How to fill out North Dakota SFN 2486

The only inspection in the North Dakota titling system, and the state does not perform it. The form must be completed by an agent of the qualified business conducting the inspection, and a qualified business means one registered and in good standing with the North Dakota Secretary of State that offers motor vehicle repairs to the public - a private garage, in other words, which the department's own guidance says is not obligated to provide the service. Five reasons sit at the top and one of them is ticked: newly constructed or kit car, modified motor vehicle, antique restoration, salvage rebuilt or repaired, or untitled vehicle. Everything below is an equipment checklist the inspector works through.

Written against SFN 2486 (5-2026), issued under NDCC 39-05-20.2, cited at the head of the form, with the equipment standards at NDCC 39-21, 39-27 and NDAC 37-12. Two practical constraints catch people out on this form. The first is that the inspecting business must be registered with the Secretary of State and in good standing, and you have to attach proof of that - which means checking before you book, not after. The second is that it cannot be the business that rebuilt the car. If you have had a salvage vehicle repaired by the only shop in a small town willing to take it on, you need a second shop for the inspection, and in rural North Dakota that can mean a long trailer journey.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank SFN 2486 from the dot.nd.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our SFN 2486 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank SFN 2486 — Certificate of Motor Vehicle Inspection PDF at dot.nd.gov · new tab Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in SFN 2486 guide PDF · print and keep beside you

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual SFN 2486, rendered from the PDF the North Dakota Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Division publishes and completed end to end: letterhead, every field, and the blocks at the foot.

Amber — you write it
Grey — not yours to fill
Numbered — explained below

A completed North Dakota SFN 2486, Certificate of Motor Vehicle Inspection. The vehicle owner is Marlys J. Thorsrud with a telephone number. Of the five reasons, Untitled Vehicle is ticked and the other four are shaded grey. The vehicle is a 1978 Chevrolet C10 Custom Deluxe pickup with its thirteen-character vehicle identification number and a VIN location of driver door pillar. The two equipment checklists and the vehicle type boxes are shaded grey. The qualified business is Bakken Ridge Auto Service of 3110 Gateway Dr, Grand Forks, North Dakota 58203, inspected on 05/22/2026, with inspector Dale W. Fossum named, signed and dated. — Shown with only the two blocks an owner touches in amber - the owner's name and telephone, and the reason for the inspection - because everything else on this sheet belongs to the garage. The 120-box equipment checklist is grey for the same reason. The owner, the garage, the inspector and the vehicle are all made up.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Vehicle Owner Name(s) and Telephone Number
Your name and a contact number at the head of the form.
Watch out: Use the name that will go on the title application. The inspection certificate is filed with it, and the department matches the two.
2
You fill this in
Reason for Vehicle Inspection
One of five - newly constructed or kit car, modified motor vehicle, antique restoration, salvage rebuilt or repaired, or untitled vehicle.
Watch out: The reason decides which conditional block below has to be completed as well. Modified needs an explanation with proof; antique restoration needs the original-parts answer; salvage needs the repairer's acknowledgement.
3
You fill this in
Year of Manufacture, Make, Model, Body Style
The vehicle description the inspector will verify against the vehicle itself.
Watch out: Match the wording you used on the ownership affidavits. Three documents describing the same truck three ways is a reason for a reviewer to pause.
4
You fill this in
VIN and VIN Location
The identification number and where on the vehicle it is physically found.
Watch out: The inspector confirms the location, so point it out on the day. On an older truck it is often on the door pillar rather than the dashboard.
5
Somebody else fills this in
Name of Qualified Business Performing Inspection
The garage's name, the date of inspection, its address and telephone number.
Watch out: Ask for a copy of the business's current Secretary of State filing at the same time. The untitled-vehicle package needs it and it is easier to collect on the day.
6
Somebody else fills this in
Name and Title of Inspector, Signature and Date
The individual who performed the inspection, signing the four certifications above their name.
Watch out: Check the second certification is true before you leave - that this business did not reconstruct or repair the vehicle. It is the one that invalidates an otherwise perfect certificate.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
Vehicle Owner Name(s) and Telephone Number	The owner's details at the head - the only lines on the form the owner supplies.
Reason for Vehicle Inspection (select one)	Newly constructed/Kit Car, Modified Motor Vehicle, Antique Restoration, Salvage Rebuilt/Repaired, or Untitled Vehicle.
The conditional lines under it	An explanation where modified is selected with proof required; a yes-or-no on original or equivalent parts where antique restoration is selected; and a Repairer Acknowledgment where salvage rebuilt is selected.
Repairer Acknowledgment	A certification that the vehicle has been rebuilt so that the frame and wheel alignment conform to the standards in NDAC 37-12-05, signed and dated by whoever completed the repairs.
Vehicle identification	Year of manufacture, make, model, body style, the VIN, and the VIN location on the vehicle.
Select One Vehicle Type	Two columns. On the left, motor vehicle or four-wheeled unconventional vehicle; on the right, motorcycle, three-wheeled unconventional, moped or scooter.
The left-hand checklist	Sixteen items with pass, fail or not applicable against each, every one carrying its own statutory citation: headlights, taillights, licence plate light, clearance lights and reflectors, stoplights, turn signals, brakes, horn, exhaust system, mirrors, windshield and tinted windows, windshield wipers, bumper height, door latches, floor pan, hood latches, steering wheel, fenders, fuel system, steering and suspension, tires, and seat belts.
The right-hand checklist	The motorcycle equivalent under NDCC 39-27 - frame and chassis, brakes, tires, wheels and rims, steering and suspension, fuel system, muffler, mirror, fenders, seat, chain guard, vehicle stand, glazing, horn, speedometer and odometer, lighting equipment, passenger seat, footrest and highway bars.
Name of Qualified Business Performing Inspection	With the date of inspection, address, city, state, ZIP and telephone.
The inspector's four certifications	That the vehicle was physically in their presence at the time of inspection; that the business completing the inspection is not the same business that reconstructed or repaired the vehicle; that the business is registered with the Secretary of State, in good standing and offers vehicle repair to the public, with proof required; and that the inspection verifies the vehicle meets the minimum equipment standards required by law.
Name and Title of Inspector, Signature, Date	And a class B misdemeanor penalty note for a false statement on the certificate.

