Can tourists buy a car to tour USA?

My wife and I are holidaying in america next month. We are planning on renting or buying a car and driving form LA across to New York City, however we are both 24 and that means 3 weeks rental is about $2000 all up. Obviously it is better to buy a cheap car and just sell it again when we're done.

Question is: What do we need AS NON RESIDENTS to buy and register a car? Can non residents even do this?

Thanks,
Garth

 

i'm sure you need to be a resident and have a valid drivers lic in the state you plan on purchasing and insuring the car in ..... renting is possibly the only way. unless i'm wrong.

 

Illegals do it everyday, just buy a heap and park it at the airport parking with the keys in the ignition when it's time to go back, it will take care of itself. It's been done, heard about it here.

 

A non-resident can buy a car here and drive it. If you have an International Driver License, or a valid license from your country, you can drive here.

MOST States (not all!) issue a temporary license plate that is good from five days to 31 days, depending on where you buy the car.

 

you can buy a car as long as you pay cash, your drivers license from Australia is good. insurance is another issue however,maybe your policy from home would write a rider to cover you here,or maybe it already does.

 

I don't think you buying and registering the car without having a valid US driver's license as drfreeze stated. But a lot of rental companies I believe will only rent to adults over the age of 25 but that may be untrue.

Nothings more American then Hitch Hiking!!! Just kidding.

 

Here's an idea... There are auto "drive-away" companys that specialize in transporting vehicles. Get a hold of one that needs to get a car from California to New York, all your costs (except gasoline) will be covered! No muss, no fuss! But you MUST have a good driving record...

 

i think your wrong, many people not residents buying and driveing cars. Are you worried about a ticket? Anyway yah just go to the dmv and show them your licence and theyll tell you its cool to drive, oz told me it was cool. i dont think i bought insurence tho. When you buy the car i woulodnt even register it in my name but i would insure it. Registration change is easy. Just find an insurence company and pay them for the insurence.

 

Buying the car should be no problem. Registering and insuring it might be. I can't think of any reason an insurance company in the US would want to sell a "temporary" policy to you for anything less than big $$$$.

Have you asked your current insurance company in OZ if they will insure a car you buy in the US, and for the trip across our country?

 

Thanks Patrick66 I will google temp licence plates

 

Look up the California laws, each state has their own laws.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/faq/faqbuysell.htm

might help?

 

A HAMB member from the UK bought a red '40 Ford coupe in LA and drove it to the docks in New Jersey. It's on the road in the UK last I knew.

 

Hmmm...Vanishing Point

 

Hell, for the right amount of money, I'll be your tour guide. That way it saves you all the h***le of trying to buy or rent a car. Another thought would be to "Go Greyhound" Steven.

 

call a U.S. auto ***le company and tell them what you'd like to do..... they are the ones that know what can be done as far as ***les and registration and they know all the loop holes too better than most of the people at the DMV

 

People do it all the time ..

Not sure what you plan on spending on a car but, $2000.00 won't buy much of a car to go coast to coast in ..

 

Also, keep in mind that several States have the plates remain with the vehicle at sale, and others have the plates remain with the seller at sale. Texas, Oklahoma, California and Oregon are a**** the States where the plates stay with the vehicle.

 

IF you are planing on buying here in California, you would have to have insurance in order to register it. I believe that Progressive Insurance will write policies for non residents. If it is a used car from a private party, you would then need to have a smog inspection done, do any necessary repairs to p***, and then you could go to the DMV to get registration. It might be more work than it's worth and unless you had a US address you would not have the ***le in hand (it gets mailed after a couple of weeks, or more) which will make it difficult to sell.
If it is from a licensed dealer, they would handle the smog and registration, you would still have to have the insurance and again wait for the ***le.

I think it would better to rent a car!

 

I just go off the phone with my cousin who works for Hertz car rental... Did a little research for you. I think you will like what I found out.

The reason it's so expensive is because you are planing to pick the car up at the LAX terminal. The airport charges outrageous taxes and fees, which you can avoid by jumping into a taxi and driving to a different rental location.

She priced out a full sized car for me, picked up less than 5 miles from the airport [$15 taxi ride], and droped off at LaGuardia airport in NYC, and the rate came out to $1062.54

If you only need a compact or sub compact, it's well under $1000. More like $700, and that's before any discounts you might have or be eligable for, such as AAA [american auto ***ociation], AARP [senior citizen discount], etc.

Hertz has the option of droping the car off at a different location, and there's no charge for the option, but it does effect the rate.

She was working, so she couldn't spend too much time answering my questions, but you can call Hertz directly at 1-800-654-4173 and discuss it with them if you want.

 

Thanks alot Pir8Darryl, I was wondering why there were so many fees I'll call Hertz today!

 

I've done this a couple of times with my Brother, both times the car was in his name and on his international UK drivers license. Its not that difficult if you have a friend with an address in the US you can use, not so sure about using a PO box or Hotel though. The rest of it was fairly straight forward. We never had an issue with getting insurance, it just cost a little more than it would have had we lived here.....It's certainly a more memorable trip if you do it in an old American car....last one we had was a 76 Le Mans in Black which we picked up for 1500 in Oakland sight usseen and then headed out to Hot August Nights. Only had a couple of minor maintenance issues like a split hose....but that's part of the adventure innit?

It's a lot easier if the car you buy has plenty of life left on it's tags.

 

I have a very close Aussie friend that purchased a '63 Nova convertible here in Rochester, New York where I live. He flew in from Oz and I picked him and two friends up at the airport. We, after taking some time to swap some lies, went down to the local license bureau and registered the car in my name at a cost of about $60-$70. I had specialty insurance issued for the car (about $100) and he and his two of his friends then proceded to drive back across the US to LA logging about 5000 miles in the process. They saw a lot of this country. When he got to LA he took the Nova to the port of Long Beach and had it loaded on a boat for its trip back to Oz. He sent me back my plates and I then transferred them, together with the insurance, to another specialty car that I have. He now has the convert and is having a ball driving it.

The point of this little story is that you might want to consider stepping up a little and finding something truly desirable. Buy it and drive it. Then send it back home for a true memory of your trip here. Just my thoughts...

 

i want to know... you want to buy a car here in the states for less than $2k and then drive it cross the country from LA to NYC?

that... is gutsy... not many cars you can get for less than two grand are gonna make it out to barstow let alone to new york

 

My thought exactly. "Rentin' a car here boss..."

 

There are lots of cars that still have 5,000 miles left in them! My daughter drove an '86 Olds out to LA and drove it around for two years before it started to get lostly. I biught a 1956 Ford half ton in Anahime in '75 and drove it home.

 

thats a pretty big chance to take on a VACATION tho... your mileage may vary

 

Rent one !! If it dies ya just get another from the rental company. no worries !!

 

I've bought 3 different cars at Tow Yard auctions(San Jose,CA) for under $1,000.
I bought them with Clean ***les and the new owners are STILL driving them.
San Jose does a mandatory "30 day hold" for DUI and No Insurance/License tows.
If the owner can't pay the fees(average $1500),you can find some great deals!

 

I think every rental company (except U-Haul)
requires that you are 25 years old. That's been
my experience.

If you make it down here to Miami,
let me know, beer and Burgers are on me.