catlover3

So, we need a car.

We arrived three weeks ago (green cards) to LA. Unlike most people it seems, we haven't come out here with jobs to go to, but we are comfortable, financially. I am on paid sabbatical right now, and have a well paying freelance research gig, husband is self-employed (makes television commercials). We also have two properties in the UK that provide us with rental income.


Apparently, this is not enough for VW!

We spent four hours at Santa Monica VW trying to get a lease on Friday. In spite of providing credit reports (UK), bank statements, referees; in spite of having leased VW cars in the UK for the past five years, they need a letter of employment from a US company OR a co-signer, as if we were 18 years old.

They did offer us pre-owned cars (2014 models), with 6K down but they were pretty out of date already (AM/FM radio but no bluetooth - ohmy and anyway, we want a lease.

Are there any other companies we should try that can deal with out situation? As we are currently househuting, we're taking about 8 ubers a day! Husband is on a shoot starting next week too, and ubering will be a pain.

tom169

I don't blame them. Buy a used car and get on your feet.

jellybean_17

I can't imagine any doing a lease or finance without an income source, sorry. Even in the UK without your income VW wouldn't offer a lease. The pre-owned offer sounds like a good deal. We have a 2015 VW and it still has am/fm/cd/aux - boo! Cars here seem to hold their value too, so see it as an investment Better than getting uber and rental cars imo.

Pulaski

This. End of story.

catlover3

We do have an income source! They verified that, not a problem. Perhaps my post wasn't clear. I am on sabbatical - this means I have a monthly income. And we have two additional monthly incomes from two houses we own and rent out. They verified this, but needed the credit confirmation. This is what we don't have.

Thanks though.

Pulaski

Your circumstances are very unusual, so you don't fit the credit model. If the situation was reversed, with you being Americans in the UK, you would have exactly the same problem.

catlover3

Probably we'd have it worse. The UK is very unwelcoming to immigrants. But in the US, money usually talks.

petitefrancaise

You could try Mazda - they are usually pretty good with new arrivals but again their program is aimed at salaried immigrants.

Otherwise, Advancial might be worth a try, they are very open to helping new arrivals but in this case you'd be looking at a car loan and the financing % might be high.
It's going to be hard going until you have a decent credit rating in the USA. I would buy a car that will be ok for now with cash/loan. if you get a loan then you can always refinance in a year to get a better rate and if you bought a cheap car then you could just sell it and get the lease car you want.

Have you tried expatride and International autosource? I don't know how it would go with them but it's a worth a try.

jellybean_17

I understand you technically have an income but not in the traditional sense for finance agreements (outside the UK). I'm not sure if you could work something out through your husbands work status? Maybe from an accountant confirming some kind of consultancy employment status? If he were registered as a company then this would work, he would be an employee of his company. Maybe its a long shot or a no shot but the thoughts there

Giantaxe

Nothing to do with a country being welcoming or unwelcoming. As you want credit in the form of a lease, what usually talks is a US credit score - which you presumably don't have.

hungryhorace

I didn't even have an SSN when I leased a car here. Money absolutely talks in the US.

catlover3

I agree. I've been here 18 days and I already got approved for a credit card. Maybe thats why I had too-high expectations for the car lease.

catlover3

Correct - no credit score. But the foreign lease apparently takes that into account. It just says that we need to earn more than 65k. We do, and they verified it, just not in the form that they like I guess!

I still think the UK is unwelcoming to immigrants. At least in the last few UKIP-py years I've been living there.

catlover3

Thank you. Good idea!

catlover3

Good ideas; I'll look into them, thanks!