Summer Roadtrip as Foreign citizens

Hi everyone!

Hope you're all doing well. A friend and i have been planning a US west coast roughly 2 month long roadtrip this summer and would love some advice. We're both swedish citizens with swedish drivers licenses, we're 19 & 20 years old and will be spending roughly 2 months on the road.

Our question is regarding purchasing a car. We have a friend that lives in LA who will be helping us purchase the car but we honestly have no idea whats required in the way insurance, adress, possible age limitations and so on. Any help regarding this would be greatly appreciated :)

Thank you so much in advance!

PS. In addition to this we would also just in general like to ask what sort of car any of you would recommend? A small car where you could then stay in motels/hostels or a bigger car that you can sleep in (if so any recommendations)?

Thank you again!

PPS. Would it in any way be possible for our friend that lives in the US to buy the car, get the insurance, and then let us drive it? Or am i hopelessly naive?

Thanks for the third time :D

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Purchasing a car as a non-resident is extremely difficult. Generally speaking, it is nearly impossible to get insurance and register the car as a visitor without at least a long term visa. While things vary a bit from state to state, you generally have to prove you are living at the place where the car is being registered, and that's usually not possible while traveling under the VWP.

The easiest way to do this actually would be for your friend to buy the car, however, that is not without some major downsides. First, you'll have to go on their insurance, and since you're under 21 that means their rates are going to skyrocket for all of their vehicles. Second, that means you're putting your friend in a very large amount of financial risk. If you were to get into an accident, it would cause their rates to go up for years, even after your trip is over, and if you were to get into a major accident where the damage was beyond their coverage limits, you could be putting all of their financial assets at risk, as they could be held liable. If you go that route, make sure you and your friend understand just how much of a financial responsibility you're talking about here, because it is very serious.

If you are able to get a car, I would not plan to sleep in it. Personal Space and Proper Rest are essential to a good roadtrip, and that's not possible to do in most cars with 2 people. You'd also have issues about where you can safely and legally sleep, etc....

It's also a pain to register a car in CA - the taxes and fees are high and it must have a current emissions certificate (smog test).

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Or am i hopelessly naive?

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Yes, you are..... like most of us who do not live there.

Insurance and car ownership in the US is not like it is in most other countries. In the scenario which Michael mentions, where the damage and injuries could exceed the sum insured, it is not the driver, but the owner of the vehicle who will be sued. In the case of a very serious accident that could be many millions.

Lifey

Hello!

Reading this, I couldn't help thinking that we're all warning you about something that has a very small chance of happening, and I'd hate to see your whole plan pitched out the window for that reason. Anyway, I did some quick research, and I was surprised by the results. There are 210 million people licensed to drive in the United States. Over the course of the last year, more than 43,000 of those 210 million were involved in automobile accidents that resulted in a fatality! Figure, very roughly, one chance in 5,000! And more than 7 million of those same 210 million drivers were involved in accidents resulting in property damage. That's one chance in 30! I knew it was bad, but that's even worse than I expected. Judgments that exceed the limits of our insurance are rare, fortunately, but your friend would still be assuming that risk, and that's a lot to ask, even of your very closest friend.

Being a good driver yourself doesn't always save you from trouble. In fifty years of driving I've been in several accidents, and in every case, I was minding my own business when someone else ran into me, usually from behind. And what the heck can you even do about that? Still, you can greatly improve your own odds by driving responsibly. Don't drive when you've been drinking, don't drive when you're overly tired. Find a safe place to pull off the road and stop when the weather is seriously bad (no need to be a hero just to keep a schedule). Avoid rush hour traffic--meaning try to stay away from major metropolitan areas in the mornings and afternoons, Monday to Friday. Period. Wait it out, if you have to, but seriously, try to avoid it. There's nothing like LA or San Francisco anywhere near Sweden, and when rush hour is bad, it isn't any fun at all. Last, and most importantly: don't ever take the other drivers for granted. Their notion of who has the right of way might be different from yours. They might not even see you. They're probably sending a text message. Expect the unexpected, and you're less likely to be surprised.

