Driving with a failed NCT (now out of date)

RCK1

Hi guys,

Sorry if this has being asked before- I did my NCT test the week before it was due and failed on two items and they said to come back within a certain time for the re-test. My NCT cert is now out of date

Am I ok to drive the car once I have a date for the re-test or what is likely to happen if I'm stopped?

Thanks

BronsonTB

Technically no as you have no valid NCT (legal requirement), but it will depend on the garda that stops you.

You are however ok to drive it to the test centre on the day of the retest.

(No high horse but just to Note: To prevent this they allow you test your vehicle in advance of the expiry date so you don't have to drive without one. )

Zubeneschamali

RCK1 wrote: »

Am I ok to drive the car once I have a date for the re-test or what is likely to happen if I'm stopped?

When was the last time you were stopped? Just obey the speed limits til your NCT date.

tphase

BronsonTB wrote: »

You are however ok to drive it to the test centre on the day of the retest.

I'm open to correction but I think this is incorrect.
As far as I understand it, there is only one circumstance in which you are allowed to drive a car without a valid NCT: having failed a test, you are allowed to drive until midnight on that day.
That said, it would a right cnut of a guard that would do you on the way the test.
Other than that, driving without a valid NCT, even with proof of a retest date, is risky. You might get away with it if stopped but I'd say more likely you won't. With all the checkpoints around this time of year, keeping it below the speed limit will not save you

BronsonTB

tphase wrote: »

I'm open to correction but I think this is incorrect.
As far as I understand it, there is only one circumstance in which you are allowed to drive a car without a valid NCT: having failed a test, you are allowed to drive until midnight on that day.
That said, it would a right cnut of a guard that would do you on the way the test.
Other than that, driving without a valid NCT, even with proof of a retest date, is risky. You might get away with it if stopped but I'd say more likely you won't. With all the checkpoints around this time of year, keeping it below the speed limit will not save you

You are allowed drive to the retest for an NCT or DOE. (Checking to get you the legal text)

Cee-Jay-Cee

BronsonTB wrote: »

You are allowed drive to the retest for an NCT or DOE. (Checking to get you the legal text)

Correct, the same as you are allowed to drive with no tax for the purpose of going to the tax office to tax the car.

Isambard

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

Correct, the same as you are allowed to drive with no tax for the purpose of going to the tax office to tax the car.

that's not true.

rgodard80a

RCK1 wrote: »

Am I ok to drive the car once I have a date for the re-test

Your insurance may or may not cover you if the car doesn't have a valid NCT.
So worse case scenario, you could potentially be done for driving without insurance.

My wife's car needed work done when her NCT expired, but the breakdown cover for her policy
only applied when the car had a valid NCT. They wouldn't tow it to a garage.

RCK1

Thanks everyone for the replies , Just going to keep driving to a minimum locally over the Christmas and hope for the best if unlucky enough to be stopped.

RCK1

BronsonTB wrote: »

Technically no as you have no valid NCT (legal requirement), but it will depend on the garda that stops you.

You are however ok to drive it to the test centre on the day of the retest.

(No high horse but just to Note: To prevent this they allow you test your vehicle in advance of the expiry date so you don't have to drive without one. )

Yes must do that in future. I'm bad for leaving things for the last minute especially with the Christmas rush

RCK1

rgodard80a wrote: »

Your insurance may or may not cover you if the car doesn't have a valid NCT.
So worse case scenario, you could potentially be done for driving without insurance.

My wife's car needed work done when her NCT expired, but the breakdown cover for her policy
only applied when the car had a valid NCT. They wouldn't tow it to a garage.

Never thought of that with the insurance thanks

punisher5112

Right there are a huge amount of very wrong posts on here.

One can not drive at all without a valid NCT.

There is no option of just getting it to the test centre unfortunately.


There is an exception if your car is signed off the road and has no tax. This means one can drive an untaxed car to a booked test without any issues or fines.
The car must be still fully road legal and have valid NCT.

