travelling across the USA, some questions.

c_dug · Super Spammer Joined: 04 Sep 2007 Karma :

Hi guys,

Myself and a few friends are looking at travelling across the states next summer (California to New York) the plan so far is to buy a cheap as fuck car and follow the road for as cheap as possible, staying in motels etc...

That is about as in depth as our plan has got so far (it was only suggested a day or two ago), got a few questions before we let the plan go any further though. Does anybody know if car insurance is even possible (or needed) for a group of 21 year old British guys to drive across America?
What sort of car would people recommend? I think we would all love to get a big old convertible thing.
Any suggested places to visit/roads to drive.
Very minimum budget and time scale (we are thinking 1 month, not sure about money)

Pretty much anything you think will help us plan this would be good Thumbs Up

Thanks

c_dug
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Gazz · World Chat Champion Joined: 19 May 2009 Karma :

Allow me to be the first of many to say get a convertible and ride the world famous Route 66. Rolling Eyes

c_dug · Super Spammer Joined: 04 Sep 2007 Karma :

already been looking at route 66 tonight, thought that was the road that went all the way across the states but apparently not Confused

c_dug
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smegballs · World Chat Champion Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Karma :

as written in PM years ago:

Spit-Fire · World Chat Champion Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Karma :

iv always wanted to do this but it struck me as some thing that would be expensive
(even though between me and the lads we have family in 5 states)
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Frost · World Chat Champion Joined: 26 May 2004 Karma :

I know a guy who did this on his goldwing. He made the mistake of putting it on the centre stand somewhere in the desert. The weight of the bike sunk it into the soft tarmac during the day and when he came back that evening it had re-hardened and he was going nowhere Laughing

c_dug · Super Spammer Joined: 04 Sep 2007 Karma :

Shame there is no way I could convince my mates to do it by bike Sad

Another bummer is that we want something like this Cool

https://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee81/paddy2007dug/72-impala-lg.jpg

But we will probably end up with something more like this Embarassed

https://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee81/paddy2007dug/toyota_tercel.jpg

c_dug
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Frost · World Chat Champion Joined: 26 May 2004 Karma :

https://www.imcdb.org/images/001/955.jpg

ZRX61 · Victor Meldrew Joined: 05 Nov 2003 Karma :

Phoenix · Twisted Firestarter Joined: 01 Aug 2002 Karma :

To buy your own car in the US you'll need somewhere to use as an address, could be tricky if you don't know anyone, you will also have problems getting US insurance with a UK licence and yes you do need insurance and it's not that cheap, it's Australia and NZ where TPO is automatically in operation on any vehicle as it's included in petrol prices.

It might work out more practical to rent a car, for 4 weeks split amongst 4 of you it wouldn't actually be that expensive, it cost me about £250 to hire a Mustang for 14 days and that was with a weak pound only last year. You will get stung for being under 25 though, it can double rental costs and you'll also get stung for entering New York, you have to pay a large surcharge on rentals and some will not even allow you enter New York, there's also large one way rental fees, could still be cheaper and more practical than buying a car though.

Motels are piss cheap and everywhere so it's a plan, it's what I do when I go to North America, just check the rooms first, some are disgusting but most aren't. Route 66 is fairly broken up now, big sections missing and very hard to follow, I travelled along a couple of sections when I was in Arizona purely because it was on my route but i'd personally just plan a custom route to include things you want to see, not just follow that because it has a famous name.

ajbsmirnoff · World Chat Champion Joined: 09 Dec 2009 Karma :

Deliverance. Is what I think of everytime I consider Anerican holidays.

Imagine being on one of those rides at Disney and a voice says 'You've got a purty mouth boy......'

c_dug · Super Spammer Joined: 04 Sep 2007 Karma :

G · The Voice of Reason Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

We did this when I was 8 - bought a car in LA and drove to New York.

