Best (or least worst) DMV
We had a very easy time at the Bayonne MVC renewing our licenses and getting the REAL ID.
I've had good experiences at the new office on Route 22. Very efficient.
Randolph might be worth the drive. I used to go there for vehicle inspections when my job was further west.
drummerboy said:
I've had good experiences at the new office on Route 22. Very efficient.
I don't see that one on the list when I go to make an appointment online. I try to avoid Route 22. My only accident in the last 25 years was getting rear-ended when I was yielding to get on and this woman behind me I guess was either looking at her phone or looking over her shoulder to merge and slammed right into the back of me.
jfinnegan said:
I have to get my license renewed next month. I was wondering if anybody has had a good experience with any of the DMVs. I used to always go to Springfield. I'm leaning towards the Edison DMV.
You can do it online/by mail.
Otherwise, if you enjoy the "experience", I'd suggest Rahway.
Soul_29 said:
You can do it online/by mail.
Otherwise, if you enjoy the "experience", I'd suggest Rahway.
I tried doing it online, but it seems like after a certain amount of years they make you go in person. Believe me I don't enjoy the experience. Worse than having two kids constantly telling me it's too hot to be standing on asphalt while I'm trying to listen to Big Train.
You can get to the one on 22 without getting on the highway. Take south Springfield avenue over the highway then make a left on park place. Follow park pl until you get to the dmv.
jfinnegan said:
Soul_29 said:
You can do it online/by mail.
Otherwise, if you enjoy the "experience", I'd suggest Rahway.
I tried doing it online, but it seems like after a certain amount of years they make you go in person. Believe me I don't enjoy the experience. Worse than having two kids constantly telling me it's too hot to be standing on asphalt while I'm trying to listen to Big Train.
Nothing is worse than that.
jfinnegan said:
I tried doing it online, but it seems like after a certain amount of years they make you go in person. Believe me I don't enjoy the experience. Worse than having two kids constantly telling me it's too hot to be standing on asphalt while I'm trying to listen to Big Train.
Take a whole bunch of identifying stuff with you and you'll probably have enough points to get a Real ID while you're there, which will save you the bother of doing it when we have to in a couple years.
Re 22 and the new DMV office, you're not on 22 for very long. It's near the Olive Garden.
Meanwhile, I left NJ without a clean title and now I have to try and get a duplicate title through the mail. Ugh.
We actually had a fast fine experience in Newark. So easy to get to and plenty of parking.
ridski said:
Take a whole bunch of identifying stuff with you and you'll probably have enough points to get a Real ID while you're there, which will save you the bother of doing it when we have to in a couple years.
Great advice, but keep in mind that to get a Real ID, you need an appointment and cannot just walk in.
jimmurphy said:
ridski said:
Take a whole bunch of identifying stuff with you and you'll probably have enough points to get a Real ID while you're there, which will save you the bother of doing it when we have to in a couple years.
Great advice, but keep in mind that to get a Real ID, you need an appointment and cannot just walk in.
I think an appointment is what you want - that's what makes the office run efficiently. Most transactions at the 22 office require appointments.
jimmurphy said:
Great advice, but keep in mind that to get a Real ID, you need an appointment and cannot just walk in.
The Real ID is a good idea. I was planning on making an appointment. Now I just have to figure out what to pull together to get to 6 points. Does a vaccine card count?
jfinnegan said:
The Real ID is a good idea. I was planning on making an appointment. Now I just have to figure out what to pull together to get to 6 points. Does a vaccine card count?
I believe that you need an appointment for anything these days (and it really works pretty well with this system). When you make your appointment, you'll go through the whole six points process and figure out what you have/need to bring with you.
jfinnegan said:
jimmurphy said:
Great advice, but keep in mind that to get a Real ID, you need an appointment and cannot just walk in.
The Real ID is a good idea. I was planning on making an appointment. Now I just have to figure out what to pull together to get to 6 points. Does a vaccine card count?
I wish I could remember what I brought. I think I had a passport (in my case green card), utilities bill in my name, social security card, and driver's license. I went to Randolph during summer 2020 when the lines were crazy, and I had waited a very long time to get into the building to renew my license. I was told I had enough points for a Real ID, but that it would take longer to get it and to be honest I just needed to get out so I didn't grab it when it was offered. I would definitely do it if I had the chance today.
ridski said:
I wish I could remember what I brought. I think I had a passport (in my case green card), utilities bill in my name, social security card, and driver's license. I went to Randolph during summer 2020 when the lines were crazy, and I had waited a very long time to get into the building to renew my license. I was told I had enough points for a Real ID, but that it would take longer to get it and to be honest I just needed to get out so I didn't grab it when it was offered. I would definitely do it if I had the chance today.
passport or driver’s license (primary)
Social security card or
Credit card with photo (secondary)
Utility bill or credit card bill (proof of address)
That’s 6 points.
drummerboy said:
Re 22 and the new DMV office, you're not on 22 for very long. It's near the Olive Garden.
Meanwhile, I left NJ without a clean title and now I have to try and get a duplicate title through the mail. Ugh.
you can get to Olive Garden from park pl.
I think a replacement title is now $60
Thanks for all the suggestions everybody. Sounds like plenty of good options. I'm going to go in a couple of weeks.
slight sidetrack: does anyone happen to know how long before it expires you can renew your license?
