For us Swedes who are accustomed to vehicle inspection in Sweden, we await for an unknown surprise when we get our car serviced here.
First we need to take the car to the tax office and pay the inspection fee. We then get a note/receipt to take with us, but before doing so we must of course have an exhaust control test, which it is done in many garages.
Once this is achieved, we head to the Vehicle Inspection premises in Girne which is located behind the main police station. We park in a convenient place (there are parking spaces adjacent), take our documents, which should consist of registration, emission test and a receipt from the car tax office for the payment of the fee, and go into the office.
Now you are probably ready to drive into the service pit and meet the man with the sledgehammer. But that’s not how it works here!
You are greeted by a man who takes care of all the paperwork, ask where the car is and goes to inspect the vehicle. There, he asks you to lift the bonnet; he looks at the engine number and compares it with the registration certificate. Then he goes once around the car, takes a glimpse at the wheels, fenders and lights. If everything looks OK you go into the office and obtain a certificate of inspection which states that everything is as it should be.
Once this is done you take the inspection certificate and go to the vehicle tax office and show off this piece of paper and pay the road tax (if there is time for it).
No pounding with sledgehammers, brake tests, balance tests or checking the warning triangle. Could it be any more relaxed or easy?
