Car registration and inspection in the Cayman Islands

The short answer

• Every car on the road needs two things from DVDL: a vehicle licence (what most people call registration) and a certificate of roadworthiness from an inspection.
• How often you inspect depends on the car's age: every year for a car over ten years old, up to every three years for a younger car, and up to five years for a brand-new car never registered anywhere.
• A private car up to 2,500cc costs CI$180 a year for a Caymanian and CI$200 for a non-Caymanian since 1 September 2026, plus an inspection fee that depends on the certificate length (CI$35 for 14 months).
• You can renew online in the last month before expiry, if your inspection certificate has at least 90 days left.
• Letting it lapse costs more: you pay fees for the whole gap, and driving an unlicensed or uninspected car is an offence.

When your car needs inspecting

The Traffic Act says to bring the car for inspection in the month before the licence is due for renewal. How long the certificate lasts, and so how long you can license the car for, depends on its age:

Within those limits you can license for 3, 6, 12, 24, 36 or 60 months, in any combination that fits inside the certificate. After the certificate expires, the car may be driven only to an inspection.

What the inspection checks

It is a safety check: lights, brakes, steering, tyres, glass, wipers, mirrors, horn, exhaust and bodywork. The inspector may take the car for a short road test. The most common things to fix first:

• Lights: all working and clean, including indicators and the number-plate light; headlights aimed to the left.
• Brakes: must stop the car within 50 feet from 25 mph.
• Tyres, spare included: at least 1 mm of tread across 75% of the width, with no bulges, cuts or bald spots.
• Window tint: front side windows must let through at least 35% of light, and any added rear tint 15% or more. The windscreen must be clear except a top strip of up to six inches. A medical exemption needs a Cayman doctor's letter and a DVDL tint letter.
• Glass, wipers and leaks: no cracked windows, working wiper blades, and no exhaust, fuel or fluid leaks.

A pass gets a certificate of roadworthiness; a fail gets a certificate of defects listing what to fix before you come back for another inspection.

Where to get your car inspected

• DVDL Crewe Road, #990 Crewe Road, George Town: inspections Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 8am to 4pm. None on Wednesdays.
• DVDL Breakers, South Coast Plaza, Bodden Town Road: Tuesday to Friday, 10am to 3pm and 4pm to 6pm; Saturday, 9am to 3pm.
• An approved private garage, which doesn't charge for the inspection. DVDL's list has these 20; all with an address are in George Town except Andy's Auto (Fountain Road, West Bay). Call ahead to ask about appointments, bring your log book and insurance, then license it online or at DVDL.

• G.T. Automotive
• Prestige Motors
• Excite Motors
• Precision Tech
• Tony's Toys
• Car City Service
• AA Auto Place
• Cool Runnings
• Cayman Custom Cycles
• Andy's Auto
• Vampt Motors
• Euro Car
• Superior Auto
• Arch Automotive
• Performance Auto
• General Automotive
• Driven Automotive
• Trac Automotive
• Cars Limited
• Automotive Art

On Cayman Brac, inspections are at the District Administration Building on Kirkconnell Street, weekdays from 8:30am to 5pm (948-2222). On Little Cayman, DVDL visits the District Administration Building every other Thursday, 9am to 2:30pm, for licensing and inspections. Call 948-1051 to check the next date. Every office closes on public holidays. Questions: 945-8344, option 1.

Vehicle licence fees for 2026

From 1 September 2026 the private car licence has two rates, one for Caymanians and one for everyone else. A spouse or civil partner of a Caymanian pays the Caymanian rate. The government's 31 August cut to non-Caymanian fees covered driving licences only; car licence fees kept the July figures and inspection fees did not change.

