County of Hawai‘i Vehicle Registration & Licensing — Local services in Hawaii

Very friendly and patient. Accommodated my needs and answered questions that I had. I 'heard" about some very bad experiences that others had, but today was very pleasant for me.

Update; 10/19 Had an appt. @ 0800hrs. Background: purchased a vehicle in FlagStaff Arizona and wanted to register it here in Hawaii. A person came up behind me in line and had a question in regards to his vehicle. When the employee came out to take my appt., I asked if she could answer the question for the person behind me. Not only was she nice enough to do that, but she went back in to get the forms that he needed to take home and fill out.

When I went in for my appt., the person patiently took my paperwork, read it over, and told me that the County of Hawaii does things differently than Oahu, and that 'here' has different requirements. She then called the car dealership and spoke to the registration person in charge. She obtained 2 (two) phone numbers and called them without success. So, she called the dealership back and explained what was required. She obtained a fax number and then patiently explained to me what the procedures would be. Next, she informed me that she 'take care of faxing the requirements,' and would call me when she got the response and correct paperwork for the vehicle. She went out of her way to assist me and was very patient in dealing with the numerous phone calls to AZ in trying to assist me. I really appreciate that... it made my day!...

Fine for people who live on the Big Island all the time. I had my wallet and license stolen on a train in Vienna. Getting a much needed duplicate has been a bureaucratic nightmare. I called the department and was told a list of things I would have to do to get a duplicate license. Considering my location (temporary long term stay in Costa Rica, the instructions were nonsense. 1) I was told to send a cashier's check or bank money order for 6 dollars . You cannot get either of the above in Costa Rica! 2) The last instruction was to send a self addressed stamped envelope. Idiotic! how can anyone tell what the postage would be from Hawaii to Costa Rica? The Postal system in CR sure cannot. I not only can't get my duplicate driver's licence but I cannon rent a car or drive while I am here. Thanks Hawaii. I even had my attorney give it a try on my behalf. I served on community service councils in HI, now in payment they leave me stranded. Bureaucracy...

Terrible experience wouldn’t recommend going here at all.

If you don’t have everything 100% exactly perfect, they will not help you. Nobody there is helpful for road test or written test information..

When I continued to try to find an answer and they kept denying me, they called the cops on me... the cops were really embarrassed to even be there, even they weren’t sure why they were called out there.. (I had to apologize to the police on behalf of the DEPARTMENT MOTOR VEHICLES. They were understanding but visibly confused as to why they were called. But when the lady behind the desk called the cops, she claimed I was getting “violent and loud” which I wasn’t. I was patiently waiting in line for the supervisor)

Terrible staff, bad experience, wouldn’t recommend going here, go...