Driving without an NCT? Is there leeway given?

dulpit

Hey all. My car is on the way out, and will definitely not pass nct which is due at end of July, the warning light is on for catalytic converter so it'll be done for emissions. I'm supposed to be getting money in mid to late August, which would be ideal to use for a new car, but that will obviously put me in position of being without nct for up to 4 weeks.

As far as I know, no nct = penalty points now, is this correct? And, if so, is this immediate after your expiry date if caught? Any suggestions?

listermint

dulpit wrote: »

Hey all. My car is on the way out, and will definitely not pass nct which is due at end of July, the warning light is on for catalytic converter so it'll be done for emissions. I'm supposed to be getting money in mid to late August, which would be ideal to use for a new car, but that will obviously put me in position of being without nct for up to 4 weeks.

As far as I know, no nct = penalty points now, is this correct? And, if so, is this immediate after your expiry date if caught? Any suggestions?

You'd have to have he nct booked and proof of the booking.

You should put it through anyway. You've no idea if it passed or not.

Del2005

listermint wrote: »

You'd have to have he nct booked and proof of the booking.

You should put it through anyway. You've no idea if it passed or not.

The only time you can drive without an NCT is if the car has come from an island without a bridge or if you have failed the NCT. Any other time you will have no insurance, as the vehicle has to be road legal to be insured. And before people start yes 3rd parties will still be covered but the person driving will be done for no insurance.

Isambard

listermint wrote: »

You'd have to have he nct booked and proof of the booking.

You should put it through anyway. You've no idea if it passed or not.

Not the case.

km991148

To be honest if the car isn't roadworthy, then you shouldt drive it. ok its only the cat you say, but how do you know that everything else is 'safe'.
If you are going to break the law then you may as well just do it rather than seeking some sort of confirmation its ok to do so on a forum. No one is going to encourage you to do so.

Moaning aside, to answer the Q - I dont think you will get leeway.

galwaytt

km991148 wrote: »

.... but how do you know that everything else is 'safe'..............

Moaning aside, to answer the Q - I dont think you will get leeway.

...to your first point, because they check everything anyway: if the emissions fail they don't abandon the rest of the test.

...to your 2nd point, you're correct, there is no official leeway. That said, I'd book it in anyway, do the test, see how you get on.

km991148

galwaytt wrote: »

...to your first point, because they check everything anyway: if the emissions fail they don't abandon the rest of the test.

...to your 2nd point, you're correct, there is no official leeway. That said, I'd book it in anyway, do the test, see how you get on.

Sorry I meant how do you know without doing the test. The cat light is on, but feck knows what else is wrong with it.

I also think the test should be done.

pm.

Book it as far out as possible, then get the car tested and if / when it fails book it in again as far out as possible . That way you will have the booking to show to the guard if stopped

Not sure how many times you can retest

Del2005

pm. wrote: »

Book it as far out as possible, then get the car tested and if / when it fails book it in again as far out as possible . That way you will have the booking to show to the guard if stopped

Not sure how many times you can retest

Having a booking does not validate your insurance. Nearly every policy requires the vehicle to be road legal and without an NCT the vehicle isn't road legal. You can only drive away from the centre after it fails, you have to trailer/recovery wagon it for any other day you don't have an NCT.

rex-x

Del2005 wrote: »

The only time you can drive without an NCT is if the car has come from an island without a bridge or if you have failed the NCT. Any other time you will have no insurance, as the vehicle has to be road legal to be insured. And before people start yes 3rd parties will still be covered but the person driving will be done for no insurance.

This is absolutely 100% not the case, you will not be done for no insurance

barneygumble99

I know a guy personally, he bought a car, failed on - torn cv boot only, nct was out a while but had only started driving it the day of the test. He had it insured. Stopped at a Garda checkpoint, car was lifted, points on licence etc. Harsh but true.

galwaytt

Del2005 wrote: »

Having a booking does not validate your insurance. Nearly every policy requires the vehicle to be road legal and without an NCT the vehicle isn't road legal. You can only drive away from the centre after it fails, you have to trailer/recovery wagon it for any other day you don't have an NCT.

Whilst correct, you can't invalidate insurance after the fact, only cancel it on uncovering an 'issue'. Your cover will be summarily cancelled, but until such time as it is, you're covered for the purposes of the Road Traffic Act.

Involved in accident, the insurer would pay out 3rd Party costs, and can then go after you to recover (all) costs.

But you can't be done for 'no insurance'.

Del2005

Del2005 wrote: »

The only time you can drive without an NCT is if the car has come from an island without a bridge or if you have failed the NCT. Any other time you will have no insurance, as the vehicle has to be road legal to be insured. And before people start yes 3rd parties will still be covered but the person driving will be done for no insurance.

This is 100% bull of the highest order.

If you have the test booked op and when it’s only a few weeks I would personally chance it myself as it’s unlikely you will even meet a checkpoint and even if you do it’s unlikely you will get a guard thick enough to bother with an nct out a few weeks with a test booked.

tuxy

Boston Huge Tether wrote: »

This is 100% bull of the highest order.

Why do people feel the need to post this kind of thing? Legally all you need is 3rd party insurance cover and you will still have this even with no NCT.
Lots of people are stopped and given 3 points and a fine for NCT but are not charged with no insurance unless they actually have none.

Spook_ie

If you think it's just the cat try a breakers for a replacement one and just fix the car for not much money.

funnyname

Do an NCT as soon as possible (you can do it up to 3 months early, but you'll still get the full year from when it is out ie July) and if it there is anything that fails get it costed now rather than waiting until the last minute. So if you do need a replacement car until your August windfall you're bound to pick up something over on the Bangeronomics thread.

VonZan

There is leeway given by some Gardaí but the issue itself is very black and white. Leeway is usually given, but not always, when your NCT is expired and you have a test booked. Not booking a test and an expired NCT is just asking for points.

galwaytt

dulpit wrote: »

Hey all. My car is on the way out, and will definitely not pass nct which is due at end of July, the warning light is on for catalytic converter so it'll be done for emissions. I'm supposed to be getting money in mid to late August, which would be ideal to use for a new car, but that will obviously put me in position of being without nct for up to 4 weeks.

As far as I know, no nct = penalty points now, is this correct? And, if so, is this immediate after your expiry date if caught? Any suggestions?

Going back to OP post - I know of a perfectly good Laguna which is facing the scrapper over a Cat - it's part of the manifold afaik - which is bonkers money, new. Something wrong where it's o.k. to scrap a car over 1 bolt-on part.