Usa Travel Forum

Hi, a couple of years ago my wife and I bought a Hiace at Kings Cross market in Sydney Oz while we were travelling over there, and drove the Eastern Circle, 17000 kms then flogged it on our return. Is it poss. to do the same in USA, ie buy a wagon and then flog it 2 months later (in the States), bearing in mind I'd be a British holiday maker and going to be in USA for about 2 months. Also if it is poss. how does the insurance work out? Many thanks for any advice.

I don't see why it wouldn't be possible, but I would think leasing a car would be a better option since you are only talking about two months. I've never done it myself but I was just having a conversation with someone the other day about how leasing can be cheaper than buying, especially if you aren't keeping the car for very long. You would have to make sure you negotiate with the leaser how many miles you will be driving. This way you don't have to worry about car depriation (this is covered in your payments) and haggling with car salesmen.

As far as insurance, I found this website that talks abou the requirements when leasing: http://www.leaseguide.com/Articles/car-insurance.htm
I thinking you would have very similar requirements if you were to buy and take out a loan, so I don't think you're losing anything here. You would want to double check the requirements with the leaser, but this will give you an idea.

Sorry but we don't normally use the word "FLOG" but what is the meaning? If you mean sell, it is doubtful you could buy and sell a car that easy here. Normally you will take a big beating in price when you try to sell in a short time. Used cars do not sell that easy here except when you almost give it away. And in most States, you will need a mail address to get REGISTRATION and License Plates. Here they do not come with the car. Of course you may be able to arrange an address somewhere, but there is usually a wait of more than a week to get the title and permanent plates. If you buy from a dealer they might be able to give you temporary plates that would be good for 30 days while you wait for the "permanent"ones. If you buy from a private party, I am not sure what happens about temporary plates. If it were 6 months or more maybe it would be worth buying, but for 2 months maybe you should look at a lease.

Many thanks Jonellis, the trip is looking more and more doubtful if it's as complicated as you're outlining. We had considered renting a wagon but they are quite pricey, but I'll probably do a little more trawling the websites and if something less expensive turns up we may go for it. The cost of fuel is also a draw, comparing it with prices in UK.
Thanks again.

Sounds like a great trip - no need to complicate it though.

a) Make sure you have an international license to purchase a car...from a used car dealer (call one up tomorrow and see what ID you need to purchase one)
c) Drive off and enjoy your holiday

One week prior to arriving at your end destination, put your car on ebay and roll the dice.

Enjoy!

There is a difference between "renting" and "leasing" a vehicle. I would expect you to find prices for renting to be quite high since this is usually done if you are only keeping the car short-term (a few weeks or less). Leasing should be cheaper for you. You might want to look into it a little more before you give up on the trip. The advantage over buying would be that you negotiate the price before you take the trip, so you aren't running the gamble of seeing what you can sell it for in a short time after you are already committed to it.