Hilo Car and Driver Licensing

Moving to Hawaii

 

 

 

A part of moving to Hawaii is getting your cars inspected and licensed as well as getting a driver's license. The information here is based on our experiences in Hilo.

HAWAII CAR REGISTRATION

To register your vehicles in Hawaii, you need to do the following things in order:

  1. Get auto insurance
  2. Get a safety inspection (requires proof of auto insurance)
  3. Go to the Motor Vehicle Department office to get a Hawaii car title, registration and new license plates (requires proof of passed safety inspection and auto's bill of lading)

Hawaii Car Title and License - The Motor Vehicle Licensing and Registration office is located in the Aupuni Center at 101 Pauahi Street

Apuni Center in Hilo Hawaii County

The Motor Vehicle Registration office is in Suite 5, on the left side of the entrance above.

Apuni Center Car Lic office in Hilo, Hawaii

The office opens at 7:45 AM and it is well worth being there when they open. It takes a while to process the cars (and we had two cars), so the line was pretty long by the time we were finished. In order to get a Hawaii car title and license plates you need to bring your car's current title and registration, the bill of lading from the shipping company (make sure it is signed when you pick up your cars), and the Hawaii's safety inspection certificate. Bring a photo id and money (they take a check). The tax is based on the weight of the car. Our cost was $211 for two cars, weighing about 5,000 pounds each.

Hawaii vehicle safety inspection. Once your auto insurance company has provided you with a vehicle insurance identification card you need to obtain a safety inspection certificate and sticker for the car in order to register the car in Hawaii. There are many service stations and car repair shops with signs stating they perform the safety check. You must bring your car, vehicle registration and insurance identification card and wait for their inspection. If it doesn't pass, you must make the repairs before being able to get the certificate. We used Midas in Hilo based on the recommendation of another recent arrival from Arizona. Midas was great and for $15.31 (each car) they provided us with the certificate we needed for DMV. Once we obtained our Hawaii title and new license plates, we returned to Midas and they put the new license plates on the car and attached the final safety sticker on the bumper.

Hawaii auto safety sticker

Auto Insurance. We picked an agent with the same company we had on the mainland, hoping that longevity with the company would help us get covered. I don't think it did. From our interaction, it seems where you live is a key part of your cost as well as whether they will cover you at all. Our agent would only cover us if we were in Hilo proper. As a part of the process, they physically inspected the cars. If you pick the outskirts of Hilo or Puna to live you may have to shop around. The cost was the same as Northern California for us; neither place is cheap. All of our insurance policies (auto, rental, umbrella) had to be rewritten and it took a while, so plan for that when calculating the time it takes to license your car in Hawaii.

Subsequent Car Registration Every year the State sends a bill for car registration renewal. Your vehicle is supposed to be inspected before sending in your payment and receiving new stickers. In reality, you can get the new car registration stickers without getting a new inspection sticker, but the fine is stiff when the police ticket you for it. The inspection stickers are color coded and therefore easy to spot when they are out of date.

HAWAII DRIVER'S LICENSE

We chose to keep our California licenses for a while; Hawaii doesn't require you to get a new driver's license if you have a valid license from another State in US. If you take the test and get a Hawaii license then you must surrender your current driver's license. The driver's licensing is located at the Hawaii Police Department at 349 Kapiolani street in Hilo, not the Apuni Center, even though it is under the jurisdiction of the Hawaii Department of Finance.

Hilo Police Department

The driver's licensing office is up the steps and to the left.

Hilo Police Dept

When you are ready to switch your mainland license for a Hawaii license here is what you need to do:

  1. Study the Hawaii Driver's Manual. You can buy them at Borders, grocery stores, and other locations. Many of the laws are different than then the mainland, so it is worth studying. The back of the book has 170 test questions and 30 of the questions will be on the test.
  2. Go to the Hawaii Police Department at about 9:30AM if possible, since they are busy giving driving tests earlier.
  3. You need to bring your current driver's license, your Social Security card, and cash or a check to pay the fee. My license fee was $23.
  4. When you get to the office, you have to fill out an application with your mailing and actual addresses, your height, weight, and other information. You have the option of registering to vote as a part of the application. Once the application is filled out, stand in line and wait for a window.
  5. When called to a window you are asked for your driver's license, which they keep, and your Social Security card. A vision test is performed so make sure you have the right glasses if you need them. They use a machine to test your vision and peripheral vision.
  6. If you pass the vision test, then you take the written test in an area set aside with desks. When you are finished, hand in the test and stand in line again until they call you back to the window to grade your test and verify you have a passing score. If you pass the test, pay the fee at another window and they will take your photo, get your signature, and your finger print. Before you leave, they hand you an official Hawaii's driver's license. My license is valid for 7 years before requiring renewal. The day I went in for my test there were only 2 other people there and it took me about 45 minutes to get my license.

HAWAII STATE IDENTIFICATION CARD

The problem with waiting on getting an official Hawaii driver's license is that you have no proof of being a local kama'aina which gives you access to certain county services (like the golf course) and reduced hotel charges. One way around this, if you choose to keep an out of state drivers license or don't drive, is to get a Hawaii State Identification Card.

The Hawaii State ID is issued by the State so you have to go to the State building at 75 Apuni Street in Hilo to get it. After passing through security, go to the ID office on the left in Room #103. The cost is $15 and you must fill out an application, bring your Social Security card, passport or birth certificate, and proof of Hawaii residency.

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