Department of Motor Vehicles

5 STARS
First, let me tell you that I hate the thought of going to the DMV. That day I received a DL renewal notice in the mail, my mood instantly went sour.
BUT, I have to say, I had a really good experience today at this particular Fremont location. From my first stop at the front counter, to window #4, then finally my last stop at the Camera counter, I was in and out within 25 minutes (I arrived at 11:20, received my ticket number at 11:26, and when I got back to my car, it was 11:43).
I want to add that the ladies at every counter that helped me were all extremely patient and friendly. It is very important for me to point this out because of the negative stereotypes we give to these government employed services. It’s a war zone at the DMV from the second the door opens until the very last minute they close, every… single…day. So, I cannot be more amazed at how calm these ladies were. They are not given enough credit and we need to acknowledge that.
ONE IMPORTANT ADVICE: Schedule an appointment.
I cannot comment on the experience people without an appointment had to go through. But, keep in mind, it really isn’t the staffs fault that the line and the wait is so long. I am sure they are trying their best to process and help each individual as quickly as possible. Don’t be flustered and blame the DMV if you decide to show up at the DMV without an appointment. Do yourself a favor — Visit their website and schedule an appointment.

I’ve been to several DMV locations, and this one is by far the worst. This location exemplifies all of the negative stereotypes that DMV offices have to the extreme.
I waited outside for an hour and a half just to get a ticket. Now, I understand the DMV is busy. However, what prompted me to post here is the absolutely absurd way I saw the employees treat people. I witnessed the line expeditor scream at someone and threaten to call the police, when the individual was in no way threatening, aggressive, or breaking the law. The individual only had some questions, and he was quite passive.
When she came to me, I was quick, to the point, and efficient, but she still snapped at me to «hurry it up,» while tapping impatiently on her clipboard. I bit my tongue and headed inside.
I’m still here waiting, two hours into it. Probably have at least two more. Which, again, is fine. I planned for this. But what really saddened me to see is a government employee threatening an innocent citizen with government force on government property, simply because she was annoyed with his confusion. Whether a brash outburst or not, a government employee should know, and behave, better.

I went there to register a out of state vehicle in California. I setup an appointment online via my cellphone by going to
I got appointment for 10:20am which is really good since I had applied for appointment @ 8:30am.
I got there little early and they checked my papers and stuff. I was out of there within 1 hour.
African Lady who did the inspection was extra cool and counter ladies (Chinese, Indian) at appointment window were very helpful. Just look cute and cuddly and you will be fine. Kudos to you all for being so helpful and getting it done fast and efficiently. Every one was helpful and efficient.
You might not find parking @ DMV but I found parking at next street easily. Most important, make appointment if you are trying to save some time.

I went DMV yesterday. The customer gets better than last time I went there. But still it takes long time to wait.

Let’s see how long this takes… as expected. DMV sucks!!!

Fuck you guys. Went in last week for you guys to waste my damn time 2 hours i wont get back. Going back in today so lets not be shits about this and get my shit sorted for me

I would give 0 star. I had an appointment. The front desk lady said she couldn’t find my reservation with my name and phone number I provided. Then I used my phone go online and was able to find my appointment and confirmation number. I gave her the confirmation number and she told me still she can’t find my appointment! Is she retarded?
shows my appointment! she made me wait for an hour and told me other people waited even longer! WTF, then WHY would I need an appointment!
it was first time I had this kind experience. with all other visit with appointment, I got my issue solved quickly. I think it’s just this receptionist. Why dmv hire such person, my hamster will do a better job!

It’s chaotic here. Terrible customer service it’s supper slow and the employees don’t even care. Some of them are so rude the way they respond to your questions. My advice to DMV employees, look you all work here to serve us the customers. you should go to school to learn how to interact with people remember, working for dmv don’t make you a special person or have the authority to treat with ur nonsense attidute it’s your job to talk in a nice way. If you have a fight at home with ur whoever put that anger at home or dont even go to work we would appreciate that more than seeing u with ur crap and shitty attitude behind ur desk. Again take some classes to help you learn how to talk to people. Enjoy your holiday
God bless America

