Be glad they don't actually charge you what it costs. Last time the renewal of my drivers license (every 5 years, possibly twice) cost 30 euro.
DMV experience
- Thread starter Hermann
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Be glad they don't actually charge you what it costs. Last time the renewal of my drivers license (every 5 years, possibly twice) cost 30 euro.
I had to go in May to renew and was expecting the typical DMV horror but my experience was actually pleasant. The worst part was trying to find an appointment online but got lucky finding an appointment for the following day at my closest DMV. The workers were pleasant and processed people fairly fast.
Should be good for 8 years. Renewed my DL last December. Expires in 2033. Made the appointment in August. Had to go in for a new picture. Yep it was that booked up at the DPS office in Plano, Collin County. At the office closest to me in Dallas County the appointment would have been in January. But when the day came I was in and out in 30 minutes.
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Here in Texas, We get our drivers license through the Department of Public Safety, DMV is where you do titling & registration/tags.
If it helps that's better than Wyandotte. My wife set all day a couple times to get vehicles first time registration, even then didn't get done. Appt's are 45 days out. Online checkin closes sometimes in under a minute. That's why we're moving to Cass county. Jackson county needs to get rid of Frank White so people can concentrate on all the other corruption.
I lived in the city of Dallas for 10 years. I know what it's like to use the DMV in a large metropolis.
Right now, I guess I'm lucky. I live in a sparsely populated county where there is a total of three ladies working behind the counter and there's usually no waiting. This department does both DMV and the renewal of car tags. I got my replacement car tags about a week ago and I was the only person there. The transactions went smooth. I even had a question about getting a car title and one of the ladies had me go behind the counter, made me sit in HER office chair while she was on the phone with the DMV from another state. I was there about 15 minutes. However, I have a CDL driver's license. My county is so small that I have to go to another county to get it renewed. A quick check of my driver's license shows that I'll have to do that exactly one year from now.
Right now, I guess I'm lucky. I live in a sparsely populated county where there is a total of three ladies working behind the counter and there's usually no waiting. This department does both DMV and the renewal of car tags. I got my replacement car tags about a week ago and I was the only person there. The transactions went smooth. I even had a question about getting a car title and one of the ladies had me go behind the counter, made me sit in HER office chair while she was on the phone with the DMV from another state. I was there about 15 minutes. However, I have a CDL driver's license. My county is so small that I have to go to another county to get it renewed. A quick check of my driver's license shows that I'll have to do that exactly one year from now.
Our DMV allows appointments. My wife was in and out in less than 20 minutes for a license renewal with photo and eye test. She had all of her paperwork with her as instructed in the appointment website.
The DMV near me (actually, in IL we call it "Secretary of State") is located in a vintage 50s-era strip mall, and I think the ladies working there have been there the whole time. Remember the old ladies in the Far Side cartoons, with the pointy glasses? That's them! Yeah, the place is a model of inefficiency and waste. There's always a line a mile long, and all fees are payable by personal check only, like its still 1970 in there.
When the Real ID requirement started, we started hearing about people having their paperwork rejected by the old ladies, for various trivial reasons; a different abbreviation of Avenue on your gas bill, for example, or your credit card statement doesn't have your middle initial on it. I did some looking, and found it was easier to get a passport, than to face the old ladies and their scrutiny. So I did.
Fortunately, we can usually renew our driver's licenses online, so it is rare that we have to go there anymore quite so often.
When the Real ID requirement started, we started hearing about people having their paperwork rejected by the old ladies, for various trivial reasons; a different abbreviation of Avenue on your gas bill, for example, or your credit card statement doesn't have your middle initial on it. I did some looking, and found it was easier to get a passport, than to face the old ladies and their scrutiny. So I did.
Fortunately, we can usually renew our driver's licenses online, so it is rare that we have to go there anymore quite so often.
CO similar -- driver licensing is STATE and its own office. Titles and registration is COUNTY (Clerk & Recorder).
The very definition of bureaucracy. Love it.
The ca DMV was so bad that a few years ago they had to shut down to retrain the employees customer service skills.
https://abc7news.com/department-of-...d-dmv-offices-closed-drivers-license/5361808/
They need to do it again as they have gone back to their old ways.
https://abc7news.com/department-of-...d-dmv-offices-closed-drivers-license/5361808/
They need to do it again as they have gone back to their old ways.
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I’d be curious if the pay is outlandish at CA DMV, like the lifeguards or CHP who earn $250-$500k.
