€4.4m spent on
re-tests in 2012
by Linda McGrory
THE recession is seeing more cars now failing than
passing the NCT test each year with Irish drivers
spending a whopping €4.4 million on re-test fees
alone in 2012.
Over half (51.3 per cent) of all cars tested last
year failed the test compared to a pass rate of just
48.3 per cent. 4,144 cars were deemed dangerously
un-roadworthy after testing last year.
And the trend continues with 177,416 cars (52.2 per
cent) failing the NCT compared to 160,978 passing
(47.4%) in the first three months of this year.
In 2010, the pass rate was 51.7 per cent compared to
a fail rate of 47.8 per cent. In 2011 the pass rate
fell to 50.6 per cent compared to a 49 per cent fail
rate. However, the balance shifted for the first
time in 2012 with only 48.3 per cent of cars
(515,212) passing compared to 51.3 per cent
(548,628) failing the test.
Some €63 million in NCT tests and re-tests was spent
by Irish motorists in 2012 - the best result so far
for Applus, the Spanish operators of the service.
The bumper figures are partly due to the 10 per cent
rise in the test fee to €55 combined with the
introduction of annual testing for cars ten years
and older in 2012.
Applus which employs nearly 600 people in Ireland,
made a pre-tax profit here of some €2.6 million in
2011.
The company said there is an increasingly higher
fail rate partly because more people are driving
older cars in the recession.
"We are finding that, unlike in the boom when many
people bought new cars, drivers are now holding on
to their cars for longer and maintaining them as
opposed to upgrading," said NCT spokeswoman, Sinead
McKeon.
"And we are seeing more people undertaking the test
for the very first time because previously they
would have driven new cars and upgraded regularly
and would never have had to go through the test.”
Ms McKeon added: "The introduction of the annual NCT
has also made an impact on the pass rates because
the 10-year old cars tested in 2011 had to come back
into us again in 2012.
"People are also using the NCT as a diagnostic tool
to see what's wrong with their cars rather than
going to the mechanic before and after the test.
This is also pushing down the overall pass rate.
"Having said that, cars are still generally failing
on the same things such as front suspension, brake
lines and hoses and tyre condition,” added Ms McKeon.
Applus' latest statistics show that there were
339,569 tests carried out between January and March
this year on 2005, 2007 and 2009-registered cars as
well as vehicles ten years and older. Of these,
1,175 were deemed dangerously un-roadworthy. A
further 163,197 re-tests carried out in the same
period with a total of 14,579 failing second time
around and 167 deemed un-roadworthy. |
