Parisangel

Hi Y'all! (Just practicing....)

WHat do we need to buy a car in the US? Any particular documentation etc? We will need to buy one quite soon after move.

Also, any Houston folks who can recommend used car places in the area?

Thanks guys!!

Mr Weeze

For used cars:

Do you want a warranty? If you want more than about 3 months, you will have to start looking at dealer stock and go to the certified stock. That, or go the after-market warranty route (you will get a sales pitch on one anyway once you buy). There is little legal requirement for much of a warranty.

If you don't want a warranty then you have more options. If you know exactly what car you want, autotrader.com is great. If you are undecided on type, try carmax.com to give you an idea of prices - you can find cars for cheaper than carmax, but that is "no-haggle" pricing.

Be prepared to not be able to test drive yourself at some (but not most) places because you have a UK license. They will either let you drive on the lot, or take you out.

We bought our cars (plan on one per adult) from texas direct auto (a giant car lot where I went and had a look and a test drive, then bought it from them for $2000 less on eBay) and advantage cars, a used car dealer where I found my car on Autotrader.

Internet pricing is a big thing - the sticker price will often be several thousand higher than the listed internet price. I don't know whether you are best to try and haggle from the sticker price down, or just go in at the internet price.

Phone a place before going and ask if they will sell a car to someone with a non-US license - some (not many) said they would not.

Finance - how are you going to pay for the car? We did cash, and would get a cashier's check (sic) for the amount from the bank. I don't know much about getting car finance here. Someone I know did it and was paying about 18.5% APR. However, I have also heard that getting a small amount of finance, and paying it off over 6 months is good for your credit score.

Insurance - you'll want that set up to drive it. There are plenty of threads on here about insurance. For us, in Houston, we found the AIG inbound scheme significantly cheaper, but others have been able to get decently priced insurance without it.

I can't honestly remember whether I needed a social security number - I don't think I did. Once the dealers knew I was a cash customer they were very happy to sell me just about anything. Don't necessarily expect much/any cash discount - they make money on selling a finance deal.

Rental - you may want to get a long term rental (1 month - 2 months) to take the pressure off buying. I know that AIG offer that (but I don't know if it is cost effective). From what I have seen, it is cheaper to book a hire car from the UK on a UK credit card than from the US on a US credit card (and vice versa). I have no idea why this is.

Other - the sticker price is before sales tax (8.625%) and some other charges. Factor in an additional 10% to allow for these.

Carfax - I can't work out whether this is a gimmick or useful. It is meant to tell you about a cars history. Every place I looked had the carfax report available for the car. I would not expect to be paying for it separately.

Kelly Blue Book (KBB) - is a bit like glass' & parker's price guide in the UK.

Once you have a car, plan on getting an EZtag for it - makes life in Houston easier.

Mr Weeze

Here are a couple of links:

http://www.texasdirectauto.com/

http://www.autotrader.com/

http://www.carmax.com/

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/cons...tos/aut03.shtm

http://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/10...-used-car.html

Bink

To echo Mr Weeze, I also bought a car from Texas Direct Auto when I first moved over, they have plenty of stock and I thought the service was fine and the prices were reasonable. I needed a fair bit of paperwork but I was buying a company car so most of it was to do with that. I think all you need is proof of ID and proof of insurance if it's a cash purchase. You'll almost certainly need an SSN if you want to finance but its somewhat irrelevant as you'll have no credit history.

CarMax is another big name around here but to be perfectly honest I've checked them out and have found them to be a good bit pricier than other dealers.

You probably will be able to finance if you can put down 20-30% but you will get a bad rate. It depends on how long you're going to be here. If mid to long term then it does help your credit rating to have a car loan.

You will need a car each, it's just not possible here to manage effectively with only one car.

Used cars are more expensive here than in the UK. You'll almost certainly be looking at at least $10k, and the better cars (and reasonable SUVs) start closer to $15K+.

I would recommend sticking to a bigger dealer personally. You have more comeback and they'll probably be able to deal with you not having a Tx license a bit easier.

Parisangel

So helpful, thanks guys. We have financed one car through Int'l Autosource (won't get it for a few weeks though), the other one we'll be buying in cash.

Thanks again

TimNiceBut

Definitely ask the dealer to see the Carfax or Autocheck report on the vehicle, it's often the only way to check if a vehicle has been in an accident (provided the accident was bad enough that the police and/or the insurance company was involved). With a newer car you'll also get some idea on how the car was maintained as a lot of dealers report services to either, err, service. Given that dealers over here habitually lose all the paperwork that comes with a car, this is often the only way to determine if a car has been looked after. Plus it gives you an idea if the car has been a "lemon buyback" (although IIRC dealer have to/should disclose that) and how many owners the car has had.

