Wheel ScoutWhat an Alaska plate lookup shows
A license plate points to one car. We turn the Alaska plate into the car's 17-character VIN, show you the year, make and model, then read its history: salvage, flood and rebuilt brands, title history by state, odometer readings and theft records. You also see the factory specs and the safety recalls for that model year before you pay. What it never shows is the owner: the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act keeps names and addresses in DMV records private, and we don't sell them.
What an Alaska plate looks like
Alaska requires one plate, on the rear of most vehicles, passenger cars included, with a current month and year tab. Commercial vehicles over 10,001 pounds carry it on the front instead. A car with no front plate is normal here. Type the plate without spaces; we find the car.
The general-issue choices on the DMV's plate page are the blue-and-gold Standard Gold plate and the Grizzly Bear plate, both included in the registration fee at no extra cost when a car is first registered in Alaska, and the Celebrating the Arts plate, which costs $3. Replacing a lost or damaged standard plate is $5.
The big difference from most states: the plate stays with the car. The DMV's fee rules say that when a vehicle registered in Alaska is sold, the registration transfers to the new owner, even an expired one, and a plate that is not personalized or special issue stays on the vehicle. Only personalized and specialty plates come off with the seller, and the buyer is issued a plain plate in their place at no added charge. So the plate you look up is usually the plate that will stay on the car after you buy it.
Two exceptions catch buyers. If the seller registered the car under an exemption, such as the senior exemption for an owner 65 or older, that registration does not pass to you and you pay full registration. And if the car is being moved from non-commercial to commercial use, the old registration ends.
Alaska title brands: what the lookup can show
Alaska brands a title when a car has been totaled, junked or rebuilt. Our $5 report reads the NMVTIS record, the same national title database the Alaska DMV points buyers to on its own new-vehicle page, along with the National Insurance Crime Bureau's check for cars reported stolen and not recovered.
| Junk | When an insurer settles a total-loss claim on a car that cannot be repaired, Alaska's rule has it mark the word "junk" on the face of the title and surrender the title to the DMV. A car with a current Junk brand that has not been reconstructed cannot be registered. |
|---|---|
| Salvage title | Since August 1, 2025, Alaska can issue a Salvage title as a stronger ownership document for a car that carries a Junk brand and has not yet been reconstructed. It prints SALVAGE across the top, costs $15, and is applied for on form 857. The car still must get a reconstructed title before it can be registered. |
| Reconstructed | A vehicle materially altered by removing, adding or substituting essential parts: the chassis or frame, the body and the engine. Replacing only the engine does not make a car reconstructed. The owner who paid for the work files the notarized Reconstructed Vehicle Affidavit (form 829) with the title application, the original titles of every vehicle the parts came from, and the bills of sale and invoices for the major parts. A DMV representative or law enforcement officer must inspect the car and complete the Verification of Vehicle Inspection (form 811); that inspection is done at a state DMV office at no charge. The owner also signs that the lights, brakes, belts, glass, airbags, tires and the rest of the required equipment work. |
| Parts only | For a car so damaged, wrecked or burned, the DMV gives flood damage as its example, that it is only worth parts or scrap metal. |
| Out-of-state brands | A car titled elsewhere follows Alaska's new-vehicle procedure, and the brand history on its old title and in NMVTIS travels with it. |
A car that came to Alaska with a title from another state carries that state's records in NMVTIS. The report shows every state that has titled the car, which is often the only way to see where it lived before.
What an Alaska title transfer costs
The buyer pays the DMV when putting the car in their name. Amounts are from the Alaska DMV's fee pages and its 2024 fee and tax chart; use the DMV's online calculator for your exact total.
