Eighty-five thousand cars failed their NCT in 2024 because of defective tyres, writes Brian Byrne. That was one in ten of the 856,000 cars that wee failed during the year.
The biggest reason for failure was faults in the steering and suspension, at 14.9pc of the total. Lighting and Electrical came next (14.1pc), followed by the 'side slip test' which measures how a car can maintain a straight line when driven without the steering wheel (12.2pc).
Tom Dennigan, head of premium German tyre manufacturer, Continental Tyres Ireland, commended the NCT service for excellent work to help keep dangerous cars off the road. "However, it is hard not to be alarmed at that growth in test failures that are attributed to defective tyres, an increase of 10,000 from last year," he said. Tyres are the easiest element of the test to get right — a driver can easily check and see if a car’s tyres are fit for purpose."
He added that many local tyre services will provide a car owner with a free professional check of their tyres.
