Can tourists buy a car to tour USA?

How ever ya do it have a great time. Lots of stuff to see and do on a long road trip. Wish I could go.

 

if you buy a car in california it comes with plates and tags already on it your "supposed" to transfer it into your name i never did till the tags were about to run out

just dont tell the people you buy it off of you dont plan on transfering it

if your going from cali to new york you can make a profit theres a big call for rust free california cars there


and as for insurance screw it if you get pulled over just act like you dont speak english

 

Call the American Automobile ***ociation in the state your are going to arrive in.

http://www.aaa.com/scripts/WebObjects.dll/ZipCode.woa/wa/route?rclub=4&stop=yes&rurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.aaa-calif.com%2fRoot%2findex.aspx%3fJSVisit%3d1%26

They will be able to give you the low down on all the options. Selling a car you have driven for a month in a down economy might not be a good idea and insurance might be problimatic also. Looks like the rental deal is the best way to go, they do it all the time, if the car breaks down in the dessert east of Las Vegas you got an 800 number to call.

renting is no worries mate.

 

Just get a HAMBer in the area you plan to fly into that can help find a good car for you ahead of time. I am sure someone would help you out. You can have them put a small deposit down and then pay cash once you get here. ***uming CA is your fly into location, the plates stay with the car. Get the ***le signed, but don't transfer it until you sell at end of trip, just give to the new buyer.

Have fun and buy a decent car that you can sell for probably what you paid or more, especially a rust free CA car in NY. Buy a nice big 60's/70's American car, drive it and have a great vacation.

 

Did this in 2001 and it was a nightmare. Bought a 68 chrysler 300 conv for 1000 $, had a "friend" fix it ( easy stuff, new trans, new front end, new top, new brakes...) with plans to start in NYC, go to the Mopar Nats in Ohio, and then drive down to Miami and load inside a container. After 200 miles, I had used 13 quarts of oil, so had to leave the car in Syracuse in a friend's friend garage. Had to rent a car for balance of trip. Plates were temporary, and insurance was one month. Next year had the car fixed, wanted to do the same trip, laws were changed after the 9.11 and in order to have insurance,I had to be resident and have a Social Security Number.
I would rent a car.

 

I agree. It might cost you a kidney, but hitch hiking would be such an adventure!

 

The 1972 Cannonball Race was won by a brand new 1973 Cadillac that was a "drive away"! Car was picked up at the start of the race in NY and was delivered after checking in, in CA. (37 hours by the way)

Now to your question; To be honest, if you know how to check out a car real good, once you get to the US get on Craigs List do some calling around and you can get a car that will make the trip, then before you leave, list it back on C/L for real cheap if you need to and it will sell w/n problems. Being very serious about that.

 

if you have a friend here they can register and insure the car in there name then you can add your name to the registration also

 

Another bought a red '39 Coupe, drove to Paso from San Francisco, then Vegas, got married, drove to Palmdale, then back to San Jose, and Oakland to the docks...and it lives in Swindon now

Arranged insurance through a family member who lives here...

 

I think it's easy to find a cheap decent car. I drive a 94 Aerostar every day... i'm sure if somebody has a brand new condition one it's still only a thousand dollar vehicle. It'd still be worth what you paid in New York and if you are lucky you may make money on it's sale.

If you were to buy a car to send it back home you wouldn't want to end the trip on the east coast and if you started in New York it'd be tougher to find a decent car that would be worthy of importing to Australia.

 

A couple of questions...
-Are You getting this rental quote from Your travel broker back home in OZ or somewhere far and away?
-And most importantly, does Your quote include insurance (at least liability is what You´ll most definitely wanna have.)
Reason I´m asking is, having rented vehicles myself as a non-resident before, turns out it´s not even so much an issue of the rental rate itself. It´s the insurance. It´s customary for US citizens to transfer their existing policies on their own vehicles onto their rental vehicles for the duration of the occasion of renting a vehicle. However, when I was renting a vehicle in PA over the labor day weekend ´08, the insurance was something the pretty lady at the agency brought up first at the time she was checking the vehicle out in the agency parking lot in preparation for letting me leave. Turns out the insurance rate was $31.50/ a day on top of the actual rental rate, which was a special half-price rate for the 4 days at around 100 bucks for the weekend as I recall...
My policy on my heap in Finland was not transferrable, as I made a quick, very long-distance phone call to verify that. For the occasion there was nothing I could do for that weekend, except to pay up as I needed the car and was already running late.
As You can see, I wound up paying more in insurance than the actual rental rate of the vehicle itself.
However, after the fact it turned out You can get a better rate altogether through the travel broker. So if I were You, I´d check with whoever gave You the rate, shop around and be very specific about this: Does the quote include insurance or not???
AND, what are their rates/policies regarding the age of the renter?(You being under 25 as it seems).

