Hi, My husband is just finishing his IR with EFT. We have been living in Vero Beach for 16 months while he trained from the very beginning.
Ok, about a car - find out where you will be living first. Some of the students are put into accommodation near the airport, so you wont really need a car if you are there. If you are in the main student housing, there are many other students around and some instructors, so car sharing is commonpace. You can go in with a couple of others to part rent a car.
Petrol is cheap, as is the "tag" if you decided to purchase but insurance costs alot here in Fl. The insurance companies wont take any UK driving experience into consideration so you are treated as a new driver. We are paying more for simple liability cover than we paid for comprehensive cover in the uk.
Also, getting your Fl licence isnt quite as simple anymore. Both the Vero Beach and Fort Pierce drivers licence offices were destroyed by those mild winds we had last year, so you will need to get to either port st lucie or melbourne.
All in all I'd talk to trevor at eft and check where you are staying and then take it from there.
there are so many peope going back and forth, while you may need to wait a little, you will never be stranded.
Hope that all helps.