North Carolina Vehicle State Inspection Sticker

Does anyone know what the procedure is for getting your vehicle inspected in North Carolina? How often do you need to get it inspected? Where is the inspection sticker placed on your car? Is it placed on the front windshield or where does it go on your car?

Link for North Carolina DMV below. There are links on that page for inspection items and emission testing.
Official NCDMV: Vehicle Emissions & Safety Inspections (ncdot.gov)

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Are you in North Carolina now? If so, next time you go shopping, suggest to look at the cars parked in the parking lot. You’ll likely spot the typical inspection sticker placement. There’s some regular posters here from Virginia and Tennessee I think, but don’t recall if there are any from North Carolina.

I live in Virginia. I have a neighbor who I don’t know but has North Carolina plates on his car. He has a sticker on the passenger side lower left that reads 10/22. Can’t tell if it is an inspection sticker or not because it is faded. If it is then it has expired with a 10/22 date and he is driving it still. That is why I want to know where the inspection sticker is placed on a car from North Carolina. Is it placed on the front windshield or somewhere else?

There is no sticker. Never has been for 33 years I have been here. Only a few counties require emissions inspections. Emissions inspections are required in 19 counties: Alamance, Buncombe, Cabarrus, Cumberland, Davidson, Durham, Forsyth, Franklin, Gaston, Guilford, Iredell, Johnston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, New Hanover, Randolph, Rowan, Union, or Wake. All the stations are connected to the NCDMV and as soon as you are inspected you can renew registration. Inspections are required every year before you can renew registration.

Are you the captain of the neighborhood watch program?

If the registration is valid, the inspection results have been accepted.

On the money. The sticker is not the INSPECTION sticker. You don’t get one. But once inspected you can REGISTER the vehicle and they send that sticker in the mail.

My WAG, it’s a parking permit for a business or school, or an entry permit for a restricted area.

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