A long wait for the NCT

Brendan Burgess

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I had heard that it's hard to get an appointment for the NCT.

My certificate expires on 18th September.

I went to book today, and I got a message "Your NCT is not due. Do you wish to continue?"

I said yes, and the earliest date available is 5th October!

That is fine. I don't use my car that much, so I won't go to the hassle of trying to get a cancellation. If I am stopped, I will show the letter with the test arranged.

But it's interesting that that they discourage you from booking even though there is no date available before the expiry date.

Brendan
 
Nct added on 4 months extra to the expiry date due to covid, Do you know for sure this no longer applies,
 
Had the same issue. NCT due end of July, checked online availability in middle of June and there were plenty of dates for July but it advised NCT not due so I said I would wait. Beginning of July I clicked in and suddenly nothing available until September. Maybe a lot of NCTs coming due at the same time because of Covid expiry date extensions?
 
I got my car NCT a few months ago, they added on an extra four months to the new expiry date
 
I just checked and this is what the website says for my car



I presume that means that this is the actual expiry date?

Brendan
 
Yes Brendan that’s your current expiration date.
On another note if you can avoid it for now do, they are a bit all over the place with doing them at the moment.

You’ll be waiting in line until someone is free to take your car, it’s not like before when you just sit in the waiting room and my experience was the hour appointment time was a bit meaningless as it was done based on where I was in the line rather than the booked time - guy ahead of me had an appointment 45 minutes after me etc.

Might not be the same everywhere this was in the Kildare centre about a week ago
 
that is interesting I put in a reg NCT Disc says out the 11/4/2021
It is showing Nct due 11/8/2021
Car first reg 2011
on the NCT site, they have Frequently asked questions on the extension of validity of
NCT certificates,
 
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I re-checked after posting and managed to get an appointment for next week so it's worth checking periodically as you might get lucky.
 
Mine was due in March and extended to July. I booked it in in May for Jul 13th (yesterday). Got an appointment straight away online for Northpoint off the M50, arrived yesterday 10 mins early, I had just booked it in the reception and the mechanic came, meeting me returning to the car, and took my keys. I was NCT'd and out in 30 mins. They have closed off the reception area so people were outside. But the loo's were open and there was even a coffee van on-site.
 
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niceoneted said:
This looks about right. Your nct is overdue your car can be sized if your stopped
Click to expand...
I should have said Disc 11/4/2021 Nct site says 11/8/2021,
I had 11/8/2021
My car is 2021 so hopefully, I dont need to worry about the nct for a few years yet,
 
Am I correct in saying your new NCT now runs to July 2022,
just wondering when Brendan got a message saying his NCT was not due, when he pressed continue did it override the extension,
 
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Log in at around 11pm as that is when all the cancellations go up. You should get an appointment within a few days/weeks.
 
kinnjohn said:
Am I correct in saying your new NCT now runs to July 2022,
just wondering when Brendan got a message saying his NCT was not due, when he pressed continue did it override the extension,
Click to expand...
Yes, but 2023 (6yrs old). I wasn't sure if it would be to the original date, but no, I got July'23.
 
horusd said:
Yes, but 2023 (6yrs old). I wasn't sure if it would be to the original date, but no, I got July'23.
Click to expand...
I suspect Brendan will get the four months extra also on his cert if NCT test is carried out on the 5 of October, in other words after the 19 of sept due date,
 
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Obviously differs from centre to centre as you say because I took two cars for testing in Greenhills recently and was in and out within 30 minutes of booked times.

Told to wait in the car until tester collects the keys and as it was raining told to go to waiting area until test was completed. Glad to say both passed but then they are newish cars.

Interesting to see this in the news today .
 
I've had two tests and a retest done since 30/06/2021. I needed a valid NCT to sell my old car (took re-test tonight and passed) and had to test my "new" car as the cert expired 21/12/2020 (long story). It passed first time.

Kilkenny test centre and any of the owners I spoke to were doing re-tests. Mine was the last appointment for the night and I left there at 22:10, cert in hand.
 
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Same situation. NCT due end of July. I tried to book at the start of the month but usual centres booked out until October. Booked in Naas; no problems. I have the test tomorrow.
 
My Nct is due 22 Aug so went to book today. Nothing available near me till September/October. There was a message saying you are breaking the law If you don't have a valid nct. I phoned the number then and got an appointment in July . I will phone in future if the dates that come up dont suit.
 
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