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Hey there,
I'm from England and am planning a 6-12 month road trip next year over to your fair country :) the problem is I can't find much information on how I'm going to be able to buy a car in the U.S and insure it?
Does anybody have any experience on the matter as my efforts of looking through the net are coming up blank?
Thanks
Olly
Welcome to the RTA Forum!
It is very difficult for non-residents to purchase and then register and insure a car. Most places you have to be able to prove you are actually living at a location before you can complete the paperwork. Since car registration is done on a state by state basis, you basically have to look for one of a handful of states that do not require you to prove residentcy.
However, there could be an even bigger problem with your plans. Getting a visa for a 6-12 month visit is not an easy process. Most people who travel to the US do so on the Visa Waiver Program, however that limits you to a 3 month visit (and for trips of that length, its generally not worth it to buy a car).
There are some examples on this forum of people who have successfully navigated the process of purchasing a car as a non-resident, however, have you first investigated the process of getting a long term tourist visa? Until you've got that process underway, worrying about the car is kind of a secondary problem.
Well getting a B2 tourist visa for 6 months shouldn't be a problem and even for 12 months as I hit each of the criteria they require.
Yeah I thought there might be a problem being able to buy a car without a permanent address, that does seem like its going to be quite a problem. Does anybody have any links to previous forum members that have managed to achieve this. I planned on starting in New York and selling the car when I'd finished and move onto Central and South America.
The most detailed thread of a first hand experience comes from Lifey, and you can read all about her experience here. I suspect she may be along at some point with some additional pointers based on what she learned.
Having a long term visa should make the process easier, as it is a document that shows you are allowed to be here for an extended period of time, which could be useful in some states.
Thank you for the link I'll take a look at that shortly.
Another thing I could do is buy here in the U.K and ship it over to the U.S but again I'm unsure on the regulations and fees.
My beautiful van is about to go into storage, and as I look at her everyday I think of the hassle it all was. But in the end, it has been so worth it!
During this current trip I have met a couple of people who shipped cars from overseas, and were quite happy with how everything worked smoothly. But I don't know anything about the process.
Specific links I have I will email, as I am not prepared to put those two on forum.....
just yet!
Lifey
My understanding - which is based mostly on my experience on this forum, and certainly shouldn't be taken as gospel. - is that you can ship a car to the US without any sort of fees or regulatory hassles, as long as the car leaves the US within a year.
If it stays in the US longer than a year, then you need to deal with import taxes and that sort of thing.
If you decide to ship a vehicle over, you may not particularly like driving a right hand drive on the right side of the road. If this is what you want to do, you may want to buy a left hand drive car.