North Carolina License Plate Lookup Options
Individuals may need to perform a North Carolina license plate lookup for a variety of reasons. Some people may need to search for a license plate that they have seen in an accident situation, especially if it was a hit and run, or if they see a car that is for sale that they be interested in, they might search for the license plate to find out its history before deciding whether or not to buy it.
In North Carolina, the state offers a vanity plate lookup service. Their tool, accessible on the North Carolina DOT website, allows individuals to search for particular vanity plate combinations using one of 195 special plates that sponsor particular charities or carry a special designation, such as a veteran, children’s charities, breast cancer awareness, or affiliation with North Carolina state parks, to name a few. North Carolina residents can customize their plates by using their online tool to check for its availability.
Vanity License Plate Lookup
North Carolina residents can use the vanity plate search tool, located on the DOT website, to check for the availability of a particular combination. The tool specifies the amount of characters allowed, as well as acceptable characters. If the desired combination is available, they can go to one of many DOT offices and register their vehicle with their desired vanity plate, or they can complete the registration online.
North Carolina License Plate Lookup Online
There are a few third-party websites that also perform license plate searches that return information about the vehicle?s owner and the registration itself. This particular website charges a fee of $44 for a license plate search and explains that when the license plate is provided, their investigators will compile a report which includes:
- Owner Information
- Vehicle information, including the year, make, and model & VIN Number
- Safety & Recall Information
Third-party website that is not affiliated with the North Carolina DOT can potentially return even more detailed information when the license plate number and state are provided. Often times the data obtained via 3rd party websites are for verification & information purposes only.
- If the person’s registration tags have been transferred illegally from another vehicle or if it is currently legally registered.
- A comprehensive vehicle history, including whether it has been stolen, if it has been in any accidents in North Carolina, or if there is a problem with the title.

THR 9371 has been sitting in my parking lot for months with 2 flat tires, don’t want to have if towed.
North Carolina Abandoned Vehicles
If you want to report an abandoned vehicle in North Carolina or if an abandoned vehicle is on your property, you must first contact your local police and file a report. The police will come and take the NC license plate number and VIN and attempt to contact the owner’s of the NC registered vehicle. If it’s not possible to reach or get ahold of the NC license plate owner then it’s possible to take possession of the vehicle or have it towed off your property at the expense of the owner
Where is my tag. I had inspection and paid tax. Sent check three weeks ago. Check has not been cashed.
Elvyn, you will need to reach out to the North Carolina DOT directly to inquire about your NC license plate tags. Unfortunately we do not have the ability to look this up for you as we are not affiliated with this government agency. You can contact them online or over the phone about your NC vehicle registration renewal
I was misled. I typed in the license plate and paid the money to get the identity of the owner. And I received none of that information and was asked for another $10 for further information.
We apologize for your inconvenience when performing a NC license plate lookup Hillary. Please give us the name and email address you signed up with and we will issue you a full refund.
Liscense plate # dmp 2137 ran us off the road dont have a phone to call it in
You will want to contact the North Carolina police department about this incident. Unfortunately we do not have an affiliation with any North Carolina law enforcement agencies. We are a public records website that can be used to lookup vehicle records, criminal records, vital records and more. Here is a link to our Free North Carolina Police Department Finder