Hi there Car Talk Community,
We want to know about your personal experiences with shipping your car!
The good, the bad, the ugly… We want to know it all!
Never done it. On the east coast the railroad evidently will ship you and your car down to Orlando but space is limited.
When I was afraid I was going to win that 57 t bird in Boston, I was concerned how I would get it to Minnesota during virus high tide. The guy that painted my house said he knew someone that could do it cheap. Fortunately a guy down the road a little won it instead. When I talked to him he said a car dealer in town had a load from Boston and they just put it on the transport truck.
So check with local dealers first. They move cars around all the time.
Following…
I was going to ship a car about a 1,000 miles away (a few years ago) and ship another one back, I checked with several company’s and all were over $1,000 each way, I said never mind… I am interested in what others have done in recent years also…
The word on the street seems to be there will be a lot of folks involved who will be holding their palms up. Add to that car-parts thieves who tend to prey on cars being shipped. Good idea to expect to encounter some major expenses.
That is in line with new car delivery costs.
Do you have any real facts to backup that made up statement ?
It greatly depends on the condition of the car, the distance and of course how much you want to spend.
For example, moving a “drivable car in need of significant restoration”, from several hundred miles away, on a return trip to the Port can be relatively cheap but involve some inconvenience and some additional damage.
Then there’s what I call the “Snowbird Express” transporting Daily Drivers back and forth to Florida, entailing less inconvenience and less chance of damage but costs more.
And finally there’s the enclosed Custom Carriers offering the most in protection and convenience at the highest prices.
You gets what you pays for.
I can’t provide much on the front end of the process. My move was part of a relocation package where they agreed to ship 2 cars and a motorcycle as part of the A package.
Reasonably well. They showed up on time on both sides and the loading unloading process went relatively smoothly with exceptions noted below.
I had 6 cars and they would only ship 2. Plus, someone else was paying for it.
eastern WI to eastern MA
Shipping process was not difficult from my perspective. Spoke to them beforehand, explained what they would be transporting and any potential difficulties. It was a bit disconcerting that there could be transfers along the way. One truck only going so far, then transfer cars to another truck for next leg and so on. No guarantee it was a straight run for one truck. And this in fact did happen. One car was a Corvette with low clearance for loading, the other a hot rod with unusual transmission so not intuitive to use.
Nationally recognized transporter
Take lots of photos and make sure you’re insured. They ended up causing some damage and I had to file claims. Pictures were critical. And they tried to lowball the compensation of course.
Enclosed. No way I wanted my cars exposed to elements, debris, nefarious people seeing them and wanting to steal them or something from them…
I watched the guy unloading my hotrod and he unhooked and threw one end of the strap over the top. But he did not clear it and the buckle came down against the door. Dented it and scratched the paint. Thank goodness I was there to see it because he tried to ignore it and then downplay it when I brought it up. There was some other damages from the transport. Custom metal flake paint job they tried to offer $50 to fix. Got quotes for around $2500. Then the battle ensued. Insurance was key to making me whole.
Don’t know how but they also seemed to damage one of the retractable headlamps on the vette. Perhaps during their truck swap at night?
The vintage vette I personally pulled on a rented trailer behind my truck got there undamaged and on-time 
It would have been shipped by an enclosed trailer transporter, one way with no stops except for fuel and stuff, but no trailer swapping…
No way I would ship a car open trailer unless I was the one driving… lol
The prices were right before Covid hit (2018/2019)…
