Hiring a car in the US - insurance?
Discussion
Matt Harper said:
OK - this is getting silly now.
Yep, they honestly did. Albeit a temporary one. They said they would issue a temporary licence to allow me to hire and drive a car in the USA. Their whole attitude was "why do you need to sit a new test when you already have a licence". They went out of their way to be helpful and found it very amusing that I was happy to sit a driving test at literally no notice just for a holiday.But temporary licenses are ONLY issued to those who have previously held US and/or Canadian driving licenses - it's all there in black and white in VC Section 12506 on the CA Dept of Motor Vehicles website. This since 1988.
Stating that they'd issue you a CA drivers license without even taking a driving test is quite preposterous. Either the DMV staff were totally clueless as to their own regulations, or….
Stating that they'd issue you a CA drivers license without even taking a driving test is quite preposterous. Either the DMV staff were totally clueless as to their own regulations, or….
Matt Harper said:
But temporary licenses are ONLY issued to those who have previously held US and/or Canadian driving licenses - it's all there in black and white in VC Section 12506 on the CA Dept of Motor Vehicles website. This since 1988.
Stating that they'd issue you a CA drivers license without even taking a driving test is quite preposterous. Either the DMV staff were totally clueless as to their own regulations, or….
Yes, this is getting silly. Say what you like. Call me a liar. But I don't lie and I don't make up stories.Stating that they'd issue you a CA drivers license without even taking a driving test is quite preposterous. Either the DMV staff were totally clueless as to their own regulations, or….
Spout all the form numbers, regulation numbers, sub sections etc. that you like but I am just saying it as it was.
All you are saying is that whatever the rules, regulations and security your country put in place, a polite chap with a valid uk passport can talk his way through all those regulations and come away with a valid driving licence with no real problem. The DMV were polite, thorough and had a form for everything. The only question I got wrong in the theory involved the weight of a child in a forward facing child seat (multiple choice). The only thing I wasn't sure of in the actual test were the hand signals (yours are different!) but the examiner said they didn't count anyway. The only thing she pointed out with my driving was that I put the car in park and applied the handbrake at a red light. She said I didn't need to do that in the States but understood that you do in the UK.
But then, no doubt I'm making all this up too.
Oh, and I might be wrong, but I thought the Thunderbird used the Jaguar designed, developed and built AJ-V8, shipped over from the UK in a simplified form to be used in the some Lincolns and the Thunderbird. It might not be a real tarmac ripper but it was very pleasant to drive and certainly beat the hell out of a Chrysler Sebring heap.
Yes, I know Ford owned Jaguar at that point but it was a new and original design from Jaguar engineers.
Now please, no more accusations. Lets shake and make up.
Edited by Talkwrench on Saturday 23 August 00:03
unrepentant said:
Lordy! It was over 6 years ago. I have no idea where it is or even if I still have it. I have nothing to prove anyway. Those who know me know I wouldn't lie and those who do not won't actually care. I think what you are forgetting in all of this is that I was initially replying to a friend of mine, not you. Someone who is practically a neighbour, someone I see fairly regularly and someone who I've known for many years. Now why would I suddenly chose to lie to him about something as trivial as a CA driving licence?I suspect your Pistonheads name says it all. You're clearly never wrong.
Talkwrench said:
Yes, this is getting silly. Say what you like. Call me a liar. But I don't lie and I don't make up stories.
Spout all the form numbers, regulation numbers, sub sections etc. that you like but I am just saying it as it was.
All you are saying is that whatever the rules, regulations and security your country put in place, a polite chap with a valid uk passport can talk his way through all those regulations and come away with a valid driving licence with no real problem. The DMV were polite, thorough and had a form for everything. The only question I got wrong in the theory involved the weight of a child in a forward facing child seat (multiple choice). The only thing I wasn't sure of in the actual test were the hand signals (yours are different!) but the examiner said they didn't count anyway. The only thing she pointed out with my driving was that I put the car in park and applied the handbrake at a red light. She said I didn't need to do that in the States but understood that you do in the UK.
But then, no doubt I'm making all this up too.
Oh, and I might be wrong, but I thought the Thunderbird used the Jaguar designed, developed and built AJ-V8, shipped over from the UK in a simplified form to be used in the some Lincolns and the Thunderbird. It might not be a real tarmac ripper but it was very pleasant to drive and certainly beat the hell out of a Chrysler Sebring heap.
Yes, I know Ford owned Jaguar at that point but it was a new and original design from Jaguar engineers.
Now please, no more accusations. Lets shake and make up.
I'm impressed by the incredible amount of detail you have shared - a psychologist would have a field-day with that. It's obvious that the DMV people in that office didn't know their own rules, which is unusual. All of the DMV offices I have been forced to interact with have been manned by totally pedantic humorless nazi's. Spout all the form numbers, regulation numbers, sub sections etc. that you like but I am just saying it as it was.
All you are saying is that whatever the rules, regulations and security your country put in place, a polite chap with a valid uk passport can talk his way through all those regulations and come away with a valid driving licence with no real problem. The DMV were polite, thorough and had a form for everything. The only question I got wrong in the theory involved the weight of a child in a forward facing child seat (multiple choice). The only thing I wasn't sure of in the actual test were the hand signals (yours are different!) but the examiner said they didn't count anyway. The only thing she pointed out with my driving was that I put the car in park and applied the handbrake at a red light. She said I didn't need to do that in the States but understood that you do in the UK.
But then, no doubt I'm making all this up too.
Oh, and I might be wrong, but I thought the Thunderbird used the Jaguar designed, developed and built AJ-V8, shipped over from the UK in a simplified form to be used in the some Lincolns and the Thunderbird. It might not be a real tarmac ripper but it was very pleasant to drive and certainly beat the hell out of a Chrysler Sebring heap.
Yes, I know Ford owned Jaguar at that point but it was a new and original design from Jaguar engineers.
Now please, no more accusations. Lets shake and make up.
Edited by Talkwrench on Saturday 23 August 00:03
Oh and with regard to the T-Bird engine, yes you are wrong. The AJ30/35 is a Ford USA built derivative of a Ford Europe motor, used by Jaguar (and a modular design by definition). It was something of a disappointment in that it developed around 250 and 280hp respectively, significantly less than the output of the 4.6l mod unit used in the sister Mustang GT at that time. One of the reasons the T-Bird failed was that it was way too expensive (dealers attempted to charge over list, trying to convince punters that it had some kind of exclusive cache) and way too slow and numb versus it's competition. That said, I completely accept that performance evaluation is a very subjective thing - one man's "proper fast" is anothers, "Meh".
In closing, I don't want to fall out with you, so let's leave it at that. I just wanted to make sure that no other readers developed the misconception that as a visitor to the US, you can take a US driving test and hold a US drivers license if you pass (which a semi-retarded chimpanzee could do with ease, I might add). Your experience was a quite remarkable exception.
Pax Tecum.
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