Automobile Summary
After all these pages of automobile experience you may have difficulty to keep track of what you need when and where, so here's asummary of validity terms on cars and insurance:
|
Purchase of car |
: a few days before day 0 |
|
Insurance of car |
: day 0 (start counting from here) |
|
Temporary (dealer) license plate |
: valid 20 days after day 0 |
|
Insurance inspection (for full coverage) |
: latest at day 7 |
|
Vehicle registration |
: latest 10 days after receipt of Title (day 10) |
|
Vehicle State inspection |
: latest 14 days after registration (day 24), to be renewed yearly. |
|
Driver license |
: written test latest 90 days after application. |
In general, taking all things like insurance, maintenance/repairs, absence of road taxes, and the low gas prices into account, you will probably pay the same for your (far more luxury) car in the US as in most European countries. This is of course only for one car. You will definitely need a second car for your partner if you are married, so the total amount spent on cars is still 50 to 100% higher than in the traditional one car European situation. I suggest that you include this aspect, as well as car depreciation over time, in your contract negotiations.
This ends the automobile section in the "move to New Jersey" expat story. There's another detailed story coming up as part of the "Expat Return" story that talks about what cars you may take with you, how to do that and what you can expect when you arrive at your home country with you American beauty.