Texas Drivers License Renewal

[Steel Shank 9416]

2 hours ago, hayden_horn said:

he laid a bunch of aqueduct

aight

 

You old-timers remember when the DPS had a small office just north of the Capitol that was there for the convenience of the politicos?

I remember walking in (no appt.) and there were three clerks just standing there and they all said, "May I help you?" I picked the hottest chick and got down to the business at hand, right there at the counter.

[C-Man 27124]

4 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Hasn't DPS cancelled 3 straight days of appointments with nothing more than a "software glitch" excuse? Wouldn't shock me if they're a victim of ransomware and working to pay off some criminals.  But perhaps it really is a software bug.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/texas-dps-software-update-cancelled-appointments-18349396.php

Overall, and it's been a couple of years, I've had great experiences at the DPS urban mega centers. I schedule online, show up a few minutes early and out the door within 30-60 minutes. I do see others that appear to have been sitting there much longer. I assume they're walk-ins, or they have more complicated situations than renewals.

Allegedly, it is/was the result of a software update over the holiday weekend that didn't get completed. As it gets further from Labor Day, that becomes less and less believable.

My daughter was supposed to go yesterday afternoon to the Garland supercenter to get her 18-year-old license. She got a text yesterday AM saying she had the same time slot next Thursday. We'll see how that goes.

Rewind back to when she was trying to get her license during COVID. We wound up driving to the DPS office in far north Waco in order to get it because there were no appointments available in DFW, nor could you get on a waiting list X number of months out. It was beyond absurd. Seems things have not improved post-COVID.

Can I also lump in getting/renewing US passports into this broken system of bureaucracy? This process is no smoother.

[Brisketexan 104783]

35 minutes ago, C-Man said:

Can I also lump in getting/renewing US passports into this broken system of bureaucracy? This process is no smoother.

The passport thing I at least understood: international travel plummeted during COVID.  So, people either let their passports lapse, or people who would have gotten one didn't bother, because nobody was going anywhere.  Once COVID cleared, we saw an explosion of international travel, and with that, people needed to get/renew passports all in a compressed time window.  I'm not suggesting there wasn't ALSO bureaucratic bullshit going on, but the timing issue was material.

Driver's licenses?  Yeah, that's across the board, and by design.

[MissingInAction 24869]

I made an appointment and Ken Paxton delivered it personally within a few hours.

[Brisketexan 104783]

9 minutes ago, MissingInAction said:

I made an appointment and Ken Paxton delivered it personally within a few hours.

Nate?  Is that you?

[Nice Guy Eddie 13419]

3 hours ago, F250 said:

As others have already pointed out, it is possible to get a quick appointment if you are willing to make a 3 hour round trip. I recently was able to find an appointment within a week by driving to Hondo.

A three fucking hour round trip to renew a license. The fact that people are just accepting this reality blows my mind. This is third-world level inefficiency.

It's a feature not a bug. Welcome to Texas.

[Wiler77 1558]

I really enjoyed having an "appointment", and then having to wait an hour past that time to be seen.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4968]

 

 

8 hours ago, F250 said:

As others have already pointed out, it is possible to get a quick appointment if you are willing to make a 3 hour round trip. I recently was able to find an appointment within a week by driving to Hondo.

A three fucking hour round trip to renew a license. The fact that people are just accepting this reality blows my mind. This is third-world level inefficiency.

Counterpoint, the drive is worth it because parisa.

 

 

8 hours ago, F250 said:

As others have already pointed out, it is possible to get a quick appointment if you are willing to make a 3 hour round trip. I recently was able to find an appointment within a week by driving to Hondo.

A three fucking hour round trip to renew a license. The fact that people are just accepting this reality blows my mind. This is third-world level inefficiency.

Counterpoint, the drive is worth it because parisa.

[F250 28732]

42 minutes ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

 

 

Counterpoint, the drive is worth it because parisa.

 

 

Counterpoint, the drive is worth it because parisa.

Good point. I used to be able to buy it in Spring Branch but the meat market I would get it from didn't survive Covid.

[Beau Vine 54050]

1 hour ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

 

 

Counterpoint, the drive is worth it because parisa.

 

 

Counterpoint, the drive is worth it because parisa.

Oh fuck yes!

[abuelo gringo 321]

22 hours ago, Steel Shank said:

aight

 

You old-timers remember when the DPS had a small office just north of the Capitol that was there for the convenience of the politicos?

I remember walking in (no appt.) and there were three clerks just standing there and they all said, "May I help you?" I picked the hottest chick and got down to the business at hand, right there at the counter.

No, but I took my driving test at the Ranger Station at Fair Park.

[AUS-97HORN 11726]

2 hours ago, abuelo gringo said:

No, but I took my driving test at the Ranger Station at Fair Park.

 

[Deej 76641]

On 9/8/2023 at 12:54 PM, hayden_horn said:

he laid a bunch of aqueduct

23 hours ago, Wiler77 said:

I really enjoyed having an "appointment", and then having to wait an hour past that time to be seen.

Just like going to the doctor. 

[BottleRocket 644]

I just had an oh-shit-moment.  We're traveling to Africa at the end of October.  I'll be renting a car and they accept US drivers licenses so I'm good with that.  I was filling out some travel paperwork and realized that my license expires on my birthday in the beginning of October and this is the renewal cycle that I have to do in person at the DMV.   No biggie - it's August.  Plenty of time.  NOPE.  Earliest appointment in Austin metro is January 2025.  Fuck me.   It looks like I'm taking Monday off of work to drive to Frederiksberg and I consider myself lucky to have gotten an appointment so soon.  Thanks allot Obama hot wheels.

[ztejas 43382]

16 minutes ago, BottleRocket said:

I just had an oh-shit-moment.  We're traveling to Africa at the end of October.  I'll be renting a car and they accept US drivers licenses so I'm good with that.  I was filling out some travel paperwork and realized that my license expires on my birthday in the beginning of October and this is the renewal cycle that I have to do in person at the DMV.   No biggie - it's August.  Plenty of time.  NOPE.  Earliest appointment in Austin metro is January 2025.  Fuck me.   It looks like I'm taking Monday off of work to drive to Frederiksberg and I consider myself lucky to have gotten an appointment so soon.  Thanks allot Obama hot wheels.

Yeah. I need to get a replacement ID and change my address and the only place I could get into sooner than 3 weeks or a month is marble falls. 

So I'm taking a little road trip Monday. 

[NoRagrets 1125]

It’s really ridiculous. 

[AUS-97HORN 11726]

this shit has to clear up after the Real ID shit is over with, right? 

I mean how the fuck in 3 years does the DMV go from a place where you can logon and make an appointment at 8am the next day in the damn center of the city, to now, not being able to have an appointment 4 full months out?

[F250 28732]

14 minutes ago, NoRagrets said:

It’s really ridiculous. 

It's fucking insane. I would expect this type of inefficiency in Italy not here.

 

[conVINCEd 21468]

Just now, AUS-97HORN said:

this shit has to clear up after the Real ID shit is over with, right? 

I mean how the fuck in 3 years does the DMV go from a place where you can logon and make an appointment at 8am the next day in the damn center of the city, to now, not being able to have an appointment 4 full months out?

It took me 6, because they cancelled my first appointment.

[ztejas 43382]

2 minutes ago, F250 said:

It's fucking insane. I would expect this type of inefficiency in Italy not here.

 

What the fuck do you need an ID in Italy for? Aren't the 12 year olds all drinking wine and fucking?

[Biff Tannen 45561]

52 minutes ago, BottleRocket said:

I just had an oh-shit-moment.  We're traveling to Africa at the end of October.  I'll be renting a car and they accept US drivers licenses so I'm good with that.  I was filling out some travel paperwork and realized that my license expires on my birthday in the beginning of October and this is the renewal cycle that I have to do in person at the DMV.   No biggie - it's August.  Plenty of time.  NOPE.  Earliest appointment in Austin metro is January 2025.  Fuck me.   It looks like I'm taking Monday off of work to drive to Frederiksberg and I consider myself lucky to have gotten an appointment so soon.  Thanks allot Obama hot wheels.

Check in the mornings online for places closer to you and see if spots have opened up.  I think they update them at like 8am every day.

