Buying and driving a US car in America with a UK licence...
Discussion
Hello all,
looking for answers here.
Me and some friends are looking to do 3 - 4 weeks in the US travelling all across the place. Now hire companies will want a fortune, A: we are all under 25 and B: we will be picking it up in NY and dropping it in LA. Thus incurring big charges. Last year i had a car for 2 weeks, Seattle to LA and with taxes and young driver charges it cost me over £1500!
Now, could we buy a cheap US snotter, insure ourselves on it in America and use that for the trip? Before selling it or giving it away a la top gear when we leave?
How does American insurance work? Any answers appreciated! Google has not been helpful.
Ta! Simon
looking for answers here.
Me and some friends are looking to do 3 - 4 weeks in the US travelling all across the place. Now hire companies will want a fortune, A: we are all under 25 and B: we will be picking it up in NY and dropping it in LA. Thus incurring big charges. Last year i had a car for 2 weeks, Seattle to LA and with taxes and young driver charges it cost me over £1500!
Now, could we buy a cheap US snotter, insure ourselves on it in America and use that for the trip? Before selling it or giving it away a la top gear when we leave?
How does American insurance work? Any answers appreciated! Google has not been helpful.
Ta! Simon
I've hired alot of cars in the US and you can save alot of money if you know what to do.
Firstly, I signed up to the AA through Quidco. Total cost was £9 or something but you save about 15% through AVIS with the AA.
Secondly, use Avis.co.uk and not the US .com site. The reason is that the .co.uk site includes insurance, where as the US one charges an extra $15 a day for it. The prices seemed to work out the same, before the extra insurance so we certainly saved alot. Don't um and ah about its neccesity. We got hit by an OAP in an SUV who promply drove off which meant we would have been liable for the damages, as it was we paid nothing.
Thirdly, it will cost more to leave the car further away from its original location, as you know, but it costs no more to leave it within the same state. You might be able to map out a route where you can drive sections and then train or bus others to reduce your total costs. We ended up doing a loop from Vancouver through SF, LA, LV, SLC, Yellowstone and back to Vancouver, taking in lots along the way, covering something like 5,000 miles in 26 days but encuring no additional charge.
Cheapest car rental we managed was £15 a day (including insurance) which would be £105 a week. I just did a quick quote check and a weeks rental in Florida is £122 for their basic car but that rises to £810 if you want to leave it on the West coast. To stretch that to 3 weeks is only another £200 so in short, it costs £700 to leave it at the West coast and a more expensive flight back.
If you are under 25 I have a feeling Avis won't even rent you a car. If you are just shy of 25 then I'd wait and do something else, then come back to the idea. The US is worth visiting but its so vast that you could spend years there and still miss out on a huge amount.
Firstly, I signed up to the AA through Quidco. Total cost was £9 or something but you save about 15% through AVIS with the AA.
Secondly, use Avis.co.uk and not the US .com site. The reason is that the .co.uk site includes insurance, where as the US one charges an extra $15 a day for it. The prices seemed to work out the same, before the extra insurance so we certainly saved alot. Don't um and ah about its neccesity. We got hit by an OAP in an SUV who promply drove off which meant we would have been liable for the damages, as it was we paid nothing.
Thirdly, it will cost more to leave the car further away from its original location, as you know, but it costs no more to leave it within the same state. You might be able to map out a route where you can drive sections and then train or bus others to reduce your total costs. We ended up doing a loop from Vancouver through SF, LA, LV, SLC, Yellowstone and back to Vancouver, taking in lots along the way, covering something like 5,000 miles in 26 days but encuring no additional charge.
Cheapest car rental we managed was £15 a day (including insurance) which would be £105 a week. I just did a quick quote check and a weeks rental in Florida is £122 for their basic car but that rises to £810 if you want to leave it on the West coast. To stretch that to 3 weeks is only another £200 so in short, it costs £700 to leave it at the West coast and a more expensive flight back.
