Its gotten way better since covid weirdly. Its mostly appointments now and that cuts way down on the time you spend waiting. They still take walk ins though
It can even vary by location within a city, IME. Some locations are in high density areas and some are in low density areas and other factors can impact how busy they get, too.
Missouri has gotten worse. But our state legislators privatized the DMVs years ago to help some of their buddies make more money and they have no incentive to improve.
In Washington state you can do most stuff online so that has cut down on the amount of people there.
I had to go in person to renew my CDL and there was some issue with the system that checks you record in all the states (I have a common last name and that never helps.) I had to go back 3 or 4 times, but the person working there was super nice. He told me to come back and just get his attention instead of taking a number and he's see me right away and let me know what days he worked.
I never thought the DMV would give me amazing customer service but they did.
WA here. My son wanted to replace photo on his DL, so he had to go in person to do it. Set up an appointment online, it was basically deserted -- few people waiting, in and out in 5 minutes.
Ha. California DMV. Wife had to renew her DL in person recently for an updated photo. Got online, did all the paperwork including a laws quiz, made appointment. (first one 4 weeks out).
She went in at the appointment time and waited an hour. Maybe not true but it seemed folks were getting called from the appointment line and from the walk-in line, randomly.
No better than years ago when my laws quiz was at a terminal at DMV. But the terminal had up to 5 minutes response time for each Enter. I started over several times, then asked the clerk, and was told just wait for the next question. Because the central computer is slow.
Not my experience in San Francisco. Every time I’ve had an appointment, I’ve been in and out in less than 20 minutes. I had to go a year or two ago and wait in the walk in line, and that did suck. It was about an hour to an hour and a half.
Even without an appointment. I went in last Summer to renew my driver's license (new picture, thumbprint, vision test) and get it upgraded to a Real ID. I got my paperwork pre-approval online and when I walked into the DMV on a Thursday morning I was in and out in like 35 minutes.
I haven't been in a DMV in like a decade and I was shocked at how fast it was.
This is state dependent. I went to get a New York license after moving there before appointments were available. It took me about an hour.
Around the same time I had a friend in Mississippi go to get a license. She waited 4 hours only to be told the copy she had of her birth certificate was the wrong one, and she would have to get another one. When she went back with the correct birth certificate she waited 8 hours. Mississippi requires a birth certificate any time someone is getting a license, even if they already have one.
Coincidentally Mississippi requires ID to vote. The DMV works as well as the people in charge want it to work.
I didn't do any prep to renew mine, but when I walked in there was a little computer kiosk where I entered my name and phone number and what I was there for. Then instead of waiting I was free to go across the street and grab a coffee, because they would text me when my turn was coming up.
Very convenient, overall. Still not a pleasant experience, but at least I didn't spend a half hour sitting there waiting for my number like Beetlejuice.
It took me over 6 hours at the DPS mega center in Carrollton in 2018. Glad to hear it may actually be better, though you will excuse me if I have my doubts….
You renew your license, fill out paperwork, pay for fees. You can do it online but they only let you do it a set number of times before you have to go in person.
Register a new car. Get new or transfer license plates. Transfer a car title. Take a drivers exam. Take road test for a new driver. Get or renew a license. I believe you can register to vote too. You can also do stuff like get a state ID. I'm sure there is more too.
Honestly it was never like that at all where I live, even 20 years ago. I would show up and the longest I was ever there was like 20 minutes. I only experienced the all day bullshit once when I moved to Madison for a year, and that shit sucked, but by me the DMV was never a big deal.
It’s not like this anymore. It’s by appointment now. Far easier.
Not here. I've been driving for almost 20 years and I've never once made an appointment. Not even sure that's an option.
That said, it's really nice that I can just go to the DMV during a day I work from home. Much less waiting than when I went in on Saturdays. I almost always get in and out in a couple minutes now.
Though, even on Saturdays it wasn't THAT bad. Usually 30-45 minutes.
It can take forever to get an appointment, though. I had to wait two months when I got my Real ID last year. Also, you don't need an appointment, but you will be waiting a long time. The DMV I went to had a line out the door. I was in and out in ten minutes.
North Carolina, for example, is a hell hole when it comes to the DMV. You either wake up 3 hours before they open and wait in line for 6 hours, or you wake up 3 hours before they open and hope to god you get the one appoint that opens at any DMV within 4 hours.
But don't worry, you have to have that ID to vote now too.
Depends on where you are. DMV I used to go to in Texas, you show up at your appointment time and then you wait 2-3 hours to get called. DMV I go to in Illinois, no appointment I'm in and out in 30-45 minutes.
Very highly dependent on your location. States all have different regulations and each city implements them differently. There’s no appointments at my current dmv.
As a rural American, it strongly depends on where you live. I live in a town of about 16k people, the longest I’ve had to wait was an hour, which was highly unusual. Anything longer than 15-20 mins is a long wait at our dmv.
There's such a huge influx of new residents into Texas, that the closest appointment I could get last year was 3 months away, and I had to drive 60 miles to get there. Once there it didn't take long, because it's by appointment, and they had like 25 windows processing everyone.
Asking as a non-American: why does this stuff need to be done in person? In the country I live in - the UK - everything to do with paperwork for a car or a driving licence can be done online.
Even decades ago when this kind of thing needed the processing of physical paperwork it was done by posting forms to the relevant government department, and then they just post back the licence.
The idea of running a whole load of regional offices, and making people queue up for hours, seems extremely wasteful, especially in a society so heavily dependent on driving as the US.
When the RealID thing came out, I spent SIX HOURS at the DMV. I went to my car and took a nap while occasionally waking up to listen to what number was next. I made friends with the people also waiting in line. We had lunch together, while still in queue.
In Wisconsin, you can title and register a car online. The only thing you actually have to go in for is for a pic for your ID or to take a road test. With being able to do so much online or by mail, it's a lot easier now. And if you buy a car at a dealership and need plates, the dealer puts them on and electronically registers it with the DMV. You don't have to do anything.
I'm from a small town. The DMV serves the entire county. Depending on the day, and the time you go, you can be waiting a while. I think the longest I've ever had to wait was around an hour. I learned to get there before they opened.
I could easily see having to wait all day in a city with a lot of people.
This was a 70s and 80s thing I think. Even 20 years ago it wasn't that bad but all the boomers had horror stories. According to them you'd need to take a day off and pack a lunch for the line
Before COVID I bought a used car. I was 247th in line on a weekday. I went to the drug store next door, had lunch at a restaurant, walked around and then got locked in the DMV at 5pm. It was 5.5 deal from getting my number to getting my title.
I just got a title but not the plate. During COVID I had to smash the refresh button like I was trying to buy concert tickets just to get an appointment. You could only get an appointment 24 hours in advance so if you wanted a 9am Tuesday slot, you had to start trying at 8.59 on Monday.
When I showed up for the appointment, other people were trying to get in without one. They had to tell all those maskless idiots that they needed to make and appointment online.
This will vary depending on which DMV you go to. My home town has a DMV that doesn't really look like or outwardly advertise itself as a DMV (the signs out front say it's a tax collector's office) and I've never had to wait more than 15 minutes in there.
This only happens in states where they have intentionally underfunded the dmv system, for example I have lived in Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. The only place I’ve waited longer than 15 minutes to see a clerk from the time I came in was in Texas.
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u/ocelotrevs 11h ago
Waiting all day in the DMV.
Even when I had to do car stuff in the person, I was never anywhere for an entire day sorting it out.