Moving to Anchorage - Is it cheaper to just sell my car, fly there & buy a used car

[aphrika]

there instead?
Some people recommend diesel trucks as well, why is that?

[RideArt]

I would sell my car and buy a good used deisel pick-up, 4 wheel drive, after I got there. We spent five months in Alaska last year. We didn't purchase big ticket items while there, except a rebuilt deisel engine for our motorhome. Small items were near the same price as the lower 48.

One thing you need to look at has the vehicle been inspected and is it allowed to operate in Anchorage during the Winter? Vehicles that pollute to much get an exemption for summer and must be parked in the winter.

You will want a 4X4 pick-up to get around, plus you can pick-up some extra bucks plowing snow. Your vehicle will need a block heater for Winter usage. You may also want a battery heater. Many people also have remote start installed to get the vehicle warmed up prior to use.

If you decide to keep your old vehicle, you will need to drive the Alaskan Highway. My choice route is I-15 at Sweetgrass, MT for my crossing. Drive North through Calgary to Edmonton, Alberta. Then East to Dawson Creek, the beginning of the Alaskan Highway. Once you arrive in Tok, Alaska you will turn Southwest on the Tok Cut-off to Glennallen, where you will turn onto the Glenn Highway all the way into Anchorage.

Once in Anchorage you can have a block and battery heater installed. There's a shop on the Seward Highway that installs remote starts.

You will want to pick-up a copy of the Milepost magazine for directions, recommadations of where to spend the night, purchase fuel and sight seeing. From Sweetgrass to Anchorage it's: 2320 miles and driving time 5 days, if you want to believe that, I'd say 8 days minumum. When you get your copy of the Milepost, you can plan your trip between motels. Get your copy of the Milepost at www.milepost.com or www.amazon.com

Good luck my wife & I drove this in early May last year and will drive it in mid April next year.

Look at my blog on Yahoo 360 for photos and my views of Alaska.

Deisel trucks get warmed up much faster. Their pulling power is fantastic. If you decide to plow snow, deisel is the way to go. Deisels get much better mileage. Our motorhome weighs in at 23,000 pounds and averaged 11.9 MPG to Anchorage for Florida, and that's over some fairly steep mountains. A gas motorhome couldn't come anywhere near that.

[Wyoming53]

I have a diesel and live in cold weather. A little additive and a smart system and it will start better and run better then a gas engine.

Some people say that you would never want a diesel in cold weather. Well, they haven't owned one. Who delivers your grocery's???? Diesel trucks. So they must be doing something right. hahaha Everything is moved by diesel engines. It's just Northern diesel owners have to do things a little different then Southern diesel owners.

Today, there's tank heaters, blended fuel, line heaters, etc... that diesel will go everywhere.