Reason.tv: Introducing the Government-Backed DMV Automotive Repair Center!

April 1, 2009

Stop worrying about the warranty on your GM or Chrysler automobile!

President Obama has announced that your warranty will be backed by the full faith and credit of the federal government. Now, getting service will be as easy as a trip to your local DMV office.

Introducing the Department of Motor Vehicles Automotive Repair Center!

The DMV Automotive Repair Center was written and produced by Ted Balaker with Alex Manning and Paul Detrick. Approximately 60 seconds.

Comments

SpongePaul|4.1.09 @ 3:11PM|#

I wonder if it will be like the propesed healthcare? you will be able to get a repair based on need and funding, you better hope the engine explodes or you may be without a car for a while, LOL

Mike M.|4.1.09 @ 3:20PM|#

I suspect that Obama has probably never even swapped out a battery or put on a new pair of windshield wipers.

SpongePaul|4.1.09 @ 3:21PM|#

he doesnt even know where to find his relatives. mr O. Dipstick and T Dipstick

NolongerTofuSushi|4.1.09 @ 3:22PM|#

Just in time for SugarFree and his new car!

NolongerTofuSushi|4.1.09 @ 3:43PM|#

"I suspect that Obama has probably never even swapped out a battery or put on a new pair of windshield wipers."

I bet he stole a few cars back in the day.

Zeb|4.1.09 @ 3:50PM|#

I don't doubt the awfulness of some DMV offices. But to be fair, my experiences at the DMV have always been speedy, efficient and reasonably pleasant.

Kidd Blast|4.1.09 @ 3:56PM|#

"I don't doubt the awfulness of some DMV offices. But to be fair, my experiences at the DMV have always been speedy, efficient and reasonably pleasant."

Last week I had to renew my MN drivers license. in and out of the door in eight minutes. Picture taking and everything, eight minutes.

|4.1.09 @ 3:57PM|#

But to be fair, my experiences at the DMV have always been speedy, efficient and reasonably pleasant.

My experiences have been uniformly bad. Unfireable unionized civil "servants" in a government monopoly backed by force is not a recipe for awesome customer service.

|4.1.09 @ 3:58PM|#

In Floriduh, we can renew our tags and our drivers licenses online. I haven't set foot inside a DMV office in years. On the other hand, the photo on my DL is from 1995. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

|4.1.09 @ 4:00PM|#

Il Duce can add "Automotive Expert" to his long list of Titles. Now, if only his wife was granted an honorary degree in Chemistry and Biology, the US could have itself a new Ceausescu...

... Shouldn't take long . . .

JB|4.1.09 @ 4:06PM|#

Obama just took a dump on GM. I will never buy a GM car now.

|4.1.09 @ 4:38PM|#

my experiences at the DMV have always been speedy, efficient and reasonably pleasant.

What planet do you live on, and how can I get there?

-jcr

|4.1.09 @ 4:40PM|#

One tip for Californians who have DMV matters to deal with: join AAA, and go to your local AAA office instead of the DMV. They can handle most routine renewals, and they work for their members, not the state.

I have yet to see a line of more than four people waiting at the counter in an AAA office.

-jcr

Zeb|4.1.09 @ 4:46PM|#

The DMVs I have patronized are on planets Laconia, NH and Milford, NH.

|4.1.09 @ 4:56PM|#

I don't think Obama understands the incentives here. If the government is going to back GM's warranties, what incentive does GM have to ride herd on the UAW so they maintain quality? GM's recent cars are a quantum leap in quality from what they were producing only 10 years ago, and I fear this new warranty scheme will destroy that.

|4.1.09 @ 7:51PM|#

Funny but Reason needs to find someone with an audio background to help them out a bit for the videos. The audio is god awful in most of them.

Sean W. Malone|4.1.09 @ 7:58PM|#

Alch:

I KNOW!!! And what's more, I have explicitly offered (for free if necessary) my services as a composer & audio editor/segment producer.

For gods sake I work professionally as a music editor in Hollywood and have a snooty education in the field, you'd think that would count for something.

