Buying a used truck in Alaska: what to check before you hand over cash

A few messages before you drive across town (or up the Parks) weed out most bad trucks.

• Ask for the VIN and run it through a vehicle history report and the free recall lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls. If the seller won’t share the VIN, move on to another truck.
• Ask whether the title is in hand, in their name, and free of liens. If a bank still holds it, you’ll need to sort out the payoff together (more below).
• Ask where it’s lived. A truck that spent ten years in a salt state before coming north can be rustier underneath than its age suggests.
• Ask what cold-weather gear it has: block heater, battery blanket, oil pan or transmission heater, remote start, a second set of wheels with studded or studless winter tires.
• Ask for maintenance records and why they’re selling. Vague answers are fine; shifting stories aren’t.

Compare the asking price with similar trucks in trucks for sale across Alaska, or close to home in Anchorage, the Mat-Su, Fairbanks and the Kenai.

A lot of Alaska’s winter road treatment is sand and gravel rather than salt, especially in the Interior, where it’s often too cold for salt to do much. But some communities and highway crews do use salt or chemical deicers on some roads, and plenty of trucks were driven up from salt country. Don’t assume an Alaska truck is a clean truck. Get underneath it with a flashlight.

• Frame rails, especially around the rear axle, the spring hangers and where the frame steps up over the axle. Surface rust is normal. Flaking layers, holes, or a screwdriver handle that goes soft when you tap are not.
• Brake and fuel lines. Rusted lines are a common and unpleasant surprise, and a brake line failure is the kind you find out about at the worst moment.
• Cab corners, rocker panels and bed supports. Bubbled paint usually means more rust underneath.
• Gravel damage: cracked or chipped windshields, a pitted hood, dents in the oil pan or transfer case, bent skid plates. Gravel roads are hard on trucks, and a crack across the driver’s view is worth fixing before winter.

Cold-start gear matters more here than almost anywhere, and it’s easy to check.

• Block heater: the cord usually hangs out at the grille. Look for cracked insulation, a melted or patched plug, or a cord that’s been tied up because it’s dead. Plug it in for a while and check that it’s warming; a cheap plug-in tester or a clamp meter tells you for sure.
• Battery: find the date sticker and ask how old it is. Ask the seller not to start the truck before you get there, so you hear a true cold start.
• Other heaters: battery blanket, oil pan heater, transmission heater, and whether they’re all wired to the same cord.
• Tires: check tread on all four and ask whether a second set comes with it. Studded tires are only legal during a set winter season, and the dates differ north and south of 60 degrees latitude; the DMV lists the current ones.
• Heat and defrost: run them. A heater that barely warms the cab at freezing won’t keep the windshield clear at twenty below.

• Shift into 4-high and 4-low on gravel or snow, at low speed, and make sure the dash light comes on and the front axle actually pulls. Don’t test 4WD with tight turns on dry pavement; that binds the drivetrain even on a healthy truck.
• Older trucks with manual locking hubs: turn both hubs to lock and make sure they engage. Mismatched or broken hubs are common and cheap to spot.
• Look for leaks at the transfer case and differentials, torn CV boots (grease sprayed inside the front wheels), and clunks from U-joints when you go from drive to reverse.
• Ask if it’s plowed. Plowing is hard on the front end, transmission and cooling system. A plow mount behind the bumper is a clue.

• Listen for knocks, ticks or squeals on the cold start, and watch the exhaust for heavy smoke.
• Brakes should stop straight without pulling or grinding; steering shouldn’t wander or have a lot of play.
• Automatic transmissions should shift smoothly cold and warm. Manuals shouldn’t slip under load.
• Bring a basic OBD-II code reader. They’re inexpensive, and a check-engine light that was cleared that morning can show as “not ready.”
• Check every light, including trailer lights if you’ll tow.

On anything that costs real money, pay a shop for a pre-purchase inspection. They’ll get it on a lift and see things you can’t from a snowbank. A seller with nothing to hide usually agrees. One who won’t let a mechanic look at it has made your decision easier.

• The title should be in the seller’s name. A title signed over by someone who isn’t the person selling it to you (an “open” or “floating” title) is a red flag and can make registering it a headache.
• Match the VIN on the title to the plate on the dash (read it through the windshield) and the sticker in the driver’s door jamb.
• Check for a lienholder on the title. If there is one, you need a lien release from the lender. The cleanest way is to meet at the seller’s bank, pay off the loan there, and leave with the release.
• Know what kind of title it is. A rebuilt or salvage title isn’t always a deal-breaker, but it affects insurance and resale, and the price should reflect it.
• Write a bill of sale with the date, price, VIN, odometer reading, and both names and signatures. Each of you keeps a copy.

The seller signs the title over to you. You take it (plus the lien release, if there was a lien) to the Alaska DMV, or a DMV business partner office where there is one, to title and register the truck in your name and pay the fees. The seller should also tell the DMV the vehicle was sold, so tickets and liability stop following them.

You’ll need insurance before you drive it home. Forms, fees and office hours change, so check the Alaska DMV website at doa.alaska.gov/dmv before you go.

• Don’t hand over money until you’re holding the signed title (and lien release, if needed).
• For large amounts, meet at a bank. A cashier’s check printed in front of the seller, or cash counted by a teller, protects both of you.
• Never pay a deposit to hold a truck you haven’t seen, especially one that’s supposedly being shipped up by a seller who’s out of state.

Ready to look? Browse cars and trucks for sale in Alaska, or tires and wheels and plows for the one you just bought.