock test would definitely have drawn their attention)

Still though, it's suspicious that the owner immediately got his back up and told you to **** off, though....
Which makes me suspect a pretty poor welding job was carried out to get it through the test, and the weld failed afterwards. Look closely for seams of weld that look out of place.

I'm wagering the previous owner knows full well and the tester had been caught out by a welding job that failed on you later.

My brother in law is a welder and he didn't see any sign of weld on it either, but yeah that's exactly what it looks like!

Yeah the shock was so lose and degraded on it too that I don't know how it didn't catch their attention

Exactly he just keeps saying it isn't his problem and to check the NCT.

Thedivision

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

How much money did you part with not knowing who actually owns the car you bought?

600, his girlfriend drove to emo, and to clonaslee to get the log book and then drove to my own house to tell me she couldn't find it but she knew where it was in her Mams so she'd post it first thing.

JungleMartin

By axle I presume you mean wishbone, suspension arm or something like that.

It's possible that the part was changed after the NCT, e.g. good part put on to pass NCT and then bad part put back on (so good part could go back on donor car). I'm not saying that's definitely what happened. But it's certainly possible.

Thedivision

JungleMartin wrote: »

By axle I presume you mean wishbone, suspension arm or something like that.

It's possible that the part was changed after the NCT, e.g. good part put on to pass NCT and then bad part put back on (so good part could go back on donor car). I'm not saying that's definitely what happened. But it's certainly possible.

The wishbone and the suspension arm.
That's how bad it is.

Sam Kade

Always check the log book and as much paper work as possible when buying private. I was looking at a car one time and the address on the log book didn't match the location of the car, when I questioned the seller he said it was his wife's fathers name and the never changed the name, I ran a mile.

Thedivision

Sam Kade wrote: »

Always check the log book and as much paper work as possible when buying private. I was looking at a car one time and the address on the log book didn't match the location of the car, when I questioned the seller he said it was his wife's fathers name and the never changed the name, I ran a mile.

The week before I bought a quick 97 clio just to have a little around and a fixer upper, the clutch went so I bought the 00 then focusing mostly on the clutch.
Knew I could get the log book anyway from the department and the peace commissioner signing!

Atlantic Dawn

Thedivision wrote: »

The week before I bought a quick 97 clio just to have a little around and a fixer upper, the clutch went so I bought the 00 then focusing mostly on the clutch.
Knew I could get the log book anyway from the department and the peace commissioner signing!

Car could also turn out to be stolen, some chap on holidays returns and notices his car missing, calls cops, car is seized from you.

Thedivision

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Car could also turn out to be stolen, some chap on holidays returns and notices his car missing, calls cops, car is seized from you.

The department could only give me the location the car is registered in, and the chap I bought it from was registered previously it changed hands the day after the NCT
Which raises more suspicions

Atlantic Dawn

Thedivision wrote: »

The department could only give me the location the car is registered in, and the chap I bought it from was registered previously it changed hands the day after the NCT
Which raises more suspicions

For future purchases if you go to www.motortax.ie and click on vehicle transaction enquiry it will let you know if the car has changed hands in the last 3 months, it's handy to know if a car is being sold shortly after purchase or trade in.

Thedivision

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

For future purchases if you go to and click on vehicle transaction enquiry it will let you know if the car has changed hands in the last 3 months, it's handy to know if a car is being sold shortly after purchase or trade in.

Yeah I think I'm going to get the full history option just to know what I'm dealing with.

Atlantic Dawn

Thedivision wrote: »

Yeah I think I'm going to get the full history option just to know what I'm dealing with.

Your generally not going to get full history on something sub €1000 though.

Personally I would also never buy from any private sale a car that is not in the name of the seller, too much risk that the car has issues.

Thedivision

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Your generally not going to get full history on something sub €1000 though.

Personally I would also never buy from any private sale a car that is not in the name of the seller, too much risk that the car has issues.

Definitely trusted this car thanks to fresh NCT.
Can't understand how it passed though

CiniO

Thedivision wrote: »

Definitely trusted this car thanks to fresh NCT.
Can't understand how it passed though

From what you're saying it cracked when you were driving it, so it means it was not yet cracked during NCT test.
If corrosion was not visible, how did you expect tester to predict it's going to crack?

Thedivision

CiniO wrote: »

From what you're saying it cracked when you were driving it, so it means it was not yet cracked during NCT test.
If corrosion was not visible, how did you expect tester to predict it's going to crack?

No that's definitely not what I'm saying.
This has been happening and has happened for a long time.
The crack and the corrosion are extremely visible when on a lift/jack and obviously more visible when the tire is off.
I wouldn't be following this up so vehemently if it cracked while I was driving it.

sjb25

Thedivision wrote: »

No that's definitely not what I'm saying.
This has been happening and has happened for a long time.
The crack and the corrosion are extremely visible when on a lift/jack and obviously more visible when the tire is off.
I wouldn't be following this up so vehemently if it cracked while I was driving it.

Its extremely visible now but how do you know it was extremely visible at the nct you said yourself you never jacked it up when buying it

Thedivision

sjb25 wrote: »

Its extremely visible now but how do you know it was extremely visible at the nct you said yourself you never jacked it up when buying it

I think you're missing the point that corrosion occurs over a period of time.
It isn't something that just magically happens 2 weeks after a fresh NCT

CiniO

Thedivision wrote: »

I think you're missing the point that corrosion occurs over a period of time.
It isn't something that just magically happens 2 weeks after a fresh NCT

Corrosion could have been there for years, but could have not been visible - could be from the inside.

Crack most likely happened after the NCT.

visual

Thedivision wrote: »

See the issue is that this wear on the axle was exactly as it appeared when it went in. So the car was passed when it's severely dangerous.
Seller is having none of it, purely only responds to tell me to F off and contact NCT

NCT failed to spot the fault but even so they arent responsible for up keep or in this case lack of same.

