Coast to coast

[leo]

Hi, just managed to stumble across this site and it seems like a great find!

Myself and two friends are planning to take the summer to drive from New York to LA. All three of us are British, and all 18. I also have US citizenship.
We have destinations, stopovers, everything (I think/hope : ) ) planned and sorted out... apart from transport. Our plan is to purchase a car/truck and drive across.
Our main concern at the minute is insurance. Would three 18 year olds, with no address in the USA, be able to get insured on a car?

I could potentially use my uncles' address I think, but would that leave my two friends without insurance?

Also, how long would it take to purchase a car, and have it legal to drive (registration, insurance etc...)?

Thanks in advance.

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

This is pretty much a case where money can fix all of your problems, but the question becomes will you have enough money to pay for everything.

You should be able to get insurance, with all three of you named on the policy. The problem is, most teenage drivers in the US buy insurance as part of their parents policy, which gets a significantly lower rate. Even then, it tends to be very expensive, and you really won't have that discount available to you.

Since you likely will have to get what will be considered a high risk policy, I would guess at you would be looking at something around $200-300 a month. I also don't know how long you're planning on making this trip, but I don't know if any company will provide you with a policy that is shorter than 6 months. This is something you'll really have to check around with, and find an insurance agent that you can deal with directly.

Regardless, you will need to find an address for both insurance and for licensing purposes. Without some sort of "home base" it will be virtually impossible for you to register and license a car. Realistically, that home base will also need to be near the starting point of your trip, because I would expect you will need at least 2-3 days, minimum to find a car, have it inspected, and then go through all of the necessary paperwork.

Needless to say, this will not be an inexpensive trip, but if you have the cash, it should be a great time.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Our main concern at the minute is insurance. Would three 18 year olds, with no address in the USA, be able to get insured on a car?.

That would be tough. Here is some more info about insurance in the states.

Mark

[W. Larrison]

Related Link

I ran across some data a while ago, that was directed at international students in NY State to purchase a vehicle. See the related link, above..