If you are under 25 I have a feeling Avis won't even rent you a car. If you are just shy of 25 then I'd wait and do something else, then come back to the idea. The US is worth visiting but its so vast that you could spend years there and still miss out on a huge amount.
How about driving someone elses car who needs it moving across the country?
Could be an option..
http://www.autodriveaway.com/
Could be an option..
http://www.autodriveaway.com/
second hand cars are truly silly money in the USA.
Look to be spending on $2000 on a clapped out honda accord with 200,000 miles on it.
EDIT: me and my friend rented a car from Avis when we were 23, but had to pay a $25 dollar a day surcharge, which added up after 2 weeks with the car.
Look to be spending on $2000 on a clapped out honda accord with 200,000 miles on it.
EDIT: me and my friend rented a car from Avis when we were 23, but had to pay a $25 dollar a day surcharge, which added up after 2 weeks with the car.
Struggle to think you will be able to buy and insure a reliable used car for less than rental costs. The sort of cars you will find cheap enough I wouldn't want to drive across a state in, never mind the entire country.
This *might* be reliable enough to do the job, assuming it has ever been serviced or had the cambelt changed. Service history for all but exotica is non-existent in the US.
2000 Toyota Camry V6, only 147,000 miles on the clock....barely run in!!.
Yours for £1911.80, plus sales tax (VAT), registration fee, License fee. You will have to buy a new number plate as the car won't come with one and you obviously won't have one to transfer onto it. You will also have to be a keen haggler to avoid the "dealer prep" they usually try to stick on the end of the deal, only about £250 though. Call it £2500 OTR to be safe, then you can start looking up insurance and roadside recovery if you are not feeling lucky.
I will be surprised if you can get all that sorted for less than £3-3.5K.
What sort of rental quotes have you had for the same time frame/journey?.
This *might* be reliable enough to do the job, assuming it has ever been serviced or had the cambelt changed. Service history for all but exotica is non-existent in the US.
2000 Toyota Camry V6, only 147,000 miles on the clock....barely run in!!.
Yours for £1911.80, plus sales tax (VAT), registration fee, License fee. You will have to buy a new number plate as the car won't come with one and you obviously won't have one to transfer onto it. You will also have to be a keen haggler to avoid the "dealer prep" they usually try to stick on the end of the deal, only about £250 though. Call it £2500 OTR to be safe, then you can start looking up insurance and roadside recovery if you are not feeling lucky.
I will be surprised if you can get all that sorted for less than £3-3.5K.
What sort of rental quotes have you had for the same time frame/journey?.
Plenty of car moving companies that will give you a someones car to drive coast to coast.
All you pay is gas. They have quite a strict timeframe IIRC though, no pootling about sightseeing.
Forget about buying (cost/insurance/licence/title issues) / renting (cost/insurance/point to point charges)
ETA
Those are the fellas!
All you pay is gas. They have quite a strict timeframe IIRC though, no pootling about sightseeing.
Forget about buying (cost/insurance/licence/title issues) / renting (cost/insurance/point to point charges)
ETA
Those are the fellas!
Shuvi McTupya said:
How about driving someone elses car who needs it moving across the country?
Could be an option..
http://www.autodriveaway.com/
Could be an option..
http://www.autodriveaway.com/
Edited by sday12 on Thursday 15th March 07:54
We have always found that booking and paying for a car with our travel agents and through a large travel company that we get the best deals, as the travel companies do block bookings at massive rebates and ALL the extras are included.
So one knows what the cost for the complet hire is before one even travels! IMHO it makes at least a 20-25% saving against the US prices on the hire cost alone, then take off all the extras insurances the yanks want to sell you!
As an example I hired a brand new Chevy Impala last year for 3 weeks with unlimitted mileage, all insurances and a kiddy seat for €350,- to and from LAX.
DO NOT do an interstate drop-off as this can be VERY expensive!
