DMV

[Don P]

So I bought a new, to us, car for the wife about 6 weeks ago. Called about getting tags and they made an appointment for the end of this week, yup almost 2 months to get tags. Luckily there might have been some other stuff around here with a tag on it.

It took multiple tries, 2 doctor visits and getting bumped offline or rejected for days to get my medicals through to them for my CDL back in Jan. No way to talk to a human its all online.

In the mail today I got a notice and forms stating that I need to submit them for my 2026 renewal. I'm assuming they are anticipating slower service in the future  :D  

: :D ???   

[Southside]

Words can't be expressed here on what I think. 

[btulloh]

Last time I checked, appointments were 5 months out here. Don't know if that's improved at all yet.

Back in july i bought a new truck from a private party. Appointments were 8 weeks out at that point. I ended up driving 50 miles north to Mineral, Va and got my title and tags in fifteen minutes with no appointment. That was a little tiny DMV Select office with just two service windows. So who knows, but it seems that there are some options around.  Or were some options around??

I wanted to turn in some tags from two vehicles and get rebates on the registration fees, but seems there's no good way to do that. Same problem trying to turn in a couple ezpass transponders. Can't even get an appointment for that.

Lucky me, my drivers license was expiring back in April 2020 right after all this got started.  It was the big renewal that required a visit and couldn't be done online. At least they did put a moratorium on expiring licenses, so i finally got it done by appt in late June. I will say that it turned out to be the best DMV visit ever - 15 minutes total. Usually it's so busy at the Midlo dmv it takes a hour to park and then a two or three hour wait inside.

Dmv is a bad situation now and even worse before all this started. It's a good thing most of it can be done online, but when you gotta go, it's a tough deal.

And now on to the postal service . . .    :D

[Nebraska]

Sorry you guys live there, we just put a mask on and walk up stairs in the county courthouse and do like normal...mask is the only difference.....

[Sedgehammer]

Here they have small tag agencies all over the place. Typically walk in, maybe a 5 minute wait. Mask is optional.

I wouldn't be able t take the waits and poor service like you guys get there. Nope. I moved from WI not for that exact issue, but those types of things were part of it.

I forgot to add that the tag agencies are privately run. Saves the state money and someone makes a profit. Win, win

[Southside]

I was in Sams Club last spring when all of this was beginning getting some meds for my 16 year old dog.  Pharmacy gal looks at my license and tells me it's expiring in a couple of weeks and I won't be able to get another refill, this was when everything was closed and wasn't opening up at all.  Common sense is long gone.  

[firefighter ontheside]

I have to go to the office tomorrow.  Here in MO shouldn't be too bad.  Get an appointment from the app and go inside when they text me.  Gotta get my drivers license renewed.  Have to find my passport so I can get the real ID.

[Sedgehammer]

And people keep asking for moar and wonder why things are getting worse........ say_what

[Tacotodd]

@Sedgehammer that reminds me of a CCR song 

[Ed_K]

 Bought my new to me pickup Jun 10, it was end of Aug when I got it inspected and able to run it on the road >:(. The worst part was I had the plate a farm plate so it should have been a 2 second thing on line to add it, nope they messed it all up anyway.

[Mike W]

And now on to the postal service . . .    

And that would need to be in the restricted topic for me to participate..:  If that will tell you my thoughts on them to begin with, one of our businesses deals heavily with the post office as a CMR agency, I'll stop here.....

The DMV isn't bad here to deal with, there are a couple private little two or three man operations to deal with most items, appointments still needed but apparently not bad, we know the gals at the one place and are always getting tags and moving stuff around, they just meet us at the back door.. but we are a bit spoiled on that and cant use it as a judgment on the overall experience.

Couple places I've dealt with the DMV

Metro Arizona DMV - used to be 4 to 6 hours - plan on a day burnt - This was early 2000
Coastal Oregon DMV - used to be around 2 to 3 hours for most - not bad, don't know now though.
Oahu Hawaii - Hope you have at least one weeks vacation set aside for anything, your gonna need it - and that was pre 2019..ugg

I like our little corner of the world we found ourselves now... think I'll stay a while..

[Nebraska]

Shush about living in the toolies city folks will catch on......because  Lord knows they can make us better.

[hedgerow]

DMV around here was not good before the Covid thing. Were in the county of the big city so we have to go there to do business. They only have two locations and only one does the inspections if you need one on a vehicle like if you bought it out of state. I just do the renew ones threw the mail. Had to do my medical for my CDL in Jan and between the doctor's office and the DMV it was a three ring circus. Tried doing the DMV part on line and phone it wasn't working out so I just did it in person with a mask. Good to have it done don't need my CDL pulled because of medical. 

