Department of Motor Vehicles

Wow.
I knew this was gonna take hours, but seriously? How inefficient can a government department be? Well children, gather round and I’ll tell you a tale of horror to make you sell your car and never drive again.
The website said 30 min wait.
I posted that photo of the line at 10:16.
I’m writing this while waiting for the number that I Finally received, to be called, at 12:58.
I’ve moved at lot in there last few years and had to change registration from MA to IL, back to MA, and now returned to CA after a decade I find that they have learned NOTHING from the technological advancements of they last 15 years.
Stand in line to be told you need to do things that the website gives NO INFORMATION ABOUT, ooh, you need to drive your car around back and get «verified?» Really? Where is that in the instructions?
AND YOU NEED TO TAKE YOUR PLATES OFF HERE? Glad that was mentioned so I brought tools. Said with sarcasm. I had to go home.
Also, not mentioned. As a matter of fact the form asks if you are returning them to the other states DMV. Everyone else hands you plates. They don’t take yours.
What about the system in other states where folks with quick simple paperwork issues liked me, are sorted out from the rest? Or the system where there’s a big sign somewhere telling you what you need to do? Maybe even on a website?
Or the system, like in MA, where you take a number as soon as you walk in, that you choose activities on a menu on a screen and are checked through they process in 15 minutes.
I’m starting to be impressed that the exorbitant tax system here in CA is completely corrupt. There must be a lot of really highly paid clerical workers somewhere, or swimming pools full of cash because those jillions on bucks are not going any where near developing systems to make daily life easier or more efficient for the populace. It is now 1:05 & B042 has been called. Maybe I’ll get home by dark.
Shame on you, golden state.

This is THE worst DMV I have ever been too. To start off, I stood in the appoiment line outside, no surprise there, and figured so. The issue I have is with the rude employee who came out 2min before opening, passing out the paperwork. A older Asian gentleman who didn’t understand English very well was just brushed off by her. She pointed, telling him to go wait in the longer line, without even trying to help him with his question.
Next, after waiting seconds (because of the appointment), I was brought to window 14… It should’ve been the unlucky 13 number of death. I was treated so rudely, and every time I had a question, I received a snappy response. I felt like an inmate in a maximum security prison. If you end up standing in front of an older feminine man, with stains on his clothing, and teeth that haven’t been brushed in years… Just turn around and run… Run like the wind.

Get there 30 mins before it opens and you’ll be in and out. If you wait till later in the day, you might just be there alllllll day.
So yes, the numbers are called at random asking the individual workers, «what’s taking so long?» doesn’t help. And don’t have small talk when it is your time to take care of whatever it is you are there for. Since there are other people waiting.
Make sure to have all of your paperwork filled out and bring forms of ID. Oh and bring a pen!
The written test is now on a touch screen computer. I was told you get 3 chances to pass, but you’ll only need 1 since it’s super easy.
Bring something to read or a fully charged phone, since you’ll be there 1 hour minimum. Please leave crying babies at home if you can. And if you need to talk on the phone, do so outside. No one needs to know about your private life.
Go with the mindset: No one actually enjoys the DMV. It’s like the dentist. A painful necessity of life. But just remember, you could be walking instead of driving.

Of all different DMVs we have been too, Long beach is by far the cleanest, most efficient DMV I have been too! And to add to that is very friendly staff! From the young lady who checked us in, in the front to the staff members inside. I recently took my dad there and was so pleased took my mom back to renew her license. We live in Torrance but will be using this location for the rest of family as well! Great job guys!

Don’t waste your time making an online appointment. I had an appointment and I arrived 30 min early just in case. I waited in line to check in for 45 min and it really didn’t matter that I had an appointment as I still ended up waiting «with an appointment «for 1 hours.
Avoid this location at all costs.

I was about to drive way out to Twentynine Palms for a good experience. Bah. I checked around 10pm last night and I was able to get a 3pm appointment for today. I got here at 1:40p. Line was out of the door for an appointment but it moved quickly. So quickly I decided to get a form and get out of line for a bit. I got back in line 20 mins later and the line was only a third as long. I waited. At this rate I will make it to the window right on time. It smells fine in here. The security guard is very cool. Almost nobody waits after getting a number. Good times.
Tips:
1. Get an appointment
2. Ger here 1.5 hours early
3. Have fun.
I had a great time reading all the reviews. If you are in a rush… life will suck. This location is just fine.