Obviously it's up to the Gardai and they can use discretion in these cases but it obviously doesn't mean you will get away with it.

RCK1

punisher5112 wrote: »

Right there are a huge amount of very wrong posts on here.

One can not drive at all without a valid NCT.

There is no option of just getting it to the test centre unfortunately.


There is an exception if your car is signed off the road and has no tax. This means one can drive an untaxed car to a booked test without any issues or fines.
The car must be still fully road legal and have valid NCT.

Obviously it's up to the Gardai and they can use discretion in these cases but it obviously doesn't mean you will get away with it.

Yes I realise I 'll be taking that risk. My test is on the 5th of January and I don't have any major driving to just 5 minutes to relatives or the shops/train station etc..

RCK1

So I kept driving to a bare minimum localy and wasn't stopped. I had the re-test yesterday and it passed with flying colours. Next time to book it well in advance! Thanks for the replies .

punisher5112

RCK1 wrote: »

So I kept driving to a bare minimum localy and wasn't stopped. I had the re-test yesterday and it passed with flying colours. Next time to book it well in advance! Thanks for the replies .

Good result.

Remember you can always do it earlier within 90 days and still get the full year plus 2 months and so many weeks.,...

RCK1

punisher5112 wrote: »

Good result.

Remember you can always do it earlier within 90 days and still get the full year plus 2 months and so many weeks.,...

Yes will note that for the next time. Thanks!

ofcork

The early 90 day is good mine was due feb 18 done in nov 17 good until feb 2020!

antodeco

Just in relation to "not being allowed drive to the NCT centre with no valid NCT".

So, if you fail your NCT, you can leave and head home, as the chances of getting to a mechanic that day would be rare. You would then need to get your car towed to the mechanic to fix it. Can a mechanic drive a car without NCT? There would be no way to "test" the car that it's all ok. Then, the car would need to be towed either to your house or to the centre, assuming you can get a retest quick enough. I know you can retest it early that would negate any of the above, but still seems like a mad setup. There should be an allowance of 28 days from test failure or something to allow people sort it!

Truckermal

You can test it 90 days before the test expires this is loads of time to sort any issues out..

punisher5112

antodeco wrote: »

Just in relation to "not being allowed drive to the NCT centre with no valid NCT".

So, if you fail your NCT, you can leave and head home, as the chances of getting to a mechanic that day would be rare. You would then need to get your car towed to the mechanic to fix it. Can a mechanic drive a car without NCT? There would be no way to "test" the car that it's all ok. Then, the car would need to be towed either to your house or to the centre, assuming you can get a retest quick enough. I know you can retest it early that would negate any of the above, but still seems like a mad setup. There should be an allowance of 28 days from test failure or something to allow people sort it!

If you bring it in early and it's a fail dangerous then your nct is void.

If you book up to 90 days early which everyone can do that's plenty of time to sort any issues out.

Isambard

antodeco wrote: »

Just in relation to "not being allowed drive to the NCT centre with no valid NCT".

So, if you fail your NCT, you can leave and head home, as the chances of getting to a mechanic that day would be rare. You would then need to get your car towed to the mechanic to fix it. Can a mechanic drive a car without NCT? There would be no way to "test" the car that it's all ok. Then, the car would need to be towed either to your house or to the centre, assuming you can get a retest quick enough. I know you can retest it early that would negate any of the above, but still seems like a mad setup. There should be an allowance of 28 days from test failure or something to allow people sort it!

do that and everyone will wait until the 28 days are up, re-test it, fail again and then look for another 28 days. The object is to get people to test early which gives loads of time to sort any problems.

amf78

Couple of questions in relation to this: http://www.rsa.ie/en/RSA/Your-Vehicle/Your-Vehicle-/NCT-Test-Result-/
The wording makes it sound as if a minor result amounts to a pass ('the vehicle has passed the test with minor faults recorded') while a major or dangerous result amounts to a fail. So which one is it? Are you allowed to drive then?
In the case of a dangerous result, it is more clearly stated: "Vehicles with dangerous defects identified constitute a direct and immediate risk to road safety such that, the vehicle should not be used on the road under any circumstances." That sort of implies again that minor and major fails can be used in some circumstances.

grogi

BronsonTB wrote: »

You are allowed drive to the retest for an NCT or DOE. (Checking to get you the legal text)

No, you are not.

