| christophe barbé on Sat, 15 Dec 2001 19:50:37 +0100 |
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On Fri, Dec 14, 2001 at 11:53:21AM -0800, multiple seriousity wrote: > On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, christophe [iso-8859-1] barbé wrote: > > My first question is about car resellers. What's the best place to look > > for second-hand cars? > > Are there some tricks that I should know before buying a car in the US > > (being a french) ? > > What are the most common car insurance companies ? > > PS: I will be off-line from Monday to ... a few days later (I hope). > > My advice: > > don't buy a second-hand car from a dealership, buy it from an individaul > (check the various local papers) of course this takes time to find the > right one, but depending on how good you are and how much you know you c > get things narrowed down with just a few papers and the telephone. . I dont know I'm not a wonderfull mechanic. And I imagine that paperwork will be simpler if I buy a car from a dealer even if for that I pay a little more. > > when you do go to see a few cars that you are very interested in, > negotiate with them to take the car with you or to let you take the car to > the AAA Diagnostic Clinic in Broomall, PA -- for about $100 > (nonmember) they will tell you EXACTLY what is wrong or right with the > car... all they do is diagnostics so they have no reason to lie or > anything.. you can negotiate with the person maybe to split the cost with > you, if you turn out to not take the car, they get a copy of the > diagnostic report to show the next potential buyers... > you can find out all about it at: > http://www.aaamidatlantic.com/automotive/diagnostic_clinic.asp > With a diagnostic it's easier for me to buy a car to an individual. > also, I don't know how long you plan on staying tin the US.. or how much > money you have to spend (or if its a big deal for you or not..) if you're > not staying long, being unsure about the car isnt such a big deal cause if > you're only going to stay a year or two, it will probably last you, but if > you're planning on staying longer... > 3 years but I hope to be able to sale the car before leaving Philly. > also, try to take advantadge of the resources you have... do you have > insurance in your home country? ask your current insurance company about > U.S. insurance issues, they may be willing to cover youfor a short period > of time while you are first here, or may have advice for you, or a sister > company here.. > > another thing, mayb consider calling the french embassy or looking up some > sort of cultural association for advice an/or networking. > > also considerations are where are you living and where is your job... if > you're choosing to live downtown you may not need to buy a car right away > (or at all?) parking in downtown philly is a pain in the backside.. > Oh yes I have already tried to park in the center city and it's nearly impossible without carrying a huge bag full of quarters. Before visiting Philly I was believing that Paris was the worst place to have a car (after London) but now I see Paris as a car-friendly town compared to Philly. > also, your driving record.. is it good? is there any way to get a copy of > your driving record (in other words something from the license issuing > authority/police there that might state any record of accidents, tickets, > driving history or lack thereof? I dont know what sort of ability they > have to check foreign records, or how they treat foreign drivers, but it > doesn't hurt to be prepared ... if it can save you a little bit in the > long run.. once you're here you cant go back and get a copy) > > > and dont forget... you have the best tool you could possibly have to > research this stuff in advance... the web! Yes you are right. The difficult part of the web is to find entry point that are revelant for what you are looking. With you help now I know that NADA is revelant for Used Cars in the US. In france a similar thing is called ARGUS. You give me the keys of a usefull part of the web that I was ignorant of. > http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Shopping_and_Services > /Financial_Services/Insurance/Automotive/ > (this actually leaves out a lot, like statefarm, etc..) > > Know what it's worth!! by all means, go knowing what it's worth.. > http://www.edmunds.com/ > http://www.nadaguides.com/ > > know more about the SPECIFIC car you're interested in: > http://wsf.carfax.com/cfm/general_check.cfm?partner=edm_0 > (its not perfect and can be missing a lot, but if it's there, it's > there..) > > thats about it from my hat.. > Thank you for it. Christophe > -- > msimons@slackware.com INFORMATION*MEDIA*PHOTOGRAPHY msimonsmail@yahoo.com > Creative Artists Resource Project: www.slackware.com/~msimons/arts/reuse/ > A 501(c)3 Non-profit Organization Arts and Environmental Resource Network > Shopping Online? Use http://www.igive.com/carp/ make donations at no cost! > Do you like what I do? Consider donating resources to CARP; Ask me how! > > > ______________________________________________________________________ > Philadelphia Linux Users Group - http://www.phillylinux.org > Announcements-http://lists.phillylinux.org/mail/listinfo/plug-announce > General Discussion - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mail/listinfo/plug > -- Christophe Barbé <christophe.barbe@ufies.org> GnuPG FingerPrint: E0F6 FADF 2A5C F072 6AF8 F67A 8F45 2F1E D72C B41E Attachment:
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