Anybody have a car shipped before?

[SlammedNiss]

Any info greatly appreciated. Need a vehicle shipped from FL to KS.

[tpollauf]

If you have the time, you may want to fly one way to where this car is located, then simply drive it back! That's what I did when I acquired my 2004 Vibe GT almost two years ago.

[SlammedNiss]

If you have the time, you may want to fly one way to where this car is located, then simply drive it back! That's what I did when I acquired my 2004 Vibe GT almost two years ago.

Not an option, hence why I'm having it shipped.

[Caretaker]

I just did a cross country move. Here's what I learned:

1. these companies are all slime balls. Expect no higher service than that
2. research (via google maps) all the auto transport companies in close proximity to the town where the car needs to be picked up. Look at all the yelp reviews of those companies. If you find a company that "looks" good, do further research on that exact company looking into their BBB rating and any other on line reviews.
3. don't give them your good key (aka the key with chip, buttons and programming). If they lose your key among the 15 other keys they toss on top of their trailer's dashboard, you may never see your key again. They lost mine and I made them pay dearly for it.
4. expect to pay up to $800 for a half country move
5. expect your car will arrive later than scheduled due to winter storms or any other excuse they can come up with (ie: numerous Burger King runs, stops at their favorite truck stop for evening "entertainment", etc.)
6. your car will arrive as if it went through 3 hurricanes en-route, assuming you choose to pay for the external (open) trailer move. It will be filthy in every nook and cranny of your exterior and engine compartment.
7. here's a place to start your research:

https://www.retirementliving.com/best-c ... -companies

As T eluded to, since you are not available to drive it yourself, your best bet is to hire one of your local Kansas relatives/friends to do the job. Flying a family member/friend one way, paying for one or two nights in a hotel, plus food allowance is much cheaper than hiring an auto transport company.

[KingKrab65]

I have had two cars shipped before. One in state and one from out of state. Both of the experiences were alright. I did mine through
meghan@horizonautotransport.com and it was back in 2012 and 2014. I am not sure if she is still doing it.

There is also a service Auto Driveaway that will give you prices and time. I think they broker through all of the individuals who do the transporting. https://www.autodriveaway.com/

It sounds like others have had a bad experiences with car transporting so I would triple check who ever does it for you and definitely check their insurance. I did.

Hope this helps

[zbyers]

TV shows that uship.com does some car hauling, too.

I wouldn't be hesitant about shipping a car; would just do my due diligence to ensure I am picking a reasonable carrier for what I am paying.

As others covered, verify they will have valid insurance the entire time the vehicle is in their possession, and do not give them your good/only key.

[Bookworm]

We (mostly my wife) shipped my FIL's old vehicles to her brothers. That was from Detroit to a small town in north Mississippi. I didn't hear of them having any issues. The guy picking up the car and truck was a Polish immigrant with limited English (but more than most of the folks I run into down here in Houston).

I can ask her if she has the contact information for the company if you want.

You might also check on YouTube and see who people like SamCrac Tovarish, and Hoovie's Garage use.

[SlammedNiss]

ho-lee-crap. Made the mistake of entering my (throwaway) email and phone # on a website, and within a minute I was bombarded with calls, texts, and emails. Prices as low as $650 and as much as $1250. This is anxiety inducing. Where is my Xanax?!?

[zbyers]

If this were after the first of the year, a flight from PA to FL, and from KS back to PA wouldn't be the worst thing for me.

[SlammedNiss]

If this were after the first of the year, a flight from PA to FL, and from KS back to PA wouldn't be the worst thing for me.

I thought about asking my dad, but the flight would have been from AZ-->FL, drive to KS, fly back to AZ. Would have made it nice for him because his brother lives less than an hour away from where the new car is. But in the long run, it would have been just as expensive as shipping it, so it didn't make much sense to put the miles on the car.

[Caretaker]

ho-lee-crap. Made the mistake of entering my (throwaway) email and phone # on a website, and within a minute I was bombarded with calls, texts, and emails. Prices as low as $650 and as much as $1250. This is anxiety inducing. Where is my Xanax?!?

Sorry for all that; tried to warn ya. These companies have little old lady trolls who will continue calling you until you have depleted 3 bottles of xanax. The good news is, you will soon start to receive "I can take $75 off of our lowest price if you call today" phone calls and emails. You will be receiving these faster than you can delete them. My earlier message and point #1 still stand. My only other piece of advise is to take the lowest bid and route it to the highest quality rated company to see if they will match it. Problem is, who you are dealing with is NOT who is doing the transport. You are dealing with auto transport brokers who then go out and find hungry drivers who may have space on a trailer to move your car. The less hungry they are, (ie: their truck is nearly full; or if the weather looks horrendous during that week of transport) the more money the drivers want to move your car. Good luck to you.

[SlammedNiss]

Sorry for all that; tried to warn ya. These companies have little old lady trolls who will continue calling you until you have depleted 3 bottles of xanax. The good news is, you will soon start to receive "I can take $75 off of our lowest price if you call today" phone calls and emails. You will be receiving these faster than you can delete them. My earlier message and point #1 still stand. My only other piece of advise is to take the lowest bid and route it to the highest quality rated company to see if they will match it. Problem is, who you are dealing with is NOT who is doing the transport. You are dealing with auto transport brokers who then go out and find hungry drivers who may have space on a trailer to move your car. The less hungry they are, (ie: their truck is nearly full; or if the weather looks horrendous during that week of transport) the more money the drivers want to move your car. Good luck to you.

