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With much help and guidance from the folks on this forum, today we got both of our out of state licenses converted to NC and changed over our out of state titles (at a separate site) - we left the house at 630 am and got back at 915 am.
I think the trick was getting to the DMV for the licenses before they opened - being 10th or so on line. We then scooted over to a Tag office and got there before they opened - again 10th on line.
We had all the paperwork ready and other than a little bit of sticker shock when we got our plates (one time $600 title transfer fee) it went very smoothly.
The people at both offices were so nice - it felt really good to have the staff (at both offices) say "welcome to North Carolina."
My tips: make sure you bring proof of NC insurance even when you go for your license conversion. Arrive early, bring all the paperwork....and bring a credit card - to transfer and register our 4 and 5 year old vehicles it was $1000 plus or minus a few more bucks.
Cool, thanks to all for sharing your tips and experiences.
So it ended up being $1600 total to transfer 2 cars? Yikes!
I interpreted it as costing about $1,000 for both. Costs are:
Title Fee: $52
Plate Fee: $36
Highway Use Tax: $250 (3% of value, capped at $250 when titling a car in NC from another state)
Local Property Tax: Depends on car value and tax rate. Estimate for a car worth $10,000 is roughly $125.
Total per car: $463, plus or minus, plus notary fees, etc.
The Title Fee and Highway Use Tax are one time fees assessed when the car is titled. The Plate Fee and Property Tax are annual.
I think the trick was getting to the DMV for the licenses before they opened - being 10th or so on line. We then scooted over to a Tag office and got there before they opened - again 10th on line.
Also, you don't have to go to an office in your own city or county--if you're in the Triangle, the local offices are always the most crowded. If you ever find yourself in a neighboring county, or somewhere else in the state that's less congested, go to their office. Lines are much shorter, sometimes nonexistent.
With the "Real ID" being required for certain activities starting 2020, all license offices are going to be harder to get in and out of in the next couple of years.
Yes, we got our license and title changed in Shallote, NC when we first moved to North Carolina near our in-laws. We were in/out in less than one hour.
I thought I read somewhere that to convert out of state license to NC one had to retake road test, was that part of your experience?
(We are moving down middle of next year)
No written test. I did have to do a very elementary eye test - although my husband did not (he was at another window). Go to the DMV website and look up what New Drivers need to bring - the whole process only took about one hour. The staff are really nice and helpful.
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No written or road test
