AAA's International Relations.
Hi, and Welcome to the Great American Roadtrip forum.
To answer your specific question, I suggest you contact the International Relations department of AAA. (the email address is at the bottom.) I take out a premium roadside service membership each year I visit. Unfortunately I have needed them a few times, and well and truly got my money worth out of the membership.
I take it that you have your visa through your work, and will not be bound by the restrictions of the B2 visa.
Lifey
The Route, Insurance, Car Purchase, Etc.
The first thing I'd note is that your route, while it certainly hits all 50 states, does not do so in a very efficient manner. Having worked out my own route for the contiguous states (all of them except Alaska and Hawaii, I know that it can be done in something right around 7,000 miles by using an open loop from California to Oregon. Closing that loop so that you could make the circuit from anywhere along it would raise the total to maybe 8,000 miles or so. I'm not sure how many miles your planned route is, but it's certainly considerably longer than that. You also don't say how long you have for your trip, but you'll need a minimum of 16 days for such a drive, and three weeks if you hope to see anything on the way other than the inside of the windshield.
As for insurance, the outfit that Lifey referred you to, AAA (the American Automobile Association) will, I believe sell you a policy, but so will any number of other people. Some of the larger nationwide outfits include (in no particular order) Geico, Nationwide, Progressive, Farmers, Allstate, and others. Each company sets its own rates based on their own actuarial tables and so premiums can vary widely, and no company has the lowest rates for all classes of drivers. It's worth it to get quotes from several. But no matter who you buy auto insurance from, it will cover you in all 50 states and (usually) in Canada as well. It will not cover you in Mexico which requires that you buy insurance from a Mexican company to cover your driving in that country.
Best of luck on getting the car, but be forewarned that even if you manage to buy one and sell it back through some broker, the chances are that you are going to be paying a considerable sum for the short term usage of the vehicle. You will be buying retail and selling wholesale - that's how the broker stays in business. The general rule of thumb is that you have to own the car for at least three months before owning is financially reasonable. SWhort of that, you might as well rent. Remember, too, that if you own the car maintenance is your problem, if you rent it's the car hire firm's problem.
One final note. Everyone here is more than happy to help you out. But in return, we ask for the courtesy that you post your experiences on this website and not take traffic away from here to some other blog site. In fact, you will not be allowed to do that.
D'oh! - You have 52 weeks! So lots of time to meander about and to make purchase/resale feasible - Nevermind!
AZBuck
