[cjski21]

First off, I LOVE THIS TOWN!!! I did promise this forum that I would come back from time to time to let all of you know how it's going, good and bad. Well everything is going great. I will, however, most likely be leaving Metro and moving to the Nevada Highway Patrol soon. I did good on my testing. My fiance loves her job and is bringing more alone than we did combined in Wyoming, so that is good. I love the shopping here, although my fiance loves it more (the new town center is a zoo, however). It is amazing to wear a Tshirt and shorts in the middle of November. We did finally get time to get out and enjoy the surrounding areas, we were able to finally go out and mountain bike. It was great! We have been able to explore the city a little and so far like what we see. This is a great place and we look forward to getting to know it better. The people have been nice and kind (minus the rude ones at our post office). We had friends in town so we had to go up to the strip, I'm glad I won't have to do that again for while.

Now for the bad. Well, we went to the amazing institution that Nevada has, the DMV. The computers went down three times and we spent 6 hours trying to register our cars and get our DLs. We are both under 25 so we had to take written tests. The computers kept crashing on question 12. I finally found something that is more expensive here than in Wy. Our cars cost a small fortune to register. We have a brand new Tahoe and a newly purchased used BMW and my pickup. My pickup was the cheapest and it is the most expensive. Unfortunatly we forgot to pay sales tax on the Tahoe in Wyomng and we had to pay it here. Our salesman in WY put down part of our trade-in value as a rebate and we had to pay taxes on that. That is kind of unfair, but that is life. So after spending a month and a halfs salary at the DMV (and I thought my fiancee's ring was a rip off) we have Nevada plates and Nevada DLs. But hey, life here is still great and we love it.

A warning to any future new residents: Register your car and pay your state's sales tax before coming. Then all you will need is plates. Otherwise bring a book and your savings. To all the current residents: thank you for being so accomodating, your (or maybe now I can say "our") city is wonderful.

[ackackack]

The DMV, one of this state's wonderful "hidden" taxes. Everyone is amazed at how expensive it is to register vehicles here. I am always amazed each year when it comes time to renew, or when I purchase a new vehicle. The hot summer heat and sticker shock at the DMV, two things that you will never get used to.

[jfkIII]

cj...Sorry to hear about the DMV troubles you had, but I applaud and welcome your honesty in posting both the good and the bad. This truly provides a wonderful service to those who are thinking of moving to LV, and one for which, I believe, this forum was founded.

You, sir, are truly a class act and an asset to the LV forum.

[guinnessjim]

that sux, cj...sorry to hear (esp. since i haven't been to the dmv yet ). i hold out hope that dealing w/ the dmv in CA has kinda prepared me for the metaphorical kick-in-the-nuts i may soon get to experience (both w/r to my time and my wallet).

thx for the heads up.

(on a better note, where did you go mtbing? i recently hit bootleg canyon...awesome!)

[dynimagelv]

cjs....I'll bet if you search all the forums on here, you will NEVER find anyone arguing the point about DMV....it truly sux....I just spent e days trying to get g'sons new car smogged because DMV "Upgraded" the computers and they were all crashin
In Las Vegas, as in most of the state, DMV is a four letter word.......

Other then that....glad you're still lovin "our" town.

Remember the Post Office is Federalies and they suck universally everywhere

[ParkTwain]

Remember that the portion of your auto registration fee that is based on the vehicle's VALUE can be written off on your IRS tax return, if you itemize deductions.

[scirocco22]

I learned that even when purchasing a new vehicle in another state and paying their sales tax, Nevada will still make you pay the difference if the amount you paid in the other state is less than the NV rates.

[WANative]

I just moved her 10 days ago and agree--Love the city and the weather! I have friends who live in town and have been very busy. Went sportbike (motorcycle) riding both Saturday and Sunday (Mt Charleston and Red Rock) and are planning on going boating at Lake Meade on Saturday--cant beat this 80 degree weather in November!
Went to a birthday party last night for a girl who works at the New York New York and got a chance to meet 20+ people who work there and must say everyone was very friendly and happy--I had a really good time!
My neighbors have all come over to introduce themselves and even brought me dinner when I was moving in!!
DMV: Two days ago I attempted to get my Nevada drivers license but after fighting for a parking spot had a guy walk up to me and tell me the computers were down and that I could have a very long wait. I ended up leaving and plan to go there first thing in the morning sometime next week (hopefully with better results). So I have to concur with cjski21 in regards to DMV.
So far Vegas is everything I thought it would be except for the traffic which is non existant compared to what I was expecting (Seattle traffic is 100 times worse).

[AA702]

When I first moved here in 2002 I was surprised my registration was cheaper here than it was in CA. The next year, the Governator reduced CA registration to the old levels. Compared to CA registration, Clark County is more expensive than my former home of Santa Clara county, CA but not by much. I have a 1999 Toyota Truck that cost me 70 bucks to register here, and it cost me about $62 in CA. Smog checks in CA can cost more than $20 depending on if you have to go to a certified state location. One thing I do not mind is getting a smog check every year. I hope that keeps all the smog causing cars off the road.

[Chest Rockwell]

Nobody mentions anything positive about the DMV, but there are a few things. The new system where you sit and wait for your number to be called beats the old one where you had to stand on a line painted on the floor for hours. A few years back, the state had a budget surplus and returned $75 for every auto registration, which was pretty awesome. Also, there are express DMVs that can get you in and out much quicker. You can now renew registration and licenses online or through the mail, meaning less trips to the DMV.

These computer crashes sound brutal though. I once used that as an excuse to a cop for why my registration was expired and it worked! Also, the biggest sticker shock at the DMV is the sales tax, which shouldn't be a surprise since you bought the car and need only to calculate 7.75% to know how much will be due. If only you could package that into the loan....