Re: Emigrating to the USA soon
 

Mario Kart is a good description, I loved driving there when there was little traffic, less so when there was… and with all the potholes I preferred it when it was not my own car. I sometimes just took a zip car for fun, would never have wanted a car without my own underground car park (not a garage where they park for you).

I was not so lucky to do it online, it was a grotty place on 23rd street I think.

I recall some other advanced course I took online to lower my insurance, you had to keep clicking so you had to be on the computer…

The best bit of moving out here car wise was the massive drop in the cost of insurance, we have 500/500/250 fully comp with all the extras for 2 new/newish cars and have 1 accident free now and pay around $80 a month for the wife and $90 a month for me.

Re: Emigrating to the USA soon
 

Wow - $90/mo = $1,080 / year. While not exorbitant, I wouldn't call that cheap either. Was your insurance much higher in UK?

My latest quotes for similar coverages was about $800/year in Arizona (Phoenix Metro) and $1,800/year in SF Bay Area. I'm over 60 so this strikes me as high!

Re: Emigrating to the USA soon
 

This is tristate still, what level of coverage do you have, and what value of car, these are only $35k SUV’s, nothing flash, but not a $1000 beater either. You can’t compare apples and oranges. I did not need a car in the UK I lived in London after University, just used rentals and zip cars when needed, and only did my license when I was moving to NZ and needed a car.

Re: Emigrating to the USA soon
 

$36k car - boring hybrid SUV.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...e6ed266df5.png

The above is for Arizona (Phoenix Metro); SF Bay Area was more than double ($1,800). Since I have a residence in both locations, I'm choosing to insure at my AZ address BUT - this is causing complications because I bought and registered the vehicle in CA. In order to register a vehicle in CA, you must provide proof of insurance, and at first, they didn't recognize my AZ insurance policy (their automated system balked). But I went through a 'verification' process, and submitted my AZ policy, and for now they are accepting it but my agent said it's probably going to bite me soon. If that happens, I will re-register in AZ. That will cost me about $500 in registration fees, and also will cost a 'sales tax' fee; AZ does, however, allow you to offset sales tax paid in another state so I think that will end up being a wash.

Re: Emigrating to the USA soon
 

level of cover looks similar, and it seems inline costs wise, somewhere between your 2. I believe the “work around” in CT/NY is people registering and insuring the cars they drive here in FL, that’s also to avoid the property tax they owe on them here in CT. That does prevent people getting the parking permit for the town beach and other places but you still see plenty of people who do it, I assume they have a second home in FL.

maybe things like the snow in winter add to accidents and claims and hence premiums, can’t say I have looked at underwriting data.

Re: Emigrating to the USA soon
 

I once had a car insurance premium of GBP 156 for the year and used Quidco to get GBP 120 in cashback. Those were the days. $164 per month for two cars in Georgia, was nearly x3 when I first arrived.

Re: Emigrating to the USA soon
 

$180 a month for me 2 cars full coverage in GA.

Re: Emigrating to the USA soon
 

Here’s the test requirements for WA driver tests:

https://www.dol.wa.gov/driverslicense/drivingtest.html

I can confirm I had to do all of them, plus a few roundabouts and reversing round a corner.