Raleigh, NC RV Service/State Inspections??

Annual State Safety inspections are required for all motor vehicles in the State of NC. You cannot renew your registration without a current and up to date Inspection.

It is a 15-25 minute process. It must be done by a State Licensed NC Inspection Station.

Make sure ALL your lights work (including license plate lights), your horn and make sure your tires have good tread and little to no sidewall dry rot. You will be failed, have to have the items repaired and get re-inspected if you do not monitor these items in advance.

It's NOT the Inspection Station's fault if you know about these things and try to slip them by and get failed.

Cost of the Inspection for an RV (non-emissions) is $13.60. Most RVs are over 8500lbs GVWR and are thereby exempt from emissions inspections.

There is NO inspection required for transients or tourists unless you fall in love with our beautiful State and wish to register your vehicle here!

My best friend is a mechanic & NC licensed inspector. Just in case there's still confusion, pretty much _any_ state-licensed inspection station in NC _can_ do a state-mandated safety inspection. This is required for all motor vehicles licensed in NC. At a minimum it's a lights-tires-brakes-horn-wipers-exhaust-window tint visual & audible inspection. This is necessary before annual license renewal. The problem comes in when it won't fit into the bay, or on a level pad outside (theoretically required for checking headlight aim).

Then on top of this, some counties also require an emissions inspection at the same time. These are mainly the most-populated counties. For my county (Buncombe) it's 1996 and later (OBD II), and under 8200 lbs. They plug in a wireless OBD II reader, and go to the NC state DMV website; the code reader is linked to the state website, so it's hard to fake an emissions test.

I suspect the OP will be exempted from the emissions test on weight. Even my little Tiger class C is. But that's my county. I'm not sure of the OP's county regs. The best way to be sure is to do some reading on the NCDMV website.

Jim, "Mo' coffee!"

Just call around to different inspection stations. Many will do an RV. All you can do is ask.

nadsab wrote:
What is the deal with these inspections?

If I don't live in NC and want to camp there during vacation, does this mean I have to get our RV inspected when I come in to the state?

No...it's a yearly inspection. We have them on our cars here. RV's have a safety inspection as do heavy duty/super duty trucks. No emissions, except on autos and 1/2 ton pickups.

What is the deal with these inspections?

If I don't live in NC and want to camp there during vacation, does this mean I have to get our RV inspected when I come in to the state?

Bill - you guys are awesome! Don't you want to expand a bit west? Take over the dealership here??? ;)

I think that would be a great idea. Truly you have great customer service, even for newbies like me. Hope to make it to a seminar soon again. Have a friend who will be traveling with me and he could learn things like me. So, two newbies!

Glad you found my comment.

Thank you Donna - I appreciate the kind thoughts.

Bill Mirrielees
General Manage, Howard RV Center
Wilmington, NC
www.hrvc.com

Bobby, nice to "meet" another istasca person in Wake County. I found my contact info for the mobile RV guy I had used before. He came to my home, helped me learn and understand a lot about my RV when I first got it. He is going to come back and check over my roof and system stuff for me.

Still searching for an inspection station. Plemmons advised they no longer do it, essentially said their staff was so low they couldn't help me with anything, told me to try another dealership. Nothing like feeling as though they really don't want a customer.

I am in north Wake County, so hard to get to Camping World. I have called them, left two messages over the past two weeks and not a single call back.

I guess simple customer service in the RV world in this area is a thing of the past.

The one dealer in NC who has been exceptional is Howard RV in Wilmington. For newbies like me they even have monthly educational seminars on Saturdays. I have found them quite helpful. Their employees are very friendly and helpful. Just wish I could get them closer -- maybe they should open a dealership here. I think they could have lots of business!!

Thanks for your comments!

Donna

Donna,

Getting service on the chassis of your motorhome is a problem. I am constantly dealing with that, and I owned my current Itasca Sundancer for 14 years.

What side of Raleigh do you live? I live down south of Garner, and have been able to get inspections at both the new Camping World that was formerly Hawleys on US 70 east of Garner. I have also gotten inspections at Bill Plemmons on Business 64 east of I440.

I have my rig in a Truck Service Company for the first time for replacing the fuel filter and flush/change coolant. I have had it there for 2 days, and they haven't even gotten to it. They didn't tell me that they were going to take a number of days to get to it. So, I am going to talk to a Raleigh local auto/truck/rv mobile service guy and see what he does. I just found him on the internet. But, that may be the way we need to go for service on our gas powered RV's

I will post information about my experiences. I found your post while looking to see if others have posted recommendations for where they are getting service.

In nearby Greensboro, NC there are at least 3 rv dealers and some mobile rv mechanics for rv de winterizing. They are all ramping up for the busy spring summer season now.
In NC we use heavy truck shops that can accommodate large vehicle for inspections, even some large Chevy or Ford dealers who service their large trucks may be able to do your rv vehicle inspection to renew your tag.
Good luck.