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jimandiane
17-09-2002, 00:40
Has anyone bought a car in Florida ? without having an american driving licence ? ... any thoughts on how to go about getting insurance.. have tried State farm no go ... thanks.. Jim and Diane

esprit
17-09-2002, 01:33
Think you can buy a car without any problem but you will not get it insured without having a Florida driving license. This now only lasts the length of your visa or visa waiver so effectively has to be renewed each time you visit.

Julie Carty

blott
17-09-2002, 02:26
I think... you can get around the driving licence difficulty by getting an International Licence (although it only lasts a year, you can get one and renew it in UK) but whether this would be accepted for insurance in Florida, I'm not sure.

Blott

fiona
17-09-2002, 02:46
A friend of ours bought one during the summer. As he paid cash there was no problem buying. Insurance - now that's another story!

Ok for that visit on uk licence. Next time he has to pass florida dl. Which will be interesting, as we all know, it's only valid for the length of your visa.

Insurance now lapsed.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

Personally I wouldn't buy until the situation is more certain.

Fiona

athurstance
17-09-2002, 15:03
We thought about buying a car but couldn't really see how it could be cost effective once you'd paid insurance etc. Also you'd have to get yourself from the airport to the villa every time so it seems far more hassle than it was worth. Plus the fact that you get a nice new one each time from the car hire firms.

Angela

orlandobabe
17-09-2002, 15:37
A friend of ours got a little beauty for $1000. Course this was pre Sept 11 and all of the changes.
I'll have to ask him how it all works out now as he goes for 8 weeks at a time.
As regards getting to the airport-he gets his friendly property manager to sort him out-there are some you know!

Orlandobabe

blott
17-09-2002, 16:42
OB

We looked into this and were told it wasn't cost effective compared to renting. Problem is that you need to have it insured all year even though you're only using it for x weeks a year.

Does your friend let guests use the car or does he just keep it for his own use?

Blott

MMFAN
17-09-2002, 19:08
I've thought about doing this also, and being American of course don't have the driver's license issue. It doesn't seem to make financial sense though. Here's how I figured it:

--Ford Taurus type car that won't break continuously and has a/c that works: $2500 (figure $500/year spread for 5 years)
--Car insurance: $600/year (remember you can't get just the minimum in liability insurance...you have a big asset right there in FL)
--License plate registration: $75/year
--4 return shuttle van trips from airport to villa: $200
--Minor repairs and maintanance: $200/year (not counting on major repairs due to low mileage added)

My approximated annualised cost: $1600

Ford Taurus rentals cost me $33/day plus tax at Hertz, so let's say $40/day total. Break even then is 40 rental days.




Edited by - mmfan on 19/09/2002 11:50:05

esprit
17-09-2002, 20:24
There is a whole thread on this on another forum where someone could not get insurance even with a Florida driving license because his license would expire every time he goes home. Appatently the insurers did not like this at all even if the car was stored away.

Julie Carty

caribcelt
22-09-2002, 16:48
My husband and I bought a jeep in Miami in May of this year. We just went out to have a look and ended up buying when we were not really prepared for the insurance problems. We found the salesmen very pushy, not at all like what we have been used to in the UK. After about 3 hours in the showroom, we decided on a jeep, then we were told about all the extras, $500.00 charged by the showroom for the sale, $150 for the licence tag, etc. etc. Also when you factor in the sales tax, the price really jumps up.

After buying our car, we were told that we could not leave with it until we showed proof of insurance. It took me nearly a week to find someone who would insure us to drive the jeep, as both of us have UK driving licences. I searched the web, made a lot of phone calls, made a lot of repeat phone calls and ended up using All State.

The price for the two of us is around $2000 a year. The reason it is very expensive is because we both do not have US driving licences. We were told that if we obtained US driving licences then the price would be half that. Insurance is quite high in the states because there are so many new cars on the roads and a lot of accidents.

We both have been driving for many years, but we found out that producing no claims letters from other countries and by producing evidence that we had never had speeding tickets from the police, did not matter.

We now have to both take US driving tests, ie the eye test, the written test and then the actual manual driving test. Both of us do not want this hassle, but we realise that we have to do it in order for our insurance to come down.

Also, our insurance is reduced each month when we phone them and tell them to reduce the coverage to just stationary coverage. That means that the car is going to be locked up in the garage, in a gated community. When we are going back to Florida, we phone them again and tell them to increase the coverage.

When we arrive now in Florida, we either pick a car hire up at the airport, and drop it off at a location near our house and on the way back, we would pick the car up at a location near our house and drop it off at the airport. We have also used a town car company to pick us up at the airport and bring us to the house. Both of these systems have worked quite well.

It is a dilema to be in but I have a green card and I hope to move to Florida permanently one day. Therefore that is why we bought a car. If I was just going once or twice a year I think I would just hire a car. We have learnt a lot from our experience and we are wiser now for the next buy caring experience.

