NYC - L.A. (5 weeks) - In desperate need of advice!!

Good evening form the UK!
Back in November last year me and two friends mistakenly booked return flights to America, whilst recovering from drink, one Sunday morning; on the premise of driving New York to Los Angeles in 5 weeks.

The route is planned as follows:
NYC (Arrive 26 Aug...)
Boston (30 Aug)
Penn State (1-2 Sept)
Philadelphia (3 Sept)
Washington DC
Columbia (4 Sept...)
Savannah
Jacksonville (5 Sept)
Daytona Beach
Orlando (6 Sept)
West Palm Beach
Miami (7-9 Sept)
Tampa (10 Sept)
Tallahassee
Montgomery (11 Sept)
Birmingham
Nashville (12-14 Sept)
Memphis
Jackson
New Orleans (15 Sept)
Baton Rouge
Houston
Austin (16-18 Sept)
El Paso
Pheonix (19-20 Sept)
Winslow (Meteor Crater)
Grand Canyon
Las Vegas (21-24)
San Francisco (24-26 Sept)
Los Angeles (26th - 29th Sept)
NYC (internal flight - 30/09/10 party in NYC if anyone is game?!)

We have accommodation in NYC and we are hoping to buy a people-carrier/wagon there (which we will sell when we arrive in LA). I was just wondering if people had any details about the sort of issues we will face, namely, insurance, registration, taxes etc. We are all over 25 years of age and have full driving licenses; we also have an address in Queens and in Brooklyn that we can use as our 'base point' for the car registration. We did consider renting a car but, given we will be driving on the wrong side of the road... and the wrong side of the car... we thought there's a chance we would not be returning it in the same shape as when rented. We will also be sleeping in the car during parts of the trip.

If anyone has any help then it would be most appreciated!

As for the trip itself... I will be writing a book about the trip, the book will be informative with a humorous slant. As such, we are looking to visit some decent points of interest along the way, with as many breath-taking sights as possible but also to get wrecked as much as we can afford to.

If anyone wants to throw in for gas and join us en route that would also be cool!

If you have a guitar or a football (soccer) then get yourself along!

Thanks guys!

Liam

Welcome to the RTA forum!

I'm sorry to tell you I don't think your plan is going to work at all - at least the transportation aspect of it anyway.

First of all, for a trip this short it really doesn't make economic sense to purchase a car. When you factor the real costs of owning a car (purchase at retail, insurance, taxes, license, registration, inspection, potential repairs, and sale at wholesale) it will be much more expensive to purchase a car for a 5 week trip than it will be rent - not to mention, you could easily take up nearly a full week of your five weeks just dealing with all that hassle and paperwork. You'd really need to be on the road for at least 2, and more likely 3, months before it would be cost effective. If you are that worried about damaging the car, purchase extra insurance - it would still most certainly be cheaper.

Even if you got beyond the economics, purchasing a car as a non-resident, even one with an address, really isn't possible. For all of the paperwork, you'd really need to get a New York Drivers License, and to do that you need to prove that you actually live there which is not possible while you are visiting on the Visa Waiver Program. There is also the matter that selling a car in California has its own set of hassles due to their strict emissions laws (smog testing), that you are responsible before you can sell a car.

The good news is that because you are over 25, you won't have to deal with an underage fee for your rental, and while you will have to deal with a drop fee, if you shop around, you should be able to find a pretty reasonable rate.

Thanks Michael,
It is a bit of an audacious effort! I am trying to get in contact with some Australian friends that managed to do this last year in the Southern states to see what measures they took.
We haven't ruled renting a car out as of yet, $1500 is the best quote we have had for a people-carrier for the 5 weeks

If you can find out exactly how this couple was able to do that, would you please share the details with us?

$1500 doesn't sound bad at all.

I will say once you factor in all of the cost, $1500 would be a bargain compared to purchasing a car. Insurance on a purchased car alone will likely cost you at least $1000, since you have no US driving record, and you'll have to buy it in at least a 6 month term. Taxes and License will cost you several hundred dollars, and you're going to lose at least $1000 in resale in your situation for any car that is worthy of a cross country trip.

