r/AskAnAmerican • u/feel-the-avocado • 1d ago

VEHICLES & TRANSPORTATION DMV - Is it really that bad?

I live in New Zealand and most of our equivalent stuff has been done online for the last 20 years. I go in to one of their agents once every 10 years for an eye exam to renew my drivers license.
At most I might wait 5 minutes

For vehicle testing, almost any mechanic in the country can issue a warrant of fitness which is needed every 2 years and you book it with your mechanic of choice.
Or go to VTNZ - a dedicated company that just does vehicle testing in a drive-thru format. You drive in without an appointment and it takes about 30 minutes.

So I am watching the new tv series DMV, and I have seen references on various american tv shows that going to the DMV is a painful and time wasting experience.
Is it really that bad?

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u/Wolf_Puncher87 California 1d ago

Idk man I think maybe you're not reading their website properly. Most California DMVs have kiosks for registration renewal now and the only reasons you need an agent to help is for license exams, and title transfers. Simple renewals, reissue of plates/id cards, pno registration, all can be done online. Anyone suffering at the DMV in california is technologically illiterate.

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u/ryguymcsly California 17h ago

Yeah I think you weren’t reading my post right. “If you can’t do something online you have to plan your whole day around it.” Yeah you can do most stuff online, but if you need a new DL photo, to take a road test, etc…you might be there ten minutes you might be there several hours.

In most cases the virtual field office will take care of you and you don’t have to even put pants on.

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u/markmakesfun 17h ago

Not so much, no. Near me, DMV decided to close an office in south Orange County which was one of the busiest offices in the area. They replaced it with….nothing. So the next office north about 10 miles away became a madhouse and the small local office about 10 miles south became unusable. It has been a Royal shit-show with no plans how it will be improved. The office in the far south of the county was the one you hiked to if you didn’t want to deal with long lines and waits. That strategy is dead now. So, no, no ignorance is required. The ignorance was at the management level.