British Expats - Leasing or buying second hand Northern CA

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Suzie88

Jun 27th 2019 8:55 pm

Leasing or buying second hand Northern CA

Hi All,
My partner and I are looking for some advice regarding car options. We’re moving to SF, Ca in August, for a minimum of 2 years.

We’re considering both leasing and second hand purchases and have had some productive conversations with IAS regarding potential options. We’ve Been provided with quotes and the additional costs of getting the car on the road etc and they don’t seem too bad. Although we’re not experienced leasers (we have always purchased), the convenience, minimal deposit and ability to drive a new car appeal.

Obviously the down side of a lease is the loss of money over the term of the lease, which would probably be more substantial than a second hand car yet costs in terms of servicing and warranties would also like outweigh some of these costs too.

We just wanted to know if anyone had purchased second hand in the area, how easy was it as an expat to source and rough costs to get it on the road.

On the other hand if anyone has dealt with IAS it would also be great to hear reviews etc of this.

Thanks in advance for any help.

TexanScot

Jun 28th 2019 3:52 pm

Re: Leasing or buying second hand Northern CA

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suzie88 (Post 12703791)

On the other hand if anyone has dealt with IAS it would also be great to hear reviews etc of this.

I can't speak to California, but I used IAS when relocating to Texas and it was one of the lease stressful aspects of the move.

You may or may not be able to get better rates elsewhere, but I was very happy with the service that I received from them.

Having the lease has helped build my credit, and I'm looking forward to finally buying out the car once my lease is up in a few months.

Suzie88

Jun 29th 2019 9:34 pm

Re: Leasing or buying second hand Northern CA

That’s great thank you very much!
The least stressful option is definitely what we’re looking for, and another call yesterday evening kind of solidified it for us, so we have gone with them. Here’s hoping It’s as stress free as your experience!

sherbert

Jun 30th 2019 4:48 am

Re: Leasing or buying second hand Northern CA

We bought both cars second hand, one of them in the Bay Area. Be warned: second hand cars with massive amounts of miles on the clock are much, much more expensive than in the UK. We bought our cars off of Craigslist and you run the gauntlet of crazy and desperate nutters. If you know a bit about cars, can negotiate and have patience then you will find something.

md95065

Jun 30th 2019 8:40 pm

Re: Leasing or buying second hand Northern CA

Buying a used vehicle in California is quite straightforward and comes with the same advantages and disadvantages as most other places.
The biggest issue for you will probably be financing the purchase - if you are a cash buyer that will make things much easier.
If you need financing then that will, in practice, probably limit you to buying from a dealer and, if you don't have financing lined up in
advance with a lender you might end up paying extremely high interest rates.

In passing, I would also note that, while owning a car is *almost* always a necessity in the US, it can also be something of a liability
(and very expensive) in a place like San Francisco.

Also, don't forget to budget for what will seem to you to be outrageously high insurance rates and remember that the ridiculous amount
on your insurance quote is only for *6 months*, not a year ...

TexanScot

Jun 30th 2019 9:03 pm

Re: Leasing or buying second hand Northern CA

Quote:

Originally Posted by md95065 (Post 12704872)

Also, don't forget to budget for what will seem to you to be outrageously high insurance rates and remember that the ridiculous amount
on your insurance quote is only for *6 months*, not a year ...

Don't forget to look into how much insurance you will need to buy in terms of bodily injury limits, property damage, uninsured driver coverage etc etc.

The last thing you want is to have a smash with a Tesla and find out that you bought too little insurance to cover the damage, or to have an accident with an uninsured driver whom you will never be able to sue for recovery.

BenK91

Jul 1st 2019 2:10 pm

Re: Leasing or buying second hand Northern CA

As others have mentioned, don't just do the lowest options on your insurance cause it's cheap. $100k liability for example, is piss all in the event of a bad accident when the person you had an accident with wants to get a lawyer to drain you for every $ you have.

Suzie88

Jul 1st 2019 4:24 pm

Re: Leasing or buying second hand Northern CA

Thanks everyone for the input, does anyone have any advice about how much liability would be advisable etc? We had a quote for $100k, naively considered that would be appropriate!

shiversaint

Jul 2nd 2019 8:23 pm

Re: Leasing or buying second hand Northern CA

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suzie88 (Post 12705165)

Thanks everyone for the input, does anyone have any advice about how much liability would be advisable etc? We had a quote for $100k, naively considered that would be appropriate!

The recommended figures start at about triple that - that's what we have. I know many people that have $1mil but that raised our insurance really very high. At that point we would have been better off with an umbrella policy (which has its merits in the US, especially if you do a lot of things that are prone to accidents with other people).

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