shipping a vehicle
 

I know shipping a boat has been discussed on here before. How about shipping a car?

Got a smoking deal on a car in Chicago area. Need to get it down to Texas. Thought of going to get it (from Texas) and the PITA that would be.

Found American Auto Shipping. Price of $929 door to door and should take 3 days. Anybody used them? any horror stories or accolades, please share them all.

Thanks!

Try http://www.uship.com/

I've used them and moving services will bid down the price..

very few shipping companies have their own fleet. those that do, charge more. typically the shipping game is played by having shipments bid out. Uship has stepped in and become a marketplace for getting things shipped.

With a car shipment, most the time it'll be on an open car carrier so for the most part, they'll all be comparable. If you use u-ship, start an auction for the shipment. read the reviews of the shippers. don't always accept the lowest bid from the new guy trying to get his start. I did this on my boat and it was super stressful and all sorts of chaos. Be clear that they're willing to deal with "uship payments" as a COD/escrow arrangement. Shippers are required by uship to accept uship payments, but it isn't always practical, as you have to release ALL or none of the payment. I got into a situation where I needed to get a deposit to my shipper and u-ship payments didn't facilitate that.

u-ship takes hefty fees from both you and the shipper. $50 from you and I think about $250 from the shipper. Just so you know. they are making big money just being the marketplace.

Uship tracking is cool as it gives a SOMEWHAT real time location of your shipment as it crosses the country.

I've also used Red Carpet Auto transport as my broker before the days of u-ship.


Remember, anyone that's quoting you a fixed price is really just picking a price that they think they'll get a bid accepted for. so if one fixed price shipper says $2000 and another says $1500, it's because the first one knows they can get a quick bid acceptance of $2000, whereas the other one is banking on the fact that they'll be able to get SOMEONE to eventually accept that $1500 price within a reasonable amount of time.

I came so close to having some experience with this. I almost had a Dodge Challenger shipped from Maine to Denver for just under $1000. The logistics of getting money to a private owner was more difficult than arranging the shipping granted I didn't have to deal with the horrors of a bad car shipment. Luckily I found the exact car I was looking for in Cheyenne, WY before the deal went down and I was able to just drive up and get it. There is a lot of satisfaction in getting the exact car you are looking for with absolutely no compromises even if you do have to jump through hoops to get it.

I just shipped an M3 in an enclosed trailer from San Francisco to Chicago through Montway for $1100.

Also have had success shipping through an auction in Uship.com (boat from Chicago to AZ for $1300!)

Depending on if you bought a super fun car, id get a one way ticket and drive it back to TX! Fun way to get to know your new ride...good luck!

hey guys, thanks for the replies. Its a BMW 530. Will be fun to drive, not sure if I'd be interested in driving ANYTHING for that long!

Is it wise to purchase a car from the Rust state?..... I work out in Michigan and they cars get beaten to heck out there... Just my opinion though.

Did you find someone to ship it? If not, my aunt owns an auto shipping business based in Toledo. They mostly drive the cars from point A to point B but she also can get enclosed or trailer shipping as well.

Its a Florida car, back in Indiana temporarily. South Bend to be exact.

Timmy, I'm curious what the comparison would be to drive vs ship?

Drive it! I love road trips. Especially in newly purchased vehicles.