I guess not. I was gonna say if they were paid like above they should be required to provide good service.
Edit current range is $43,600 to $63,200. I could see struggling in CA with those wages
https://calcareers.ca.gov/CalHrPublic/Jobs/JobPosting.aspx?JobControlId=484056
So does CA. Right now they are like a month out or so. Oops...
Bring a lunch.
I've lived in several statesa nd had to deal with several DMVs. North Carolina & Ohio have incredibly incompetent DMVs. North Carolina in particular is horrific. The DMV is split into two, the title and plate side is privatized and run by private operators. Those are always understaffed, the staff are underpaid, and there are too few.
The license side is state-run and it's even worse. But the reason is because the state legislature doesn't give the DMV enough to work with. The pay is crap so they can't fill open positions, which exacerbate the insane wait times. For some like the one in Fayetteville, you could show up 20 minutes after opening and they'll tell you all their walk-in slots are filled for the day and come back tomorrow.
There are too few offices, they are insanely understaffed because they don't offer competitive pay, and the state legislature uses that as an excuse to point to as to why they need to privatize the remaining half of the DMV. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, they want the DMV to suck so they don't give them necessary resources.
The best state I've ever seen with the DMV was NY, it wasn't perfect by any stretch, but the DMV offices at least were well staffed and I never had to wait longer than half an hour. In NC, there is not a single trip to the DMV that doesn't involve waiting in a standing line for at least an hour to 2 hours. Just for simple things like registering trailers.
I cannot express my frustration with the NC DMV strongly enough. It's underfunded, understaffed, they don't have enough offices, and the push to make the license half privatized is only going to make it worse. If the legislature actually wanted to solve DMV issues they'd actually give them enough funding to pay competitive salaries to be able to actually fill open positions.
The license side is state-run and it's even worse. But the reason is because the state legislature doesn't give the DMV enough to work with. The pay is crap so they can't fill open positions, which exacerbate the insane wait times. For some like the one in Fayetteville, you could show up 20 minutes after opening and they'll tell you all their walk-in slots are filled for the day and come back tomorrow.
There are too few offices, they are insanely understaffed because they don't offer competitive pay, and the state legislature uses that as an excuse to point to as to why they need to privatize the remaining half of the DMV. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, they want the DMV to suck so they don't give them necessary resources.
The best state I've ever seen with the DMV was NY, it wasn't perfect by any stretch, but the DMV offices at least were well staffed and I never had to wait longer than half an hour. In NC, there is not a single trip to the DMV that doesn't involve waiting in a standing line for at least an hour to 2 hours. Just for simple things like registering trailers.
I cannot express my frustration with the NC DMV strongly enough. It's underfunded, understaffed, they don't have enough offices, and the push to make the license half privatized is only going to make it worse. If the legislature actually wanted to solve DMV issues they'd actually give them enough funding to pay competitive salaries to be able to actually fill open positions.
It's even worse in NC. When I moved here, I was told I need to make an appointment online. There were NO appointments available as far out as the system went which was 3 months. By the way, when you move here you're supposed to get your NC license within 60 days. How are you supposed to do that when you can't even make appointments for 3+?
The NC DMV makes the New York State DMV look like they're operating in the year 2050 by comparison.
In Washington, we have 3 options for tag renewals. Order online and get it mailed to you, order online and pickup at the license office, or go in person. I went in person a few weeks ago to renew some tabs and was in and out with new tabs in hand in 5 minutes. It was a very typical trip.
Washington is a very messed up state (don't get me started about the ferry system) but auto licensing and renewals are one area where things work great. That's mainly because it's all privately run with competition and proper incentives for efficiency.
Washington is a very messed up state (don't get me started about the ferry system) but auto licensing and renewals are one area where things work great. That's mainly because it's all privately run with competition and proper incentives for efficiency.
We don't have the old ladies here in my town but they sure do like to take forever to do anything. And now they require you to setup an appointment to do anything other than stickers, which is annoying to say the least. I didn't even bother trying to get a REAL ID back when it started, just went and got a passport as it was easier and took far less time. At the Post Office of all places. But unlike the take forever and refuse to accept anything DMV, the Post Office was quick, easy, and had everything ready to go when I got there.
The DMVs around here do accept credit cards but they want to charge a 5% fee on any card transaction. I always pay with a check on my stickers just to avoid the fees and force the state to cash the check. The inefficiency and waste is terrible but thats IL for you.
We do it all at the same place.
Propflux01
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DMV....
