Shipping car across country

[goodstarr]

Has anyone had their car shipped across the country? Any suggestions on a good company? We'll be shipping from the east coast to LA area. I've only heard of prices in the range of $800-900. Anyone know of any cheaper but still reliable? Thanks.

 

[Mamu]

I know my MIL always ship her car from Mass to Florida. She pays $495 per trip. This is a good rate. I guess If you can find someone to ship it to Cal, for the $800 sound about right.

When you are dealing wth bargin companies it can sometimes take 2-3 weeks to get your car. They always tell her 3-4 days, never happened. always more like 2 weeks.

 

[Tina]

I did it back in 1995. I shipped my Dodge Shadow from Michigan to California for about $500. I can't remember who we used but it was a nation-wide company that was headquartered in Arizona ( I think). It took about a week or so for my car to arrive, but we didn't actually get it for several weeks because they damaged it in transit. Every time we called to ask if it had arrived, we were told "Not yet, should be any day now." After more than a week of this, the guy finally fessed up and told us to come see the damage. They had shipped it on a large car-carrier truck and while removing it, a steel bar had come down, smashing my windshield and causing a HUGE dent in the roof near the front. The HQ office didn't want to deal with us at all. They just kept telling us to deal with the local office - which was just a little used car dealership that they worked through. The guy at the dealership tried to convince us to let his body shop guy fix it. He took us over to the guy's place, which was where my car already was parked. This "shop" was down a long alley behind a vacant building near Ontario (California). The alley was littered with abandoned cars. The "body guy" didn't speak English except for the words "I fix it good." No thanks! We argued for about 2 days with the company and after we threatened to sue, they finally agreed to take it to the local Dodge dealership for repairs. So after about a month, I actually received my car in good condition. So my advice? Ask a lot of questions BEFORE you choose a company.

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Make sure you read the fine print of your contract of whoever you use.

My sister just moved from Pittsburgh to West Palm Beach,Fl last week. They shipped one of there cars ahead(her company paid) 2 weeks before(Dec 13th) they got there. They were told the car would be in their driveway the day they arrive(Dec 27th).

They are still waiting for it and were told it won't arrive until Jan 8th

. They demanded a loaner SUV until there's has arrived and luckily they got one..................but here is another example

My son's SIL moved from Pittsburgh, Pa to San Diego,Ca 3 months ago. Did the same.........shipped her car 2 weeks before she got there. Make a long story short.......she didn't get her car until she was in San Diego for 5 weeks. This company did NOT give her a car to use until it arrived.

In the very fine print in her contract it stated they were not responsible if there was a delay. It took 7 weeks for her car to get there in total!!!!!!

 

[Boo'sMom]

try pm-ing Mickeyfan1...she just did this last week.

 

[ahutton]

I've done this a few times, so have my parents. We've done both the put it on a trailer shipping and the driveaway shipping, where they have drivers who will drive your car to the destination. We've never had any problems, but it has always taken 10 days to 2 weeks to get our cars. Cost for driving service was about $350-400, on a trailer was $750 and up. AAA Driveaway is who we've used and have always been pleased with their service.

 

[goodstarr]

Thanks everyone. I have heard storiees about how long it takes and I must admit, that scares me. I don't want to pay $800 for shipping plus more money to rent a car until ours gets to California. I guess if we want the car there the 2nd week of February, I should start the process now. Thanks again.

 

[Towncrier]

A friend and coworker had a car shipped on an enclosed trailer from Maine to Ohio. It cost him $900, probably due to the enclosed trailer.

 

[clutter]

I was a drive-away once, years ago. Drove someone's car from Baltimore to San Fran. It was great, for me. However, the radiator died near Gillette, Wyoming. Probably would have cost them less to ship the car....

 

[Lewski709]

I shipped my vehicle from Florida to Indiana for about 600.00.
No problems. AAA transprot is who I used.