The Carmichael field office is absolutely my go-to DMV spot. And one would think that because this office is in a fairly dense residential area that it would be packed, slow, and with lines running out the door. But this is not the case as I perceive. This is not to say that this office is not busy. On the contrary, whenever I visit it, there are a lot of people from the public in there needing transaction. But the experienced staff seem to be able to complete most typical transactions well within 20 minutes. I went there on a Friday at 1:15pm and had my "Read ID" update completed in under 60 minutes. And that is without an appointment! When you first enter the facility, you get in a line to discuss your issue with an adviser. He then assigns you a wait number that is specific to your case; in other words, an expert in what you are trying to transact. In my case, on that Friday, I had to interact with 6 different DMV employees in order to complete my transaction. And I can honestly say that all 6 of the employees were absolutely kind, courteous, knowledgeable, and helpful. And this has been true for all of the three various visits that I have had with this office. Even if I move a hundred miles away, I would probably still be tempted to drive back to the Carmichael DMV to conduct any related business.
PS- Be aware if you are upgrading you drivers license that has a motorcycle endorsement to the new "Real ID" drivers license, that the DMV computer system is having a tricky time importing that data into your new Real ID. I have had both a normal drivers license and a motorcycle license since the 1980's. But in December of 2018 I went to the Carmichael DMV office and updated my old license to Real ID. The DMV clerk issued my temporary "Real ID" in paper form to me, but I failed to look over it thoroughly before I departed from her. I had looked closely enough, I would have noticed that my listed rating was only listed as "C", not "CM1" as it should have been. So after noticing this error a few weeks later, I returned to the DMV to fix it. I had to re-apply for the Real ID and get re-photographed. Not a humongous deal, but fairly inconvenient. But as I have written, the staff and the great organization that they have made the process quit painless. Ok, I'm done writing. :-) read more