To the DMV... the DMV!

What is more fun to blog about than beer fests and bike wars? How about trips to the DMV? Okay, I know the DMV (tag agencies for our Oklahoma readers) is not that exciting, so just humor me and read the post. You'll get to see my ID picture in the end!

To stay within the letter of the law, these transactions occurred a while ago. But, it has taken us until now to actually get to writing the details. Obviously, an out-of-state move requires some changes in documentation. We had to make ourselves and our car 'legal' in the state of Oregon. Not to mention make it easier on the waitstaff when we order drinks (often we thought our server didn't believe we had real licenses when we showed them the Oklahoma ones).

It took us four tries to get our licenses. NO! Not because we couldn't pass the test. We wanted to get to the Oregon DMV early to avoid waiting too long. Well the first attempt ended when we kept hitting the snooze button and didn't want to get out of bed. The second attempt ended when we got out of bed, but wasted away the morning watching TV (the desire had gone). The third attempt ended because we thought they were open on the weekend, but when we got to the location it was closed. Finally, we made it on a weekday... but it opened an hour later than usual. This gave us a chance to practice our line-forming skills - we were the first to enter and get processed!

They require new 'settlers' to the state of Oregon to take a written test before transferring a license. Fortunately, that only cost $5. And is a lot better than in Oklahoma, where you have to go to the Deparment of Pubic Safety just so you can have an official confirm your identity. THEN you go to a tag agency to actually get your license.

Transferring our car title was pretty easy, and nearly the same as in Oklahoma. The only exception was the $21 emmissions test (VIN inspection included). Oklahoma only charges you $4 for the VIN inspection and lets you slowly kill the planet with your smog. You can go to any satellite Oregon DMV office to show that you ... I mean your car passed the emissions test and get your new title, registration, and tags.

So that was our general process, now for some fast comparisons:

1) Oregon requires license plates on the front and the back (example tags), Oklahoma only has a rear plate (example tags new / old). This required some car modifications on our part.

2)All things license and registration are handled through the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles (part of Oregon Department of Transportation). As for Oklahoma, you are split between the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety (for the initial license and testing) and the Oklahoma Tax Commission (title and registration). You read that correctly, the Tax Commission!

3) An Oregon driver's license is good for 8 years (a cost of $59), while in Oklahoma a license is only good for 4 years (but a much lower cost of $21.50)

4) Getting a car titled in Oregon costs $55. I believe it is $11 in Oklahoma.

5) Our registration in Oregon is good for 2 years at a cost of $59. You must pay for registration every year in Oklahoma, and can set you back anything from $91 (for years 1-4), $81 (years 5-8), or as low as $21 (after 17 years for the car).

Finally, the ID comparison!