The Accessor Spring 2025 Web - Flipbook - Page 12
JOURNAL
PROFESSIONALISM
SKILLED AUTOMOTIVE
ENGINEERS
“CRITICAL”
TO KEEP DRIVERS SAFE
After seeing numerous media reports including a segment
on Irish prime time television channel, RTE One, the IAEA
was keen to talk to Irish Regional Chairman, Noel Maher,
about his involvement in a consumer trading standards
complaint case, and hear his views on the growing skillset
and remit of a modern automotive engineering assessor.
oel Maher, Managing
Director of Automotive
Technical Consulting,
was instructed as an
independent engineer
by Prime Time, a 昀氀agship news
programme from RTE One, after a
motorist in Dublin purchased a vehicle
that had substantial faults following an
unsafe repair.
N
Prior to the inspection conducted by
Noel, another independent engineer
had already viewed the car on behalf
of motorist, Esther Woodley, who
bought a 2017 Volkswagen Polo last
September from a garage she “knew
and trusted”.
He told her the vehicle was
“completely unroadworthy”.
The vehicle had passed the National
Car Testing (NCT) even though it had
numerous, dangerous faults and was
a Category-C write off that had been
badly damaged in a crash less than a
year before she bought it, and then
poorly repaired.
1. The offside chassis leg was cut
and replaced with insuf昀椀cient
welding and not in keeping with
manufacturers repair methods. The
chassis leg was held in place with
a few spot welds and covered with
sealer to disguise the cut lines.
2. The nearside chassis rail also
heavily damaged and deformed
with incorrect repairs completed
poorly.
“Any of the advised faults would have
been suf昀椀cient to fail the National Car
Test and none of these faults identi昀椀ed
during the test,” explained Noel.
3. The front cross member was
damaged on the offside and
pushed backwards.
“This is leaving the public vulnerable,”
he warned, despite the reassurance
that should be afforded by the NCT
Programme.
4. The engine sump was replaced,
and vehicle had suspected engine
damage.
5. The engine bay loom was crushed
and cut with incorrect repairs
completed.
6. The vehicle 12volt battery was
insecure.
7. Both front wings liners were
damaged and the vehicle engine
under tray missing.
8. The front ADAS camera was not
replaced after front bumper was
replaced. No ADAS calibration had
been completed.
9. There were 22 faults in the vehicle
diagnostics system.
As Noel explained, his inspection
uncovered a large number of defects
with the vehicle. Here, he details the
faults:
12
10. There were six faults on the vehicle
display systems.
11. Both front headlights were
damaged and retained with wood
screws.
Esther had dealt with the garage
before, previously using the garage for
minor repairs on her old car, reported
RTE. And the 2017 Polo she purchased
has a recent NCT certi昀椀cate.
“In fact, the car had passed the test
only three days earlier,” Esther told
Prime Time. “I felt I could trust the
garage,” she said, and she felt she
could trust the NCT.
“I would never have purchased that
vehicle if it hadn’t passed an NCT,”
she said, after paying €7,500 in cash
for the car, in addition to trading in her
previous car.
Shortly after purchasing the car, the
driver noticed warning lights on the
dashboard. The garage promised to 昀椀x
it, but then “stopped communicating”.
She went to the garage and found
“they were gone and there was
new signage, new people. They
disappeared, they completely
disappeared.”
THE ASSESSORS JOURNAL | SPRING 2025 | www.iaea-online.org/news/the-assessor