Yea, it was literally a few seconds I had my 1st call. While on that call, I kept getting numerous other calls/texts and made it nearly impossible to hear the person I was already talking to. I basically told everybody I talked to to just email me the quote, and I would go over them. Didn't end up going with the cheapest, but definitely not the most expensive. Supposedly no hidden fees, so we shall see. Got the ball rolling and told them to move forward. So hopefully in the next day or so I'll have a delivery date.

Here's the inbox to that throwaway email I used. This is JUST the emails obviously, not the texts and calls I also received.

[Caretaker]

I do hope the broker keeps to the quote provided. Once they find a willing driver, sometimes that driver will balk at the price you set with the broker. The broker will then come back to you and ask for $50-$100 more. The worst part was when they delivered my car 2 days before I even got on a plane to my new home. They had the exact date drilled into their heads multiple times; as in : don't get the car there before XX, XX, XXXX because I won't be there to receive it. Unfortunately their heads are filled with holes.

[SlammedNiss]

I do hope the broker keeps to the quote provided. Once they find a willing driver, sometimes that driver will balk at the price you set with the broker. The broker will then come back to you and ask for $50-$100 more. The worst part was when they delivered my car 2 days before I even got on a plane to my new home. They had the exact date drilled into their heads multiple times; as in : don't get the car there before XX, XX, XXXX because I won't be there to receive it. Unfortunately their heads are filled with holes.

and just like clockwork, the broker called me today and told me he had a driver that could pick the car up tomorrow, but... the driver wanted $50 more. Told him no, that wasn't the agreed upon price. As a former business owner, the quote I gave to a customer was the quote I honored. If they want to start playing that game, I will have my uncle pick up the car (he lives less than 1 hr from the dealer) and I'll find a way to go get it myself in the next couple of months.

[KingKrab65]

How did your car shipping experience end (or did it end yet?)

Just curious.

[SlammedNiss]

So, after 69 days, my Rav4 that was paid for on Nov. 26, 2019 finally showed up to my doorstep on Feb. 3, 2020.

[zbyers]

Any issues, other than length of time?

[SlammedNiss]

Any issues, other than length of time?

Yea. I ended up firing the 1st broker the 1st week of January. After I turned down his initial offer of paying $50 over the quoted price, he failed to find anybody else. Tried calling him to get an update one time, and he didn't answer his phone. So I hired a new broker. Told the 2nd broker the issues I had with #1 and why I fired him to let him know I wasn't interested in getting screwed over. #2 called within a few days y with an offer of $80 over quote and I told him no. A few weeks went by and I called to get an update and find out why he was having a problem finding a driver. He told me that it's just not a very common route (which I understand because I live in the middle of KS) and nobody was interested at the quoted price. Told him to raise the price to $750 but not to call me with ANYTHING over that amount. A week or so went by and on the 29th he called early in the morning to let me know he had a driver at that price and we went from there.

No real issues at all with the driver at all. He was awesome.

For anybody reading this in the future, my broker was Garcia's Auto Transport, and the actual shipping company was Eureka Trucking Inc.

Btw, if you have a vendetta against somebody or just want to play a cruel practical joke, go search "ship a car" in google, and click on any one of the websites that pop up. Then, enter whoever's name you want to pizz off into the info, including their phone # and email. They will be slammed with calls and emails for days if not weeks.

[zbyers]

Glad to hear that outside of trying to go over their quote, you didn't have any issues!

Hmmmmm. I have a few people I could think of putting their info into those sites...

[Caretaker]

Yea. I ended up firing the 1st broker the 1st week of January. After I turned down his initial offer of paying $50 over the quoted price, he failed to find anybody else. Tried calling him to get an update one time, and he didn't answer his phone. So I hired a new broker. Told the 2nd broker the issues I had with #1 and why I fired him to let him know I wasn't interested in getting screwed over. #2 called within a few days y with an offer of $80 over quote and I told him no. A few weeks went by and I called to get an update and find out why he was having a problem finding a driver. He told me that it's just not a very common route (which I understand because I live in the middle of KS) and nobody was interested at the quoted price. Told him to raise the price to $750 but not to call me with ANYTHING over that amount. A week or so went by and on the 29th he called early in the morning to let me know he had a driver at that price and we went from there.

See.....wasn't that a fun experience?? The next time, I'll just push my car over a cliff, take the insurance money and buy a one way plane ticket, and then buy another car at the other end. Much easier.

[SlammedNiss]

See.....wasn't that a fun experience?? The next time, I'll just push my car over a cliff, take the insurance money and buy a one way plane ticket, and then buy another car at the other end. Much easier.

Honestly, I would have loved to go get the car myself. For that to happen would require me to remove my hand controls from my current car, ship everything to Florida, then find somebody to reinstall those controls into my new car. The whole time I would be without anything to drive at home. Luckily I keep my vehicles longer than the average person. Hopefully by the next time I'm in the market for a new car I'll have relocated myself to the Phoenix metro area and will have a much broader selection to choose from.