| Title fee | $15. |
|---|---|
| Lien recording | $15 more if you are financing and a lien goes on the title. |
| Registration | Usually nothing extra on a sale, because the seller's registration and plate transfer with the car. If it has expired, a passenger car, pickup or van is $100 for two years. When registration has been expired less than 12 months, the fee is charged from the old expiration month, even though the lapse was not your doing. |
| Motor Vehicle Registration Tax (MVRT) | A local tax set by the city or borough you live in, collected by the DMV with the registration. Not every area charges it. It is based on the car's age and drops to its lowest level once the car is 8 years old. On the 2024 chart, Anchorage and the Mat-Su Borough charged $150 for two years on the newest cars down to $70 for the oldest. The MVRT is not collected again when the car changes owners during a registration period. |
| Plate transfer | $5 if you move your own personalized or specialty plate onto the car you bought. Standard plates cannot be moved to another car. |
| Trip permit | $5 at a DMV office, with proof of your interest in the car. One permit covers a single trip of up to 20 days on a non-commercial vehicle, three per vehicle at most. |
| In-person renewal | A $10 extra fee if you renew at a counter instead of online or by mail. A renewal done as part of the ownership transfer is not charged this fee. |
The DMV's fee chart has no sales tax line. If you are 65 or older, a disabled veteran or qualify for another exemption, ask the DMV about it at the transfer; those exemptions let you register one vehicle permanently with no registration fee or local tax.
Alaska forms and deadlines
| Buyer's deadline | Alaska law requires you to apply for a title in your name within 30 days of buying the car. |
|---|---|
| The title is the transfer | A bill of sale does not transfer ownership in Alaska. The seller signs the assignment on the original title and hands it to you at delivery. If owners are joined by AND, all of them sign; with OR, one signature is enough. Leave no blank spaces: the DMV says federal law bars it from transferring a title with an incomplete assignment. |
| Form V1 | The Vehicle Transaction Application, signed in ink by you, with your full mailing and residence address. |
| Odometer | Required on the title for most vehicles less than 20 years old. If the reading is not on the title, the seller fills out form V6, or the odometer is recorded as UNKNOWN. The DMV's advice is short: do not guess, because it cannot be changed later. |
| Lien release | If a lender is shown and the loan is paid, bring the lender's release. A paid-in-full statement is not accepted. |
| Seller's Notice of Vehicle Sale | The tear-off at the bottom of the title, which the seller sends to the DMV as soon as possible, or records the sale online. Until the transfer is done the DMV will not renew the car's registration. |
| Bill of sale | Not required, but the DMV recommends one as proof of the sale date, with the VIN, a description, both printed names, the date and both signatures. |
| Lost title | The owner on the DMV's record applies for a duplicate before the sale. If another state issued the title, the duplicate comes from that state. |
Titling by mail. If you are far from a DMV office, the DMV takes title work by mail at its Anchorage headquarters (4001 Ingra Street, Suite 101, Attn: Correspondence). Send the released title, the V1, a V6 if needed, any lien release, a check or money order (never cash) and a phone number or email. The DMV says to allow about two months, and suggests certified mail with tracking.
Inspections in Alaska
Alaska has no safety inspection for a used car changing hands, and neither the DMV's registration nor its title pages list one. The emissions programs are gone too: the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation lists the Fairbanks North Star Borough program as suspended January 1, 2010 and the Municipality of Anchorage program as suspended March 3, 2012. The only inspections a typical buyer meets are the VIN check on form 811 for a reconstructed car, and the DMV's rule that a vehicle built after 1981 must meet federal safety standards to be titled at all.
So the checking is yours. Run the plate here for the title, odometer and theft history, then have a shop you choose look at the frame, brakes and underside.
One more thing that looks like an inspection but is not: the permanent Z tab. In unorganized boroughs and in organized boroughs that opted in, including Fairbanks North Star, Mat-Su, Kenai Peninsula and Sitka, a car 8 years old or older can be registered permanently for a one-time $25. A Z tab only means the registration never expires. It says nothing about the car's condition, and if you want to keep it permanent after you buy it, you pay the $25 again plus the regular registration fees and taxes.
Before you meet an Alaska seller
- Run the plate or the VIN here first, before the deposit. Then match the year, make, model and trim to the car in front of you.
- Match the VIN on the dashboard, the driver door sticker and the title.
- Match the name on the title to the seller's ID, and check AND or OR between the owners' names so you know whose signatures you need.
- Check the registration. The plate and registration usually stay with the car, so ask when it expires. A lapsed registration is charged from its old expiration month.
- Ask whether the seller had an exemption. A senior or disabled-veteran registration does not transfer, so you will pay full registration and any local tax.
- Personalized plate? The seller keeps it and you get a plain plate at the transfer.
- Get the odometer reading on the title. No guesses, no blanks.