Long line out the door just to get a number. Got here at 10:30am and got in line. Been waiting 40 mins so far, I’m still about 15 people from the desk. They stop issuing numbers until they can clear out some people inside already waiting. That’s just what I felt was going on.
Okay got my number #G071 at 11:28am, they are currently on #G035. Right now it’s 12pm and they are on #G050.
At 1235, I’m on the way to my truck to leave. Basically, it took 2 hrs to turn in my DOT physical paperwork. As I was leaving, I noticed the line to get a number had only 5 people. They should be helped a lot faster than I was.
There are alot of Indian, Persian, Asian and Latino customers where English isn’t their first language. You can overhear the conversations because the waiting chairs are next to the counter.
I was off today so time wasn’t a big deal. I’m just sharing my experience. I’m not sure if the appt. line was any better. If you’re in a hurry I wouldn’t choose any DMV unless you go about a half hour before closing time. They seem to be in a real hurry to serve customers so they can get off on time.

Government services always have a bad rap. It’s not completely unjustified, but a lot of the employees that I interacted with today were very pleasant people. I wonder if their systems are really dated, as they do have electronic, written driving tests now. And they did notify us that their system wasn’t working properly. Also offering Saturday appointments to those of us who had appointments but couldn’t be waiting there all day.
The most important thing to know, is that you should go online to make an appointment. I arrived early to my appointment in hopes of taking care of things before then. But they don’t check you in until your appointment time, so don’t bother being early. I spent an extra half hour there because I thought I could help by being super early.
Once I checked in, it took 40 minutes to renew my license and get my new picture taken. The appointment really helped to speed up the waiting process. However, if you have to take a picture, you have to wait in line with everyone else. That probably took up half an hour of the whole process. There were about ten people waiting before me, and they changed workers three times. But that’s just how it works there. I’m thankful that I wasn’t there for three hours, as my mom was when she hadn’t made an appointment last month.
So, make an appointment, show up a little earlier than that time, and bring a book to read. Good luck!

OH DMV… you’re such a hit or miss, typically a miss. This is the same DMV I took my driving test when I was 16 so I’ve been coming here for years! As always, there’s a line out the door. They just need to rebuild DMV’s so they’re 5 times as big with 100 times the employees so people can get in and out!
TIP: MAKE AN APPOINTMENT ONLINE. When you show up for your appointment, I recommend getting here 10 – 15 minutes before because you’ll need to ask people and find out if you’re in the «appointment» line. People are lined up based off of their time, so if you’re like me who happened to show up 5 minutes before my appointment, you’ll get a sneak to the front of the line (considering you haven’t been passed up already).
The last visit, even with an appointment, I had to take a number and wait another 25 minutes to be seen, so make sure your phone is charged because you might be waiting for a while.

Best and most courteous DMV I’ve ever been in the bay area.
PRO TIP: If you’re going on a whim and without an appointment check the local dmv office’s page you’re going to, there’s a section that shows you the current wait times in real time.
I went to the one near my office, hit refresh on the local DMV’s page and as soon as I saw wait times under 30mins I drove there. In and out within an hour.
If you’re going on weekdays, better to show up around 4:30 — 4:45PM before it closes at 5 — when I left at 4:30 there was NO line and they were calling numbers out relatively quicker.
You’re welcome

My experience with the DMV over the years has actually been quite good, but the latest experience earns DMV a rating of 3 stars:
On the evening of August 20, I drove to the Post Office with my carefully completed application for Clean Air Vehicle (the Prius Plug-​In) including the $ 8 check. No rejection and no action until more than a month later, on Sept. 21, when I noticed that the check has been processed by the bank.
If I had intended to use Express Lanes during that 32 day period, I would have had to pay more. Actually, the Prius Plug-​In has never yet traveled on any freeway.

I went to the DMV for a title transfer. I didn’t have an appointment, and I checked the DMV on both Wednesday and Thursday. My advice? If you have to go without an appointment, go an hour before opening.
Wednesday 9am: The Fremont DMV opens on 9am on Wednesdays, and the parking lot was packed when I got there at 9am. Could not get in line because I could not find a place to park.
Wednesday 3:30pm: Line was out the door and the parking lot was packed. Decided to try again on Thursday.
Thursday 7:00am: Arrived at 7:05am, and I was the 9^th person in line. Around 7:30am, a lady came out of the DMV to triage. She was very nice, and gave the people in line a post-​it and the relevant paperwork. The office opened around 8:00am. I got a number («B004»), was helped within 10 minutes (the lady who handled my paperwork was super sweet and patient, especially considering how I had messed up the paperwork), and was out of the office by 8:30am. I noticed there were empty parking spaces when I left the DMV.

