Another car related question. How is it with buying and then selling a car? We were thinking about buying a car in California and selling it after 4 months in Seattle. Is it possible? Can I buy a car in Cali, register it and then sell it in another state? I was looking online and DMV of California have some online form to unregister the vehicle after I sell. Could I do it like that? And is it difficult to sell a car in the US?
Buying and selling are no problem Insurance is a problem. Your driving experience and age are not recognized by most US insurance companies. When I first got married they wanted to raise my insurance up to $2600.00 USD every 6 months. I found another company that recognized my wife's driving experience so I switched to them. Last year when my brother-in-law got his license, the company no longer recognized past European driving, this put him into the same group as a new driver. I ended up putting him on my policy to keep the costs down.
I'll make some calls and see what I can find some travelers type insurance for you tomorrow. How many years have you been driving?
We used craigslist to sell both our cars and most of our furniture before our move from Calif. to Prague four years ago. Everything including the cars sold incredibly quickly. I think the cars were both gone within a week.
I have been driving 4 years without incident. I pay $85 a month for insurance for my 98 Jeep Cherokee. By the way, yes, Craigslist is an awesome source. I bought that Jeep from a fellow there for $3200. It is probably still worth $3000-4000. If I were you, I would advertise selling the car in Washington on Craigslist as soon as you buy it. Then, you may have a buyer as soon as you arrive. Keep in mind, you pay tax on purchase of car. So a $3,000 car might have $240 tax plus registration fee of $100. Use Skype and call a "DMV" anywhere in California and ask what the fee would be for a car costing $3,000 (or whatever you want). Also, DMVs in the U.S. are notoriously slow. It will take 1 to 5 hours for you to register the car, so keep that in mind for your trip. Also, you may have to have the car inspected before registration. So that may take 1 to 3 hours. To sell the car, simply sign the new title to the new owner after you get the cash in hand... AND YOU ARE Done :-D! Really, it sounds complex, but it is really a somewhat short process with fews steps. To buy: 1. Money offer from you the Buyer 2. Acceptence from Seller 3. Seller signs title to you as you give cash to seller. 4. Register car with DMV perhaps after inspection. 5. Pay tax and registration 6. HAVE fun :].
Oh yeah. I use Geico as insurance. Also, when you buy the car, have the seller put that the car sold for lower than you paid... so if you buy the car for $3000, have the seller put $2000 on the receipt. In that way, you pay less tax at the DMV! ;0] Just hope the car is good! :-]
The best way is if you have someone in the States that trusts you enough to loan you a car. A friend or family member can loan you a car, even have you pay some money for the wear and tear on the car. Then you don't have to worry about insurance or anything.
Is that your rate before or after you got married? Gementricxs, I think, is single, so if it's the married rate, he probably won't get as low a rate.
The $85 rate is after I was married. When I was 18-20, I paid $120 on an '84 El Camino. :0) I think Geico just might have good rates though. Consider this, I pay $10 extra a month for my wife to also be insured on the car ;-). I can't say California's insurance rates will be higher, because Las Vegas is a car crash and theft capitol of the entire United States.
One more thing. When you are buying a car, call insurance companies to get prices for insurance on that car. As soon as you sign the car to your name, call and order insurance on the car before you drive it to the DMV for registration. If you are pulled over by a policemen before you call for insurance, you will be in trouble.
