Doing research remote from campus's city

[AstroClimber]

Hi folks,

 

I am a grad student in CO, but I have to work on my project in VA.

 

I am trying to get a car now and I have CO license. Not sure which would be the better/least complicated way to get a car and its insurance: 1) Should I go back to CO and get a car there then drive to VA, or 2) buy a car directly here in VA ?

Since it may not be a common things, not sure if any of you folks had similar experience and willing to share your 2 cents. Thanks!

Edited November 26, 2013 by AstroClimber

[juilletmercredi]

Where are you most frequently?  Where will you be using the car most?  How long will you be in VA doing research?

I think the answers will drive the overall answer.  I don't have direct experience with this, but I would imagine you'd probably just want to buy a car where you already are in VA and just register it and get insurance in VA.  Most states require you to get an in-state license and registration if you intend to be somewhere for more than 30 days, although practically that is impossible to enforce.  The only exception would be if you intend to be in VA for a short period of time ( <1 year, I suppose) and you really want to register your car in CO for some reason, or you have to have a VA driver's license to register the car in VA and you don't want to change your driver's license for whatever reason.

 

Personally I wouldn't want to put all those miles on my car on the drive from CO to VA if I didn't have to, and unless you also drive a lot in CO, it may be worth it to just exchange your CO driver's license for a VA one, buy the car in VA, and register/insure the car there.

 

The least complicated way would be to take care of everything in VA, of course.  Whether that's better depends.

[rising_star]

Often the 30-day licensing requirement is waived if you are a full-time student. It's worth investigating. As for where to buy a car, that would depend on prices for the vehicles you are interested in.

[AstroClimber]

Thanks fella for the inputs!