scam

[rhys mate]

CARS OVER 10 years old will have to be tested every year under changes to the National Car Test approved by the Minister for Transport. Noel Dempsey has also effectively banned excessively tinted car windows and noisy exhausts under the changes due to come into effect in January.

The Minister has accepted a range of additional checks in the NCT proposed by the Road Safety Authority.

The requirement for cars over 10 years old to be tested annually, rather than the current biennial test, is expected to lead to around 120,000 additional tests a year. The pass rate for cars aged 10 and over in 2007 was about 32 per cent.

The switch to an annual test should bring in about €6 million extra annual revenue for the test provider, although the new scrappage scheme is likely to see the number of cars in this age group fall.

Under the new rules, a car will fail the test if it has tinted windscreens or front-side windows with a light transmission level of less than 65 per cent. Car exhausts generating over 99 decibels will also fail. The NCT will also start testing rear fog lamps, reversing lights and rear registration-plate lamps.

Tyres will also have to have an “E” mark, certifying that their grip and performance meets international standards. This follows moves by the department to restrict the sale and supply of retreaded tyres.

The final change to the car test is that malfunction warning lights for airbags, electronic and anti-lock braking systems and electronic stability control will be checked. The vehicle will fail if these don’t work properly.

The RSA said the additional test items will improve vehicle safety and reduce road deaths and injuries.

But the authority has not suggested that vintage cars aged over 30 years should be included in the testing regime. Mr Dempsey has ruled out an increase in the €50 car test, and €28 retest, fees for 2010. The changes also make no mention of the car test being used to collect odometer readings.

Two new test centres will open early next year, in Carndonagh, Co Donegal, and in Greenhills, Dublin 24.

The changes come just weeks before Applus+ takes over car testing on January 4th after winning a 10-year contract, worth an estimated €400 million, and beating the current provider, NCTS Ltd, into second place. Applus+ operates car road-worthiness testing in Spain.

In May the Minister introduced penalty points for drivers without an NCT certificate, leading to a surge in applications.

[rhys mate]

what a scam

[StanO'Toole]

If feel like crying! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rhys mate]

tell me about it!! not only is it 350 on tax its 1270 on insurance and now 50 on nct every bloody year!! in gonna have to quit college

[seanos]

most mini's will be too noisy to pass, its a load of bull doodoo

[kona]

Meh just another thing to prepare the car for.

1. Make car run like doodoo.

2. Remove exhaust, replace with pea shooter.

Im sick of this communist bunch of arseholes telling me what to do. If I want my exhaust to sound good then ill put it on the car.
How loud exhausts can cause accidents I do not know. If anything they are a safety measure, Ive seen pedestrians away in fairy land get the frog off the road ASAP as soon as they hear the mini, even if its waaaay away from them. The fact you can hear it coming too.


I'd Imagine its the same ol NCT, things can get a "blind eye".

Whats the max db for the exhaust? dont the UK have a db limit too?

[daniel garry]

its kinda pointless worrying bout this, i'v been driving for nearly a year without an NCT and my sister drove it for a year and a bit without an NCT, works out the last nct was in 2003! all they u need to do is have the car sorted for 1 test, pass it, when the following year comes round book it for as long away as possible and a week before its due pospone it for just as long, repeat 2 or 3 more times and voila its every 2 years!

[kona]

its kinda pointless worrying bout this, i'v been driving for nearly a year without an NCT and my sister drove it for a year and a bit without an NCT, works out the last nct was in 2003! all they u need to do is have the car sorted for 1 test, pass it, when the following year comes round book it for as long away as possible and a week before its due pospone it for just as long, repeat 2 or 3 more times and voila its every 2 years!

But you are breaking the law by friving with no NCT.(Which of course is your choice!). But I got terrible hassle from the gards over my lack of NCT, in the end I just got it done to stop all the hassle.

30year old is the way to go

[daniel garry]

been stopped at least10 times and only once i had it booked, they seemed to be more worried bout the spot lamps on the front, had 2 of em askin if they were legal.
brake cylinders this week, nct the 16th and i'l finaly be legal.

noot sure what kind of safety on the roads will be gained as ther'l still be the same people goin mad on the roads if they want to, a car test every year wont stop this and if the caar is goin for the test and doesnt pass a few testers are partial to the odd brown envelope

[miniireland]

buy a 30 year old mini.....

[swalker]

spare a thought for the germans anything not std is a fail, or the maps the car gets to a certain age and the brake system has to be changed regardless, why do you think there is so many imports. Also how would you feel if your mini was wrote off by a car that had no brakes because there was no test?
Up here if you have no mot you have no insurance, they won't stand by you as the car is not road worthy.
It is a pain and costs money but it keeps your car in good order and safe.

[Deadly Dave]

[quote="rhys mate Noel Dempsey has also effectively banned excessively tinted car windows

Good , there are too many ejits driving around that cant see out their side windows because the tint is so dark.


The NCT will also start testing rear fog lamps, reversing lights and rear registration-plate lamps.

All your lights should be working, its basic safety

Tyres will also have to have an “E” mark, certifying that their grip and performance meets international standards. This follows moves by the department to restrict the sale and supply of retreaded tyres.

Good, I dont want to meet a boy racer on substandard tyres thank you.
The final change to the car test is that malfunction warning lights for airbags, electronic and anti-lock braking systems and electronic stability control will be checked. The vehicle will fail if these don’t work properly.

