[TonD]

A (very loosely defined) plan of me is to drive from coast to coast in the US. East to west or west to east doesn't matter all that much at the moment. Naturally I'd love to do so in my own 968, but shipping that car from The Netherlands to US and back is very uneconomical. Besides the car has already been on ships way too long (in 1993 from Germany to Japan, then in 2011 from Japan to Netherlands, from Netherlands to Scotland, from Germany to Finland...).



So my best options would probably be to either rent or buy something over there. The idea of making this journey in a typical American car sounds tempting, too. Doesn't need to be a proper hot rod or muscle car, something like a mustang or a camaro might do the trick. But, renting and putting that many miles on it and leaving it on the other coast of the country doesn't fare well with most rental companies.



So I considered buying something, and depending on price bracket either discard, sell, or in the case of a interesting enough vehicle (read: Porsche), ship it home once I reach the other coast.



But... can I even buy/insure/drive a car in the US, as 'tourist'? Any other pitfalls I haven't thought of? I'm sure there must be thousands, but I don't see them yet <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.png" class="smilie" alt="" />



Thanks in advance for ANY information you guys might have for me <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.png" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[tamathumper]

How quickly do you plan to make your trip? Eg. How many days from picking up the car to needing to 'dispose' of it?

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[Monstrous4Banger]

Pretty sure it depends on the state. I had a friend from Paris that was licensed here. He didnt seem to have any problems getting a license. Find a state that has easy requirements, and go take the driving test...your licensed. Pretty sure thats all there is to it.

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[pinball1008]

In September 2011, I rode a motorbike from the Canadian border to (almost) the mexican border.

The bike was purchased in the US and insured there. The issue is getting insurance, you need a US address to do this. I'm sure someone on the site can help you and give advice on vehicle titles. I arranged all the insurance (and breakdown cover) from here in the UK, just used a US address as my home. The paperwork I had emailed, so I could sign and return it, the final documents were sent to "my American adress".

Cars are much cheaper in the US and shipping one "home" shouldn't be too expensive. In the UK, due to import duty and VAT it was not viable to bring the bike home and I had to sell it at a 50% loss on the purchase price. The bike was only 3 weeks old when I sold it and that's what UK customs would have valued it as, a brand new bike, despite the 4,000 miles on it. The problem is trying to sell, when people know you have to leave.

As for driving licence, just use your existing one.

Please contact me if you want to have a chat about my experience.

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[tamathumper]

You can drive without a U.S. license for quite a while - I believe it's several months.

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[TonD]

Tama, I haven't got much plans at this point other than a vague idea. It will probably not happen this year, maybe the next. If at all possible, I plan on not being in a major rush. But, once I get to the final destination (in the US, that is) I don't intend to stay there weeks, months or years to sell a car. So I should prepare to take a loss. Renting might be more practical, but so far I didn't find any interesting cars at interesting rates, but I might have to look a bit harder.



Monstrous4Banger, thanks, I'll have a look into the various levels of requirements, if Google can help me out a bit on that <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.png" class="smilie" alt="" />



Edit: missed two replies...



Good to hear I probably can use my current license.



@pinball, that's excellent to hear! I'm pretty sure I'll take you up on that offer a bit later! Unfortunately we have similar import- and VAT taxes (possibly even higher), so I'd be more tempted (if considering taking it home) to go for a bit older car, as the import duty gets reduced several percent points with each year the car ages.

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[jfrahm]

You should be able to do this. Insurance is the only issue I am aware of but there are undocumented people with insurance so it should be possible. I have often thought of doing the same thing in Europe. My thought was to plan a day at the end of the trip where I put the car up for sale for half what it was worth and get it sold, or junk it or sell it super cheap to a local friend.



Getting the title might be the hardest part. You should be able to get temp tags without the title but it can take a couple weeks for the title to get put into your name. In some places you can sell the car on without putting the title into your name, particularly if you sell to a dealer or a junkyard.

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[pinball1008]

My bike was registered in Montana, but the dealer who sorted this said he had to use a different county from where the dealership was as this made the process easier.

With plenty of time to plan, there will always be a solution.

