Department of Motor Vehicles, Auto Tags, Mechanics, and Parking Permits

Submitted by svenjacobs3 t3_11t1nx0 in Pennsylvania

I have a few questions but need to preface them: I came to Pennsylvania and Philadelphia a month ago. Came cross-country so had my car checked prior to the drive. I get here and realize I need to get a parking permit, so head downtown to get it. Realize I need to get a Pennsylvania license to get that, so make sure I have someone mail me something, and have my Passport AND some other form of ID (never been to a state that necessitates more than a Passport, by the way), spend two hours at the DMV and realize the DMV doesn't issue tags and registration. So I spend an additional two hours at an auto tag place (never been to a state that does that), and I have to come back because the title that was signed by the original owner with the amount that was purchased apparently needed the same information with a bill of sale. So I go back and they issue me a temporary registration. I go back downtown to the parking permit office and they say I can't use a temporary registration, and in order to get an additional days added to my temporary pass, I need a letter from the Auto Tag location saying that it's coming in (the temporary registration permit and registration apparently is not sufficient for this). So I get the additional days added and call the auto tag location and they tell me it takes up to two months to get the permanent registration. And the parking permit office is like "we'll only give you 45 days of temporary parking; after that you'll just get ticketed". The auto tag office lets me know I also need to get my car looked at by a mechanic again from someone in Pennsylvania so I have the opportunity to pay more. So now I'm trying to figure out what to do with my car.

So I guess my questions are the following: how is this not more streamlined? Who is responsible for such an administrative nightmare?

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Eisernes t1_jcgpe8m wrote

Welcome to PA.

It is all corruption. These systems have been developed over decades through kickbacks and bribes to make sure as many people as possible get their hands in your pocket. People from here that have never lived outside of PA and still live a few miles from where they were born think this is all normal and OK. I'm sure they will be along shortly to tell me how wrong I am.

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svenjacobs3 OP t1_jcgqkl2 wrote

Fine. It's corrupt. But can't it be corrupt more efficiently?

Take my money but don't take entire weekdays from me.

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CharacterBrief9121 t1_jcgtgw3 wrote

You can say all that about everything but the state safety and emissions inspections. Those are there to make sure your vehicle isn’t a death trap that will kill other people on the road. As far as dmv/tag/notary bs it is bs.

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svenjacobs3 OP t1_jch6qhn wrote

>Those are there to make sure your vehicle isn’t a death trap that will kill other people on the road.

Yeah, because why should all the potholes and backward traffic patterns have all the fun?

But in seriousness, I'm less upset about maintenance automotive checks; it's just that it's compounded with a bunch of nonsense.

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CharacterBrief9121 t1_jcha9r3 wrote

Don’t worry about it, I don’t understand why the dmv doesn’t handle tags. Seems like the place for it.

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crankshaft123 t1_jci777a wrote

The DMV doesn't handle tags because some legislator's brother in law owns a chain of "instant auto tags" shops.

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Dry_Presence7112 t1_jckuvfx wrote

I go to Penndot in harrisburg, luckily I'm local to harrisburg area, and I get everything done and walk out with a license plate. 2hr drive might be worth it to you.

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mittenedkittens t1_jcgt8n4 wrote

The state government providing the service through one centralized provider at a handful of centralized locations would be way too inefficient, this way is much better.

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svenjacobs3 OP t1_jcgttdc wrote

I've lived in four different states with four cars and residency. All the services were through the DMV, and it was infinitesimally better in every way. This isn't even me having some political bent, or enjoying exaggeration and hyperbole - it was literally better in every way.

But let's suppose separate facilities for separate services is functionally and organizationally better. Then my question is how it's possible that Pennsylvania and Philadelphia are still screwing it up and worst than other states where the organizational structure is - by your own accounts - subpar.

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stormycat0811 t1_jchucqy wrote

Up until recently they didn’t take credit cards at the dmv, cash or checks only. Once my husband went and waited hours, they told him the price and he filled out the check. Turns out it was the wrong amount, and he had to go back another day with a new check.

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svenjacobs3 OP t1_jcig1p0 wrote

That's absurd. I don't know if this is ultimately Al Schmidt's fault (usually Secretary of State oversees such things), but if it is, maybe we need someone new in his position.

To piggyback off you, this just happened to me. The parking permit website said I could turn in a temporary registration, which is a pink CC. Note, the actual office said I could not turn in a temporary registration. Nevertheless, I turn it in and the individual at the auto tag office made my apartment number look more like a 574 than a 524 (you can tell it's a '2' but if you want to be hold up processes, you could maintain it's a '7'), so they send me it back denied. Meanwhile, I'll probably get a ticket tomorrow, and the day after, etc. So I have to go back to the auto tag office for the THIRD TIME to have the registration REWRITTEN in 2024, so that another office will approve.

Every day I sympathize more and more with Michael Douglas from Falling Down.

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KREDDOG79 t1_jch1275 wrote

I just moved here from TN 8 months ago. It took 3 months to register my truck and 4 months for the registration of my wife's car to go through. As far as vehicle and emmission testing what a joke. Just another way for the state to get more money and for mechanic shops to make more money.

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Ipsissima_verba t1_jch2xal wrote

You should have lived here back in the day when inspection was twice a year!

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svenjacobs3 OP t1_jch74o0 wrote

>You should have lived here back in the day when inspection was twice a year!

Throw the tea in the harbor!

Shut it all down.

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Longjumping_Tax3829 t1_jck1viu wrote

Also you typically only have 10 days to get your car inspected once registered in Pa 🥴

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