NCT Monitor 2025
Edition 1. Figures on Irish National Car Test failures, based on open RSA data covering 1 January 2025 through 31 December 2025.
Of the cars aged 3-5 years, 20.6% failed the NCT. For cars aged 15-19 years, that share is 68.6%. The full tables are below and are free to cite with attribution.
Failure rate by age group
Share of NCT tests that failed, by vehicle age at the time of test. Based on the full Irish NCT fleet.
| Age | Tests | Failed | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-5 years | 134,662 | 27,757 | 20.6% |
| 6-8 years | 340,180 | 108,151 | 31.8% |
| 9-11 years | 360,591 | 171,613 | 47.6% |
| 12-14 years | 403,318 | 232,949 | 57.8% |
| 15-19 years | 402,199 | 275,945 | 68.6% |
Most common defect categories
Share of categorised defect items in this category, weighted across the 542 models Plateop tracks. This is a share of defect items, not the chance that a car fails the NCT: a car can fail for more than one reason at once.
| Category | Failed | Tests | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steering, suspension, wheels and tyres | 643,828 | 1,721,520 | 37.4% |
| Lighting equipment and parts of the electrical system | 462,399 | 1,721,235 | 26.9% |
| Braking equipment | 362,697 | 1,715,540 | 21.1% |
| Steering | 260,890 | 1,712,654 | 15.2% |
| Nuisance | 180,150 | 1,692,246 | 10.7% |
| Other equipment | 137,417 | 1,719,974 | 8.0% |
| Chassis and chassis attachments | 98,397 | 1,684,970 | 5.8% |
| Other (not further categorised) | 16,332 | 1,681,055 | 1.0% |
Models with the lowest and highest failure shares
Per age group, the three models with the lowest and the highest failure share. Only models with at least 800 tests in that age group are included; small counts produce flukes and are therefore excluded.
3-5 years
Lowest failure share
| Model | Tests | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Volkswagen T-Roc | 1,771 | 9.6% |
| Hyundai i20 | 1,289 | 11.7% |
| Toyota RAV 4 | 2,889 | 11.7% |
Highest failure share
| Model | Tests | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Tesla Model 3 | 1,171 | 54.5% |
| Dacia Duster | 1,269 | 44.4% |
| Dacia Sandero | 1,064 | 39.9% |
6-8 years
Lowest failure share
| Model | Tests | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Volkswagen T-Roc | 1,703 | 14.7% |
| Audi Q2 | 1,167 | 18.6% |
| Audi Q3 | 995 | 19.6% |
Highest failure share
| Model | Tests | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Citroën C4 | 1,381 | 55.0% |
| Dacia Duster | 3,375 | 51.6% |
| Opel Mokka | 1,529 | 48.1% |
9-11 years
Lowest failure share
| Model | Tests | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Toyota Yaris | 5,813 | 32.4% |
| Toyota Vitz | 895 | 32.4% |
| Nissan Note | 3,607 | 34.4% |
Highest failure share
| Model | Tests | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Peugeot Partner | 1,048 | 74.1% |
| Peugeot 5008 | 859 | 71.7% |
| Nissan X-Trail | 1,641 | 67.7% |
12-14 years
Lowest failure share
| Model | Tests | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Toyota Vitz | 1,436 | 33.8% |
| Honda Jazz | 872 | 35.2% |
| Volkswagen UP | 1,719 | 39.9% |
Highest failure share
| Model | Tests | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Peugeot Partner | 1,314 | 79.1% |
| Nissan Qashqai | 13,169 | 77.9% |
| Renault Grand Scenic | 904 | 74.8% |
Method and definitions
- Source: open NCT inspection data from the Road Safety Authority (RSA), covering 1 January 2025 through 31 December 2025.
- A test counts as failed when the vehicle received the RSA's own fail result on that test. The NCT starts at four years old, so the youngest published age group (3 to 5 years) only reflects ages four and five; there is no age group for zero to two years.
- The fleet figures per age group come from the full Irish NCT fleet, not filtered by make or model.
- The category and model figures are measured across the 542 models from 47 makes that Plateop tracks (1,501 data cells). That is broad but not the entire fleet; the fleet figures above are the reference for that.
- Models only qualify as outliers with at least 800 tests in the age group concerned.
- Editions are not changed after publication. This edition was compiled on 3 September 2026.
Using these figures
Free to cite with attribution; online, please include a link:
Source: Plateop NCT Monitor, plateop.com/pers
All editions and method