Sunday 15 January 2012 - Cars
After the initial hiccup with International Auto Source, who denied me because I didn't have an employer at that point, they have now agreed to go ahead on the basis I will have an employer, namely myself. I was completely up front and honest about it, saying if they want a letter of employment it will come from me, addressed to me. And they were happy with that, as long as it came on headed paper!
Armed with the permission to proceed, we next looked at what sort of cars we would like. Bearing in mind we're a family of four - me, wife, a four-year-old and a three-month-old - plus all the baggage that goes with carting around such a family - we needed something of a decent size. International Auto Source don't offer all cars from all manufacturers or even all models from those ranges. So we had a wide selection but sometimes a car we were looking for just wasn't available.
By the way, the reason we're going for IAS is because they offer stuff like car loans (based on your UK credit basically), insurance, and other help getting set up. They're geared up for expats, amongst other things. Plus, for a new car, it works out cheaper than buying it from a dealership.
We set ourselves a budget of around $30k so looked at models up to around that figure. Though the IAS website sort of gave prices, it was a bit picky and often didn't. But once I worked out the prices given were slightly cheaper than the manufacturers' own prices, I reverted to using the manufacturers' websites. Main criteria were lots of space, leather seats (wipe clean, you see), and possibly parking sensors or camera. We're simple - no need for a V8, or even know what a V8 really means. Several cup holders and we're happy.
First up was a Mazda 5. Looks nice. Sliding doors on the rear (good for the kids). Seven seats. Available in the UK so we could go and have a look. Went to the local dealer who had one but it was on a test drive (all weekend). Phoned up next time, "yes, it's here". Drove there. "Where's the Mazda 5?" - "erm, we don't have one" - "but the lady on the phone said you have one" - "nope". A few minutes later... "do you mean the courtesey car?" - "I don't care what it is, just show me it!". Ah. Too small. Trying to fit 7 seats into a vehicle the size of a Ford Focus (or so it seems) just won't go. None of us liked it.
A couple of weeks later, after discussion on this very forum, a look at some Jeeps, Chryslers, and Dodges. The latter two are pretty much the same - the Dodge name isn't actually marketed in the UK so it's all Chrysler. Probably something to do with being "Dodgy". Anyway, a dealership not so far from us had a few so we went and had a look. A couple of Jeeps, which I'd initially discounted because I didn't like the look of them, actually looked alright. But a smaller Jeep which I thought might be adequate actually turned out looking really small.
But then we found the Chrysler Grand Voyager - otherwise known as the Dodge Grand Caravan in the US. The dealer, who I told up front that we weren't going to buy from him but were looking for the models in the US, was really helpful and knowledgeable. Despite knowing we wouldn't buy from him, he took us around the vehicle, answered questions, and knew some basics about the differences between the UK and US models. He even suggested we come back with the US spec and compare it to what he had on display to check we had everything we wanted. I can't remember his name, but to the boss at Kings Chrysler Swindon, thank you!
So, this vehicle. Sliding doors, drop-down DVD players, individual seats in the first and second rows (and leather), fold-away third row, satnav high in the dashboard (so it's visible without looking down), rear view camera, cross traffic and blind spot sensors, reasonably high driving position - and lots of space. Total cost about $32k which is more than the budget but hey, we ALL loved it! Many of the features were for the higher end models in the range, paying for features like satnav. I just hope the finance agreement will go through!
One slight disappointment is that the car won't be ready until about a month after arrival in the US. This is because they delay it until you get your SSN, which can take a couple of weeks. So it's a hire car to begin with, but it might just be me on my own anyway to begin with.
I was going to write about businesses but I'll write a separate entry for that.
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About Me
My attempt to get an EB1a visa for the US, a person of extraordinary ability, which gives a green card pretty much immediately, and there is no waiting period unlike most other visas.
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