I understand the thought of buying a $2000,00 heap versus the rental rate might sound tempting, BUT not only is the registration/insurance for a non-resident a total can of worms for a non-resident in most states, but consider this: As already pointed out, $2000,00 might not buy You a whole hell of a lot to actually drive cross-country with. It´s one thing to putt around town by Yourself 10-20 miles at a time with a cheap pile back home, with 15 ft of rope in the trunk and Your best pal with a 4x4 truck on Your speed-dial, BUT...With the rental agency You at least get a late-model, low-mi car and a 1-800 -number to call in case of emergency on a strange highway, in a strange country, on a strange continent...Plus You seem to be traveling with a female. How bad do You wanna stay in speaking terms with her after the two of Youse return home...?LOL
-HTH

 

If you bought a car in Ca. and wanted to sell it 3 weeks later in N.Y. it might not be an easy sell, If you tell someone you want to sell your car because you are leaving the country, No one will give you a decent price for the car, Some would question why are you selling after owning it only 3 weeks ( even though you have a valad reason) I'm not to sure I would even think about buying, could be hard to get rid of on the N.Y. end, also keep in mind we drive on the RIGHT SIDE of the road. J.M.

 

Yeah, but if they are from Australia they are from the other side of the International Date Line, so they would be a year older here than they are at home and ...

Hey, don't laugh. There are some really stupid people out there who would believe that if you them that with a straight face.

 

International licence. I've driven in the USA on one many times. You get it from one of the motorists' ***ociations. We've got the AA here, related to the British one but independent nowadays. You'll have something like the AA or the RAC, who are empowered to issue international licences. All you'll need is to present your Australian licence.

 

I know this sounds crazy but have you tried this...

Take a US driving test!

I did this in California in 1990 when I came to visit, now have a US driving licence and means that renting cars, buying cars etc is really easy.

Used a friends address in Orange and that was that.

Really easy, took about an hour.

Not sure what the rules are now, anyone have an update??

P.

 

I took 2 months to go from L.A. to New York all by Greyhound Bus. I had the same idea but getting a motorbike instead but i couldn't get a straight enough answer before i left.
Sometimes the weirdos that catch greyhound buses add to the adventure. But one thing i did notice is the greyhound bus terminals are usually located in the crack head part of the town.

 

not to mention the boring bus ride ,stopping at every town gets old quick,and ya ,you know what kinda riff raff hangin in em,rent a car and enjoy yourself.

 

I've bought a few cars and harleys on my trips to the US and sold them on my departure. Shortest trip was one month but was able to have a mate buy the bike for me before I arrived and sell it after I left. Now I've never done it in Cali or NY. But if you do buy just ***le it in your name. Dont mention you are not a resident. Have done that several times in Co and Az. I've got them insured too, but it took a couple calls to find a company that would do it. The trick is having an address where you "live" if you follow me.

Now I just did the same thing in the UK but one thing you need to think about is selling it at the end of the trip. Every day you wait to do so will be costing you $ for accom etc, especially in NYC... and if you cant sell it before you leave you $2K is gone..

I've had several mates buy cars, drive the **** out of them and just pull up at the airport, find a baggage guy and just throw them the keys and sign over the ***le.

Just a thought have you looked into hiring a little van, swing by Ikea, pick up a mattress etc and you'll save heaps on accomadation, even if you use it every second night. A little diesel van from uhaul could be ideal.

If it was me, just for a month, jump on Skype and call hertz etc or use expedia.com to get a quote from the US. For piece of mind, a new car, complete breakdown coverage, and driving it pretty much door to door the hire car would be the go.

Another trick will be get on US eBay ASAP, buy a GPS with US maps and have them send it out here. That way you'll have it before you go and can keep it when you get back and just upload local maps. MUCH cheaper then buying one here and pretty much the best valuable stress reducer you'll have. Some of the freeway setups in the big citys are insane, esp when you are getting used to being on the wrong side of the road

(Just read a post above, all my experience is pre 9/11)

Skype and Expedia will be your best tools to hire a car/van

 

Lots of good advice above. Personally, and unless you forecast time to wait for possible car repairs (hours? days??), buying a $2K car with an unknown past is a bad idea. I'd recommend renting a car as your best bet. Check age, license and insurance requirements from some of the reputable companies (Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, etc.) and go from there. If you're coming here in a month you might be in a timecrunch to get everything lined up for when you arrive. But in my opinion - bottom line - spend the extra money & rent one if possible, I doubt you'll regret the decision, vice getting a $2,000 clunker that could leave you high & dry and turn a GREAT vacation into a nightmare. Have fun, there's LOTS and LOTS to see over here!

