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Tell me if this makes any sense (Alaska vacation idea)

PraireBronze

PraireBronze

Member
I have always wanted to drive to Alaska on a vacation. But there are 2 major problems I have with this idea. I don't relish the idea of making the drive twice (there and back). And I really don't want to put that kind of milage on my car, as it is a lease. So I was thinking... Why not buy a good used vehicle here (Northern CA) and drive it to Alaska on a vacation, and then when we get there, sell it? We could then fly home, or maybe even take a cruise. Does this sound like a good idea? Pros? Cons? Opinions welcome!
 
It may be a better idea to rent one here, and leave it there. Im not sure many people would want your car there. What about fly there, buy a car to drive back in (at a premium probably) and sell it here.

Look what you get for;

8900 there: http://anchorage.craigslist.org/ctd/3338966950.html
13000 : http://anchorage.craigslist.org/cto/3316093446.html
15000: http://anchorage.craigslist.org/cto/3321136272.html
17000; http://anchorage.craigslist.org/ctd/3348359003.html

a turbo shelby
http://anchorage.craigslist.org/cto/3331829373.html
 
I thought about doing it the other way around, but who would want to buy a car from Alaska? It would also make me a bit nervous to drive a car that far, in the middle of nowhere... a car that I have not had a chance to drive much to make sure it doesn't have problems.
 
"lethal289" said:
It may be a better idea to rent one here, and leave it there. Im not sure many people would want your car there. What about fly there, buy a car to drive back in (at a premium probably) and sell it here.
Click to expand...

I've investigated the one-way rental scenario before, and just looked into it again... It's a no go. No rental company will rent a vehicle (other than maybe an RV) one-way to or from Alaska.

What I did find interesting is that you can rent a small SUV for a month for under $2k, if you return it to where you rented it. I didn't see any indication that milage is a factor. Does that sound right? I'm not experienced at renting cars. That would at least solve the problem of putting milage on my leased car.
 
You could also take the ferry one way:

http://www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/

I did this last year, it was a lot of fun. You can get a ferry from Bellingham, WA to Haines, AK or even Whittier. You need to book early to get a spot for your car and even earlier to get a berth, if you don't want to sleep on deck!

Combine this with the Canada ferry if you want to stop in some BC ports:

http://www.bcferries.com/

in 1995, I took the AK ferry from Haines to Prince Rupert, BC, then the BC ferry from PR to Port Hardy, then drove to Nanaimo and took the ferry to Tsawwassen, BC. You can also drive the entire length of Vancouver Island to Victoria and Swartz Bay and take the ferry from there. Very beautiful drive!

Any of this would have only a little duplication of your other direction drive on the Alaska Highway.

Frank
 
"PraireBronze" said:
I've investigated the one-way rental scenario before, and just looked into it again... It's a no go. No rental company will rent a vehicle (other than maybe an RV) one-way to or from Alaska.

What I did find interesting is that you can rent a small SUV for a month for under $2k, if you return it to where you rented it. I didn't see any indication that milage is a factor. Does that sound right? I'm not experienced at renting cars. That would at least solve the problem of putting milage on my leased car.
Click to expand...

back in June, I used my my employer's discount to rent a car for 11 days. I think it was $229 total. I put nearly 5000 miles on the car.
 
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