2,000 cars too dangerous to go on roads after NCT

Almost 2,000 cars were towed from NCT centres so far this year after being deemed too dangerous to be driven home.

The latest figures from operator Applus, also show that more cars failed than passed the NCT between January and April.

A total of 554,297 tests were carried out in the first four months of the year on 2007, 2009 and 2011-registered cars as well as cars 10 years and older.

Of those tested, 282,082 of vehicles (50.9%) failed while 270,234 (48.7%) passed. This continues a trend, first seen in 2011, of more cars failing than passing the test in a given year.

Of the 277,151 vehicles that subsequently underwent a retest from January to April, 252,046 (91%) passed while 24,755 (8.9%) failed a second time.

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A total of 1,981 vehicles were slapped with ‘failed/ dangerous’ stickers and could not be driven out of the test centre. Some 350 were still deemed dangerously defective after a retest.

The AA has previously stated that the ‘failed/ dangerous rate is relatively small in the context of the high volume of NCTs undertaken, while it would be worse if dangerous car defects werent being picked up by the test.

Applus had its busiest year on record last year with more than 1.3 million vehicles tested for roadworthiness in 2014 — an increase of 173,366 compared to 2013.

Meanwhile, latest figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that new car sales were up by 28% between January and April.

SIMI director general Brian Cooke said the strong growth in retail sales highlights consumer confidence around the country with every county experiencing an increase in sales.

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