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theres half a chance I may need to slap a sticker on my head and export myself to the US within a month or two, fuelled by this and my love for our long gone coupe de ville, I went a-hunting for what I would drive over there cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1979-Cadillac-Coupe-De-Ville_W0QQitemZ330094821287QQihZ014QQcategoryZ6146QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItemthis is pretty much SPOT ON for what I would be aiming at acheiving. maybe lower. in fact lots lower but the ICE is in, colours good to go anyhow, what kind of test would I be required to have on my vehicle? calling anyone who's ever lived/worked there etc. also, anyone know any specifics about insurance there? out of budget but... edit: $1000=£500=
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2001 HONDA CT110 (NOT RCV)
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I'm under the impression that there isnt an MOT as such but they do have yearly emissions tests, and as far as i know insurance depends on the size of your car rather than engine capacity.
***warning this may be completely untrue***
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depends on the state. Some states have moderately strict MOTs like ours were 10 years back I guess backed upw ith an emission test, some states just have the emission test, some states have a rolling cut off for emissions, some have fixed dates. Some states do not require a title for older cars (ie no V5!!) and such states are havens for stolen cars for 1000 miles around. You'd be fine unless you want to export the car or move to another state which requires reguistration of all cars...
Insurance is optional in some states, compulsory in others. You can get some people who do their home, contents, car and health insurance (no NHS out there) all in one package. A chap I know out there is paying something like $800 a month for this.... Even if insurance is optional, sort it. They sue big style out there...
Think of the USA as Europe. A whole bunch of states all doing their own thing with one overarching assembly trying to maintain order and everyone else trying to ignore it.
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Last Edit: Mar 6, 2007 8:18:28 GMT by akku
1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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woo! illegal cars! i promise to build a collection of unloved 70s a-tin tat then... thats like £400 a month for all of that. thats a LOT. i hopes pay is really good then...
yeah, i know about the lack of NHS... and of social security that will work for me too... good job i'm half american but still, 6 months there before they like me lol
sorry, i ramble!
do you know how to register a car? even if i wasn't required to i think i would anyway. and is a cadillac barge a good idea? i think they're at the bottom of the pile right now, but not for long, and i REALLY want one, but should i get a little japanese car they all hate so much?
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The US market is not like ours. Over here cars are cheap. You can pick up a running Fiesta for like £70. When I was there last I was looking on the heaps left abandonned at the side of the road and the ads in the free papers and cars are like $700 minimum for something that runs. And thats for a FWD snotter.
Big old barges aren't made any more so this has helped their resale value. Junky mid-80s Lincoln Town Cars (which would make £600-£800 here) sell for $3000.
Take a look on eBay.com or autotrader.com for us pricing.
Remember that yanks pay less income tax than we do, and lower rates of VAT (local purchase tax) but you have to pay for everything eventually - thats why health and other insurace costs a packet.
One chap I was talking to who had emigrated out there said that when you take into account their equivalent of Concil Tax he was paying about half as much again as he had been paying in the UK - thats income tax, property tax, health insurance for his family, etc. but to do the same job he was paid nearly three times the salary he had earned in the UK and his mortgage was about half.
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Last Edit: Mar 6, 2007 11:50:33 GMT by akku
1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Hello from sunny Florida! Buying a car over here is nowhere near as simple as what I've been used to back in the UK. Very rarely does the car actually turn out to be anything like the description... When you buy a car over here you pay the owner the purchase price then when you go to the DMV (like the DVLA but local) to register the car in your name and then pay sales tax on it, then pay for your tags (number plates) etc. Depending on the state and the value of the car this can be quite a chunk of change over and above what you "thought" you were paying for the car In some states like Virginia you need to pay annual property tax on your vehicles too! Florida is pretty good as there are no "MOT's" (inspections) or emissions tests - that just means that more old junkers can still potter around I guess As Alistairk said - don't expect cars to be as cheap as in the UK - it used to be that it was the other way around but it's not like that these days. You will buy NEW cars for a lot less money though!
