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lostcarparkMy car was due for its first National Car Test today. The NCT is a bit like the MOT in the UK, but instead of taking place in authorised garages, all tests are carried out at specialised test centres. Fortunately there is such a centre about five minutes from my house (just around the corner from there garage where the car was serviced). It's also only carried out every two years instead of every year.
The test was booked for 9:25, so I had a bit of a lie-in this morning. I dropped Jack off to Montessori and drove to the centre. I dropped my key in, showed the relevant documentation and paid the fee. They took my car through a production line of computerised tests, testing emisions, stearing, brakes, tyres, and various other details which all have to be within specified tolerances. People whose cars measured up were given green certificates with a disk to display (in Ireland we have to display disks to show our cars are taxed (round), insured (rectangular) and NCT'd (square)), while those who did not received white sheets listing the faults. Certain faults only require a visual inspection which is free, while more serious faults require a retest fee to be paid.
The lady sitting next to me said she was "just waiting for her failure certificate", as she hadn't had anything done to the car. Sure enough, the tester came out holding a white sheet, and said to her (in an Aussie accent), "can you come out here, there are a few things I want to show you." They were still talking when I was leaving.
At one point about five of the testing staff seemed to be having a conference next to my car, which was slightly worrying.
I was looking from the waiting room into the test area every few minutes to see what they were doing. The first area seemed to be mainly emission testing. They had the monnet open and a detecter placed behind the car. Then they moved onto a section that seemed to have a vibration plate which shook each wheel seperately, presumably to test suspension and rolers which turned first the front wheel and then the back, which I think was testing the brakes. Then it moved on to a station which jacked the whole car up to allow inspection underneath, and then lowered the car half way and jacked it off its wheels so the tyres could be inspected. When that was done, the car was deposited back in the car park and the test was finished.
A few minutes later, the tester brought back my keys with a shiney green pass certificate (okay, it wasn't really shiney).
The test was booked for 9:25, so I had a bit of a lie-in this morning. I dropped Jack off to Montessori and drove to the centre. I dropped my key in, showed the relevant documentation and paid the fee. They took my car through a production line of computerised tests, testing emisions, stearing, brakes, tyres, and various other details which all have to be within specified tolerances. People whose cars measured up were given green certificates with a disk to display (in Ireland we have to display disks to show our cars are taxed (round), insured (rectangular) and NCT'd (square)), while those who did not received white sheets listing the faults. Certain faults only require a visual inspection which is free, while more serious faults require a retest fee to be paid.
The lady sitting next to me said she was "just waiting for her failure certificate", as she hadn't had anything done to the car. Sure enough, the tester came out holding a white sheet, and said to her (in an Aussie accent), "can you come out here, there are a few things I want to show you." They were still talking when I was leaving.
At one point about five of the testing staff seemed to be having a conference next to my car, which was slightly worrying.
I was looking from the waiting room into the test area every few minutes to see what they were doing. The first area seemed to be mainly emission testing. They had the monnet open and a detecter placed behind the car. Then they moved onto a section that seemed to have a vibration plate which shook each wheel seperately, presumably to test suspension and rolers which turned first the front wheel and then the back, which I think was testing the brakes. Then it moved on to a station which jacked the whole car up to allow inspection underneath, and then lowered the car half way and jacked it off its wheels so the tyres could be inspected. When that was done, the car was deposited back in the car park and the test was finished.
A few minutes later, the tester brought back my keys with a shiney green pass certificate (okay, it wasn't really shiney).