[farmfromkansas]

If I were younger, would be moving to Oklahoma.  Winters are not as cold, and I get so sore going to the tag office here. Bought my F-450 in NE Colorado, real desert where it was, called the tag office before I went to pick it up, and asked about getting a temporary tag.  They said call Colorado. Talked to my neighbor, a state trooper, he said you have so many days to get it home after purchase, take my paperwork along. No one bothered me on way home.  Drove right down I-70.

[Ianab]

Here they have small tag agencies all over the place. Typically walk in, maybe a 5 minute wait

That's how it's done here too, if it's something that can't be done online. 

Annual registration and change of ownership you can do online and they post out your rego card, it costs a couple of $ more if you need to do it in person. The local agent is the town Info Centre. They will sell you bus or concert tickets, take your photo for a passport renewal, sell you souvenirs, book you in for a drivers test etc. Usually no wait. 

Postal is the same, it's a kiosk in the book shop. If things are busy there might be 2 or 3 people in line, so maybe 5 min wait.

[firefighter ontheside]

The DMV did not disappoint this morning.  I took my passport, my SS card and my birth certificate and the little card they send in the mail.  It said that the card could be used as proof of residence.  I didn't notice that it said I needed 2 pieces of mail for proof of residence.  Went in and handed it all over.  She said, you need another piece of mail.  Went out to the truck and found a couple different things with address on it.  Oh, no, these are over 90 days old, you need something else.  I was gonna have to drive 10 miles back home and of course 10 miles back.  Once in my truck, it occurred to me to call the local lumber yard that I have an account at.  I went in and bought 2 furnace filters for the house on account and then asked for them to print my bill.  I paid the bill with cash and took the bill, with my address on it back to the DMV.  I even trifolded it as if it had been mailed to me.  They were a little hesitant to accept it, but did.  Whew, I can now fly on an airplane with my Real ID.  My FEMA task force was urging us to get the new ID as well.

[Wudman]

The DMV did not disappoint this morning.  I took my passport, my SS card and my birth certificate and the little card they send in the mail.  It said that the card could be used as proof of residence.  I didn't notice that it said I needed 2 pieces of mail for proof of residence.  Went in and handed it all over.  She said, you need another piece of mail.  Went out to the truck and found a couple different things with address on it.  Oh, no, these are over 90 days old, you need something else.  I was gonna have to drive 10 miles back home and of course 10 miles back.  Once in my truck, it occurred to me to call the local lumber yard that I have an account at.  I went in and bought 2 furnace filters for the house on account and then asked for them to print my bill.  I paid the bill with cash and took the bill, with my address on it back to the DMV.  I even trifolded it as if it had been mailed to me.  They were a little hesitant to accept it, but did.  Whew, I can now fly on an airplane with my Real ID.  My FEMA task force was urging us to get the new ID as well.

I use a post office box for my mail.  Finding something with my physical address was a bit of a challenge.  I ended up using a mortgage statement for the house and the homeowners insurance policy.  The DMV accepted both of those.  They wouldn't accept my bill for internet service (it also showed service address).  I booked my appointment for DMV in early July.  I got in in late November.
Wudman

[btulloh]

When I renewed my Drivers License in June, I could not find my birth certificate and my passport had expired six months earlier.  Could not get the Real ID version so had to settle for the the un-real id version.  So now I look forward to obtaining not only the Real ID drivers license later this year, but first I need to get a copy of my birth cert and renew my passport.  Sounds like about a five year project.  Probably won't be able to fly, but I can vote in the wrong state without any problem.

[thecfarm]

Wife comes from The Big City.  ;D We needed out licenses renewed. Her's is one day after mine. Somehow ours are on the same renew cycle. Off we go up to Rumford, a small town. Walk in, we both take a number, barely got sat down, one of us got called, than the other one. We are out the door in less than 15 minutes.
She talked for days about the short wait.
I use to go to Augusta too and yes on the wait times. You walk in and there are 30 chairs and all are filled. 

[mike_belben]

I switched my enfire life from Ma to TN in 1:45 min back in 2013 i think.. License, registrations, utilities, everything. 


I was once passed by a sxs pulling a utility trailer full of furniture on a county road.  People ride to the gas station 5 miles from home on a quad or whatever.  Its pretty rural.  If you dont pay your property tax for 2 or 3 years.. No big deal. 

[Corley5]

Tabs on our license plates have been expired since my birthday last June.  Why bother?  We've got insurance.  My son has been through two old trucks since last summer.  He's been stopped with both and on both occasions the trucks had expired plates from the previous owners.  The officers only cared that he had proof of insurance which he did.  

