Have you ever had a car shipped?

[Sutter]

I am having a car shipped from Mass to California. Looking online I've found some larger companies like DAS that offer the most direct and reasonable rates, but there are just as many horror stories out there as stories of reliable service and on time delivery.

Anyone ever had their car shipped? Who'd you go with and how'd you like your experience?

[karpiel]

I used a local guy with a dodge pickup and a 2 car trailer who was insured.

[dk_alaskan]

i'll do it....for a price

[Hugh Conway]

Darien, CT to Redondo? I'm willing to try for <32 hours.

[4matic]

Car shipping is, basically, a commodity. There is no fixed price. You bid the amount you want to pay and the truckers pick up the contract. If you are not in a hurry bid low and see what happens. Mas to Ca. should be under $1k. I paid $825 Fla to Ca. last spring.

[Boomer28]

Had a car shipped from FL to CT last year. Few words of advice:

-Budget extra time, the always give you rosy estimates but many times they are picking up/dropping off along the way and it can get delayed. Also, with it being winter now, take that into account.

-Shop around. My quotes had delta of over $500. If it is a normal car, don't pay up for covered shipping. Open carriers are fine. If it is a convertible, and you use open, make sure they give you top rack. Fluids from above can fuck up a soft top something fierce.

-Make sure you know a good spot to pick the car up, keep in mind a 18 wheeler car carrier might not make it down your residential street. I met my guy at a rest stop, worked out great.

[stew130]

^^^^
I agree with everything Boomer says. I had a Denali shipped from Texas to Oregon. The estimated delivery time was 7 days and it ended up taking 20. The vehicle took a circuitous route from Dallas to San Fran to Reno to Portland and finally to Bend isitting a few days at each place waiting for the next hook up. I had this fantasy that as soon as I paid the shipping company they'd just load it up on a truck and drive straight to my place. Didn't quite work like that.

I had it delivered to a friends used car lot which made unloading much easier.

[fixiewrek]

I bought my car on ebay and had it shipped from Dallas to Seattle two winters ago. Went halfway around the country avoiding and getting trapped in snowstorms, but eventually showed up 3 weeks later (only a week later than expected). Met the driver in the nearby Lowe's parking lot. Completely filthy on the outside, but a quick rinse and she looked great again.

Best thing I had was the driver's number and he would call routinely and let me know where he was and when he thought he would be here. Paid $800 flat through the dealership.

[A-wreck]

I googled the subject years ago and went with whatever large shipping company came up.

I shipped my altima from seattle to detroit... it took a week for them to be ready to ship it... it only took 3 days from that point. about 10 days all together...

Then some russian guy dropped off the car on a busy... high traffic road with an extremely narrow shoulder behind my dads house.... it was funny

it cost me 900 to ship my altima and gas was more expensive back then

[SkiCougar]

-Shop around. My quotes had delta of over $500. If it is a normal car, don't pay up for covered shipping. Open carriers are fine. If it is a convertible, and you use open, make sure they give you top rack. Fluids from above can fuck up a soft top something fierce.

-Make sure you know a good spot to pick the car up, keep in mind a 18 wheeler car carrier might not make it down your residential street. I met my guy at a rest stop, worked out great.

i had 2 shipped no problem. follow these 2 guides, you'll be fine. horror stories are the exception. shipping cars for individuals is done by everybody these days.

[supermodel159]

I had my truck shipped from IA to CA, door to door. I'll pm you the details (if I can find them)

[Danno]

Do they still do "driveaway" cars (a service finds someone to drive your car to you)? If so, don't do that. I assume it's cheaper, but dirty hippies who don't care about your car end up being the drivers.

[HankScorpio]

I had a car shipped from Mass to Washington. I shopped around and used DAS. It ended up costing around $500 when all was said and done. It took about 2 weeks to get the car once I finalized it and it arrived. The car showed up unharmed. I could've have paid more for a covered truck or a top level spot on the truck. I didn't bother. Just put a shitload of wax on the car if you care about the paint.

[Skidog]

Used DAS to ship a CR-V from NJ to UT...round $1K maybe a little less. Car arrived as promised.

Simple and easy.

[bytheway]

I didn't have any problems shipping a Jeep Liberty from AZ to UT. I don't remember who I used, but it cost $611 three years ago.

Completely filthy on the outside, but a quick rinse and she looked great again.

So true. When I got the car I couldn't see out the windows well enought to drive it home, and there was no washer fluid in it. Even if there had been, that grime is more like coarse sand and I didn't really want the wiper blades to scratch that around my windshield. Take some paper towels and windex so you can clean the windows well enough to yourself to a car wash.

[sanjuanworm]

i found a 97 4x4 F350 dump about 700 miles from me, i checked on shipping and
it was cheaper for me to fly one-way and drive the beast home..plus i got to check it out before $$$ changed hands..

[Dhelihiker]

I bought a Corvette from a guy in Zimbabwe, super cheap



Its about 3 months late but hopefully worth the wait

[Nobody Famous]

Moving companies, Atlas for example, can ship smaller cars, like subbies. They have ramps and racks they hook up inside their vans, and in goes the car, just like your furniture and boxes. The upside to this is the vehicle is always inside, unlike the auto transporters.

I read that some of the PODS-like container shipping companies will transport a vehicle, if you can get vehicle inside a POD container.

[crackboy]

just picked up our car the other day. shipped it CA to Pitt via DAS. car was as expected and it got here sooner than quoted. think we paid 6-700 or so