e3geek

I sent a quote request to IA this weekend and they have started sending me some offers. There consultant will now call me tomorrow to discuss my car lease options with me.

But in the meantime they have sent me a referral for ReadyDrive. They are supposed to send me a quote for that. Has anyone got any experience with that?

Also, they sent a referral to HSBC as well and they claim to setup my account before I arrive. Is that any different than their HSBC premier thing? I know they charge $200 for opening an account which I am not going to pay.

e3geek

And I forgot to mention they referred me to torFX as well. Please share your experience about that as well.

Danoz

Readydrive is their car hire side of things. They claim to be better than corporate rates, but when I got my quote back from them the other week, i was not convinced they are as cheap as they say. They do include insurance as part of their quote, so not sure how much that would cost normally by its self, but do some online quotes as well and they looked to come out comparable, if not cheaper.

Bob

Online quotes with who though? Chances are, they'll mean nothing because you have no US credit or driving history.

You really do need to budget $2K for the first year of insurance on a new car, unless you went for state minimums which would be a terribly idea. You might end up paying less, or a bit more, but it's a pretty solid baseline to budget for.

Danoz

I was referring to the cost of car hire. I found both what IA and online (e.g. Avis etc...) were quoting was comparable. So the hire price didnt come out as cheap as I was expecting given the statements they make. However, I did make the comment that the IA quote did have insurance (albeit I am guessing state mins as they were low values).

If you are talking about car insurance for your own vehicle, then yes agree. Our quote is just over 2.5K for 12 months for two drivers without history and increased coverage amounts.

MidAtlantic

I have used torFX for GBP to USD several times and their service and rates have been excellent. The disadvantage I find is that they have no on-line platform (just a website) so everything has to be done by phone. Additionally payments to them have to be wired and onward payments to my American bank have to be wired also, incurring charges at both ends.