Just sayin'.

Rick

Interesting statistics Rick. they might surprise you, but they certainly do not surprise me. One thing it does not include is the numbers seriously injured. On average for each fatality you can count on 20 seriously injured in accidents, of whom almost 5% are never able to return to work or live an independent life again. That's where the biggest insurance claims often are.

Thanks for posting.

My concern would be with a 19 and 20 year old, with only a few years' driving experience and none of that on North American roads.

Lifey

CA resident chiming in here. GLC is "right on" when he says that registering and licensing a car in California is a major pain. You find a car, fine. Your friend buys it, for the purpose of loaning it to you. Within a certain amount of time (30 days, I believe), you have to take it to a smog station. From experience, it may not pass the first time. If it is past a certain age, they will require that it be taken to a specific type of smog testing station, a "Star Station", where it is put through a slightly different test. Then you must stand in line at DMV again -- or your friend does. Since a used car is supposed to pass smog BEFORE it is sold, you always hope that it will still pass smog test after it is sold, but there are stories in the newspapers locally about problems like this, all too often. If it does not pass the smog test, CA will not allow you to register or license it. You have then lost money.

Then there is insurance. California has among the highest insurance costs. If your friend is also under 25, the price is going to be rocket-high. That's just the way it is here in California. (I am waiting to retire to get out of this state and find somewhere a little more reasonably priced, to live.)

While I see Rick's commentary having some logic, I also know that Lifey's comment about serious injury accidents accounting for high insurance claims, is right on as well.

If I were your friend, I'd say, "no, I'm sorry, I can't afford that risk."

My advice would be to wait a few years until you can legally rent a vehicle, and then make your dream trip come true.


Donna

Totally agree with Donna. It won't be very long till you are both 21 and then there are a lot more options open to you. For example, this organisation requires that all drivers be 21 years old, and have a valid foreign drivers' licence.

They also organise insurance and registration.

Lifey

You do have one rental option - Fox will rent cars to 19 year olds in California. You will be restricted to driving it in the following states:

Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

There will be a daily surcharge of $15 to $25 for drivers under 25, and you may only have an additional driver if you pay with a credit card - cash and debit cards are not acceptable. In CA, there is no surcharge for additional drivers.

Before coming over here, you should get an international driving permit, which is a translation of your home country license.

Renting is the way to go, even if it means your trip is restricted in time due to your budget. If you halved it, a month is still a nice amount of time to see plenty of sights and will probably be more enjoyable as you won't have the burden of your friends predicament hanging over you at each turn.

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Originally Posted by rcquinn

Reading this, I couldn't help thinking that we're all warning you about something that has a very small chance of happening, and I'd hate to see your whole plan pitched out the window for that reason.

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The odds of being in fatal crash are quite low, but that's hardly the only situation where it could come up.

In California, the minimum insurance coverage is just $15,000 for personal injury and $5,000 for property damage. You could be involved in a minor crash and easily exceed those minimums.

And again, even if you're in a fender bender that is fully covered by insurance, that could impact your friends insurance rates for the next 5 years.

I'd just stress the larger point that it is possible to do this, but you and your friend need to know exactly what you are getting yourself into and the risks and responsibilities of this idea.

If it's your fault, or you are involved in a single-car issue, it can affect your friend's insurance too. We are still feeling the effects (for another year or so) of my husband hitting a concrete pole in a parking garage in Philadelphia, back in 2012. Our fault, no one else involved, debated the issue of paying cash to have it fixed or just dealing with the higher insurance for awhile. Believe me, it affected the insurance, probably more than we anticipated. It did not have to be reported, though, since the concrete pole was not damaged, only our car and our own nerves.


Donna

Yeah, all these people have good points.

It doesn't mean you don't have options. There's things like https://www.couchsurfing.com/ or host programs and you might be far enough out time wise to get something.

