Reg plates

yourdeadwright

Just wondering where is the best place to go to get new reg plates fitted

failed the NCT on my reg plates ,Its gone through the last 3 NCT with them but all of a sudden the numbers are too small.
The car came like that its a Skoda estate so not even a boy racer car,

R.O.R

Local motor factors is probably the best place. Halfords will do them as well, but you'll definitely need ID and the VLC in Halfords.

Miscreant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058349411/reg-plates

The inconsistency of registration plate rules application by NCTS drives me mad. You got through 3 NCTs without anything said and all of a sudden you get a fail!

As said, best place is a motor factors or at a pinch, Halfords but the motor factors will likely be cheaper.

LIGHTNING

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077446#Comment_122077446

I had a NCT inspector or whatever they are called come out with a tape measure and tell me they were 1mm too small despite passing NCT's for years. I could see the other NCT lad roll his eyes behind him. So I said thanks, came back the next day with the same plates and passed.

kdevitt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077647#Comment_122077647

Does not surprise me in the least bit - have had a jobsworth give me a visual fail me for having a box in the boot of the car once - about the size of two shoe boxes stuck together. Drove straight round the front, grabbed the next lad available and he passed it straight away - he was cursing the other lad for being a moron.

Only reg plate fail we ever had was on an Limerick reg BMW my wife had. Eastern European lad, who was very nice, explained we needed the county to be displayed in Irish - proceeded to give us a sticker to put on the car so he could pass it straight away for us, which he did. Thing is, the sticker was for Kilkenny 😁

Anyway - to repeat whats been already said to the OP, Halfords or any motor factors will make up compliant plates. You could order them from eireplates.com too if you don't fancy having to leave the house!

Kaisr Sose

I would like to see the Gardaí being more observant of non-compliant plates.

bop1977

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077740#Comment_122077740

there are bigger fish to fry.

Kaisr Sose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077758#Comment_122077758

In what sense ..? It is their job.

Some of the plates are designed to be difficult to read. So the occupants may be bigger fish ?

Or, maybe AGS just don't like frying any size fish on the roads?

yourdeadwright

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077818#Comment_122077818

Yes because big fish would be going around in a car with dodgy plates that would get attention …jesus wept ,

Sam Russell

I think the NCT should take a photograph the front and rear of the car and put them on file.

In the event of someone cloning you number plate, the photo at NCT would be useful in the case. Also, the photo could include an ANPR test to see that the plate could be read. It would be a referene for many offences.

Kaisr Sose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077849#Comment_122077849

How would I know and neither can you. The point is they should be enforcing better then they do. Most if not all of the drivers wirh these on the vehicle must have some reason for needing a difficult to read plate. In the UK, the charge for having them can be as serious as Attempting to pervert the course of justice.

artanevilla

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077758#Comment_122077758

I never understood this attitude.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077818#Comment_122077818

Registration plates fall under VRT laws which is Revenues job to enforce not Gardai

Esel

Any time I see small characters on a reg plate, I think 'scrote'.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077954#Comment_122077954

In all contexts?

E.g. would a Garda stopping you because your reg plate was too dirty to read be stepping outside their remit?

bop1977

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077911#Comment_122077911

there are f all cops policing the roads. police the important stuff. speeding, phone use, impaired driving, insurance/tax/nct, disqualified drivers, checking trucks/van for defects and tacho infringements. you know the big stuff. do the most with what little you have.

hope that helps your understanding🤦‍♂️.

antodeco

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122078261#Comment_122078261

Well based upon my experiences with the Gardai, they prefer to go after the smaller fish rather than the bigger fish, as the smaller fish are easier targets and typically have less "conflict" with them

Kaisr Sose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077954#Comment_122077954

I know the Statutory Instrument is a Revenue one but I am not so sure it falls under Revenue to police or enforce it. They do not have a means to either. Have to got a link or something to show this? Garda are able to pull cars for UK/foreign plates for VRT purposes, missing plates, etc.

magicbastarder

i know a garda who drives a car with those stupid '4D' plates. i wonder if she even knows they're not legal.

Kaisr Sose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122078371#Comment_122078371

Wow...but equally no surprise. Some Garda don't seem too well up on what is legal / illegal on our roads.

Agree, 4-D (gel?) plates are silly as are the plates with black EU flag with white stars. Both are sold on some sites as road legal but neither conform to the S.I.

LIGHTNING

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077978#Comment_122077978

The plates I failed for were dealer fitted ones and nothing special.

TheSunIsShining

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077647#Comment_122077647

Technically, if a measuring tape was used, there should be a margin of error associated with the measurement. I.e your number plate is 60cm +/- 1mm so claiming it is out by 1mm is dubious at best

LIGHTNING

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122079144#Comment_122079144

Hence my post about it being a joke and it passed many times before (and since). They are 100% standard Irish plates

Rowley Birkin QC

I often wonder do the lads with yellow plates and an ROI reg get additional hassle from AGS?

I had pressed metal plates on my old E46 and they never got any hassle but the yellow ones seem like they'd be a magnet.