- Leave with the title in hand, signed and complete. A bill of sale alone does not make you the owner in Alaska.
- Plan the 30 days. If you are far from a DMV office, mail the paperwork early; processing by mail can take two months.
Where these Alaska facts come from
Read on the state's own pages on October 31, 2026. Fees and rules change; the county tax office has the final word on the day you file.
- Alaska DMV: selling a vehicle in Alaska
- Alaska DMV: new vehicle title and registration
- Alaska DMV: license plates
- Alaska DMV: registration fees and MVRT chart (2024)
- Alaska DMV: salvage vehicle titles
- Alaska DMV: reconstructed or homebuilt vehicles
- Alaska DMV: Reconstructed Vehicle Affidavit (form 829)
- Alaska DMV: mailed-in title procedures
- Alaska DMV: trip permit
- Alaska DMV: permanent registration for trailers and older vehicles
- Alaska Administrative Code 2 AAC 92.170 and 92.190: junk and salvage titles
- Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation: vehicle emissions
Look up a plate from another state
The reports
Works for Alaska plates and every other state. You see the car before you pay.
Basic history report
By VIN or license plate · official NMVTIS record · shows right away
- Salvage, junk, flood and rebuilt title brands
- Title history by state, with dates
- Odometer readings and rollback flags
- Total-loss records from insurers
- Theft check
- Market value for the car
Full vehicle history report
By VIN or license plate · Not instant: emailed or texted to you within two hours
- Every owner, how they used it (personal, lease, rental or fleet) and where
- Accidents and damage reports
- Title brands: salvage, junk, rebuilt, flood, fire, hail, lemon
- Odometer readings over time, checked for rollbacks
- Service and maintenance history
- Open recalls and common owner complaints for the model
Alaska license plate lookup questions
How do I look up an Alaska license plate?
Type the plate above with Alaska selected. We turn it into the car's VIN and show the year, make and model at no charge, then the $5 report shows its title brands, odometer readings, total-loss records and theft check from the NMVTIS record, the national title database the Alaska DMV itself points buyers to.
How much does it cost to transfer a car title in Alaska?
The title fee is $15, plus $15 if a lien is recorded. The seller's registration and standard plate usually transfer with the car, so on a current registration there is often nothing more to pay. If the registration has lapsed, a passenger car is $100 for two years, plus the local Motor Vehicle Registration Tax where your city or borough charges one.
What is the Motor Vehicle Registration Tax?
A local tax set by the municipality or borough you live in and collected by the DMV with registration. Not every area has one. It is based on the car's age and is lowest once the car is 8 years old, and it is not charged again when a car changes owners during a registration period.
Does Alaska require a vehicle inspection?
No safety inspection, and no emissions test: the Fairbanks program was suspended in 2010 and Anchorage's in 2012. The DMV only inspects a car for identity, on form 811, when it has been reconstructed, and that inspection is done at a state DMV office at no charge.
Can a junk or salvage car be registered in Alaska?
Not as it is. A car with a current Junk brand, or a Salvage title, must be reconstructed and retitled first: a notarized form 829 affidavit, the donor vehicles' titles and parts receipts, and an inspection by a DMV representative or law enforcement officer on form 811.
Do plates stay with the car when you sell it in Alaska?
Yes, standard plates do. The registration transfers to the buyer, even if it has expired, and the plain-issue plate stays on the car. Personalized and specialty plates are the exception: the seller keeps them and the buyer gets a standard plate at the transfer.
Can I find the owner of an Alaska plate?
No. The federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act keeps owners' names and addresses in Alaska DMV records private, and no legitimate plate lookup shows them. You see the car, not the person.
Who runs vehicle titles in Alaska?
The State of Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles, part of the Department of Administration. It handles title work at DMV and partner offices and by mail at its Anchorage headquarters for buyers far from a counter.
More ways to check a car
Find the deal, then check it.
Wheel Scout alerts you the moment an underpriced car posts on Marketplace, OfferUp or Craigslist near you, and runs the history right in the app.
The basic history report uses NMVTIS data from an approved NMVTIS data provider. NMVTIS records come from states, insurers and salvage yards; not every event is reported to it. Vehicle specs and recalls come from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Wheel Scout is not affiliated with any marketplace or government agency. Wheel Scout is not affiliated with the State of Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV).