Athlone NCT failure rates highest among local centres

More than half of vehicles that carried out an NCT test in Athlone this year failed the examination.

Overall, 57.7% failed their test at the Athlone centre, with 21,226 inspections conducted by the end of September this year.

Of the 12,274 that failed, a total of 1,753 cars – or one in six - received a 'Fail:Dangerous' result.

Mullingar had a lower rate of failures overall, with 46% of the 22,770 vehicles tested not making it through, Of those, 1,626 vehicles were certified as dangerous.

Of all the regional NCT test centres, Ballinasloe has the lowest failure rate, with only 42.2% failing, 773 of which were certified as dangerous. Ballinasloe has carried out 13, 346 tests as of the end of September.

If you are thinking of switching to Ballinasloe for your test, the average wait time of 12.6 days for a first slot.

Athlone may be able to fit you in quicker, with an average of 8.5 days, while waiting times for Mullingar waiting times are currently at 15.4 days on average.

For those who cannot find a suitable date online, they can apply to be placed on the priority list, and the NCT Authority will try to find a more suitable appointment for them.

The NCT is a compulsory test for all vehicles that are more than two years old. It is conducted every two years on vehicles less than 10 years old, and yearly for older vehicles.