My CDL will run out the second week in April, I'm having my right knee replaced March 21 so I expect I won't be able to drive for a while after that and was thinking perhaps I should try to renew before the surgery, like maybe in February, to be safe
Jaytee said:
drummerboy said:
Re 22 and the new DMV office, you're not on 22 for very long. It's near the Olive Garden.
Meanwhile, I left NJ without a clean title and now I have to try and get a duplicate title through the mail. Ugh.
you can get to Olive Garden from park pl.
I think a replacement title is now $60
Yes that's correct. But the charge for the aggravation (at least in my case) is a lot more.
(I apparently never discharged the title when I paid off my car, and my lender had long been bought by another bank, and so on and so on... And I'm wanting to buy a new car, and I can't trade in without a title. blech)
mulemom said:
slight sidetrack: does anyone happen to know how long before it expires you can renew your license?
My CDL will run out the second week in April, I'm having my right knee replaced March 21 so I expect I won't be able to drive for a while after that and was thinking perhaps I should try to renew before the surgery, like maybe in February, to be safe
You should get a notice to renew well before the expiration date, and usually you can renew online, so no driving required.
Good luck on the knee replacement! I had my right knee done about 5 years ago. I was driving within a few weeks.
mulemom said:
slight sidetrack: does anyone happen to know how long before it expires you can renew your license?
My CDL will run out the second week in April, I'm having my right knee replaced March 21 so I expect I won't be able to drive for a while after that and was thinking perhaps I should try to renew before the surgery, like maybe in February, to be safe
I used to renew mine early frequently. I had to retake the hazardous materials section for every renewal. What endorsements do you have, out of curiosity?
Jaytee said:
You can get to the one on 22 without getting on the highway. Take south Springfield avenue over the highway then make a left on park place. Follow park pl until you get to the dmv.
Park Place isn’t a gated complex?
jimmurphy said:
ridski said:
Take a whole bunch of identifying stuff with you and you'll probably have enough points to get a Real ID while you're there, which will save you the bother of doing it when we have to in a couple years.
Great advice, but keep in mind that to get a Real ID, you need an appointment and cannot just walk in.
You won't ever "have to" if you don't fly OR if you have an alternate ID that is acceptable to TSA. (Passport is most common, but there are others.)
Also, I saw something that indicated that Real ID drivers licenses will only be able to be renewed in person. I'm hoping that's just a start-up misconception, or the motor vehicle department will be in a lot of trouble in a few years with even more in-person customers. And it's a pretty ridiculous requirement. If the US State Department can renew a passport or Global Entry status online or by mail, why shouldn't the NJ MVC be able to renew Real ID drivers licenses that way also? I just got my Real ID license in 2022, so I'm hoping that this is straightened out before I need to renew it in 2026.
sac said:
Also, I saw something that indicated that Real ID drivers licenses will only be able to be renewed in person. I'm hoping that's just a start-up misconception, or the motor vehicle department will be in a lot of trouble in a few years with even more in-person customers. And it's a pretty ridiculous requirement. If the US State Department can renew a passport or Global Entry status online or by mail, why shouldn't the NJ MVC be able to renew Real ID drivers licenses that way also? I just got my Real ID license in 2022, so I'm hoping that this is straightened out before I need to renew it in 2026.
Our Real Id licenses were renewed online. The replacements were Real Id compliant.
RTrent said:
sac said:
Also, I saw something that indicated that Real ID drivers licenses will only be able to be renewed in person. I'm hoping that's just a start-up misconception, or the motor vehicle department will be in a lot of trouble in a few years with even more in-person customers. And it's a pretty ridiculous requirement. If the US State Department can renew a passport or Global Entry status online or by mail, why shouldn't the NJ MVC be able to renew Real ID drivers licenses that way also? I just got my Real ID license in 2022, so I'm hoping that this is straightened out before I need to renew it in 2026.
Our Real Id licenses were renewed online. The replacements were Real Id compliant.
That's good to know. It's not what was stated at the MVC office I went to for my first Real ID license this past year. (I think it was in Newark, but I'm no longer sure. I had never been to that one before, but it was the only one where I could get an appointment before my old license expired.)
drummerboy said:
You should get a notice to renew well before the expiration date, and usually you can renew online, so no driving required.
Good luck on the knee replacement! I had my right knee done about 5 years ago. I was driving within a few weeks.
Thank you, and good to know you can drive soon! March 2022 was a complete drag, had a rotator cuff repair on 3/2 and couldn't drive until 4/4. Was dreading another month of ubering everywhere.
Thus far, I've always had to renew in person because I have a CDL, but maybe they've changed that due to Covid.
DanDietrich said:
I used to renew mine early frequently. I had to retake the hazardous materials section for every renewal. What endorsements do you have, out of curiosity?
No endorsements currently, unless you count air brakes because my CDL is Class A. I used to have hazmat, doubles and passenger but let them go when I stopped working as a driver. I only kept the CDL itself because it was fairly hard to get and if I let it lapse I'd probably never get it back
I have to get my license renewed next month. I was wondering if anybody has had a good experience with any of the DMVs. I used to always go to Springfield. I'm leaning towards the Edison DMV.