[jraj]

Originally Posted by 14000rpm

Back in Nov '17, I got my wife a leased 2018 Toyota Camry LE. Took a 10k/yr option for 3 yrs. As of date, it has done only 4500 miles and at this rate, it will barely do 15k in 3 yrs. Now a situation has risen that makes me want to get rid of the Leased car ASAP.

Paying back 27 months of monthly payments is the first thing that the dealer/Toyota finance suggest but it is total loss proposition.

Good news is - Toyota Finance doesn't care about buy-back and won't charge me a penalty.

What do you guys think is a better way to let go of my car with, obviously, least monetary damage?

Try to find a buyer. Every month Toyota Financial Services will give a estimate of what the car is worth currently. You can get this figure in your TFS account and that's the money you owe Toyota.

Camry retains its value good and with such low mileage, the difference between what you owe Toyota and the price you can agree with a potential buyer will be less - you have no other choice but to cough it up. That's the least expensive option you have.

Good luck.

[Technocrat]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

How much did it cost? I was trying to talk my roommate into buying one of these instead of a 2015 CPO 328i Xdrive, but couldn't get him to see past the BMW brand. And you got the nice engine too. The base one is the same i have on my civic . Does it have the all wheel steering too?

Price before taxes was CAD 27.3k and opted for optional CPO warranty for an additional $400 Canadian.

All wheel steering is available on Front wheel drive models only.

The Base engine on TLX is 2.4-liter K24W7 I4 and the one in your Civic I believe is K24Z7 I4. I also used to to think that 2.4 or 3.5 engines from Honda are same but looks like they have slightly different compression ratios and probably slightly different components as well which makes a small difference in power too.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Price before taxes was CAD 27.3k and opted for optional CPO warranty for an additional $400 Canadian.

Got to love Japanese extended warranties. Hopefully they'll never have to be used!
I got a 4 year extended warranty on my car for 1.8K
My friend was offered a 1 year BMW extended warranty for 3K, and 2 for 4.5K and nothing beyond
He ended up buying a newer car, but the sort of costs are crazy!

[Technocrat]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Got to love Japanese extended warranties. Hopefully they'll never have to be used!
I got a 4 year extended warranty on my car for 1.8K
My friend was offered a 1 year BMW extended warranty for 3K, and 2 for 4.5K and nothing beyond
He ended up buying a newer car, but the sort of costs are crazy!

I did get to use mine on the MDX, the BT HFL module drained the battery, also steering judder for which there was a TSB, these two were done for free.

On the TLX, found out that the driver side courtesy/puddle light(in RVM housing) wasn't working so got that fixed, although it was done in the base factory warranty(4 years) and was told that the extended warranty 7 years 130k Kms one wont :(

Unlike US they have 2 tiers of CPO warranty and the base one takes care of most of the mechanical parts and is hence cheaper, the comprehensive one is more expensive and is similarly priced as in US.

And yes, new car costs are just too high, unless its a brand new car(like the Kia Stinger) or some new tech that you must have, I don't see much value in buying new considering how you can get a CPO in great condition and with warranty.

[hema4saran]

Little background about the long story : I own a 2015 Nissan Altima driven 43k miles and serviced it with Grubbs Nissan in Bedford, TX last month. I was told that rear struts and brake pads needs to be changed and brake rotors needs to be resurfaced. I found that my rear struts can easily go for few more thousand miles from another independent garage.

My Nissan dealership gave estimate of $628 for front brake pads and $218 for rear brake pads. They clearly mentioned that only brake pads needs replacement and rotors needs just resurfacing in the estimate itself. When I dropped multiple emails to them asking why there is huge difference in the brake pad quotes for front and rear, there was no response from them and I didn't have time to go and check with them in person.

I dropped a formal complaint to Nissan USA two days back regarding estimate given by my dealer along with the necessary proofs asking why there is huge cost difference. Today I received a reply from them that my case is taken into consideration and they are working with dealership about this and I will get a formal response on or before 17th of September.

Let us see how Nissan is going to handle my case and what explanation I am gonna get. I sincerely hope that Nissan USA will give proper response to me about this brake pad cost estimate.

[#enzowho]

Hey guys,
I'm going to the US, more specifically D.C for 6 Month Stint in Jan on a B1/B2 and I would like to buy a car.
I'm under the impression that one needs a local DL to get a title.
I'm still unsure of the process so could someone explain ?