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Tell it like it is.... NOT how it should be
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hey mate, i may end up purging you for info if this happens! hmm, well, as above £500 opening bid might get me that caddy, but then as you say sales tax and tags too. i would prefer to have it insured too of course just in case.
anyone wanna suggest any particular state? no allegiance except the family came through Chicago but I hear it's a bit ghetto. ideally Id like somewhere young and vibrant, not too big (like any city) but not backwoods, and decent weather but no tornadoes!
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I often wonder where I would live if I could get a visa to live in the US. Theres lots of really nice places but theres also lots of dives and dumps. Where its good its really good and where its bad its hail-of-bullets bad! A buddy of mine moved from Arizona back to his native Florida. His arguement was that Az was becomeing too much like California. Too many restrictions, too many taxes, too many yuppies and city people in the communities trying to turn what was after all a "wild west" state into a suyburban idil but without California property prices.... If you get the right bit of Florida then hurricanes aren't such a big problem. Check those Hurricane maps, shows you the routes the big-windies usually take... I've heard lots of good things about Austin, Texas. Its a big University Campus town and its a big centre of Liberal outlook down in the famously right wing lone star state. It gets goddamn hot there though. A mate lived there for a bit and said in the summer you can't work on your car because your tools get too hot to hold.... I also keep an eye on Texas as they have a huge illegal imegrant problem there and occasionally have amnesties. Because of some dumb "agreement" between the US and UK about not making it easy for Brits to move to the US about my only option to become a legal US citizen now would be to come via Mexico as an illegal and wait for an Amenesty and get my papers in then. I always picture myself as some kind of southern gentleman down in Georgia or somewhere rolling with the top down in my late '59 Electra 225 on a balmy evening with the blossom out in the trees and a pearl handle'd .357 tucked in my belt, crate of Miller in the trunk, The Cramps up loud on the stereo and not a care in the world. Colorado is a beautiful state, and you can do Pikes Peak... And you're close enough to Nevada to nip over for the Silver State Classic. www.silverstateclassic.com/Sadly a lot of the bits of the US I like are "bible belt" and I might end up hung from a tree.
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Last Edit: Mar 7, 2007 9:11:59 GMT by akku
1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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yeah, you would! i wouldnt however and the 'bible belt' is possibly where i'd be happiest. colorado is a good choice, i'll look into that! obviously with half nationality i'll get a fast track green card easily. i picture myself in a small backwards community with idyllic warm autumn weather permanently, basically 'sweet home alabama' (watch the film) (oh and reese witherspoon would be nice too)
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I'm just back from Mexico - been on a cruise with the GF and now back to surfing the net once more! I'm not sure where I'd recommend living in the USA as there are too many variables really. You need to look at costs of living and employment opportunities. This isn't a country where you just fall back onto the dole when things are not going well for you! I'm lucky that I do have a good job and have generally good propects but this is NOT the country I'd want to be living in if it wasn't the case. So put it in a cynical way - it is ALL about the Dollar here. Coming to the US on holiday (you'll have to say vacation if you live here )is totally different to living here. When I first came to the USA to work in 2001 I was quite impressed by the bigger than better than lifestyle. Nowadays I honestly find it all a bit lacking in substance.... I've lived and worked in numerous countries (some good, some bad) and would say that the USA is probably the most comfortable and convenient of them all. However, it is (in all honesty) the most bland, once you get used to living here. My own feeling is that the USA is now becoming "Cookie-Cutter USA". Everywhere looks the same now - just change the topography. I could rant on all night I suppose For me the USA is a place that can be a great opportunity and if you get that chance you should take it - after all you can always go home if you don't like it
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Tell it like it is.... NOT how it should be
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The Cramps up loud on the stereo and not a care in the world. ..... Sadly a lot of the bits of the US I like are "bible belt" and I might end up hung from a tree. Bit of a Cramps fan myself - as an aging Psychobilly! The Bible Belt thing kinda takes you by surprise a bit - especially as a card carrying heathen!
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Tell it like it is.... NOT how it should be
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Indeed. I was amazed the first time I saw a pro-life picket of a hospital. Madness.
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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