NCT retest

Gordon m

Failed NCT on a few small things , nearside headlight aliment wiper blades.
Went back for retest and my Offside headlight bulb had blown so they failed me. and said I only had 2 days to get a retested and it would be€28 .
It passed the first test with offside bulb so why do they have to do the realiment test again for a blown bulb should it not be a visual.

Gordon m

Failed NCT on a few small things nearside headlight aliment wiper blades.
Went for retest and OFFSIDE headlight bulb had blown on way to NCT they failed me and said that I have 2 day's left for the retest again and another €28 charge.
The Offside headlight bulb passed the original test so why is it not just a visual. Why did they even check the Offside headlight when it was not on the retest , as in they can only test what was originally failed not look for other things to fail on.

SmartinMartin

Do you think the car should have passed with a light not working?

Gordon m

SmartinMartin wrote: »

Do you think the car should have passed with a light not working?

No they should have pointed out that the bulb had blown and ask me to bring back for a visual , Not another charge of €28 again and tell me I only have 2 day's left to get it retested .

SmartinMartin

They are not your mechanic, they are simply there to make sure your vehicle is roadworthy. It's up to you to have everything right. You missed a blown bulb and it cost you €28. You'll check the next time.

Gordon m

SmartinMartin wrote: »

They are not your mechanic, they are simply there to make sure your vehicle is roadworthy. It's up to you to have everything right. You missed a blown bulb and it cost you €28. You'll check the next time.

I parked in carpark around the corner and checked all bulbs before I went back. I only drove 300yards to the test center and the bulb had blown. Am I supposed to check the bulbs in the NCT carpark and replace any that have blown before I give them my car keys.

SmartinMartin

You're supposed to do what's necessary to have your vehicle roadworthy. If that means checking all bulbs in the car park, then yes.

Atlantic Dawn

A good tip is to always replace bulbs in pairs, it's a little more expense changing but in reality saves money and time longterm.

Atlantic Dawn

New bulb could be fitted incorrectly and so out of allignment, would need retest to verify it was ok.

zg3409

Checking a headlight lamp needs alignment checked, to do that they cant do a visual outside, instead they need to bring it inside and use a lane. Anything that requires the car to be brought inside incurrs a retest fee. Same for most tyre issues. We are lucky in Ireland we have free restest on many items.

When you say you only had 2 days to change the blown bulb, I assume this was 21 days after the initial test, as in it took you nearly 3 weeks to fix alignment and get back for a retest, so as you failed this you only has 2 more days left on your 21 days from first test.

I do take your point they checked something that might not have been part of a retest, so I might gave argued the same as you suggest, but again replacing a bulb can easily be done wrong, meaning the beam is all over the place when lamp is upside down etc. Its hardly the tester fault but you may be right if you pushed your case.

tvjunki

This is what I was told by a tester that no longer works there that the first test covers overheads and costs and the retest is profit.

You will find more cars will fail for little things. Some test centres have higher fails than others. I know the x tester was told if they do not fail certain number of cars per day they are questioned why.

I had night lights on the back and both bulbs replaced a while back. These bulbs are covered in a plastic type coating and over time the orange coating fades. As light was lighter than the other the car failed and I had to replace both bulbs. Both bulbs worked but not good enough for this particular tester.

KathleenGrant

Gordon m wrote: »

Failed NCT on a few small things , nearside headlight aliment wiper blades.
Went back for retest and my Offside headlight bulb had blown so they failed me. and said I only had 2 days to get a retested and it would be€28 .
It passed the first test with offside bulb so why do they have to do the realiment test again for a blown bulb should it not be a visual.

You only had 2 days because you had failed NCT previously and the pass must be within a certain number of days.

dkd21

tvjunki wrote: »

This is what I was told by a tester that no longer works there that the first test covers overheads and costs and the retest is profit.

You will find more cars will fail for little things. Some test centres have higher fails than others. I know the x tester was told if they do not fail certain number of cars per day they are questioned why.

I had night lights on the back and both bulbs replaced a while back. These bulbs are covered in a plastic type coating and over time the orange coating fades. As light was lighter than the other the car failed and I had to replace both bulbs. Both bulbs worked but not good enough for this particular tester.

I dont know why but its always seems to come from testers that dont work there anymore . ... There is no fail quota , ask anyone that works there currently .

And yes once your indicator bulbs turn from orange to white as the coating comes off they are no longer acceptable .

CoBo55

tvjunki wrote: »

This is what I was told by a tester that no longer works there that the first test covers overheads and costs and the retest is profit.

You will find more cars will fail for little things. Some test centres have higher fails than others. I know the x tester was told if they do not fail certain number of cars per day they are questioned why.

I had night lights on the back and both bulbs replaced a while back. These bulbs are covered in a plastic type coating and over time the orange coating fades. As light was lighter than the other the car failed and I had to replace both bulbs. Both bulbs worked but not good enough for this particular tester.

All this post is complete bollox. A too white indicator bulb is a free visual retest... Have you ever been behind a car with white indicator bulbs? They'd absolutely cut the eyes out of you.