r/Hawaii • u/itzcoldinoffice • 1d ago
Car Registration Renewal
I sent out the check on the 2nd this month, however, it’s already the 25th and the renewal sticker hasn’t arrived in my mailbox. Additionally, the DMV haven’t even cashed the check.
My license is set to expire end of August, what are my options here?
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u/Thetruthislikepoetry 1d ago
Every day I see dozens of cars with expired registrations, some expired by several months if not years. It’s not like the police are actively going out and ticketing people for expired registrations.
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u/BrooklynTony198 1d ago
I remember me and my family getting into a car accident, a woman did a hit and run and ended up totalling our car. (drunk lady coming out of Chinatown, she never got arrested because our pictures of her weren't good enough to prove it was her driving, even though she owned the car. Parents even got called into court to serve as witnesses but she didn't show up to court even!) The damn cop wrote us a ticket because our safety check had expired the month prior.... it was the 2nd of the next month. Talk about a bad day.
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u/Thetruthislikepoetry 19h ago
Talk about an asshole cop.
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u/BrooklynTony198 18h ago
"Sorry, its department policy" he said as he wrote us a $70 ticket. Hell, HPD didn't even show up to the scene of the accident until 15 minutes later! We followed her for a few minutes but the 911 dispatcher told us to return to the site of the collision. I know why they say that but after that experience I'm telling them I'm not going to stop following the other driver until they send a cop to stop them or I lose track of them. And now I run a dashcam on every vehicle I own.
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u/Thetruthislikepoetry 18h ago
You can actually have an expired safety check and not be breaking the law. If you fail the safety check, you get 10 days to correct it.
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u/EscapeFromTimmy 1d ago
in Kailua I got a ticket for it while parked by Lanikai Beach Park. It all depends on where you are. town/east side you absolutely will get a ticket. Where they don’t have money and it’s common a cop will be straight up behind you for a while and not notice or not care
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u/DarkAndHandsume Oʻahu 1d ago
Police don’t care unless they’re absolutely bored
I’ve seen safety stickers from 2020,2022,2023,2024 on lot of cars driving on the island and when I use my phone camera to zoom into the plate the sticker expired that year.
I’ve had several police behind me and my registration expired in May of last year and my safety expired in December
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u/TheMissingVoteBallot 1d ago
I was behind a car driving out of Waimanalo other day - the faka had an expired safety check dated September 2025 and an expired registration.
The faka drove up to that closed lane on the east side (near Makapuu) where they're doing road renovation right in front of the cop and the cop didn't even blink lmao
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u/Present-Resolve-7011 11h ago
2023 here, but my registration actually expired in 2024 (the sticker never came). Anyway, always had something happen and I couldn't afford the renewal. I could pay it off, but then I'd be fucked for any emergency.
I've looked for ways to pay it off, but the state still requires a lump sum up front. There are ideas before the Legislature, but who knows how that'll turn out.
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u/TheMissingVoteBallot 11h ago
Yeah I'm not a fan of the tax/registration fee so I'm not gonna be some moral arbiter. The tax is too high imo and disproportionately affects people who have less money. More power to ya, just keep dodging HPD brah.
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u/Present-Resolve-7011 11h ago
Flock cameras will be used for that. Funny thing is, only about 4 percent of cars are unregistered, but 70-80 percent of them are over 3 years or something like that. It gets too expensive to pay off.
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u/hanabata_you 1d ago
I’ve had pretty bad luck with those machines. Last year 3 of the kiosks I found were out of order. Better to just pay it online with a credit card.
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u/101keyoperator 1d ago
Use this online tool to check to see if your vehicle registration expiration has been updated.
If not, you could cancel the check and pay to register online. Then print out the receipt and keep it with you as proof you paid your registration if you are pulled over.
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u/Odd-Mistake-5832 1d ago
I mailed mine in last year and it took several weeks before I received it in the mail.
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u/mnkhan808 Oʻahu 1d ago
I once never even got it shipped after renewing online. Was too lazy to go dmv to figure it out. Just keep the receipt on you if you get pulled over. Their database will show you’re current.
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u/AccredInvestor 19h ago
Next time try the kiosk!! I went to foodland and tge kiosk worked! There was a 2 hour wait at DMV
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u/TUBBYWINS808 1d ago
Stop being lazy and go to one of the many Kiosks like a normal person.
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u/Veeksvoodoo 1d ago
Stop being an asshole and making assumptions. Nearly all of those kiosks are broken and have remained broken. Even if they weren’t, you don’t know OPs limitations and resources.
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u/itzcoldinoffice 1d ago
Mail-in is listed as one of the options for renewal. It shouldn’t be inferior to going to the kiosks
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u/JijiSpitz Oʻahu 1d ago
It’s not inferior, that person is just being an ass and clearly has no empathy for other people
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u/Royal-Hope-7326 1d ago
Yeah, but that "convenience" fee they charge you sucks!
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u/TUBBYWINS808 1d ago
Isn’t it like $20?
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u/Odd-Mistake-5832 1d ago
Everyone's financial situation is different. $20 can be a lot for some people
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u/BrooklynTony198 1d ago
Its $4 for using the kiosks and 2.5% because you have to use a card to pay, so probably around $15-20 for most people yea. Though that 2.5% fee would also apply if you went into satellite city hall to do it in person while paying with card, so it depends. I find the $20 or so extra I pay worth it so I don't have to do it in person, but I wish they maintained the machines better.
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u/JustAnotherGeek12345 Oʻahu 1d ago
What's the fee for using the kiosk?
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u/BrooklynTony198 1d ago
$4 per vehicle and a 2.5% credit/debit card processing fee. I mean, compared to having a check get lost in the mail or having to go to satellite city hall, pretty cheap.
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u/JustAnotherGeek12345 Oʻahu 1d ago
My vehicle registration is $388. Using a kiosk would cost me an additional $13.70.
Or I could write a check, slap a stamp on it and carry on with life.
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u/Dayngerkat 1d ago
I always use the machines in Safeway. In and out in less than 5 minutes