Buying a car for road trip across states as a forgiener

[Dean]

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[nrubenstein]

You can drive on a UK license. I can't speak to the rest of it.

Also, there are no 320ds here. They don't exist. Renting a BMW will be absolutely stupid expensive as they fall into the premium categories. (And the rental agencies basically don't even have them.). Also, there is basically no such thing as a manual rental in the US if that matters to you.

[Edev]

As title says, its my 25th next year and I want to do a coast to coast trip in a car. Not a hire car but a classic I can buy one side and sell the other. I see lots of cool cars E30's E36's for decent money and would like to do a BMW road trip. What things do I need to consider legal wise buying a car in say Florida and selling weeks later (to a passer by probally lol) in San Fransico? Can I drive ony full UK driving licence? Do I need insurance and if so how does it work with a non USA forgien person? Curious really to get ideas.

Only other option would be to hire a E90 320d for the vacation but that would have no character or style, and I don't see it as a viable option to my dream. I like the thought of only paying for the fuel and if anything goes wrong its me against the world!

Any helpful advice would be awesome, who knows I may bump into a few of you guys on route!!! Meet for a beer as we pass your town ;)

You can't get a 320d here. Only a 335d, which is very, veryyy fun. Best of luck!

[Nairb]

We don't have any efficient diesels over here like in Europe.. other than the 335d/X5d and that thing's a beast.

If I were going to pick up an OLD German car for a random road trip across country without having to worry too much, I'd pick up a w126 Mercedes 300SD.. those things are sweet, but also have many luxury/comfort options.. plus they get 30+ MPG on the highway.

Either way, good luck.

[Dean]

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[Emre]

Your driver's license from your home country will work here.

As for buying a car, that's not quite so simple if you're just passing through. You'll need to have the car plated, registered, inspected, and insured. In order to do that, you'll need to provide a mailing address and some proof that you actually live at that address, such as copies of utility bills with your name on them. A further complication is that dept. of motor vehicles (DMV) rules and regulations will vary from state to state.

You'll need to do some more homework.

[Dean]

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[325ix]

It may be easiest to give them money and have them buy a car for you.

[Julien]

Exactly the same problem I had buying a car in Germany once.

My girlfriends parents have a place in Florida would that be against rules doing that and using her adddress?

not entirely sure on floridas laws but i'm pretty sure they would have to be present. Knowing florida you can probably rent a motel room for a week and use the bill as residence :-D your best bet is to call the florida DMV

[Nairb]

Where in Florida..?

[Dean]

Where in Florida..?

marco island

[sbi///m]

Just say you bought to car a driving it back, and when they ask for insurance just give them you card from the UK and say your covered for any car you drive. I drove cross country once and don't see why anyone would want to do that for fun. But hey if you have to see Kansas before you die who am I to stop you. Here is what it was like go to the supermarket sit in a cart an have someone push you around where the sell the corn and keep going in circles, that's the midewest in a nut shell

[mkcman17]

the only way is to have someone else buy the car in their name with your money. our rental cars suck, only automatics unless you go to a sketchy private rental yard. but then you gamble on the quality of a road-trip-worthy-car.

[Wh33lhop]

Yeah we are all auto rentals over here. Last time I rented for long distance I wound up getting a Merc C300 sport (again, only auto) that was awesome though. Wasn't super fast (my E30 was just a bit quicker) but was an awesome high speed cruiser that sat 4 in total comfort and handled really well. Only problem I had with the car was deactivating the traction control :( With unlimited mileage and all the insurance and everything I think it turned out to be ~$150 per day. Before that, we nabbed a G37 sedan with similar pricing. But that was a lot quicker.

[Fusion]

Doing a US Road Trip in a German car is just plain wrong.
Get an old Cadillac or a late 80's Dodge van or something.

Wouldn't private rental be an option? Like buy a car on ebay, pick it up, the guy sells it to you but writes up a rental agreement, keep the plates and stuff. Not sure how you could sell it though. Over here you can "resell" without the title being written to you. It's not a long-term thing, but a couple weeks is no problem.