laety

Hi
we are due to arrive to the US (california) on the 1st of October and we are hoping to buy a car within the first week to avoid too much rental charges
how realistic is it? what do they need for us ? can you recommend a good insurance company?
thank you very much

penguinsix

Buying a car is relatively easy. Here are the legal bits you'll need to go over. http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/fast_facts/ffvr26.htm

But absent a pre-existing US credit rating, be prepared to be treated as pretty much the most novice, inexperienced, and highest accident risk driver out there. It can be pretty depressing when you start poking around at insurance rates.

Insurance 'brands' are often national, such as Allstate, State Farm, Geico. Their agents are local--hyper-local to certain areas of your city and whatnot, and much of your interaction, good and bad, will likely take place with an agent near you. My only advice is to "shop around" to different agents and see what rates you are quoted and also what sort of service level you get from the individual agents, i.e. are they gruff and annoying and don't pick up the phone or are they friendly and trying to help. Can vary widely.

If you will be owning a home (homeowner's insurance), renting a home (rental insurance) or you have life insurance with some entity talk to them about some sort of 'package' deal. You can get 10-15% off one of the policies if you keep all of your polices with one brand, like State Farm or Allstate.

laety

thats great thanks!
so nothing really against us buying a car within a few days of arrival?
I just wanted to check in case they want some papers that take a while to process such as the SSN number etc..
I got our insurance "no calim proof" although Im expecting it to be ignored..

RayM

I've already bought a truck, it's sitting in the garage at the house waiting for my arrival. I used State Farm and as the previous poster said they gave me a discount on the other insurances I have.
Actually buying the car is the tricky part. US car salesmen are as devious as they come! My purchase went like this:

Saturday - My US girlfriend takes her old truck in to part exchange. Offer is $4000, new truck is $43995 less $4500 in rebates. I make that $35,495. Dealer says that's $36,495! How did you get that figure? He tells me that $1,000 of the rebates is only if I finance the new vehicle. I tell him that it only says that I need to trade in an old Ford product. Let me see the boss he says. Dealer says the boss agrees I can have the extra $1,000. I said great, it's a deal as long as you throw in a tank of gas and a bed-liner. Dealer says - I'll ask the boss.- Boss says ok. So that's $35,495 with a tank of gas and bed-liner. Yes says the slimy salesman.

Monday - Call to check everything is ready. Yep, all ready, just need to pay $36,694.95. Hold on, we agreed $35,495. Yes, but you can't have the $1,000 off unless you have finance and there's $199.95 documentation fees! OK, I'm off the the Chevvie dealer then. Hold on I'll check with the boss - Boss says's you can have the $1,000 off. OK and I'm not paying this documentation fee either. Checks with boss again - Boss says ok. So when I come in tomorrow can I pay by debit card? No, we don't take debit cards, you can pay with a personal check. Really? a personal check for $35,495? OK I can do that.

Tuesday - Girlfriend turns up to collect car. Salesman - that's a total of $36,495. WHAT! She explains it should be $35,495. Hold on, let me check with the boss. Enter the Finance Manager - you can have it for $35,495 if you finance it. No we don't want finance you agreed a deal at $35,495 and you knew it was cash. Salesman and Finance Manager go away to talk for 10 minutes. I tell my girlfriend to leave. She gets to her old truck when the salesman catches her and asks where she's going. She says - The Chevvie dealer down the road. Hold on he says we'll do the deal at $35,495. OK she says. Check handed over and she leaves in our new truck not before he tries to sell her all sorts of extra cover for maintenance, tyres, paint etc.

So now I have a truck. Don't forget you have to pay the sales tax yourself in many states. You get 30 days to do that in MO.

laety

wow!! sounds pretty bad!! but good for you to be so patient and to manage to get it eventually
so if you buy a car from a dealer you have to pay tax later? what about if you buy it from a private seller, do you still have to pay taxes? how do that work? (gosh i think its going to take me a while to get use to all of this)

RayM

The tax thing varies from state to state so you need to check that out. I think I was told that California even varies from district to district.
I bought in MO, if you go to Kansas, only 20 miles away, then the tax is paid to the dealer and can be financed. The US tax system does seem strange at first to a Brit.

laety

indeed
thanks for this, I would have completely missed that of I think!

Flabound oneday

as Ray says do check on what taxes etc you may have to pay after the fact.

we bought two second hand vehicles in Fla and had to pay sales tax, new license plates (you keep 'yours' for life) and a registration fee. on a $5k car it was another $6-700.

on insurance -get a US license asap. that helps cut costs.
our first premium was $600 for 6 months -liability only.
we are now down to $350 for laibility and comp not collison

be warned
laibility only = 3rd party
comp = adds fire and theft
collision is the equivalent of fully comp (ie your vehicle is covered)

In Fl its also advisable to have uninsured motorist cover if you dont have health ins. that way if you get hit by a dummy with no cover (and there's lots) you are not out of pocket.

RayM

and just to make it more complicated in MO we pay annual property tax on a home that you own ( a bit like Council Tax) and on the value of any vehicles you own. Again, I don't know what happens in CA.

Wibblypig

So glad we decided to lease cars.....

fatbrit

I always direct fresh-off-the-boat folks to carbuyingtips.com.

Crappy presentation, but excellent and comprehensive description of the vile cesspit you enter when you walk on to the dealer's forecourt.

Bob

They might be national brands, but they're usually separate local state entities. UK no claims and driving history mean nothing here.

Buying a car is easy, just get the money together...getting it registered/titled/plated and insured is where the potential problem is, depending on the state.

Worth waiting till you get a SSN and it's worth waiting 10 days before applying for one to get in the SAVE system.

Sales tax, you'll pay it regardless, getting from a dealer and you usually pay them the tax and they take care of it, if you buy privately, you pay up the tax when you file and pay the title fee and pay to register the car, and pay for the plates at the same time. A insurance agent might have a runner that will do that for a nominal fee, or a dealer might take care of that, which is worth the $20 to avoid being in the DMV more than needed.

Bob

Don't worry, you're just getting screwed behind your back on the lease

Wibblypig

Totally! But at least it's less stress until we get the hang of things

Havnfun

If you purchase a car from a dealer you will pay the tax to them and they will handle the registration with the DMV. If you purchase a car from a private seller then you have to go to the DMV yourself, pay the tax and the registration fees.

If you have to go to the DMV yourself be prepared for a long wait. My son went to the one in Laguna Hills last week and after 40 minutes of standing in line he wasn't even inside the building yet

When we first arrived we bought a car without California drivers licenses, SSN etc. We used Allstate and they took into account our Canadian no claims records that we brought with us. We also got our renters insurance with them so that gave us a discount.