But I too would really like to hear how your friends were able to purchase a car, since we've had many regulars from overseas on this forum tell us they haven't been able to figure out a way to do it, even when they have close relatives and friends living here.

I'm just on Facebook as we speak trying to get hold of one of them: three Australian guys (touring last year). I'll post as soon as one of them gets back to me.

Are there any hidden gems, in terms of renatl places, that I could look at in NYC upon arrival?
Also, we have worked out that 6000 miles in say a 28mpg car/carrier is probably going to be around the $1000 mark for gas, but I don't know if my pricing is right (I believe it is done by the gallon over the water!). Can anyone let me know if this is way wide of the mark?

Thanks
Liam

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Notnefmail

Thanks Michael,
It is a bit of an audacious effort! I am trying to get in contact with some Australian friends that managed to do this last year in the Southern states to see what measures they took.
We haven't ruled renting a car out as of yet, $1500 is the best quote we have had for a people-carrier for the 5 weeks

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Sorry guys, that should've been £1500. I'm not sure what that works out in dollars, maybe a million?
I think it's 2300-2400 ish in green!

You can use the fuel cost calculator to get an idea of costs even though you might have to research a little for the details.

Quote:

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Also, we have worked out that 6000 miles in say a 28mpg car/carrier is probably going to be around the $1000 mark for gas, but I don't know if my pricing is right (I believe it is done by the gallon over the water!). Can anyone let me know if this is way wide of the mark?

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You have allowed plenty for fuel which is no bad thing, as detours can add significantly to the mileage and prices can vary, but a $1000 will take you around 7000 miles with a return of 25mpg at an average cost of $3.5 per gallon which should cover you bases.

You can get people recommending different rental places for price and service but to be honest both vary from depot to depot, even within the same Companies. It's just a case of searching around for the best deals available and keep comparing until you see one that you think offers the best deal for your situation. In other words, last weeks' best deal might be next week's worst !

Thanks Dave, it looks like we have generously budgeted for fuel consumption looking at the calculator, we'd be lucky to get to Miami on British fuel prices.

Do you have any suggestions for places to visit en route? The only major 'attractions' we are visiting are the Forrest Gump park in Savannah (where he awaited the bus, apparently the bench is no longer there); Disneyworld (not my choice), Daytona Beach, the meteor crater in Winslow, Grand Canyon and Vegas... nothing more to note really.

any recommendations close to the path we are taking would be brilliant and very much appreciated!

Thanks again for everyone's advice so far.

Liam

A list of places of interest on a journey like this would go on and on, there are literally millions of them. This one thread has a few thousand and you will find much more searching the forums and road trip planning pages in the tool bar above. A lot will be down to your own personal interests but they seem wide and varied anyway.

As my board name suggests, I am a big fan of the Southwest with it's small towns and BIG scenery with so much diversity, the type we don't see the likes of in the UK such as the Deserts and Red rock country. Near to the Grand canyon is Monument valley, made famous for all the John Ford Westerns filmed there with John Wayne. A little further North are the National parks of Zion and Bryce canyon. From Vegas to San Fran be sure to spare time to drive through Death valley and across the Sierra Nevada on Tioga pass into Yosemite, and don't forget to allow a couple of day's to drive the Pacific coast highway between SF and LA.

A list just in this area could go on for pages and pages, but for now I would get a good map and use the RTA pages to find points of reference and find out what there is between your list of City's that are of interest to you by breaking it into smaller sections. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with a list of City's, but there is so much more out there that you don't see the likes of back home.

Enjoy the planning stages, they are a great part of the trip as a whole and as you build your trip keep asking questions and it will all start coming together, but for now the research is the key.

For the benefit of us Yanks, could you define what a "people carrier" is, please?

