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First off, hi, I'm new here, been lurking for quite a while.
Anyway, so, I'm in New Orleans , but might be finally able to get out of here to Portland. The problem being that I don't have a car at the moment; I have a bit of money and a few friends I could stay with there in the worst case while I get on my feet; luckily I have a decent remote job that I can take with me so finding somewhere to live shouldn't be an issue.
The problem is that I don't really understand a lot about how the registration part of buying a car works, especially in regard to buying in one state for use in another; I've found a few different threads but none seem to be completely relevant as it seems to be different for every state.
Oregon doesn't have any sales tax, so ideally I'd like to try to avoid paying any in Louisiana for a car that will probably only be in the state for 2 days at most. I've read a bit about transit permits but I don't know exactly how it works, or how I would then go about registering it on Oregon when I get there. Similarly, not sure how I would go about getting insurance for the car when I'm moving. Obviously, I want to keep this legal because I will be driving ~2500 miles including a lot of not-very-nice states who I can imagine would be very quick to pull me over (having talked to someone who used to drive through some of the areas I will be, I'm basically expecting to be at least once, especially with the best route going through Colorado). I also don't want to arrive and then find out that I did something wrong that causes me issues, e.g. by still having the title certificate be the previous owner's because I didn't register the car down here. I will probably also finance at least part of the car (e.g. 50-60%) because I don't want to end up with some heap that will break down halfway and the selection of cars here is overall quite bad unless you want some enormous SUV or pickup truck that burns fuel like mad, but not sure if they will take issue with the fact that I won't be sticking around here or not either; although if I can't then I might just take the risk of being stuck somewhere for a week until I get paid, then continue then I guess, still something I would like to avoid if at all possible...
Also, never done any serious solo long distance driving like this before, so not sure of exactly the best approach; I would ideally want to avoid using hotels/motels and stay with the car with everything in it both for money reasons and because unloading/reloading everything into the room with me would suck; I'm fine sleeping in a car in terms of comfort and I don't get cold easily, but not sure where the best place to sleep would be in terms of safety (I probably shouldn't try staying up for 38+ hours, especially with city driving in a new city at the end ). I'd really rather keep the cost down if possible as with the costs of buying a car, fuel, having an emergency fund, etc., plus actually needing to find somewhere to live at the other end, there won't be much left for that sort of thing. Other than that I don't know what general advice would be helpful, I did have a search around but couldn't find much in the way of relevant threads.
Last edited by WolfGirl42; 12-17-2016 at 04:06 PM..
Flights look to be $400-600, or Greyhound $100-200 but I'm sceptical of doing a long journey by them in terms of safety, but in either case I'd have to add the cost of shipping my stuff (I don't even have a lot but it's $1.7k for one U-Box! and so far I've failed to find a cheaper option that isn't massively dodgy ) and then insurance for that, which is why I was leaning towards the car option as I'll need one anyway. Even if I rented a van, that looks to be $1.5k plus fuel which is of course for nothing to show for it long term, plus both are total overkill in terms of space anyway...
There are too many variables for us to offer you any real helpful advice. It would depend on how much you paid for the car and if Oregon requires that you pay the sales tax difference on a vehicle purchased in another state.
I remember getting a very unpleasant surprise years ago when we bought a used minivan from my BIL, who lived in Georgia.
When I went to register it in my home state, I had to pay a little more than $600 sales tax difference on the spot.
If you finance 50-60% of the price of your car, your lender in New Orleans might not be too thrilled about you taking the car to Portland, OR.
regardless, a couple of thoughts come to mind;
In LA, who gets the title, the lienholder or the registered owner? You might need that piece of paper when you try to transfer the title/registration to Oregon, and get Oregon plates. You will probably have 30 days to get those plates. After that you just might get a ticket! Of course, you might be able to do the transfer of registration with just the LA registration paper.
Insurance is another potential problem. The rates in Portland just might be considerable different than they are in NO.
I find myself in agreement with MrRational: Get to Portland the best way you can, themn buy the vehicle.
I thought the whole point of living in portland was so you didn't need a car? Everyone Walks/bikes/buses/übers it there, no?
Buying a car before a big move is not a wise financial move. You'll have to worry about the car payment right off the bat before you can even get on your feet.
I'd sell everything that can easily be replaced and doesn't fit into two suitcases and a backpack and fly. Or take the bus. Then you can buy a car when you get there, using public transport in the meantime.
As minimalistic as possible with the least amount of stuff and obligations is the best way to move and have a fresh start. Good luck.
Even if I rented a van, that looks to be $1.5k plus fuel which is of course for nothing to show for it long term, plus both are total overkill in terms of space anyway...
Well, moving was never cheap (when I moved cross-country with a rental van, it was about $1500 plus gas. We were towing our car with us though so that put the cost up to about $3500). Since you're about to buy a new car anyway, I would definitely hold off until you get to your new state; it may be cheaper at the outset to use your new car to move your stuff, but it seems that the people here may have a point that you could run into trouble that could possibly be more costly later on.
Any chance you can look into what the cost would be on those mini-van type rentals? (I know they have them at enterprise). I can only imagine it would cost less than renting those larger trucks (which you said you wouldn't need that much space anyway). I know there's a charge for dropping them off at a different location, but maybe it would only be a couple hundred or so, or even less?
How about renting a U-Haul or a rental car with a one-way contract?
Oregon has no sales tax and motor vehicle registration is very reasonable. It wouldn't be smart to buy in LA because the dealer will charge you LA sales tax. The other possibility is that the car you purchase could break down in route.
If you will be buying a new car and are a Costco member you can price your ride in advance.
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, but might be finally able to get out of here to Portland. The problem being that I don't have a car at the moment; I have a bit of money and a few friends I could stay with there in the worst case while I get on my feet; luckily I have a decent remote job that I can take with me so finding somewhere to live shouldn't be an issue.
). I'd really rather keep the cost down if possible as with the costs of buying a car, fuel, having an emergency fund, etc., plus actually needing to find somewhere to live at the other end, there won't be much left for that sort of thing. Other than that I don't know what general advice would be helpful, I did have a search around but couldn't find much in the way of relevant threads.
and so far I've failed to find a cheaper option that isn't massively dodgy ) and then insurance for that, which is why I was leaning towards the car option as I'll need one anyway. Even if I rented a van, that looks to be $1.5k plus fuel which is of course for nothing to show for it long term, plus both are total overkill in terms of space anyway...
