Car will cost too much to get it passed NCT. What to do?

roguey

Hi guys,

Got some bad news today. Booked the car in for a pre nct check and I've been told it'll need over a grand in work to get it to pass, which isn't worth it on a car I bought 8 months ago for 1k. Whats my best course of action now to get rid of it? Would like to get the most I can for it obviously.

The car is driving fine. I was very surprised to learn it needed so much work to be honest.

its a 2006 Fiesta, 1.25 petrol with 171000km. How much can I expect to get for it realistically? 2-300 euro? It was my first car, so I don't have much experience with this.

omicron

roguey wrote: »

Hi guys,

Got some bad news today. Booked the car in for a pre nct check and I've been told it'll need over a grand in work to get it to pass, which isn't worth it on a car I bought 8 months ago for 1k. Whats my best course of action now to get rid of it? Would like to get the most I can for it obviously.

The car is driving fine. I was very surprised to learn it needed so much work to be honest.

its a 2006 Fiesta, 1.25 petrol with 171000km. How much can I expect to get for it realistically? 2-300 euro? It was my first car, so I don't have much experience with this.

Put it through the test with no work and see which parts it fails on before doing work on it.

corcaigh1

roguey wrote: »

Hi guys,

Got some bad news today. Booked the car in for a pre nct check and I've been told it'll need over a grand in work to get it to pass, which isn't worth it on a car I bought 8 months ago for 1k. Whats my best course of action now to get rid of it? Would like to get the most I can for it obviously.

The car is driving fine. I was very surprised to learn it needed so much work to be honest.

its a 2006 Fiesta, 1.25 petrol with 171000km. How much can I expect to get for it realistically? 2-300 euro? It was my first car, so I don't have much experience with this.

Pre NCT = Garage will fleece you for unnecessary work.

Idbatterim

the nct are calling the shots on what needs to be done, the garage could easily be trying to do you! Put it through the nct and go from there. Pre nct checks are a joke!

Toyotafanboi

Indeed.

The best pre NCT test is the NCT test.

It's too easy to write a list of multiple items that "could" fail. Stick it through the test and see how it goes, it probably wont be as bad as you think.

10 Carrolls

As above, put the car through the test. I was told a few years ago if I didn't get work done I would come out with a list of faults as long as my arm, the car passed. And that was from a trustworthy mechanic, who now maintains the nct isn't worth the paper it's printed on. It's the cheapest pre nct you'll get anywhere, just get your lights focused and let it on.

roguey

Ok guys, thanks for the advice, didn't think of it as an option. I'll put it through and see what happens. Cheers!

wpd

throw some dipthene in the fuel tank a few days before test to clean up emissions

garv123

Could never understand why people paid for these pre nct test/checks.

A NCT is €55, a retest is €28, total price of €83 for the 2 tests.

How much does a pre test/check cost? and it could still fail on something they missed.

kravmaga

garv123 wrote: »

Could never understand why people paid for these pre nct test/checks.

A NCT is €55, a retest is €28, total price of €83 for the 2 tests.

How much does a pre test/check cost? and it could still fail on something they missed.

Just put it through the NCT test, pay the €55 , see what failures come up then.

Dont bother with these so called pre NCT tests from a garage, they are not reliable.

beauf

A lot of garages don't have the gear to check a lot of the NCT stuff anyway.

K.Flyer

What did they say was so wrong with the car that it would cost 1,000 euro to fix?
If you are going to put it through the test to see what happens at the very least make sure the basics are all in good order.
Check and make sure all your lights are working, tyres / wipers etc are in good condition.
At the very least change the air filter to help with the emissions, or better still, have oil and filters done as well.

MarkR

If it was me, I'd get the car serviced. Get any obvious safety issues fixed. Make sure the tyres are OK.

What's the list of issues? Bear in mind, if you get rid of this car, I'll assume you'll be buying another. For over a grand. Which would have no warranty, and it's own problems possibly.

Idbatterim

MarkR wrote: »

If it was me, I'd get the car serviced. Get any obvious safety issues fixed. Make sure the tyres are OK.

What's the list of issues? Bear in mind, if you get rid of this car, I'll assume you'll be buying another. For over a grand. Which would have no warranty, and it's own problems possibly.

makes no sense, what if you replace a few tyres etc and something costly needs to be fixed? if it fails on anything visual, its a free re-test! Let us know how you get on op!

MarkR

Idbatterim wrote: »

makes no sense, what if you replace a few tyres etc and something costly needs to be fixed? if it fails on anything visual, its a free re-test! Let us know how you get on op!

Because you have to drive there without dying? It's not to tick a few boxes. I said obvious safety issues. Shouldn't drive with issues like that to save a few quid.

