Tell me about auto-transport trucking companys please.

I have used Uship twice recently, one Crown Vic from Washington State and 5 Crown Vics from Nevada. They have been great but I have been shipping $1500 cars also so I am less concerned with a scratch or bump than you may be, painless, simple, able to monitor the vehicle's progress with some companies, pay on delivery, no problems here

I've used uship twice without issue.

I hate em all

I used uship for an ATV, and it was a good experience.

As others have mentioned, the key is to not be in a hurry. I found that reliable carriers was in line with a number of other companies as long as I was flexible on dates.

Make sure you document them loading and unloading the car. My experience with a company whose name I cannot recall was fine, but I am glad I documented just the same. The car wasn't a cream-puff, but the sheet they filled out indicating dings and scratches was so marked-up that I don't think there was any way I could have made a claim on it.

freedomautotransport wrote: In reply to JamesMcD:There are a lot of different terms in the auto shipping industry that some people may not be fully aware of their meaning, so we’ve compiled a handy list of terms that you can peruse and read more about so you have a better understanding of how the auto shipping industry works.

I have so many questions:

Is someone getting paid to traipse around the Internet and paste a "fun facts about the auto-transport industry" list into various forums?

Who is funding this?

Is this the strange hobby of an auto-transport exec.?

Are bots getting in here?

If a real person posted this, why is it so hard for them to glance at their post, and perhaps notice that somethings missing?

"Somewhere, automotive transport is being discussed by the ignorant. I must find and educate them!"

JamesMcD wrote: Have any of you bought a car and paid to have it hauled to you? Can anyone recommend a reputable company? There seems to be a lot of them. How do I spot a scam? At what point in the transaction are you supposed to pay? Upfront or not? Etc. Thanks!

For anyone else finding it hard to find a reputable auto transport company, I've found this company Smart Auto Move really good pricing, but best of all is that there is no jumping through hoops just to get a quote. I've shipped several vehicles in the past and each time I was given a low quote then the price would go up. With Smart Auto Move they have their rates posted right on their website look at Cities and Fares I shipped my daughters Camry and it was the first time my rate didn't go up. Hope this helps

Direct express auto transport--assigned my car to a shipper same day and it left North Carolina next day and was in Minnesota in 3 days from assignment, cost $800.

I have transported my car from houston to denver through AAA auto movers where i paid the upfront amount. They do shipping in a genuine manner with no hidden cost. I suggest you to contact the transporter to get more details.

I went to a show in California last year with my M5, looked at multiple companies on U-Ship. I went with TCI Logistics Inc primarily because of their ratings. Service was just as expected, constant communication and they made sure to have the vehicle in California from Chicago on time. Would highly recommend TCIships.com.

Hoover = canoe

Joe Gearin wrote: If you are looking for a truly professional shipper who will treat your car like it's their own try these guys: http://www.reliablecarriers.com/

This! These guys moved my herd on two different work relocations and did great work.

The stories I could tell...

Never, ever accept to have the car delivered at night.

And don't assume that just because it's exotic/enclosed car transport it's any better than a fly by night outfit.

Yes, it's customary to tip the driver.

I view most car haulers as low life shysters now, when before I got into it I thought they were the professionals.

Reliable is probably the only outfit that I might trust with a car I really care about.

Sincerely, Ex-Car Hauler

Ok.... so I bought Dave's AE86 race car and I need to get it from Frisco to Portland.

I do NOT want to be penny wise and pound foolish on this... 

So... transport costs I've come up with range from $800-$2100 depending on interior, exterior, and "reputation".

 Reliable -$2080 - inside, "insured", could take 2-4 weeks

TCI - $1300 - inside, "insured", no time estimates given yet (also $800 for exterior shipment - less insurance coverage) 

Exotic Car Transport.com - $2095 - inside, insured, 2-4 weeks

Freight and Auto Transport 630-581-5904

They are out of Chicago(ish) but he said they are San Diego, San Francisco and Portland every week. He quoted me $1100 San Diego to Toledo.

Road Commander Inc 305-244-9098

I used Fernando through a third party broker to transport my engine and brakeless RX-3 enclosed from San Bernardino CA to Easton PA. Enclosed transport was $1340.

He had some pictures of it in the trailer with some modified Ford GTs and Lamborghinis and the next stop was dropping off a bagged and chopped Chevy that had just been reworked by West Coast Customs. Super professional about dropping off the most worthless thing he's probably ever transported....

oldeskewltoy said:

Ok.... so I bought Dave's AE86 race car and I need to get it from Frisco to Portland.

I've used Reliable and been very happy with them, but $2K?  That's as much as I paid to ship an FD all the way across the country, and it's, what, 750 miles from SF to Portland?

I shipped my car from San Diego to Raleigh NC when I moved out here. I used shipacardirect the issue was the "Ace auto trans" which was highly yelp rated was the one carrying my vehicle but they actually had

One driver pick up and inspect my car

One driver took my car from them to wherever a truck was leaving California

Someone drove it across country

Someone else was doing the actual delivery

Needless to say when my dirty car was delivered almost in the dark and I found damage on it the next day it was a pain in the butt and they ended up not paying for it despite the fact the paperwork when the car left my house did not show the damage while the paperwork on delivery showed marks where the damage was

So be wary of whos actually going to be transporting your vehicle every step of the way because they will just all point fingers and blame eachother

Frisco... Texas...   so roughly 2030 miles.........

Oh, I thought you were using "frisco" to refer to San Francisco.  :)

MOD EDIT: this thread revived by someone wishing to tell you how great his trucking company is. The same person has come here 3 times in the past 3 weeks to tell you the same thing and given no other useful info to GRM. 

Thanks,  but no thanks. 

JW 

Canoe removed

I got a couple cars shipped enclosed coast to coast , but depot to depot ,

it was a lot cheaper , I am in SoCal so all the Majors have a depot 

and I did not have to be home to wait for the Shipper , 

Sometimes its better to spend $500 extra for enclosed , they were both rare rusty piles of junk , but if any parts fell off I would still have  them !   Important if its a low production car, 

Almost lost another rare car on Uship when the first shipper picked it up and then decided he did not want to drive cross country and stuck it  in a self storage place.......finally got it after a big hassle and more $$$$ out of my pocket

All these cars were non runners , 

In reply to ferrisreva :

Pretty hard to paddle that canoe.

canoe deleted, thread strike 3, locking thread... requests directed to unlock can be submitted in the "requests assitance" thread