Janinele

Hi there,

we are just in the process of relocating to Chicago. I´m German & my bf is British. What exactly do we need when buying a used car here? SSN, Credit history, US driver license or is a british/international one ok?

any information is very much appreciated!

thanks, Janine

Poppy girl

When I lived in Illinois I bought a car privately so needed none of the above and used my UK licence to insure and register the car that was in 2004

augigi

I'm too scared to buy a car privately after watching Judge Judy and seeing that "as is" literally means it can fall apart as you drive away and you're SOL. At least from a dealer I can get a warranty of some description!

Poppy girl

I was lucky my ex-hubby was great with cars there was nothing that he could not fix so I took the risk.

md95065

The only thing that you need is money

But, seriously, the biggest issue will be how you intend to finance the purchase.

If you are paying cash it will be comparatively easy, but getting a loan could be difficult. The problem is that none of the US credit reporting agencies have ever heard of you or your boyfriend and that means that, as far as the US is concerned, you do not have a credit history ...

... and not having a credit history is *much* worse than having a bad credit history - if you have a bad credit history the lender knows how much extra to charge you in fees and higher interest rates - if you don't have a credit history they don't know what to do and just reject you ...

It isn't completely impossible to get a car loan under those circumstances but prepare to be shocked by the interest rate you are charged. If at all possible try to get help from your employer for stuff like this - is there a credit union you can join through your employer or something like that?

As far as the driver's license goes you probably can get insurance with just a British license but you really should get an Illinois license as soon as possible - I am not sure what the rules are in Illinois (in California you are supposed to get a California license within 10 days of becoming resident) but life will be *much* easier with a "real" driver's license so just go ahead and get one.

augigi

Although some states you can't get a D/L without a SSN...so check IL requirements.

Janinele

Hi,

thanks for your help so far.

We´ll pay cash - so therefore we opt for a old car. Since my bf is British it´ll be easier for him with his (english) driver license - it is accepted for a certain time - but I need to check again. I need to get an international one or one from IL. But it will be just me having a SSN...

credit history - oh yeah you run into that problem almost every day, but I´m building up one now....

so again can my bf register and insure a car just based on his driver license? (it´ll take a while until I have an IL one)

what will they ask for and where do we do that (register)?

any suggestions for insurance - which company?

thank you soo much,

Janine

JEM3110

Hi,

Here is a good link, which may answer some of your questions....

http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/de...iving_faq.html

We use a company called AIG for our car insurance. Both my husband and I were able to get insured on our British Licences when we got here and then as soon as we passed the Illinois test we informed the company of our new details (I think officially you can drive with a foreign license for up to 3 months).

Good luck!

Roland Hulme

Ha! We've gone to dealer in Jersey who offer no warranty at all. but I guess there's at least the 'lemon' law.

but if you know a little about cars, generally you won't get screwed.

Poppy girl

Progressive do the same another option

dave2702

In Illinois you will need a SSN before you can get a licence so that will be your 1st concern

Once you've got a licence then unless you've got a lot of money to spend you'll need to find a dealer who deals with sub-prime candidates. I went to Carmax (quite a large dealership over here) who have a "immigrant" package where they lend you the money at twice the usual APR. I went with it and as soon as I got a decent credit rating refinanced the car

I wasn't allowed to drive the car away until I could prove I had insurance, however it's not unusual to be able to phone up and get insurance there and then (I went for Geico) they'll fax the proof to the dealer and you're all set

Of course as a new immigrant you will be treated as a new diver regardless of how long you've driven

lapin_windstar

Hi

Read through this: http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/de...nse/dlfaq.html

This sort of stuff varies between states, companies and how the agents put it into the computer, but ime in NYS car insurance would have been more expensive without a US license, and my low/non-existent credit score meant my insurance was more expensive.

One last thing: I have no idea what it's like in Illinois, but in some states, the legal minimum level of insurance is a joke. If you go into an insurance office and ask for the cheapest possible policy, make sure they don't sell you something that only has $25,000 of coverage (or whatever). It's not the damage you do to your own car that you have to worry about, it's taking out a doctor and his brand new Mercedes...

NB there's no such thing as an International Driver's License, just an International Drivers Permit, which is a translation/certification of your existing license. If you have a German driver's license, you have to get your IDP from ADAC or another organization in Germany - anything else is valueless.

NB that "permanent resident" above isn't the same as Permanent Resident in the "green card" sense - it just means anyone living in Illinois, regardless of their visa.

augigi

I just did this in PA. Bought a used car from a dealer.

Insurance is okay on a foreign license, you just have to give a local address and passport number. I am paying cash so don't worry about finance.

State minimum coverage is crap, so you'll have to eat the cost of more coverage if you want to be covered properly.

I was quoted between $1000 and $1500 for SIX MONTHS of coverage for a 7yo car.

augigi

Just to update, I wasn't able to get plates in PA without either a state ID or driver's license. I can't get the state ID or D/L as my SSN card hasn't arrived yet.

The dealership gave me dealer plates to use until I can get a D/L or ID.

The insurance company (Geico was the best price/coverage by a long shot) has given me 30 days to get a local D/L.

Insurance on a 2001 Subaru Legacy wagon came out to $950-odd for 6 months coverage.