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[Chris Vais]

As far as driving in the US is concerned, if you have a valid drivers license in your home country, why couldn't you apply for an International Drivers License. When I last went to Europe, I had such a license that was issued in the US. My insurance covered me for any vehicle that I drive whether I owned it or not. Now buying a vehicle here and getting the required liability insurance might be a bit more difficult. I'm guessing your insurance company would have the answer to that. If you purchase the vehicle outright you won't have to deal with the hassle of providing proof of insurance to whomever underwrites the purchase and makes the loan.

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[tamathumper]

Is renting a car really so expensive that you'd consider buying a car, paying all the sales tax on it, registering it if necessary, then taking the huge loss at the end?



I'll buy another 968, then you can reimburse me for half the cost of it at the end of your trip, thus simplifying your logistics and expanding my stable of P-cars (to two). <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.png" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[TonD]

Tama, I'll start looking into rentals again. Of course, this is by far the most practical (and maybe cheapest but I'm not convinced of that, yet) option, BUT... I kind of approach this as a 'once in a lifetime' type of deal, and I don't want to do that in a Toyota Yaris or similar chicken box. That got me thinking.. I like the idea of buying a 968 and selling it to you for cheap, not sure about the 50% loss though ;-)

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[jaap]

Hi Ton,



On one of my many trips to the US my wife and I rented a bright yellow mustang for 4-5 weeks and drove about 5000 miles although not coast to coast but more on the west coast between SF, LA and more in land. Don't remember it being overly expensive. I think when you rent it for a longer period it is probably less expensive although I could see they will charge extra if you want to leave the car at a different location from where you picked it up.



Jaap

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[tamathumper]

Oh alright, I'll do 45%. Not a penny more. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.png" class="smilie" alt="" />



Land on the west coast, buy Flash's car for $15,000, drive it over here to the East coast, and I'll give you $8,000 as a show of good faith.

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[TonD]

Jaap, do you happen to remember which rental company (or companies) you used? It seems Hertz has some 'adrenaline collection' of more 'hot' cars. But no prices available which is quite useless.



Tama, let's continue considering that option after you've convinced Flash ;-)

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[TonD]

It's cars like these, that I'd want to take home with me as I'm looking at our local market for those as well. Over here they are all rotten or extremely expensive... I think rental will be the easiest option and possible the cheapest, but if I can find something I want to keep, I feel like throwing away money for a rental if I could enjoy a classic as well...



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-c...tored.html



(Just trying to provide some insight into my sometimes weird way of thinking...)

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[vliegwielolaf1234]

For a longer period i would get a usa license and buy a car , otherwise renting one is cheaper .



I would think about renting a motorhome , it will get you everywhere and always have a place to sleep , saves you a lot off $ on room's .



Especially the Nationalparks are great ,



I bought a camaro Z28 last time i stayed for a longer period for a 1000$ , got me everywhere , just had to slow down in the corners a bit . <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/EmoticonCar.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

It has actually been the worst car i ever owned , but it would always fire up even the 2 winters i spend In Ironwood Michigan .

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[tamathumper]

Flash hasn't said no yet. Just sayin'...

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[IndischRot968]

TonD, I personally would stick to renting and abandon idea of purchasing a car in the US, unless you can figure out how to get it insured. Drivers license is not an issue, your Dutch one should be OK for several months. For instance in Maryland you can drive for 3 months with International license. It may wary from state to state, but in general you should be ok for a couple of months. EU country license usually is accepted as "international" license, at least I've never heard of people having issues with that. Insurance is a totaly different matter - you usually need to have a US address AND US driver's license. Again it varies from state to state, but you better do a thorough due diligence in advance as getting insurance as a visiting foreigner could be a pain.

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[johns_968]

Renting is probably the way to go. Just get an international drivers license to be sure your covered. They are easy to get.



Last week I rented a Mustang GT 5.0 for 5 days for a trip to NC. The car was pretty tricked out for a rental and was fun to zip around with.



You can pick one up at Hertz here at Dulles Washington Airport and drop it off on West coast with minimal or no extra fees for the remote drop off.



They have Mustang GT's, Camaro's and Corvettes for rent.



   

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[Monstrous4Banger]

Yeah, I rented a 350z from hertz before. Id give serious thought to an RV if it were me, and looking for the best bang for the buck, as previously mentioned.

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