I made an appointment for Friday morning at 10:30 AM. It was a little difficult to find the correct entrance as they had some temporary barriers up to control traffic. But once I was in the parking lot there was plenty of parking. I even found a spot with some nice shade for my car. I walked around the building and to the front entrance. At the front entrance they have temporary tables stationed outside with a line for appointments and a line for non-appointments. There is a security guard outside with two employees. The employees checked me in and asked me what I wanted to do and gave me directions on where to go inside. Once inside I went to the back room where there were several monitors and I went up to a monitor and inputted my information to get a new Real ID and update my address on my Real ID. The process was smooth and simple and there was one woman stationed in the room to help out with questions. Once I was done she gave me a number and I went to wait in the main lobby area. Once my number was called the gentleman who helped me was extremely patient and kind. He took things one step at a time since I wanted to get many things done and we accomplished everything. The service here is really top notch and this has to be the smoothest experience that I've ever had at a DMV. They are really doing a better job than the governor's overhaul. I'm very appreciative for all the employees at this station. Thank you so much for helping me. read more

Walked in the door at 9:20 with no appointment for my REAL ID and walked out at 9:53. Staff was very friendly and worked very efficiently. I'm shocked at how fast the entire process took. Thank you Valerie, Cindy, and Jenea B. You guys are doing a great job! read more

I took my behind the wheel test here for my drivers license, and I passed. For the people who are nervous for the test, just breathe and do exactly as the examiner tells you. What helped me was going over the area to get used to the surroundings, looking at the handbook, and going through all the skills needed to pass and practicing them. Apply the knowledge and training skills you have, drive safely and smoothly, and you will pass. Make an appointment online so you can skip having to wait. It took around two hours to get settled and do the test. Overall, this DMV is very straightforward and direct. read more

I love Santa Ana DMV! All the staff members are very friendly and helpful. The line also moves really fast because the operations is efficient. I'd say you won't be waiting longer than 45 minutes on a weekday. I will be coming to this location moving forward. read more

The worst of the worst place. Waiting for my appointment and was supposed to get a text but I didn't. No apology and had to be back in-line. A place that waste so many valuable residents' time. I really hope for one day there is a change. Whoever is managing the DMV has to heard this many times but never cared! No place in the hall to wait and text system didn't work. What else can the residents of California do but put up with this year after year. Suggest let AAA or others run the DMV! read more

Can not believe they pay someone to return calls only to ring it it once and hang up. Do not recommend calling, technology really making them lazier. L read more

Examiner name Stacey, is a joke. Meanest person you'll meet. Even if she passed me, I'd still give her 0 stars. She talks in the most condescending demeanor. Okay, I get it, you hate your job.. we can all tell. She either needs another job or work on treating people how she wants to be treated. Two stars because everyone else that helped me at this DMV are sweethearts! read more

I was daydreaming too hard while I was on vacation in Toronto, Canada and I actually lost my California Driver's licenses. Fortunately I had my passport so I was able to get back to the states. The next day I went to the Santa Ana DMV after work to get request for a replacement. I arrived at 4:15pm which is 45 minutes before closing. I did not have an appointment so I went and grabbed the Drivers Licenses Form to fill out while waiting in this long looking line. The line moved surprisingly quick since all of the workers here are incredibly efficient. I was in front of the line by the time I was finish filling out the paperwork. Then I was able to get a ticket to go to the waiting area. The numbers have a letter and a number correlating to the category of your presence at the DMV. I was worried that I would not make it in time but somehow I made it!! In less than 45 minutes and a $27 CA driver's license replacement fee and I was able to get an interim temporary paper license to keep with me in the mean time. My actual driver's license arrived in less than 10 business days. This place may look crowded but the workers here are incredibly efficient under the immense pressure. I truly respect what they are doing and I would consider coming back here to this location for future needs... Let's just hope I don't lose my driver's license again any time soon. read more

