Success!

Weird things are happening at the NCT (National Car Test). My current cert expires on 16th October. I'd read about a backlog because of Covid and checked on the web site in August about getting this year's test done. Uh-uh, I was told, you're too early asking about that. I followed the process through regardless, to be informed that the earliest available test date was in February!

Fortunately, I'd read somewhere that messages like this were due to only limited test slots being available online and that a phone call or email should sort things out. My main concern, obviously, was that I could be liable for an on-the-spot fine during the four months between expiry and the test dates available online. Sure enough, I got a prompt reply to my email informing me that I'd been put on a priority list, followed a couple of weeks ago by notification of today's test.

My slot was at 8:25 am. I was early getting to the test centre and expected to have to wait until my appointed time, but I barely had time to return to my car after checking in when a tester walked over to me. I was back in the car, new cert in hand, at 8:40. My old reliable Renault Megane lives to fight another year! 'Old' it certainly is — 20 years old next June, in fact, so I must admit to some concern each year at NCT time.