Hey guys, I have a question. I haven't done this in about 15 years, and at the time it wasn't an issue, but have any of you brought in an old car or truck from out of state lately? The DMV website now says that anything made before 1980 is considered an antique, and it has to be inspected and photographed by a NC DMV inspector when presented for registration. That's fine and all, but how am I supposed to get it there if I can't get it titled or registered? Is there a grace period? I planned on flying up to get it and driving it back, but for that I'll need a temporary plate or something. Has anyone done this recently that can tell me how it works? Thanks.

https://www.ncdot.gov/dmv/vehicle/title/vehicles/

-Drew

 

I went through that not long ago while we lived in NC.
You'll have to go to the license office to get the ball rolling. Then they will send an inspector to your house/shop.
He/She will do the inspection, and take a lot of pictures and information.
One thing their checking for is theft. As long as nothing with a VIN# is reported stolen, you should be fine.
In a few weeks the inspector will come back out an put a decal on the frame, and door jam, with a new VIN#.
You may have to get two appraisals for that vehicle. They will take the average dollar amount of those two, and get a dollar figure. You may have to get a bond on the title for that dollar amount.

Yup, I know.
But I did it all not too long ago.

 

Thanks Ubreal. Getting it inspected won't be an issue. What I need is to be able to get a temporary tag and registration so I can drive it to NC. It seems a little convoluted and the local tag office people are clueless. I did find in the law exactly what I need, I just don't know how to go about getting it. I'm waiting for an email back from Raleigh, but I figured someone here may have dealt with it before. https://www.ncdot.gov/dmv/vehicle/title/vehicles/

 

Drive it like you stole it to get it here.

Then work on your registration once you land in NC.

You could always trailer it.

Where is it located now. We could figure out a way to get some folks to follow you all the way back. We got folks in all parts of the state. We could do a covert, tag-hide, relay race.

 

It's kind of a long way.It's in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

 

You may have bigger issues than registering it in NC if it's in Canada.

Can I Take My Canadian Car to the US to Stay? | LoveToKnow

A pretty generic link to some info about importing from Canada. Lots of similar info out there.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge than me can chime in to help.

 

It's a 1976 model made to US specs, so it's not too bad of a process from what I can find. It's older than 25 years, so it's exempt from the EPA and DOT requirements. I just have to show proof of insurance, proof of ownership, and have customs form HS-7 (claiming exemption 1, >25yr old) and EPA form 3520-1 claiming code E (exempt, >21yr old), and have both of those stamped at the border crossing.

In true form, it's easier to import it from a foreign country than it is to deal with NC DMV.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/det...r-personal-use

 

Funny thing about this process is it only applies to out of state cars, a NC title mean no inspection. A NC car could have stolen parts but that doesn't bother them.


This all started when a corrupt DMV officer in Fayetteville was building new street rods and titling them as antique cars using bogus vins.


Here is my question, a 40 year old car usually has a replacement engine and a partial vin is on a lot of blocks, how can they trace a partial vin?

 

Very few ford engines got partial vin's on the blocks. I don't think any truck engines did, and 1971+ blocks (atleast 429/460 D1ve blocks) didn't.

 

I know GM blocks in the early 70s had a partial vin on the block but if the block was decked it would disappear.

 

Good luck dealing with the NC DMV.

A few years ago I dropped the 20k tags and changed the registration from cargo carrying to passenger carrying(AKA regular car tags). I had sold all of my big trailers and didn't need the current registration any longer. You would have thought that I opened up the gates of hell. "You can't do that, that vehicle is a truck" to which I replied, " no, it's a station wagon". After a few calls to their higher ups and another trip to the tag office I had my regular ole' car tags on the Excursion. They were not happy that a lowly everyday citizen proved them wrong. It's all about the money!

 

That seems to be the major issue, most of the local offices have no idea what they can do or how to do it, and good luck getting a timely response from Raleigh. Anything outside of a normal renewal just blows their minds, and they'd rather tell you it can't be done than bother to look into it.

I had a personalized submarine veteran tag on my truck, when I got it at the Gastonia office they told me I couldn't register that plate over 6,000lb, or I would have to go to a weighted plate. That was no problem at the time so I went with the subvet plate. A few months ago I borrowed a dual axle trailer from a friend and went to pick up a M1009 military blazer in Valdese, which would put me at about 12,000lb rolling weight, so I stopped at the office in Newton to turn in my plate and weight up to 13K. I was at the door when they opened with my plate and registration in hand. I told her what I wanted to do and she asked if I wanted to keep the Subvet plate. I told her that Gastonia said that couldn't be done. She just gave me that look and said it's no problem. In and out in 15 minutes. I even dropped the personalization while I was there and left with a loaner plate until my weighted subvet plate came in. In and out in 15 minutes. Come to think of it, I'll call that office and see what they can tell me. They were much easier to deal with.

 

The Raleigh office on New Bern Ave has been understaffed and overwhelmed for 30 years. I used to have to go there when I was dealing with Apportioned tags and Transporter tags. The line would be half way around the building at sunrise. I certainly hope you don't have to go near that place.

Again, good luck!

 

I'm just trying to get an email from DMV headquarters to tell me what I need to do. Once I have that I should be able to take it to the local office and they won't be able to tell me tell me it's impossible.
-Drew

 

An Excursion is a station wagon and the law states SUVs and cars do not have to have weighted tags. I have car tags on it even though I pull personal Boats, cargo and camper trailers with it. My pickup buddies hate that I don't have to have weighted tags.


The New Bern Ave office was closed for a few days this year while they cleaned house and hired new people, the office was doing illegal things. Same thing happened to the Siler City office a few years back, the town now operates the DMV tag office.