Have you ever shipped a vehicle cross-country??

[4Seasons]

If so or you know someone who did, what company did you use and were you happy? Ballpark what did you pay?

We are looking at a vehicle that's located in CA and if we decide to purchase we'd need to have it shipped and I have no idea how to pick a reputable shipping company.
I'd love recommendations if anyone has done this.

 

[minnie1928]

A good friend of mine just moved from PA to Seattle in July. He had Fedex ship his car (they have an auto shipping division). He shipped 2 cars and I can't remember how much it was, but I know it wasn't cheap ($2000/car sticks in my head, but I could be wrong). I think you can google it and price it up on their website.

He's also very anal about his car, so he wanted a company that would ship the car in an enclosed "trailer". He didn't want a traditional car trailer used, so I'm sure that increased the price.

FWIW, the car arrived and had some scratches on the roof. The shipping company is responsible for paying for the damage.

 

[LoraJ]

Just curious, what vehicle are you buying?

I'm buying a Prius and have been on priuschat.com. Several posters there have had their cars shipped from a dealer in California. I can try and find out who they used if you like.

 

[locolala]

I paid about 800 to have my car shipped from CA to VA. It took about 2 weeks, the truck hauling it broke down and had to wait on parts to come in. This was back in 07, so not too long ago.

 

[Lauralee131]

We have a transport company that my company uses for pretty much everything...from shipping employees personal vehicles to jobsite pickup trucks...

The company name is escaping me at the moment and our server is being moved this weekend so I can't access our central drive, but it cost me $650/each to move 2 pickup trucks from North Carolina to St. Louis back in March. They came out and picked them up from me and drove them back to STL.

Now, keep in mind that the $650 was probably a discounted price because we do so much business with them...but it should give you a ballpark...

 

[dakcp2001]

I bought a car on ebay, flew from Mass to Florida and drove it home, it was a blast! It was a lot of fun!!

Do you have any friends or family that would like to take a road trip? It would be the perfect "job" for a college student over break, or someone adventurous. You could pay for gas and airfare or whatnot.

 

[Uuaww]

$1000 is the going rate I have found.

 

[dakcp2001]

lol, sign me up! Im avail until school starts, or over holiday break

 

[4Seasons]

Just curious, what vehicle are you buying?

I'm buying a Prius and have been on priuschat.com. Several posters there have had their cars shipped from a dealer in California. I can try and find out who they used if you like.

We are looking at a salvage vehicle on Copart. My husband does paint/bodywork/repair for a living. I'm looking for a specific year, make and model for my business vehicle because in order to co-brand with a specific company and have the car wrapped, I have to have this specific vehicle.
I found one (actually 2, I found another last night in Boston, MA) that I'm hoping to be able to get reasonably enough. With my anticipated purchase price plus shipping and repair it would still be well below what I'd spend otherwise for the same vehicle.
Vehicles I am looking at have minimal damage but have been written off by the insurance company.

So far after looking at dozens of transport companies and getting quotes, seems like the average is about $950 for shipping which is what I was expecting.
I've read some really good reviews about A AAAdvantage Auto Transport, but I was hoping to get some personal recommendations on a company too.

 

[4Seasons]

I bought a car on ebay, flew from Mass to Florida and drove it home, it was a blast! It was a lot of fun!!

Do you have any friends or family that would like to take a road trip? It would be the perfect "job" for a college student over break, or someone adventurous. You could pay for gas and airfare or whatnot.

Actually we've done this on numerous occasions, going as far back as the late 1980's when I used to work for a major airline and could fly for pretty much nothing on a space available pass.
Higher end cars, especially ones like Porsche, BMW, Cadillac, etc. are more plentiful in an area like south Florida therefore more affordable than where we live. We would go down, get the paper and Auto Traders and start making calls.
My husband once bought a sweet little Porsche 924, drove it home and transferred title then drove it for his main car for about 6-8 months. Put it in the paper and sold it for $1500 more than he paid. We've always done well on cars we've bought there.
His current car we bought in Deland, just outside Orlando almost 7 years ago (he's just about killed it now LOL) and paid almost $2000 less than what the same car would have cost in our area (we are less than an hour from Washington DC).