[Nigel]

Hello all,

I’m in the early stages of thinking about a possible extended trip to California in Autumn, probably in the region of 2/3 months, possibly 7 of us going, maybe slightly more or less. Likely destinations are Tuolumne, Yosemite, and Bishop. Question is, do we:

a)   Buy a car in San Fran and sell it when we leave?
b)   Get a long term rental?
c)   Public transport – not the preferred option, but have done it before in Yosemite, is it workable in Bishop?

Anyone got any experience of buying a car there, as in whether it is legally possible, what hoops you have to jump through, how long it will take, any experiences (good or bad)?

I must say from the little research I’ve done renting looks like the best way, anyone got any beta on good companies to use, ways to get it cheaper, and stuff to look out for (I know they try and stiff you any way they can!).

Many thanks.

[benpritch]

buy

[DubDom]

buy +1

[slackline]

No experience (and it sounds like buying is the way forward), but if you do hire I always find CarHire 3000 to offer pretty competitive rates, and usually get insurance excess from an online party such as Carhire Excess Insurance which is infinitely cheaper than paying the companies excess waiver at the desk.

[SA Chris]

I think general concensus is buy if it's more than a month, but you can only buy if you have a residential adddress you can use for vehicle registration and insurance purposes. Otherwise difficulties vary from state to state. I think California is one of the more difficult ones, as the vehicle has to pass an emissions test before they will register it, so might be worth avoiding if possible. I bought one in Colorado and it was a piece of piss. However this may have changed in last 5 years.

[Adam Lincoln]

You have plenty of addresses you can use so buy!

[JohnM]

If you going to buy you may need a bigger budget for the car than you might expect.  We assumed that you could be up an alright 'runner' for around £400 pounds like you can in the UK but we couldn't find anything under $1500 that wasn't an absolute wreck so we ended up renting in the end.  Rental was quite cheap at around £10 a day.

[Nigel]

Many thanks for the replies so far. Any good reasons why its better to buy? I mean on the face of it it sounds good, but surely it takes a few days off the start and end of your holiday, adds hassle, and lands you with the risk of an uncovered costly breakdown. What are people's experiences? My second hand knowledge of people who have bought is that they have always broken down, requiring either repair or hire, replacement, negating any cost savings in one fell swoop. Anyone got a positive storey?

Adam, did you buy or hire when you were over there?

John, can you remember which company you used to hire? And do you mean £10 per day for a car, or £10 per person per day (i.e. £40 for car between 4 people for example)? Thanks for info RE prices, I'll have a look on San Fran autotrader type websites to check typical prices. Good knowledge.

Thanks again...

[Adam Lincoln]

Adam, did you buy or hire when you were over there?

I hired for some bits of my first trip, but only about a month in total. Rest of the time i was in Bishop or Hueco, and as you know its easy to get lifts.
Second trip i was meeting American friends (no, not called Chris!  ) so wasn't an issue.

Can you not get Si to find something for your arrival, and avoid wasted days at the start of the trip? I assume you are flying to SF?

[Rabies]

If you do take the hire route make sure you don't take insurance out with the hire car company as it will cost you a fortune.  I hired a car in 2009 for two months (in one month stints) between Salt Lake to Vegas and Vegas to San Fran.  I got insurance with www.insurance4carhire.com which I though was very good.  I think if I had been in a group and could be bothered with the hassle I would have bought a car.  I certainly met a lot of people who had broken down though! 

Also I wouldn't say public transport is workable in Bishop.  You definitely need a car to get around.

[SA Chris]

I was fortunate as I bought a car off a lass who had run it the whole ski season, so i knew it was OK. It ran fine for 3 months from colorado to California and back - had to replace brake pads, and had a minor hassle with losing transmission fluid, but that was because a seal on the drive shaft pupped out after I went too fast on the rutted road to the Happys. See West Coast Gimps to learn about their car hassles!

If you can get someone to have a look about for you before you arrive it makes life a bit easier.

It's a gamble of hiring and paying for peace of mind, or buying and running the risk of repairs and getting most / some of your money back at the end of the trip/

[Johnny Brown]

I know nowt about car hire, but I would suggest you add The Needles to your itinerary.

[Nigel]

Rabies, thanks for that, fortunately I was already aware of www.insuranceforcarhire.com as I used them when I went to Hueco for 7 weeks, which saved the lot of us God knows how much (probably over £1000!).

