Are you short on time? Do you dread the idea of spending two hours waiting for your turn at Mesa County's Department of Motor Vehicles? Did you know you can make an appointment? It certainly pays you to do so, and here are five solid reasons why.
 
If you're in need of getting new plates for your vehicle, switching a title, or any other service at the DMV, plan ahead and make an appointment. You can condense your two-hour adventure down to about five minutes.
 
Until recently, I didn't even know making an appointment was an option. I thought you went down, grabbed a number, and waited for the mid-23rd century to roll around. Of course, I haven't purchased a vehicle for almost 20 years. This was my first visit to the DMV in nearly two decades. Things change, I guess.
 
You can make an appointment online. Heads up - most appointments schedule two to three weeks out. If you're facing a deadline, you'll have to think ahead. In my case, the temporary plates on my car were going to expire in a month. The earliest appointment I could get was for the exact same day they were going to expire. Moments ago I conducted a test run. As of 3:18 p.m. on August 21, the earliest possible appointment available would be September 12 at 2:30 p.m.
 
How do you make an appointment? Simply visit the Mesa County page, and it will direct you to the "make appointments" screen. From there you'll see a calendar with the earliest dates and times. None of them will be anytime in the immediate future. In any event, select the appointment time that works best for you, and you're set.
 
I went by today to get new plates for my recently purchased vehicle. The wait time for those without appointments was 126 minutes. I arrived for my appointment 20 minutes early. After checking in, the sent me into the next room where I waited for a total of about a minute-and-a-half before they called me. From that point, it took about three minutes to submit my credentials, choose my plate design, and write a check. In under five minutes, I was done.
Take full advantage of the opportunity to schedule an appointment. Here are my top five reasons why.
  • You'll be done in a matter of minutes, which is far better than the 126-minute wait you could face without an appointment
  • You'll receive both email and text reminders of your appointment
  • You have at least some control over what time you get in for service
  • An appointment eliminates the need to block out an entire daypart
  • It's a miraculous stress reducer
Check online before doing anything with the Mesa County DMV. Many of their services can be done online now. If you're simply needing new tags, that can be done via a machine in the lobby. Make their webpage your first stop. If your DMV adventure includes a major event involving plates or a title, it is very much in your best interest to make an appointment.

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