Cars For Alaska (Anchorage, Whittier: house, buying, price)

[Sava_baby]

We are moving to Anchorage in September/August and my husband made the decision to trade in his Mustang for a Dodge 4 W truck, just because we had quite a lot of snow here, for it being Oklahoma, and he came pretty close to being stuck a few times due to the car being so low to the ground... He is used to driving in snow, though, he simply thought it would be safer.
I drive an 05 Neon right now and we haven't made up our minds about my car yet. LOL. It's the only car I have ever driven and I've only had my license for about 2 years, so no real snow driving experience for me :-) I am a little worried, I think we will just get me a baby truck ( that's what I call the Rangers, e.g. ) or a 4 w SUV. But anyways, my question is: Do they offer winter driving classes maybe? I've been thinking that would be a great investment if offered, I rather be safe than sorry....

[AADAD]

Originally Posted by Sava_baby

We are moving to Do they offer winter driving classes maybe? I've been thinking that would be a great investment if offered, I rather be safe than sorry....

Good question. I don't know the answer. like many we just learned from experience I think. Perhaps google anchorage driving schools and see what you get ?

[warptman]

Yes there is a place to learn that and all other defensive driving classes.

AA Driver's Ed - Winter Driving Course (http://www.aadriversed.com/Winter%20Driving%20Course.htm - broken link)

[Sava_baby]

Thank you so much for that link :-) I'll be sure to check them out once I get there, I will have a few weeks to orientate myself there before the snow comes!

[stiffnecked]

If your moving to Anchorage just slap a set of studded tires on that Neon in the winter. It's front wheel drive and they do keep the streets plowed and cleared unlike in Oklahoma.

[rarrazz]

Originally Posted by Sava_baby

I drive an 05 Neon right now and we haven't made up our minds about my car yet. LOL.

But anyways, my question is: Do they offer winter driving classes maybe? I've been thinking that would be a great investment if offered, I rather be safe than sorry....

As far as your Neon goes.. keep it, it's perfectly fine for the winter here..

Best thing I can say as far as getting used to winter driving is practice.. Just go out and do it.. if you don't want to first go out and do it on the highway.. go into a parking lot and purposely spin out, try to recover.. see what your car does when you hit the gas while your turning tightly.. Test different situations you can think of.

[AADAD]

Last two days the only thing thats not slipping are the tanks at Fort Rich. really slick in Anchorage proper. Any downhill is like a skate rink. Try Cordova below 15th if you want a thrill

[stiffnecked]

And get good tires. I almost made it through the winter with my summer tires on my truck. Then yesterday, at only 20 mph, I found myself going sideways down the Glenn Highway. This morning I got the winter tires put on. I guess the laziness started to catch up with me. I got lucky as I saw quite a few ditch divers yesterday morning on the way into Anchorage.

[bongo]

I wanted to yell to people spinning & sliding sideways over toward me Thursday afternoon rush hour on Northern Lights "Get new tires!"

As for my Alaska vehicle, it's my 23 year old Toyota Landcruiser with 4X4 & studs.

[wendybird77]

We may be moving to Anchorage around April-May. We have an 05 Nissan Frontier and 07 Nissan Altima. We live in Idaho and they work for us. One thing I read from a previous thread was the need for block heaters. Is that true for Anchorage?