Anxious car owners watched through viewing windows as their beloved vehicles were put through their paces in a north Dublin national car testing centre yesterday.
"It's like being in the Rotunda," said Mr Willie Fortune, standing with his partner, Ms Collette O'Loughlin, in the clean and airy waiting-room in anticipation of the big moment.
They stared through the windows as Ms O'Loughlin's 1988 Nissan Micra was prodded and poked by men in green overalls. The tests were carried out in the hangar-like testing centre in Ballymun. The centre has four lanes, each with three testing stations, allowing 12 cars to undergo inspections at a time.
"It's a good little thing, it never lets me down. I hope it'll not let me down now," said Ms O'Loughlin as the final inspection of the under-body was carried out.
Minutes later, mechanic Mr Michael Gleeson emerged with the good news: the car had passed. "I get a certificate, that's all I wanted," said Ms O'Loughlin.
She was also getting a dinner out last night on Mr Fortune, whose own 1992 BMW will have to undergo the test next year. Ms Marion Skelton from Portmarnock was not so fortunate. Her 1985 Toyota Starlet failed because of a minor brakes problem. She was given notice that it was due a retest within 28 days, and advised to get her mechanic to look at the problem.
Six of the 20 cars tested in the purpose-built centre yesterday passed, according to the manager, Mr Jim McHolmes. "That's quite high considering a lot didn't have a pre-inspection done," he said.
The first car through the centre, a 1988 Toyota Starlet, passed without having had a pre-test service, he said. One of the failed cars, a 1987 Austin Maestro, had excessive rusting on its primary structures.
Mr McHolmes said the owner was advised to have the fault checked out. "We can't tell customers they should scrap their cars. They would have to get independent advice on it. People are often quite attached to their vehicles and I certainly couldn't tell them to scrap it," he said.
Mr McHolmes said most of the other cars were failed due to minor problems such as windows which would not open or poor brakes.
Ms Margaret Daly was quietly expecting her beloved 1988 blue Ford Fiesta to fail the test due to rust, which it duly did. "It's my first car and I've had it for five years and hate parting with it," she said.