southcoast

Oops, got a bit trigger happy.

Vicky88

It might be worth going to the dealer and playing hardball. They tried the same crap with us, said 12.9% interest which we laughed at, and ended up walking away with 2.9%. We did have a credit rating but had only been in the country for 2 days, no pay slips or proof of income. Couldn't even remember the name and address of my husband's employer. This was with a Ford dealer. Also don't go on a weekend as that is when they make their sales, so I suggest you go on a week night when they might be hungry to make a deal.

If you can get a car loan it is a good idea as that will help you credit rating if you are intending to get a home loan.

frrussre

NYC makes you take the written & Driving test. Even though you take a test they will ask you for your UK license & confiscate it "Unless you don't have one "Of Course". The driving test was sadly pathetic "Fifty times less difficult then in UK" Eye test a blind person could pass it. Through the tunnel in NJ they do not make you take the driving test, they just swap your UK license. Every state in USA is like a different country. 15 years still getting the hang of it.

Re, driving a non rental car in NY or probably 50 states, ie a relatives car etc. You cannot drive with a non USA (Possibly Canadian) driving License. I called my company, "Any driver with current license" means USA, not foreign.
I have had 3 Insurance companies, always same answer.
If you live in a state for more then 30 days as a resident, ie. work/telephone/ apartment etc. You have to get a new license, they usually exchange them one for one within 50 State & Canada. Sometimes written test & a drive around the mall car park.

Reg. Frank R.

Capn

I found a nice little loophole to get an excellent credit rating if your spouse is a USC or resident here with a good credit rating. Have them cancel one of their cards (Discover worked for me), within a few weeks the company will be on the phone trying to get you to have their card again and will give it to you on the basis of your spouse's good credit rating. THEN, after making sure they do a good deal, transfer the balance off another card onto your new card. Your credit rating immediately shoots up to give you a rating as a trusted payer (look up the details on the creditreport website). It worked for me and we were able to get a mortgage here with no problems about my credit rating shortly after I immigrated to the US. If you want further details send me an e-mail.

On the insurance discussion, I've had a TX license for just over a year and I'm paying $600/6 months for a 2000 Expedition (Fully comp, I'm the main driver) and a 1995 Grand Voyager (liability, wife's car). No tickets for either of us.

frrussre

Trouble with Auto insurance, really depends where you live. Mid 90's in New York City, I was put in the assigned risk pool. I brought with me letters from UK, showing good driving record 20 + years. $3200 per year for basic midsize. Was not until 5th year before could get out of AR pool. NYC is very expensive. Jeep GCL, 7500 miles per year only, no driving to or from work or school allowed, No business use PLEASURE ONLY. $50k/$100k/$300k $500 deductible = $1600 per year clean license 100% driving record accident free.
I meet people here, Citizens paying $5000 a year. I think the average for NY & NJ is $3000 +.
Reg. Frank R. It's 50 little countries. I will never get used to that.

TonyC

PLEASE NOTE

If you get the option to NOT have your SSN on your US State driving(ers) licenc(s)e then Opt for the NOT.

If you lose your wallet with your credit cards and licence with your SSN then there is a damn good chance of your identity being stolen for credit fraud. I have seen this happen with my nearest and dearest. It was pure hell for here to get everything sorted out.

Just FYI

Pulaski

Please check my posting above (and earlier than yours) re Autosource. I used them to buy a $25k car, 20% down and the balance at0% over 36 months. I am a UK citizen, and contracted to buy the car immediately before (this was required) I left the UK and hadn't yet started my job in the US. I had absoutely no US credit history. All I need was to demonstrate I had a job to come to and obtain one other "good name" reference. I cannot recommend them strongly enough, the only catches are (i) you must contract to buy before you leave the UK and (ii) you can only buy cars from US domestic manufacturers (Ford, GM, and Chrysler, but not Volvo, Jaguar, Landrover, Saab, or Mercedes etc. despite them being Ford, GM & Chrysler group manufacturers.)

bigglesnm

We are temp visiters in New Mexico, in previous years we took out insurance with our home insurer great $450 a year Now its impossible without a NM licence---we don't have a tax ID or SSN ! problem.
We eventually got 6 months @ $618 non comprehensive! with Progressive online Go Figure

Ben

I'm with you, Pulaski. We used international autosource, and they were great. We got a very good lease deal on a pontiac and .9% on a ford with only $5,000 down on the ford and nothing on the pontiac. Good service. The cars wouldn't be ready for us straight away because we asked for certain specifics so once we arrived in the US we started to shop around. We couldn't get anything better than what they were offering. Within 6 months we had gained a good credit rating and were able to get a credit card. We had no help for anyone, including husband's company. Other brits we met had to wait well over the year before they could get the same things we could. I know a lot of these things can be different from state to state but NJ is one of the toughest and most expensive and we even got car insurance at a similar rate to the locals. We weren't charged well over the odds. Autosource helped us with the insurance as well.

The only thing I would say to what you put, you can buy another make of car, but you can't get their discounts. We enquired about a Honda and we were told that they could get us one, but we would have to pay full price.

I would recommend international autosource everytime because even if you find you can get a better deal once you have arrived in the US, you can always cancel your oder with them with no penalties. It's a no lose situation.

ukemigrant

Hi, I was trying this same thing yesterday, and I was told I would have to close my UK (bluecard) amex account before they could process the US one. Did you find this to be the case too? If not, do you have the name and number of the guy you spoke to ? Always helps to speak to someone who knows what they are doing...

Also when did you open your US amex card?

Finally, I tried to pay off my amex bill so I could close the card and open one in the US and was told I could only make a payment outside the statement due date if my account was overdrawn... Talk about dumbass policies....sheeeshhh!

Thanks in advance, Sam.

steve771177

Hi

there are also a few other things you should look at before you move as well.....

* US Driving License
* Social Security Number/Card (SSN)
* Bank Account
* Credit Card
* Credit Rating / Score
* Electricity in the USA
* Telephone Services

you can find concise and helpful summaries here of what to do, and how to do it, here - http://www.h1base.com/page.asp?id=102

Pulaski

I still have my UK Blue card, nobody said that I need to close it, and I only dealt with them by mail, quoting my UK Blue card number.

February 2002, three months after I moved to the US - it took a couple of months for them to reconsider after originally turning me down.

I don't beleive that is correct, in the UK you have a common law RIGHT to discharge a debt at any time. I often made more than one payment a month on my UK credit cards, Amex included.

DuncanVincent

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Pulaski
I still have my UK Blue card, nobody said that I need to close it, and I only dealt with them by mail, quoting my UK Blue card number.



Hi

I was warned before I left the UK to get an UK AMex. I got a gold AMEX. In the US I simply called the US office. I was told I had to shut down my UK card first - I did and I then got a Platinum card for me & my wife - as easy as that!

I then reopened my UK gold AMEX - with no problems.

I arrived with NO credit even though I bought a $230,000 house for cash! Eh? Once I had the US Amex I registered with the US Expiren (sp?) credit agency online to look ay my credit profile.

Within a few months I got to a high credit profile, just a few points of the max.

hope this helps anyone

D