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I am just wondering what my options would be to move from Pittsburgh, PA to San Diego, CA with a wife and a 80lb rott. We were quoted 1600 for a truck, and a tow trailer for our jeep liberty. We own 2 other cars we plan on selling.
Here are some of the options I came up with.
Athena (our dog) and I can make the trip by ourselves and I can fly my wife out once we get there.
We could put Athena in the towed liberty (doesn't seem safe, and also not sure if that's even legal)
Find a moving truck with a back seat (this seems pretty much impossible)
Have my wife drive one of the other vehicles behind me the entire trip.
What do you guys think of these options? Can you think of others? Trying to spend as little as possible (as is everyone) so I'm not sure what is realistic.
Unless your wife wants to drive with you, I would say the first option. A one way flight isnt going to cost that much and if you found a truck with a back seat you would probably pay more for it anyway. If you want to sell the cars then there would be no point keeping it just to bring across the country. you would spend more money in gas than you would for a plane ticket. Even if it is legal to put the dog in the back how are you going to know if Athena needs something during the drive?
Unless your wife wants to drive with you, I would say the first option. A one way flight isnt going to cost that much and if you found a truck with a back seat you would probably pay more for it anyway. If you want to sell the cars then there would be no point keeping it just to bring across the country. you would spend more money in gas than you would for a plane ticket. Even if it is legal to put the dog in the back how are you going to know if Athena needs something during the drive?
Great point! I'd hate for her to get sick or even die because I was too worried about saving money. She did want to drive (i'm not sure that I would say it's a make or break) because she has not seen any of the states we will be driving through (she hasn't even been out of the tri-state area). Just looking for maybe any more options I may not be thinking of.
I would sell all the cars, and rent a large enough truck to move all your stuff. I don't like doing cross country trips on a personal car because it racks up the miles fast. Especially if it's an old car, that plummets your resale value. Have your wife fly there to start getting the new place set up, and maybe have her buy a car before you get there. Then make the trip with just your rot and the truck.
I would sell all the cars, and rent a large enough truck to move all your stuff. I don't like doing cross country trips on a personal car because it racks up the miles fast. Especially if it's an old car, that plummets your resale value. Have your wife fly there to start getting the new place set up, and maybe have her buy a car before you get there. Then make the trip with just your rot and the truck.
That may not be the best option, Can't really afford the time, I have about 2 weeks to pull this off.
How big of a truck do you need ? Some of the cargo van styles have a door from the cab to the box. People have put a pet carrier inside the door, and then piled furniture, boxes etc around the carrier in the box. Called around to Penske, UHaul etc and ask.
Have you checked out ABF? They drop off and pick up the trailer, deliver it to your destination when you say you are ready for it and then return to pick up when you are done unloading. You are charged by the amount of space you actually use. They will give you a quote based on the size of your current home and then give you a dollar amount you will either be charged if you use another foot or the amount that you will be credited if you use less. The trailers are taller than the usual moving trucks so you can fit a lot in a smaller space.
We have done this twice now, last time moving from MN to CA, and our family of 4 (3 of driving age) drove our 2 vehicles across the country, taking it relatively easy with no more than 7 hours of driving.
Theres always the option of just selling the things you dont need, renting a trailer and towing it with the jeep. that would probably be a more comfortable drive anyway and definitely cheaper, until of course you need to fix something on the jeep if it puts too much wear. Gas for a truck is going to cost a lot so if you can find out the gas mileage and figure out how much you'll spend when all is said and done, it may be more cost effective to rent a Ubox and ship your stuff and just drive the jeep with a little luggage. and that way you are not paying for a plane ticket at all. A big money saver would be to buy a tent and air mattress and not pay for any hotels on the way.
Pittsburgh to San Diego is a very easy drive of slightly more than 2,400 miles, which includes passing through cities such as Indianapolis, St. Louis, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque & Phoenix, so with a two-week window to get this all done, you have some time to see some of the sights, and your wife would love the trip.
A one-way ticket on Southwest is $200.00, give or take $10-$15.
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