Question: We bought a used car from a local dealer 30 days ago and were given a “temporary registration” and no safety inspection. We still have not received the “pink slip” and new registration, so we cannot get a valid safety inspection until we get that. It used to be about two to three weeks to get these items. Is this normal?
Answer: No. A surge in used-car sales is creating more paperwork than current city staff can handle on a timely basis, so the city will redeploy other staff to help catch up — you are one of numerous readers complaining that they’re still waiting for updated vehicle registration certificates after buying used cars from dealers.
“The Motor Vehicle Registration Branch in the City and County of Honolulu is taking urgent steps to address a one-month backlog in processing registration for used cars. The backlog is due to a surge in used-car registration processing, which has created workload demands that exceed the capacity of the branch. The Motor Vehicle Registration Branch has shown that it can tackle backlogs effectively and is preparing to do it again. Starting Saturday, additional resources will be used for a one-month period as part of a backlog reduction plan for processing auto-sales transactions in the City and County of Honolulu,” Harold Nedd, a spokesperson for Honolulu’s Department of Customer Services, said Thursday in an email.
The branch will redirect workers from other tasks as necessary to process the pending registrations, and expects to resolve the backlog within a month because it anticipates the spike in used-car dealer sales will level out relatively soon, Nedd said.
Consumers may be flocking to used cars in part to avoid Trump administration import taxes that are driving up the cost of new cars and car parts not made in the United States. “You can potentially avoid paying a tariff on a new car by purchasing one that was imported to the U.S. before the tariffs took effect, or by buying a used car,” according to Kelley Blue Book (kbb.com), which said a 25% tariff on imported cars took effect April 3 and a 25% tariff on imported car parts began May 3.
Continuing with other, unrelated DMV questions, yes, the city does still send out motor vehicle registration renewal notices as a courtesy, but the June notices were held up by a vendor’s production delay, Nedd said. They should arrive in the mail by Wednesday. The registration due date remains June 30, despite the shorter reminder period.
Last, by the end of the month, the city expects to have the full line of Hawaii license plates available with the word “Hawai‘i” spelled with the okina diacritical mark, as required by state law. Production delays had prevented the new plates from being rolled out on schedule at the beginning of the year, and in the meantime the DMV has issued a variety of alternative Hawaii license plates to motorists who needed new license plates.
Previously issued license plates with current registration remain valid and do not need to be replaced with the new okina plates.
Auwe
Too many people go on NextDoor to bash local businesses without ever contacting the business with their complaint. Give the local business owner a chance to make it right! And who knows whether these people tell the truth when they post their petty complaints for everyone on the neighborhood app to see? — A reader
Mahalo
Saturday evening my husband and I decided to have dinner at Ramen Ya at Pearl City. Since it was cold, we asked for takeout. When I went to pay, the waitress said someone had already paid for our meal. All she could tell me was that it was a lady who was a teacher. My husband could not understand why a stranger would pay for our meal. So, from an old, retired teacher, I want to say mahalo to a fellow teacher. — L.T.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
