Help - Have you shipped your car out of state????

[dfchelbay]

Hi everyone, hope you all can give me your feedback on shipping a car across country. Not the entire country, but about 2,300 miles. DS is away at school, and is considering having his car shipped out to him. He wants to stay in his new found "home" permanently, and will need his paid off car. It's cheaper to keep this one than to go buy another. I've looked online and will call a few places this week too, and the prices are from $300 - $1500...basically all over the map, and I don't know who is reputable.

I'd like to hear what your experiences have been with shipping your car to your new location. How far did you ship it, how much did it cost, and how long did it take from pick up to drop off of your car. He doesn't have much to spend, so if you all have any names of companies that were good, or those to avoid, that would help, and about how much should we expect to pay to ship a car.

 

[disneylove69]

The last time I had my car shipped was when I moved from Dallas to California. It came on the same tryck as my house hold goods. I can't remember the name of the company but it was a named brand moving company. It might be cheaper to drive it yourself.

 

[dfchelbay]

The last time I had my car shipped was when I moved from Dallas to California. It came on the same tryck as my house hold goods. I can't remember the name of the company but it was a named brand moving company. It might be cheaper to drive it yourself.

Thanks, unfortunately the car is here and DS is already out west, so him driving it is not an option, and we are unable to drive it for him.

 

[malibuconlee]

$300 seems crazy. I have a friend that is looking to ship her car from Buffalo, NY to El Paso so she doesn't have to make the trip by herself with an infant. The quotes she's gotten are in the $700-$900 range.

 

[lindsmom]

My parents were looking at shipping their car MA to FL. Like OP, estimates can range from $300 to $900. The most common were in the $700 - $800, so that's likely the reasonable price for them. Factors include whether it's an open or closed carrier, if they pick up in your neighborhood, at your house, or you need to drive to another large city / drop off area. Also it's something to keep in mind whether the company is bonded / insured, and how many pick ups / drop offs they have along the route as the car may be moved each of those times, and that provides opportunity for a third party to have access to the cars being moved, especially in an open carrier.

Depending on your son's schedule it may be cheaper for him to fly home and drive the car back.

 

[momof1princess]

just throwing this out there, but would it be possible for him to pay a childhood friend a couple hundred dollars, plus airfare back home, to drive it out to him? with a cheap flight, he might save a few hundred dollars.

 

[dfchelbay]

$300 seems crazy. I have a friend that is looking to ship her car from Buffalo, NY to El Paso so she doesn't have to make the trip by herself with an infant. The quotes she's gotten are in the $700-$900 range.

Thanks. That $300 was the low range for a winter ship date. It said $300-$700, on that website. I got an email yesterday from another company that quoted $900. So, at least I know I'm in the same ball park as your friend for the amount of miles to ship. Thanks again.

 

[momrek06]

Yes, my parents had their car shipped from ME to FL for a few seasons until they bought one in FL and kept their ME car in ME.

Cost was roughly $800.00 each way.

We relocated to CA from MA in 2008 and DH's company paid for it all. They shipped both vehicles on a car carrier separate from our home goods.

OP, call a few movers and ask who they use for "car carriers". It was UNITED that moved us and set up the car carrier for our vehicles. AND we were surprised to see how many UNITED vans were in our condo complex here ... so I figured DH's company picked a good carrier. AND they were. Not one single item broken.

Ok, I will say because the cars came across the country in one of those OPEN car carriers ... omg, the cars were sooooo dirty. I told DH to get to a car wash ASAP. The cars went through so many elements.

 

[disfan07]

We moved from VA to CA in 2008. We had to ship out 3 cars the 2500 miles across teh counry. It was fairly expensive. My dads company only paid for 1 car so we had to cover teh costs of teh other cars.

I think it was about $1000/car.

 

[WheelCEO]

http://www.jplogistics.net/

I've used them to transport any vehicle I have purchased out of state, you can talk with george... they mainly deal with exotic/high end vehicles but I'm sure they can transport any car

 

[dfchelbay]

http://www.jplogistics.net/

I've used them to transport any vehicle I have purchased out of state, you can talk with george... they mainly deal with exotic/high end vehicles but I'm sure they can transport any car

Thanks for the link. I can get to the home page and a few other clicks, but most of the website not accessible. Nothing happens when I click on different categories. Not sure if it's their website having an issue, or my browser...hmmm, guess I'll just keep trying, and call when they're open tomorrow. Thanks again.

