Anyone shipped a car?

[Urowife]

We are moving across the country this July and will ship at least one, if not both of our cars. Has anyone had any good (or bad) experiences with shipping a car?

I've done it twice - once from CA to OH, the other from OH to KS. I had no issues either time.

[Urowife]

What company did you use? How much was it (if you don't mind me asking)? Feel free to PM me if you want - I really appreciate it!

[Malpka]

We used Uship.com and got bids on people willing to do it through that service rather than a company. We had a great experience - a former school bus driver drove it for us. We saved about 700 dollars versus a company.

[MrsK]

We shipped a car from FL to OH. It was, um, not good. The car arrived several weeks late and was literally dropped off in the middle of a 4-lane street. Driver just left it on the median. We felt that we were completly captive when the shipping company just kept our car on their lot in FL for weeks. They were telling us that there was a hurricane. There was not a hurricane. Then they tried to add storage fees for keeping the car on their lot. The only remedy offered was to refund us our payment and then let us figure out how to get the car to OH. They were asshats.

DrK says don't ship unless you have to and if you do absolutely have to be sure to use a well-recommended agency. It's a very unreliable industry.

[DCJenn]

We shipped a car from TX to MD (I think it was AAAA car shipping or something like that - the first one I found online.) We also had the motorcycle shipped from CA to TX and sine it was an Ebay pruchase, we also used Uship.com. The guy was great.

Jenn

[Urowife]

MrsK, do you remember the company (so we can avoid them!)?

We have no choice but to ship one of our cars, and we're currently trying to decide whether DH will drive our other car or fly with me and DD and ship the car.

It's just hard to find one online because there aren't any reviews. Movingscam.com only had a couple recs. Ugh, I hate moving!

[MrsK]

Sorry, we don't remember the name but DrK says he's pretty sure it was a South Florida based company. FWIW, when we moved to KS, we just sold the car and bought a new one upon arrival. Yes, the transport experience was that awful.

[lirio]

We shipped our car from MA to IL. They shipped it in a few days. The only problem was they said they couldn't drive close to our apartment in Chicago because of bridges so they left the car a few miles away. But shipping the car was much easier than driving it!

[poky]

We used Coast to Coast Auto Transport (based in Idaho, it looks like), for transporting my car from Portland to Cleveland. It cost $950, the guy seemed really good; met us in big store parking lots that we directed him to near where we were on both ends, (we picked ones basically right off of freeways) and when we took him the car to load up, he had a pretty good idea of when he'd be able to drop it off at the other end (within a day or so?); as I recall, he called us a day or two before he delivered it in Cleveland to confirm time and place. Got to watch him secure it; when we got it back, he hadn't even had to move it.

I'm reading the T+Cs on the back of the bill of lading we got from them, and it says payment must be in the form of a cashier's check. I don't remember having to have a cashier's check for payment, but that's the kind of thing you'll want to find out when you call and set things up initially - it looks like they would not have been responsible for *anything* that went wrong. Nothing did, so it was all OK, but it's a risk.

ETA: We paid on delivery; sounds like some companies work differently, and don't make you meet them when they deliver, to take possession of the car and pay them - I'm not sure I'd want to do it that way; if your schedule isn't so restrictive that you can't meet them when they drop it off, I'd definitely prefer meeting them rather than them just dropping the car off somewhere.

[peggyfromwastate]

We had a good experience with our minivan which we bought thru ebay and had shipped from texas to washington state. No problems. I found the shipping company thru the recommendation of the dealer we bought the van from and the internet-- they were super cheap, too, so I was very pleased. My dad had a terrible experience getting a suburban he bought thru ebay shipped out to him-- as in the dealer who was supposed to arrange shipping just didn't, and it took an extra 2 months to get it, plus he had to hire someone to drive it out to him which I would not recommend. The guy made all sorts of personal stops and took an extra 3 days getting there. Not to mention having someone drive it across country adds lots of miles and wear and tear... Not good.

[scrub-jay]

I had a friend in college who transported a car for a family friend. It worked out really well, she and a friend were able to see much of the country on a "paid road trip." They sent copies of their licenses and insurance to the family friend and worked out the payment scheme before leaving. It was nice for my friend because she was able to go home for the summer with a little extra cash and only had to buy a one-way plane ticket back in the fall. They had a great time and because they'd worked out the route with the family friend (and checked in) they made really good time and were able to stop at a few places they really wanted to see.

Just a thought - you may not know any connections like this, but the option exists.

[JaneDoe]

My parents gave Dh and I car during residency. They contracted with a company (I don't know the name) that employed/contracted with foreign exchange students to drive the car from Oregon to Pennsylvania. If I recall it was around $450, but that was back in 1998. It worked out really well. The students delivered the car on time directly to Dh and I with no trouble at all. The downside to this approach is that you are putting mileage and wear and tear on the car. The benefit, however, is that it is a cheaper method when compared to shipping.

[Urowife]

Thanks everyone! I think we might look into uship. That site has feedback and reviews which makes me feel a bit better. I think we'd rather have them shipped rather than driven to save wear and tear (one car is a beater which probably wouldn't make the trip!).

I can't believe that we are moving in two months! We have so much to do! We still haven't sold our condo and are getting really nervous about that...

[GreyhoundsRUs]

Good luck selling the condo! I hope everything works out for you guys!