Driving route 66

BJC

So I'm working in Massachusetts for June and July of this year and am then planning on buying a car and driving route 66 to LA, I've got about three weeks to do so.

My questions are for those who knows about driving in the states:

Can cars be sourced cheap?
Is insurance expensive?
Are tax/car testing an issue?

Cheers.

lonestargirl

BJC wrote: »

So I'm working in Massachusetts for June and July of this year and am then planning on buying a car and driving route 66 to LA, I've got about three weeks to do so.

My questions are for those who knows about driving in the states:

Can cars be sourced cheap?
Is insurance expensive?
Are tax/car testing an issue?

Cheers.

Driving licences, tax, vehicle testing etc are administered at a state level in the US. I looked up Massachusetts and it seems to let foreign drivers drive for up to a year on a foreign licence (link to details). I also seems you would be able to sit the Massachusetts road test if you wanted (link). You need to check with a few insurance companies if they will insure you on your foreign licence (they can sometimes impose their own rules which are stricter that the state's ones - we found Progressive accepted our foreign licences). On our foreign licences we were paying $120 a month for insurance - we were treated like first time drivers. We have since got that down by shopping around and getting US licences

Remember when you are looking at the price of cars to include sales tax (6.25% in Mass) and there will also be a fee to register the title with you (was $50 for us).

BJC

That's extremely helpful lonestargirl, thanks a lot.

Is it easy to source relatively cheap cars over there? Under $1,000 if possible. Only has to do us a month.

lil_lisa

Don't go near dealers for cars. Especially if its only for a months use. They'll sell you anything with the price hiked up. Check out Boston Craigslist (or whatever city you'll be in). Just be careful not to get stuck with something that will go in the first week!

spideog7

Boston to LA is 3,000 miles, in August when the temperature in Continental US will probably range from 20C to 40C. That's hard on any car, do you really want to try and do it in a car that you paid $1,000 for??? You could have no problems at all and it'll keep going for ever, or it could give you no end of problems and ruin the whole experience.

If you're over 25 just rent a car, you'll pay a bit extra but you get peace of mind, air conditioning and roadside assistance if you need it.

I've been here a year and I couldn't be bothered going through the hassle of buying a car (also I can't register a car without a driver's licence and I can't get a driver's licence here!).

Civilian_Target

Haha... as someone who bought a 930€, 28-year old Renault 4 to drive across Africa last winter, I advise you to completely ignore spideog's advice. Who wants peace of mind when you can have adventure?!

Before you leave Ireland, get an International Drivers License from the AA. Then just try and pick up a car that isn't a complete crock of **** from Craigslist, or through locals or friends.

Then buy the Haynes manual for that car, so that you can repair it if it breaks, and make sure the spare tyre and jack are good. Buy a jerry can, some useful tools, a medical kit, some scotch tape and some bicycle inner-tubes, and go for it!

neil.p.b

I'm doing the same thing this summer, but in the opposite direction. From what i've researched and been told buying off craigslist is definitely the way to go. Rentals end up charging you between 500-1000 for a one way rental, of course you'll have piece of mind but where's the fun in that! Plus if you buy you can try recoup your money when you sell it. A few friends of mine did it last summer and made a profit when selling the car!! Buying from dealers is too compicated and messy, they charge you taxes and fee's, rip you off on the car and sometimes wont sell you a car unless you've a permanent address. Craiglists all the way. When you come to selling it just put up on craigslist about 4 days before you get to your finishing point.

Civilian Target - Do you need an International drivers license from the AA?? Never heard of that before.

lonestargirl

Civilian_Target wrote: »

Haha... as someone who bought a 930€, 28-year old Renault 4 to drive across Africa last winter, I advise you to completely ignore spideog's advice. Who wants peace of mind when you can have adventure?!

Before you leave Ireland, get an International Drivers License from the AA. Then just try and pick up a car that isn't a complete crock of **** from Craigslist, or through locals or friends.

Then buy the Haynes manual for that car, so that you can repair it if it breaks, and make sure the spare tyre and jack are good. Buy a jerry can, some useful tools, a medical kit, some scotch tape and some bicycle inner-tubes, and go for it!

