DMV

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

Is it really as dire as people make out?

 

[wvjules]

No, I like living here.

 

[_19disnA]

Are you asking about the Dept of Motor Vehicles???

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

Are you asking about the Dept of Motor Vehicles???

Yup! Sooo many comedies poke fun at it. Is that fair?

 

[soccerdad72]

I would assume it depends on the location, but generally speaking, I've never found it to be that horrible to deal with. Thankfully, it's not a place I need to go to more than once every few years (even less now that we can renew our driver's licenses for up to 8 years).

 

[_19disnA]

Each state runs their own DMV process. Never had any issue in the various states where I have lived. Many things you can either do online or through the mail, so you rarely need to go in person. Saw a few articles where you can signup online for a reservation time for things you need to do in person to help spread out the waiting. Last time I was actually at our state DMV site was to convert my driver's license to that Real ID thing (example of something you can only do in person), seemed to recall that was back in 2019. Driver's license or license plate renewals done online, at least where I live now.

 

[BrianL]

It's about like this:

 

[TippyThomas]

I was very lucky just a few weeks ago as I needed to renew my drivers license before a long vacation. With the eye test and everything else I was only in there for a total of about 20 minutes. That's a record for sure for me on time. Hopefully it will repeat itself when I have to do it again.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Our state got a lot better once they started making appointments mandatory. You book online, check in from the parking lot, and are allowed to come in and wait ahead of your appointment time. Last time we went, I waited for about 10-15 minutes and walked out with everything accomplished about 5 minutes before my appointment was supposed to start.

 

[mjkacmom]

Here in NJ, especially northeast, it’s a nightmare. Before they started with appointments during COVID there were 12 hour waits. If you need realID you have to wait months for an appointment. Last time I had my license renewed in person with an appointment it took 3 hours (first step was waiting in line outside).

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

Before booking appointments online became an option, it was horrible. Pre Covid it was around 2-3 hour wait, after covid 6+ hour wait. Now that appointments are a thing, the longest part of the wait is checking in, which takes 5 min max.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Is it really as dire as people make out?

It can be. The one we're "supposed" to use (closest to us) you have to make appointments for weeks ahead, or wait hours in standby. But, we use a smaller one during one of our summer RV trips that's basically walk-in and out in 10 minutes.

 

[anniemae]

I don't think so. In the past I think it was a nightmare. You would show up and stand in line and wait and wait. Now you can do a lot of things on line so you don't have to physically go to the DMV. You also make appointments online so you don't show up and wait in line anymore. Lots of AAA offices also offer registry services so you can go there if you are a member.

 

[MillauFr]

They have moved most services online so the number of people flowing through ours is greatly reduced. With appointments you only have a wait a couple of minutes before they call you.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

On average the DMV here works fairly well. I renew my car tags online and have for eons and they show up 2-3 days later. Going in to do a name change or a DL renewal is easier now with appointments. Technically you can renew your DL up to a year in advance though I've only done is 2 months in advance and that was because I was getting my REAL ID and would be in Orlando at WDW/USO when it expired and I wanted to make sure I had it in enough time. Now that I've done the REAL ID I'm eligible for an online renewal this next time around. However, I have had a painful experience when I was doing a name change where we waited for several hours (this was long before appointments were a thing) and then when I only had a few people in front of me the entire state's system went down. Once I got called up the process only took 5 mins so that was aggravating then but it's been close to 12 years since the system was that bad.

 

[fla4fun]

Appointments are optional here, but if you don’t have one you could be there all day. I always make an appointment if I need to go there. Fortunately I can renew my car registration online so it’s rare for me to have to go there.

Driving licenses are done at the tax collector’s office, but you make an appointment there so it runs fairly smoothly. You can renew online sometimes, but to get your first Real ID you have to take the documentation in person.

It used to be much worse before appointments and online processing. People would line up outside for hours before they opened and I remember spending half a day or more waiting even when I was one of the first in for the day. I think that era is what gave them such a bad reputation and gave the, the comical stereotype that can still be found in shows to this day.

 

[bcla]

Like was said, it depends on the location. The one closest to me had a reputation for decent service and employees who cared. I can't say I've ever had any complaints at that location over several decades.

That being said, in my state there's a move to try and push out service to self-service including online and automated devices like ATMs that can provide things like registration stickers and registration cards. But the truth is that one can usually just go in an handle it if in an office if willing to wait in line. I had something fairly recent where I tried to get an appointment but couldn't get it. They had no problem doing it at the DMV office.

Locations can be weird too. The one near me is in its own building and the one I remember when my parents had to go when I was young. But I've seen some weird California DMV locations like in a shopping mall or a strip mall like it was just another storefront.

But the really nice thing to avoid lines is third party agents. Like American Automobile Association regional clubs or some insurance agents. AAA requires an active membership to access DMV services as a benefit for their members. I'd think the idea for other businesses is that they hope that maybe they can attract business although apparently some charge a fairly steep service fee.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

In this state they call it the BMV, but yea it's the same thing.

It kind of depends on the time and location of the office. In general, it is NOT a happy place for sure. I think peoples' biggest complaint is that they often have to make multiple trips. For example, if you are trying to get something done, and you are missing 2 documents. They will see you are missing one document and send you away. Then you get the document and come back, they see you are missing another document, they send you away again.

There IS a reason they do this. It is that they want you out of there as quickly as possible. As soon as they see one thing missing, you're outta there. They are not going to take time to look at anything else. (at least that is how they are supposed to be doing it). As soon as a person takes a number, a clock is ticking. BMV regulations dictate that they get each case closed in X amount of minutes. Also, when your "transaction" starts, the rep. has X amount of minutes to close the "transaction". If whoever is monitoring this sees that a branch's "visit times" are exceeding a certain amount of time, the manager is in trouble. Individual reps are also closely monitored, and they are required to maintain an average transaction time that is under a certain number. They send out a report state wide that ranks every reps #'s too

I was a a rep at the BMV briefly many years ago. I realized on day 1 that it was a HUGE mistake and started looking elsewhere immediately. Thankfully I found something else really quickly and got the heck out of there ASAP.

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

I only ask because of so much negativity in the media… including Patty and Selma in The Simpsons!

 

[elgerber]

Our state got a lot better once they started making appointments mandatory. You book online, check in from the parking lot, and are allowed to come in and wait ahead of your appointment time. Last time we went, I waited for about 10-15 minutes and walked out with everything accomplished about 5 minutes before my appointment was supposed to start.

Ours is like this also. It used to be horrible, but now that you make appointments its so much better.
Adding, our license tabs are renewed online. So except for drivers license renewals every four years, and when we had to title a camper a couple of years ago, we almost never go in.