Shipping car to SRQ area

[Big House]

Originally Posted by Coachgns

Thanks, SJ. Glad to hear you had a good experience with them. However, they seem to have many more negative reviews on TransportReviews than most other companies.

Coachgns, I have no direct history with shipping cars, and don't know any shippers of cars. But a friend of mine who is a whole sale dealer (very very small operation) sells cars on ebay all the time, and ships them with the lowest cost shippers he can find - he hasn't had a problem. But, caution is always wise. Let me know how it turns out.

By brother in laws father, rides a train down and has the train ship his car with him to Orlando, then he drives the rest of the way. He loves the trip. Don't know if that is of any interest.

[Harbor Hopper]

Originally Posted by Ladywithafan

It's an opinion board, chill out!

Just rude...

[Coachgns]

Originally Posted by Big House

Coachgns, I have no direct history with shipping cars, and don't know any shippers of cars. But a friend of mine who is a whole sale dealer (very very small operation) sells cars on ebay all the time, and ships them with the lowest cost shippers he can find - he hasn't had a problem. But, caution is always wise. Let me know how it turns out.

By brother in laws father, rides a train down and has the train ship his car with him to Orlando, then he drives the rest of the way. He loves the trip. Don't know if that is of any interest.

We are booked on the Autotrain, but there are problems with that. First of all, the cost is $800 for the two of us.
They have sleeper cars but none are available, so we'd spend 18 hours sitting in a coach style seat - after driving 5 hours (If we don't hit traffic in NYC, Philly or DC area so it'll probably be more), and then have to drive 3+ hours after getting to Orlando. And I kind of have a "psychlogical" limit of about 3-4 hours driving at a time. So I think shipping car & flying down is much better for me personally - except for the fear of what could happen to my car during shipping. But then again, that's what insurance is for! :-)

[Big House]

Originally Posted by Coachgns

We are booked on the Autotrain, but there are problems with that. First of all, the cost is $800 for the two of us.
They have sleeper cars but none are available, so we'd spend 18 hours sitting in a coach style seat - after driving 5 hours (If we don't hit traffic in NYC, Philly or DC area so it'll probably be more), and then have to drive 3+ hours after getting to Orlando. And I kind of have a "psychlogical" limit of about 3-4 hours driving at a time. So I think shipping car & flying down is much better for me personally - except for the fear of what could happen to my car during shipping. But then again, that's what insurance is for! :-)

Well, if you follow up on the autotrain, let us know about your experience. I haven't done it yet, but have considered it with all the trips we take back and forth.

[photoman_6]

Big House, I have used the autotrain and can't complain about the service. Here are a few observations:
the sleeping compartments are tiny... amazingly so. trying to change clothing in a turned down compartment is an experience.
The bathroom is...down the hall. so if you habitually wake up in the middle of the night...
depending on how you were loaded, it could take you a long time to get your car at the destination.

It can be quite a drive from your terminal to where you're eventually going.

[Big House]

Originally Posted by photoman_6

Big House, I have used the autotrain and can't complain about the service. Here are a few observations:
the sleeping compartments are tiny... amazingly so. trying to change clothing in a turned down compartment is an experience.
The bathroom is...down the hall. so if you habitually wake up in the middle of the night...
depending on how you were loaded, it could take you a long time to get your car at the destination.

It can be quite a drive from your terminal to where you're eventually going.

I know that is the case if you are coming down from the north, but on the return trip, the drive would be less than an hour. I don't remember, but do they allow pets? I guess I'll have to check that out. It is a nice option to think about. Thanks for reminding me, I have a trip north coming up soon.

[Coachgns]

Originally Posted by Big House

I know that is the case if you are coming down from the north, but on the return trip, the drive would be less than an hour. I don't remember, but do they allow pets? I guess I'll have to check that out. It is a nice option to think about. Thanks for reminding me, I have a trip north coming up soon.

Unfortunately, they do NOT accept pets. Fortunately, the dog that became a member of our family when we were in Fla fit under the seat in the plane, so she's now up north.

She clearly misses fla though. Every morning, first thing she does, even before potty, is to go sit in the sunbeam that comes in the LR window! :-)

[imagardener]

Just thinking, cruise ships could have a whole new business of shipping people and cars from NE US in the fall to Florida (or SC or GA) ports and then doing the reverse in the spring.

2 -3 day cruise. what a great idea. you heard it here first :-)

[Randy Forbes]

I get cars shipped to me all the time (one from Wyoming in the garage right now) and have compiled a list of companies I'd use again. It's a short list.

DO NOT put a car cover on a car being carried on an open transporter! The wind buffeting the cover will chaff the paint. And frankly, as long as the tractor has decent fuel filters on it (the soot issue), your car will be less likely to get any stone chips on the top level.