[Steel Shank 9416]

Try Lockhart. Fuck Fredericksburg

[Js1 85161]

Mine expires in December and they sent me a thing to renew online. I could have sworn I’d have to go in person. But I got a brand new one in the mail valid for 8 years, and changed my address, and updated by voter registration 

[atomheartbevo 89502]

43 minutes ago, NoRagrets said:

It’s really ridiculous. 

I swear it’s by design.  It’s been going on too long.  They could have hired more staff if it’s a staffing problem.  It favors people who have the time to drive around and in rural areas.

29 minutes ago, AUS-97HORN said:

this shit has to clear up after the Real ID shit is over with, right? 

I mean how the fuck in 3 years does the DMV go from a place where you can logon and make an appointment at 8am the next day in the damn center of the city, to now, not being able to have an appointment 4 full months out?

The Real ID requirements are no different that a 16 year-old getting a license for the first time when we were younger.   

[Ghost of LL 15500]

I guess I'm lucky.  I got one for a month from now.  All I have to do is drive out to fucking Bastrop first thing in the morning.

We get the government we vote for, friends.  

[Redneck Mutha 7941]

Several months ago I walked into the Taylor office with no appointment.  In and out in less than 45 minutes.

[TwiceHorn 31355]

1 hour ago, atomheartbevo said:

I swear it’s by design.  It’s been going on too long.  They could have hired more staff if it’s a staffing problem.  It favors people who have the time to drive around and in rural areas.

The Real ID requirements are no different that a 16 year-old getting a license for the first time when we were younger.   

Ackshually, I think they're worse, but I suppose it depends on when you first got your DL.

I just had to have a birth certificate.  Now you have to have that plus proof of citizenship in the form of passport or SS card, and proof of residency in the form of a lease, deed, or utility bill.

[Mr.Hovis 70]

I have to go in for my renewal since I did it online last time. License expires in October, so I figure there's plenty of time. I was not expecting the shit show that this has become. The south Austin location showed no openings until first week of 1/25. This was last week. Trying to find openings at outlying cities from Austin was a crap shoot, they give you like 3-4 minutes to confirm an opening before it expires. So, I would get logged off and when I got back on previous openings were getting taken fast. Finally, I was able to get an appointment at the Taylor location for next week.  It's no joke regarding making appointments months in advance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TwiceHorn 31355]

Pro-tip, if you want to check another location or get another batch of times, use "back" and you won't have to "log in" again with all the info.

Even on a computer screen, "Back" is off the viewable screen, so you may have to scroll down to hit it.

And, if you check times between about 7 and 8 am, and keep refreshing (using back), you'll get usually a full day's worth of same-day appointments, especially at the lesser-used locations.

Edited August 16 by TwiceHorn

[Steel Shank 9416]

aight

[Biff Tannen 45561]

I guess I just got lucky, but mine was set to expire in June and in April I looked online and was able to get a spot within 4 miles of home the next day.  I went, but forgot my passport (which they did NOT tell me I needed, even though my license was still valid), but they told me if I could come back same day with passport, they had several openings that afternoon.  This was the DPS on 183 near Oak Knoll.

[SydneyCarton 47936]

Mine expires in 15 months, and I think I have to go in person. For shits and giggles, I tried to scedule an appointment. I am Jack's complete lack of suprise.

[MissingInAction 24869]

Delete

Edited August 16 by MissingInAction
Deleted

[Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13557]

Well this was unforeseeable.

[DDD Dad 14272]

On 8/15/2024 at 9:01 PM, TwiceHorn said:

Pro-tip, if you want to check another location or get another batch of times, use "back" and you won't have to "log in" again with all the info.

Even on a computer screen, "Back" is off the viewable screen, so you may have to scroll down to hit it.

And, if you check times between about 7 and 8 am, and keep refreshing (using back), you'll get usually a full day's worth of same-day appointments, especially at the lesser-used locations.

Except you can’t look for new appointments without giving up whatever appointment you may have already secured. 
 

I had to renew mine in December and had to wait until March for an appointment ind Dallas. 
 

Had to travel with my passport a couple of trips to get past TSA. 
 

Also apparently dispensaries in CA won’t let you in with an expired license.  

Edited August 18 by DDD Dad