Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Don't be surprised if an auto transporter costs you $1,000+ for this trip, if you can find one at all who will come that far north....so....
Consider finding a nice deserving person and let them drive your car down, see Florida, then put them on a plane back home. For the same money that you would spend on an auto transporter, you can treat a pal, neighbor or loved one to a Florida trip. Do something especially nice for someone, the cost is the same....maybe even less.
Money is fungible, it can be spent equally on good or bad stuff, so consider doing as much good with it as you can. An old business man once told me "spend your money where you are known" and in this case, you can spend it on strangers running an auto transport firm or you can spend it on a pal and get the same result, but your pal will long remember. Be sure that auto insurance covers the other driver.
Mike's suggestion is great & don't forget to factor in hotel/meals/gas costs for your drivers. The day of the $50 hotel is long gone (the cost when I was doing my long-distance jaunts) & it may be more costly than you think, depending on your car's milage. I've driven from Boston to Atlanta (1,100-mi) in 3-days in 1990 & Boston to Ashville, NC (1,000-mi) in 1-shot in 1999 (difficult, but it can be done - I was trying to avoid the 3-day costs the 2nd time 'round), so they should reasonably be able to get from ME to GA (1,400-ish mi) in 5 maximum, I'd say. But, 5 days of food/gas/hotels can be quite a tab, considering you also need to send them back to ME.
I got a quote from "shipcar dot com" in the year 2000 (url's seem to be deleted from the site, so forgive my "longhand") for $1K to transport my car from Boston to Seattle (3,100-mi). I didn't use them afterall, but I heard about them as they are a local sponser of Boston's WRKO radio station & I checked them out thru the Better Biz Bureau at that time. Company reputation may have changed, as well as prices, since 2000, but I just wanted to pass on the info, in the event it's useful. Just a thought, but as you need a quick solution, could you call WRKO's sales dept & ask if they've had listener complaints on the company?
Good luck & wishing you lots of ease in your move... Baltic_Celt
We moved from Southern Calif. to the Charlotte area in March, and shipped out 4 cars. We had an EXCELLENT experience with Intercity Lines (they ship cars for the Barrett-Jackson auto auctions). Not only are they reliable, but there was not a scratch or speck of dirt on them when they arrived 4 days after being picked up. The cars traveled in an enclosed trailer, & the driver even wore gloves when loading & unloading them. They are a little on the expensive side ($1605 per car as of March), but worth it to us since we didn't have to worry about damage. I checked out their reputation on the epinions website beforehand, & it was top-notch. I also got quotes from & did research on about 15 other auto transport companies, & none of those companies even came close to making me feel comfortable about shipping our cars with them - (most are sub-contractors). Intercity Lines' contact is 800-221-3936 or go to their website. I can't recommend them highly enough, & I would NEVER consider using anyone else!!
a warning to all people wanting to transport your classic and other cars: DO NOT USE LUXURY AUTO TRANSPORT of Chicago (transports all over the nation)... their driver abused my classic california highway patrol car while transporting it from california to oklahoma... he took it off the truck and showed off at several stops enroute, racing the engine, running out the gas, damaging the transmission, breaking the whip antenna base, and more... USE ANOTHER COMAPANY; SPREAD THE WORD... they will not work to reimburse me for the damages... no replies via email or by phone.
A great place to go for shipping large items is uship. It's a website designed like an ebay. Basically, you list an item you want shipped and from where to where and then a bunch of shippers bid on it. You'll get bids from large companies to independent guys that do it for extra weekend money. There are ratings/reviews for the different shippers that bid on your shipment so you can find someone credible/reliable.
I did this with my motorcycle recently. When i was looking directly at companies I was getting quotes around $500. When I did uship, I got bids around $250. Check it out.
I have shipped cars a couple of times. I learned a few things.
1. Most companys are just brokers. They have contractor drivers who they hire to do the shipments. Thus, the quality of service you get depend ont he individual trucker that they hire. Very few shipping companies actually employ the truckers. Thus you could choose three different companies and get the same trucker from each of them.
2. OPen trucks are messy. If you car is on the bottom tier, then the car above it may leak oil, transmission fluid or worse brake fluid onto your car. If it is on top it may get dings and scratches and will be very dirty. If oyu love your car, spring for an enclosed carrier and make certain that your car is on top, ot make certain that your car is covered with something that will prevent oil or brake fluid from getting through.
3. No matter how much you pay, you can still have problems. A freind of mine had his corvette shipped by a very expensive and reputable company. However the truck driver had a major personal problem half way through the trip and he just unhooked the trailer and went home leaving the trailer in Oklahoma. It took an extra two weeks for the car to finally arrive and it was filthy and had a scratch. It can happen with any hauler.
4. Having someone drive for you is cheaper, but it cna be problematic. What happens if the car breaks down or they get into an accident? What if they smoke in the car? If they smoke pot in the car and get busted, your car could be impounded. How do they drive? Will they stress your car? If you nkow the person well it cna work great, but having a stranger drive it is not always a good idea.
5. Depending on where your car is, what kind it is and where you are going to, it may be cheaper in the long run to sell you car and buy a replacmeent at the new location.
6. Keep in mind, some states charge you a huge fee when you bring a car in from another state. (California is onesuch).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Something to think about
