BootsnAll Travel Community

Hi guys,

I'm going RTW with my girlfriend next spring and we're gonna be in the US for 3 - 4weeks. The plan is to start at SFO and drive down to Miami and I'm not sure if we should take a train, bus, car rental, or buy a car?? Driving is the preferred but is it easy to buy a car if your from Europe??

Any ideas??

Thanks David

quote:

is it easy to buy a car if your from Europe??

It is easy to buy a car, even if you're Dutch!

The problem has to do with insurance. If you can convince your present insurance company to insure you as a driver for a car that they have never seen, then you should do it.

Come over, buy a small something with air conditioning and a radio and drive in a south-easterly direction. Sell the car to a used car lot at the other end.

That would be the best way to see America.

3-4 weeks is not much time to go from San Fransisco to Miami no matter how you do it. Its over 3,000 miles if you drive it the shortest route just taking the big freeways. I drove from Oklahoma to Portland a couple years ago taking about 10-12 weeks and still felt rushed. I don't think renting a car will be very economical for that time frame and dropping it off so far away. Buying is the way I'd go, but you will have to have insurance like Static said.

If you search the forums you'll find other posts having to do with the "insurance problem". If you rent a car, you can always get the insurance from the rental car company. But you'd probably pay about $40-50 a day for a fairly basic car. So for 3-4 weeks that would be $1000-1500.

That leaves trains and buses, neither of which are attractive options in the US. The trains are expensive and may not go where you want to go. Buses are....well...an intereting expereience.

As for the amount of time to drive across the US, that really depends on what you want to see and do while you're here. It can certainly be done in 3-4 weeks if you have a limited number of places you want to visit.

Thanks for the info guys,

Would it help me if I know someone living in the US with the purchase and insurance of a car - i.e. we can use his address etc.??

There are several threads on here about buying cars, and several about driving across the country. Many are pretty recent. A quick search will bring them up.

I wrote a very long post once about this one my travel site (it's soon to be published)

Drive across America

I would think buying a car would be a major headache, especially in a city like SF where not everyone drives and if you are in a rush.

The best reason to drive is to see the West, which can't be done well without a car. Why not rent a car, do a loop out of SF for a few weeks, then train/bus/fly to Miami? Renting will be about half the price if you return to the same city. It's not quite as Kerouac-cool as going cross country, but it might be more rational.

Cars out of Vegas are super cheap. $23/day. That's another option (SF, bus to Vegas, rent car to explore the Southwest 2 weeks, bus to next destination, and so on to Miami).

Though, honestly, train travel isn't cheap in the US and our buses kind of suck. Greyhound gets you there, but unless they've upgraded in the past decade their buses are very uncomfortable. Amtrak isn't too much better on many routes.

Megabus has buses in California and Nevada, and is about the cheapest way to go. You could take it from CA to Las Vegas, then rent a car and drive southeast from there. As for flying, it depends on what you want to see while you're here. If all you're interested in are big cities, by all means fly from one to the other. But if you're interested in seeing some of the small towns and back roads of America, I would definitely try renting a car for at least a portion of your journey.

If you find the car situtation an easy one to deal with, there are some great sites out there with routes, as well as all the cool, off the beaten path places to stop and see:

I used ths one for my trip: http://www.roadtripusa.com/

Have fun!!

Thanks Brooke J. that is a great site for ideas!!

David.. very important question. How old are you? Insurance companies have calculated that single males under 25 are the most dangerous things on the road. That is why insurance can be such a bitch. If you are.. or at least can come up with a document that says you are over that age.. cherry. You can save buko bucks. Also.. one option for the under 25 guy is to be married. They figure your hormones are under control and you will drive safer.

Car or other means. If you are interested in the countryside then a car is a must. I agree about not needing one in San Francisco. It can cost more to park than it does to eat. But I live in the mountains around 3 hrs. away. Right in the middle of the Gold Rush country, tons of wineries and the back door of Yosemite is 20 miles away. That is a good example of where you need a car. Sure we have public trasit.. I just saw the bus last Thursday.

I like the suggestion of renting a car for an area, then moving on by bus or whatever to another urban center and then renting another car.

BTW... folks go out of their way to put down Greyhound. You won't get robbed, you won't get raped and you won't get cooties.

One thing to research on the car issue that I haven't seen brought up. During the high season in Miami (hell if I know the dates).. the car rental companies need all the vehicles they can get. If you can pull off your trip at that time you can avoid the drop off fee. Even get lower basic fees.

I agree with the others that your time frame is a bit tight. But if you can plan ok it's not impossible.

Thanks "GoodtimeBob" - It's OK folks I'm 37 so no insurance worries, and we'll be in the US in the month of June. Is that the high season??