Torus

Leaving cold and grey England end of this year and moving to sunny and warm USA

Any advice on buying a new STI in the USA, things to get or avoid !

ta

Andy

Dan B

You will get absolutely spazzed on for insurance, as they'll treat you like a brand new driver....

Also, I think you'll find that <cough>evo8's<cough> are cheaper than the 2.5STI's. Just something to think about.

Otherwise, its gonna be a brand new car with a big fat warrenty on it, so not much to worry about.

It may be worth considering the "quality" of neighbourhood you may be driving through or parking in.

Markus

Agree here about the new driver thing. I've moved to Canada and they totally ignore my driving history and insurance history, so it's like being a spotty little teenager again. I'm paying aprox 120 quid a month for a 92 Passat! when back in the UK I was paying 97 quid a month for a 94 WRX Wagon with quite a few mods on it, so to be paying that much for a 'normal' car is a major joke.

One other thing to consider too, is finance, if the US is anything like Canada, when you turn up you will have no credit history, and thus getting finance without putting down a large $3000 - 5000 deposit might not be possible. It also makes getting a credit card difficult, you don't have credit history so get a card, you can't get a card as you don't have credit history, grrrrrrrr.

As for the STi 8, nice car, 2.5l Engine, 300bhp out of the box.

Dan B

300ft/lb too.

Oh, and the £ is so strong at the moment that I think the OTR price in stirling is about 20K... ($32,000)

Johnny C

Hi,

Advice from someone already here:
Day 1: Get down the social security office and apply for SSN.
Day 2: Ring social security office and get SSN. Get down the bank and open an account. Bank of America is good, and they have a 'secured credit card' so you can start to build credit immediately. Transfer your cash from UK using US Dollar bank draft. On your way back home stop at the Department of Motor vehicles centre (DMV) and pick up their equivalent of highway code. Revise.
Day 3: Get down to the DMV first thing and apply for a driving test. They should be able to do it that day (they did mine within 15mins!).
Day 4: Go to Subaru dealer and buy STi for £20K. US dealers will take a personal cheque, so provided the draft has cleared you can drive off the lot and fill up for 20p/l.

Voila. You now have everything you need to live in the US.

Dan B

.....assuming Andy will qualify for a SSN..... coz i don't. But then again it is illegal for anyone to not provide a service simply because you don't have a SSN.....

Markus

Johnny, what about insurance? all good and well getting the STi, but no good if mr yank tank hits you as you pull out of the dealership.

Plus I dont think many people will have a spare 20 grand just lying around to spend on a car.

As for the SSN thing, could be interesting too, I had no problem getting a SIN (Canadian equiv) but then I am over here on a work visa.

Dan B

Basically you need the correct VISA and proof of employment in the USA. When you go and cue at the embassy all day, that is the time to make sure that you will qualify for SSN. I think you may be able to apply for one from there too...

Johnny C

True about the insurance, www.progressive.com and www.geico.com could provide a guide.

I went to get my SSN in Texas - the office opened at 6.30am so I got there at 6.45....to find a queue of 200 Mexicans already there. Not sure what time I finally got out but I was ready to kill....

If you aren't eligible for an SSN then you have to get a Tax ID number from the IRS, I believe?

Torus

Have uk insurance through USAA anyhows already confirmed no problem with insurance

Simon Lau

don't worry about a little thing like insurance based on the current exchange rate! for a 2.5ltr sti that will cost around £20K, you're laughing!

lucky man, enjoy !

ThrustSSC

Here's a neat little trick for transferring your UK credit rating that I found by accident (aged 24 and really struggling to get any credit over there):

You can't get a VISA/Mastercard easily because they're issued by local franchises who correctly say you have no credit rating. But... American Express are a truly global card operation.

So pay the local American Express 'store' a visit and apply for a card, asking them to use your UK credit rating. They fax their UK operation who look you up and fax back that your a safe bet. Then just use your new Amex card happily (just as useful as VISA and Mastercard over there), sit back, and wait for the credit card junk-mail to flood in :-)

Dan B

I think you need to have a AmEx card in the UK for that.... If not, where did you find out about this?

tonym

thrustscc,
doesn't work, unfortunately (at least in reverse). I came back from the States and Amex UK refused point blank to use my US credit rating (or the fact that I had a US Amex card). Amex UK said they were a separate company from Amex US and credit ratings didn't travel.
On the other hand, Norwich Union accepted my 3 years NCB from a US insurance company quite happily.

jason4656

btw i think you will all find

32,000.00 USD
United States Dollars = 17,310.09 GBP
United Kingdom Pounds
1 USD = 0.540940 GBP 1 GBP = 1.84863 USD


so seems even cheaper than stated!!!

