Welcome to the new dawn. The world of vehicle tax changed. Discs are history. This is a new, better world. Or, it would be if the DVLA’s new vehicle tax system hadn’t fallen flat on its face!

Yes, the new ‘this will make your life easier’ way of working has gone utterly wrong. People are frantically trying to tax their vehicles, and the system just isn’t coping. Both website and call centre have been overwhelmed. On any scale, this has not been a success.

Happily for me, the payment of an outstanding invoice meant I was able to get my 2CV taxed yesterday afternoon. I’d love to check whether it has been updated on the database – you know, the one the Police now use to see whether you’ve paid your tax because you don’t have a disc anymore. That’s broken as well.

My 2CV with tax disc removed

As the old disc expired yesterday, I have removed it. I have also removed the disc in my Rover, mainly because the disc holder was rubbish. People are already starting to wonder what to replace their tax disc with. An old replica disc? An old disc that for some unfathomable reason you haven’t thrown away? A digestive biscuit? (yes, I did see that suggestion on Twitter this morning). Personally, I’m not that fussed, so no disc at all is what I’ve gone for.

But it’ll be interesting to see how the new system works – once it actually does work. How quickly will the database update once tax has been paid? How easy will it be to tax a car on demand when buying a new one? Remember – this is something you must now do. Hopefully I’ll get to test that myself before too long. The Rover is up for sale and I’ve got my eye on a replacement. Why do I get the feeling though that this is all going to be a right pain in the arse?