Also, ensure that the car has a clean title, not a branded one. The most common one is a title branded "salvage" (ie, a repaired insurance write-off), but there are a couple of other types. With the possible exception of the not-a-US-market-vehicle branded title for a specialist vehicle, you don't want either.

As to third-party warranties, they're usually very good at weasel words to avoid paying out, plus they pay the dealer a nice fat commission. That's about all you need to know regarding their usefulness. If you want a warranty, buy a certified pre-owned (CPO) car from a main dealer.

Carmax might still be a half-decent option, the prices are a little on the high side but not necessarily out of line (make sure you have an idea what retail value for the car you're looking at is). One of the big pluses is that due to their different sales model, which avoids at least some of the unpleasant, sleazy interaction with a high pressure salesperson who failed at selling double glazing. Be aware that Carmax (at least out here) will not hold a car on a deposit, you either pay cash or take their financing. Mind you, I've been told by a sleazoid dealer for a German luxury brand that my pre-arranged financing was no good there, either, because it was "out of state" - which oddly enough doesn't appear to faze dealers who are not trying to push their own financing. Odd that, isn't it?

With pretty much any dealer, be prepared to be subjected to the most annoying and sleazy sales tactics devious minds have devised, constant "I have to get my manager to approve this" excuses by the sales reptile to leave you stew in your own juices for 10-20 minutes, attempts at sneaking BS fees onto the price that they made up on the spot and everything else they can think of to squeeze more money out of you. With some, you get the impression that they want to be as annoying as possible you throw up your hands and sign anything they put in front of you just to get out of the place. I have walked out of dealers because they didn't realise that when I said "don't play games", I meant it. Then again, I don't usually have a trade-in either so I'm not in the situation that they're holding on to the keys of my vehicle "for trade-in evaluation" to prevent you from leaving because they're playing games with you again.

Tea_and_biccies

Oh, I'm so not looking forward to starting the car-buying process. Thanks for all the tips.

Does anyone have any recommendations for car buying in the Capital District area? Dealers, insurance companies etc. Also, what is good for driving in the snow, do you really need AWD here?

TimNiceBut

Regarding driving in the snow, the answer is "it depends". What you definitely want are good snow tyres - well, snow tires - as all season tyres (aka "three season tyres") tend to be lacking in snow traction, AWD or no AWD.

Basically, what AWD gives you is traction when you accelerate, snows give you traction when you decelerate. A lot of it depends if you're in a very hilly area and if you're on a road that gets plowed quickly or not.

I keep an AWD car around for winter, but then again I have to go over a 7000'+ pass to get to work and we can get apocalyptic snowfall here. I think if I didn't have to go up to Lake Tahoe on a daily basis but, say, had to drive to Reno (which would be along the valley floor at something like 5000') instead, I could easily get away with FWD or RWD.

Bink

Have you driven here before? I have quite a few friends who came over and immediately bought a small car as that is what they were used to in the UK and have regretted it (they also bought manuals and regretted that too! )

It's all personal opinion to be honest but be warned that bigger cars are much more common here.

Mr Weeze

Manuals rule!

md95065

All that you need to buy a car in the US is money.

Registering it and insuring it are another matter entirely so you should find out what documentation you will need in order to register the vehicle in your particular state before doing anything else.

Bink

True. But in Houston depends when, where and what you drive!
I'm really glad I have an auto but my car wouldn't benefit from a manual plus my commute can be pretty bad.

Pulaski

Excellent choice, I used them myself, I used to recommend them here all the time and I can't recommend them highly enough.

Bob

Buying a car is easy. Hand over money and you're done.

Getting it road legal is the usual problem, but that all depends on your immigration status, you didn't mention it.

Insurance will suck, but getting a local license helps a little.

As for snow driving. Where do you plan to drive? It doesn't snow enough in Texas I'd imagine to make snow tyres worth the extra cost and hassle. Just decent all weather tyres are all you need.

You don't need a 4x4...it doesn't add anything to snow driving, except ability to pull out of a ditch. The tyres help you to steer and decent all seasons will do the job. You definitely don't need studded or studless studded tyres out that way.

TimNiceBut

Tea_and_biccies lists Upstate NY as her location.

Out there, snow tyres are pretty much a must. As to 4x4/AWD, that really depends on where she is. To get around the mall parking lot, not so much. Up hills etc where you might have to stop or that aren't necessarily that well ploughed, it adds a safety margin.