The negatives, it took me 16 minutes to find a parking space and my son didn’t pass his drivers test.
However, it’s a pretty decent place to go to to take your drivers test. The instructor seemed kind and took the time to explain to my son what his errors were and gave him tips for next time. He gave a good amount of his time to him and I appreciated that.
I was a little worried after reading some of the reviews but aside from the parking it was just fine. I sat in the car in the passenger seat until the instructor came out to do the inspection and he let me know where I could wait. The test was about 15 – 20 min long and it seemed like most kids were passing it. My son’s error was backing up and hitting the curb.

Horribly slow !!! Not enough employees and the ones working are extremely slow. Monitors not working hard to follow the numbers that are being called.

Going to the DMV is never fun. Ever since I started driving and having a car, I have always dread the day I have to go to the dmv. But it’s something us Adults have to do. After waiting outside in this hot humid day, for about 30 – 45 mins I did get greeted by a lady that was nice and happy, which is unreal for this type of place. This location is also clean and has lots of seats for everyone, I found parking as soon as I pulled up. My car inspection was pretty fast, done in less than 5 mins which is a surprise to me.
I didn’t make an appt because I needed to get this done now and only appt available was in the middle of this month. If you aren’t in the same position as me, I do recommend you to make an appt, because the appt line to receive a ticket is way smaller and faster than the non-​appt line.
Once I got my number another 30 – 45 min wait, the lady who helped me was pretty rude. I didn’t understand a section of the registration application and filled it out incorrectly which caused an additional $ 250 charge (taxes) to register my car, for her to remove it I have to provide additional paper work which means I have to come back again to this awful place!

I read the Unilocal reviews prior to coming here and I was really dreading my appointment. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised. I will say upfront that I had a Saturday morning appointment so that may have helped — but if that is the case then Sat. appointments are definitely the way to go!
My appointment was at 8:20 am, I showed up at 8:00am just because of the reviews and everything that was said about parking. I got a spot right in front, renewed my drivers license, got my motorcycle license (both required be to take a test), and got a new picture. Cost a little more than $ 30 and I was out of the DMV before 9am. Every employee I came into contact with was pleasant and courteous.
Just a heads up, appointment line is on the left side and walk ins are on the right side. I waited in the wrong line at first but not for too long!
I’ll definitely come back here on a Sat!

Tuesday July 21: I know DMV is never fun but this is insane. When you go out of your way to make an appointment at a convenient time (lunch hour) would be nice if it was honored. I waited a month for this appointment and now wondering what the point is. 12:20 appt. checked in at 12:00. 1 hour and still far far from being called (about 15 – 20 numbers away hard to tell since they have several letter and number sequences. No rhyme or reason or predictability which is extra crazy making!). 14 windows but never more than 6 open at a time. Frustrating, lots of us stressed about getting back to work but CA thinks we have nothing better to do by to wait, wait and wait some more.
I don’t know if this branch is better or worse than others but wanted to share. Maybe lunchtime is extra bad? Hope my pain is your gain.
Update: finally called and done at 1:40, ridiculous. I was told by colleagues long beach is the worst AFTER I got back to work very late for a meeting, so please learn from my mistake. Find another location.

Be prepared to enter the second realm of hell. I entered a fun-​loving, happy girl and left wanting to seek and destroy the blood-​sucking venomous monsters that are disguised as DMV employees.
No parking, lines forever, Security Satan, power-​trips, you name it. Since I have to now schedule a third appointment I will drive out of my way to leave this God-​forsaken hell.

It’s a DMV… you always have to check in for a wait number whether you have an appt. or not. Once they call your number you can proceed with your transaction as directed. Sounds simple right but some people expect things to get taken care of the moment they walk in. Never been that way never will be. With that said this is my favorite DMV compared to the many others I’ve been to.
The check-​in guy is super friendly. I can’t say the same for his coworkers but 1 happy greeting is better than none. The 3 times I came I was in and out within 15 minutes. Twice with appointments and once with out. It’s the cleanest and least crowded DMV I have been to and parking was a cinch. There was actually lots of open seatings and parking! I hate going to the DMV but if I have to it would be this one (^_​^)

If i can give this place a 0 i would. The waiting times are ridiculous, i came here at 7:20AM and waited for 50mins even with an appointment. When i arrived to the person to take my behind the wheel test, he told me i was late for my appointment. It was friggen 8:10AM when my appointment was at 8AM. He pretty much told me i can’t do anything about it and i would have to reschedule. Idk about anyone else’s experience here but dont friggen go here, all the looks on the workers faces look extremely sour and angry, and i feel like i got the most anal one.
If youre wondering who the worker was he is pretty damn distinct he was ugly, fat, bald, had a nasty attitude (condescending almost), white, and wore glasses.
TLDR;
Very unfriendly workers, disorganized, and horrible customer service/​workers. Avoid this place if you can!