• Inspection: the fee depends on the certificate length. For a car it is CI$35 for 14 months, CI$70 for 26, CI$105 for 38 and CI$175 for 62 (Traffic Regulations, regulation 27(4)).
• Motorcycles (one rate for everyone): CI$100 a year up to 50cc, CI$125 up to 125cc, CI$200 above.
• Private trucks by gross weight: CI$250 a year up to 4,000 lb, CI$400 up to 8,500 lb, CI$500 up to 14,000 lb.
• Electric cars pay by category, seats, weight or power equivalent, as DVDL decides; see the EV guide.
• Other fees: plates CI$75 a set, personalised plates CI$500, duplicate log book CI$50, transfer of ownership CI$25, adding or removing a bank lien CI$25.
• Discounts: Cayman Brac and Little Cayman fees are 75% of Grand Cayman's. Owners aged 65 or over pay half the registration and licence fee and 33% less for plates; DVDL says customers aged 65 and over "are eligible for the reduced fee, including non-Caymanian senior citizens". Bring valid ID. A disabled driver can license one car free, though plates and inspection are still charged.

How to renew

Online, on the DVDL portal. "Guest" access renews a vehicle without an account (companies use this); a registered account also renews your driving licence. The portal only opens in the last month before expiry and only if 90 days or more remain on the inspection certificate. Upload your insurance, pay by card, and DVDL emails the documents within about 72 hours. You can drive once you have applied: keep the emailed receipt in the car. DVDL also sends SMS reminders before your licence expires.

In person, at any DVDL office, bring:

• your log book (the Certificate of Vehicle Licence and Roadworthiness), signed in the renewal section on page one;
• proof of insurance: cover note, certificate or policy. It must be valid on the day, but needn't run for the whole licence period;
• your certificate of roadworthiness, if the inspection was due;
• if DVDL can't confirm electronically that you qualify for the Caymanian rate, proof of status, such as a voter's card. See our driving licence fees analysis for the full list.

Cars with the white plates carry an electronic windscreen tag that lasts at least five years, so it isn't replaced at each renewal. Older yellow and orange plates still get a paper coupon.

If your registration has expired

• Back fees: when you renew, you pay for the whole period since the old licence ran out, not from the day you renew.
• Unlicensed car: using or keeping one on the road is an offence. A court can add a penalty of three times the fees owed since expiry, and police can issue a CI$100 ticket.
• Uninspected car: a fine of up to CI$600 or six months in prison, endorsed on your driving record.
• No insurance: a fine of up to CI$2,000 and three months in prison, plus a 12-month driving ban unless the court finds special reasons; see our analysis of uninsured driving cases.
• Off the road for more than three months? Suspend the licence instead of letting it lapse. It's free, lasts up to ten years, stops back fees building up, and refunds each full quarter left on a licence of a year or more. You keep the plates and hand in the log book.

Buying or selling a used car

• Within 14 days of the sale, DVDL must be told. Not doing so carries a fine of up to CI$400 or three months in prison.
• Paperwork: seller and buyer sign section C of the log book, or the transfer form (T.R. 5 and 6), in front of a notary, a JP or DVDL staff. The fee is CI$25.
• Clear the debts first: DVDL won't record the transfer while the registered owner owes licence fees or traffic fines. If the car was financed, the lender's Notice of Lien Removal is needed too.
• Buyers: ask to see the log book to check the seller is the owner, and arrange insurance before the transfer. When buying from a company, the signer must be authorised and the company must show its annual return.

For what used cars sell for, see the car cost index, and for the island's most common car, the Honda Fit guide.

Registering an imported car

• The eight-year rule: importing a vehicle whose model year is eight years or older is banned, except exhibition vehicles (classic, vintage and kit cars), vehicles not built for roads, and construction and heavy vehicles. DVDL can't register a car brought in against the ban.
• From the port, the car must go straight to an inspector, a garage, a licensed dealer, or home first and then straight to an inspector. It can't be used on the road until it passes.
• To register, take the Application to Register a Vehicle (form T.R. 3, from the inspector), your insurance and the certificate of roadworthiness to a licensing officer. You get plates (CI$75), the windscreen tag and a log book. The owner must be at least 17.
• Duty is paid to Customs before this; see the import duty guide.

Frequently asked questions