NCT Farce

S

sambuca1

Guest
I had my first NCT on a 2005 Ford Mondeo 2.0L Diesel this morning and was told it fail because the engine was too noisy?? The mechanic said he couldnt test the emissions as the engine was too noisy......I questioned him about it and he wouldnt elaborate further.

This is got to be a money racket as my car was serviced 5 months ago and the engine sounds like a normal diesel engine.

Has anyone had the same experience?
 
It's a complete racket.

I got mine tested and they found 3 issues that only needed to visually inspected. Unfortunately, I was away and I had left it to a relation just to bring it along to get the check done....needless to say they forgot to do it before the deadline, so I had to re-nct it and despite not having driven the car, it failed on 8 issues, which required a re-test !!! I got everything done and had the lights checked on the morning of the re-test only for it to fail on a bulb which had mysteriously blown in the space of two hours. I had to get it fixed at this mechanic (conveniently hmmmm) next to the NCT centre and pay yet another €27.50
 
I would love to see the books and how much revenue these NCT centres bring in.....I am going to appeal my noisy engine failure with them as it is ridiculous.
 
Mumha said:
I got everything done and had the lights checked on the morning of the re-test only for it to fail on a bulb which had mysteriously blown in the space of two hours. I had to get it fixed at this mechanic (conveniently hmmmm) next to the NCT centre and pay yet another €27.50
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Very strange you should say that. I brought my wife's car out for the NCT and was failed on a bulb that had strangely blown on the way to the test centre. I thought it very very strange that the bulb should blow at that particular time but put it down to coincidence (I'd checked the bulbs before leaving for the NCT centre) but now I'm not so sure it was a coincidence....
 
i heard a discussion about this on a local radio station today. A mechanic who fits exhaust systems complained that it was up to the individual NCT tester to decide if a system was "too noisy".

apparently some new regulations will be brought in and the noise level will be in line with eu legislation but no-one could tell him the actual decibel level allowed.

found this nct manual on their website, but not much info really.sorry.

[broken link removed]
 
Is the NCT privately run or paid for by taxpayer? I notice they are working Sundays in Tralee, I hope we are not paying that overtime as there surely cant be a necessity to have 4 working on Sunday.
 
The NCT tester will also fail your car if the boot is not empty or the hub caps have not been removed, or if one of the lights is brighter than the corresponding light on the other side of the car.

The rules are exccessively fussy and designed to ensure a certain percentage have to pay a second fee to redo the test. Obviously, it was designed by some of our 300,000 public sector workers with their fat salaries, pensions and jobs for life.

Just more undemocratic and onerous laws with no way for citizens to get provide input on how they arent working.
 
NCTS is run by SGS Ireland see here - [broken link removed]

SGS Ireland also do other stuff for AIB, FÁS, Roadstone and other private, semi-state and government agencies.
 
FredBloggs said:
I brought my wife's car out for the NCT and was failed on a bulb that had strangely blown on the way to the test centre. I thought it very very strange that the bulb should blow at that particular time but put it down to coincidence
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I have heard several similar tales from friends/neighbours where this happened to them. A lot of bulbs seem to give up the ghost on the way to the NCT. :rolleyes:

Mercantilist said:
or if one of the lights is brighter than the corresponding light on the other side of the car.
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Maybe some NCT testers are also brighter than others :D
 
Got mine tested today for the first time. Everything was fine except I hadnt removed the plastic covers that cover the centre of the wheel where the nuts etc can be inspected.

The inspector pointed this out and said they needed to be removed with a screw driver which they dont keep on site, so technically the car hadnt passed.

However, he told me I could go off and remove them and call back when it suited me and they could then be inspected and if all was ok the car would pass.

I came back about an hour later,the wheels were inspected and I got my cert, no extra charge.

They arent all bad.
 
adox said:
However, he told me I could go off and remove them and call back when it suited me and they could then be inspected and if all was ok the car would pass.

I came back about an hour later,the wheels were inspected and I got my cert, no extra charge.

They arent all bad.
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Theyre being flexible to get people used to the rules. Eventually they will be applied very strictly and you will have to pay a second fee to have the car retested, after a minor fail.

This is being run as a profit centre. Hence the involvment of a private company. Its only a matter of time before we see annual above inflation increases in the testing fee.

If you dont fight back you will be taxed into poverty.
 
I had the same problem regarding a light - just had them checked beforehand and then NCT told me one was gone and would have to retest. Its not even the money its the time and inconvenience - is there anything that can be done about this?
 
Couple of years ago I had a technical fail - one of my rear indicators was deemed 'duller' than the other one.

Attempted to buy a brighter buld - to no avail - though the guy at the motor-factor told me he had come across this before and advised me to just bring it back as it was and chances were it would pass (he and I both concluded there was no difference in the one's I had).

Took his advice - said very little, other than the fact that I was told to bring the car back for a re-check. The tester put on the hazard warning lights and then proceeded to tell me what an improvement he could see (as he was the one that checked the car first time around).

I said nothing - got my cert - and thought ... 'well at least I don't have to go through that again for a couple of years"!
 
There should be provision for the owner of the car to be present when the visual checks are done, eg, lights etc.
 
FredBloggs said:
Very strange you should say that. I brought my wife's car out for the NCT and was failed on a bulb that had strangely blown on the way to the test centre. I thought it very very strange that the bulb should blow at that particular time but put it down to coincidence (I'd checked the bulbs before leaving for the NCT centre) but now I'm not so sure it was a coincidence....
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Interesting, girl in work just got NCTd last week and bulb mysteriously blew on way to NCT centre - she was advised to go round corner to get new bulb.....
 
how, pray tell, are the testers breaking the bulb filament without breaking the bulb and taking the bulb out of the car? bearing in mind all the testers can be seen working through the viewing windows.
 
Graham_07 said:
A lot of bulbs seem to give up the ghost on the way to the NCT. :rolleyes:
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Funny how they manage to make it driving tests ok.

I had my car's NCT when I was 8 and a half months pregnant god help them if they had failed me I was in no mood for bad news!
 
truthseeker said:
Interesting, girl in work just got NCTd last week and bulb mysteriously blew on way to NCT centre - she was advised to go round corner to get new bulb.....
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Now I`ve heard it all....NCT`ing the girl in work? What next ? :D
 
PGD1 said:
how, pray tell, are the testers breaking the bulb filament without breaking the bulb and taking the bulb out of the car? bearing in mind all the testers can be seen working through the viewing windows.
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Good question ... and it is why I had thought of it as strange but a coincidence before I read of similar incidents here. I had checked the bulb before going to the test centre ( adrive of 20 mins max) and it was 100% working. I have no idea how or why the bulb wasn't working when the car was tested and was absolutely flabbergasted when they told me.
 
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