Shipping a Car Across Country: PFers, Can You Help Me?

[Pengwuino]

Does anyone know a good way to ship a car across the country? I saw on this megastupid/awesome show Shipping Wars on A&E where people bid on transporting things across country. I found their website: uship.com and am thinking of using it to see how much it will cost to ship, but I also wanted to see if any of you crazy PFers know of a good ways to have a typical mid-sized 4-door sedan shipped across country.

I NEED YOUR HELP PF, IF YOU CAN'T HELP ME, LIFE WILL BE FOR NOT!ONE

Thx <3

 

[turbo]

Car dealerships have access to shippers that use car-carriers (big trailers with hydraulic ramps and lifts) to move vehicles around the country. Ask around. Some dealer near you might have a load (or partial load) that needs to get from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast, and you could piggy-back on that.

This might be a bit late, but if there is a student in your area that needs to get cross-country, (s)he might be willing to buy gas and drive your car instead of paying air fare.

 

[Ben Niehoff]

I have had my car shipped on a car carrier across the country. It's expensive. Luckily I didn't have to pay for it myself. My parents arranged everything, so I can't really help you figure it out.

Now that I'm on my own, I wouldn't attempt to do things that way, I don't have the cash. When I moved from NorCal to SoCal, I put my car on a trailer hitched to the back of a U-Haul truck.

 

[phyzguy]

I have had my car shipped on a flatbed trailer, and I agree with turbo. The cheapest thing is to find somebody to drive it - or drive it yourself. I also once had my car driven into the back of the moving van and shipped with my household goods. Funny story - in the mountains the moving van broke down and the driver got our car(which happened to have 4-wheel drive) out of the van and drove it to get help. We could tell it had been driven in the mud, while it had been clean when it was loaded.

 

[Hepth]

I think it was about $800 to ship a VW GTI from Michigan to LA 2 years ago.
2400 miles @ 30mpg @ $4/gal = $320
+ 38 hours of driving for two people = another hundred for food, maybe lodging one night?

We figured we were basically paying about $300 for the luxury of not having to be in the car for 38 hours. (and air fare)

It was delivered with just a regular multi-deck car trailer and dropped off right where we were staying.

 

[Evo]

Call a moving company. They always try to fill up their moving vans and they will transport cars. I've done it.

 

[Pengwuino]

The situation is such that I can't drive the car over myself. It seems like having it towed or put in a car transport will be the best idea. We're driving over there in an SUV so we might just get a little uhaul trailer to haul my personal goods. We're simultaneously moving me out to Atlanta and taking a giant family vacation so it's a rather complex situation :P

 

[edward]

There are a lot of vehicle shipping companies out there due to people buying cars online.

http://www.nationaltransportllc.com/

This one is supposed to be good.

 

[QuarkCharmer]

It's almost always cheaper to drive a car to it's destination. If that's not possible, you can tow it. I towed my car on a Uhaul trailer behind a Uhaul van across the country and it saved me a ton, albeit, was a boring drive.

What exactly are you doing? Are you flying somewhere? If so, why can't you drive there? Are you taking a second car and need to get the other car there as well? Can one tow the other?

What are the details of the situation?

 

[jtbell]

If there's a "we" involved, why can't both (or two) of you drive in a mini-caravan?

 

[Pengwuino]

So the thing is that we're (my family and I) are moving me out to Atlanta this summer. At the same time we're kind of doing a cross-country vacation/tour, so it's not just a straight shot to Atlanta. I need to put my car over in Atlanta as well.

We could drive with two cars, but we always worry about what might happen to the car on the long trip. With this in mind, we figured we should just ship it over. We're also on a tight schedule so we can't lose days due to a car malfunction on my car. My parents are getting a new car so we don't need to worry about anything with that one.

 

[I like Serena]

Did you consider selling and buying?
(Effectively you'd be teleporting the car. ;)
It may be cheaper than transporting.

 

[Pengwuino]

Did you consider selling and buying?
(Effectively you'd be teleporting the car. ;)
It may be cheaper than transporting.

The car is a 2001 and I think buying an equivalent car gives us a high chance of buying a crappy, poorly maintained replacement. Plus it seems like a big hassle if we can get the thing shipped for maybe $750.

This isn't out of the question, though. The car is a bit dated :)