Nobody likes to pay property taxes, but at least North Carolina makes it easy. The State has combined the process of registering a vehicle and paying annual property taxes.
Of course, before you can renew your vehicle’s registration, you must have it inspected at an inspection station like ours. At Norris Automotive, we get a lot of questions about North vehicle registration and inspections.
Here are some of the most common ones:
- If I buy a vehicle, do I have to get it inspected. No. The dealer will have it inspected before it is sold. If you are purchasing from an individual, you’ll need an inspection unless the car has had one in the past 12 months.
- My registration has expired, and my car isn’t inspected. How can I legally drive it to the inspection station? Contact the license plate agency and ask them to issue you a temporary plate.
- If I moved from a non-emissions county (like Orange) to an emissions county (like Alamance), do I have to have my car re-inspected? You don’t have to be reinspected until your registration expires.
- I’m moving to North Carolina from another state. Do I have to have my car inspected before I register it? You don’t.
- How old does a vehicle have to be before it no longer needs to have inspections? A vehicle over 20 years old is exempt from the emissions portion of the inspection. A vehicle over 35 years old is not required to have a safety inspection at all.
- My vehicle has failed the emission inspection two times. Can I get an exemption? There is a possibility of getting a one year waiver. Ask us about it.
At Norris Automotive, we are here to repair and service your car, but also to answer your questions. If we don’t know the answer, we’ll do our best to find out. Our goal is for you and your family to stay safe in your vehicle and on the road.