Seller got it through test. How is open to debate speculation guesses. But you can be sure he knew car had problem before hand. Reading your other post about the seller not being the registered owner whould suggest he is buying cars with no nct for cheap quickly turning them around with NCT and washing his hands of any liability.

The NCT failing to spot the fault isnt going to get you anywhere. Firstly the seller was the NCT customer not you. Anyway the NCT liability would be refund of NCT test fee and cancle NCT to person who presented car again no benefit to you.

You have been shafted by seller who sounds like a part time dodgy dealer who has brass neck.

I think your best option is bite the bullet and repair car. Opel parts can be got cheap

NCT is a very basic safety test and sometimes things are missed. But it should never be taken as you discovered as any sort of guaranteed the car is perfect. Unfortunately many people think a new NCT is equal to good quality car.

Thedivision

visual wrote: »

NCT failed to spot the fault but even so they arent responsible for up keep or in this case lack of same.

Seller got it through test. How is open to debate speculation guesses. But you can be sure he knew car had problem before hand. Reading your other post about the seller not being the registered owner whould suggest he is buying cars with no nct for cheap quickly turning them around with NCT and washing his hands of any liability.

The NCT failing to spot the fault isnt going to get you anywhere. Firstly the seller was the NCT customer not you. Anyway the NCT liability would be refund of NCT test fee and cancle NCT to person who presented car again no benefit to you.

You have been shafted by seller who sounds like a part time dodgy dealer who has brass neck.

I think your best option is bite the bullet and repair car. Opel parts can be got cheap

NCT is a very basic safety test and sometimes things are missed. But it should never be taken as you discovered as any sort of guaranteed the car is perfect. Unfortunately many people think a new NCT is equal to good quality car.

So what do you suppose they have it under investigation for?
They seem genuinely gutted at the integrity of the test being questioned.

Renegade Mechanic

Thedivision wrote: »

I think you're missing the point that corrosion occurs over a period of time.
It isn't something that just magically happens 2 weeks after a fresh NCT

It depends. A picture would be very helpful for the corrosion around the shock absorber mount.
As for the crack, the corrosion happens from within the structure, working it's way out. There's also a fatigue problem aswell. You don't know the metal has weakened untill the metal has split. I wouldn't blame the NCT tester for missing a split that hasn't opened yet, but the corrosion around the shock absorber mount should have been spotted, if it was that bad.

The "dealer" is definitely a part of this I think...

Hellrazer

Ive had cars pass an NCT and then to fall apart a week later.Customer decides that it shouldn't have passed the NCT and that something dodgy is going on.

People don't realise that the NCT is a test taken at one particular time ie a snapshot in time and as long as the car is ok at the particular time then its a pass.If the tester deems the car worthy of a pass at that single point in time then that's it--its a pass.If the car falls apart on the way home from the centre then the NCT cant be held at fault.

Ive seen this on corsas before that have passed the NCT.The corrosion may not be visible at the time of the NCT but the driver then hits a bump or pothole a day,a week , a month later and then decides that the car wasn't capable of passing an NCT and decides to kick up a stink over it.Id wager a few quid that that's what happened here.

As for the seller getting stroppy Ive told afew people in the past that Ive sold cars to privately to f**k off after them wanting to return a car a few weeks later--last time it was a lad who literally drove the bag out of a decent enough car that he wanted to return a month later with another 3k on the clock. Turns out he had hit a rock and put a hole in the sump and the engine had seized..That apparently was my fault!!

OP you are completely out of luck with this one.You really should have had it inspected by a mechanic before buying.

What I usually do is jump onto a forum related to the car Im thinking of buying and look for what issues arise with the make/model.That way at least you are some way armed with some information on what to look for if you don't want to bring a mechanic with you.

power pants

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

For future purchases if you go to www.motortax.ie and click on vehicle transaction enquiry it will let you know if the car has changed hands in the last 3 months, it's handy to know if a car is being sold shortly after purchase or trade in.

typed this in ans says VLC is missing for this vehicle

Ded_Zebra

Thedivision wrote: »

I think you're missing the point that corrosion occurs over a period of time.
It isn't something that just magically happens 2 weeks after a fresh NCT

The point is that the heavy corrosion was on the inside of the axle (possibly) and therefore the tester didn't see it. Then when you were driving the axle eventually weakened until it broke.

Can you post a picture of the damage on your car?

Thankfully the car was cheap, the moral of the story is to inspect cars properly. An NCT just means that a car appeared to be roadworthy to the tester on one particular day.

Paully D

I know it's probably not much consolation to you now, but at least you "only" paid €600. It could have been a lot worse and lesson learned I guess. Sorry to hear you got screwed however.

Sam Kade

You should have doubled your budget and got a decent Yaris

Jesus.

I've a couple of issues with my car and my mechanic said the NCT is so hit and miss I could put it through one day and it'll fail and another day it'll fly through it. He's very dismissive of the whole thing.

visual

Thedivision wrote: »

So what do you suppose they have it under investigation for?
They seem genuinely gutted at the integrity of the test being questioned.

Quality control. Protect their reputation. See if tester done their job but i seriously doubt they are considering reimbursement to someone who bought car post NCT.

I get impression you are hoping NCT will sort you out but i just don't see this happening

colm_mcm

Didn't this exact thing happen on a Corsa on that farsical Prime Time program about the NCT last month?

Voodoomelon

No point waiting for an "outcome" with the NCT, they're only looking into it for themselves, not you.

You'd have to prove the seller knew about the defect before he sold it to you to get your money back, which is near impossible to do. So it's repair or scrap unfortunately.