Over 1.7 million NCT’s were carried out in 2025, (1,744,985 to be precise and 10,000 more than 2024) and well over half of those (885,904) failed on the full test.
We’ve looked at the failure hotspots, the pass highlights, and the top reasons for failed tests…
FAIL MAJOR – where a vehicle has failed the NCT, but the owner will have 30 days in order to have the item repaired and returned to the centre for re-inspection.
FAIL DANGEROUS – where a vehicle is failed because of a dangerous defect that constitutes a direct or immediate risk to road safety. Due to nature of the NCT fail the vehicle can not be used on the road under any circumstances until it’s fixed, presented for re-inspection and receives a Pass Result.
The test centres with the highest percentage of all NCT failures over 2025 are listed below and shown on the map. For the first time in three years, Cavan has lost it’s ‘top’ spot by percentage as a failure hotspot and Ennis has taken the lead with 59% of test fails, which is a total of 21,480 vehicles failing their NCT.
Tip: you can move this table side to side on mobile devices if required.
| Top Fail Areas 2025 | Top Fail Areas 2024 |
|---|---|
| Ennis - 58.5% fails | Cavan - 61% fails |
| Cavan - 58.4% fails | Athlone - 59% fails |
| Athlone - 58.3% fails | Carrick-on-Shannon - 58% fails |
| Longford - 58.3% fails | Monaghan - 56% fails |
| Monaghan - 57.8% fails | Castlerea - 56% fails |
1. Cavan – 11%
2. Navan – 10%
3. Ennis – 9%
4. Sligo – 9%
5. Monaghan – 9%
Cavan has held onto the ‘Fail Dangerous’ hotspot again, and Ennis has kept it’s place at number three. However, Navan is making an appearance at number two with 10% of its fails being classed as ‘Dangerous’. Monaghan was in last year’s list but it’s dropped a place to five this year and Sligo has taken fourth place for 2025.
While these five test centres hold the top spots for Fail Dangerous by percentage, it should be noted that by the total number of vehicles failed it would be an entirely different list. Fonthill had the highest number of Fail Dangerous at just under 8k vehicles, followed by Northpoint 2 (Exit 4, M50) with 7.9k vehicles. Deansgrange and Cork-Little Island both had over 6.2k vehicles fail dangerously. Even the fifth test centre in the ranking by number, which was Limerick with 5.1k vehicles processed significantly more vehicles than the 1.7k Fail Dangerous vehicles recorded over the whole of 2025 by Cavan at the top of the list by percentage.
Although the percentages are different, the first nine items on this list are exactly the same as last year! So, it should be easy for vehicle owners to target the areas of their car that are likely to need attention through maintenance.
Topping the list is steering and suspension, which accounted for 15% of failures. Lighting and electrical faults were the second most common reason for an NCT fail at 14% second. Fails for the slip slide test came in third at 12%. (The Side Slip Test simulates driving on a straight, flat road without touching the steering wheel. The test measures how many metres a vehicle would deviate to the left or right over a distance of 1km.)
As you can see, wheels and tyres came in fourth, followed by the brake test and braking equipment at fifth and sixth respectively. While the light test, vehicle and safety equipment, and suspension test all kept their previous year’s places in this list, the tenth spot formerly given to engine noise and exhaust has now been replaced with chassis and body, which now accounts for 5% of all NCT fails.
The most tested vehicle make in 2025 was Ford, with 175,179 Ford models being put through their NCT. Of the 55% that failed, the majority did so on lighting and electrical defects.
We’ve looked at the makes that received the most passes or fails on their full NCT tests, looking at all car makes that had over 500 vehicles tested. Of course, the age of the vehicle, usage, mileage and the care the owner has taken, will all play a huge part in whether it passed the test.
*Looking at all car makes that had over 500 vehicles tested
*Looking at all car makes that had over 500 vehicles tested
1. MG – 74%
2. Lexus – 59%
3. Land Rover – 55%
4. Audi – 54%
5. Mercedes – 54%
6. BMW – 54%
7. Mini – 54%
8. Hyundai – 54%
9. Kia – 53%
10. Honda – 53%
MG has maintained its top spot for the highest percentage of NCT passes in 2025 and by a significant lead. Lexus, Land Rover, Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Hyundai, Mini and Kia all appeared in 2024’s top 10 for NCT passes although the majority of those makes, bar MG, have lower rates of passing by percentages compared to 2024. Honda is new to the top ten list of NCT passes by car manufacturer and slips into the last spot with 53%.
If your car fails its NCT and the cost of repairs are more than the value of the car, scrapping your car may be the best option. We can give you an instant quote and arrange free collection of your car.