DMV - ;) - Departments of Motor Vehicles Near Me - Santa Ana, California

For a dmv, talk about efficient. With an appointment I was in and out in 25 minutes for my real ID. Staff overall were courteous, and I understand how even those that weren't super friendly were coming from (definitely saw some customers treating them poorly, cussing them out, etc). Large parking lot, easy to find parking read more

If you're looking for a place to waste your time then come here. Got in line online and ended up coming earlier, so waited 40 min inside. When I finally got called up to the window, the older lady with the blonde/brown hair and glasses was extremely rude from the start. She asked if checked in at the front when the lady in the front just said anyone doing registration just come inside, and it doesn't state that I need to check in at the door online either. I was there to finish up my registration and had completed inspection at another location, and she asked why I didn't go back there to finish it. I have done the same thing before and there was no requirement to go back to the same DMV after getting your smog test done to complete your registration. She also kept asking if the car was new/used when purchased, it was a family transfer and all of that was listed in the paperwork I provided. She said I was missing 2 dates and checking off two things, which would've taken me less than a minute to fill out, but instead she said I would have to get back in line again once it was completed. So I would've had to wait another hour for those small items to be filled out instead of her waiting the 1 minute for it to be filled out. Or she could've taken me after she serviced someone else. I only came here because the smog location was nearby, but won't ever come back here because of the rude lady working that just wants to waste your time. read more

Taking my son for a driving test and waiting in the car in a long slow line. We've been here an hour and we are not even half way up the line. read more

Do NOT use this DMV. The worst experience ever. The DMV scheduled my daughters driving test and at the time of the test, after waiting in line to register, waiting in the car line, the instructor advised she was unable to take the test because she had not waited the 14-day waiting period. The instructor didn't apologize for the scheduling error and proceeded to tell me how lucky I was that they would be willing to fit her in, on the correct day. He was rude and offensive. He sent us back inside, to wait in line again to schedule her test AGAIN. No apology from anyone at any time. Mistakes happen, yes. It's how they are handled that makes the difference. This office should be ashamed of their actions and lack of customer service. read more

DMV - DMV Santa Ana, CA (Driving test line) - Departments of Motor Vehicles Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Made an online stay in line request, drove 20 min to get here, by the time I got here I got clicked out of line online and once I was here there was no more get in line available service online. Line was incredibly long. So drove here for nothing. Thanks DMV read more

first, i want to start off with the service for my behind-the-wheel drivers test. i got in the car and i was doing all my signals, then the instructor got in and had her foot on the panel of my car. Then, we took off to go and start the test. First, we got to a stop sign and i had stopped, and then I had made my turn because there was no cars coming from the lane I was getting in, and then she proceeded to yell at me. This whole time, she yelled at me about 3 times claiming that "it's their way of speaking up" but she wasn't just speaking up, she kept on yelling at me to stop. Then, there was an intersection where my arrow was green but there was a pedestrian walking, she told me when the pedestrian is halfway then i can go, so i listened to her and then she immediately pulls my emergency brakes. If there was a car behind me they would have slammed into me even though i had the right of way. Worst experience ever. Would not recommend going to this dmv. read more

Horrible experience, never going there again. We had a drive test for 10 am. 2 1/2 hours later test was being taken. I overheard a security guard saying all the test people were at lunch at the same time. So whats the point of making an appointment? A security officer out in the parking lot, what a bitch.....Learn how to talk to people correctly. As for customer service inside, after just standing there for 10 min someone decided to look up an acknowledge my presence. Ugh read more

The man working at line 24 (the info line) Friday afternoon thinks he is the king of the castle (DMV castle), so unbelievably rude and unhelpful. Must be great to have civil service job, no one cares how rude you are and how you treat people who ask questions. read more