I made an appt to get my driver’s license renewed for 10am on a saturday.
I was pretty surprised I was in and out in 20mins.
I am so glad I selected this DMV location. Will be returning and good job to all the hard working folks at this DMV!

Overview: This Long Beach DMV is located on Willow St about 2 blocks away from the Signal Hill Costco. It is quite large, serves a very large population, and is extremely… no… mindblowingly crowded. Do NOT come here without an appointment and do NOT trust the estimated «wait times» on websites or apps. If you do not have an appointment. I arrived here 20 minutes before opening on a Wednesday (8:40AM) without an appointment to register my vehicle and renew my license… and left around 2PM. No exaggeration.
The Service: I feel horrible for the employees here as they really seem to be trying to do their best to get you in and out as fast as they can but every California DMV is understaffed, and there are simply too many scenarios for each employee to understand. One woman in front of me didn’t speak of lick of English. Another woman needed to take the driving test in Farsi. Imagine being an employee here and trying to figure out what to do. Just to add fuel to the fire, most people just get into horribly foul moods when they wait for hours and it’s awful to see how disrespectful the customers can be. One unexpected upside of going to the DMV: You’ll see everything from meth heads to models.
The Establishment: This place is quite large and one excellent aspect of this DMV is that when the line wraps around the building, it’s typically blanketed in shade before noon. No sunburns here.
Conclusions: This Long Beach DMV is clean, it’s big, it’s shaded, and it’s close to my favorite store (Costco) but you must be prepared to be bored, hungry, frustrated, and tired by the time you finish. MAKE AN APPOINTMENT AND MAKE IT EARLY.

I took my driving test here 5 years ago, I like it better here because the roads are much wider.
BUT I’ve been waiting here since 9 am and finally got inside at 12:30. I got my ticket and I am current waiting, but they seem to call a new number every 30 min. At this rate it’s going to take another 2 hours before I get called. They have 14 windows here, but there are only 4 windows open.
They have a larger parking lot here than the one in bellflower, but the one in bellflower works MUCH faster.
A lady just went up to a window and complained and said she took pictures of employees «having a good time and chit-​chatting» while everyone is on the other side waiting.

Thee WORST DMV ever! No parking and very rude driving instructors!
Pick another DMV with civilized humans and save yourself the headaches.

Checked online in March, first appointment available was August. That would not work so I checked the DMV app. It showed a 17 minute wait if you don’t have an appointment. Got here and the line was across the front and down the side of the building (approx 100 – 150 people). Checked the app again and it now says 45 minutes upon my arrival.
I got here at 10:52 am and at 12:45 pm, I am still 20 people from entering the building. I am glad I don’t have to come here often. Newspapers say applications are up because Governor Brown now allows anyone to get a license both citizens and non-​citizens.

A trip to the DMV usually means long lines, long wait and being surrounded by a bunch of weirdos. The best way to avoid or shorten any of that, book an appointment online and boom, you can be in and out quickly! I was in and out of the DMV within half an hour and that included the time it took to pass the Drivers Knowledge Test!
Making an appointment is easy but I learned that next-​day appointments are rare, you have to book at least a few days in advance and you can’t be too flexible on the times either. However, if you have a specific day in mind, you can try to search for times available on that date too.
At the DMV itself, there was a huge line for the people who didn’t make appointments. But there was no line in the «Appointment» section — win! I was able to hand my paperwork in and get my number within minutes. My number was called right away once I got to the next room and I was able to pay (note: they accept debit/​atm cards but not credit cards). Once that was sorted, I got my picture taken quickly and the photo lady wanted to make sure everyone got their best pictures done — she told the girl before me to take her glasses off because there was a lot of glare and she told another woman to wipe her forehead because it was shiny.
At the exam room for the Drivers Knowledge Test, the computers are touch screen and you are given 3 attempts to pass. The guy behind the desk mentioned you have to wait at least 5mns between each failed attempt.
I have never had a better experience at a DMV, thanks to the nice staff and how easy it was to get everything done!