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I'd avoid shipping the car. Lots of horror stories and just bad experiences from people I know, and that's a lot of money (a month's rent or more in most of the US). Basically it's an unregulated industry full of shady or just disorganized people, with lots of subcontracting of the driving to pretty much unaccountable people. Flatbed hauling of the car is a more specialized and much more expensive enterprise. What "shipping the car" generally means is that you pay someone $1200 and they pay a nephew or someone they find off Craigslist $200 plus expenses to drive the car to the destination. And good luck if the car is damaged or you have trouble reaching the shipping agent or driver when you're ready to pick up the car.
2000 miles is a pretty manageable 3-day drive (2 nights along the way) on the interstate. I'd go to AAA if you're a member and get a TripTik (step by step routing). If you average 60 mph you should be able to drive 12 hours per day and get all your driving done during daylight hours while sleeping at night. Definitely book the hotels/motels in advance for the ending points for those two days. I've done similar drives myself many times, and enjoyed it. I have experienced "no room at the inn" on the one occasion when I kept driving late into the night through Kansas (on my way to my brother in Colorado) and hadn't committed to an end point and a hotel room in advance.
3 nights in a motel.......$300-to $400
2000 miles @25mgp aprox $300 gas
3 meals daily $200-$300 depending on your taste
Tolls?
So you're in for around a$1,000 if you drive yourself.
I ship from NH to Fla for $800 each year with no problems
1,600 miles
for two months? I can't see any scenario where that makes sense.
I shipped my car from Boston to Denver, but I was making a permanent move and I was the single parent of a then 2 year old. Driving that distance with him was a non-starter but I wanted to keep my car and shipping it was less than selling and buying something different would have been.
For two months, either drive it there and back, or fly and rent something.
Drive it. Shipping can be a mess. You will note the delivery date is not meaningfully guaranteed. You will also note all sorts of waivers for damage.
Diving is fun.
If you hate driving, then why would you want a car when you get there? As someone mentioned, Uber is probably considerably cheaper, especially if you have to pay for parking.
I'll be spending two summer months in the southwest, about 2000 miles away. Buying a car there is not an option. I have looked into it and there are multiple issues. Renting for two months is not cheap either. Been looking at shipping my own car. The estimates I am getting are for about $1200. I do plan to drive it back though. It may or may not make financial sense. I am just a little weary of shipping my car, worrying about what could happen to it. Where is it going to be delivered at because I don't have an address there yet? Do they drop it at some depot waiting for a pickup?
Your options are simple, if not buying onsite. Two months makes it a pain, I suppose.
Guess you can't drive it? Not that that is always the smartest way, but just asking. In fact doing the math that's often NOT the "best" way. So you're right about that. Personally, I'd make that a helluva two day drive over a long weekend, not that you'll get much rest. I've done 1000+ mile days in cars, it's painful but very far from impossible.
Car shippers are notorious, check Rob F. on YouTube for stories on that. I too have heard such through the rumor mill. They lie, overcharge, run rackets (sometimes), and worse. Better find someone who is up-and-down, back-and-forth, reliable and not a scam.
You "can" have cars dropped various places. I've shipped one, Dodge to Porsche dealer, enclosed, that went just fine but did cost some coin for upscale service. Mandatory for exotics. That was 2016. Economy rates, you get sketchy service, which people don't seem to understand. Oh, I had a motorcycle taped up on a pallet and shipped Texas to WA, too, dealer to dealer, in 1998. That wasn't hard at all actually, friendly folk on both end (Triumph dealers). Not expensive, but that's different after all (forklift on, and off, unwrap that sucker, put some parts back on, off you go).
If sufficiently concerned, suck it up and drive yourself, end of story. I did that with a BMW 540i, 2,250 miles in 2+ days in March (2002) with garbage weather across half the damn country, so I went I-40 as I-90 and I-94 were non-starters due to blizzards or God knows what-all. Plague of frogs, floods, cows, who the hell knows as it was just obstacle after obstacle. But I made it, no damage, but those miles sure cost me in what turned out to be a garbage car bought used at that dreaded 60K mile milestone (when they start to fall apart). I mostly question why BMWs fall apart, along with Audi and Mercedes, but that's another story. I don't "regret" the trip but sliding around on ice, just missing blizzard(s) in Iowa and Nebraska, and other crap made me question the intelligence of the entire effort in retrospect. Think it over.
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