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THE NATIONAL CAR Testing Service (NCTS) has apologised after discovering it provided incorrect certificates of road worthiness to 34,000 people over the past year.
It will now issue new vehicle certificates to customers who were wrongly given a certificate of two years duration instead of a one-year certificate.
“The problem was caused by a computer error, which arose when the expiry dates for test certificates were extended in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic,” explained a statement issued by the NCT Service.
This issue only affects vehicles that were over ten years old at the time of their last test, and which had their certificate extended by 4 months because of the pandemic.
The incorrect certificates have been revoked and new NCT certificates are being issued to all affected customers which the NCT says should be complete by August.
The old certificate is no longer valid and should be destroyed according to the NCTS.
“A free full test will be provided for those affected vehicle owners who purchased a vehicle with the expectation of a longer NCT certificate duration, if the vehicle is booked for a test in advance of its revised test due date,” the body said.
“We would like to reassure customers that NCTS has taken all the necessary steps to correct this administrative error and that we will be in contact directly with each affected customer. There is no need for you to take any action until you hear from us.”
The NCTS advised that members of the public looking to purchase a vehicle over 10 years old should check the vehicle’s NCT certificate expiry date before purchase. This can be done online at ncts.ie.
The affected 34,000 vehicles were out of a total of 1.3 million tested since the service resumed in June 2020 following a suspension owing to the pandemic.
Vehicles are required to undergo an NCT on their fourth anniversary and every two years thereafter until their tenth anniversary, when they become subject to annual testing.
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Got car serviced by main dealer, including extra charge for pre NCT check. Failed NCT on headlight alignment. Main dealer assures me it was checked and the chance of it going out in the intervening 3 days was very unlikely. Brought the car to a third party garage with all the test equipment. Again checked there and he said it was perfect and so didn’t adjust anything. Brought back to NCT, same bay, and it passed after nothing had been done. So cost me a few hours out of work the price of a third party garage and a second NCT fee. What sort of scam is that? We must fail a certain percentage to keep in business? And you happen to be in that percentage?
@Fr. Fintan Stack: Pre NCT test is the biggest waste of money. Get test done and let them tell you what needs to be rectified or repaired.
@The Bolt: I’m sure you are right. But I did it just to make sure I wouldn’t be wasting time having to go back to the NCT a second time.
@Fr. Fintan Stack: I had nct on Monday and it passed but there is some new electronic scan coming in next year I believe, and from now until this new scan come in properly, they are giving advisories. It Is called OBD faults and my advisory was for under the location of a door contact switch and the description is signal improbable. I’ve tried googling it but am drawing a blank. Could it be something to do with my central locking? Anyone have ideas? All the doors and the the locking seems to be fine with my zapper.
@Fr. Fintan Stack: my car failed because it didn’t have GAILLIMH on the rear number plate. It didn’t have it for the previous two tests either and it wasn’t failed
@JustBEERbarry: Why are you complaining – that is an extremely important aspect to make your car roadworthy and safe for purpose. Only joking obviously, I failed on the same thing. Tester couldn’t give me a valid reason why it’s a fail. NCT is a money scheming jokeshop.
@BlaaBoy: I was never really sold on the theory that the nct was a racket, this definitely convinced me otherwise.
@Brian Madden: they are checking braking system only through the obd port!
@JustBEERbarry: this is Ireland.. obviously you didn’t have a €50 stuck beside the gear stick..
@Martin: thx for the response martin. I did notice that on the nct site that they were checking brakes and brake locking systems and also odomoters. I just rang my car dealer there and he said the door contact switch has nothing to do with brakes. They also flagged my tyre pressure on this obd advisory and I checked it after and it was perfect. The dealer said that stored faults may come up on the report. He said my for was probable open when doing the check and that was why it was flagged. These code errors will be very confusing
@JustBEERbarry: thx martin. I just rang the garage and they said it’s def not a brake issue and these obd scans can throw up lots of old issues with codes that have been stored
@Fr. Fintan Stack: its an absolute scam. Always has been always will be. If you are late on your yearly NCT check and you pass should that not still qualify you for another year and not part their of. Its a money racket, should go on mileage anyways. I had one guy say there is a warning their on your tyres as they are 6 yr old. I said do they have enough thread, he said yes, I said then whats the f in problem then?
