Buying a Car in the USA...from abroad...
 

Good News…

I have friends that are coming out here to work…for a few years at least…on L1 and L2 Visas…they are moving with Pickfords in August as the Visas have just been approved.

BUT…Pickfords are telling them that they will be better off financially if they purchase their car through them so it’ll be waiting for them when they get here…something about this rings alarm bells for me, I’m wondering whether anyone has any experience of buying a car in the US before they actually got here and whether it was truly a better deal…and if so...who did you do it with.?

Ignore the ‘getting credit’ side of things, I have agreed to cosign their finance application so that won’t be a problem for them when they get here…

Thanks

Chris

Re: Buying a Car in the USA...from abroad...
 

I think its called 'International Autosource'

anyone have any experience of them?

Re: Buying a Car in the USA...from abroad...
 

I think Intl auto are great if credit is an issue (from what i've heard)

However, if credit is not an issue I would definitely wait till I came over here so I could actually test drive a car and then beat the dealer/private party up over price.

Re: Buying a Car in the USA...from abroad...
 

Bwwwwaaahhahahahahahhh! :D

Who knows? Definitely time to ask for a breakdown of the numbers, though. One of the line items being, "What's Pickford's cut on the deal?"

Re: Buying a Car in the USA...from abroad...
 

you and I share the same skeptical nature :)

Re: Buying a Car in the USA...from abroad...
 

If it is international autosource then i know a couple of people who have used them and been very pleased. Although in both cases it was for credit reasons - and the choice of cars is quite limited i believe. If you have cash though there are great deals here at the mo, and they seem to be getting better!!

Re: Buying a Car in the USA...from abroad...
 

We used them when we were moving over here. They have a vast selection of cars and we were able to purchase a brand new car exactly like the one we had used whilst here on holiday for 0% finance over 5 years. I don't think you would get a 0% finance deal unless you had a credit history.
We were very please with them and there genuinely does not seem to be any strings.
We did not go through Pickfords, just through Int Auto Source. I wouldn't go through a third party. Do your friends have a relocation company helping them? If so, they may be able to help.
I believe this has been discussed before on here a bit?

Re: Buying a Car in the USA...from abroad...
 

Yup ..I totally go along with that ....

Re: Buying a Car in the USA...from abroad...
 

If it is International Autosource then i can comment from two sides.

I bought an Audi TT - 3.2 through them, with all the bells and whistles before i moved here, got the same rate as finance as someone with established excellent credit would get. This was cheaper than i could have bought it here too.

Then i needed another car as well. So I bought a $4500 minivan from ebay.

value for money, the 2000 Chevrolet Venturer

good for establishing a credit history - The $1500 a month, 2 year finance deal on an Audi.

If i did it all again, i would not buy the Audi, would buy something new and not so flash for cash, say $25000 instead of $44000.

Hope these ramblings help.

Re: Buying a Car in the USA...from abroad...
 

Search for Pulaski's posts on IA. He's always going on about them. Makes me wonder if he's gets a cut on recommendations... ;)



NC Penguin

Re: Buying a Car in the USA...from abroad...
 

I wish! :rolleyes: ..... and yes, they are that good. They may not be the best for everyone, but relocating inernationally will give you plenty to worry about, so don't underestimate the convenience of having a car sorted out, and waiting for you at a local dealer (IA cars are delivered through a regular franchised dealer) ahead of time. :)