Buying a used car in California
Discussion
I'll be arriving in Santa Clara, CA next week and one of the first things on my list is to get a car. Budget is $8000 and probably from a used dealer.
I have no idea whatsoever about buying used in the US. So my question is, if a car is up for $8000 on a used lot, are there any taxes, fees, etc., that I should budget on paying? Also, how are they on haggling? Should I expect to knock $500 off for cash?
I have no idea whatsoever about buying used in the US. So my question is, if a car is up for $8000 on a used lot, are there any taxes, fees, etc., that I should budget on paying? Also, how are they on haggling? Should I expect to knock $500 off for cash?
Viper_Larry said:
I'll be arriving in Santa Clara, CA next week and one of the first things on my list is to get a car. Budget is $8000 and probably from a used dealer.
I have no idea whatsoever about buying used in the US. So my question is, if a car is up for $8000 on a used lot, are there any taxes, fees, etc., that I should budget on paying? Also, how are they on haggling? Should I expect to knock $500 off for cash?
You can always haggle..same as any used car dealer. I believe that there will be sales tax..( I think its about 7.5% in CA). See if you can get a CarFax which will give some history on the car. Serviice history will likely be better at the used lots of the major new car dealers. I would not buy privately from an individual though.I have no idea whatsoever about buying used in the US. So my question is, if a car is up for $8000 on a used lot, are there any taxes, fees, etc., that I should budget on paying? Also, how are they on haggling? Should I expect to knock $500 off for cash?
Assuming you are relocating to US, and assuming CA has the same rules as CT you won't be able to buy a car straight away. You will need a US driving license first in order to make the purchase and have the car registered at the DMV.
I ended up in a rental car for a month and applied for the driving test as soon as I got here. Check the CA DMV site on the rules for driving licenses. Here in CT as soon as you become resident you have 30 days to get your license. I had to take a theory and road test.
Insurance will be expensive as you have no driving record here in the US and will be newly licensed.
With regards to charges on top of sticker price - you have to add sales tax, DMV fees, plate fees etc.
I ended up in a rental car for a month and applied for the driving test as soon as I got here. Check the CA DMV site on the rules for driving licenses. Here in CT as soon as you become resident you have 30 days to get your license. I had to take a theory and road test.
Insurance will be expensive as you have no driving record here in the US and will be newly licensed.
With regards to charges on top of sticker price - you have to add sales tax, DMV fees, plate fees etc.
Matt Harper said:
Viper_Larry said:
Nope, none of those!
In which case, tag, title and insurance is going to be a challenge. You may also be dismayed at the level, age and stratospheric mileage on the shonky old clunker that your budget is going buy you.If not too late: assuming you are relocating, consider buying a cheap new car. This will allow you to build up your all-important credit history in the US.
You can use some specialized companies which cater for expats.
When relocating I dealt with a company called international auto source. http://www.intlauto.com/
They were able to arrange finance for me, and sort everything out before I moved. I only had to go pick up the car at a local dealer. But as others pointed out before, I had to wait until I had my SSN to complete the deal. (I passed my driving test in it, a couple of days after picking it up)
At the time (5 years ago), I picked up a brand new Golf for $18.5, with $3k or so deposit.
This may seem like a lot, but for some reason, used cars are super expensive here. I expect you will not get much for $8k. On the other hand I sold the Golf after 2.5 years for $14k, so lost less than $2k per year in depreciation, which is not bad I think.
And the credit history I built made life much easier for me very quickly (e.g. could retrieve most of my apartment deposit after 6 months, easy to get loans, mortgage, etc)
Also you can consider leasing, there are lots of cheap deals around (say under $200 for a decent car, e.g. I see $160/ month for a VW Jetta on VW's official website, not bad!)
(I keep mentioning VW because I thought that for some reason, they are quite cheap in the US and seem like a good deal. )
You can use some specialized companies which cater for expats.
When relocating I dealt with a company called international auto source. http://www.intlauto.com/
They were able to arrange finance for me, and sort everything out before I moved. I only had to go pick up the car at a local dealer. But as others pointed out before, I had to wait until I had my SSN to complete the deal. (I passed my driving test in it, a couple of days after picking it up)
At the time (5 years ago), I picked up a brand new Golf for $18.5, with $3k or so deposit.
This may seem like a lot, but for some reason, used cars are super expensive here. I expect you will not get much for $8k. On the other hand I sold the Golf after 2.5 years for $14k, so lost less than $2k per year in depreciation, which is not bad I think.
And the credit history I built made life much easier for me very quickly (e.g. could retrieve most of my apartment deposit after 6 months, easy to get loans, mortgage, etc)
Also you can consider leasing, there are lots of cheap deals around (say under $200 for a decent car, e.g. I see $160/ month for a VW Jetta on VW's official website, not bad!)
(I keep mentioning VW because I thought that for some reason, they are quite cheap in the US and seem like a good deal. )
Thanks for the info, but yes, it's too late! Only been here a week but picked up a Volvo V50 from a Ford dealer yesterday. 2005, estate - just what I need right now for ferrying goods around as we move in the the house I also secured yesterday and move into on Saturday.
It was up on the forecourt for $8988 and in the end I got that price including ALL taxes, so I actually paid $7920 for the car. Quite pleased with that considering it was a single owner car from new and 93k miles.
I didn't want to tie myself into a new car deal just yet, but might well do in a couple of months when we've settled in and we need another car for the wife to get around in.
Lovin' California so far :-)
It was up on the forecourt for $8988 and in the end I got that price including ALL taxes, so I actually paid $7920 for the car. Quite pleased with that considering it was a single owner car from new and 93k miles.
I didn't want to tie myself into a new car deal just yet, but might well do in a couple of months when we've settled in and we need another car for the wife to get around in.
Lovin' California so far :-)
Viper_Larry said:
Thanks for the info, but yes, it's too late! Only been here a week but picked up a Volvo V50 from a Ford dealer yesterday. 2005, estate - just what I need right now for ferrying goods around as we move in the the house I also secured yesterday and move into on Saturday.
It was up on the forecourt for $8988 and in the end I got that price including ALL taxes, so I actually paid $7920 for the car. Quite pleased with that considering it was a single owner car from new and 93k miles.
I didn't want to tie myself into a new car deal just yet, but might well do in a couple of months when we've settled in and we need another car for the wife to get around in.
Lovin' California so far :-)
Welcome to Mexifornia!It was up on the forecourt for $8988 and in the end I got that price including ALL taxes, so I actually paid $7920 for the car. Quite pleased with that considering it was a single owner car from new and 93k miles.
I didn't want to tie myself into a new car deal just yet, but might well do in a couple of months when we've settled in and we need another car for the wife to get around in.
Lovin' California so far :-)
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