@Brian Madden: I could ramble for hours about this. The fault may have read “implausible” rather than “improbable”. Usually, an implausible signal means the computer is having a wtf moment and cannot understand the signal it’s getting from a particular location. For instance, the ECU won’t lock a door that’s not closed because the position of the lock tells it that the door is open. The reason for the new scan is to find faults that are hidden by covering warning lights like aribags and ABS. Any codes present may fail the car. Never buy a car without starting it yourself and look at the lights on the display with ignition on and engine off. All lights come on momentarily as a bulb check but you may need to do it a few times to make sure you see them all.
@Patrick: the tyres can de-laminate and the tread can come away from the carcass. Tyres are adversely affected by UV light.
Went for NCT a few weeks ago without bringing car to garage for about 8 months. Failed only on headlight alignment. Went to garage to get fixed. Was About 1mm out of alignment. 1mm cost me 40 quid Between retest and garage. Mechanic said they have discretion when issue is so close to a pass. Thanks NCT for not using discretion and scamming me out of 40 quid
@Mattress Dick: It was out of allignment. Its a safety issue so no discretion. The mechanic wanted you to feel better. No scam here.
Does this mean we have to put another €50 in the ashtray for the second test?
@The Bolt: left mine in the boot once. Honest people, they left it there.
Someone needs to be sent to work undercover at NCT centers.
@Margaret Doyle: always thought a Primetime Investigates programme on the workings of a NCT centre would be riveting viewing and would open many, many cans of worms.
Having experience of both mot in the north and nct down here. I found mot very reasonable, will let small faults (non safety) go, inform you to get them fixed yet pass you. If you get car checked by mechanic beforehand highly unlikely to fail. In south its pointless going to a mechanic, cars fail for the some crazy things. My local mechanic advised me not to bring it to him first ‘money making and its completely random’ he thinks. I think car tests are a good idea and tbh I welcome being told something that is dangerous or needs repair but the workings of nct centres is very suspect.
This is anecdotal but I failed NCT due to an issue with ” Auxiliary Lighting “.In short , non factory fitted daylight running lights which have been on the car 4 years.. I asked why and the guy got all hurt and said he was only doing his job . I assured him I understood that he was only doing his job but still would like an explanation of the issue . No joy .
It did make me wonder why he got so defensive when asked by a paying customer for a bit of feedback.
Another fine mess.
I’ve had several similar false-fail & charged retests situations with the NCT centres over the years on different vehicles.
Once my mechanic indicated that they had marked a drive-shaft for failure at the next test, however it was the opposite side one which needed replaced, for safety I replaced the failing part & failed the test on the ear-marked part. Replaced that & it passed, mechanic is adamant that the ‘marked’ part was not in disrepair.
Another example; last year (March 2020) the front left arm failed at one of the NorthPoint centres, mechanic ordered replacement arm, removed the failed arm & confirmed that it did not need replacing, he replaced the original arm, I booked an alternate centre for the retest & passed – complete discretionary scam.
A few years ago, the car of a woman ahead of me in the NCT test centre was failed on emissions, she asked the tester what she needed to do to get it fixed to pass the test?
He said it’s hard to know, you could put it through again right now and it could pass… she said ok let’s do that, she paid the retest fee and as if by a miracle it passed…
As an ex mot inspector I have to say that the NCT is nothing but a scam.
UK and the north Mots are done by independent garages and if a customer complains about a Pass or failure then the inspectorate comes down like a ton of bricks on the garage and if a dangerous fault is found the garage has its license removed right then.
NCT is just a money making scam.
Nothing professional about this outfit at all. It is a private SPANISH company that has the market monopolized. Surely there needs to be competition from Irish based companies for this service. After all , its nothing but disgruntled EX mechanics that have no interest in cars any more and dont know where to go in life. So they settle on stabbing your body panels with implements looking for rust..
My car failed recently because my seat wouldn’t move forward or back. How bizzare is that.
@Mr Jerry Curtin: it’s not bizarre if the emergency services needed to move it to save your life!!
Its such a scam i was there last week and not one car passed while i was there . I was convinced i would pass as just had my service and work done and new tyres etc and still failed for indicator sensors.
Mine was the opposite. Only got 9 months. Scam.
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