Regards.

[ariendj]

Originally Posted by #enzowho

Hey guys,
I'm going to the US, more specifically D.C for 6 Month Stint in Jan on a B1/B2 and I would like to buy a car.
I'm under the impression that one needs a local DL to get a title.
I'm still unsure of the process so could someone explain ?

Regards.

You dont need a DL to get a title. You need to get an international driver's permit to drive though.
Btw, what kind of car are you looking for?
Did you check the car rental options?

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by #enzowho

Hey guys,
I'm going to the US, more specifically D.C for 6 Month Stint in Jan on a B1/B2 and I would like to buy a car.
I'm under the impression that one needs a local DL to get a title.
I'm still unsure of the process so could someone explain ?

Regards.

Originally Posted by ariendj

You dont need a DL to get a title. You need to get an international driver's permit to drive though.
Btw, what kind of car are you looking for?
Did you check the car rental options?

State issued Driving license is a must to buy a car and register the car. With international Driving license you are just allowed to drive rental cars. Even with normal Indian Driving license and passport, you can drive in US up to 6 months.

But to buy a car you need to have a DL which also has the residential address. When I moved to US, I could not buy a car till I got my DL which by itself took almost 1.5 month. First I had to get the Learners license by giving a test at the license center and then find a slot for the driving test.

[Technocrat]

Originally Posted by #enzowho

Hey guys,
I'm going to the US, more specifically D.C for 6 Month Stint in Jan on a B1/B2 and I would like to buy a car.
I'm under the impression that one needs a local DL to get a title.
I'm still unsure of the process so could someone explain ?

Regards.

In most states you would need a DL to register and insure a car. However considering the duration it might be better to rent a car.

You dont need DL to buy a car but would need it to register it and get insurance.

Also I see multiple challenges for you to get a DL while on B1/B2

- Getting a DL with 6 months stay on your visa may not work as most states require you to have an SSN for a DL. You wont get SSN on a B1/B2 visa

- How are you planning to fund the car purchase, as in money wise? Typically one is not paid a salary in B1/B2 but more of per diem kind of arrangement, so you might not have enough cash to buy one in first place. You wont get a loan without a salary and also without good credit score.

_ If you plan to convert your money and buy it, you will take a depreciation hit( that is provided you are able to buy one and register it)

- The DL itself has various provisions, e.g. most folks with Indian license or IDP can get a US license after giving a test and showing their Indian DL, but for all practical purpose it might take you some time to study for the test, road test etc to actually get a DL in hand(This again is provided you are able to show proof of residence etc)

[KiloAlpha]

Originally Posted by #enzowho

Hey guys,
I'm going to the US, more specifically D.C for 6 Month Stint in Jan on a B1/B2 and I would like to buy a car.
I'm under the impression that one needs a local DL to get a title.
I'm still unsure of the process so could someone explain ?

Regards.

Having done 3 & 6 month B1 stints in the US in the past, I would get a long term rental car as part of the onsite placement - booked through my company travel desk, paid by corporate credit card. All major rental companies - Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, etc have long term schemes. Also, you can switch cars within the rental period if you want. I recommend you speak with your company HR and try this option.

EDIT: If you are going to be living in DC for the 6 months, why not use public transport Mon-Fri and rent for the weekend?

[#enzowho]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

In most states you would need a DL to register and insure a car. However considering the duration it might be better to rent a car.

You dont need DL to buy a car but would need it to register it and get insurance.

Also I see multiple challenges for you to get a DL while on B1/B2

- Getting a DL with 6 months stay on your visa may not work as most states require you to have an SSN for a DL. You wont get SSN on a B1/B2 visa

- How are you planning to fund the car purchase, as in money wise? Typically one is not paid a salary in B1/B2 but more of per diem kind of arrangement, so you might not have enough cash to buy one in first place. You wont get a loan without a salary and also without good credit score.

_ If you plan to convert your money and buy it, you will take a depreciation hit( that is provided you are able to buy one and register it)

- The DL itself has various provisions, e.g. most folks with Indian license or IDP can get a US license after giving a test and showing their Indian DL, but for all practical purpose it might take you some time to study for the test, road test etc to actually get a DL in hand(This again is provided you are able to show proof of residence etc)

Well, I'll be flying in and out until I move there permanently by 2020/2021 through AOS.