Get here by 4:45pm and you are good to go. You can be in and out by 5:30. If your here for a license don't bother waiting in the first line. Make your way all the way to the back to the little room that processes the "Real ID and DL" cards. Once you speak to the clerk and show them all your necessary info they will issue a number. So I've been battling the DMV for a few weeks now over whether or not I needed to take the written test or not to renew my license. I knew I didn't but their system said I did. This was a fight I was going to win. I found my letter and BAAM there it was in black and white...no test necessary. I brought the letter in after 5 seperate trips to two DMVs and was finally issued my license. Santa Ana is busy and the parking is insane. Best bet us to go at 7:00am. Yup they open up early serving up fresh worms to the early birds. The clerks here are nice. However with the cluster of people here you may need to bring your pocket mask to avoid the cooties floating around and the slight stench if you sit next to the wrong person. read more

The best and unexpected best experience! I renewed my RealID license online with the eCourse. My appointment was at 9:40 Monday. I got there at 9:00. No line for those with appointments. It took at total of 15 minutes in-and-out (check-in, confirmation of information and eye test and photo). All 3 people I had contact with were friendly. FYI - the line for those without appointments was down 2 sides of the building. read more

Renewal is credit card only at kiosk. No longer checks or cash here at all. What a waste of time.

These people are rude. Management, does not care about people's time. Appointments don't mean anything.

I really really applaud santa ana DMV they really raise the bar compared to NORCO DMV , they don't compare! Go Santa Ana! I'll make the drive since we moved out of OC. Worth my sanity. read more

One star is too much for this place, I would give "zero" but Yelp doesn't allows to do that. I had to ask on my work place to leave early to visit our friends at the DMV. I arrived at 4:30PM because the web site says they are open until 5PM. There was only a couple of customers inside and they didn't want to help me out even that the web site says it should be open. The bad thing is that I'm wasting my time writing this review because DMV management won't do anything, but that's how they operate. Very frustrating! read more

DMV - DMV Office Hours, but they do not wanted to provide service even during that time window. - Departments of Motor Vehicles Near Me - Santa Ana, California

A lot faster then expected! If you don't know where to go just ask! I came in for a real id and was waiting in a line. I wasn't too sure I was in the correct line so I asked. Turns out I wasn't in the right line, lol! But so weren't 5 other people in the same line! After being pointed in the correct direction the process was pretty smooth and I was doing my application in a back room dedicated for licenses. Afterwards, I waited for about 20min before being called to the desk to be processed. All in all i came in around 8:10am on Thursday and left by 9am! read more

THE SMELL IN THERE IS ATROCIOUS apt at 10, got there at 955, took ten mins to park, put by 1050 read more

It's sad that almost every Santa Ana community social pages advise to go to literally any DMV except the one here in Santa Ana it's says a lot and it should be looked into as it's a public service paid by our taxes and vehicle fees. My own personal experience was the attitude of employees is horrible & like many have expressed that this location is almost a 99% test failure for the driving test and like my self I failed here and retested in Stanton and even the employee there made a comment saying "wonder why they didn't pass you if you literally passed 100%, ehh they say they are the worst there". Just sad smh read more

Started making line at 6:30 was 10th I waited until 8:30 to finally be serviced. I went for a vehicle registration renewal. Theta re doing a better job having employees be polite and making it a decent experience to go to the DMV. I suggest you do a little research before going so you know what to take and if you can make an appointment. I know before this DMV had rude people now, it doesn't seem to be the case. read more

DMV - DMV Line 653 Am - Departments of Motor Vehicles Near Me - Santa Ana, California

The fasted DMV service ever, it took like 40 minutes, went in to get my car renewal registration, as soon as I walked in, I didn't really know where to go, the guy attending the front desk across the entrance, immediately waved at me when he saw I was a little lost, took my info, sat down for a couple minutes, my number got called (I also got a text) went to the window and got my new registration. Again the smoothest and fastest dmv service ever. read more

