Anyone experienced with shipping a car within the US?

[Anthony]

I've looked into shipping cars around the country before, but I've never actually done it. So I am somewhat familiar with the process, but what I want to know is:

Has anyone here ever done it, and if so, which company did you use and would you recommend them?

There are a LOT of companies to choose from and some of them are really sketchy. I'm just hoping to get some feedback here because then I'll at least know it's not some phony feedback left by the company itself on some random website.

Shipping within the states, I've got all the time in the world, and it doesn't need to be in a container.

[ntron1]

From where to where? Across town, or from coast to coast?

[Anthony]

Utah to Mississippi.

I've been looking into www.montway.com. They seem pretty legit.

[PStaff716]

My next door neighbor is having his camaro shipped to buffalo from Texas, it will be here Monday. I'll find out who he ended up going with, but I know it was $740 total which isn't too bad. It was not an enclosed carrier, either. I'll edit this post after I speak with him again

[Anthony]

Awesome. My estimate was $1,100.

[Anthony]

Be sure to find out if he was dealing directly with the trucking company or an agent. Half the time you just deal with an agent who hires a freelance truck driver. So we could go through the same agent who gets an awesome driver for him, and Sketchy McSketcherson for me.

[SanDiegoFRS]

Beware getting many estimates. They will call and email you for months after you get the service, with "no way of taking you off their call list". I shipped mine from Cali to North Carolina last march. Be prepared to find Knicks and dings. Lots of little damage the driver will deny all day.
I paid $850. You deal with two middle men. A local driver for pick up and local one for delivery. The long hauler dumps the car off somewhere for the delivery guy.
I used all states, I think.


Also, home moving companies can ship cars too, they tend to have covered truck beds. I learned this after the fact.

[E46toFT86]

http://www.dasautoshippers.com/

Used them once to ship my older BMW. By older I mean my 325ci I had prior to my M3. They ship your car directly which means you're not dealing with brokers, no sitting around waiting until they find a carrier and no BS. Didnt have a issue at all & didnt find any damages. You can opt to have your car place on the top deck that way you wont get any debris from the truck or other vehicles & avoid fluids being dropped as well form vehicles atop if your car was on the lower deck. Charged me around ~$600 from San Francisco Bay Area to Oklahoma City. You drop off your car at a DAS location (tons of locations everywhere), at the time of drop off you and a representative will do a walkthrough of the vehicle he/she will take notes & tons of pictures and at the arriving terminal/station youll do a walkthrough/inspection as well.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoFRS

They will call and email you for months after you get the service, with "no way of taking you off their call list".

Oh yeah, I know all about this.

Originally Posted by E46toFT86

http://www.dasautoshippers.com/

Used them once to ship my older BMW. By older I mean my 325ci I had prior to my M3. They ship your car directly which means you're not dealing with brokers, no sitting around waiting until they find a carrier and no BS. Didnt have a issue at all & didnt find any damages. You can opt to have your car place on the top deck that way you wont get any debris from the truck or other vehicles & avoid fluids being dropped as well form vehicles atop if your car was on the lower deck. Charged me around ~$600 from San Francisco Bay Area to Oklahoma City. You drop off your car at a DAS location (tons of locations everywhere), at the time of drop off you and a representative will do a walkthrough of the vehicle he/she will take notes & tons of pictures and at the arriving terminal/station youll do a walkthrough/inspection as well.

Yes, this is exactly the kind of information I was hoping someone could give me. I'll look into them some more. I was on their site earlier today, but I think they were more expensive than the other people I found, but a good solid review like this makes me rather just pay the extra few bucks for peace of mind and a non-destroyed car.

[slicktop]

If you're worried about knicks and dings, get the enclosed trailer method. Little more expensive, but solves that. Also, sometimes cars leak fluids from up top in open trailers onto yours.

Ultimately, the actual companies aren't actually shipping them, they're liaisons. They farm the job out to truckers, so the more money you're quoted, the better service. At least that's what I've found.

[Mikem53]

Ive done this twice.. Once when I moved from TX to NC. The moving company I used arranged the transport of my vette. They loaded it on one of those mayflower moving trucks.. was covered and arrived fine with no issues.. except they had to do alot to get it on the truck without scraping the under carriage..

I used a car transport company from San fran to NC when I bought my sisters accord. This was a nightmare.. no tracking info, 2 weeks late, was an open carrier.. made it no problem.. they were late cause the carrier broke down and nobody could fix it on the road.. I remember reading horror stories as I was choosing a carrier.. it was a honda.. so I wasnt too concerned.. but what a hassle.. covered carriers are pricey.. make sure you have them go over the car so u get it back in the same condition..

[bestwheelbase]

Avoid brokers. Check out Reliable Carrier or Intercity Lines or Passport. Those are the good big retail outfits.

If you need a more specialized "white glove" experience, let us know and we can get you in touch with someone. It will be a lot more expensive than those other places though.

[Anthony]

I requested quotes from all three of those. Passport was over $2,000, but the other two generate quotes manually, so now I'm waiting on emails. We'll see how it goes...

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Mikem53

The moving company I used arranged the transport of my vette.

So they got an auto transport company to do it, or they did it themselves? Do you remember which moving company it was?