Happy Car Hunting
Caribcelt

blott
23-09-2002, 03:18
It's a big problem with the insurance, as you say. I had already heard that elsewhere which is why we never looked any further into the possibility. Plus, if you have guests in your home, it's a bit of a worry having a car in the garage as they are not allowed to park in the roadway outside overnight and we have had four cars with one group before now.

Lucky you having a green card! I wish you every success when you get over to Florida permanently.

Blott

MMFAN
23-09-2002, 17:01
Caribcelt makes a few interesting points that I'd like to comment on as an American.

--Car buying in the USA is the most highly negotiated purchase in our culture. The only brand where there is no negotiation (new cars only) is Saturn. If you are not a skilled negotiator OR highly informed you will lose. The salesman negotiates all day. Before you buy any new or used car in the USA you should know what the market price (not the asking price) should be. To do that go to www.edmunds.com and you will find all the pricing info you need.

--Sales tax is additional in the USA, there is no VAT included in the price. Same thing...nothing's free in the UK either. The "showroom fee" mentioned was probably just the salesman taking advantage of you.

--With a few exceptions, you should NEVER pay more than the price on the factory printed sticker on the window. That is list price, and actually only a few high-demand cars are sold at that price commonly. Jeeps are not one of them. Some dealers print their own stickers and add extra charges to the manufacturer's. Ignore them. As a rule of thumb, you should get about 10% off the base price of the car, and 15% off the options. But the best way to leave no money on the table is consult the Edmunds data first.

--Insurance prices vary greatly by location, driver, and company. Some just don't want your business and price that way. I don't think it is generally expensive...I pay $800 a year to insure 3 cars with coverage that is 6 times the legal minimum. Your driving record does matter (but weren't you really driving on the wrong side of the road all that time. You may be put in a special risk classification because you are not US licensed, but that would change quickly if you got a US license.:)

caribcelt
23-09-2002, 23:24
Thanks for your comments.

I do not really think that driving on the other side of the road is an issue at all because I lived in St. Thomas, (USVI) for five years and driving in St. Thomas is on the other side, just like the UK. A friend of mine whom I met in St. Thomas,looks after my home in Florida and she had a St. Thomas driving licence and not a US one. When she moved to Florida, she handed in her St. Thomas licence and did an eye test and was then granted a US driving licence. She also has a green card. So therefore I do not think that the driving on the other side of the road matters as she had never driven on the same side as the US does before.

I will certainly check out the web site you gave me regarding pricing cars. This will be very helpful in the future. We knew our price range and we knew roughly what we should be paying, but there was no prices to be found anywhere either on the jeep on the brochure. In the UK when you go to a showroom you get a price list on all new cars, then you can negotiate if you are paying cash.

As for the sales tax, yes we did know about it in advance but for some of us, you do forget about it. It takes a bit of getting used to, especially when you are buying a new jeep. Even though you know about the tax, you do get a bit of a shock in the end. After visiting a lot of the states, many, many times, I still hand over the correct price for a post card, instead of calculating the tax. Once I actually move to the States, I am sure that I will get used to it. (In the UK the VAT is high, but we never really think about it too much because it is always included in the price). I have just come back from the UK and while I was there I visited 9 car show rooms as my father is looking to buy a new car. I know I got my jeep a lot cheaper in the US, even with all the extras.

Car insurance is high the area where I bought my house. You are very right, it depends on the area where you live.

One thing I did not mention before, is that after we had written the check, we were brought into an office, where a guy tried to get us to change our mind about paying for the jeep by cash. He tried to encourage us to lease it instead. Although my husband and I both work in the financial industry, we did not know anything about leasing a car. We kept asking him questions and it was obvious he was getting a bit frustrated with us. In the end when he finally took our check, he was not that friendly with us and could not get rid of us quick enough. We did complain to the manager about the way we were treated and we have since been contacted by the company.

We have since looked into the leasing subject and we are happy that we did not go through with it, even though it seemed a very good idea at the time.

I hope I did not offend you, as an American, by what I wrote about my experience. I have lived in 9 different places, with very different rules and regulations. My experience of buying a car in the states was a very unpleasant one, but I am sure it was a one off. When you do anything for the first time in a different country, it is not easy, but with experience, second time round gets easier. So, my bad experience could have happened in any country, including the UK. When you are in the know, life is so much easier and that is why I think this forum is so important and very helpful. I have looked at a lot of the messages and I have received a lot of very helpful information, for which I am grateful. I only wish that I had known of this forum before I purchased my home, as that was another difficult one.

Caribcelt

caribcelt
23-09-2002, 23:46
I have just visited the site www.edmunds.com that you have stated. I wish I had known about it as it does look like we did pay higher than we should have. We were charged $700 for a back spoiler, which is listed as $200 on the site. That is not the only difference I can see in the prices that we paid.

My husband is going to buy a car towards the end of this year, so I shall get him to check out the edmunds site.

Thanks again for the information, the bottom line is, do your reseach and you will be wiser when making your second largest purchase in your life.

