You cannot buy a car in Italy unless you are a resident. That is the long and short of it. Anyone with a holiday home will need to rent or go without. (This post is aimed at people who are not dual Italian/Other Citizens, or other EU)

What Are The Options?

If you are needing a car for a fairly long period. Which for example would apply to people who have arrived with their Elective Resident Visa and are waiting and waiting for their Permesso and Residency Cards, you can use one of the French programs that are called Lease/Buyback. These programs are only open to Non-EU residents and you get a new car, FULLY INSURED. You can see their PDF document explaining the process HERE.  The Website Link for Price  is here. I can tell you that at this time it costs about 800 a month if you are insuring for three or more months. I used these people when we first came here and when they say full coverage, it is accurate. When I turned the vehicle in they did not even bother to inspect it.

There is a second place, called Noleggiare  And you can rent for any length of time. They have a few insurance options to pick and the basic one has a 1000 deductible. To rent from these people you need to provide some financial information that verifies your income. I have not used them, but social security benefit verification documents and age verification may be sufficient.