But nooooo no no... Reason TV content can just stay at its mediocre quality... what do I care. Not like I have any stake in creating widely accessible media content to counteract the sleek presentation of the socialists of the world.

Which, say what you want about their inability to form a cogent idea - but damn they know their way around an Avid.

Timm|4.1.09 @ 8:03PM|#

Kidd,
Aside from a lousy picture, I had a similar good experience getting my MN driver's license. Minnesota rules! Now if only we can manage to elect a 2nd senator.

Sean W. Malone|4.1.09 @ 8:27PM|#

Also... I do have a California DMV story to share... In brief;

1. Did not send me a renewal notice.
2. Told me I had to pay a ticket when I called about car registration renewal - so I did over the phone immediately, was told to go to the DMV to pay the registration fee and get the stickers.
3. Went to DMV.
4. Waited for 1 hour.
5. Presented confirmation number from paying parking ticket & form to renew my registration.
6. Was told that confirmation numbers did not count as proof of payment for the parking ticket - and their computer system wouldn't register payment for 2 weeks.
7. Was told that alternatively, I could go to a courthouse and get them to print a receipt and was handed a list of possible locations.
8. Flash-forward: Visted 3/5 locations on list given to me by DMV and discovered each of them did not exist - one, claimed a doorman of the building it was supposed to be in, had been gone for at least 5 years.
9. Went to courthouse. Was told that they do not deal with parking violations - handed me *SAME* list with defunct locations to visit.
10. Called other locations, 10+ miles away... Finally found one who agreed to mail me a copy of the receipt.
11. Waited another week to get it.
12. Back to DMV, waited 2 hours... Eventually... got stickers with "2010" printed on them to affix to my license plate.


Final bill: $320.00 and, assuming my time is generally worth what my employer pays me, an additional $300+ of inconvenience... just so the State of California can keep tabs on my automobile.


The DMV can suck it.

|4.1.09 @ 9:06PM|#

The local DMV that I go to here in WA state is not bad. When I lived in Anchorage that was another story. The feeder line was always out the door.

Kevin|4.1.09 @ 9:32PM|#

DMV in Sacramento is disgusting.

kinnath|4.1.09 @ 10:37PM|#

Spent less than fifteen minutes getting a new driver's license including vision test and photograph. That's for both my wife and I at the same time.

Paid my license plate renewal online on a Sunday and had my registration and stickers in the mail box on Wednesday.

Fuck all you people from California ;-)

Semi-proud native Iowan

|4.1.09 @ 11:39PM|#

Obama just took a dump on GM. I will never buy a GM car now.

I'm feeling that way too, and it's very sad.
I'm a GM car guy (I find them to generally be the best looking and best value for used models...I never buy new). Right now we have an '05 Pontiac Vibe, an '03 Chevy Impala LS and a '96 Chevy Caprice. Not a problem from any of them.

Orange Line Special|4.1.09 @ 11:51PM|#

What? It only took three people to make this magnum opus? I would have expected a whole Hwd team to have been required just to do the writing, not to mention the brilliant camera work.

P.S. Can't Reason do anything useful? Anyone and their brother have already made dozens of cutesy videos using WindowsMovieMaker. Reason is adding nothing.

P.P.S. At one busy DMV I waited in line for over an hour, probably two. But, I didn't have an appointment. At a less crowded DMV without an appointment I've been in and out within a half an hour, and when I made an appointment it was even less.

Sean W. Malone|4.2.09 @ 1:41AM|#

Look... California, for government, is about what you'd expect from a state that wishes desperately to be totally socialist (or at least half the state does). Lots of bureaucracy, lots of paperwork, lots of government mandates of just about everything, taxed to hell and services that are generally worthless. Go figure.

But if it's any consolation, it looks like our lovely lifestyle is going to go national soon enough ;)

Mark|4.3.09 @ 7:17PM|#

Personally, I cannot get enough of Reason's paint by numbers brand of libertarianism. This outfit has never seen an obvious conclusion which it didn't jump to.

|4.5.09 @ 5:06PM|#

This had to be done at the Phoenx DMV! What a nightmare.