Avoid this DMV for Behind the wheel tests. The DMV is crowded, the staff are impolite and impatient, and the examiners are grumpy and disgruntled. The wait time is 2 hours till you can take your test out of which you are waiting in your car for an hour. I took 2 Behind the wheel tests here. On one try I was marked for 17 errors and failed. On the second try I was disqualified for stopping at a green right turn signal by examiner Norma when in fact I slowed down to make the turn. Norma was awful, rude and shouted a lot. The fail rate at this DMV is 39%! The actual driving course is easy but very congested with traffic. Do not go here even though there is availability for test dates. It is an unpleasant experience. I am an experienced driver of 20 years and couldn't believe this place failed me twice! On my third try I went to San Clemente DMV and passed with zero errors!! That just proves how unreasonable they are! read more

Like death and taxes,going to the DMV is unavoidable. This DMV gets ever so close to da hood. Thankfully during daylight hours, there is a security guard. Parking can be difficult as about 100 cars are already parked or dropping people off before they opened. I had to rent a car today as my car was getting fixed. So I needed a temporary driver's license NOW. The earliest appointment would've been two days later. So I had to drop in. You would be much better still to have an appointment for the less busy times like 2 PM. Avoid when they first open or during lunch. They are no longer open on Fridays. They could be closed more days until the state balances its budget. It might snow in July in LA before that happens. To make this experience tolerable, I just had to roll with it. I was prepared for a wait and wait. I brought patience, something to read and drink, caught up on emails and text messages. and even called my mother. Thankfully, they seemed to be adequately staffed. It was raining today, and there were people waiting outside drenched a half hour before opening. The lines snaked around the building. I rarely use an umbrella, but I did today, thankfully. Then, some young guy in line said, " Today, at least we can see girls in wet T-shirts!" Funny, we all had a laugh, until someone said, "Yeah, but why don't they put up an overhang?" Once at the door, you choose between the "no-appointment" and "have an appointment " desk. The latter has no line. Get you number and just wait and wait. I think I've seen some of these guys in line congregating at Home Depot in Santa Ana. My transaction took all of 2 minutes. I was done. So, I waited about an hour and fifteen minutes including my 15 minute wait outside. They have a single bathroom but it didn't lock on the men's side. So if you have to "sit", there maybe many embarrassing encounters. Maybe it'll be fixed soon. I don't care, I am out the door, temporary license at hand. read more

FIVE STARS TO THE DMV?? heck yes! I wanted to get an Identification card for traveling, so I went online to make an appointment. Unfortunately, the first available appointment was a month later (March 17) and I chose that date and selected 11:30 am. I arrived early, as I knew parking could be a pain, and at 11:05 found a spot, literally walked up to the front of the "appointment" line, handed her my paperwork, told her my name and appointment time, and at 11:09 got handed a ticket from the clerk. I kid you not, before I could sit down, the loudspeaker called my number to go to window 12. The place was so packed, because the line for the NON appointment wrapped around the room, I couldn't see window 12, and had to ask the lady taking ID photos to direct me. The DMV lady in window 12 was polite, we chatted a little small talk, and she processed my paperwork, took my thumb print, took my money and told me to get my picture. The line for the photo was short, only 3 people in front of me. I was in/ out of the DMV in about 20 minutes, if that! It took longer to get out of the DMV parking lot, and then I had to detour my route because of street construction. Yup folks, getting an appointment makes a huge difference. Sure it took a month to get the appointment, so I'd get one ASAP if your license or registration is coming up. You can always change the date if it doesn't work out. And, if you just need registration done, they have a kiosk which you can use, or better yet, use Auto Club to do your registration paperwork. That service alone pays for the cost of the AAA membership! read more

