Advice on buying cars in New York

[MovingtoUSmum]

Hi there,
So it's a 3 week countdown until our move from the UK to New York (westchester county). DH and DC getting very excited!
Could do with a little advice re buying a car. Luckily our new house is v close to the station into GCT so we only need one car for our family.
Current plan is to hire a car for a couple of weeks and then buy. We've read in our 'moving to America' book that car sales in the US are very different to the UK in that there are not so many checks like there are in the uK in terms of the cars being serviced/ MOT etc. What's the best plan, buying privately or going to a showroom and buying a 'certified' car? Little worried about naively buying a dud!
Any ideas or previous experience welcome.
Many thanks!

Many do not. Very few people are driving a manual. The OP is looking to buy a car and buying a manual is going to make resale much harder. I would strongly suggest the OP only consider an automatic AWD for the area they are in. It would be awful for them to buy a car for $40k and a year later be relocated elsewhere and lose a fortune on the car because the dealer doesn't want a manual.

DO NOT BUY AN ACADIA!! That’s all. And welcome to Westchester!

Neville what happened with your Acadia? Sounds brutal.....

I've never had one! But I've driven them and they're the world's dullest vehicle on the planet, even the Denalli version. A Town and Country is more fun to drive and that's saying something.

The other thing to bear in mind, OP is that, although in theory having one car sounds great, it might not be in practice. At weekends, if your kids all want to do some of the amazing activities that are available, you're going to struggle with only one car and 3 children of school ages. Even if they're just all doing AYSO (soccer), as an example, that's going to be a lot of to-ing and fro-ing with one car. I can't think of any families that have one car, even if the second is just a cheap one that spends most of its week parked.

Also, the White Plains DMV is fine as long as you use the online appointment system and book early. The place you'll take your test is embarrassingly easy to drive through (you literally turn 2 corners, do a 3 point turn, parallel park and drive 2 corners back again).

I second makes comment on two cars; we bought a house close to the station (15-20 minute walk) and managed for 5 months until we gave in and bought car no 2 as it was just such a massive pita juggling who needed it for what, when.

We have two cars here so probably will get two at some point for logistics of kids needing to be in different places at different times but will start off with one for now.

We're considering shipping our car over to the US instead of offloading here and having to buy over there.

Looking into all the paperwork which I am undoubtedly going to be dealing with as DH will be off before me. Bit daunting.

I wouldn't want to drive a RH drive car on US roads if I could avoid it, jelly.

We hired a car occasionally when we needed a second car, or used Uber, but we lived somewhere with great transport links so most days we didn't need two

We have also looked into it quite a lot but have discarded the idea - far too stressful!

Of course two cars is much preferable but with the expense of setting yourself up I fully understand why the Op wants just one car. Once established it makes sense to get a second car.

I would not think to being a car into the US unless it was a classic car or very high end. Not worth it to bring a car over from the U.K. At all. Just the stress of dealing with it at the DMV sends shivers down my spine.

No, just disagreeing with the point up thread that no one drives an automatic, because actually many do!

I've looked through the thread and I don't see anyone saying no one drives an automatic?

Ahh I found it... "No one and I mean absolutely no one drives a manual".

Some people drive manuals. Personally I wouldn't buy one for fear of being unable to resell it. But I'd agree some people have them.

We're considering shipping our car over to the US instead of offloading here and having to buy over there.

Blimey, emissions tests, shipping, paperwork, then driving a RHD car in the US. Good luck if you do go that route - I'm intrigued to know if it works!

My dad used to drive a RHD car in Germany for complicated reasons to do with UK forces abroad. It's not impossible.

Best cars to buy are Honda, Toyota, Subaru or for more expensive cars BMW or Mercedes, Acura. I have friends who have had many problems with VW's so I would avoid those. Most families tend to get minivans or mid-large size SUV's.

Don't ship a car over. Even people moving from Hawaii sell their cars and buy one on the mainland. It only makes sense if you are leaving an armed forces base in Germany and can buy a BMW or Mercedes cheaply - and cars bought in Germany are RHD.

Wrt the two car conundrum - see how you do with one. Get one big enough to schlep lots of children besides your own, and start carpooling so you won't spend your entire weekends running around like scalded earwigs. A Chevy Suburban or GMC Yukon or similar might fit the bill.

Right side driving.

math with one car you get a huge one like the Acura MDX or the Volvo XC90. That way you can share the driving. We have the Q5 and I'm forever adjusting DSs booster seat for the friends of DD that I drive around.

Having seen Trump’s “great” new tax breaks, I wouldn’t even bother coming. Run for your life while you still can!

Also re carpooling, when you’re new in town, don’t carpool! That’s where you get out and meet people. Chatting on the sidelines is how I met some of my closest friends over the years, and I don’t just mean through sports. Second year? Totally carpool everything!

Why not ship? Is it just cos the car would be RHD? Or more reasons.

We'd be shipping a XC90, it's worth loads more to us than we'd get for it here as we've had it from new, its low mileage, always serviced it. It's in very good nick considering its age (6 years).

Plus I'd want a similar sized car in US.

Dh will have a company car.

I have a long lead in to get us over and settled, up to 9 months, won't be working ... could take my tent and camp out at the DMV place

More reasons.

How would you insure the car?
How would you ship it back?
If you stay longer than 2 years and want to eventually replace the car you would be looking to export it to the Turks and Caicos as I can't think of another market for a right hand drive car.

People in America have a habit of telling you what you want to hear so you buy their services. They then don't deliver.

You can buy a brand new Toyota Sienna for less than $30k.

Lots for me to think about.

Will I find getting insurance difficult?
Do they do like here and I could go on Dh's policy if that was easier to arrange?
We are planning on renting initially.

I'm not sure I would upgrade after 2 years, it really is a good car, its age is irrelevant to me it just has to keep being as reliable as it is. Selling on probably wouldn't be a problem either as it would probably get handed down to our dd (18) who I'm hoping will be coming with us.

If we did decide to come home, depending on how much it is to ship her home, I probably would tbh.

I would presume you would find insurance harder being that people here drive like they are on a kamakazie mission. You have jug handles and what we refer to a Jersey left when you put your foot down at the traffic lights to make a left turn before the opposing traffic crosses the intersection.

Honestly, if you really like the car keep it with family in the U.K. and buy something here that fits into the normal regular process. My dealings with insurance is that anything out of the ordinary is a problem to them and a problem they don't want to deal with unless getting paid handsomely.

Also the DMV is a nightmare without adding any complications. A UK car is a complication to them. It won't be to US regulations so there is a risk that they will force you to have work done just because they can.