Tips for a Brit buying a (dull) second hand car in US

[sato]

My sister has got a job in the Conneticut, and will need to buy a car there.
Probably along the lines of a Jetta or something equally uninspiring I guess.

She will have a green card and a US residential address, and plans to be there 2 years. Will she have any problems buying and registering a car on her UK driving licence?
The only two things I know about buying cars in the US is that Craigslist is big listing site, and I believe a Carfax check tells if a car has been crashed or stolen.

What I dont know is the following:
Do cars have annual inspection like our MOT?
Would you expect to see a car serviced every year?
Are there any big name car supermarket type places that she can be reasonably sure she wont get ripped off at?

[sato]

Great - all useful. Thanks

[sato]

Thanks for your help everyone.
All noted.

[sato]

We have done a bit more research now, and due the gap between a new car and a used one not being that great and her bank offering to mirror her UK credit rating in the US if she opens an account there with them, leasing something now appears to be one option. Sorry unrepentant, we a thinking more Fiesta than Range Rover!

How does handing a leased car back early in the US work? Can you just pay off the remainder of the term, or is it more complicated than that?

[sato]

Matt Harper said:

sato said:

her bank offering to mirror her UK credit rating in the US if she opens an account there with them,

Wow - that's a first! Which bank? There are thousands of recent ex-pats who will be relieved to hear that.

HSBC - or at least that is what they have told her. Whether it works in practice is yet to be seen.

[sato]

The car would nt be leased via HSBC. This is just what I have been told, and hasnt been arranged yet so dont get too carried away.

[sato]

My sister is out there now and will be taking her US driving test in the next couple of weeks.
We have scrapped the idea of leasing. Probably thinking either a Nissan Versa Note or a Fiesta now.

Two questions, any thoughts on whether to go for manual or automatic? Personally, small engine and auto box is my idea of hell, but I dont know if it will be impossible to sell a manual when the time comes?

Secondly, the big rental companies seem to have a huge source of likely candidates. Usual rental car abuse aside, good or bad idea?

[sato]

So at the weekend my sister bought a 2013 Kia Rio. She seems happy enough with it, which is the main thing. Her search was more difficult than it should have been as a suprising number of main dealer low mileage cars turned out to have dents and so on.

Anyway, one final question:
Despite insurance being a factor of 10 greater than she would probably pay in the UK, the legal cover seems a bit rubbish. Even more so given the litigious nature of the US. Is this just the way it is, or can you/would you buy supplementary cover from somewhere else?