TheSunIsShining

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122079275#Comment_122079275

Agreed. I'd say most of us have been there in terms of NCT comedies. My one, many years ago, was an indicator bulb not being orange enough. Fair enough says I, I'll get the new bulb and I went back expecting them to need to use a spectrometer to determine if the light frequency was close enough to orange etc. Instead your man says go back out and pop on your hazards, he opened the door, looked out and said yeah, that's orange enough sure.

A real technical approach....

hoodie6029

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077647#Comment_122077647

Sound like he needs his callipers or measuring tape calibrated.

Seriously though, sounds like he was on a minor power trip.(and I’m not normally one to chime in on a NCT thread)

pgj2015

Some clown young lad passed me out lately in what was the worst piece of driving and overtaking I have seen in years, he easily could have been killed, I couldn't read his plate because they were so tinted that they were almost black. I hate tinted plates, they show that there is absolutely no enforcement on the roads in this country and its a big 2 fingers to the Authorities in my opinion, same with lads with no front plate.

PsychoPete

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077647#Comment_122077647

Had a customer come for new plates on a 10 year old car, failed because the letter and numbers were too small, these were the original plates. The numbers and letters were 68mm, fitted two plates for free and sent him on his way

GSBellew

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122078261#Comment_122078261

Except that there is a likelihood that a person who flagrantly ignores the little things also ignores bigger things.

It is like a big sign stuck on the car advertising that the driver is a plonker.

Kaisr Sose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122078261#Comment_122078261

No misunderstanding on my behalf. I think it's important AGS are fully resourced and given the tech they need to do all aspects of their role. It's often the little things that have the most impact for the majority of other road users. Turning a blind eye to perceived minor things sends out the wrong message.

Esel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122079124#Comment_122079124

I hope you didn't think I was referring to you as a scrote! ☺️

The scrote plate characters are way smaller than regulation size.

ps I also think the 'German' font it's just sad. 😀

Jonathan2712

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122078261#Comment_122078261

But who decides what is worth policing and what isn't? ASG need to enforce the law, its not for them or anyone else to decide what laws are worth enforcing and what laws are not.

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122079414#Comment_122079414

Saw one on an older German saloon yesterday (no surprise, the usual offenders)

Black number on a grey background making it almost impossible to read in anything other than close up in perfect visibility. Almost deliberately chosen by the owner to make identification difficult. It's an absolute joke.

Sam Russell

The NCT should take a photo of the car under test from the front and back to be filed as reference.

Any change of the reg plates would be obvious to a Garda who did not like the ones on a car. It would also be useful in identifying cloned cars.

Tenzor07

The Gardai don't enforce the licence plate standard anymore, having said that if they stop you for something else like speeding or what have you then they may also give you points for the plates too..

GavPJ

Something that popped into my head yesterday when I was sitting in

traffic……… remember when it was an instant NCT fail if your reg didn't

have the cars registered county at the top of the number plate? I saw a

car with a reverse camera fitted and was covering the county name

Baile Atha Cliath. Wonder is that an NCT failure? Probably up to the tester

on the day I suppose.

Miscreant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122197355#Comment_122197355

If the county is on the plate but obstructed then it might fail. Page 14 of the NCT manual is where it is listed, if you are in any way curious. :)

I had an "instant" fail like that before where the plate didn't have the country written on it at all. The car had been through 3 other NCTs before and never an issue. It all seems to come down to the tester on the day and how "motivated" they are to fail the car. Only cost me €20 at the time for 2 new plates so it wasn't expensive but a pain to have to go back for something that is not safety related.

colm_mcm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122079124#Comment_122079124

I know of 2 main dealers who supply plates on their new cars that don’t meet the legal requirements.

Al Hayes Skoda has a shadow beside the numbers/letters on the plate which isn’t allowed

Brian Geary Toyota uses numbers/letters that don’t meet the dimensional requirements.

They’re both selling tonnes of cars, which are obviously passing NCTs. It’s just down to the NCT not enforcing the rules fully.
Both of these cases are relatively minor deviations from the requirements, but an NCT tester could justifiably fail on them.

GavPJ

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122197974#Comment_122197974

Had an instant fail on a car I sold years ago. The local motor factor was supplying stickers

of each county at the time. Testers are probably not as strict on it now, unless it's the pricks

that work in Fonthill.

User1998

I’ve been using the same plates from the same motor factors for years and one tester decided to fail me on the numbers apparently being too small. I had passed 5 other cars that week using the exact same plates.

colm_mcm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122199006#Comment_122199006

I think it’s crazy that a business who deals in number plates can fail to make one that meets very basic standards.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122199866#Comment_122199866

It was a Jap size plate, so admittedly the numbers do look a tiny bit smaller than the numbers on an oblong plate. But I’ve been using them for 5 years with no issue other than this one time.

Esel

I thought there was a separate definition of font size for rectangular plates in the SI?

[Non-PC to say 'Jap' these days, so I hear 😮 😀]

creedp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122078720#Comment_122078720

There's no wow about. Gardai know exactly what they can get away with and that's exactly what they'll do. One rule for one and the other can do whatever they like unless they kill or seriously injure someone

creedp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122197355#Comment_122197355

That really is the most egregious safety issue on the roads today😁 So thankful for the NCT

GavPJ

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122200760#Comment_122200760

Yeah I remember bringing a car back for a visual in Fonthill and saying to the tester

that I am so happy to be able to sleep at night again after me selling such a death

trap of a car.