Alternatively, to a rental, I'd consider buying the car in Canada (iirc you can use a hotel as your address) and have an international drivers license. You could also consider shipping a car, it's probably a couple grand and I'm not sure how that would fit into your budget but if you have access to one over there it might be cheaper. It seems, with my cursory searches and anecdotal experience the international drivers license is a must. If you shipped it you could always do the East Coast (there's plenty to see and do here, I'd consider a Boston or NYC to Savannah road trip or NYC to New Orleans). Or if you have 2 months, or even 4-6 weeks, spend one week driving across the country. It's about 7 days NYC to Cali.

Or alternatively look into trains and buses. The U.S.'s public transit certainly needs some work but it's definitely adequate in big cities and getting between those cities. I'v taken many of both going and coming from different cities and they make the trip unique and pleasant in their own right.

Best of luck,

Matt

Hi Rawrawr, and Welcome to the Great American Roadtrip Forum.

Thank you for adding your thoughts to this thread, although I have to add that anecdotal experiences are not necessarily something to rely on. Some of us have been down this path, and have experienced all the roadblocks and difficulties, which are not as easily overcome as you seem to think.. We have experienced the pitfalls, jumped the hurdles, and even then there were constantly more obstacles to overcome.

I'm not sure why you think an international driver's licence is essemtial. Many European driver's licences can be written in English, and as such do not require an international licence - which after all, is only a translation of the local licence.

Lifey

Hi Guys, i wanted to thank you all so much for you're input. My friend and i have been in contact with our friend in Cali and we're pretty sure renting might, unfortunately, be the way to go. But if thats the case I'm pretty sure i'll be back here in a few years to do my roadtrip the right way ;)

Thank you again everyone for you input and advice :D

Hi GLC,
Thank you so much for the advice. I had never heard of Fox before and didn't realise there were any option whatsoever for renting as a 19 year old.

Have you rented with them before? And would you have any specific advice if thats the case?

Thanks :)

I've used Fox once before- it's was 10-15 years ago, though, because I also chose them because they had the lowest fee for under 25 year old drivers at the time.

I didn't have any problems with them though, and would still consider using them again. The biggest thing to remember is that they are a discount rental chain, which means it will probably take a little longer to get the car, their locations are usually off-airport, so you'll have to take a shuttle if you're picking the car up right away. They likely keep their cars a little longer than some of the major chains, so you could end up with something a little older (still shouldn't be more than 2-3 years old though). I'd also expect them to check for damage a little closer, so make sure you look over the car closely and record any scratches or dents before you drive off the lot.

None of those things should keep you from exploring this option though, as I imagine it is by far your best way to accomplish your roadtrip goals.

Thanks Michael! My friend and i are going to use Fox.

I wanted to truly thank everyone again for the help and advice. This is an awesome forum :)

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Originally Posted by Lifemagician

I'm not sure why you think an international driver's licence is essemtial. Many European driver's licences can be written in English, and as such do not require an international licence - which after all, is only a translation of the local licence.

Lifey

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I didn't realise this. I just assumed that we would need to get an international drivers licence to drive in the US, didn't realise that our Western Australian licence would be OK.

Katherine, you are not the only one. I constantly meet folk who have gone to the trouble and expense of getting unnecessary international licences. When I speak with folk about my upcoming trip, I am constantly asked if I have an international licence to be able to drive in North America.

I don't know why those issuing them don't bring this to the attention of those applying. After all, it is no secret.

Lifey

An International Driving Permit is simply a translation of your home license into 10 languages. It is not required in the US but is highly recommended if your home license is not in English.

Yep, my error for not researching more!When booking a hire car in French Polynesia it stated an international drivers licence is recommended. So I took that at face value, dragged my husband down to the RAC and forked out $78 for 2 pieces of paper!!! Just did some more reading now and I really didn't need it at all! Oh well, lesson learnt!

$39 AUD? That's expensive, they are only $15 USD here.

Pretty much a standard price. In fact I thought Perth was a bit cheaper than the east coast States, but then, that was years ago.

Lifey