Sellers had been disconecting them when they were faulty and selling the cars with the new owner not aware that their cars safety features were not working



The changes also make no mention of the car test being used to collect odometer readings.

They should record them to stop people being ripped off



In May the Minister introduced penalty points for drivers without an NCT certificate, leading to a surge in applications.[/quote]

[rhys mate]

its just excessive that the db is so low and the nct is so expensive!! if they halved the price then maybe it would be fairer but they just want money money money!! and what about ppl who have minis that dont hav the time space or money to be messing with the carb and exhaust every year let alone every two!!

[Billy]

Time to add a bit of reality here folks:

1. 50 Euros to get your car checked over once a year is cheap. Your local garage hasn't the same facilities as an NCT centre;
2. If you have a choice to buy a car from the UK, which will you buy, the one with a current MOT or the one without?
3. I have a 60-year-old Triumph which is a PSV vehicle and just like taxis and hackneys, it must be NCTed every 12 months. I have never had a problem getting it to pass. If it fails on a couple of items, just fix them and get the car rested. No biggy;
4. Many of you weren't driving before the NCT was introduced and back then, the amount of crap on the roads was frightening. It wasn't uncommon to say bootlids held down with bailer twine and wings hanging off . It raised the standard of cars on the road and made the roads a lot safer.

If people are worried about legalities etc, how many of you have informed your insurance company that you have changed engines, modified tuning, modified the car's wiring loom to add non-standard ICE, lighting etc, retro-fitted alloy wheels etc etc? Don't have a crash lads, cos the insurance companies actively look for ways not to pay out if you haven't given them the full picture.

If someone crashed into me and they didn't have an NCT, I would sue the arse off them as they clearly wouldn't be able to prove that they had made an attempt to keep their car legally roadworthy!

Get a grip lads, the rest of Europe has had an annual test for their cars for many years. That's why we keep importing them!

Billy

[GTM Coupe]

Fair comments Billy, - I wish to add a few more - people worried about a db limit of 99db obviously don't know how loud that is, when we raced in NZ we were limited to 95db - that was all classes and included the V8 supercars you see on TV. To put it in perspective a 4" angle grinder is around 85db, I would say it would be almost impossible to get a mini exhaust system to achieve greater than 99db, a good performance mini will have a louder induction noise than that of the exhaust.

In NZ your car is tested every 6 months so once a year aint that bad, and 50 euro to keep you safe is priceless.

[rhys mate]

"To put it in perspective a 4" angle grinder is around 85db"

that puts that into perspective cheers!!

guess us students are the only one's bothered then

[BlackSe7en]

Talking to the Dutch lads at the IMM, they informed me that if you get your car serviced annually at proper registered garages ans main dealerships, then you are covered for their version of the NCT/MOT. To me it is a much fairer method,as those people who keep their cars up to spec save on the NCT.

[Mummy Hen]

Am I being silly, we have to MOT, our Minis each year, we have a MK1 June 1960, and a MK3 Dec 1972, that makes them 50 and 38 years old... or is it just us in England that have to do this ???????????????

[unfit]

The new regulation exempts cars first registered prior to 1st January 1980 from undergoing annual NCT.

The introduction of this set date (1/1/1980) paves the way for changes to the regulations governing VRT and Roadtax. The reduced VRT and road-tax for 30 year old cars based on a "rolling year" basis could well become a thing of the past.

[hughesmarkie]

I think there has been alot of good points made on this topic and Im not against an annual test, its just the fact that it is a flat rate of cars over 10yrs and not based on milage after the 10yrs makes me feel it is to get extra revenue!

-100% agree with the tinted windows
-100% agree with the excessive exhaust noise (even my race car passed the 95db limit on tracks in the uk)

I dont think its a bad thing for cars on the road but as Billy pointed out declare everything on your cars to your insurance company even if they dont care about it when starting your policy they will if your ever in a shunt!

At least 2 of mine are over 30

[keith]

The new regulation exempts cars first registered prior to 1st January 1980 from undergoing annual NCT.

do you have a link to this?

[briain]

I mainly agree with it but it is an extra cost and as I waited 4 months to do a nct this year it become a big problem if there are big backlogs of cars. The louder exhausts are safer but your neighbor might not like you starting your car at 6 in the morning. As far a Db's go everytime you increase about 3Db its double the sound so if a 4" angle grinder is 85 then the legal limit is nearly 5 times the sound of the grinder. From experience on bikes loud exhausts are much safer my current bike is 120Db and completely road legal go figure.

[just_st3v3n]

dont know if anyone knew this but......... if the nct cannot provide you with a booking within 31 days you should get a free nct..
read that in the local paper one day, and also the guards cannot legally confiscate your car from you if its on northern reg...il se can i find the article and il post it up...

[smur89]

I mainly agree with it but it is an extra cost and as I waited 4 months to do a nct this year it become a big problem if there are big backlogs of cars. The louder exhausts are safer but your neighbor might not like you starting your car at 6 in the morning. As far a Db's go everytime you increase about 3Db its double the sound so if a 4" angle grinder is 85 then the legal limit is nearly 5 times the sound of the grinder. From experience on bikes loud exhausts are much safer my current bike is 120Db and completely road legal go figure.

6dB is double.

[briain]

I stand corrected. I got a book it was just in august when I booked it in April