MarkR

MarkR wrote: »

Because you have to drive there without dying? It's not to tick a few boxes. I said obvious safety issues. Shouldn't drive with issues like that to save a few quid.

If there is a chance the car will need an expansive repair that might be uneconomical I wouldn’t spend a cent on it before doing the test. If he has been driving it around up to now he can manage to get it to the test.

mickdw

Straight in for the test. It's only costing 28 quid to do it this way.
I'd near guarantee it won't cost 1000 to get it passed.

MarkR

Camdyn Broad Womb wrote: »

If there is a chance the car will need an expansive repair that might be uneconomical I wouldn’t spend a cent on it before doing the test. If he has been driving it around up to now he can manage to get it to the test.

I'm just saying if I knew the tyres were bald or other safety issues, you should fix it. Else you are putting yourself and others at risk knowing the car is unsafe.

roguey

Hi everyone.

Just to give you an update. I put the car through the NCT and it failed on emissions only. Meaning I need a new catalytic converter.

My usual mechanic is quoting me 540 for the part and fitted. Does that sound reasonable?

I'm cautious about putting any more money into this car, as I've probably put too much into it already, but its probably still my best option. Do you think it is worth doing it? With a new NCT the car is probably worth a grand, if even that to be honest, so I'm unsure what to do.

pippip

Well you have to look at it as being 540 and you're back on the road all good and well. Or spending how much on another car, which you then can't be sure will need similar work in the near future. You know some history of your card at least.

corcaigh1

roguey wrote: »

Hi everyone.

Just to give you an update. I put the car through the NCT and it failed on emissions only. Meaning I need a new catalytic converter.

My usual mechanic is quoting me 540 for the part and fitted. Does that sound reasonable?

I'm cautious about putting any more money into this car, as I've probably put too much into it already, but its probably still my best option. Do you think it is worth doing it? With a new NCT the car is probably worth a grand, if even that to be honest, so I'm unsure what to do.

Before you go spending €540 go and get some Dipetane and add it to your tank, book you car for the retest and then take the car for a good thrashing before retesting.

https://www.micksgarage.com/d/fuel-additives/products/3348856/dipetane-1-litre-bottle

Cat converter is unlikely if there is no eml on the dash...

roguey

There is a check engine light on the dash relating to the emissions. I've known about it for a while, but thought it might pass as is.

corcaigh1

roguey wrote: »

There is a check engine light on the dash relating to the emissions. I've known about it for a while, but thought it might pass as is.

Ahh bummer

johndaman66

Out of sheer curiosity were you given a breakdown of what needed to be rectified by the first garage when you were told that the car would need about €1k spent on it or did they just tell you that it needed €1k spent on it to put it right?


I see that micks garage have a cat convertor to suit your Fiesta @ €230. I may be way of the mark but €540 inc. fitting would on the face of it seem excessive to me. If he's an independent mechanic then I think he might be pulling a bit of a fast one. Otherwise if he's not an independent mechanic it may be worth going to one given the year/ value of the car and your end goal.

wotzgoingon

What were the emissions readings? Like if they are only out by a small bit it is not the cat at fault.

roguey

wotzgoingon wrote: »

What were the emissions readings? Like if they are only out by a small bit it is not the cat at fault.

The low idle was 0.40, .10 above. And the high idle was .39, which is .19 over.

So almost double on the high end.

dj jarvis

as other have said - put some petrol treatment into it and run it for a week before the test, if you present your car to almost any non dealer garage and ask them to hook up a laptop and remove the fault code, they will do it for 20/40 euro, the warning light MIGHT not re appear, also google this warning light and how to remove, there could be a simple solution to removing it.

Last resort get the cat from micks garage, and TBF if you can hold a 14MM socket and fit under the car, you could replace it yourself in under and hour, or any decent mechanic would have it done in 20 minutes.

THEN go for a re test . dont be spending 1k on a oul Fiesta , but dont get rid of it just becasue of this fail.
Do what i suggested and you will most likely be ok and it will pass.

Idbatterim

I’ll take a wild guess and say the pre test racket , sorry inspection! Mentioned nothing about the emissions ?!

SmartinMartin

I'll just add to what jarvis said, leave for the test an hour early and drive the stones out of it, I mean have it really REALLY hot going in. Between the dipthane and the heat your cat should be very clean.

wotzgoingon

roguey wrote: »

The low idle was 0.40, .10 above. And the high idle was .39, which is .19 over.

So almost double on the high end.

