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!

Oh and you want a remote start on your car. They could charge $10k for that and I'd probably pay. It costs about $200-300 extra and is very very worth it. You get into a warm car when it's absolutely freezing outside.

I'm about to switch from a minivan with 2WD and studded snow tyres to (probably) a Subaru with 4WD and all-weather tyres.

I'm intrigued to see which works best. We get about 7-10 feet of snow a year, and there's pretty much always snow on the road I live on, ploughed or not.

Oh and you want a remote start on your car. They could charge $10k for that and I'd probably pay. It costs about $200-300 extra and is very very worth it. You get into a warm car when it's absolutely freezing outside.

Oooh I think I'm going to add that on to the order for my new car. I can't actually imagine getting in a warm car in winter. I usually get in wearing down jacket, ski gloves and hat, then gradually strip off as the car warms up.

It's the best thing when you have small kids because for car seats to be safe you have to take their coat off. Now we have it I can't live without it. It also amazing to have a cool car to get into in summer. I use it much more than I thought I would.

I have a leased Suburu outback which I am very pleased with. Living in different part of the States but I have driven in New York before and would get an SUV as roads aren't great. Also my car is not small but cab still be dwarfed by others in the car park.

Ooh, how do the remote starts work? Do they leave the engine running but car locked?

Definitely get remote start too - forgot that.. Brilliant.

miss yes. You start the car from your temperature regulated spot so you don't have to suffer. Car doors are locked and don't open. It's awesome.

DH bought a Mazda without it. I made him go back and get it added. It was $250 to add. Worth every single penny. He still thinks I was being crazy but he isn't the one using the car to schlep the kids around. Every car since has had it....

Omg, thats brilliant! After a few incidents last winter where I left it running and the car locked itself and I couldn't get back, this is a feature for my next car

Try not to buy used because many are from Sandy and just cleaned up but have water or sand damage. Also, check kelly blue book for price. Do not pay sticker price. Get warranty. insurance is expensive. Honda, subaru or toyota. All wheel drive.

Best of luck.

If you leave your car running and locked around here, the fire dept or the police will jimmy it open for you for free. It's worth trying them before you call towing companies to do it for ??$$$$.
How do I know this?

So my DH has been having a wonderful time negotiating the lease of a 2018 Outback.

He's got them to add $1k onto the trade in for our minivan.

Monthly payment has gone from $179 to $92.

He's just noticed that another dealer offers a lifetime warranty so he's getting that to be added on.

He's basically playing the three nearby Subaru dealers off each other.

That is a really good deal.