Registry of Motor Vehicles

Due to various reasons, some legitimate, some inspired by good ol’ fashion laziness, I never attempted to get my license until recently. Over the last few months– both my parents, and my VERY patient bf, Jason L, taught me how to drive. It was not an easy process. I don’t think I’ve ever been accused of being carefree — my personality runs the spectrum– from anxious to apprehensive.
Today, however, I persevered, and I believe I owe it largely to the really nice staff at the Plymouth RMV. The young woman that mans the front desk is very friendly. She didn’t yell at me when I admitted to forgetting my form, and even wished me good luck before my exam. The Trooper– Tester who administers the exam, appears scary at first, but really is an old softie. Don’t let the straight brimmed cap and aviator glasses fool you.
Here’s what you have to do:
After you pass in your paperwork, the Tester will ask you to move your car to a spot designated as «Road Test Parking.» You must reverse into this spot. There are usually a bunch of people scheduled for the same time as you. He will go to the car closet to the RMV first. He will ask you to turn on the car, demonstrate the hand signal, show that you can use both your right and left blinkers, honk your horn, turn on your headlights, and reverse slightly. He will then check the emergency break– here, you will have to put your car into its lowest gear, with the emergency break up — and tap on the gas VERY lightly.
After the initial car check — your exam begins. You must pull out of the spot and turn right. Don’t forget to check for pedestrians and turn on your blinker. Drive slowly — people are everywhere. At the end of the parking lot — there is a T intersection — act at those there is a top sign! After you come to a complete stop — he’ll have you turn right .
He will then lead you to a coned in, generously sized parking spot. He will ask you to parallel park between the cones. Teat the furthest cones as the curb. I found that you really had to pull a bit ahead of the first cones — and start sharply turning immediately. You need a very sharp angle to hit the spot right. I didn’t approach the spot as sharply as I should have — and got a little too close to the outer rim of the spot. The tester allowed me to try it again — and was very patient with my very slow approach.
After you nail the parallel parking — he will ask you to drive to the end of that street. Don’t forget to put your blinker on when you exit the spot. There will be a stop sign at the end of the road. He will ask you to turn right — again — blinkers! The road you enter will be a little busier than the one before. He will ask you to change lanes in order to check your head movement and awareness of your side mirrors. There is a speed bump on this road — slow down when you go over it!
Eventually the Tester will lead you to a road in which he will have you park upwards on a hill. Don’t forget the emergency beak — remember wheel placement! UP UP and AWAY from the Curb — If you are going downhill — It’s towards the curb. I forgot to release the emergency break after I did this — and he forgave me. I also was so nervous I couldn’t figure out how to release the emergency break — he did it for me — and didn’t penalize me for it.
I then had to reverse in a straight line for 50 feet. I didn’t have a curb to use as a visual — so I used the snow mound. He fussed at me because I wasn’t going straight right away — I spoke up and said that I was using the snow as my guide. What they really care about here — is that you go slow and you use your mirrors. They want to be able to say that you can control the back end of your car. Just do this part really slowly — find some sort of landmark behind you– or use your side mirrors to gauge your closeness to the curb. Try not to run over anything,
At this point– you will know if you’ve passed the test –f he starts making small talk with you. He’ll ask you do a three point turn (DON’T FORGET YOUR BLINKERS!) and head back.
Tada!
In all honesty. I was scared beyond all reason. I thought the Tester was firm — but was not rude or unkind. I think he knew and expected me to be a bit nervous — and graded me with that in mind.
Other than the staff, the road conditions here are pretty optimal. The RMV is located in an industrial park — so there isn’t much traffic. The issuance of the actual license was painless– no surly staff in sight.
All and all — the Plymouth RMV is a great place to go for your license.

The older male examiner with gray hair was the rudest person I have ever met. Before the road test even started he was yelling and in a bad mood. When I went to talk to him after the exam he sat down and took out his phone and started scrolling up and down and did not make an effort to make eye contact once. Not very nice.

I went into the RMV expecting an abyss of human despair, and a lot of red tape, so I was pleasantly surprised with how easy and pleasant our trip was!
As a newcomer to MA, I had a lot of business to conduct, including plates for the new car, new plates for the old car, and a MA license for my husband… I’m going to have to make a second trip for mine.
We waited a little while, but it wasn’t too bad… basically just long enough for me to go online and read about the special plates I saw on the wall, and figure out that even buying a special plate, I’d spend about $ 150 less per year to register my car in MA. Yay!
I’m sure that’ll be made up in excise taxes, something I’m not used to, but I digress.
I tired to arrive at 8, right when they open, but unfortunately, I sleep like a dead person! We got there at nine and had no issues, we were out well before 11 AM, light a few hundred bucks, but street legal at last!

Went with my nephew to get his permit. The wait was long, but they were all very nice and pleasant

So I went into the registry in Plymouth about a month ago and I was hoping to catch a break with the wait time for once in my life, but i walked in and it was all the same as it always has been this is what I encounterd, approx. 80 people in the waiting room half of them were standing and out the door, and there was only one person at the window helping customers (It made paint drying on the wall look very exciting) this was typical at the Plymouth Registry there is always tons of people waiting and no one helping customers in a timely manner. It is a panfully excruciatng experience every single time i go there. The Plymouth registry is a very poorly run branch of the commonwealth and severly under staffed. Needless to say 2hrs. and 45 minutes later i was finally helped and able to leave.

So I took my road test at this dmv today and I failed. The examiner was nice but a little bit too stern. I hadn’t even finished doing one thing, he is telling me to do the next one. The test was only about 10 minutes. They make you do parallel parking, backing up and a k-​turn (on a really narrow street)… I failed mostly because I didn’t use my blinkers where I should have used them. Good luck. Just make sure you focus on the road and signals… Don’t get too nervous

It’s the RMV, not a picnic, so keeping that in mind when I have to go to the registry in person, I always go to this one whenever possible.
The waiting area is bright daylight and clean, the benches are sturdy and fit everyone I’ve ever seen waiting, no need to stand. I’ve been there for information, renewing my license and registration and the employees have been friendly and helpful. The customer service desk where you first check in has to be be the most thankless job anywhere and yet those employees manning the desk are always smiling and patient from what I’ve seen.
The longest wait I had was 20 minutes (license renewal) and that was with 7 people in front of me, so I think it moved at a good pace.
Actually, the scariest part about going here is that the eye place where they do cataract surgery is in the same building, so seriously watch your step crossing the driveway from the parking lot. The cataract surgery patients driving up the hill are way scarier than the driving test participants!

The male instructor who conducts driving tests is a racist and a bigot. If you are a male, or if you are black, or if you are a foreigner, AVOID the Plymouth Registry of Motor Vehicles at all costs for your driving test. My husband has been driving for 10 years in another country and is legally in the U.S. This guy failed him three times for ridiculous and petty reasons. The last time, he claimed he didn’t have two hands on the steering wheel. He only took one off to turn around so he could back up!
We went to the Braintree registry and the instructor told us there is no other way to back up except to remove one hand and put it on the right passenger seat so you can fully turn and look backwards. He apologized for the Plymouth inspector for failing him. If you are taking a driving test, GO to Braintree!!! The guys there are fair, reasonable, and don’t judge you by the color of your skin or because you have an accent!
After our horrible experiences (count 3 of ‘em) at Plymouth, we’ve heard other horror stories of the bigot there. Avoid this registry of motor vehicles at all costs for your DRIVING test. It is the worst!