Dan B

and I got offered a brand new EVO8 for $28,601.....

AmEX will transfer it to the US account if you already have an AMEM card:

http://home3.americanexpress.com/can...ransfer_en.asp

Weasel 555

Torus,
where you movin too in the U.S. ?
anywho you may wanna check out www.nasioc.com and www.clubwrx.net
US versions of Scoobynet

Andy

[Edited by Weasel 555 - 1/13/2004 4:25:58 PM]

Torus

Movin to Alabama

will check out the other www sites thanks

Andy

ivs-spec-c

To bad there are hardly any subies in Alabama, and the Subie dealers there are idiots. Just moved here from the Birmingham area
let me know if you need any local info.

Wild Mark

Markus....where in Toronto do you live?

Mark

Weasel 555

Andy,
www.mastrosubaru.com they are in Tampa, Florida largest Scooby dealer in the South

i bought all my scoobies there 2.2, 2.5RS and WRX

Andy...

ThrustSSC

Dan B and tonym, I found out about it by accident when I lived over there (Dallas, TX) in my early twenties. I was having one hell of a time using UK cards, and having the charge converted to Sterling, then having to convert USD to Sterling to pay it off. I couldn't get a USD credit card because of the lack of a credit rating - and I did try! Even my own bank said no.

Then one day I was wandering through a mall and saw an Amex office. I thought: "I haven't tried them yet" and called in. They faxed Amex UK, Amex UK faxed back, and a week after my visit I had my card.

madmoog

iTrader: (1)

300bhp, 300lb/ft. Hmm, anyone know what octane they do that on in the States?

Also how long it needs to ne pre owned or owned by you before it can be imported to the uk to avoid too much tax/vat etc. Just thinking aloud as my brother lives over there and this seems like a bargin too good to miss.

List $31,545 but yours for $29,355.... What potential?.... they ought to respond well to a re-map I would have thought too...!

jmgelba

I moved to Michigan from Nottinghamshire, June 15th 2001. I had no credit history either. Fortunatley i got by due to my American wife having her same job for 10 years and having wonderful credit.

I did the tax id number first when i went to the embassy in London. Had a wonderful lawyer. Lianne Coney from CMS Cameron McKenna. For basicaly $3000 all i had to do was turn up , get the shots and que all day.

I arrived over in the states with just the basic paperwork that allowed me to work (approval from embassy and tax id number). I had already applied for a SSN with Lianne's help before i even had my visit to the embassy. It arrived about a week after me and i got my first job 5 weeks after i landed. I just added my name to my wifes account and my wages were deposited into it. I now went and did the driving test thing - so easy it was laughable.
I waited 2 weeks for my driving license. In that time my green card arrived and i was completely legal, employed, bank account and a SSN all within 8 weeks.
I then managed to get on my wifes insurance policy as a second driver. She has a really good insurance company, MEEMIC. I believe they are for teachers only and they give massive discounts. They took into account my 5 years of accident free driving, gave me an additional discount for buying a new car (!!) and another discount for having an upgraded alarm (not needed around here, i leave keys in it all night no problems)
Total insurance $1800, 1999 4.0 V8 Oldsmobile Aurora, 2002 WRX wagon, $100 excess for any type of claim, free hotel, rental etc etc.

A trick i was told to get credit history was to put all your household bills into your name. Phone, cable, electric etc etc. Oh - and dont give anyone your SSN unless you absolutly have to. Its illegal for them to deny service, and its basically an account number on you. The more people you give it to, the more people will know everything about your finances.

So, 2.5 years after moving, i quit that job, got a better one, have several credit cards to bolster credit history, just bought my first ever house, a nice WRX in the garage, and wife is looking at an A6. I cant convince her about the STI - yet.

The STI runs on premium which is basically the same as 95ron even though it states 93 at the pump. Something to do with the 2 different methods of measuring octane.
I cant get one for cheaper than $30,500 although there are people who claim they have got them as low as $26,000. I find that hard to believe as my WRX was $24,995 with only some options.
So "gas" is cheap, beer isnt to bad (price wise) - stay away from Bud Light please.

Hope you like it over here. Im having the best time of my life. Materialisticlly, ive never been so well off. Emotionally - ive never been this relaxed or easy going.


James

ps- Come on you STAGS!!! Mansfield Town Football Club - i miss you!

Talkin of mansfield, i need a pint of that stuff desperatly.

madmoog

iTrader: (1)

James check these prices out!
http://www.mastro.subaru.com/en_US/NewVehicleSearch_1.chtml

Glad your enjoying it out there, sounds great!