Car insurance for two Danes buying a car

[Jostig]

We're two Danes planning a roadtrip across the US. We'll go from San Fransisco to New York, and we'll leave S.F. in mid-March. Everything's planned and we've saved up the money we need for the trip. However, we can't figure out what to do about car insurance. What kind of insurance would you suggest? Our car wont cost more than 4000 max.
Will it even be possible to get an insurance when we're only 19 and 20 years old? Or will we have to get it done through people we know over there?
Thanks...
Jonas

[Robert Schaller]

You will be able to find insurance through major US companies -- but one of the requirements is usually an "international drivers license." Make sure you get one of those before you arrive and bring it with you. An insurance agent is probably the best source for information about what types of coverage you need, but I'd ask several so you can compare the answers and weed out the ones that are simply trying to sell as much coverage as possible. Also, because of your young age, your costs will be higher. Here's the text of an earlier post on this same topic:

"While you may drive a vehicle in the USA with your [foreign] driver's license, it probably will not be possible for you to purchase insurance without a US (state) driver license, or an "international" driver license.

As foreign citizens, you won't be able to finance a car here as you won't have any credit "history," but it sounds like you intend to pay cash for the vehicle, so no problem there.

Then, you'll need to register the vehicle (you'll probably need a "residence" address in the state where you register the car -- and the rules will be different from state to state). Some states may be more restrictive on this than others. Have your friends here check out those requirements for you so you know what you have to do.

For insurance, contact an insurance broker and they can help you find a company to insure you (one such company is called "Progressive," they are a major US provider of insurance) -- but you'll need to get the International driver license before you arrive.

You might also contact your Consulate -- they may have more information about this subject, since for sure others have had the same questions.

Bob

hey - were not actually exactly sure when were going to leave, we're researching best/cheapest flights currently so it mainly depepnds on that!
we havnt had to look for insurance as a complete foreigner because one of the guys has a house in florida :D and also a florida state driving licence so we should be able to use his house as residence address for registering.
we are yet to finalise any breakdown cover though, again hopefully we can register with the AAA with his american residence. Do you have any kind of breakdown cover sorted?
From our relatively small amoun of research into insurance i dont see why you wouldnt be able to get insured just because you are under 21...surely there must be loads of american teenagers who need to drive...but the only problem could be not having a residence there.
If you find anything particularly useful then let me know :) and ill let you know when we know more about when were going to be there
P.s if youre going for 3 months are you going to take a really roundabout route or stop places for a long time or what? cos it seems like a long time!