Anyone Have Experience With Car Shipping? (Springville: renting, insurance, credit card)

[wmonde]

Hi, has anyone out there either shipped their car to UT via train or tractor trailer, or had a service or person drive it for a fee?

I've had some great recommendations from this board so I'm asking for your input yet again...

On another note, I moved to Utah County on January 15th and will be moving into my new Springville digs on February 15th. I LOVE IT HERE!

wm

[scirocco22]

I haven't personally had to have a car shipped but a friend of ours did last year and used these guys and was pleased with the service and the price:

http://www.a1autotransport.com/

Again, I can't vouch for them first hand.

Did you prefer it transported by truck? If you want to save money, yes, to have someone drive it to the destination I would assume will be much less expensive if you are not using a professional service. The thing is, if youre using a "nonprofessional," you've really got to trust that person and be sure to have all your bases covered as far as insurance and other contractual language go.

How far away is the car from Utah?

--'rocco

[wmonde]

It's (the car is) currently in South Florida.

I've looked at some carriers and am researching reputations, insurance, etc. Because I will be renting a car in the meantime, the speed and reliability of delivery is important.

Thanks for the input, I will look into it right away.

Cheers to all!

wm

[sunsprit]

I've shipped about 100 cars East Coast to Western USA. It's very problematic unless you are shipping a trailerload.

DAS or Horseless Carriage are two of the best in the business, but they do charge (very) premium rates.

You might want to google a few of the web sites where auto transporters are "rated" by the people who did business with them; there are some very bad apples out there in the transport biz.

IMO, the distance you're shipping the car should be on a semi-trailer and not driven (unless you want to do a "vacation" trip).

If you get to talking with a transporter, verify if:

1) they ship on an "owned" rig, open or closed trailer?

2) with full damage insurance coverage on your vehicle included

3) they document your car's condition with you present before and after the transport service

4) are they bonded and insured?

5) do they go door-to-door, or terminal to terminal?

or, do they only "broker" the load to just anybody through a network for their fee?

Do NOT pay in full for service in advance with cash or certified funds, especially before they will schedule your pick up. Pay only a partial payment up front with a credit card so that you have recourse for damages upon delivery. Verify the transporter's insurance coverage; this means actually contacting the insurance agent/company that they claim they're covered with to verify current and appropriate insurance coverages.

Ask if your vehicle will be loaded and unloaded enroute; this increases the chances of damage. (I had one car that was unloaded enroute and supposedly sat at a terminal awaiting transhipment ... but the car was driven over 1,000 miles in the weeks it awaited another trailer; the owner of the 1971 MB 280SEConv3.5 was not very happy with the blown up transmission upon delivery .... you could see all the mud packed in the trans/driveshaft tunnel when they ran it off the road and broke the trans pan, losing most of the trans fluid)

Be sure that vehicle pick up and delivery are scheduled in fair weather daylight hours only. You will want to inspect your vehicle very closely for possible damage. Take lots of pix before, and after, if needed. You must document your claim upon receiving the vehicle. Inspect underneath, too, for collision damage from loading and unloading.

In my 30+ years automotive experience, this is an industry that has an unusually high percentage of bad operations, outright frauds, and bad delivery drivers. Be very sceptical of marketing claims of owned big fleets and on-time service. Have the contact information directly to their insurance agent in hand before you let them touch your vehicle. If you're not comfortable with their insurance agent/claims department, don't ship with them.

[hsv]

you may also want to check out http://www.haulingdepot.com got a few quotes to compare and referred to a good company

[jld]

Downs Auto Transport is very reliable. http://www.downsautotransport.com

[NYtoVT]

I've used DAS (Dependable Auto Shippers) twice with very good results. Not cheap, though.

[michelleleigh]

My husbands company used DAS for our cars, I am assueming they were not that chepa, however our cars came fom Ny to Utah on time and in good codition and it was in December when we moved

[michelleleigh]

depending on your currant insurance for your car, it should be covered during transport, in fact I belive you have to have insurance on the car befor ti is transported anyways

[Phazed-Coug]

If I weren't employed I'd do it for a plane ticket out and about 400
+ your Gas card. It'd be here in 2-3 days...