North Carolina License Plate Lookup

Type the NC plate exactly as it reads on the car and keep North Carolina selected. The plate is only the way in: we match it to the car's VIN, and the VIN carries the history. A North Carolina tag lookup works the same way.

1. 1. Enter the plate

   Type the North Carolina plate and pick the state. Spaces and dashes don't matter.

2. 2. We find the car's VIN

   The plate turns into the car's 17-character VIN in seconds, and you see the decoded year, make and model before you pay.

3. 3. Open the full history report

   One payment of $9.99, no account. The report opens at once, with records from all states.

What the report includes

One report for the VIN behind the plate, searched across all states:

• Odometer readings in miles

  Dated readings from state safety and emissions inspections and auction sales, with a rollback check.

  All states

• Police-reported crashes

  Crashes involving this VIN, with the year, plus the damage recorded when the car was sold at auction.

  All states

• Salvage and auction history, with photos

  Insurance and salvage auction sales of this VIN: sale date, damage type, title, odometer at sale and the auction photos.

  All states

• Title brands

  Salvage, rebuilt, flood and junk brands, so you know what the title says before the seller tells you.

• Recalls and owner complaints

  Safety recalls and owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the model and model year.

  Model-level

• Factory specs

  Model year, make, model, trim, engine, transmission, drivetrain and assembly plant, decoded from the VIN.

  Every VIN

What NCDMV and its offices charge for titles, registration and plates, as published. Each row links its source.

In a private sale, the seller completes the back of the North Carolina title with your name and address, the sale date, the odometer reading and a damage disclosure statement. If it is a North Carolina title, it must be notarized. You then have 28 days to apply for your new title (G.S. 20-73), or you face a $20 civil penalty. You pay the $66.75 title fee plus a 3% highway use tax (G.S. 105-187.3). The tax is capped at $250 if you have held the car titled in your name in another state for at least 90 days. A privately bought car needs a safety inspection before registration unless it passed one in the last 12 months, and 19 counties add an emissions test. State law makes the seller disclose in writing if the car is or was a flood, reconstructed or salvage vehicle, and if repairs on a car up to five model years old cost more than 25% of its value (G.S. 20-71.4). Once NCDMV brands a title, every later North Carolina title keeps the brand. After Hurricane Helene, the NC Department of Justice told buyers to look for water stains, silt under the carpet and a musty smell hidden by air freshener, and to check title history before buying. Run the plate before you hand over money.

Private sale

The seller fills in the back of the title: your name and address, sale date, signature, odometer reading (if required) and a damage disclosure statement. A North Carolina title must be notarized. You take it to a license plate agency or mail it, pay the $66.75 title fee and 3% highway use tax, and show North Carolina liability insurance if you are also registering the car. The seller keeps the plate.

Dealer sale

Dealers must have new and used vehicles inspected before retail sale, and the inspection receipt stays valid until the plate is due for renewal. The dealer handles the title application and collects the highway use tax. Licensed dealers are exempt from the 28-day buyer deadline in G.S. 20-73.

Title transfer deadline

28 days after transfer (G.S. 20-73(a)); $20 civil penalty if late

Source: North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles

North Carolina follows the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act (18 U.S.C. 2721) and adds its own law:

N.C. Gen. Stat. 20-43.1

NCDMV discloses personal information in motor vehicle records only in accordance with the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act (18 U.S.C. 2721 et seq.). It does not release personal information for the purposes in 18 U.S.C. 2721(b)(11), and for (b)(12) only with the person's prior written permission. Email addresses given to NCDMV count as personal information. The public cannot get an owner's name or address from a plate.

Source: NCDMV