UK car insurance for new American & car purchasing questions

It's like we are the same person!!

I'm okay with mortgage debt as that's a brick and mortar asset.  But in an ideal world, I wouldn't have a mortgage either.

*joins the debt-free club*  Yay us!  We, too, have a mortgage and nothing else.  And right now, I've got a bunch of cash in my current account, in anticipation of booking my in-person visa appointment (I can book in about two weeks for an appointment from the 8th of May), and to pay my council tax and water rates, which are conveniently due at the same time.

When the dust settles from all of those major expenses, I'm going to see where I'm at and decide whether or not it's time to finally get a cheap car.  I can put off citizenship for over a year and still get in before blue passports, and I'd kind of like to have some independence in the UK and fully integrate into society before I naturalize.  Priorities, yo.

*joins the debt-free club*  Yay us!  We, too, have a mortgage and nothing else.

Yeah, my only debts are my mortgage and my student loan, though the student loan is going down pretty quickly and should be paid off fully in the next few years (I didn't start paying it off until I was 27).

I love going to bed and waking up to a thread of replies. haha Thank you all so much for the info.

Someone from Arnold Clark Car Sales did reply back and said:

"Yes we can consider finance applications from applicants that have recently moved to the UK. There is one finance company that we use that will consider these circumstances

We would normally require Valid ID and proof of previous residence, any further proofs will only be requested by the finance company after proposal."

Good to know.

I agree. I prefer having NO car payment but since I want to build good credit, this will be an easy way to do it (just stick my car payment on auto pay and let it do its things for a year or two and establish the good credit). Once I have credit established then we'll probably just pay for cars outright. We want to buy a home some time down the road so I want to make sure we can establish good credit early. And if you all say "I just buy my homes outright" I'm going to smack ya. haha

We will be looking for another hybrid when we move there. I currently have a Ford Escape Hybrid SUV and he has a Prius. I love the awesome gas mileage they get and I think with the higher gas prices there, it'll help control those costs for us.

I can't tell you how much all this researching just makes me wanna pick up and move there RIGHT NOW. haha Which we could since a few of our situations have changed and would allow us to but... we are really trying to be patient and wait until 2020 so we can be in the ideal position to.

I'm just glad to have all of you (and a natural love of researching stuff) to help gather up all this info. I have a OneNote built with tabs about everything that I'm organizing all my info on so when the time comes, we have a Moving Battle Plan and I will already have info ready to go and I'll know what to do.

And if you all say "I just buy my homes outright" I'm going to smack ya. haha

haha! Oh, how I wish.  I thought we were doing well to put 20% down.  We'd like to be mortgage free, but since our mortgage payment is similar to what our rent payment had been, we feel alright with having it for now. And at least we're building equity.

Definitely didn't pay cash for a house.  But have tentative plans to move to the USA in a few years and buy a dream house with cash.     At least that's the dream.  We'll see how Brexit changes things (I'm skeptical that the economy won't tank).

Believe it or not, the cost for running a car is comparable in both countries.  While the cost at the pump is higher for fuel in the UK, the vehicles are SO much more efficient in the UK that I use much less fuel.  I'm always amazed in the USA how quickly the tank runs down and has to be refilled.  While I love the sticker price at the pump the cost per mile is comparable between both countries. 

My car in the UK gets 60mpg on the highway and it's not a hybrid.  That's just how much more efficient the vehicles are.  My next door neighbor's did have a fully electric BMW but they recently turned that in for a traditionally fueled vehicle.

I shudder to think what interest rates that finance company would be offering to new expats.... just food for thought.

When it comes time for a mortgage, if you do not yet have ILR in the UK, you'll pay a premium on interest on the mortgage.  When I obtained ILR this past year and we renewed our mortgage (something you get to do every couple of years here), my payment dropped £500 a month...     Exciting, but shows how much ILR helps the interest rate!

I agree. I prefer having NO car payment but since I want to build good credit, this will be an easy way to do it (just stick my car payment on auto pay and let it do its things for a year or two and establish the good credit). Once I have credit established then we'll probably just pay for cars outright.

If you can do that, it would be good for building credit... I guess it depends if you can get approved for the financing though. Most people can't even get a cell phone contract until they've been in the UK for a couple of years and have built some credit up.

We want to buy a home some time down the road so I want to make sure we can establish good credit early. And if you all say "I just buy my homes outright" I'm going to smack ya. haha

Lol - definitely not . I'm British and just a few years ago, I was facing the prospect of never being able to afford to buy my own home. The only way I managed to buy a house at all was because I worked overseas for 3-5 months a year for 3 years and managed to save enough for a 15% deposit, and because I live in one of the cheapest areas in the country to buy a house.

I have friends back home in the southwest whose 2-bedroom, first-floor flat was almost 4 times the price of my 3-bedroom semi-detached house!

You may find that mortgage lenders won't approve you for a mortgage until you have ILR (permanent residence) in the UK, which takes 5 years to get, though a couple of people have managed to get a mortgage while on a spousal visa (i.e., KFDancer), though it was at a higher rate.

Yeah we wouldn't buy until I could get residency. Luckily, I've saved up and still have a bunch of Amazon stock which will be vesting to me over the next several years from work and I'll be able to use that for a sizeable down payment when the time comes. And we would look to buy up in Newcastle or nearer to Edinburgh or somewhere along those lines if I'm able to work from home most of the time.

I know here in Seattle, housing prices are just stupid as well. "Average" homes are going for over $600,000 and if you wanted to live closer to downtown you are looking at $800K to over $1M. Just not reasonable for families to live in Seattle anymore unless you are making REALLY good money. But my partner prefers to live further out anyways. We've been watching "Escape to the Country" and drooling over some of the homes. But every time someone comes on and says "Our budget is £700K+ we wanna smack them. haha