Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   The International Automotive Scene (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/international-automotive-scene/)

-   -   Buying, Owning, Driving and Maintaining a car in North America (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/international-automotive-scene/7893-buying-owning-driving-maintaining-car-north-america-4.html)

Even GEICO is expensive..the best prices I've got are from Safe Auto and State Farm.

will anybody throw some light on this ?

~A

I am having 21st Insurance. Initially I had GEICO but 21st gave me almost 50% reduction in premium.

But GEICO is only one who issues policy if you have an Indian License. All others need US license.

Service with 21st had been so far excellent. All our buddies are now switched from GEICO to 21st. www.21st.com

How about a Dodge Stealth R/T, Nissan ZX300 2+2 or a Mitsubishi GT3000 ES,
All should be within 2500 - 3500 for 1992-1996 models.

Not sure of the insurance in these choices. I assume it must be high as U are below 25, buying a 2 door car. Not sure how much difference would it make.

You are there for six months, so pick a vehicle which is fun to drive, kinda live life attitude, though may not be very practical.
Post six months when you sell it, the depreciation should not be more than 1000 USD at max.

just check out Craigslist on the right hand side of the main page select the state and city u live in and then click on items to sell-automobiles/cars, its a really good website. private sellers have their ads on here. especially since you're in california you will find loads of them. what you might also want to do is check out the local desi community website (just ask around and you'll find out) you'll see a classifieds section on there too. Like many people must've suggested private sellers are cheaper to buy from than a dealer. avoid magazines coz you'll spend too much time on cars that are listed too high.
i think u shud decide on your budget and how far u plan to drive thecar. is it gonna be only trips to work on a daily basis or is it also going to have occasional weekend trips to nearby tourist spots. how far are those tourist spots going to be? this factors in to how cheap a car u can buy as the car has to be reliable enough for those distances.
1. local travel only? buy a cheap *** car maybe 3K-4K at most.
2. 200-300 mile trips - buy something worth 6K i would suggest. (although you might be able to get something like a Hyundai Accent or Kia Rio with really low miles on it and still around 4-5K and still in a good condition to drive cross- country.
3. If you're buy a honda / toyota with close to 100K miles make sure the timing belt has been changed etc. etc.
4. As far as possible try getting an automatic. Stick shifts might be a little more of a hassle to sell.
5. insurance ?? AAA, GEICO, State Farm, check out all these and more. do your home work. you'll be surprised to see how much each company varies from the other. I have statefarm currently and they're cheapest for me in Indiana.
By the way I may have repeated a lot of stuff what the guys above have said but I was too lazy to see what they had replied :D Good luck. Btw if u'r going to buy a cheap car just get basic liability insurance and that should be cheap enough for a car that old. make sure the a/c compressors and water pumps+timing belts are ok on cars that are really old and have a lot of miles. these problems can be a major pain. I've experienced it myself with my old honda prelude and had to pay a lot of money for a blown head gasket and bla bla. dont want to scare you but best if you know these things before you buy :)
good luck

no the camry ain't expensive. a really old camry can be found for that budget 2-3k

i would not recommend going in for that. a cheaper BMW always looks attractive on paper but it'll be hell to live with. you will spend a LOT of $'s on repairs. take my word for it! :)

you'll be better off looking at a CarFax or AutoCheck report. granted theres no guarantee but it gives you a basic idea regarding the car's history.

thats a good point - you'll get them cheap, they will have minimum maintenance and any shop will service them. try for an older Chevrolet, Oldsmobile or Pontiac as hskhan mentioned earlier.

add camry to the list. nothing wrong with it.

you won't get a Stealth R/T or 3000GT in decent condition for under $5000. don't bother going that route. there are cheaper and better (reliable) options in the 2-door category.


just remember that you're 19 years old and you will be driving in CA - which is one of the harsher states for young drivers. emission norms and safety regulations are heavily enforced in CA.
getting a high-end car will only cause you to waste money in maintenance and insurance. what you need is basic transport for 6 months. leave the fancy stuff for later when you can actually afford to have it.

a camry is boring to drive PERIOD. oh the suspension is too soft, i doubt a 19yr old would want one... i wouldnt. but those old camry v6 models would be lot faster than an old corolla :)

Have you considered Acura Integra, that seems to be a favorite among young cost conscious drivers. I am not sure about the price though, it has a good resale value none the less.

Couldn't agree more with aah78. Don't let your dreams really high, sorry to say but when you see the insurance quotes, you'll absolutely cry. One of the reasons why its been almost 2 years and I still don't have a car.

Well, there is no way around the insurance issue. I don't know if CA allows third party coverage alone (a lot of states do). If they do that might significantly cut your insurance costs.

As so many have mentioned, stick to ~100K miles japanese car and check the car fax history. 10 year old Camry, Accord, Corolla, Civic etc. will be the best, because of their reliability. Another option: if you know anyone in auto industry who goes to wholesale auctions (there are many small timers who may be willing to take you along), you probably can get a ~5 year old car with 50-70 K miles for about $3k which might fetch you a bit more when you have to sell after 6 months. As always, one needs a lot of luck buying a used car.

Guys,

I am in too am in the same boat now..will be shifting to Federal Way ( near Seattle) after a couple of days and am looking for a used car within a 2 to 3 K budget


Would be there for atleast a year or two.... ....I have set my eyes on the camry due to the luxurious feel that it exudes especially the 2001-2 models that we see here in India....but any other alternatives are welcome..so pls go ahead and suggest me some.

My Indian driving license is more than 10 yrs old ( Age 30 currently) and the current car and insurance here is on dad's name. I am planning to take an IDP from the RTO in Mumbai...will that be sufficient or do I have to take any other letter recommendation from the authorities to save a couple of $ on insurance , etc.

Please let me know

~A

2-3k will not get you a 2001 camry, i am certain. maybe a salvaged one, but repairs will cost you a lot more.

Aditya,

There's absolutely no chance of you getting '01-'02 Camry in $2-3k range. You can get maybe a '94-97 Camry for that money. Toyota's have terrific resale and the ones that you want would be ATLEAST $6-7k.

I guess you can find the most realistic estimate of the car you want on KBB.com and on cars.com you can get the tentative availability in you area.

When I took my first insurance in texas without any driving history i was around 29 yrs old, they did not register me as a married person and I ended up paying ~450 on insurance for 6 months (allstate.com). most probably you will get the same. (but i had the SSN and driving license). now it's down to 350.
only exception being northeast (NY, NJ, CT etc) where you may end up paying close to 1000 depending on the location.

since you are going to be here for 1+ year, i suggest spending around 5K, and enjoy the drives (I assume you will be earning here). most probably you will get the same back when you return.

IDP will be useless for driving purpose after one year in most states (3 months in some), check what WA state DMV says.

PS: firestone does a vehicle inspection in 20$ i guess. don't forget to do it before any car purchase.