Buying and insuring a car in the US for a roadtrip
I'm a 19 year old UK resident, I'd like to buy a car in America and roadtrip for 6 months, would I be able to get insured on a van and for under $2000 ?
I'm travelling through America from California down through Mexico, through Central America down to South America and would like to know if it's possible to buy a car and insure it relatively cheaply at the age of 19. cheers
Best Answer
- $2000 is not enough to buy a van that you could rely on for a long trip. Are you a mechanic?
- Registering it might be a problem: you probably have to be a resident of the state. On the other hand, if the van has plates, you can just drive it on those plates and sell it to used-car place when you are done.
- American insurance is only good in the US and Canada. You would need to get special insurance in Mexico (they sell it at little shops along the border).
- A lot of Mexico and Central America is... sketchy. It is not particularly rare for a tourist to come home in a body-bag. Or several separate body-bags.
- As a Brit, you may not have a good sense of just how big North America is. Land's End to John o' Groats is 1400 km. The equivalent journey in the US would be from Marathon, Florida, to Anchor Point, Alaska, 8500 km. The US is forty times larger than the UK, so six months in the US is less than five days in Britain. Canada is bigger still (although largely empty).
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You'll be emailed a "proof of insurance": with that, you can legally drive. Note that as you don't have a driving history in the US, insurance might be more expensive than it is at home. Expect upward of $150/month if you are under 25 (still way cheaper than what a rental company would charge).Can a non resident buy a car in the US?
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