If your NCT is running out and you think it's going to fail, head south.
Figures released by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) indicate that Kilkenny has the highest percentage pass rate in the country when it comes to the NCT test.
The Cats have a pass rate of 55%, meaning every second vehicle that enters the building will pass the National Car Test. In total, 28,712 cars were tested in Kilkenny in 2016 of which nearly 16,000 passed.
Clifden was the test centre with the highest fail rate as 61.3% of vehicles tested there did not hit the required mark in 2016.
Second placed Monaghan's fail rate is 60.5%, followed by third placed Longford on 57.5%.
14,691 vehicles were tested at the Longford NCT Centre during 2016 and 8,447 failed, with 41.4% or 6,082 vehicles passing.
Neighbouring Cavan (56.4%), Carrick-on-Shannon (54.7%) and Mullingar (54.4%) also feature on the top ten percentage fail list.
The south of the country is the real winner in this list as Killarney and Portlaoise come in at second and third respectively, hovering around the 54% mark.
Top 10 for fail percentage
1. Clifden 61.3%
2. Monaghan 60.5%
3. Longford 57.5%
4. Derrybeg 56.9%
5. Cavan 56.4%
6. Carlow 55.9%
7. Fonthill 55.6%
8. Carrick-on-Shannon 54.7%
9. Castlerea/Naas (Tied) Both 54.6%
10. Mullingar 54.4%
Top 10 for pass percentage
1. Kilkenny 55%
2. Killarney 54.1%
3. Portlaoise 53.9%
4. Deansgrange 53.7%
5. Abbeyfeale 53.4%
6. Ballinasloe 52.8%
7. Tralee 52.2%
8. Tullamore 51.9%
9. Carndonagh 51.6%
10 Macroom 51.2%
Across the Republic, a total of 1,465,702 cars were tested last year. The average pass rate across the country was 48.2% while the national failure rate was 51.8%.
Approximately, 706,468 passed the NCT last year but the overall failure rate tops that amount standing at 759233 - this means that 50,000 m0re vehicles failed the NCT than passed in 2016.
The National Car Test cost €55 and if it fails, it is €28 to re-test the vehicle.
Cars that are 0-3 years old do not require a test but cars that are four years older need to be tested every two years, with cars ten years or older being tested annually.