 

[Hannathy]

With those prices at his age I would just stay flexible and watch for a really good fare and fly out and then drive it back my self. I would think he could find a cheap fare if he doesn't have a specific date he has to fly.

 

[SandrA9810]

A cross country road trip... Sounds like the coolest thing in the world. Is it possible for him to survive the school year without his car, like he was planning, and then drive it back over the summer?? Although $900 would probably cover the cost of gas/lodging/food for such a road trip. But it would be a once in a lifetime experience.

 

[VAfamily1998]

We did and it was a nightmare. I will never ever do it again.

We moved from California to Virginia back in 2006. At the time our kids were 6, 4, 2, and 6 weeks old. I didn't want to drive cross country with the 6 week old so Dh drove one car across with the 6 and 4 year olds and I stayed with family for a week then flew to meet them with the younger two.
I dropped the car off the day before I flew out. The total cost was approx. $1000, which I paid in full when I dropped off the car, and they told us it would take about 10 days.

10 days came and went. We started calling the guy we contracted with and kept getting the "almost there" "should be by tommorrow" type answers.

Over a month later we finally got a call that the car was in Virginia and the driver would need $675 cash to give us our car!!!! I dont' know which one was shady--the driver or the owner of the company we contracted with--but it ended up taking ANOTHER two days to get it straightened out and we finally had our car--with a huge dent in the front that wasn't there when I dropped off the car!

It was awful. I will never ever ever ship a car again.

 

[prncess674]

I shipped my car from New Orleans to Washington, DC in 2006. It was on an open carrier and cost approximately $800. They date was inexact, because it is not on a dedicated truck solely for my car. The company I used allowed you to log onto the website and find out where your car was located on the journey. It took about a week. They would not do a drop off in DC proper without an additional charge. I had to pick it up as a body shop out near IAD airport. Overall I was pleased with the service and wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

 

[Swimalie]

We looked in to it twice. Once from GA to Oregon and again from Oregon to VA. Both times were $1000-$1500 for 1 car in an open carrier. In our case it was cheaper for us to sell the car on the home end and buy a car on the other end than pay for the carrier (both cars were paid for but not worth much more than the cost of using a carrier). If your son can find a friend to drive it out there and then pay for him to fly home, that would be a great option.

 

[dfchelbay]

I shipped my car from New Orleans to Washington, DC in 2006. It was on an open carrier and cost approximately $800. They date was inexact, because it is not on a dedicated truck solely for my car. The company I used allowed you to log onto the website and find out where your car was located on the journey. It took about a week. They would not do a drop off in DC proper without an additional charge. I had to pick it up as a body shop out near IAD airport. Overall I was pleased with the service and wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

I like the sound of logging on to see where the car would be along the route. Do you have the name of this hauling company. I'd like to check into them. Thanks.

 

[dfchelbay]

Thanks for all the replies so far. As far as DS driving the car back, it isn't possible at this point in time for him to do. Between school and working, he cannot take the time off right now. Also, DH is not thrilled with the idea of him crossing the Rockies in the winter months. Besides the fact that it would take him forever to do the trip. With his bad back, limited ability to do many hours in the car, who knows how many days (or weeks) it could take him to do it.

In any event, keep your replies coming, I'm checking into carries this week. Thanks again everyone.

 

[prncess674]

Thanks for all the replies so far. As far as DS driving the car back, it isn't possible at this point in time for him to do. Between school and working, he cannot take the time off right now. Also, DH is not thrilled with the idea of him crossing the Rockies in the winter months. Besides the fact that it would take him forever to do the trip. With his bad back, limited ability to do many hours in the car, who knows how many days (or weeks) it could take him to do it.

In any event, keep your replies coming, I'm checking into carries this week. Thanks again everyone.

http://www.dasautoshippers.com/

 

[Shmily1]

I bought DS20 his dream car from Indianapolis and had it shipped to GA for $795. They dropped it in the KMart parking lot. The driver called me when he was on his way and I took pictures of it on the car hauler as it was coming into town and as it was rolling off the carrier. I texted them to DS to let him know I had his new car but his phone was dead!