Time to get first licence

Jager Man

Hi, I passed my test today whoooooop! How long has it been taking recently for people to get their first license from the date of the NDLS appointment?

I booked in an appointment today for next Saturday (28th) and am away on holidays from August 12th, would love to get it before then so I could rent a car on holidays.

Thanks!

Samuel T. Cogley

Be careful, most care rental places need you to have had a licence for a number of years. I believe Enterprise are one of the few exceptions who require you to have been able to hold a licence for a number of years.

Congrats on the pass.

MissShihTzu

Most if not all car rental places require you to have held a full licence for at least two years. Some ask for three. You'll need to check and ask around.

Good luck and congrats on passing your test!

dennyk

Anecdotally, I've rented a car a couple of times with my <2 year old Irish license (in Scotland and in Italy) and they've never said anything, even though their TOS specified 2+ years. (Also had my still-valid US license with me as a backup, but never had to show it...). I definitely don't look anything like a young lad with his first license fresh in hand, though, so that might make a difference (though I'm guessing OP may not be that young themselves, if they're planning on a car hire in any case...) It'd still be good for OP to have a backup plan in case they do get picky, though (do any of your traveling companions drive?).

As for the license, I think the usual turnaround is something like 7-10 days via post, so you should be good if there's no unexpected delays; I got mine within the week. If something goes wrong, though, you may end up having to go without, so again, have a backup plan there...

Jager Man

dennyk wrote: »

As for the license, I think the usual turnaround is something like 7-10 days via post, so you should be good if there's no unexpected delays; I got mine within the week. If something goes wrong, though, you may end up having to go without, so again, have a backup plan there...

Thanks I got an appointment for next Saturday but think I'll pop in on Tuesday morning to try to get into the q there to speed it up. I'm going to Turkey so not sure how strict they'll be about the 2 year rule. Thanks for all the comments

Barbes

Honestly, I'd be concerned about immediately driving an unfamiliar car in an unfamiliar country that has different road rules and conditions and has right-hand traffic.

Passing your test means you're a competent driver, but you're still an inexperienced driver. It would be difficult enough to deal with all of the above without considering the other drivers on the road. Turkey's road fatality rate (per 100,000 vehicles) is five times Ireland's rate. I would strongly caution against your plan, even if you did manage to find a company that would rent to you.

Barbes

Barbes wrote: »

Honestly, I'd be concerned about immediately driving an unfamiliar car in an unfamiliar country that has different road rules and conditions and has right-hand traffic.

Passing your test means you're a competent driver, but you're still an inexperienced driver. It would be difficult enough to deal with all of the above without considering the other drivers on the road. Turkey's road fatality rate (per 100,000 vehicles) is five times Ireland's rate. I would strongly caution against your plan, even if you did manage to find a company that would rent to you.

I thought the same! I passed last month and still haven't gone on motorway or left Dublin.

Would take some confidence to get me driving in another country 😂

I know many people driving years that wouldn't do it