Chris, you are spot on it is a gamble, hence trying to get a handle on it. With potentially 7 of us going it means buying two cars is a likelihood (I’m thinking shopping around for a decent van of that size would probably be a bit restrictive?). So that may change the odds slightly in hiring’s favour. I’m also thinking that most of the legwork will end up on me. I must admit I don’t relish the thought of buying and then disposing of two cars! RE breakdowns, don’t worry I am well aware of the trials that the WCG team suffered!

Adam, I guess I could ask Si, that’s a good idea. Not convinced of his track record in this respect though! 

JB, ideally The Needles is on the list, however the time of year may mean we get snowed off.

Anyone know what you need to buy & insure a car in California then? A bit of research suggests that you need to give a permanent address (obstacle 1!), get a Californian Social Security Number for the insurance (obstacle 2), potentially get a Californian driving license (sounds easy enough), get insurance  (sounds expensive without a US driving history), get cars through an emissions test (obstacle 3), get license plates (cost?). Does this sound correct? Doesn’t sound like a holiday to me if true.Anyone know if things are easier in Nevada?

[Adam Lincoln]

Adam, I guess I could ask Si, that’s a good idea. Not convinced of his track record in this respect though! 

3rd time lucky? 

[Doylo]

If i was going for up to 2 months i would hire. Less faff and less time consuming and you'll get a reliable car. Any longer than that and it might be worth buying. We spent a fortune on our cars in repairs when they went wrong. You do need a US address though for buying and for your insurance. We used Ryan's girlfriends flat.
https://www.usatourist.com/english/traveltips/transportation/car-buying-tips.html

[Doylo]

Anyone know what you need to buy & insure a car in California then? A bit of research suggests that you need to give a permanent address (obstacle 1!), get a Californian Social Security Number for the insurance (obstacle 2), potentially get a Californian driving license (sounds easy enough), get insurance  (sounds expensive without a US driving history), get cars through an emissions test (obstacle 3), get license plates (cost?). Does this sound correct? Doesn’t sound like a holiday to me if true.Anyone know if things are easier in Nevada?

Book early and hire! all the way. sod all that faff

[tomtom]

Nigel, would renting a van be less than two cars? Might well be... dont some SUV's have 7 seats?

[dave]

rent a hummer.

[SA Chris]

Things like the ford aerostars (which I ended up with) or the chevy astrovans or similar are everywhere and can take 7 at a push (depending on how many pads and luggage and pads you are carrying!). If I was hiring or renting I would look at one of these. Get a roofrack for pads if you are planning on taking a load. I tried to get to Needles in June and it was a no go due to snow.

[Johnny Brown]

The Pass over Tuolomne doesn't usually open til June either, think Nige is looking at autumn though.

[SA Chris]

Tioga is normally July August, but if the snow Mammoth is getting continues it may not open at all, there are some years when it doesn't.

[JohnM]

We ended up just renting a 5 seater Dodge pickup from Enterprise in Bishop which was $16 a day back then after getting stranded at The Pit campsite and realising hitching was going to be a pain in the arse.  We tried to buy a car there but options were limited.  The trouble in America is you need a car to buy a car!  Getting around to car sales places without a car is impossible.  I guess it depends on your budget.  Renting is convenient and you know you are going to get a functioning car but obviousley you aren't going to get any money back on it.  Finding a decent car for sale can be tricky and you need to budget time and money for finding one and then selling it and for when it brakes down.   

[T_B]

The Pass over Tuolomne doesn't usually open til June either, think Nige is looking at autumn though.

Tioga Pass Road Opening and Closing Dates since 1933

http://www.monobasinresearch.org/data/tiogapass.htm

[tj]

We hired a Chevy van (~$20/day) from a small L.A. based outfit we found on t'interweb for our 3-month States trip last year. It felt like a bit of a gamble (we chose not to pay CDW as the van was only valued at 3.5K & the company was pretty much a one-man show), but it worked out great in the end.

We basically went down the rental route as we didn't want the hassle of buying/selling at the end. I guess it depends on how much you value time vs. money? Having said that, we've got friends who got ripped off selling cars in a hurry at the end, so that didn't help their savings.

The other cool thing about the van (which had a bed in it) was the sheer flexibility of just being able to park up and have a brew/kip. The US road culture makes this really easy.

I can dig out the details for the rental guy if you're interested.

[JK]

tj - I'd be interested in the detials of the guy in LA. I was looking at this place on the web last night which seems OK but more expensive than what you paid: http://www.lostcampersusa.com/