The issue is that the OP is going to be working in the US and thus their position is slightly different to that of a tourist. Depending on the state you may need a state drivers licence. As I said before the rules vary from state to state in the US.

neil.p.b wrote: »

Civilian Target - Do you need an International drivers license from the AA?? Never heard of that before.

An international drivers license is just a translation of you existing licence, pretty useless for Irish people as our licences are in English anyway.

lil_lisa

Most states won't accept the Irish licence at all. Most states won't accept the International licence ONLY if you are residing there. Therefore, if you are travelling for three weeks you should be ok on just the international licence but if you're getting the car before you leave Massachusetts you might have to get an MA licence. It may even be worth your while to do this too, could bring down insurance costs.

The International licence costs about 15-20e I think. Not that big a deal.

lonestargirl

lil_lisa wrote: »

Most states won't accept the Irish licence at all. Most states won't accept the International licence ONLY if you are residing there. Therefore, if you are travelling for three weeks you should be ok on just the international licence but if you're getting the car before you leave Massachusetts you might have to get an MA licence. It may even be worth your while to do this too, could bring down insurance costs.

The International licence costs about 15-20e I think. Not that big a deal.

I had no problem getting my initial insurance on an Irish licence in Texas, I then had 90 days to get a TX one.

The quote below comes from this document.

Does an International Driving Permit
confer driving privileges in Massachusetts?

A No. It does not confer any driving privileges.
The Permit is not a substitute for the person’s
valid driver license. A driver who is licensed
in another country must carry his/her valid foreign
driver license when driving in Massachusetts. The
ooperator should also carry an INS document which
shows the date that the operator last entered the U.S.
The valid I-94 containing the date of admission to the
U.S. should be sufficient.

spideog7

Civilian_Target wrote: »

Haha... as someone who bought a 930€, 28-year old Renault 4 to drive across Africa last winter, I advise you to completely ignore spideog's advice. Who wants peace of mind when you can have adventure?!

Fair enough, it could work out well or you could end up stuck in hicksville with a former car, each to their own I guess

Most places advise that you accompany your Irish drivers licence with an international drivers licence. As was mentioned here it is just a translation which is useless since ours is in English anyway, but it is still required and you could get into trouble if you don't have it. By itself it doesn't do anything you need both documents.

As far as I know every state over here will accept an Irish drivers licence, international drivers licence combination for you to DRIVE. However you probably won't be allowed to BUY a car, REGISTER a car or INSURE a car without a state drivers licence, this varies by state. I know in PA you have to be here for a year in the FUTURE before they give you a drivers licence, most states aren't this retarded though.

lil_lisa

There are a lot of strange laws. Here in California, my insurance went higher when I went from a driving permit to a full licence. However, they took a letter from Quinn Direct stating how long I was insured Ireland and that I have had no accidents!

Robus

BJC wrote: »

Can cars be sourced cheap?
Cheers.

I went coast to coast and back in "drive-away" cars where you moved cars for people who were moving house (and flying).

It was 20 years ago :mad: so not sure if it still exists

lil_lisa

Oh, like www.autodriveaway.com they have a list of available drives here.

Not too many there though. I'm sure there are other companies out there.

BJC

Well, eventually decided rather than do the intelligent thing and get everything sorted before going, we just went to the States, worked jobs on the east coast for two months and then met up in Boston to decide what to do next..

After hearing about a possible hook up in Ohio, we packed up the rucksacks and headed for a tiny (semi-Amish) town called Garretsville. There, we bought a car for $1000, registered it to an address that was not ours and set off without insurance to Chicago and then on to LA.

Pulled over by the cops, broke down, it all happened, and every time we managed to pull through with a bit of "Irish charm" (only in America).

I will admit, there was a time when our old dodge caravan shit itself up the side of a mountain in the middle of the desert outside of Albuquerque and we second guessed our decision to buy a car in the first place

But that time it's water pump got changed for free by a 17 year old native American kid(after getting a free tow from a shell garage employee with vague Irish heritage which he was eager to make good on in exchange for a tattered Irish flag)..

..and ultimately, I truly believe we had a better time with our lack of planning and worse decisions than we ever could have by being prepared.

Sold the car in LA for $500 and headed up to San Fran a happy camper..

..Thanks for everyone's help and advice!