Del2005

amf78 wrote: »

Couple of questions in relation to this: http://www.rsa.ie/en/RSA/Your-Vehicle/Your-Vehicle-/NCT-Test-Result-/
The wording makes it sound as if a minor result amounts to a pass ('the vehicle has passed the test with minor faults recorded') while a major or dangerous result amounts to a fail. So which one is it? Are you allowed to drive then?
In the case of a dangerous result, it is more clearly stated: "Vehicles with dangerous defects identified constitute a direct and immediate risk to road safety such that, the vehicle should not be used on the road under any circumstances." That sort of implies again that minor and major fails can be used in some circumstances.

You can drive home if the failure is not classified as dangerous. The only other time you can drive without a valid NCT is if the car has come from a non connected island.

What your insurance company does is a different matter as most require a valid NCT to provide cover. So you can legally drive home after failing an NCT but you aren't legal as your insurance is not valid, the insurance companies have started going after 3rd party payouts for drivers not adhering to the insurance requirements.

grogi

punisher5112 wrote: »

If you bring it in early and it's a fail dangerous then your nct is void.

If you book up to 90 days early which everyone can do that's plenty of time to sort any issues out.

Nonsense. NCT remains valid until the date of it's exportation.

One cannot drive a car that is not roadworthy, regardless if it failed the NCT or not.

amf78

Del2005 wrote: »

So you can legally drive home after failing an NCT

The question stands: is a minor result still a fail? If it is, how can RSA state that the vehicle has passed the test? Is the car roadworthy in that case?
Unless I'm missing something, the new classification leaves room for a scenario where the car has passed the test (albeit with minor faults), and you can still get done for not having a valid NCT...

mikeymouse

grogi wrote: »

Nonsense. NCT remains valid until the date of it's exportation.

One cannot drive a car that is not roadworthy, regardless if it failed the NCT or not.

too many negatives there for me i'm afraid.

punisher5112

grogi wrote: »

Nonsense. NCT remains valid until the date of it's exportation.

One cannot drive a car that is not roadworthy, regardless if it failed the NCT or not.

Where were you 5 months ago..... Took that long for you to reply.

The NCT will be void if found to be dangerous.

Del2005

amf78 wrote: »

The question stands: is a minor result still a fail? If it is, how can RSA state that the vehicle has passed the test? Is the car roadworthy in that case?
Unless I'm missing something, the new classification leaves room for a scenario where the car has passed the test (albeit with minor faults), and you can still get done for not having a valid NCT...

If driving home you are fine as they now are supposed to stop you driving off in a dangerously defective car and if you do drive a dangerously defective car they will call the Gardai.

You have to trailer/wagon it everywhere else though.

grogi

mikeymouse wrote: »

too many negatives there for me i'm afraid.

Nothing a piece of paper and a bit of logical mind cannot solve... ;P

punisher5112 wrote: »

Where were you 5 months ago..... Took that long for you to reply.

Christmas holidays probably.

The NCT will be void if found to be dangerous.

It is an offence and negligence to drive a car that is not roadworthy. It is a gross negligence to do it after being told at the NCT centre it is not roadworthy.

But it has nothing to do with validity of NCT which remain valid.

punisher5112

grogi wrote: »

Nothing a piece of paper and a bit of logical mind cannot solve... ;P



Christmas holidays probably.



It is an offence and negligence to drive a car that is not roadworthy. It is a gross negligence to do it after being told at the NCT centre it is not roadworthy.

But it has nothing to do with validity of NCT which remain valid.

Good luck fighting that with a judge....