Hey i think it would be a pretty good idea if one of the Alumnis who bought a car in florida or someone with alot of knowledge about it wrote about what they did to get the car... like insurence, where they got it and the cost, where the got the car, where they got their lisnece. that kinda thing! Anyone?! ;D
This would be really helpful for me actually. If I get accepted into the program I'd like to hire a car every now and then so see other parts of Florida. So if someone could give me some advice that would be awesome.
Ok here comes my experience and notes to what NOT to do lol I bought my car at an auction ( first mistake ), it was basically a load of crap. It was running ok for a few weeks then I had the first problems. After the guy that bought the car for me tried to fix it he broke my a/c (GROWL), great stuff when you live in South Florida. At least the car still made it to the beach and the malls for about a year and then it slowly gave up on me. So first advice: Take someone with you that you TRUST and that knows something about cars ( unlike me ). I got a good deal on insurance, I was with State Farm and paid around $90 a month, although it wasn't full coverage. They paid for the damage that I would cause on other cars but not for my own. The cost for insurance is different depending on your age, how long you had a US drivers license and where in the States you live ( they have some weird rules, my friend lived a few blocks away and paid $30 less a month ). If you are under 25 it's also more expensive. About buying and selling a car I would suggest to just ask around in the Commons, usually there is always someone that sells their car or is looking to buy one. Other than that there are tons of dealerships as well. About renting a car...I think you would be fine with just renting a car, you don't neccessarily need to buy a car for that one year. You get some discounts at a few places, but you should ask your roomies or friends about this once you are down in Florida. It's best if you rent a car with a few friends and have someone that is at least 25, as it will be so much cheaper. Hope this helped a bit...
That was really helpful thanks! Where are the sort of places you'd hire them from? Just your typical car rental agencies like Alamo or Dollar? Also do you think if I have a British licence it would be easy enough to pass the Florida test?
Emi - They are basically the same places, but I know that there is at least one where you will get disocunts, but since I've finished the program some years ago, I forgot which one it was. I am sure people over there will know though. I remember that it was pretty cheap. You can usually rent cars with your license from home, only when you buy a car you need the US license. The first time I was there I just took my german license and an international drivers license and now when I lived in Fort Lauderdale I got my US license. All I had to do was pass a test on the computer with 25 questions ( up to 5 of them you can fail ) and pay $20. I got my license the same day I didn't have to do the driving test, but this differs from country to country. They have a little handbook at the drivers license office and all the info is in there. Also they answer most of the questions from the test in it, so it's really not that hard to pass it
I just can agree with Dancing queen. when you buy a car make sure you take your time to look around and see what you can get for the money you wanna spend. the most important part is never tell the deal how much you wanna spend and that you not from the country. they willtry to talk your ear of and sell you a piece of crap. you should have seen what kind of wack cars they tryed to sell me. the second time i went with a friend of mine who did the negotiations and the rest of the talking. of course you can't expect to get the perfect car for 1 or 2 thusand $ but it should be decent enough to bring you to work the beach and wal mart. if you get a chance dont look into the areas close to orlando. go a lil bit outside and look around there the prices will drop. around the action area in ocoee you can find tons of dealers who buy and sell cars of the actions. they might not be cleaned and have a dent here and there but at least you get to test drive them ( you cant do that in the actions itself). if you wanna buy a car in the commons make sure you talk to people and see what they know about the car. most of the cars where driven for a year and usually no one goes for oil changes and check ups during the year. maybe you can find someone who can tell you if the car broke down before and stuff like that.
I know what you mean about the car sales people. I was close to punch one when he wouldn't stop annoying me to buy his stupid cars. I was like "Ok mister, if you don't stop, I will walk away right now and I will surely not come back" uggggghhh
