How do you go about shipping a car you purchased from another state, back to yours?

Hey fam,

I'm possibly purchasing a car in Texas, I'm located in California, and I have no idea where to even begin to searching for reputable companies that offer a transport service for cheap.

In my mind, the "right" price should be about 200-400 dollars. Am I far off the mark?

The last time I registered for uship, I had calls coming until I changed my phone number - they wouldn't stop calling me with quotes even long after the fact I told them I was no longer interested. I would like to avoid this again if I can.

What are some shipping companies you all have used in the past? 

Thanks in advance!

And you just missed the yupididit Express,

 Fly and drive?

Every time I bought a car from out of state, I either got a ride there with a friend so I could drive it home, or I bummed a truck and trailer and went out and dragged it home.

Nothing says adventure like trying to drive an unfamiliar car in a snowstorm at night in heavy traffic.

The car doesn't run, it's actually an RX8 in need of a motor... and I have one. It also started life off in SoCal and the forum member went to the same college I did so it's kinda poetic. I'm also getting a good enough deal with the car +  tasteful mods I'd do to the car so I can eat the cost of shipping if it's a bit more than I think.

I'm getting "national average" quotes of $900... which makes sense if you're thinking about this like a tow truck driver, but with them delivering multiple cars at once, the cost HAS to be less, right?  

In reply to PHAN :

You are very far off the mark.  A cheap price of a non running car will be 75 cents per mile or MORE.  How many miles? 

Texas to California.  Both are huge states but as an example, Dallas to LA is 1400 miles.  

How did you get to $200-$400?

I mean, I just pallet-shipped a small 4-cylinder car engine from Virginia to Texas, and that was $300 by itself (just one pallet). So, a car weighs a lot more (even without engine) and is much larger and needs a car hauler. No surprise it costs several times more than a pallet. 

In reply to PHAN :

Driveable car on open trailer probably $700-1000.

It's 800 miles from LA to El Paso , 

A great deal would be $400 for the 800 miles , probably $600

And that's for a no hassle tow , it runs or is light enough that it rolls easy ,

 I drove to Austin to pick up a car a few years ago , 1500 miles each way !

Will it fit in the back of a uhaul box van ?

Ovid_and_Flem said:

In reply to PHAN :

Driveable car on open trailer probably $700-1000.

Problem is that the car doesn't exactly sound drivable to me.

I actually bit the bullet and sent in my phone number/email for some quote shopping/bidding. 
I'm sure they're gonna hassle me long after this situation is resolved but at least it's making things happen.

You guys are right, my initial estimate was pretty low. 
However, I've gotten multiple offers to deliver the car for about $450-550 - not bad.

It is, under their jurisdiction however. So essentially, I give them a two week window and they fit me in when things are slow, I'm assuming. 
Either way, it works out pretty well. The car will be open container and they are aware that it is not running.

I'll let you guys know how everything goes! 



 

If this was a website that starts with u and ends with ship, you might want to consult some of the more recent threads we had regarding experiences especially with brokers. 

I actually avoided uship and sent in my information elsewhere. We'll know by tomorrow if it's the same game being played here but so far, these companies don't seem as salesy as those acquired by uship. 

Sadly, I don't remember what website I used but it was page two of Google somewhere. I'll comb through my history and find it again. 

If you can wait a few months I can do it for $400. My conquest is still in SoCal and I NEED to get it this summer so I'll be driving from San Antonio to Riverside CA with an empty car trailer. 

In reply to yupididit :

How few of months are we talking here? 

In reply to PHAN :

Mid-July. I can keep the rx8 for you until then if needed depending on where it is.

I had one shipped from PA to CA for $1300 and I thought that was dirt cheap.

Here is a fun link for you.  This is a link to another magazine website, so delete if it's inappropriate, but it's a tractor magazine.

Anyway... the link is a great place where people post empty legs of their trips.  It has everything from John Q. Average up to owner/operator truckers who need to pick up a load.  Some are fully bonded and insured, others are just folks like you and me with a trailer and cheapo auto insurance.

Getting a quote for a dedicated door-door haulage is expensive because they're looking to make a profit in a business with high overhead costs, but empty legs can be cheap because they're just looking to recoup costs.  They have to drive it anyway, why not make a bit of fuel money?  For instance, I'll be posting there to find someone to bring a car from TX to PA... and if I don't find anyone, I'll just go get it myself and post an empty trailer for the trip down to pay for my fuel and lodging.

In reply to Curtis :

After you posted it before, I tried to find some shipping and they kept deleting my ad. Know any secrets?

In reply to yupididit :

I don't.  It has been a couple years since I posted there.  I'll check it out.

I just got u ship quotes from DFW to Chicago for the chop top porsche and they were roughly 80 cents to $1 a mile for an operable car. Non operable such as this RX8 was an additional $200.  

So depending on where in TX.. You should be budgeting $1k or more...

place holder for future reference

I think most places will run you $0.90 - 1.00 per mile.

To move a running F-150 from Phoenix, AZ to Albany, NY was $1100; if I flew and drove it would cost more than that.

Texas is a big state as is Cali, just crossing one of those states may take two days.  Reach out to UShip for a quote, then stand ready for TONS of email!!  At least you will have real world numbers to work with.

Dan

Not for this car that does not run , 

But has anyone shipped a car by train ?

Data point: I just went on one of those Google-search result thingies to get quotes for shipping a Suburban from the middle of rural AK to Baltimore, MD.  Ended up with dozens of quotes, all over the map from $600 to $900.  I'd tried Uship but the lowest quote I got was for $1000 there, and no one would go below that.

Picked a broker from the google result, they'd quoted $650.  They posted my job to the board, and within 3 days got an offer from a trucker for $725.  Broker called me, I approved it, and the Suburban was in my driveway 2 days later.  Trip was about 1200 miles IIRC.  No hassles.  But I and the seller did have to be flexible with pick up and drop off.  

Non-op will be probably $200 more, as others have suggested.  If pick up & drop off are near a major interstate, you might luck out with a cheaper quote.  I live about an hour from I-70 and pick up was over an hour from I-30, so that added to my costs, I'm sure.  

yupididit said:

If you can wait a few months I can do it for $400. My conquest is still in SoCal and I NEED to get it this summer so I'll be driving from San Antonio to Riverside CA with an empty car trailer. 

THIS.  IS.  A.  DEAL.