ok so i just moved to NC a couple of months ago and I just want to make sure I stay within the laws on some things and also get some info about other things.

1. Window tint... what is the legal limit?

2. Inspection... what all is involved? Can you run straight pipes on any cars or anything like that, and do they just do emmissions or do they do tires brakes all that good stuff

3. Underbody and interior lights, are they legal? Can you run them while you're on the road?

4. Any other laws that you guys can think of that I didn't cover on here.

I moved from the Communist state of VA where you can't do sh*t to your car without getting a ticket or failing inspection, so if you could inform me on my new residency laws that would be great... thanks in advance everyone.

well as far as tint, its 35. i am not possitive of whats involved in the inspection, but for sure, marker lights, head lights, tails, ebrake, smog(depending on year i think) and i don tremember what else. to my knowlege you are fine with the lights, as long as they are not blue. i have been running blue interior lights on the floor boards for a year now, and no problem. but i have heard of alot of trouble with being pulled for neon under the car being blue. newaz if somone can confirm all of this that would be great. thanks

1st tint is 35%, but you are given a 3% margin of error for the tint meter. remember if your tint just barely past this year it most likely wont next year because it gets darker with age.

2nd inspections (95 and older up to ten years) depending on the county must pass an emissions/ tail pipe test. (96 and newer) must pass an obd2 inspection. every car must pass a visual safety inspection consisting of wipers,lights,tires,suspension,horn,gas cap,all of the vehicles emissions control devices must be intact and operational,brakes including parking brake, and some other things i might have forgotten

a car 96 or newer with the check engine light on will fail.
95 and older will not if it passes the sniffer.

3rd lights, you can have whatever color you want but you can not drive with blue or red on. brake lights MUST be red or amber in color to pass inspection. turn signals MUST be yellow or amber in color to pass inspection. you do not have to have reverse lights. you must have a licence plate light that is white in color only.

All of this is what i was told in class when i got my state inspection licences

i might have missed something sorry.

oh some counties in nc do not have emissions testing, but you still must pass a visual safety inspection

LSWHAT U R WRONG as of JAN 1 06 only 1996 and newer do the obdII and emissions check.Anything b4 that year model ONLY do a safety inspection and that's it.And while yes some counties may or may not do emissions checks they are required to do the standard safety stuff,and so forth.I am personally happy with the change cause my 85 cav now only has to pass the safety not that emissions were ever a problem but it is much cheaper with just the safety.The only reason I know this is a the ncdmv released info about it last wk and really wks b4 regarding this.SO if ur say 95 model has a bad cat emission wise it really does not matter cel or not,its all a safety inspect now.

as last time i had checked all counties now to date do the emissions test cause i used to live in one of the counties (gotta love those rednecks in those mountains) that was going to be last to come to law with it and they are now doing it so im thinking all counties do as of now. but the dudes above me are correct about emissions so make sure your not straight piped no codes being thrown for anything etc etc etc

as for neons go (interior and exterior) you can have them in/on your car as long as you do not drive with them on. you must be parked somewhere.

whatever you do dont get a license plate tint cover cause they can pull you over for those even though they sell them (everyone i know has received tickets for em when they had em)

dont blast your system (if you have one) whether there is a sound ordinance or not, they pull you over saying stuff like it interferes with you being able to hear emergency siren vehicles and warnings like horns (cars trains etc) and things and they possibly give you a ticket for that

i have had friends been pulled over because they said there was a law stating your car count be so low to the ground (but i think that was just a cop trying to give young ones a hard time)

if i think of something else ill let you know just remember cops are the same everywhere they try to pull young ones over whether the law is being broken or not.

Samantha, from my experience the lights havn't been a problem, i have ran my interior lights and sat next to cops at stop lights and all and they havn't even looked twice at me. now my exterior lights, i havnt got them completely done yet so i rarely run them so that would be why i havnt had a problem with them.

safety wise, what is the tread depth on the tires that they have to be?

also radar detectors are legal right?

once again i'm just asking most of this for informative reasons as well as to keep myself within the legal realm on my car. kind of scared though cause i think my car is starting to go, atleast the motor we'll find out soon enough though.

thanks for all the info so far everyone.... please keep bringing more, and also any other laws that havn't been listen so far

Tires are good if they are not past their wear mark

From my on experiences, radar detectors are legal but unless u know how a cop's radar system works then the detector is useless.imo

EXT underbody neons are illegal ONLY if you drive with them on. INT neons are fine as long as they arent red or blue flashing stobes. The best way to judge it is to only run ur lights when ur at a show or parked. As for reg neons in the INT, they are good to run when driving as long as the neon is not mounted in plane sight of other drivers(just the glow of the light shows).

As for tint goes.......35% for sure but Im thinking u can go darker on the back window than the sides but I cant remember.


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Exterior and interior neons of any kind are only illegal if they are red, blue, strobing, or the bulb can be seen but they can be turned on when the car is parked. Any other colors are legal and can be turned on when driving. This information came from a printout my ex bf received from a cop.

Emissions are from county to county and not every county does them. I know my county doesn't do it yet but we are one of those redneck counties lol.

hmmmm well so much for my red lights................ oh well i'll run em and test my luck, that's if/when i can get my car running again

my sunfire has a CEL will I be inspected in charlotte?

Well if u reside in mecklenburg county,(charlotte) that is where ur inspection would be done when it comes due by ur current inspection assuming ur previous state did inspections.Yes a cel would FAIL u until the problem is corrected.Any veh 96 yr model and newer have to do a emissions,safety.They hook up the obdII to check for codes,if u have any u will fail until this is corrected.I think this should answer ur ?If not ask some more.Like I said the above county does all checks so as long as u live in that county u get it done where u live,city wise.I hope that makes sense.