Them readings are not actually that bad. As others have said Dipetane. Buy two bottles. When you are near empty tank not light on but low. Put €30 petrol in and half a bottle of Dipetane and drive the car hard around the place to clear out the system. Then repeat again. Lot of needless driving and waste of petrol but far less than the €500 for new cat. Then day of retest. Put about €20 in to tank depending how far you are from centre and put the second full bottle in and drive the **** out of it. Not speeding but low gears high revs is the key to clear out system. That should do the trick. My low idle was 2.53vol% done that above and new reading was 0.01vol%

roguey

Hmm ok. I might give the dipetane a go then. My only concern is I don't have much time. I can get a test for tomorrow or the following day, but that only gives my a few days to sort a new cat if that doesn't. NCT is up at the end of this month.

pippip

Just be aware, engine management light on petrol means nothing with nct. Diesel i believe is a problem but not petrol. Readings are all they'll be concerned with so don't worry about light being on.

roguey

Yes I thought as much, the light is currently on. But no need to worry about it. I have a new test for 6pm tomorrow. I will go get some dipetane in the morning and put half a tank in, with half the bottle. Then I'll drive at high revs all day and repeat up until the test at 6. Hopefully I'll manage to get two cycles in.

Do you think this will work?

ted1

roguey wrote: »

Hi guys,

Got some bad news today. Booked the car in for a pre nct check and I've been told it'll need over a grand in work to get it to pass, which isn't worth it on a car I bought 8 months ago for 1k. Whats my best course of action now to get rid of it? Would like to get the most I can for it obviously.

The car is driving fine. I was very surprised to learn it needed so much work to be honest.

its a 2006 Fiesta, 1.25 petrol with 171000km. How much can I expect to get for it realistically? 2-300 euro? It was my first car, so I don't have much experience with this.

Pre NCTs are a scam. Put it through , let it fail as the fix the fails

shygal

pippip wrote: »

Just be aware, engine management light on petrol means nothing with nct. Diesel i believe is a problem but not petrol. Readings are all they'll be concerned with so don't worry about light being on.

diesel eml is not an issue for the nct, dont know where you got that from

pippip

shygal wrote: »

diesel eml is not an issue for the nct, dont know where you got that from

Well it's appeared multiple times on here. According to a quick Google the smoke test cannot be carried out if the light is on with diesel.

Wailin

My guess on the emissions fail would be a faulty lambda sensor which also causes the engine management light to come on. A much cheaper fix than cat converter and a ten minute job for someone with a bit of know how to do.

roguey

Wailin wrote: »

My guess on the emissions fail would be a faulty lambda sensor which also causes the engine management light to come on. A much cheaper fix than cat converter and a ten minute job for someone with a bit of know how to do.

I had that replaced a few months ago, so I doubt that is the problem.

garv123

https://www.alltasksolutions.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=59&product_id=52

This is some stuff!! I'd be sticking a bottle of that into it.

TeaBagMania

these fuel additives sound like nothing more than denatured alcohol.
couple of liters of denatured alcohol in a tank of low fuel should exhibit the same results, always worked for me

roguey

So i'm just home from the re-test. Failed again unfortunately.

I got up this morning, put in 30 litres of petrol and half a litre of Dipetane and then drove straight to Belfast (I had to go anyways) so 200km, got the engine good and hot. Did the same on the way back, added a bit more fuel and another half a litre of Dipetane. Went straight from Belfast to the test, got it in very quickly so the engine was quite hot, 106c according to the report, as apposed to 83c on the previous test.

Whilst the new figures were lightly better, it was still a fail.

New figures were as follows:

Test 1 Test 2
Low Idle: 0.40% 0.41%
High Idle: 0.39% 0.28%

So, slightly worse on the low idle and a bit better on the high.

I guess my best option now is to replace the cat?

dj jarvis

roguey wrote: »

So i'm just home from the re-test. Failed again unfortunately.

I got up this morning, put in 30 litres of petrol and half a litre of Dipetane and then drove straight to Belfast (I had to go anyways) so 200km, got the engine good and hot. Did the same on the way back, added a bit more fuel and another half a litre of Dipetane. Went straight from Belfast to the test, got it in very quickly so the engine was quite hot, 106c according to the report, as apposed to 83c on the previous test.

Whilst the new figures were lightly better, it was still a fail.

New figures were as follows:

Test 1 Test 2
Low Idle: 0.40% 0.41%
High Idle: 0.39% 0.28%

So, slightly worse on the low idle and a bit better on the high.

I guess my best option now is to replace the cat?

I would Google the **** out of this problem, i'm betting there is a fix or a bodge job that will change the test results, you are not the first to encounter this issue.

Wesser

Hi there. I had this problem recently my car a 06 yaris. failed on emission same as you.. cat convertor was 540e just like yours. i just replaced it and car is doing fine. i cant afford a new car at the moment. saving up now for a new car.

rex-x

shygal wrote: »

diesel eml is not an issue for the nct, dont know where you got that from

Diesel engine light is a fail for nct, not so for petrol