Best/Cheapest Car Shipping

[seafeye]

I just bought a project car and was looking around for transport pricing.
I must have typed in my stuff on some form somewhere because i had 20 trucking companies asking for my business.
To have a car shipped from Birmingham Alabama to Charlotte NC and the quotes went from $325 to $900. $900 was Fedex.

The mean price was $375. Do a google search and enter in your info. It's a really tough market out there so prices will be reasonable.

[coolbreeze551]

I appreciate the heads up. Does anyone have names of companies or websites that I can contact?

[jcb986]

Google search...uShip...hire an independent...stay open on pickup and delivery. Here you my find a hauler working your area. Plus, you can make a deal. Post the pickup and delivery zips and place a price on what you want to pay. Sit back and see what happens.

[NomadicRiley]

I had this same dilemma and used Reliable Auto Carriers http://www.reliable-carriers.com/ to ship my Boxster from Ohio to Texas in Feb of this year and I can't say enough good things about them. Everything was very professional, enclosed trailer, etc. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

[coolbreeze551]

Originally Posted by jcb986

Google search...uShip...hire an independent...stay open on pickup and delivery. Here you my find a hauler working your area. Plus, you can make a deal. Post the pickup and delivery zips and place a price on what you want to pay. Sit back and see what happens.

That's more like it. There should be more of these kinds of sites where companies compete for your business. I signed up and will hopefully be getting a good deal soon. Great Idea! Cheers

[Lil bastard]

One option to consider would be POD storage.

I bought a BMW 2002 Parts Car (a roller) to aid in the restoration of my 2002 from a seller in San Luis Obispo, CA. It just fit into the PODS container and the seller was willing to do the appropriate tie-down, padding, etc.

PODS had the container picked-up same-day and transported it to my location in the Midwest via Rail. I needed to buy a $15 overnight storage permit from my municipality to keep the emptied POD on the street overnight until pick-up the next day, but all-in, it cost me $325.00 and the car arrived safely and in 5 days.

PODS isn't the only game in town using container storage, and I'm not certain a Boxster would fit. But if it does, this is a viable, safe, efficient and inexpensive option.

Cheers!

[coolbreeze551]

I like that PODS idea. That seems like it would be the best of the ones I have heard so far. Has anyone paid an individual to drive their car to them? If so, what was that experience like?

Thanks

[Stroked & Blown]

Whatever you do, make sure the carrier is insured and/or check to see if your car insurance will cover any damage during shipping.

[mikefocke]

I used to drive-away cars for owners relocating from Northern Climates to Florida. Great way to get to spring break. Let me tell you the benefits of driving the Caddy owned by a brewery VP. The downside was no trunk space for luggage.

Seriously it can work out just fine or be a horror show. Depends on the people involved. Mine always worked fine and there were no insurance incidents. Not sure what the legalities should be in today's more litigious climate.

That was in the day you could hitchhike back. Now you have to figure plane fare back and one way tickets cost many loonies. It may be just as cheap to have it shipped.

One thing you may not have considered is the complexity of the cross border transit for either shipping or drive-away. In today's sad situation, the transit for a non-owner may be a bit of trouble. Can you pick the car up just on the US side of the border and import it yourself as the owner.

In any case, I'd get a bunch of pictures on the day the pick up is made sent to me before it drove off the lot just to establish the condition at pickup.