[moodnacreek]

Why was I born in New York?

[GAB]

I'm glad to hear that VT is not the only state where they want to make sure that all the chairs are taken to justify having them and such a large waiting room.
Also glad to hear that the opinion of most concerning the postal service is pretty much universal across the country.
At my closest DMV office, there is one individual that when said person is at the front desk I cringe.  I have never gotten more wrong information at DMV then from said individual.  
GAB

[sawguy21]

We can't have insurance without tags except for storage, government issues both. Mine come due in a couple of weeks, I don't anticipate any problems but one never knows. My premiums actually dropped, ICBC says claims have gone down since COVID and they are passing on the savings which is nice but I smell an election coming.

[Corley5]

In Michigan all we need is a VIN # to get insurance.  We need insurance to get plates.

[Tacotodd]

I live in a little town that doesn't even have a DMV. We have to go to another town to get our insurance and tags.

[firefighter ontheside]

 @Tacotodd your small town should have a DMV office like the one in my little town.  It is the back corner of the local furniture, appliance store.  I used to sit on a recliner waiting for my turn in line.  In the same store there is also a Western Union desk.

[jasonb]

firefighter ontheside,

Why can't you just use your passport to fly? 

[firefighter ontheside]

I can, but its gonna expire next year and I'm not sure I'll renew it right away.  I probably will renew it.  If this pandemic ever ends I want to go to Croatia.  As far as travel in the states, its easier to use my license.

[Don P]

So after my original post where DMV was asking me to renew my 5 year CDL 4 years early they sent a letter out a month or so later saying "never mind". 

So this week I get a letter saying that I need to send them my annual medical certification paperwork by May or they will cancel my license. Uhh, I sent it back in Dec  :. So I just resent it which I can only assume will start another hiccup in their pea brained computer  :D. Sheesh!

[Southside]

Every quarter for a year now I get a nasty gram and notice of fine from the tax folks who claim I didn't file my Forest Use Tax.  Well this last time I called the office of the Secretary and told them to cancel my account as I won't be paying the tax any longer since they keep loosing my checks and forms, but I will continue to buy logs.  The guy sort of stuttered for a bit then asked how he could help.  I don't know - put it on line so I have proof I paid?  Make your folks responsible for their actions?  They did tell me I was not the only one having this issue but then said they think they have a "glitch" in their system.  

We will see what happens with thee one I sent in yesterday.  

[Nebraska]

Forest use tax?? What's  that exactly? 

[Southside]

It's a tax on sunshine that sawmills have to pay here in Virginiastan. Basically if a tree grew in the forest and I turn it into lumber I have to pay a specific tax for that. Not realestate tax, not sales tax, forest use tax.  Have to keep records of either BF or tons of logs I saw. 

[Tacotodd]

What about firewood?

[metalspinner]

My inner Libertarian is really struggling to read this thread :'(

[GRANITEstateMP]

Here in NH, The "Live Free or Die" state, getting plates used to be easy. Go into your town clerk with bill of sale with the vin, mileage, and if needed lien holder. Hand over a check to the town for reg and a check to the state for plates and good to go. The s a .093 chance that the color the towns computers comes up with associated with the vin will be correct!  Don't try and have them fix it! You need a sleeping bag, note from your 3rd grade art teacher, and your pharmacy discount card to start to sort that out!

When KungFlu hit, now you need to get or set an appt online. It took me 3ish weeks to transfer tags on my new to me dump trailer last July.

We don't need to have anything but liability insurance here in NH, unless you have a loan, then you need full coverage.

I got my CDL B last year, about 3 weeks before we got locked down. I am so thankful for that. It would have really screwed up my new job if I couldn't get it!

[Southside]

What about firewood?

I don't know as we don't do anything with firewood on a commercial scale.  But - in case you sold any pine RR ties there is that box to fill in each quarter....  When was the last time a pine RR tie was purchased? 1940?  I suspect this particular tax only exists to pay for the office that collects it.  

[Sedgehammer]

Good gawd i am thankful i live in a red, red state. 

[Wudman]

Forest use tax?? What's  that exactly?

Here in Virginia, it is a "severance tax".  When it was set up, the majority of the collected funds were supposed to go to the "Reforestation of Timberlands" program.  That fund was to assist landowners with reforestation costs.  The balance was to go to the Virginia Department of Forestry to promote active forest management.  The state was supposed to provide a 100% match from the "General Fund" to supplement this money.  However, the "match" has not happened for the last 15 years.  Several years, the "General Fund" raided the funds in the "Reforestation of Timberlands" program to meet budget shortfalls......so, in the eyes of the government......a tax is a tax is a tax.  We will take your money and use it as we want.


Wudman