Slow services as usual. I think these employees should work off of commission based on speed and efficiency.
If I was to get paid hourly here… I take my sweet time like 30−45min per person and I’ll chitchat and slowly typing the info onto the computer and get paid the same rate as the next employee next stall. Who cares right? We get paid the same!
Government workers are the ones that’s holding us back in making this country prosperity

Extremely slow DMV. Got here at 11:58am to a long line out the door. It’s 2:30pm and my number is still not close to being called. Only 7 windows seems to be open right now with about 100 people here waiting to be called. Why can’t DMV or CA hire more people to work here so that DMV wouldn’t have to be the most hated place on this planet? The workers here also appear to be working at their own casual pace not caring that people have been waiting here for hours. Don’t know how to give any good reviews for this place. You literally have to plan half your day just for this horrible DMV.

By far the worst place to go to when your trying to get a replacement registration sticker. I purchased my sticker online a month ago and never received it. I called the DMV «1 (800) 777−0133» 3 times throughout the month and they told me there was a waiting period of 30 days before they can reissue me a new one.
I took the morning half of my day off from work to make it to the DMV as earliest as I can be. Once I got my number I sat down and waited, I notice a hour and a half goes by and they had only called the numbers in my group (B) twice. I walked up and ask the lady behind the counter if they were ever going to call any more numbers in my group (B), she said that they had a 15 minute gap to take care of those with appointments first. I laughed at her and said «are you sure 15 minute gap?! Because it’s been over an hour since you called anyone in my group (B)!!»
It’s now been another 20 minutes since I asked and still no «B» numbers have been called, but they did call a bunch of «H» and everyone whose been sitting here waiting with me all laughed because it’s none of our numbers! #FAILED

This location is busy like the others. It’s best to make an appointment for anything as the line goes outside the building. Taking driving tests or permit tests are shorter lines here but I suggest to still make an appt anyway. The staff here are mediocre… and don’t really care in the world who they help but to pass the time quick and get out of my line kind of mood!
My two daughters has gotten Bob the driving instructor who seems really nice and casual when taking their driving test. The first time we saw him, he was in a Hawaiian shirt!
As we waited for my daughter’s turn to take the test, I felt bad for the person who gets the tall man who is pretty direct and scary for being a first time driver! We were watching him in front of us directing the drivers. He was telling them breath and stop being nervous in an almost deep stern voice like a dad or an officer! LOL. Even I would be nervous for them. My daughter and I were saying we were glad we didn’t get him!
For driving tests, this area is pretty easy to drive as it’s not really busy. My two daughters have passed here. Good luck to you all who has to go to DMV! Not my favorite place…

Clerks at this location seem to be more nice and friendly compare to other locations. Best time to go is right before they close if you don’t have an appointment. They work fast and quicker so they can close and go home. This office is also open on Saturdays but by appointment only for Driver License matters only. You can make an appointment online. Oh and I hate the parking here it sucks so sometimes you have to park on the street.

If I could describe this place in two words it is «Long Lines!» It’s crazy how the excitement of waking into the DMV in HS to get your driver’s license for the first time instantly changes to hatred when you have to come in later to replace a lost one…
This location is open weekdays 8am-​5pm EXCEPT on Wednesdays it’s 9am-​5pm. Thanks to the tips on Unilocal,I came an hour earlier at 8am. As expected there was a line already around the corner. If I came right when it opened, I’d be on the other side of the building haha! Once the doors opened, a woman went down the line asking what forms we needed. Once you fill out the forms, you get to go inside to ask for a number so you can wait again. Once my number got called, the lady that helped me was very kind and sweet and made the entire process very simple.
They have these huge signs that say to make an appointment, but it’s basically not worth it when the soonest you can get one is a month and a half away. I’d rather wait the 2 hours to get it done today. Overall, I don’t think you can get around this problem of waiting in line for 1 – 2 hours. The only thing you can do is bring a book or some work to do while you wait or listen to some music to make the time pass by faster. Bring a pen in case you mess up on filling out your forms!