We spent a couple of weeks in LA staying with a friend getting the car sorted etc and could use that as an address. Reckon it'd definitely make sense to try and find someone out there that could be used as a base to get stuff ready for when you arrive - so you can have insurance set up and ideally have got them to put a deposit down on a car you like the look of, so they can check it out.

chris-red · Have you considered a TDM? Joined: 21 Sep 2005 Karma :

I have just come back from Canada insurance out there is a joke, my uncle who was a riding instructor pays $1200 insurance for his Harley Sportster, and has no tickets or claims. He also pays $2000 for his truck (F150). Imagine what it would be like for a load of foreign kids with technically no driving history and no firm address. You will need an Address to buy the car and get the insurance. You would be better off highering a car although.

A quick look online shows you can highier a Mustang (new one) from £1500 for a month at 21.
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Spit-Fire · World Chat Champion Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Karma :

this is all starting to sound as costly as i thought Sad

wonder if when me and the boys get round to it we can borrow a family members car Thinking

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Phoenix · Twisted Firestarter Joined: 01 Aug 2002 Karma :

yuri2085 · World Chat Champion Joined: 05 Jul 2008 Karma :

I have a friend who did it in a van I am pretty sure the insurance wasn't THAT bad though, they were all under 21 aswell.

The only thing I can suggest is to get some quotes?

Gazz · World Chat Champion Joined: 19 May 2009 Karma :

Did a little search and found this:

https://www.historic66.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=69

Quite an interesting venture - wouldn't mind doing this as well, but have other commitments just now, so might have to wait.

In addition to this, I think this might be one of the only occassions when I think using a car would be better option than using a motorcycle. Karma

The Shaggy D.A. · Super Spammer Joined: 12 Sep 2008 Karma :

Depending on how many of you there are, I'd get a minivan and sleep in it. It would also mean that those who wanted to could hire bikes for some stretches whilst having their stuff carried safely in the van.
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Phoenix · Twisted Firestarter Joined: 01 Aug 2002 Karma :

SlimRick · World Chat Champion Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Karma :

You can get a mailing address or PO box in the US for about $20 per month which is adequate for registering a car. If you do end up buying a car in Cali with plans to sell it in NY, you well get much less than you paid for it. People are VERY reluctant to buy an out of state car as they have to re-register it in their local state which costs and can be a huge pain in the arse for them.
Insurance - shouldn't be too painful, it's the car that's insured not the driver, but with the owner having a non US license might bump it up a bit. IIRC, my discovery was $800 to insure for the year, but that was with a US license.

ZRX61 · Victor Meldrew Joined: 05 Nov 2003 Karma :

Spit-Fire · World Chat Champion Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Karma :

Steve H · World Chat Champion Joined: 18 Oct 2003 Karma :

I've done a few drives from various locations over the years...

Georgia, Alabama, Memphis, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana.
New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont.
Utah, Colorado, Arizona, California, Nevada.

...that's off the top of my head, I'm sure there's more Wink

All of the aforementioned trips took approximately 3 weeks. The only thing I did was use Google Maps (no sat-nav) and plan a route prior to going (which meant taking a file full of paper printouts Smile

). We made it a rule to keep off the Interstates whenever possible - there are some AMAZING roads if you stay off the beaten track. As has been mentioned you'll ALWAYS find somewhere to stay over there but it's easy to book hotels online prior to your trip if you know where you're gonna be every day/night.

Some of the best times of my life (so far!) were spent in a motor with the wife exploring the vast expanse of the US, we've had some fantastic adventures, I'd thoroughly recommend it Thumbs Up

Gratuitous photo whorage (as you can see from pic #2 we always hired a car!)...

https://www.steveqpr.co.uk/images/yosemite.jpg

https://www.steveqpr.co.uk/images/white%20car.jpg

https://www.steveqpr.co.uk/images/valleyroad.jpg

https://www.steveqpr.co.uk/images/hyde.jpg
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c_dug · Super Spammer Joined: 04 Sep 2007 Karma :

Route plan Made of pure WIN.

Car rental is a bit of a rip though, $25 a day charge just for being under 25, adds over a third to the rental cost. Its working out to £1700GBP for a large 7 seater SUV for a whole month though so its less than £400 each for 5 of us, not too terrible.
____________________
I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.