Vehicle Type (Anchorage, Wasilla: for sale, house, to buy)

[ShipOfFools42]

Originally Posted by NOTAM

i know, totally overkill, but i love my jacked up truck!! matter of fact, sometimes i wish it was more than an 8 inch lift! i get jealous when i see trucks lifted higher. (p.s. i am a 47 year old woman ha ha...not a kid...but i guess i still aint grown up!) oh, and my truck is a full-sized long bed mega cab truck. i dont know what my mileage is-scared to find out...i drive 2 hours a day 5 days a week for work, and all i know is that it costs me over $100/week for gas.

Yeah, I would imagine so. That's why I drive my Honda: 35+ mpg. I drive 45 miles round trip daily at the very minimum just to get to town and back, and I can last a whole week on roughly $25. And it's front-wheel-drive, so it does just fine in the snow and ice. I'm thinking about trading it in for something like a Nissan Frontier or Toyota Tacoma or possibly a Jeep of some kind (because Jeeps are so easy to work on). I've just traded in vehicles so much that I don't have a whole lot of value left in my Honda.

Seems as though I would much rather drive my Honda in Anchorage in the winter than a truck with an 8-inch lift.

[naturesdreams]

oh looking at trucks myself... don't like the gas mileage at all. My subaru gets 25-28 miles per gallon and getting maybe 15 in the truck is a big difference in fuel consumption... of couse a 4 cylinder versus 8 there are advantages to the 8 for sure... I'm looking at the truck as a work horse and serving more then one purpose... that is where I see the value for sure. Can't haul the lumber, firewood, plow with the Subaru... Got those plans laid out yet Notam?? Want to see you at the CD get together this coming summer now

[tigre79]

Keep your Subie for a daily driver and get a cheap 1/2 or 3/4 ton pickup for hauling stuff. You'll save money on gas and not beat up your primary vehicle.

[ShipOfFools42]

So tigre, you think the same holds true for a front-wheel-drive Honda? Keep it and buy a truck when possible, so that way I have something with good gas mileage for a daily driver, or try to go out and trade this Honda in on a truck, and use the truck as a daily driver? I'm leaning toward the first one, but I'm not 100% sure.

[tigre79]

Most places you'll be fine in a car. And if you decide you want a truck full-time you won't have much trouble selling it. We've thought about going the other way, and getting a cheap little car so my guy can save money on gas when he doesn't need to drive his big truck.

[NOTAM]

no definite plans or reservations for my second summer fishing trip to AK. when is the CD GTG scheduled for? i am thinking about staying at Seward Military Resort, since it is so cheap. Plus to see something different than Homer, Valdez.....
anyone have any thoughts on Seward?
oh and where is the GTG going to be?

Originally Posted by naturesdreams

oh looking at trucks myself... don't like the gas mileage at all. My subaru gets 25-28 miles per gallon and getting maybe 15 in the truck is a big difference in fuel consumption... of couse a 4 cylinder versus 8 there are advantages to the 8 for sure... I'm looking at the truck as a work horse and serving more then one purpose... that is where I see the value for sure. Can't haul the lumber, firewood, plow with the Subaru... Got those plans laid out yet Notam?? Want to see you at the CD get together this coming summer now

[ShipOfFools42]

Originally Posted by tigre79

Most places you'll be fine in a car. And if you decide you want a truck full-time you won't have much trouble selling it. We've thought about going the other way, and getting a cheap little car so my guy can save money on gas when he doesn't need to drive his big truck.

Yeah, I figured as much; really the main thing I want the 4x4 for is to go to people's houses and other places that are difficult to access without a 4x4 or at least something with some ground clearance. Methinks the ground clearance might end up being the biggest issue, especially if I end up in a town like Valdez where the snow really deep. Do you mean I won't have trouble selling the car? Are Honda Accord-type cars in high demand up there or what? Kinda sucks though; my car is a 2006 with 98k miles on it and it's only worth $7000. What a gyp.

[Moose Whisperer]

Originally Posted by ShipOfFools42

Yeah, I figured as much; really the main thing I want the 4x4 for is to go to people's houses and other places that are difficult to access without a 4x4 or at least something with some ground clearance. Methinks the ground clearance might end up being the biggest issue, especially if I end up in a town like Valdez where the snow really deep.

Actually, it's probably the exact opposite. The biggest part of getting around on snow/ice is all wheel traction. Non-driven wheels act like anchors in the snow and rob the vehicle of any remaining traction real fast. Ground clearance might be useful for clearing rocks, but most of Alaska, particularly Valdez has excellent snow removal services so clearance is rarely the limiting factor.

[tigre79]

Originally Posted by Moose Whisperer

Ground clearance might be useful for clearing rocks, but most of Alaska, particularly Valdez has excellent snow removal services so clearance is rarely the limiting factor.

We have good snow removal relative to the amount of snow. The state boys do a great job on the Richardson, but Dayville Road can get pretty crazy. And the city doesn't get seem to get worked up enough to plow residential streets until there's at least six inches on them. Then they come by and rattle your windows at 5am and you hope it's someone smart enough not to leave a big berm in front of your driveway. But plenty of people drive little cars here. You can just get away with being lazier about plowing your driveway with better ground clearance. If you have a beater pickup you can take it to work when it's really nuts out there, and worry about digging the car out later, plus you'll have something you can take down the back roads that cars can't get down, and you won't care if you beat the tar out of it in the process.

[ShipOfFools42]

Originally Posted by tigre79

We have good snow removal relative to the amount of snow. The state boys do a great job on the Richardson, but Dayville Road can get pretty crazy. And the city doesn't get seem to get worked up enough to plow residential streets until there's at least six inches on them. Then they come by and rattle your windows at 5am and you hope it's someone smart enough not to leave a big berm in front of your driveway. But plenty of people drive little cars here. You can just get away with being lazier about plowing your driveway with better ground clearance. If you have a beater pickup you can take it to work when it's really nuts out there, and worry about digging the car out later, plus you'll have something you can take down the back roads that cars can't get down, and you won't care if you beat the tar out of it in the process.

Spot on with this. I mean, I can't speak for the Valdez stuff, but I believe you, and you're dead on with the stuff about the truck. That's why I'm thinking my best plan would be to just hang onto the Honda and then when I can afford it, buy a beater truck. Because really, I don't want a beater truck for a daily driver, so it makes more sense to just have both. Because for the money it would cost to get a decent-to-nice truck, you could have a solid Honda a beater truck strictly for truck purposes. Save money on gas that way too; I can drive 6.5 hours on $35-40, and I want to still be able to do that while also having a truck when it's needed. I'm sure I can find a decent beater diesel for pretty cheap.

Also, based on past experience, front-wheel-drive sedans (especially with a stick shift like I've got) do just fine in the snow unless it's just really awful out there, so I think I can get away with this plan. I'm sure plenty of people drive regular cars unless they're way out in the bush somewhere.