So one knows what the cost for the complet hire is before one even travels! IMHO it makes at least a 20-25% saving against the US prices on the hire cost alone, then take off all the extras insurances the yanks want to sell you!
As an example I hired a brand new Chevy Impala last year for 3 weeks with unlimitted mileage, all insurances and a kiddy seat for €350,- to and from LAX.
DO NOT do an interstate drop-off as this can be VERY expensive!
Edited by JMGS4 on Thursday 15th March 07:53
Thanks guys, it was just a silly idea obviously!
Like i said last year i rented a Dodge something awful for two weeks, Seattle pick up, LA drop off.
Due to my age (22 at the time) not many places would hire me a car and Alamo (who i used) charged me $25 a day extra. Plus $300 for dropping it in LA not Seattle. Plus then all these other taxes. IT ended up more then the flights!
But im sure given a bit more time to sort it next time i could find it cheaper and we really had to drop it in LA, we didnt have a choice to go back to Seattle, so next time il drop it from whence it came.
But thanks guys, oh well, i can dream. Did rather like the V8 Lincoln Town car i found for $1500 though....
Simon
Like i said last year i rented a Dodge something awful for two weeks, Seattle pick up, LA drop off.
Due to my age (22 at the time) not many places would hire me a car and Alamo (who i used) charged me $25 a day extra. Plus $300 for dropping it in LA not Seattle. Plus then all these other taxes. IT ended up more then the flights!
But im sure given a bit more time to sort it next time i could find it cheaper and we really had to drop it in LA, we didnt have a choice to go back to Seattle, so next time il drop it from whence it came.
But thanks guys, oh well, i can dream. Did rather like the V8 Lincoln Town car i found for $1500 though....
Simon
Cemesis said:
Secondly, use Avis.co.uk and not the US .com site. The reason is that the .co.uk site includes insurance, where as the US one charges an extra $15 a day for it.
The reason for that is most American credit card companies provide the insurance FOC when you hire a car and pay using their card.Couple of ideas - one already stated.. Autodriveaway
We have done this a couple of times now. Get a flight to somewhere in the US. Turn up at the ADA office, and see where you can go. They provide the car, the insurance and usually the first tank of fuel. They give you x days to get the car deleivered which is usally enough to take a day or two out for sightseeing etc. en-route.
We did one from Detroit down to Dallas in an old Dodge Dynasty. Fantastic weeks holiday right down the middle.
We then had a lucky one from Florida up to Toronto in a Chrysler Voyager - did that one to save the cost of the flight.
It is pretty cool just to turn up in America with no idea of where you might end up going. Internal flights are cheap enough to be able to get back for your flight home!
Another option is to buy a car in Vancouver - well, British Columbia. They have a government insurance system there, and your UK licence is perfectly valid. We bought an old motorhome for a £1000, and insured/registered it for three months for about $300CAD. We registered it (perfectly legally) at the hostel we were staying in for the first few nights. That gave us freedom all over north America. Just make sure you buy something that has plenty of aircare certificate left on it (emmisions).
We have done this a couple of times now. Get a flight to somewhere in the US. Turn up at the ADA office, and see where you can go. They provide the car, the insurance and usually the first tank of fuel. They give you x days to get the car deleivered which is usally enough to take a day or two out for sightseeing etc. en-route.
We did one from Detroit down to Dallas in an old Dodge Dynasty. Fantastic weeks holiday right down the middle.
We then had a lucky one from Florida up to Toronto in a Chrysler Voyager - did that one to save the cost of the flight.
It is pretty cool just to turn up in America with no idea of where you might end up going. Internal flights are cheap enough to be able to get back for your flight home!
Another option is to buy a car in Vancouver - well, British Columbia. They have a government insurance system there, and your UK licence is perfectly valid. We bought an old motorhome for a £1000, and insured/registered it for three months for about $300CAD. We registered it (perfectly legally) at the hostel we were staying in for the first few nights. That gave us freedom all over north America. Just make sure you buy something that has plenty of aircare certificate left on it (emmisions).
snowen250 said:
Thanks guys, it was just a silly idea obviously!
