Oh no. We got a letter in the mail that we owed the DMV money for not bringing the van in to have it's emissions checked and then a fine for not having it done on time.
See, in North Carolina, if you don't bring your car in on time to get it's admissions checked, they send you a fine and then to collections almost immediately because you have broken the law.
This, in itself, is not bad service. Most states have laws like this.
The problem is that North Carolina doesn't actually keep track of anything and doesn't know anything beyond the fact that you happen to own a car younger than a certain year.
So, according to NC theory, even if that car is not being driven because it is dead, even though it's not covered by insurance, nor is legal to drive because it has no tags, you STILL must bring it in and get it inspected and it's emissions checked. Oh yes.
After calling several DMV's and eventually calling the main one in Raleigh and being tossed between person to person, my husband asked them if he was supposed to get a tow truck to tow the van in to get it inspected and whatnot, seeing as how it did not go, nor did it start and hadn't been driven for almost a year.
That got an "Ohhhhh". Apparently, NC government has not wrapped their head around the fact that perhaps some cars are not being driven in because they are broken. I know my inspection was up on my car for awhile and it was still on insurance, but the car didn't actually go. We had to save up money to get it fixed. (Fortunately, my car is older than the cut off date.)
However, instead of this being met with understanding that perhaps sending us to collections and levying a fine against a car that doesn't go, they tried to insist that we didn't turn in our tags. When that failed, then they tried to insist that the inspection was overdue before we turned in the tags so we owed money still. (Not true.)
It basically took us raising hell for them to clear it up and for them to finally deem that we didn't have to get a broken down car inspected nor did we owe them any money for not doing so.
And that, folks, is what kills me. Apparently, if your car was made after 1995, you must get it inspected and it's emissions checked. It doesn't matter if it you can drive it, it doesn't matter if all 4 wheels are attached, it doesn't even have to have a god damn engine. If it has a title, you better get it inspected, otherwise they're going to bill the hell out of you until you do. And if you argue, it's going to take hours of your precious life to prove it to them.
