Driving New York to LA - Help 2 London guys please!

Hi there,

For one reason or another I woke up the other day and decided I needed a massive change. And I decided a roadtrip across America was the answer!

So I have booked my flight to New York on the 14th April and a friend is flying out to join me around the 23rd and we are planning to hire a car and drive over to Los Angeles. We aren't in too much of a rush - planning on doing the journey in about 2 weeks. We haven't figured out an exact schedule or route so any tips or advice would be great - I guess we are kind of thinking the great Route 66 but we're pretty flexible.

Would love to know some must see sights - whether they be great diners, motels, natural scenery or drive-in theatres!

Also any tips on renting a car in New York and leaving it in LA - is it possible and can anyone recommend a good company. Or are we better off buying a cheap second hand car etc? Also how much is fuel in the USA?!?!

Any advice for two London (UK) boys is much appreciated!

Thanks.

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

In answer to the easy question, renting a car will be your best option. You'll have to do a little shopping around to see where you can get the best rate though. Buying a car would be impractical and too expensive for a 2 week trip.

The price of gas in the US is about $2/gallon right now.

Otherwise, the US is such a big place, you really do need to just start doing some research about the kinds of places you want to see and things you'd like to do. Once you get an idea of the basics of your trip, we'll be in a better position to help you find some of the other things to help fill in the details.

You should also know that Route 66 was decommissioned 2 decades ago, and while there are sections that still exist, its a historic route. You should also know that drive in theatres are few and far between, with no more than a couple hundred left in the entire US.

I would advise that whoever you hire your car from, make sure you hire it from a location in manhattan rather than from JFK - it will save you a reasonable amount of money over the 2 weeks.

I hired from the Budget location in midtown last year and leaving the island was easy - especially if you have sat-nav.

If you want sat nav - check out the price of buying one rather than renting the hire companies - I paid under $200 in a circuit city for a Garmin 200w that I also use throughout Europe, to add one to my hire would have been $240

Can't help you much on where to go along the way, but if you fancy a beer when you reach California then drop me a line, I'm there at the same time as you!

You can buy a basic TomTom for about 100 bucks at Walmart. Not my first choice, but for a one-time use it will get the job done.

They have these programs called Drive Aways... it's basically where someone is moving from NY to LA and is flying and needs someone to drive their car. That person being you... usually a $300 deposit that gets mostly refunded at the end of the trip. You need a clean driving record, your international DL, and the $300-$400 in cash. Sometimes they even have gas allowances... cheapest way to cross the country in a car. You just have to remember that you're responsible for it while it's in your care. If you're schedule is flexible, this might be a good option for you. Just Google "Drive Aways".

This is what I plan to do for my trip from Dallas to LA this May.

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Originally Posted by bradylady79

They have these programs called Drive Aways...

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Having driven many driveaway vehicles, I can say, it is a great way to travel, but make sure you know what you are doing.

You might like to check out my post in this thread.

Hey, I am planing to do the same trip but in reverse :) I am wondering if you got any closer to finding places to visit, routes and those drive in theaters.. those would be pretty cool!