Vehicle Registration Inspection

Before you register car or renew the registration, you have to get the annual safety and smog inspection. These are the exceptions:

• Cars 35 or older are exempt from the safety inspection.
• Diesel cars are exempt from the smog check.

Vehicles from out of state undergoing first-time car registration (with the same owner) are exempt, but you must have these inspections done before renewal.

Counties Requiring Emissions Testing

If you live in one of these counties, you’ll need both the emissions and smog check and the safety inspection before DMV registration or registration renewal:

Alamance, Brunswick, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Carteret, Catawba, Chatham, Cleveland, Craven, Cumberland, Davidson, Durham, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Franklin, Gaston, Granville, Guilford, Harnett, Haywood, Henderson, Iredell, Johnston, Lee, Lenoir, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Moore, Nash, New Hanover, Onslow, Orange, Pitt, Randolph, Robeson, Rockingham, Rowan, Rutherford, Stanly, Stokes, Surry, Wake, Wayne, Wilkes, Wilson, and Union.

Fees

• A safety inspection alone is $13.25.
• Expect to pay $6.25 to $30 for a smog/safety check combo, depending on where you live.

Where to Get Inspections

North Carolina authorizes independent mechanics, service stations, and dealers to perform these inspections. Then these centers report your results to the NC DMV, so the results are ready at DMV registration. There are over 7500 centers; the NC DMV has a complete list. You can also just ask at a local service station or mechanics’ shop if they are authorized to perform these tests.