Key Post Car failed NCT after garage did NCT service

Hi

I left my car into be serviced two weeks ago and paid for an extra NCT service, in the end it needed a few things brake pads etc and the whole bill came to over1200 euros. I had my NCT this morning and it failed because of the parking brake (unbalance 85%) I have no idea what that means but the NCT guy said the garage should have noticed or fixed when they were doing all the work.

When I rang the garage today the service guy said they have no way of telling for sure if it will pass as they don't have the same gear the NCT garages have for testing, no garages do so they can only guess everything is correct. Whats the point in charging for a NCT service if I failed on something that i think they should have picked up on, is the service guy spinning me a yarn. i now have to take more time off work tomorrow to leave it back to him, reapply for the NCT and take another half day off work to re-test. Do you think I can kick up in garage and try get money back or something.

Invoice 1 - 713 euros
Carry out full service
Pre NCt checks
replace front and rear brake pads
replace front number plate

breakdown service -389
Plate - 10.39
pad kit - 64.22
pad kit disc brake - 111
oil, bulb, a few other things make up balance

Invoice 2 - 535 euros
strip as required and replace LHF & RHF suspension arm bushes
check/adjust front wheel allignment
replace accelerator pedal (was loose)

Parts - 169
Labour - 302

This happened me before after a pre NCT service which I had done at a main dealers. I told them a problem I had with a knocking noise in the front which turned out to be a cv joint which had to be replaced and they sent the car back out without doing it. It would have definitely failed the NCT. This car is a taxi which made it worse as it was then off the road for another day.

I think the level of car servicing in main dealers is deplorable so wont be going there again in a hurry.

Sydney.
This prob is more common than you might think.
I have knowledge of a guy who failed the NCT solely on the handbrake test and when he went straight back to the garage in Dublin 11 (where he had had the handbrake adjusted on the day prior to the test) they didn't want to know. He left in disgust after being stonewalled by the service rep.

So he went to another garage and arranged for the handbrake to be repaired.
He asked the service there (without at first giving him the history) if the brake was worn or had worked loose in some way. Reply was to the effect that a new cable had been fitted by someone recently but not adjusted and was loosely mounted. This fact was indicated in the invoice.

A letter was then composed incorporating all the elements surrounding the problem and sent to the garage (a main dealer holding a legendary franchise) and expressing the view that he'd got a very shoddy and dangerous service done and that this was his first step in recovering his outlay. Letter sent by registered post and addressed to the Mng Director.

Result: One telephone call from MD......one personal call by the Service Manager..............refund of the payment made for the job not done.
The refund cheque came in a letter pinned to a "With Compliments" slip and no accompanying letter so he could never show proof positive of what had taken place. No further action was required.

Simple solution here . Take your car for NCT and let THEM tell you what fails .
The go to gargare to get same fixed . WAY cheaper

allthedoyles said:

Simple solution here . Take your car for NCT and let THEM tell you what fails .
The go to gargare to get same fixed . WAY cheaper

Click to expand...

Totally agree with this advice. This is what I do with my mothers car and several of my mates do the same with their own / their wife's car when due NCT.

I always have a problem when I see pre-NCT car services and pre-NCT car washes advertised. To my mind, it's a gimmick by garages to drum up business from paranoid NCTers.

A service is a service and a car wash is a car wash.

The best apporach is have the car washed (preferably by yourself), serviced and make sure it's ticking the boxes on the list that the NCT provide. Put it through the test and then fix whatever shows up, if anything.

That said, the OP's handbrake failure should not have occurred following a proper service. I'd pursue the issue with the garage.

After any service I would be unhappy if there was something wrong with the brakes! You definitely need to follow this up with the garage. They should, at the very least, fix the imbalance free of charge. 85% is not borderline so they really should have noticed when they were checking the car.

Had car serviced 4 weeks ago.
Told mechanic after service that NCT was due. He frowned, said 'oh think you might fail cos some wear on suspension something (dont know name), its safe but NCT may or may not choose to fail on it'. I said 'will I bother fixing now?', he said 'definitely not, let NCT find what they find and then bring it back, we cant test for some of the stuff they find'.

It did fail, with a couple of other items besides the one the mechanic mentioned.

I think basically what is being said here is dont bother with any pre NCT test, put it though and see if it passes or not. If it doesn't get the stuff fixed, pay for the retest and hope its ok then. Probably a lot cheaper on your own pocket in the long run.