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I went on Friday the 11/15/24 so were you take the permit test there's is this lady I heard someone calling her "Debbie" well she was really rude and unprofessional today i went back (11/18/24) to take the permit test first I asked for spanish she gave me English, she was still acting rude after I finished my test I asked to see my test since she said I didn't passed so I was checking it and I told her that why was she marking my answers wrong when they were correct her answer was oops my bad and then took my test away from my hands and she said anyways you didn't passed it I knew my answers were right so I said I need to talk to your supervisor she took my test in one of the windows to one of her friends she never took my results to the supervisor , I think this place is unprofessional this lady "Debbie " needs to get fire with her friend I went home crying bc you cant humiliate someone or just bc you don't like that person you are going to mark all wrong. in the end I wanted my test so bad to be revised by the supervisor never happened, I know I passed the bad thing they don't give you the test I'm never going back there in my life!! read more

Yesterday I checked to see the time that they open so I could get here earlier. I have been standing outside for over an hour and they were supposed to be open. There is no excuse for them to not even coming out and talk to the people. I can't believe how people can be so inconsiderate of others time. read more

DMV - Departments of Motor Vehicles Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Been to all the DMV's around Town. Lived in OC for 40 years now and never came across such a friendly worker. Gina made my day by far! She was outstanding with her customer service and she made the entire process fun. What an amazing personality. Thank you for all your help with my father since he is a chemo patient she was extra patient with us. Appreciate you from bottom of my heart. Wish I can request Gina every time. Much respect. read more

The customer service at this DMV office is very good, the problem is that it is very hard to find parking here. Something needs to be done to improve the parking situation because it sometimes takes over 10 minutes to find parking...even on nearby adjacent streets. If you have an appointment and arrive early, you may end up being late due to parking. Also...there is usually some lady selling diced fruit near the entrance...this adds a ghetto vibe to this place. read more

I've been here twice in a year, both for registration stickers that I never received in the mail. Both times I didn't have an appointment and I waited about 15 minutes tops to get my sticker. Today I needed the registration and sticker for my work truck and came with the passing smog test and a copy of the check used to pay for the registration. The lady at the desk asked me if the place I took my truck to get smogged was Star certified and I was like, "Sure!" I can't imagine why a smog place would smog my vehicle if they know the DMV wouldn't accept it. She tried something else to clear the hold on the account and it worked. I forgot to get her name, but she was very nice and helpful and said have a great day. I went to AAA in Anaheim earlier to get a replacement sticker and they weren't really helpful and I waited the same amount of time. I'd recommend this location as the line moves fast and both times I've been here it's been great! read more

I went early and they got the line moving pretty quickly. The lady who assisted me was very nice and very helpful. It was a pleasant experience read more

It was very busy but well organized and I was thankful to get in and out in about an hour with no appointment.

This DMV has got to be one of the slowest in the area. If you don't have an appointment which is the case for most people, good luck. I've been here a few times in the past few years for vehicle registration renewals and ID cards, etc. My registration has been past due so I left work early to get in line to take care of this issue. They had a self serve kiosk in the back where you can enter in your license plate number and VIN for autopay and quick service... but to my dismay and others, it kept stating it could not pull up the information or there was no match. I then got in the non-appointment line where I waited a good 15 minutes to get a number... and was told by a staff that there was an average wait of 3 hours!! No thanks... ain't nobody got time for that. So I returned the number slip to the staff member and left to run errands instead. I will try to come back another day when I have 3 or 4 hours to spare lol. I also tried to schedule an appointment, but the next available one won't be for another three weeks... read more

Not bad. I only came about 1 hour early and then spent about 30m in the place and registered my car. I came during the virus and 6' distancing is observed with seats all far apart from each other. read more

The DMV can be an overwhelming and stressful trip. On top of that, many of the DMV employees are overworked and frequently have to deal with moody customers throughout the day. I can only imagine the toll that must take on the employees. Despite this - today I received the best customer service I've had in a really long time. I was taken care of by Gina and she was nothing short of warm and attentive. She answered all of my questions and ultimately, she turned a dreadful trip to the DMV to a really delightful one. I would definitely return back here just because of the service she provided. read more