Buying a Car in America
 

I am from London and am planning a drive thru America staring in LA and finishing in Miami for three months. I have looked into rental and it will cost about $2500, would it be cheaper to buy a car? If so how do I go about doing that when I arrive? Any info on cars and insurance etc would be much appreciated.

The problem with making a one-way trip is that you would have to buy a California car and try to sell it in Florida. California requires special emissions systems on their cars and this makes the cars nearly impossible to sell in other states. To get a decent, roadworthy car that will be able to take you safely across the US, you will probably need to spend $4500-5500. I would REALLY recommend not buying an old, junker car because there are many lonely, desolate places in the US that you don't want it to break down! Also, you MUST buy insurance. It is illegal in most states not to have it, and if you did get in a wreck, you could be sued! The best solution is either to pay the money and rent a car, or to fly (See Southwest Airlines) from city to city.

It's almost impossible for you to buy a car without establishing residence, either for registration or insurance or both. Have you looked into leasing, specifically -- and NOT renting? Some dealerships will lease a car for a few months, and perhaps some of the rental firms will consider it, too. <BR> <BR>The other possibility -- dicier -- is seeing if there is anyone in LA who wants their car delivered to Miami. There are agencies that will link you up with such people, although it's a long shot that such an arrangement would happen at the very time you want to travel.

Louisa, <BR>This question comes up fairly often - as others said it would be nearly, if not, impossible to get insurance if you do not reside in the U.S. I would NOT even think about buying a used car even if you could insure it because unless you spend a substantial amount you will most likely have to settle for a junker -- distances are too far apart in the U.S., espiecally in the west, to not have a reliable car. If the car breaks down you are stuck with it - if a rental breaks down they give you another. You could be inconvenienced a little but it won't cost you anything. You might consider flying from place to place and renting a car in each area to sightsee for a week or whatever you plan in each area. Southwest Airlines has very inexpensive fares, you could combine that with a rental in each place for example. Drop off fees can kill you also so if you rent you want to return to the same place you picked it up at. If you are planning on doing this alone I'd reconsider the driving anyway - there is a lot of lonely, empty road out there! If you are sharing expenses with another person splitting the car rental fees would not be bad in the long run. You might check ALL the rental companies, some are less than others, but read their conditions carefully. Check out companies like Thrifty, Enterprise, etc. -- even Ugly Duckling and see what they say.

You haven't mentioned the specifics of why you wanted a car (as opposed to other means of transportation). If it's to travel at a leisurely pace and get to areas not easily accessible by public transport (e.g. National Parks and other scenic areas), the suggestions made about renting or leasing are good ones. A recent post in this forum made it evident that it's sometimes difficult to rent in one location and the return in another - there's often a very large "drop-off" fee if they do allow you to do it (some rental agencies may not even offer the option). Somone else may know more about this but I believe there is (or used to be) an airlines "pass" that allows unlimited travel within the US for a period of 2 or 3 months. It is only sold outside the US and is not available to US citizens. Rental car agencies are at every airport and you could plan some trips that run on "loops" in different areas, flying from one to another and renting a car in each. Less convenient and with more limited adjacency to rental car agencies is train travel. Amtrak has great deals on passes and one can then pay the upgrade on certain portions of the travel to get a sleeper car if desired.