st326

Hi all,

Before I ask a sensible and relevant question, I feel the need to briefly gloat:

I submitted my PhD thesis yesterday!

So, assuming no wheels come off, I'll be starting at NASA on June 1st. I have a question: I've driven in the States before, and have been driving for *cough* years in the UK, but in the past in the states I've always driven hire cars, but as this move is effectively permanent (modulo visa hassles), I'm going to need to buy a car. My employer will fund a hire car for the first couple of weeks, but I'd intend to buy a car by the end of that period or not much later. Aagh, help! What do I need to do? I think I need to take a driving test, yes? How long does it take to organise that? Is it difficult? (I passed my UK test first time, but that was a loooooooooooooooong time ago). And what about insurance? A friend (USian, living in UK) who used to work for Geico said that they would accept proof of no claims bonus from the UK, but I don't know if that's actually true. As I understand it, the US is really expensive for car insurance?

I'm not so bothered about financing the car, I'm prepared to buy it outright, and am quite familiar with older cars having mostly driven oldish cars in the past anyway (I have an allergy to new car prices!)

Any tips would be greatly appreciated. If it makes any difference, I'm moving to Mountain View, CA.

mickmills

Found the following, which describes what you need to apply for a CA license.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/dl/dl_info.htm#BDLP

The driving test in Tennessee was very easy, though I suspect it may be more difficult in CA, but doubt its anywhere near as hard as the UK test?

Have you been to Mountain View before? I was out there last year & the place is beautiful.

Good luck with the move.

st326

I spent three months in Mtn View in summer 04 when I was doing an internship at NASA Ames, so I'm familiar with the area. It is certainly a nice place to live, and I'm looking forward to going back. The amount of stuff that I need to sort out is somewhat daunting, however! Last time, NASA arranged everything including a furnished apartment -- all I had to do was get on a plane. This time, it's a for-real job, so I'll be finding an apartment, buying furniture, buying a car, you name it. And on my own, which is a bit scary, but I'll do it if I have to. I already have an SSN, but annoyingly not the actual card -- the social security office stuffed up and the card got lost in the post or not sent out in the first place, and I was leaving too soon once I got to the bottom of things. It seems that the DMV insists on the actual card, even though they actually check the number while you are waiting anyway. Of course. They couldn't *possibly* do anything the easy way, could they?

So, according to the DMV site, I have to get a driver's license within 10 days if I get a job. But I need a SS card, which I can't get replaced from here. And (from memory) it takes 2 - 6 weeks to arrive (if it arrives). But I will be moving from a temporary place into my own apartment after about 2 - 3 weeks. Aaargh. Spit.

Mountain View is not really compatible with not having a car, I know, I managed without one for 3 months in '04, and swore not to do that again.

Philgr

I'm not sure where you got that information from but the link Mick provided says that you only need your SS card if you are applying for a commercial license or want your SS number changed - otherwise you just tell them what it is - so you should be OK. I don't remember having to provide my SS license.

Don't make the mistake of going to San Jose DMV office for your license - Los Gatos is much nicer (it's relative) and the wait is shorter - it's still best to use the appointment system though as I've yet to find a DMV office that is a pleasant place to kill time.

Congrats on the PhD submission & good luck with the move - hopefully it will have stopped raining in Mountain View by the time you get here!

GlasgowBoy

Don't worry too much about the SS card / driving license thing. You can drive on your UK license whilst you are waiting - just apply for your SS card as soon as you get here and then your driving test as soon as you get it.

No one will give you any problems if you show you've done all you can to follow the rules.

As for the driving test -the practical is easy. As long as you don't hit any other cars, road furniture, pedestrians or spill the testers coffee, you should be pretty much OK. For the written test (which you need to do first), read the California Driver's Handbook. Most of the test is common sense, but their are a few California specific peculularities.

Jerseygirl

I live in NJ and because I held a UK license I only had to take a written test and that was multiple choice.

GlasgowBoy

California requires Brits to take a practical - I believe French and German license holders are exempt.

BTW, Progressive were the only insurance company I could find that would at least acknowldege our previous UK driving experience and not treat us like newly qualified 16 year olds. Its still expensive though.

Philgr

CA requires anyone with just a foreign license to take the practical test as well but it is reportedly a piece of piss. The theory test is multiple choice - the only hard questions are the ones related to traffic accident statistics and legal limits for alcohol etc. - it's all in the Handbook & you're allowed to get quite a few wrong and still pass.

I took my practical in Texas where the hardest part of the test was getting the Trooper's gun untangled from my handbrake before setting off!

Jerseygirl

When my daughter took her test on her 17th birthday it consisted of driving around an empty car park for about 1 min then parallel parking between two cones half a mile apart. The whole thing from start to finish took about 5 mins.

Scouse Express

Hi There,

Ask someone in CA, to send you a CA Driver's Manual, so as you can read up on the theory side of the test. The practical side of tests, in most States, is fairly easy.

Different States have different rules for people moving to their State. Some require that you pass a driving test within 30 days of your arrival, and ask that you surrender any other licences. I gave up my UK one, then wrote to DVLA (care of my mother's address in the UK) and obtained a duplicate.

As far as purchasing a car goes, may I suggest that you finance 20% of it, like I did with my first car over here. It will establish a Credit History for you.

Good Luck!


Jim.

GlasgowBoy

Its available for download here

Technically you are required to surrender your UK license in California but neither I nor GlasgowGirl were asked for them. GlasgowGirl was unoffically told that no-one from Western European countries would be asked to surrender their license.


This is good advice.

Eskimo

AIG will also acknowledge a UK driving record (I should have hidden mine )

You dont need an SS number to get a driving license but you have to argue like mad at the DMV to convince them of this

You can get 5 wrong on the written test but just read the mock papers on line its piss easy - as others have said the practical involves turning up sober and not hitting anything (speaking in an accent like a 1950s BBC newscaster seems to help as well)

Oh and Glasgow boy are you and the missus going to the Ship on Thursday night ?

st326

s The annoying bit is that I *do* have a SSN, it's just that the social security office were too crap to actually send me a card before I left at the end of my internship. Gaaah. It should be OK if, as someone said, I don't need the actual physical card.

Bob

the driving test will be easy, but requirements for getting license and setting up a test depends on the state...

the insurance, well your UK no claims will be diddle over here...and it'll be expensive for a couple years, but shop around...and buying outright, silly....get a little of it on finance as it's the best way to start building up your credit history.

check out the finance faq up top for some more info.

Bob

they can ask, but they can't make you give it up because it ain't your license to give it up, as it belongs to the government.