UK driving in America

Hi everyone,

Me and two other friends are planning a trip to America this summer ('06). The idea is to fly out to a major city, such as New York, buy a car and then travel across America finishing in California, taking about two months, we can all drive although one friend has not yet turned 21. This seems a great plan over in rainy England but i'm sure there are many flaws, such as insurance, do we have to have it before we buy the car? and how difficult will it be to sell the car at the end (we are not interested in profit on it)? and we have enough time to drive all that way whilst visiting the sites in the two months? Any suggestions, ideas or information will be thankfully received!

Amy Dean

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forum.

This question has come up before, so for starters, check out this thread and the links in it. You have hit most of the nails on the head. The hardest part will be finding a buyer at the end, with no assurance that you will find any unless you really lower the price. At the front end, details depend on the state that you title/register the car in. I have checked with the Motor Vehicle Division here in Arizona and they require you to show proof of insurance at the time of registration, so you should set this up with your UK insurer beforehand, or a US company that they suggest. The part that might be tougher is that they also require that the vehicle be registered to a physical address in Arizona; no PO Boxes, foreign addresses or motels. I suspect that most other states will have similar requirements. To be sure, call ahead to the Motor Vehicle Department of whatever state you plan on buying the car in and check with them.

And, yes, two months is a sufficient amount of time to make a relaxed, enjoyable and memorable transit of the US. For ideas that you can use, it would help if we had a general idea of your interests and broad outline of your route.

AZBuck

G'day.

I'm planning a similar trip in May except I'm going West-East. I considered buying a car, but looking into it, I found it practically impossible to find an insurer.

Now I'm going to lease a car from a company that specialise in this kind of thing. Here are some companies I found that will lease, rent or sell you a car (with a guarantee of buying it back). They organise rego, insurance etc.

http://www.autoteamusa.com/
http://www.transatlantic-rv.com/uk/index.html
http://www.wheels9.com/wheels9/terms/Default.htm

Thanks for the advice, ozzyAU, you were especially helpful I hadn't come across this leasing idea before and it is proving to be a hit between me and my friends! Much appreciated!

Now ive almost got that sorted I need some great places to visit along the way between our starting point in New York and our finishing destination of California, any ideas anyone?

Amy
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