Yesterday at the DMV

[y_p_w]

I feel your pain!
One of the few good things about COVID was the CA DMV enabled just about everything online. Sooooo much better.
You probably know we have a lotta cars and a lotta drivers...

You need to pay extra for it since there's a 1.95% fee for any kind of card transaction though. While they say "do it online", if you go in and wait they'll always accommodate people. And the thing they still accept is personal check or money order. Most transactions can still be done by mail. Sure there's the cost of the stamp and maybe the cost of checks.

I don't think AAA charges extra for DMV services.

I've been to a California DMV office fairly recently. The waits aren't so long since a lot of people use the online services or the self-service kiosks. At least my local office didn't seem all that inefficient. People we churning through at a fairly decent rate and it didn't like they were doing anything poorly.

 

[bdcardinal]

They didn't accept my embossed certified copy of my birth cert from 1992. (I'm not from 1992 but the copy was.) It was done on xerox paper but the registrar used the embossy thing to put a 3D seal on it. It's the way it was legally done!

This same birth cert worked fine for me getting my passport, so I used my passport to get my Real ID. DMV clerk seemed annoyed that I had incontestable proof that I qualified and wanted to push through with the application.

Back in 2005ish my grandma needed an ID to fly to a wedding. She had somehow gone years with never needing one under the assumption of "they should know who I am." My mom took her to the CA DMV and while waiting in line one of the accepted forms of proof was an expired out of state driver's license. My grandma proudly unfolds her expired New York driver's license from the mid 50s which didn't have a picture. Just a name, no hair or eye color, no weight on it. The clerk looked completely confused and called a manager over who said "yup that works" and my grandma proudly let them take her picture.

On the flipside I got a custom plate for my 2014 Mustang GT, 14P51GT so there you can all find me, and when the black and yellow plates came out I wanted to get a set of those because they look better on a grey car. They denied my request because "those plates were taken" and I had to do a john Madden style drawing explaining that yes I am the one with those plates. Gave up and my mom went to the DMV for me since she is retired and had nothing else better to do. She got to the window and the clerk looked at her, then the paperwork and says "omg Teddy Ruxpin" because he worked next to me in parts and that was his nickname for me. So he actually has a brain and common sense and pushed it through.

 

[JeffKeryk]

The DMV near me in victorville has to be the worst in history. I think they go out of their way to upset people and whoever upsets the most people gets in - n - out on Friday.

You can ask 3 workers there the same question and get 3 answers.

When I renewed my license it took 2 days. I brought in the paperwork the letter said I needed.

The first person said I needed something else so I had to go home (35 min 1 way) to get that. Then the other person wanted something else.

I had to make 3 separate trips home to get stuff that was not mentioned in the renewal letter. Instead of giving me a list they made me make 3 separate trips home and back.

After finally getting everything the dolts wanted Their system crashed and I was unable to get a real I.D. so no buying certain things for me in Ca.



Took 2 full days and 2 days of lost pay to renew my license.

It's no wonder people in my area will drive an hour to Barstow or 1.5 hrs to 29 palms instead of dealing with the idiots at the Victorville DMV.

Try online. A world of difference. Good luck!

 

[MCompact]

My county has a very efficient office; the County Court Clerk is responsible for vehicle registrations and he/she comes up for election every four years.

 

[Chris142]

Try online. A world of difference. Good luck!

Can't renew a CDL online... Not here anyway.

 

[JunkdrawerDog]

They didn't accept my embossed certified copy of my birth cert from 1992. (I'm not from 1992 but the copy was.) It was done on xerox paper but the registrar used the embossy thing to put a 3D seal on it. It's the way it was legally done!

This same birth cert worked fine for me getting my passport, so I used my passport to get my Real ID. DMV clerk seemed annoyed that I had incontestable proof that I qualified and wanted to push through with the application.

The same thing happened to me. DMV would not accept my ancient photostatic copy of my birth certificate to obtain a Real ID. They did, however, accept my expired passport which was obtained with the same photostatic birth certificate that they rejected. Crazy!

 

[I<3oil]

Arrive at 12:45pm leave at 2:15pm. in my time sitting there, they only processed 7 people. They charge a $5 agent office fee. My time at window 4 minutes. A lot of people missing docs ahead of me. When I left there were about 40 people waiting, according to the number slips. There were 2 windows, so paying 2 people at least $15 per to process this paperwork. I'm sure they are losing money. The mass inefficiency of modern government is staggering, when a fee collection agency is so inept, and cares so little about the general public. . .

When I went in to change address and renew license, I made appt online. Showed up 2 mins before appt, they waved me in anyway, the card reader taking my payment was the longest part of it.

 

[Kira]

NJ's bi-annual inspection is included with the registration fee. They have drive-through barns around the state.

Yesterday I arrived at a single line of 11 vehicles feeding 2 open lanes.
You exit your vehicle and walk to the end of the building and wait.
I was done within 18 minutes of my initial arrival. That's ~3 minutes per vehicle. That ain't bad.

 

[ripcord]

NJ's bi-annual inspection is included with the registration fee. They have drive-through barns around the state.

Yesterday I arrived at a single line of 11 vehicles feeding 2 open lanes.
You exit your vehicle and walk to the end of the building and wait.
I was done within 18 minutes of my initial arrival. That's ~3 minutes per vehicle. That ain't bad.

That's not much time to inspect anything. It must be like, "4 tires, check. Can't see through rust holes in the frame, check. Approved!"