 

the ideal vehicle would be a full-size conversion van. they're dirt cheap and usually have low miles. they tend to get pretty poor mileage, but you can sleep in it, if you need to...

 

Just remember,,in the states we drive on the other side of the road! HRP

 

It sounds like you're trying to buy a car for whatever money ($1,000, $5,000, $10,000) drive it for three weeks and get your money back when you sell it...a good plan but a lot of variables here...You could buy a car (at any price) that breaks down in Oklahoma and you spend half of your vacation budget paying a shop to fix it to get you back on the road, plus down time. The U.S.A. is a HUGE country. It can happen, no matter what you spend on a vehicle. You might get it all the way to NY and not be able to sell it, or not get your money back, etc.

FWIW, My wife and I just got back from Ireland for 10 days...Your $2000 for three weeks is cheaper than we paid for our Nissan Micra after tax and insurance, if you pro-rate it- and I'm over 25 with a clean record. It was worry free driving. I'd go for renting something small and economical, however our gas is probably cheaper than you're used to so size and power might be more important than mileage. Our gas is definitely cheaper than Ireland's!

 

I agree with the Italian.

If an American was going to visit Australia and wanted to drive from Adelaide to Cairns, following the coast (approximately 4500 km, which is about equal from LA to NYC), would you recommend they: Rent a car, or buy a car in Adelaide and attempt to sell it in Cairns?

 

i was hoping someone was goin to say this. you HAVE to be 25 to rent a car. you only need to be 18 to rent a uhaul but thats gonna be even more expensive i think. i was looking into uhauls and although it wasnt a small van or truck they wanted $1500 for a ride to texas from chicago. i dont know how your gonna pull it off but good luck.

 

Good idea, I miss our Chevy conversion van. It actually got 18+. Good for a brick!

 

Of course if you happen to get in a wreck, you not only **** over the people you bought it from because they will be involved since it's still in their name, but also the other party that you hit because you don't have insurance. Don't even want to think about medical liabilities.
Stupid idea

 

I just looked at Hertz.com. I looked at renting a focus. It was $175/week if I returned it to the same location. It was $175/DAY if I returned it to a different location. No joke, check it out.

I see why he wants to buy and then sell it.

I remember in college the furriners would try to buy a POS car to travel the US in then sell. You can do it, but you pays your money and you takes your chances. If you don't have a lot of time the only way to pull it off is to have a friend sell it in your final destination city.

A german friend of mine made the sad mistake of buying a car in vegas(cuz its a cheap plane flight from about anywhere) and it blew up in Barstow, known as the garden spot of California! The locals fleeced him, he had to drive back there a few times to deal with it, and I think he just gave up and let the shop have the car 'to sell', which of course never happened. Poor *******.

It *can* be done. I bought a $1500 SUV, put in new belts and batt and drove it to Honduras and back. I got lucky with repairs and only needed a water pump while I was in guatemala. Of course the engine needed motor honey to run smoothish 15k miles later, but the guys I sold it to for $1400 didn't care.

My current SUV I paid $1600 for and aside from a battery and brake shoes/pads its been problem free for 2 years/20,000 miles.

For me I think the trick to a cheap, good car is to buy an unloved style/make of vehicle. I've bought Isuzus, which nobody wants(hence cheap), but they've been good to me

 

One way weekly rental is pricey anyway, but definaltely impossible if you're not 25.

The good thing is you're buying choices are in LA and not NY.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/se...eviation=cta&minAsk=2000&maxAsk=3000&ha****=1

Most state laws will allow the "transport" of a purchased car within a reasonable amount of time. When you purchase the car, make sure you get a bill of sale from the owner and obviously the ***le. You will be allowed to drive the car to your destination, with no plates, if you are "transporting" the car to your port of shipping (NY). At least that is the story you use. This, unfortutately, will not keep yuou from getting pulled over if you have no plate. On the good side, California plates change with the car, so you should have plates when you purchase the car.

So... All you need is:
- the California plate that is registered to the car
- the vehicle ***le
- bill of sale

I've purchased cars from out-of-state several times and this has worked just fine for me. Sometimes I've had to get a temporary plate and show proof of insurance, but that can be worked out here too if needed. There are my ****py insurance companies that will get you the paperwork you need very cheaply to insure for a couple of weeks.

You can arrange for a HAMBer to sell the car for you when you are done with your trip.

 

You don't need to be a citizen here to buy a car,real estate or a gun. Like the aussies, most of our ancestors were kicked out of the best countries in europe. Have fun!