Caribcelt

caribcelt
24-09-2002, 00:12
[quote]
Lucky you having a green card! I wish you every success when you get over to Florida permanently.


Thanks Blott, for your good wishes regarding my green card. I won it in the lottery and it is one of my most prized possessions. I love the life style in the US and the mixture of its residents. I cannot wait to move there permanently.

Caribcelt

florida4sun
24-09-2002, 00:41
Lucky you. Can I just ask which nationality your are and from what country did you apply for the lottery?
Dont leave it too long before you use the GC. They can and will withdraw it.


quote:
Thanks Blott, for your good wishes regarding my green card. I won it in the lottery and it is one of my most prized possessions. I love the life style in the US and the mixture of its residents. I cannot wait to move there permanently.
Caribcelt


Martin

Another Day in Paradise!

caribcelt
24-09-2002, 01:21
[quote]
Lucky you. Can I just ask which nationality your are and from what country did you apply for the lottery?
Dont leave it too long before you use the GC. They can and will withdraw it.

[quote]


I am from N.Ireland and my husband is from England. My husband applied for the green cards through the lottery system before we were married. He saw an advertisement in the paper in St. Thomas. He was living in St. Thomas at the time and I was living in the Channel Islands. He put down his name and his UK address and my name and my N. Ireland address. Very soon after I found out that I was going to get a green card.

He thinks he did not get his because he had a UK address and he thinks I got mine because I was from N. Ireland. They do usually have a larger quota for Irish citizens although the North of Ireland comes under the UK and I have a British passport just like him.

I never want to loose it and I am in the States a lot because of it, but my husband cannot work in the states until we apply for him to come in under my green card and then that is another issue. I am using my green card at the moment, and I am paying my US taxes. I applied for a visa to leave the US for two years so as I could be with my husband. This visa secures my green card. Now my visa is coming to an end and I will be returning to Florida soon.

I will be searching forums in the very near future on how to deal with the situation of getting my husband into the US.

Caribcelt

florida4sun
24-09-2002, 03:28
That figures. Well done you. England is not in the Lottery anymore:(


quote:
Lucky you. Can I just ask which nationality your are and from what country did you apply for the lottery?
Dont leave it too long before you use the GC. They can and will withdraw it.

[quote]


I am from N.Ireland and my husband is from England. My husband applied for the green cards through the lottery system before we were married. He saw an advertisement in the paper in St. Thomas. He was living in St. Thomas at the time and I was living in the Channel Islands. He put down his name and his UK address and my name and my N. Ireland address. Very soon after I found out that I was going to get a green card.

He thinks he did not get his because he had a UK address and he thinks I got mine because I was from N. Ireland. They do usually have a larger quota for Irish citizens although the North of Ireland comes under the UK and I have a British passport just like him.

I never want to loose it and I am in the States a lot because of it, but my husband cannot work in the states until we apply for him to come in under my green card and then that is another issue. I am using my green card at the moment, and I am paying my US taxes. I applied for a visa to leave the US for two years so as I could be with my husband. This visa secures my green card. Now my visa is coming to an end and I will be returning to Florida soon.

I will be searching forums in the very near future on how to deal with the situation of getting my husband into the US.

Caribcelt




Martin

Another Day in Paradise!

MMFAN
24-09-2002, 18:16
Hi Caribcelt..the "wrong side of the road" comment was a joke(thus the smile face), sorry about that.

By the way, if the car was new there MUST be a manufacturer-supplied price sticker on the window. It is a Federal law. The dealer cannot remove it. In the business it is called the "Mulrooney Sticker". I guess the name of the lawmaker that wrote the law. The total price on that sticker is the suggested price and that includes all fees and dealer profit...except sales tax and the license fee. As I said, except for a few high-demand cars, that price is almost never paid. Some dealers will add a second sticker next to the manufacturer's one, with added charges for things like paint stripes and other "added options". These are usually priced at many times their cost, and are negotiated down to almost nothing.

For example, a favorite is window etching with the vehicle id number. Typical dealer adder is $300. Many police dept's will do it for free, and you can buy the same kit the dealer uses for $7.

esprit
24-09-2002, 23:16
It is not a matter of a larger quota for Northern Irish than English in the green card lottery, we English are not allowed to apply at all because it is the ethnic diversification programme and there are too many English there already. It seems unlikely we will be let back in again. Northern Irish are for some reason catergorised with the Southern Irish and are still allowed to enter even though they are part of the UK. Nothing about US immigration policy ever made sense!! I read somewhere that it is about a 50 to 1 chance of winning a green card. They get lots of applicants but a lot are from people with poor English who do not fill in the forms properly and so are discarded Even so, that is about the same odds as getting three numbers on the UK lottery which I have not done for two years so you were very lucky to win it, Caribcelt! I thought that you would now be able to sponsor your hubbie for a green card as your spouse or is it not that easy ( nothing ever is!!)

Julie Carty