Ackislander

Here are some questions that don't have clear answers to me:

Are you planning to keep the truck when you are living in NYC or is this just a drive and sell?

Have you found a place to live in NYC? I don't find driving in the congested parts of NYC to be difficult, though it is often slow, but figuring out what to do with your vehicle when you stop driving is a pain in the tuchus, to use a good NYC expression.

Do you know what it costs to park in NYC? Buy insurance on a truck this size? Do you know that on street parking is not an option many places? Do you know about alternate-side-of-the-street parking? People of moderate incomes that we have known who feel it necessary to have a car (to go away for weekends, for example) have usually found somewhere in Queens or Jersey to park and take public transportation to get to the car when they need it.

The good news is that gas will not be more expensive and may even be pennies cheaper. This is good news since you will use a ton of it.

dfrostnh

The Rodeo is like an SUV. It might drive like a truck (I drive a Durango which is an SUV on a Dodge Dakota base) but it might still be easier for someone to drive who is not used to a large vehicle. The OP might want to check how the seats feel. DH drives a pickup and prefers the upright/alert feel. Some seats aren't comfortable. I do prefer the way our DIL's Dodge minivan handles. It has good visibility, seats are comfortable, and you are lower to the ground. A Grand Caravan can probably hold as much as a Rodeo - I think it can hold more than my Durango.
You might also want to check how much tread is left on tires and the cost of replacement.
I don't think a quad cab without 4 wheel drive will sell. Most pickups of any size in our area (New England) are 4x4. Does it have 4 wheel drive?

The good news, we've been happy with Dodge products. My Durango is about to turn 180,000 miles and we've never had any serious problems. DH thins the engine and tranny are still good.

Having spent 2 days in the back seat of a Jeep Cherokee packed for a move, I vote fly.

Gretchen

Tom, it's good that Sarah was on top of the UHaul rental info!!
As for the length of the trip, be thinking about how to secure your cargo in an open (I assume) truck. The cross country trip can really be done in less time than that, if you had to, and didn't want to sightsee.
And I think the truck is a better choice since you know the owners--and trucks are really built to last longer.
Ack, I "think" I read they are moving to near NYC--they aren't keeping the truck per her first post.

sarahlambart

We don't have a place to stay in NY but my new appointment is close to Northvale (NJ). So our plan is to find an first apartment around there that, I asume, is cheaper. We plan to keep the truck during the first month and sell it after.

nytraveler

Northvale is very far north in NJ - right near the NYS line. You will probably want to live in Jersey if possible (have no idea what that area is like) since taxes are lower than NY. But - many of these areas are primarily either houses or townhouses - don;t know about apts.

Ackislander

So you aren't really moving to NYC? You are moving to Jersey.

It makes a HUGE difference. It is real suburban up there, Leave It to Beaver Land, but you can go deer or bear hunting within no time at all, so you may well need the pickup!

janisj

Curious -did you think Northvale is in/very near NYC?

If it was me, I'd pick which of the 2 vehicles (or another one) that you'd be happy keeping.

sarahlambart

@Janisj: Not sure that I undersand the question but yes, I think that Northvale is very close to NYC.
What we want to do is to find a first housing close to nothvale because it's cheaper and we also assume that will be easier to quickly find an apartment in this area than in the city. and so during this time, we will perhaps keep the car, but in the future (next January or February), we plan to move in NYC because I have an appointment for 2 years and we want to know how is it to live in NYC. But if you are thinking about the ride from NYC to Northvale, my company provide a shuttle service.

nytraveler

No North vale is at least an hour from NYC. Not sure what ways there are to commute - train or express bus. Might be longer based on exactly where you are versus the transit options. I worked with a young man who lived slightly north of there - across the NY border and it took him about 1:15 on the express bus each way. But then it depends on where your offic ein the city is relation to the bus stops in the city (they only make a couple).

It's not an area I know - perhaps someone familiar with commuting from the farthest northern part of NJ has more info.

If you can give us an idea of where you will work in the city (adders or cross section) people can reco best places to live to commute. (For instance if you work downtown in the financial district - Brooklyn is often a convenient commute.)

nytraveler

Sorry - missed the shuttle bus. That makes it sound like the office is someplace out of the way - since this is not something that employer's usually provide.

And I know it's none of my business- but I hope you negotiated a salary commensurate with the cost of living in the NY metro area.

sarahlambart

I'm sorry, my previous post was not clear.
My office will be in northvale. So for the frist few months, I want an apartment close to my office because it's convenient and probably cheaper.
But, after that, we want to move in the city because we'll be there for a couple of years only and that would be cool to live in the city during this time. The shuttle (express bus) starts close to the morning side campus so I was thinking to look for an apartment in this location.

nyer

So when you say Morningside campus I assume you mean Columbia University. The shuttles that universities run to their off site locations (Lamont? which is actually just over the border in NY State, not NJ)are usually pretty reliable. After living near there for a while you'll have to decide how you feel about switching to that kind of commute. I did a reverse commute NYC to north Jersey for a while and I felt a little stuck being at work without a car in an area where nothing is walking distance. Good luck with you move.

nyer

So when you say Morningside campus I assume you mean Columbia University. The shuttles that universities run to their off site locations (Lamont? which is actually just over the border in NY State, not NJ)are usually pretty reliable. After living near there for a while you'll have to decide how you feel about switching to that kind of commute. I did a reverse commute NYC to north Jersey for a while and I felt a little stuck being at work without a car in an area where nothing is walking distance. Good luck with your move.

sarahlambart

Thank you for all your advices. That's help me a lot!

nytraveler

Well Moringside Heights is a nice - and expensive area - to live in. If you take a university shuttle back and forth you will find yourself in the boonies with no means of getting around,

And keeping a car in the city is an issue. In my neighborhood - not so far south of there, a space in a public garage is about $600 per month. And street parking is very tricky due to the need to move the car several times a week - usually in the middle of the day - for street cleaning. It can be done - but it quite time-consuming. But if you have a large vehicle (larger than a basic sedan) finding a space on the street can be very difficult.

Ackislander

I'm pretty sure you can commute to or from Manhattan by bus, train (on either side of the Hudson since you are very close to the Tappan Zee Bridge) and by a ferry-train combination when the river is not frozen.

I wish you well but this has been one of the most confusing posts I have read in along time. If you had first looked at a map of the area and then told us what you finally told us at the end, we could have given you better answers and saved a lot of bandwidth.

Good luck in the move and whatever you will be doing in NYC or New Jersey!!

sarahlambart

Yes I know, I'm sorry, but it's a very new situation so it's a bit confusing for us too...
Thanks for your help!

aimee2013

I Agree with Susan M. My son had an Isuzu Rodeo 2002 and those cars are worthless, a couple of months after he bought it he had to replace the transmission, then replaced the radiator and a ton more problems came after that one behind the other. My advice stay as far away as you can from Isuzu Rodeos

sarahlambart

We took our decision:
(1) we are going to buy the dodge
(2) we'll move to a place close to Northrvale for the few frist months
(3) we'll move to NYC and see what we can do with the car:
(a) if I can park it at my office (in Nothvale) for free, perhaps we'll keep it
(b) if not, we'll sell it and rent a car occasionally for the weekend.

Thanks everybody for your answers

Ackislander

sarah, you've got an excellent plan!