I imagine most people dread a visit to the DMV. My experience has always been one of long waits, disaffected employees and bureaucratic nonsense. Thus I try to conduct all my business via mail. Unfortunately, I have done some car-swapping that required an in-person visit. What’s worse, the transactions see
med relatively complex (registering a car from out of state and transferring a title on a car I sold and therefore was not the current titleholder), so I expected the worst.
Well, praise be to the heavens, the DMV did a good job today. I arrived at 8:50am for a 9am appointment at the Daly City DMV. When I checked in at the take-a-number lady, she asked questions that led her to direct me outside for my car inspection. (They had to confirm the VIN numbers matched everywhere on the Miata, part of the out-of-state transfer.) Then, back inside, a 2-minute wait after I got my number, and off to the counter to interact with a friendly and competent guy. Paperwork was reviewed, I filled out the one form I’d missed, check was written (still no credit cards accepted, ugh) and I was off to pick up two sets of plates from a different woman.
I was outside at my car at 9:10am with plates in hand, titles to be mailed out within two to three weeks. In short, everything was accomplished and in an unbelievably short timeframe. Go DMV!!!