To you "Yanks," it is classed as a mini van, the equivalent of a 7 seater such as the Dodge caravan or Chrysler Voyager. They got tagged as people carriers because of the extra seating and they are car derived. A mini van in the UK is normally thought of as a 12 seater vehicle on a truck chassis such as the Ford Transit or a VW transporter, a delivery van with windows and seats for delivering people instead of a cargo area.

I suspected that - and I doubt it will get 28 mpg except maybe cruising at 65 mph or less on level ground without a headwind. My stepdaughter has a Grand Caravan with a 3.3 liter V-6, and she gets about 18 in town and the absolute best she's seen on the highway is 29. For planning purposes, I'd use 20 to be safe.

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Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

To you "Yanks," it is classed as a mini van, the equivalent of a 7 seater such as the Dodge caravan or Chrysler Voyager. They got tagged as people carriers because of the extra seating and they are car derived. A mini van in the UK is normally thought of as a 12 seater vehicle on a truck chassis such as the Ford Transit or a VW transporter, a delivery van with windows and seats for delivering people instead of a cargo area.

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They'd be the ones, we've had a price to rent at £1600 now, pick up NYC & drop off LAX, so we are 99% sure to be hiring now. I think the quote was for a Voyager, a newish one, which at leats means the mpg shouldn't be too hampered.

As for POI, I've heard a lot about Zion & bryce and it looks truly stunning. Is it accessible by car or will we have to walk some part of it?

Thanks for the other suggestions though, really can't wait to head over now. One more quick question though, how big is 'soccer' over there now, we will be spending a day at Daytona Beach with a 'football' and was wondering whether we will stick out like sore thumbs!

Thanks again all!

Liam

Major points of interest are accessible by car in Bryce and Zion. Of course, you can always see more by hiking some trails. You may want to study the official National Parks Service website, they have detailed maps for each park. Note that during highest visitation in Zion, not all roads are open for cars, but they have shuttle buses that travel these routes.

Soccer is not that big here yet, but you definitely won't stick out like a sore thumb. It's a lot more suitable for informal playing around than American football or baseball, and it's pretty hard to play basketball or hockey on a beach!

As I mentioned, for budgeting purposes you should plan on 20 mpg and $3 a gallon.

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As for POI, I've heard a lot about Zion & bryce and it looks truly stunning. Is it accessible by car or will we have to walk some part of it?

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All the National parks have paved roads but during the peak season a lot of parks run a free shuttle bus system to the Trail heads where you can decide if you want to walk. Some like Zion NP will not let private cars into the main part of the park and you can only use the bus. These are extremely frequent and a great way to explore. Zion and Bryce are both spectacular as are many others, you can get an idea if you care to look at my album's page.

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we will be spending a day at Daytona Beach with a 'football' and was wondering whether we will stick out like sore thumbs!

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You might if you are good at "keepy up" and wear a Beckham style haircut !! ;-)

Haha, thanks guys, really appreciate the advice. Had a look into the trails at Z&B and we'd be foolish not to head up that way to be honest. Still trying to fathom a few places from Miami to Austin to head to, New Orleans seems to be off the list now simply due to time constraints, hopefully the road to El Paso/Phoenix will throw up a few surprises!

does anyone have any recommendations for points of interest/stuningscenary/things to do between Miami - Nashville - Austin - Pheonix?

Apart from this small stint I think we'll have enought to be going on with. We might even try catching a baseball game somewhere if anyone can recommend a team to follow :)

Thanks
Liam

The only major league teams along that stretch are Florida (Miami), Tampa, Houston, Texas (Dallas), and Arizona (Phoenix).

I wouldn't recommend either of the Florida teams, as they both play in very bad parks that wouldn't give you a good feel for things. The Texas Rangers are the only team that are still in the playoff picture, and they play in a true outdoor baseball stadium, so that's probably the game I'd try to get to. Houston and Arizona both play in newer retractable roof stadiums, and both teams are pretty bad this year, so it should be easy to get tickets for any of those games.

Thanks Michael,
We plan on having a few days in and around Texas so, if they have a game, we should be good to catch them play!