I'll be paying cash as I plan on retaining the car for quite a bit of time.

Some of the states do give out DL's for B1/B2 but unfortunately as I learnt yesterday DC isn't one of them.

I already have proof of residence from the previous stint last month.

The only problem currently is getting a Title for the car.

So I'm still looking for options.

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

Having done 3 & 6 month B1 stints in the US in the past, I would get a long term rental car as part of the onsite placement - booked through my company travel desk, paid by corporate credit card. All major rental companies - Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, etc have long term schemes. Also, you can switch cars within the rental period if you want. I recommend you speak with your company HR and try this option.

EDIT: If you are going to be living in DC for the 6 months, why not use public transport Mon-Fri and rent for the weekend?

My travel there is quite infrequent with timing and distance so public transport is something I can't rely on.

I'm not going there through my company, I'm going for my research and will eventually move there permanently by the end of 2020.

So until then I' would need a car there plus the M2 CP and the M5 is quite a tempting option

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by #enzowho

Hey guys,
I'm going to the US, more specifically D.C for 6 Month Stint in Jan on a B1/B2 and I would like to buy a car.

another option you might want to consider is buying second hand. It is very common in countries such as the USA. Companies like Carmax (https://www.carmax.com) have a huge selection and will also take the car off your hands when you return home. You just sell it back to them.

With a second hand car you are likely to be able to afford a much fancier car and have much less depreciation. Any modern car 3-5 years old with less than 60-100K miles in the USA is still a very good car and really shouldn’t give you any hassle maintenance wise.

You are about to enter Car Havanna Country. There are more cars about than you can shake a stick at!

Jeroen

[#enzowho]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

another option you might want to consider is buying second hand. It is very common in countries such as the USA. Companies like Carmax (https://www.carmax.com) have a huge selection and will also take the car off your hands when you return home. You just sell it back to them.

With a second hand car you are likely to be able to afford a much fancier car and have much less depreciation. Any modern car 3-5 years old with less than 60-100K miles in the USA is still a very good car and really shouldn’t give you any hassle maintenance wise.

You are about to enter Car Havanna Country. There are more cars about than you can shake a stick at!

Jeroen

Buying a pre owned also require to get a new registration for the car and I believe I'd need an DL/ID ?

Regards

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by #enzowho

Buying a pre owned also require to get a new registration for the car and I believe I'd need an DL/ID ?

Yes, it is not different from buying a new one. But it is a very good alternative for buying a new one for the reasons stated.

We stayed in the USA for years on a L1 Visa. Our insurance company required us to have USA driver license within 2-3 months of purchasing the car. (My wife and I hold, among others, Dutch International driver licenses).

So we had to take the full test. Not a big thing, but then we are both very used to driving in the USA.If the majority of your driving has been in India, it might not be a bad idea to take some lessons, just so you know the basic drills and what the examinator will be looking for. (E.g. driving in a lane in between the lines, rather than the Indian way on the line, or wherever there happens to be space)

We had three second hand car. Bought my wife’s Ford Focus through Carmax and we sold it back to Carmax three years later after we left the USA.

My Jaguar XJR I bought on Ebay and I exported it back to the Netherlands eventually. Our Jeep Cherokee I bought of a Jeep Dealer and sold it privately when we left.

The depreciation on these three cars was next to nothing over these three years. Imagine if that would have been new cars. Just a few thousand dollars on the focus and the Cherokee.

The RSP on my Jaguar in 2003 was $ 76.500, I bought it on Ebay for $ 10.000 with 93.000 miles on it. That is barely run in!

If you can afford a typical mid range family car, for the same money you can get
yourself a high end fully loaded BMW, Audi, Mercedes 3-4 years old, 30-50K on the clock.

Good luck

Jeroen

[#enzowho]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Yes, it is not different from buying a new one. But it is a very good alternative for buying a new one for the reasons stated...

Thanks for your suggestions.
I have been driving there for quite sometime and I'm well accustomed with the driving infrastructure there.

Ive been looking at M2 CP and the M5 CP so pre owned is out of the options for now and mostly I've always been sceptical about it so thats the reason to buy a new one of the lot.

Having been exploring options but the cost of renting a similar car is costing more than buying a new one, so I'm exploring other options as well.

Regards.