Audit of NC DMV shows “systemic” issues with current system

RALEIGH, NC — The results are in and it’s not good.

“Our audit tells a story we show how customer experience is deteriorating worse than we had even known,” said North Carolina State Auditor, Dave Boliek.

Boliek released the findings of an audit of the state’s DMV. Boliek said over the past five years, the customer experience has gotten much worse. Boliek blames increased population and a poor system.

According to the DMV audit, almost 14% of customers spent more than 2.5 hours at the DMV this year. That’s an 79% increase from 2019.

Boliek recommends splitting the DMV away from the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Writing the DMV faces systemic challenges from being a division of the NCDOT.

The audit also shows the average DMV visit exceeds 1 hour and 15 minutes statewide and about half of all customers do not go to their closest DMV.