Need a car in Atlanta

A month ago I posted about $2500 appliance cars;

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/the-best-appliance-car-for-2500/26370/page1/

So here's the complete story. I was offered and took a job in Toronto. My kids live near Dothan AL. I need a car to park near the Atlanta airport (walking or short cab distance) so that when I fly in I can then drive to AL. I want to be able to do this every 3-4 weeks (yes, expensive, I know).

My big question now is how. Do I buy a GA car and register it where? In GA, I have no GA address. Do I buy a car in Ontario and bring it down? How do I get the tag renewed? Will it have to go north periodically to have emissions (have a feeling ON is more restrictive than GA). Keep in ind that the car will 2-3 times a year drive from ATL to Toronto with me and the kids in it for longer stays. Is it going to be easier to cross the border if the car matches my ON license and the address matches?

Ultimately I'm looking for the best way to proceed. Any help (really, I can use any advice, I'm stumped) would be appreciated.

Put it in your sons name or use his address.

Register it where your kids are staying/living....if at all possible. They can get any and all "paperwork" in the mail for you. The only sticking point MIGHT be if the state involved won't let you register your car with an "out of state" driver's license. But since I see so many folks here in Tn. that buy and register their cars out of state (Ms./where they work?) this is probably not that big a prob. The other problem might be your insurance company. My aunt and uncle wanted to leave a car at their summer home in Fl. The insurance company was kind of cool to that idea.

yes. if you are gong to do this, register it in alabama. Metro Atlanta area emissions reqs. are pretty strict. (not California level, but as close as you can get for the other 49 states as we are under an epa mandate to reduce smog). i dont know Dothan specifically, but it has to be less restrictive than here. i dont think they will care where your liscence is from to register the vehicle as i have never been asked for my liscence when i registered. the big thing is it cant be po box and they will mail you your plate and stickers so you have to have access to the mail at the address you list. my biggest question is why are you bothering to buy a car for this little use. i think you will spend more on maintenance, liscensing, insurance, and finding a SECURE place to keep the car near the airport than you would renting once a month.

I agree with renting the cheapest car available. Where were you planning on parking it for 2-3 weeks at a time? I work near the airport and can't think of where you could leave it that wouldn't be expensive or parked illegally.

Second issue, have you looked into airfares yet? Contrary to common sense it is sometimes cheaper to fly to some of the spoke airports (Tallahassee, Pensacola, etc...) than to ATL, even if you connect through ATL. That will get you a lot closer to Dothan, for less or same money.

Based upon random date in Feburary on Orbitz.

Departing 2/8/11 - Returning 2/15/11
YTO - ATL                          $572   200 mi
YTO - TLH (Tallahassee, FL)        $513   100 mi
YTO - PNS (Pensacola, FL)          $375   150 mi
YTO - DHN (Dothan, AL)             $599   0 mi
YTO - VPS (Ft. Walton Beach, FL)   $534   110 mi

If I were you I'd keep my eyes on airfare sales, use Priceline, etc... to find the cheapest fare within comfortable driving distance and rent a car from there. If you do this for very long, you'll earn plenty of miles for car upgrades, free rentals, etc...

But once you go to Pensacola you will never get that stink out.

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I really appreciate the help.

I'm not sold on buying a car. I was thinking rental would be more, but I just got a car rented out of Birmingham for 3 days for $68 bucks for Halloween weekend. Renting may be the way to go.

jeffmx5, I hadn't thought about other airports. The nice thing about ATL is the number of nonstops which makes the travel a little easier. But if total travel time is the same, no issue. I'll start looking for other flights/airports.

So who is your favorite car rental company? I'm not a fan of Enterprise, my ex got a free upgrade that they charged her for. She called twice, they said they'd fix it, and never did. I don't like them. I'm using Dollar for the above trip.

Thanks,

J

We use whoever is the cheapest with on airport facilities. Never had a problem with any of the major players. If your going to be renting as often as you say, it might pay to stick with one or two companies to build up points. I don't travel that often, so I can't compare loyalty programs.

Renting may be the way to go.

+1. No maintenance, no insurance, no registration, no risk of theft while the car sits when you're out of town.