Travelling in USA

Lucky buggers........................

I have been researching the same problem for some time.

The main problem is the registration of the motorhome with no permanent US address.

There are two possibilities:

1 A "Limited Liability Company in Montana". The company has to be set up by a Montana lawyer (Just Google it as there are a few who specialise in this sort of work). The company is then able to own the RV, but of course yearly company paperwork is required.

2 Go to the following web site http://www.escapees.com/. This is a group set up to support long term RV' owners in the US. If you check out the "Discussion Forum" you will find quite a number of threads regarding Australian/English/New Zealand residents buying and registering their RV's in Polk County in Texas where Escapees is based. They have a very good mail forwarding service that facilitates the process.

If you require any more information reply to this post and I will follow it up.

RuSu

Have you tried using the forums on Trip Advisor? You select a country, region, topic and ask your question there. There is an "expert" for each one that will help if you don't get the right answers from the other members. There will be a Forum to suit your situation. Hopefully, you'll get the same kind of fantastic help as we did when we used the Road Trip USA forum. People seemed very willing to help. Good luck with your trip, I'm very jealous.

Thank you so much to everyone for their replies and assistance. We will certainly follow through on all the suggestions. Yes, registering and insuring in our son's name maybe the best option, but if we can be independent we prefer. Also he is in North Carolina and in many ways we would prefer to purchase in California or even Florida. We also have insuring the vehicle to sort. We have lots to look into but it is exciting and research is certainly part of the adventure. Thank you everyone.

Hi Kiwibound
My wife and I spent 6 months in the US in 2012.
We bought a Dodge Grand Caravan in Orange County Ca. We purchased it from a local mechanic but it was basically a private sale.
We took it to a smog testing facility - no problem with that - and took all the paperwork to the nearest AAA office. They are incredibly helpful and will walk you through the whole registration and insurance process. Insurance was a bit pricey because we had no way of proving our driving record.
We drove all over California and then across the country and up and down the East Coast. We left the vehicle at a long term car park in New York. My brother in law collected it a few weeks later and did the reverse trip, he sold the car on our behalf to a dealer in LA for not a lot less than we paid for it.
I'm happy to answer any questions you might have about the buying/selling process but assure you that if you join the AAA (which is worth doing anyway for their breakdown service, free maps etc) they will help you all the way.
Cheers Keith

G,day Gill
The wife and i obtained 5 year visas for the US, and did all the research that you are doing "as we had the same idea as you". I will cut a long story very short.
We have been members of the Esscapees for three years now receiveing the bi monthly mag. we traveled to Wyoming in 2011 for their annual RV conferance/get together. we then took our hire car through Colarado, New Mexico, Texas, New Mexico,
Arizona, Navada, California, where we left for home. We bought Bedding, cuttlery/crockery, etc etc. and stayed in as many RV parks as we could to get the "feel", and the "feel" was absolute zero comoradere, we walked around many parks with a glass of wine in hand at what we consider happy hour time, and the result was consistant, NO PEOPLE OUTSIDE, we got the impression that they were all scared of each other, ( nearly all are armed ). Car hire is cheap, Fuel is cheap, Motels are cheap, Food is cheap, All are friendly, we decided to NOT BUY, but instead just to do what we did, and travell the country in a hire vehicle. I am putting a 2 month trip into a few paragraghs. ppl in Texas is probably the bigest turn over of RV,s in the US.
We are more than willing to convey our thoughts and findings if you wish.
Yours.
Dave & Jenny
davekirk@bigpond.com