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Surely someone in the club has gone through this process...

I've got this car that had been broken down, in various ways, for several months. As a result, its registration and state inspection are both seriously past due. Now, I know I'll have to pay the $250 emissions inspection penalty at some point and I'm ok with that.

The question is this. To get a car inspected, it must have a current registration. To renew my registration, the car has to get an inspection. Or, at least that's how i understand it.

So how do I make all this happen? The car is just taking up space so I want to sell it. TIA...

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Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

I and a couple of other people I know have been through this. It will take time at the DMV, ouch. But you basically have to go and convinve and fill out some paper work stating that the car has been off the road/being restored/beng stored etc.

Interesting issue, it shocks me that I've never had this problem before (the old car usually does get registered).

With the old Celica every time (yearly) I can't get it in for inspectin due to it's lack of running (typically the engine is elsewhere) I just turn the palte in. that part is free.

When it's fixed, I take the title and the old registration paper to the DMV and tell them it's fixed. They issue a new plate and I'm good to go. It costs a bit more (an extra $15-30, I forget) due to the new plate but it has never been a hassle.

After the new plate is issued, then you have 30 days to get an inspection.

Basically I have a new plate on the car every other year.

Scott

I've done what Adam mentioned - you have to schedule an appointment with a reviewer at the DMV. They're not terribly picky, they just want some kind of legitimate reason why the car couldn't be inspected. I showed up with a stack of receipts for parts purchased and a little timeline I typed up. The guy looked at the timeline document and my receipt for a used engine and gave me the OK.

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Tom Freeman
'98 M3/4/5 | '93 Spec3 325i | '12 TSX sport wagon | '03 Tahoe
Team Silver Bullets '91 240SX

Regarding turning the plate in....

I have been told that when you turn the plate in to make sure that they give you some type of receipt. Don't just give them the plate and walk off. This is make sure that they don't just accidently throw it onto a pile of old plates and not log your action into their computer system. If their system shows that you turned in the plate they assume you are not driving the car so it does not need to be inspected.

I ran into this problem a few years ago. I had an old daily driver beater that had failed two emission tests. The car eventually was sold to a junk yard (engine locked up) before it ever received a valid inspection. After the sale, I didn't turn in the plate.

Eventually NCDMV saw that I had tried to have it inspected a few times and that it failed due to emissions AND that the plate was still valid AND (I assume) the car had not been retitled by the salvage company. They also saw from the mileage between the inspection attempts that I had driven the car a number of miles. So they assumed I still had the car and was still driving it without an inspection.

I had to Fax in a copy of the bill of sale, etc. to show that I didn't have the car anymore. I think they could have fined me, but they didn't.

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Richard Casto
1972 Porsche 914
2013 Honda Fit Sport
2015 Honda Fit EX
http://motorsport.zyyz.com
Money can't buy happiness, but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than a Kia.

I had the same situation with my Celica last year (Doh! It was in April '02!!! I guess that was 2 years ago!) It had been sitting for 6 months or so and was supposed to be inspected during that time. Well, when I finally got around to fixing it and renewing the plates, they had flagged my registration. told me I owed $250 but I could appeal if I wanted. She gave me a phone number for some guy at the DMV. When I called him, I told him that I had the car out of service until I got it fixed. He told me to fax copies of the receipts and a letter stating why I hadn't gotten it fixed earlier. Once I did that, he called me back and said that the flag had been taken off my record. He was very cool and did everything over the phone.

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Todd Breakey
STS 42 - 1992 Sunburst Miata
Dammit!
"You souldn't play leap frog with a porcupine. You might get hurt." - Eliza

OK thanks all, there sounds like there are a number of ways I can attack this. Correct me if I've misunderstood.

1. The Adam and Tom way. Book time with a "DMV Reviewer" (I presume this is at DMV HQ in downtown Raleigh). Come packing at the very least a time line of why the thing was down for so long.
Question: Do I have to bring anything or do anything besides booking the appointment and showing up?

2. The Richard way. Sounds like Richard paid the $250 and then appealed it, which landed him in a similar process.

Now, further complicating matters is that this is actually my Mom's car. I guess what we can do is maybe both of us show up to the DMV, and that way I can be there to explain the whole timeline?

Don't know that I can produce receipts for things like the ECU (bought used) and the timing belt (bought off Whitney years ago) but Mom should still have the police report from the initial break-in that started the whole mess.

Thanks everybody

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Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

Actually it probably was nearly identical to what happened to Todd.

I had received the letter that said I was going to have to pay X dollars (can't remember if it was the $250 or not). I talked to a guy on the phone at DMV and faxed him bill of sale info, etc. He was pretty nice about it (but needed the documentation) and I didn't have to pay any fines.

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Richard Casto
1972 Porsche 914
2013 Honda Fit Sport
2015 Honda Fit EX
http://motorsport.zyyz.com
Money can't buy happiness, but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than a Kia.

Karl,
I am now a State Inspector. If the car is more than 4 months out of inspection then the DMV puts a hold on registration. You can get the car inspected first under this condition. Then you have to pay the fines and get the car registered.

I had this happen to my pickup. But since my registration and inspection went out the same month ( lucky break) I was able to talk the Emissions Inspection people at DMV to wave my fine. This was before the $250 letter had the option on it that you have turned in your tags and have taken the car off the road. Back then your chioces were:

A I have inspected the car.

B I have sold the car.

C I have junked the car.

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George Bright Member # 141
One of the youngest of the old farts.
Yes I voted against you joining the club.