What gets this one rejected

•An owner completing the checklist. The form's own header requires it to be completed by an agent of the qualified business conducting the inspection, and all fields must be filled out completely.
•An inspection by the business that did the work. The inspector's second certification is that the business completing the inspection is not the same business that reconstructed or repaired the vehicle - a garage cannot sign off its own rebuild.
•No Secretary of State filing attached. The untitled-vehicle procedure requires a copy of the current North Dakota Secretary of State filing for the inspection facility, obtained from the Secretary of State's own site.
•A VIN inspection expected from this form alone. The note at the head is explicit: a vehicle identification number inspection requires the department's separate VIN inspection certificate to be completed.
•Incomplete or illegible entries. The header says such forms will not be accepted, which on a 120-box checklist is a real risk rather than a formality.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•North Dakota has no periodic inspection at all. There is no annual safety test and no emissions programme anywhere in the state. This certificate exists for five specific situations and an ordinary sale of a titled vehicle is not one of them.
•The garage can say no. The department's own answer to inspection questions is that repair shops are not obligated to provide this service and the law allows them to provide it if they choose. Ring round before you plan a timetable.
•Salvage adds a second signature. Where salvage rebuilt or repaired is the reason, the Repairer Acknowledgment has to be completed by whoever did the work, certifying the frame and wheel alignment conform to the administrative code.
•It travels with the untitled-vehicle package. For a vehicle with no certificate, this is item five on the department's list and the inspection is what turns a description into a verified vehicle.

Every line here was read off SFN 2486 (5-2026) itself — the PDF is here — and off the North Dakota Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Division pages. This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ, theirs governs.

Back to all North Dakota seller paperwork, or what selling a car in North Dakota involves.

How to fill out North Dakota SFN 2486

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Vehicle Owner Name(s) and Telephone Number

Reason for Vehicle Inspection

Year of Manufacture, Make, Model, Body Style

VIN and VIN Location

Name of Qualified Business Performing Inspection

Name and Title of Inspector, Signature and Date

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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