[ncc1701]

Me and a friend are planning a trip around America for next year and want to travel by car, we have prices to rent a car for 3 months but would like to get information on buying a car for example cost of the car, getting insurance and registering the car so if anyone has traveled across America by car any information you can give us would be very much appreciated and also any other information on the best places to go stay and must do things.

[skate1968]

Where are you coming from? Or are you a resident of the US?

It seems to me that driving across the states seems to work much better when using the buddy system or if you have a group. Because you really need to do a hell of a lot of driving inbetween points of interest.

Years ago i reserved a spot at Bright Angel campground 4 miles down in to the Grand Canyon. That's one thing worth booking ahead of time, IMHO. The site is accessable from the South Rim visitor center/ranger station. You used to be able to rent a tent in Flagstaff.

NYC is a must, IMHO. But a car in NYC is a nuisance. Parking can easily cost more than your hostel.

[ncc1701]

live in the uk at the mo

[skate1968]

I did a driveaway. Meaning i hooked up with an agency that's in the business of transporting automobiles. They gave me a car and i had 7 days to deliver it accross the country.

You might consider doing a drive away. Or doing some of the country with a drive away and the rest by renting a car.

Originally Posted by ncc1701

the best places to go stay and must do things.

After swapping stories with Tim and MusicD I've concluded that one's list of 'best places' and 'must dos' is a matter of personal preference.

[Tim Uden]

I would certainly look into buying a car for a three month trip. In most cases it works out cheaper than a rental and you can choose the car you want. Check www.cars.com for used car prices, but you'll need to check the Department of Motor Vehicles in each state to work out the cheapest place to register and insure a car. Generally used cars are quite cheap in the US although insurance costs can be more than you expect.

In my experience, US rental car companies only have automatics (although Adventures on Wheels have some manuals if you request this in advance) and have the habit of upgrading you to something the size of a bus (even their small cars are what European rental companies would call medium-large).

Auto driveaways are a great deal for getting across the country cheaply but time limitations may make this impractical for a longer trip.

The Northwest between Boston-NY-Philly-Baltimore-Washington DC-Richmond VA is well served by trains and buses and is probably easiest without a car but a car is essential everywhere else in the USA.

[ncc1701]

thanks for that info tim it has really help me and my friend bugget for a car.

[Anthony Bartolo]

Hi Tim, you seem to be pretty knowledgeable on the ins and outs so I was wondering if you could answer a quick question, still on this subject. I'll be in the US in a couple of months and planning to drive from New York to LA and so wanting to buy a car on one side of the country and then sell it on the other. Do you see any fore-seeable problems with this (not the trip, just the actual buying and selling). As I will not have a permanent address or anything, will that cause any issues? I am Australian, but will be travelling on European passport. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

[downunderyank]

Originally Posted by Anthony Bartolo

Hi Tim, you seem to be pretty knowledgeable on the ins and outs so I was wondering if you could answer a quick question, still on this subject. I'll be in the US in a couple of months and planning to drive from New York to LA and so wanting to buy a car on one side of the country and then sell it on the other. Do you see any fore-seeable problems with this (not the trip, just the actual buying and selling). As I will not have a permanent address or anything, will that cause any issues? I am Australian, but will be travelling on European passport. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

Hey Tony, I'm an american expat who used to buy and sell cars for a living. The problem with buying a car in the northeast and trying to sell it in the southwest is that the NE car will have rust unless it's less than 10 years old and folks in the SW won't touch it with a bargepole as they don't know what rust is! I've driven across america more times than I'd like to mention, in fact the last time I did it was from Minnesota to LA to fly out to Oz and I did it in a $150 Honda and sold it at LAX for $50 to some dude that worked there. When you get to the states, get on ebay (really cheap cars) or the local paper and try to find a late 80's honda or Acura (upmarket honda), they're cheap, go forever, efficient and have cruise control which is almost a must on long distance trips. If you get one for less than $1000, even if you give it to charity on the other side it won't matter. I'm doing this same thing in the UK for a trip around Europe in a month but it's going to be a cheap diesel estate that I can sleep in thereby eliminating accomodation most nights, something to think about for your trip. Good luck! Z

[Anthony Bartolo]

Thanks for the info downunderyank. So are you saying that getting registration/insurance won't be a problem?

[musicdisciple]

I don't want to sound discouraging but it'll probably be pretty difficult.

[downunderyank]

I can't help you with that side of things. I'd assume it's the same as anywhere else where you need an address of someone in the country to rego the car. Got any long lost relos?

[Tim Uden]

Check www.dmv.org for information on registering a car in different states. Some states only let legal US residents register and insure a car but in other states it's not a problem. In some states you have to register a car for five years and in other places a six month rego is fine. You may need to shop around in different states (there are a few states to choose from within a $25 bus ride of New York City) to find the best place to register and insure a car.

You will need a local address. Most travellers just use the address of the hostel that they are staying in but you may need to rent an address at Mailboxes Etc. or a similar mail forwarding company.

It is harder to sell East Coast cars on the West Coast because of rust but you should be able to sell your car to another traveller.

[knowles84]

Hi ncc1701 wondering whether you had any luck buying/registering a car? I'm going try to do the same in June, but am worried about the insurance side of things in particular.