Bob

Ball park rule of thumb I'd say would be to budget a grand a year for a old car and a grand per 6 months for a brand new car. It might be more, but probably a little less but if it hits that range at least you won't be shocked by it.

As you can imagine, final amount will depend on age and quality of the car, but also where you live, if you've got off street parking v the road, the deductible, how much liability etc, etc, etc...so it can be very cheap if you're going with the state minimum and the equivalent of third party only and if you're driving a old banger that might be all you want, though I'd probably up the liability cover etc a bit all the same.

londonights

my cousin had a similar issue email the DMV for clarification they should give you a conclusive answer

Car insurance aint cheap expect to be well into 4 figures no matter what u drive

BKKJames

Thanks Bob,

A grand a year for an old car! If I'm being honest I was under the impression it would be a hell of alot more... I'll budget for double that though as I'm 24, in California and will probably require a reasonable deductible.

I'm looking at places to live in a very short distance to my place of work so a car won't be a requirement to get to work. Worst comes to worst I'll consider ZipCar for the weekends to get groceries etc- not much fun for a 24 year old but before shelling out for a car i think it's sensible.

I'll have a rental car for the first 2 weeks, my friend recommended supercheapcar.com and i got a quote for $560 for the 2 weeks (including insurance, liability etc) which I was pleased with!

One question I did have though... If I was to sign up to AAA and I wanted a mechanic to do a lift on a car before I buy it, can I use them for this service (is it offered in their policy?). There's alot of local mechanics so would it also be possible to simply pay one to check it for me?

Any experiences would be must appreciated!

Bob

Oh yeah, if you're under 25, definitely budget for more

AAA is great, not just for the car break down service, that's kind of meh but handy on a old car, it's the other stuff you get through them. They don't do a pre-buy check up like they do in the UK.

You'll probably not have much luck asking to take a car from a dealer to a garage for a check over but if you get friendly with a mechanic you could probably ask one to come with you to give a car the once over for a few bucks.

If you're living close to work, you might also get discounts for low mileage on the insurance, down our way at least you get something like 5% off if you do less than 5K a year and the like...but you'll blow through that even if you don't go anywhere

BKKJames

I thought I would have to budget for more As it costs more than $1000 a year for me in the UK! (I've only had my license for just over a year!).

I've been reading about huge costs involved in registering a car in California- costs that I can't afford. If I just buy a second-hander what can I expect after paying the initial price?

If I buy a second hand car for $4000 as a first time, no credit history, buyer in the U.S. how much can could I realistically expect to pay on top of that? (not including my own insurance). Another $1000? would that be a sufficient ballpark figure?

I'm starting to have doubts about whether I can afford this move!

MoshiMoshi

It's been a while since I bought my car, but as far as I can remember there wasn't a *huge* fee at the DMV. My car cost $2000, and then I paid around $200 at the DMV. I think the bulk of this was sales tax (?) and a small transfer of ownership fee.

The registration on my car was still valid for a few months. When it came time to renew the registration, it cost about $100 for another year.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong!

Bob

Look at the DMV site, it'll say how much it costs to register, title and plate the car, along with any annual town excise tax and cost of inspection.

You'll also have sales tax on the car and that'll depend on where in the State you live as it's a bit more fiddly in CA I gather.

Bob

Wow....you're lucky...that's cheap...

Down my way, registration, plates and inspection are voided on transfer of title, so you being able to keep them till they expire is pretty good going

BKKJames

That is very very cheap- well done!

I've found a calculator online (thanks Bob)- https://www.dmv.ca.gov/wasapp/FeeCal...VehicleFees.do

So i'll be sure to run an 'example' car through that.

I think I have enough car information for now but have a few more questions about my big move so i'll start a more relevant thread.

Thanks again!

James

S_C_P

Hi James,
One other thing I thought of...
If you're going to be renting for a while and perhaps holding off buying a car until you transfer to San Francisco then you may want to take another look at AAA.

I've just had some insurance quotes and found out that if I'd signed up to AAA at least 30 days previously, then Progressive would have cut the costs substantially.

It hadn't occurred to me as I've been using a rental and obviously, you don't want to get triple A without knowing it actually will help you, but I've heard it also gives discounts on a few other things too - perhaps someone else can confirm?

Mummy in the foothills

Yes you get discounts on lots of things, including hotels, theme parks, stores.

BKKJames

Now i know i said I had all the info i needed well thinking again as proved otherwise .

AAA sounds great and it's something I will definitly have to look into, thanks for the heads up!

My query that i've just thought about is with regards to financing a 2nd hand car.

Would 2nd hand car salesman be willing to offer a loan agreement to myself? I understand the rates would be bad anyway but I wanted to get a car sorted asap- perhaps even before my SSN arrives! Is this possible?

I can't afford a rental car for too long in all honesty, I could perhaps deal with a mountain bike/ public transport but I have to find a room first and not sure how close I can live to my work!

Thanks again!

Bob

All depends on the local market, how much they need your business, how much you can afford to put down etc.

If you get AAA, you can get a car loan from them, usually via a local credit union and you'd be better off getting it sorted before getting the car as you know what your budget is.

Mark_25_UK

just wanted to add something.

You can apply for you SSN as soon as you arrive, just have your passport and visa with you at the SSN office.

also, the SSN Card takes around 10 days to come in the post, but you can visit the same SSN office 48 hours after you applied to obtain your number, this means you can apply for your driving license in around 4 days of being here.

you do not have to wait 10 days to get you SSN.

Bob

Yes, but it's a shit idea to apply for the SSN within 10 days of arriving because you aren't in the SAVE system which requires manual verification which can take 6 weeks.