Like i said last year i rented a Dodge something awful for two weeks, Seattle pick up, LA drop off.
Due to my age (22 at the time) not many places would hire me a car and Alamo (who i used) charged me $25 a day extra. Plus $300 for dropping it in LA not Seattle. Plus then all these other taxes. IT ended up more then the flights!
But im sure given a bit more time to sort it next time i could find it cheaper and we really had to drop it in LA, we didnt have a choice to go back to Seattle, so next time il drop it from whence it came.
But thanks guys, oh well, i can dream. Did rather like the V8 Lincoln Town car i found for $1500 though....
Simon
A Town Car would be a dream for long journeys, but one that cheap would frighten me, and that is before you consider the fuel economy. Petrol isn't as cheap as it used to be. Close to $4 per gallon now and a Town Car of that age and suspected condition will be doing well to get MPG in the mid teens on a highway run.Like i said last year i rented a Dodge something awful for two weeks, Seattle pick up, LA drop off.
Due to my age (22 at the time) not many places would hire me a car and Alamo (who i used) charged me $25 a day extra. Plus $300 for dropping it in LA not Seattle. Plus then all these other taxes. IT ended up more then the flights!
But im sure given a bit more time to sort it next time i could find it cheaper and we really had to drop it in LA, we didnt have a choice to go back to Seattle, so next time il drop it from whence it came.
But thanks guys, oh well, i can dream. Did rather like the V8 Lincoln Town car i found for $1500 though....
Simon
A chap travelled across the USA in a Pontiac Trans Am he bought from a dealer in Los Angeles, to New York State off the top of my head, in the early '90s - and wrote an article on it for the late lamented Buying cars mag.
He reckoned it cost him a third of the cost of hiring a car for the same journey (his costs were fuel for 3,000-ish miles, the California equivalent of an MoT and "smog inspection" plus Registration costs, insurance and local taxes) - but he managed to sell the Pontiac to a relative so it was an "easy deal" that got him the cost of the car back before he got a plane home.
He had a shock absorber fail on the journey; the dealer paid for the repair though an insurance policy. And he had plenty of time to do touristy things.
It could be argued that one has to be slightly-brave to do this sort of stunt though
. I would...
He reckoned it cost him a third of the cost of hiring a car for the same journey (his costs were fuel for 3,000-ish miles, the California equivalent of an MoT and "smog inspection" plus Registration costs, insurance and local taxes) - but he managed to sell the Pontiac to a relative so it was an "easy deal" that got him the cost of the car back before he got a plane home.
He had a shock absorber fail on the journey; the dealer paid for the repair though an insurance policy. And he had plenty of time to do touristy things.
It could be argued that one has to be slightly-brave to do this sort of stunt though
. I would...i'm in NY now. Just wanted to chime in on the state of the lower end of the used car market.
Sold my M3 last month and have my new car coming in next month. I needed something cheap and cheerful for the interim. How things have changed since i was last looking at sub $10k cars in the 90s!
Because people stopped buying new cars during the recession, they bought used instead. Couple that with the government's 'cash for clunkers' program and there is not a whole lot of choice for a cheap trans-continental barge.
I ended up with a w124. Had a few oil leaks that I had taken care of, but it has been a refreshingly nice thing to drive.
Sold my M3 last month and have my new car coming in next month. I needed something cheap and cheerful for the interim. How things have changed since i was last looking at sub $10k cars in the 90s!
Because people stopped buying new cars during the recession, they bought used instead. Couple that with the government's 'cash for clunkers' program and there is not a whole lot of choice for a cheap trans-continental barge.
I ended up with a w124. Had a few oil leaks that I had taken care of, but it has been a refreshingly nice thing to drive.
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