NCT and over-the-top Garda

@gears303 Don't wait for the NCT, act now. Send a copy of your receipt / booking confirmation for your NCT ASAP to the guard, with a cover note apologising for not having it done at its due time and thanking him for bringing it to your attention. Playing to their egos works wonders.
Better still drop into the station where he is attached to and deliver it by hand. Appear as sincere as possible.
 
The Garda could have seized your car, so you got off lightly. If you own a car it is your responsibility to ensure it in working order and that you have tax/Insurance/NCT etc
 
I always thought that I would be contacted automatically when my car was 4 years old and told that my NCT was due?
 
Laramie said:
I always thought that I would be contacted automatically when my car was 4 years old and told that my NCT was due?
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Letters get lost in post, or maybe car is registered to an old address.
A reminder is welcome but you can't rely on it 100%.
 
You're not obliged to give your mobile phone number but by questioning the rationale for it you probably guaranteed the points for non-display of NCT. A lot of times Garda will not follow up on out of date NCT and reckon by raising the issue most people would do the right thing and organise one.
The amount of people who use old (or in many cases, country addresses) for their car registration is astounding, that's perhaps why he asked for the mobile to check if you'd updated it. Or maybe he just wanted to see how you'd react.
 
The NCT reminders for regular tests are now added as part of the car tax renewal, not sure about the very first NCT - that possibly was a letter by itself.

(When I get my car tax email I don't expect it to be the only place I'll also get information on the NCT which might be due 10 months after the car tax. It's an email - there's no cost to sending a separate email at a more appropriate time.)

Due to covid this year NCT's normally due to end of March have all been extended by 4 months so are (currently) due in June instead. It could be worth checking what the situation was when your car was originally due its NCT. The normal rules may not have applied.
 
My wife's NCT is due in January. Last November she got an email saying that because of Covid, her test was postponed to May 2021. Suits us fine as the less interaction that we have with people the better.

He disc is out of date though. I would hate to think that if stopped by the Gardai and didn't have a copy of the mail that I might come across as being "stroppy".

Surely the OP has to believed when he says that he was not stroppy to the Guard? I would have thought that asking a reasonable question off a garda is something that should be normal without the fear of being classed as a stroppy person?
 
I never think of when my NCT is due and always rely on being notified by the NCT and thankfully they have always sent one. But I am also aware that I am responsible for having my NCT disk up to date.

As for the mobile number thing, I don't see how it is an issue. In a world where our information and data is sold to companies all over the world, a garda having it is no big deal. Every courier in you county has it.

And why were your children getting rattled? Not having an NCT isn't a big deal and shouldn't be a cause for a child being upset, unless there were raised voices?
 
My NCT due date was automatically extended by 4 months.

I don't rely on anybody to remind me when the test is due. I created an event on my google calendar that repeats yearly and notifies me 4 months in advance to book the test so that I get it done within the 3 months prior to the due date. I only had to do it once although I will probably have to change it now because of the extension but it's no big deal.
 
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Not knowing when your car is due an Nct would be irritating to a Garda looking at your windscreen discs. In saying that, taking an issue with a vehicle as fresh as your is way over the top.

Any reasonable Garda would advise you to have it taken care of, especially as the Country has been upended for 12 months now.

Whats concerning to me is the fact your kids became upset while you were taking to a Member of the Gardai. They will have a lot more to deal with in life that getting upset at such event., Maybe you just threw that bit in for Drama, I hope that was the case.

I remember when my Dad was stopped for excessive speed, as a kid in the back of the car, I thought is was great excitement.
 
LS400 said:
Whats concerning to me is the fact your kids became upset while you were taking to a Member of the Gardai. They will have a lot more to deal with in life that getting upset at such event.
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Don't kids feed off cues from their parents....
 
I bought my 171 car in the first week in December . Only that I asked when its first NCT was due in the garage where I bought it I would not have known as I did not get any notice . When my wife"s car was due an NCT , by the date on the disc , she rang to book a date only to be told that there was a four month extension because of Covid. She did not get a reminder either.
I do not think that they send out reminders any more. It will be interesting to see what happens if she gets stopped by a Garda within that time though...
 
joer said:
I bought my 171 car in the first week in December . Only that I asked when its first NCT was due in the garage where I bought it I would not have known as I did not get any notice . When my wife"s car was due an NCT , by the date on the disc , she rang to book a date only to be told that there was a four month extension because of Covid. She did not get a reminder either.
I do not think that they send out reminders any more. It will be interesting to see what happens if she gets stopped by a Garda within that time though...
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Ditto, my wife got no reminder for her car's first NCT that's due by the end of this month, I luckily remembered and got a cancelation at the local test center, otherwise the next available date was June. Didn't hear anything about a 4 month extension, when I enter her reg on their website it still shows the original date.
 
That is right RedOnion . I should have said that it was not her first NCT. That is why she got an extension.
 
Does everyone not know that the first NCT for a car is 4 years after first registration?
I think because the Garda have been so lax in previous years about not checking NCT, that a lot of people play the dope in this regard and wait to be told how to obey the law.
 
Coldwarrior said:
otherwise the next available date was June.
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That wouldn't have been a problem. The fact you could not be facilitated by the centre, does not mean the car is not allowed to be on the road. You must have the vehicle registered at a test centre though awaiting a test.
 
OP might be in the clear if his date for the NCT was at a time when the NCT couldn't be done due to Covid or was extended due to it.
 
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