charlas

Hardly ever use them on my 3Series, or Mrs car, but they are useful, and the ZF Auto in the beemer is perfect adept at choosing the right gear, helps that I have 500ft/lb torque I suppose, as even if it gets caught short it just pulls on through

Pulaski

I saw your question but have no direct experience, and had hoped someone else would chime in. The answer used to be a definite "no", but I think they now do have some sort of arrangement for recent immigrants, but it isn't as advantageous as the pre-point-of-immigration deals that are their bread and butter.

petitefrancaise

Somebody recently wrote that they got a deal with IAS after arrival... However, I know someone who got a car through expatride. Try asking.

Harveyspecter

Niiice

No worries, thanks for getting back to me.

Oh great, when the time comes I will do that. Thanks. I just don't want to commit to a big expense of another car until my income is sorted.

charlas

I've got all the paperwork they sent me through, I'll have a look if it mentions anything in there when I get 5 later

EDIT :

Would assume it's possible, as they allow you to source your own car if you like, be a difficult thing to do if not in territory , But I'd give them a mail/call as they will be best placed to say I suppose.

NoOfficialComment

For transferring an Amex: does the card have to be issued directly by Amex? I have a Barclaycard Amex which I use for everything, have done for over a year and have a rather large credit limit on.

Not the end of the world if I can't but It would be useful if I could transfer to a US Amex off the back of that.

EDIT: Answered my own question via an onlince chat with Amex. Answer is no. Card must be directly issued by AMEX only. No 3rd party affiliation.

Harveyspecter

Thanks Charlas, is that IAS or Expatride?

boltonreddave

Hi,

Two things. We got our car through IAS, ordered before we left the UK. You can also lease or get finance on a car once you have arrived in the US through IAS.

We have only been here for seven weeks but so far I've managed to gain an unsecured credit card through our bank in Pennsylvania PNC. We have cell phone contracts secured through AA i'm secured credit card through our bank in Pennsylvania PNC. We have cell phone contracts secured through AIG travelGuard. We have a lease on an apartment that we secured before we even arrived on our visas. We have also just received preapproval on a mortgage with Advancial Credit Union. All this has been achieved with no need to reference any of our UK credit history.

I suggest that you read through as many of the posts on credit and loans as possible and explore all opportunities. If somebody says no try again, everything is possible if you are prepared to do the leg work.

MidAtlantic

Well done! You seem to have got off to a good start.

It is not just a question of yes or no on credit cards and loans but what interest rate is being charged.

Pulaski

If you apply for a credit product and they pull a report on your credit history then that will be a black mark even if they turn down your application. If you start getting rejections you should be very careful because each credit report will further damage your credit score.

malch

Credit reports can get pulled by auto dealers just for inquiring, without even completing/signing a formal application. And not just one pull either. When we replaced the wife's car last summer, the dealership and THREE different finance companies pulled our credit -- both of us for 8 "pulls" in total. We both have excellent credit now so no real damage done but I was quite irritated by it.

While you're in that critical phase of building credit, tell the dealers that you don't want them pulling your credit and don't hand out your SSN until you're really ready to make a deal. Keep in mind they could pull your credit without your SSN (so be careful with your address and DoB too).