What sort of car is needed for living in Anchorage, Alaska? Will I need an SUV or will an AWD car suffice?

Question

I'm will be moving here in a year and need to buy a car before the trip. I would like to avoid buying an SUV, but also don't want to get stuck in the snow.

Answer 1

1 with good snow tires

Answer 2

Anchorage is just like any other city in the Lower 48 that gets snow. They have snowplows. There are all sorts of ordinary cars being driven there all year round. Studded tires are a great idea and you won't need them on all the time.  I live in Palmer, AK.

Answer 3

a snowmobile or a dog sled

Answer 4

I've lived and driven all over Alaska.  And spent 10 years as an advanced EMT responding to car accidents.

A small car with front wheel drive and good agressive studded snow tires will do you well in the city.  But you need to drive defensively.  

The problem with small cars - most of the other cars on the road in winter are actually pickup trucks....... and when one of them slides through a red light and t-bones your little car......you leave in an ambulance while the driver of the pickup walks away.  

I have been in Anchorage on 5th ave in the middle of the city with 8" of wet snow on all the roads, no plow trucks in sight.  Most everyone is driving slow and cautious - and WHAM - here comes some idiot in a huge pickup showing off it's 4x4 abilities and flying down a posted 30mph road at 55 mph.  Unfortuanly the idiot did not have 4x4 driving abilities - went right through the intersection and into a building.

When a pick up truck or SUV hits a moose the front end is totalled and the people usually walk away.  When a little car hits a moose it clips the legs off and the move falls in the windshield at 45mph.  The steering wheel usually protects the driver, but the passenger is hit so hard they are dead instantly, their seat bolts shear off, and the seat pins the legs of the person in the back seat.

As much as I would like to drive an energy effecient little car - I do not.  I live outside of Fairbanks now and seen too much bad from little cars.  Our family car is an F-250 Super Duty Cew Cab 4x4.

Answer 5

I live in anchorage...

any car will do...

AWD is nice, but not a must...

Studs would be the way to go...

Buy them from muffler city if your tires are 15" or smaller...

Don't worry about it... you'll do fine...

Answer 6

I live in Anchorage, my first 5 years here I drove a Dodge Intrepid, had to do the studded tires every year which sucked. It's doable though, I now have an SUV & will never go back! They're gas hogs, but it's so much easier & safer to drive in the winter here.

Answer 7

I live in Wasilla, AK, which is 40 miles outside of Anchorage. I have driven vehicles of all kinds and have never been stuck. If you are mostly going to be driving in Anchorage any car as long as it has a decent set of studded tires on it should be fine. Without studded tires even the biggest off-road truck can go sliding through an intersection.

Answer 8

Glacierwolf has it right. I drive a Ford ranger (lite truck) with rear 2 wheel drive. my first winter i drove on summer tires and it SUCKED.  but i did survive.  this winter i got tires and i put weight in the back, and all was good. :D

you see a lot of subaru's around here, and they are hardly ever stuck in snow or broken down.  just drive cautiously, and get auto start and a block heater, and you will be peachy!

Answer 9

I am pretty sure volvos are really good cars for snow. Subarus are also good all wheel drive cars.

http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/vehicle...

It looks like Subarus, Volvos, and Volkswagon made top of the list. Good luck and keep warm!

Answer 10

If you live in a very rural area than a snowmobile or ATV with chains may be the best. However, if you live in an area where you still get plowed than an AWD car or SUV will suffice. Your car should be a heavy one and have excellent tires as they are just as important as the AWD in your future car. I have an Audi S4 (2008) and put some excellent winter tires on and it was pretty much unstoppable in 9" of snow (ice is a different story but then again, unless you have studs, any car will slide). Any 4X4 SUV will work fine but Volvos, Audis and VWs are the best AWD cars.