Is the NCT legit ?

pudzey101

posting this on behalf of a mate....

He bought a 16 skoda octavia last week , which just passed the NCT . he brought it to a local mechanic for a check up (as engine management light was on)

Mechanic found an alarming rate of fails upon inspection (too many to mention) and questioned how it passed the NCT...

Just asking for him , if you know someone in a test center can they pass a defective vehicle ?? or issue a pass certificate to a car thats not safe..

He has photos of all the nct fails pointed out and is trying to get hold of the test centre that passed it ATM

EDIT

EML was on for ABS sensors and glow plugs , but mechanic found abs wires where completely cut , suspension parts absolutely knackered (bushings , control arms etc) rear brake caliper's where sticking with barely any brake padding , DPF was blocked upto the last ... list goes on ...

mikeecho

NCT will say that the test confirms that the car was safe at the moment it was tested.

As soon as you leave the center.. well. The NCT doesn't guarantee anything.

Hungry Burger

NCT results will widely vary depending on the test centre, the individual tester, day of the week etc… Fickle at best is an understatement.

pudzey101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119953960#Comment_119953960

yeah i suppose to cover themselves :) mechanic reckons something funny is going on anyway he said the bushings alone where ancient not a hope theyd pass a test .

I taught all NCTs where computerized and coudnt be fixed like years ago :)

Atlantic Dawn

Thought it was harder to do now with what they had in place and that patterns would be spotted for who was giving dodgy passes. I know legit paper NCT blank docs are regularly stolen and used to sell on cars.

Out of interest does the NCT website correspond with the NCT on the car when the reg is entered? That would rule out fake NCT paperwork being used.

hoodie6029

Throw up the photos from your mechanic there.

ABS wires cut, was there a brake warning light on the dash?

pudzey101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119954173#Comment_119954173

Not on my phone I'll get them sent on and throw them up yeah 👍 there was but it was cleared via obd2 scanner before the test ... Light came on along with ESP light 5 minutes down the road

User1998

Its far more likely that the local mechanic was trying to replace parts that didn’t need replacing for the NCT. They might have been worn in his opinion, but not enough to warrant a fail.

And also I don’t even think ABS wires are checked during the test? They just check that the ABS light is working and isn’t illuminated?

kirving

The NCT is strict in some things, but has a very low bar in others.

My dads Focus Mk1 absolutely eats front roll bar bushings and has yet to fail an NCT, even with terrible knocking you can hear and feel going around corners. Nothing funny going in - the suspension testing machine just hasn't got enough sensitivity to detect the problem.

Misfocused headlight - no way is that passing.

I mean, it's possible that the car was falsely passed, but you have to remember that that bar is very very low.

artanevilla

The NCT won't tell you if your engine is diddled.

ordinaryfella

Taxi driver lore, so beware, but one was telling me he bought a Renault Fluence and it failed the nct soon after buying. He rang the dealer (who have since done a runner over tax) who then got on to the tester and he came back out with a passing test cert. Some money changing hands somewhere. Could be bs.

mickdw

First thing I'd be doing is checking on nct website to see if test is genuine.

Doesn't sound like it to me.

Abs light should come on with ignition and then go off. If there are cuts wires, the light will either be staying on or not coming on at all if botched. Both should be a fail.

On a side note, if the car is so bad, did he buy it with his eyes closed?

ants09

NCT doesn't mean a thing to be honest

My car failed NCT a few yrs on front light bracket that was broken so had to get a retest on the front light only.

Got the front light fixed and my ABS module went kaput which meant car was in limp mode, speedo not working etc and brought it in for the retest and it passed as they where not concerned about the ABS module, even thought i told the tester that it was broken and waiting for the new module

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119968278#Comment_119968278

Re tests are only for testing the items that failed your full test. If you brought the car to the full test with faulty ABS then you would have failed.

koutoubia

Happened on the last car I bought. Fresh NCT which was legit. Brought it to my local mecchy to get a fresh oil change.

He went through a list of things that should have failed on the NCT ,which was done the week before I bought it.

Rear Anti roll bars completely shot.

Front brakes pads and discs were beyond their last legs.

And so on and so on....

It's the last time I would trust a new NCT cert.

The test on the NCT site was legit but IMHO a 'handshake' must have happened.

...and I know I should have got a mechanic to look over it and not trust the NCT.

hoodie6029

Did you report it to NCTS? They have cameras and extensive monitoring of the testers. Motor vehicle engineer would be able to attest that the faults couldn’t have happened between the test date and you buying it.

The f***er that passed your car could putting dozens of these death traps on the road.

mickdw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119968727#Comment_119968727

The trade are getting cars through that another wouldn't. It's also not beyond some very low grade side of road sellers to actually swap stuff between 2 cars they might have so you will have no comeback with nct on this.

hoodie6029

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119970447#Comment_119970447

Hypothetically, I’ve 2 red octavias, same model. One is a lemon and the other is good. Swap the plates, hope the tester doesn’t check the VIN (I’ve never seen them check it). Good car passes, swap the plates back and hey presto I can sell my POS as a good car.

mickdw

I presume they do actually check the Vin otherwise the system would be a joke.

hoodie6029

You’d hope that there is more than just a button to press on the screen ‘have you verified the VIN?’

The Irish testers will fail you for a the simplest thing. The Poles tend to exercise discretion and cop on.

koutoubia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119970447#Comment_119970447

I wouldnt say my care is rare but there are very few of them on the road so swapping stuff from one to another really isnt do-able.

Plus it was a private sale. Had it been a trade sale it would have been driven straight back.

I wont mention the make or model.

Anyway I got most of it sorted and its running like a dream now.

BorneTobyWilde

Anyone can be bought, and for little, very possible the guy who sold the car to your mate, had a new test put on it by his brown envelope mate at the NCT center

9935452

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119970651#Comment_119970651

I think the system is questionable.

My car failed for the left hand side of the handbreak not pulling at all.

Its a 09 A4 with electric handbreak, no faults in the dash, or stored in the computer. Jacked car up and handbreak was working. Rebooked test for a different centre a few days later. Car passed.

CathalDublin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119970604#Comment_119970604

The reg is printed on the cert

User1998

And they do check the VIN ^

koutoubia

Just going to revive this thread.

I saw a video from a garage not to far from me who was fixing a car for a failed NCT.

The car failed on front brake linings.

He had the brake shoes in his hand and they looked nowhere near worn.. they looked closer to new then worn out.

He then went to the back brakes which passed and they were completely shot. The discs reminded me of mine ,that passed as well , completely worn out.

Mine was a different centre .

He said that crazy stuff was coming out of one particular centre ( which I won't name here) .

Something is seriously amiss with the NCT and what's getting through.

dkd21

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120073799#Comment_120073799

The failing for front brake pads is clearly a mistake and should not have failed . That car should have been brought back to the centre and any failures made clarified without parts being replaced . He states in the video the brake pads have nothing wrong with them but yet decides to go ahead and change the pads and discs!! ( says he doesn't fit new pads to old discs ??) and obviously charges the customer for it which to me that practice is appalling and nearly worse behaviour than the NCT he is trying to give out about . He also states the rear pad retainer is missing which is fair ( if it was that way at time of test ) but then says the rear discs should have failed and he needs to have the car on a lift to show ? even though the car is already up on a lift with wheels off ??

Also if only the NCT testers were allowed to show the poor workmanship or mistakes made by garages thats caught day in day out on social media..