Older vehicles may have more difficulty passing the National Car Test (NCT) from next year if proposals to reclassify some items as "failure" are approved by the Department of the Environment. The Irish Times has learned that from 2002, some items now classified as "fail advisory" - which mean the car may receive an NCT certificate - will be reclassified as "fail refusal", which means the car will fail the test. There will be a higher failure rate depending on which items are reclassified.
Those checks which most affect the test result are the condition of doors, locks and antitheft devices, and the condition and operation of brakes and bodywork. Adaptions for disabled drivers may also be included.
An NCT spokeswoman said it was not possible to determine what the effect on the pass or failure rate would be as the software model was still being tested. The reclassification of each "fail advisory" item had a different effect on the car's performance in the test. The Department said the raising of the standard was a further step in the phased implementation of the EU Directive on Vehicle Testing. More than 300,000 cars were tested last year, of which 47.6 per cent passed first time. More than 90 per cent passed on either the first or second attempt.
NCT technical staff are working with the Department to decide which items should be reclassified and a recommendation is expected to be made to the Minister of State, Mr Robert Molloy, by next month.
A review group, composed of Department officials, NCT technical staff and representatives from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, is also due to report on inconsistencies in the testing of headlight beam angles. The NCT spokeswoman said all problems in testing centres had been resolved and all centres now had "super-level" floors to ensure accurate testing. Car owners had no need to fear the changes to the test, she said. "Failure advisory items are still required to be fixed at the moment." Between January 1st and the end of July, 196,782 cars underwent the NCT test. All cars registered between 1992 and 1996 are due to be tested this year. Next year, all four-year-old cars will be tested.