How to buy a car for a tourist in the USA

GREAT RV TRIP

Buying your own car may be a good idea if you often visit the United States or are going on a long trip across America.

Let's look at the numbers.

Rent

Car rental prices start from $ 600 — $ 700 per month. This price will include the most basic insurance, in which the responsibility for the safety of the rental car will be entirely on you.

We add full insurance so that you can drive safely, and the price rises to $ 1,000-$ 1,200 per month.

If you want to return the iron horse elsewhere, please fork out. For example, the one-way fee will be $ 400-$ 600 if you started your route in Florida and ended in California.

In total, a 1-month trip from the east coast to the west coast of the United States on an insured rental car will cost you $ 1400-$ 1800.

Purchase

Cars in the USA are cheap

It is quite realistic to purchase a reliable used car for $ 2,500-$ 3,000. Most likely, these will be cars from 1997 to 2010.
Even with a budget of $ 500-$ 1000, there is a chance to find an option that will serve you faithfully for a while. In this case, it is better to thoroughly check the car in the service before buying.
Registration costs range from $ 28 and up to several hundred dollars, depending on the state. I described the car registration procedure in the USA in detail here. Basic insurance is $ 50-$ 100 per month.
If the car remains in the same condition as you bought it, then at the end of the trip it can be sold quickly at a discount of 10−20%, or even remain in a small plus.

In total, the same trip in your own car can cost you from $ 0 to $ 1,000.

We search and buy

1

Setting the budget
Set the boundaries wider when searching. For example, if you have $3,000, look in the range of $2,000-$4,000. People are haggling and there is a chance to find a good option cheaper.

2

Opening it craigslist.org
This is the largest resource with private ads in the USA. Although it looks antediluvian, everything is simple here.
How to significantly simplify the search on the site is described here

3

Finding for cars+trucks
We check the boxes "has image" — so that with pictures and "bundle duplicates" — so that the ads do not repeat. You can include neighboring territories to search for "include nearby areas" or indicate the search radius from the zip code of your location in the United States.

4

Setting the search parameters: price range and years
You don’t have to touch the rest. You’ll get hundreds of ads. If you are looking for a specific model, you can specify it in the search bar.

If you have an active facebook market, you can search for more there.

Scammers
If you see an ad that is much lower than the market in price, most likely they are scammers.

You are only interested in a personal meeting and inspection of the car with the owner. All other options are usually divorce!

Don’t even waste your time on such ads.

5

We select a few cars we like, arrange a meeting (you can immediately contact the service).
Along the way, we find out the condition of the car, its history, etc. I described in detail the procedure for searching, telephone arrangements and inspection in the article Buying a motorhome in the USA. Everything is the same here. Just easier.

6

Inspection
Depending on how well you know about cars, decide if you need a mechanic with you. You can find an on-site specialist or a car service who will evaluate the car in 1-2 hours. The price of a standard hour, depending on the state, is on average $ 80-$ 120.

7

We buy or repeat the procedure with another bidder
After you have struck a deal with the seller, you need to reissue the documents and register the car. I wrote detailed instructions on how to do it simply and cheaply here.