Cross-Country car transport

Hi folks, I've googled the hell out of this but find nothing but noise. I'm moving from CA to VA, does anyone have experiences with a good closed-carrier car transportation service or company? Thanks in advance!

I had Horseless Carriage Carriers transport my Ferrari from CA to NYC. No problems and found the prices to be reasonable.

I think Intercity Lines is a forum sponsor at that other BMW forum. Possibly here too, though I didn't bother to check. They gave me a very competitive quote, though I ultimately decided my car didn't need the closed carrier treatment. Haven't heard any complaints about them though.

I did a lot of research before a 911 Turbo was shipped from Camarillo, CA to Houston, TX a few days ago.

Here is what to expect. You deal with brokers, and they try to make as much money as possible. The broker places a shipping requirement into some sort of data base. The carrier, moving about the country decides which cars to pick up, based on the type of auto due to his liability, but the bottom line is how much money your broker puts on the car to be shipped. It's like bounty hunting. The cars with the most incentive get shipped first, and cars with low incentive will never get picked up. There are more cars shipped across the country during the summer than in the winter, therefore, the incentives are higher, otherwise your car will never get picked up by the carrier. I was told there were 400 cars moving from CA to TX. I can't really say if that is a lot or not. I guess it depends on how many carriers are in CA going across the county, the southern route.

Sometimes a broker will give you a low quote only to find excuses for you to give him more money. He got you hooked. For example, a car from CA to TX for $600 incentive will get picked up. If the broker placea $500, the car may just sit there because the carrier can make more money picking up cars with higher incentives. So, when you hire a broker, regardless whether he wants some money up front or not, you pay the carrier when the car is delivered. A broker will take $100 to $200 fee, very typical. Any broker who will tell you he only charges $50 is lying to you. One question you have to ask the broker, how much money is he giving placing on the car to be shipped. The difference is what he make. He may tell you he is giving the carrier $600. In my case, I want the car ship ASAP, so my cost was $800. I could have negotiated a lower cost, but I want the car now! $200 from CC to the broker, and $600 to the carrier in cashier check.

The carrier does not keep his schedule. He has to pickup cars and offload others, so when he schedule with you to pickup your car, good luck that he will show up as agreed.

2 years ago, the Carrera S went from Houston to New Jersey. The guy in NY bought the car and paid for the shipping cost. And this Turbo I paid $800 to have it shipped from CA to TX. It got here in about a week, arriving late at night. I had to pick it up from about two miles from the house because the driver said his load couldn't clear some wires. I could bitch, but I rather receive the car than having the driver off load the cars on top, which would have taken a lot more time. I was too pissed to take any pictures. It was dark and the mosquitoes were out. I drove the car to a bright gas station to check for damage before signing off the release form. I have to agree that the carriers are pretty good to make sure the cars are not damaged.

When I moved from CA to TX, the BMW 330i got to ride inside the moving van because the mover got paid by the weight of the stuff inside the Mayflower. It was OK with me because the company was paying for the move.

I used DAS to ship my Triumph from San Diego to PA, enclosed carrier. I would not use them again.

My situation was a little different, but I used uship.com to transport my e34 parts car 300 miles for super cheap. Fill out a simple form with your requirements including pickup date, drop off date, covered or non-covered, special handling, etc. Watch the quotes roll in (of which all bidders can see, so within a few days the bidding gets super competitive!), and then pick your carrier based on their price/feedback rating/time availability.
You will get tons of bids from different transport companies. Make sure to check their feedback! It's not always best to go with the cheapest either.
If you've seen the show Shipping Wars, it's sponsored by uship.com.

Sent from my ADR6410LVW using Bimmer App

Originally Posted by goosefoot33

My situation was a little different, but I used uship.com to transport my e34 parts car 300 miles for super cheap. Fill out a simple form with your requirements including pickup date, drop off date, covered or non-covered, special handling, etc. Watch the quotes roll in (of which all bidders can see, so within a few days the bidding gets super competitive!), and then pick your carrier based on their price/feedback rating/time availability.
You will get tons of bids from different transport companies. Make sure to check their feedback! It's not always best to go with the cheapest either.
If you've seen the show Shipping Wars, it's sponsored by uship.com.

Sent from my ADR6410LVW using Bimmer App

I used uship and got bids to ship my CLK550 from Dallas to Los Angeles. $750 unenclosed. No issues, other than the car was dirty. I dont remember who the shipper was, but I recall it was an independent guy.

it is the luck of the draw. You basically hire a broker, give him money, and he checks for shippers, has a good idea the amount of money shipper is willing to accept to pick up a car at location A and to deliver it to location B. The less money he offers the available shippers, the less likely the car will be picked up. It's a game broker/shippers play. So, when the broker says he can have the car picked up and delivered, ask him how much money he is offering a shipper to do that. You can decide how much the broker should make for doing his job. It is difficult at the beginning of the process to determine when the car is picked up and when it gets delivered. I guess if the dollar is right, dates can be established right away, but if you are doing a normal ship, promised dates are lies.

Summer months tend to be more expensive because lots of cars get shipped around the country. Winter months, the demand dies down so shippers are willing to accept less money to pick up the car.

How do I know this? From experience. I had a car shipped from CA to TX in July. I paid $800 for shipping. I paid the broker $200 (credit card) and the carrier $600 (cashier check) when the car arrived. Could I have done it cheaper? Most likely, but I wanted the car ASAP because at that time, I was informed that there were 400 cars going from CA to TX. So, if you decide to "low ball" the shipper, your car will not be picked up. Some brokers will work for $50

Are you looking to ship your 335i?
If so, you can save some money and go with an open carrier. I've handled shipping countless cars for my customers and an enclosed carrier is only necessary if you're shipping something exotic, a show car, or something freshly restored.

If you drive your car on the normal road, and use it daily, you can go open.
You can request a top location for your car to avoid the possibility of another car leaking anything, but beyond that, save the money and don't pay for enclosed.

Shippers are usually very detailed with the cars, because they will be the ones paying for damage. It slows them down to deal with damaged cars, so they make sure they can pick up your load and move it as fast as possible.

Hopefully that info helps.

As for company recommendations, we use a national dispatch system. If you want it fast, offer more. If time isn't a big issue, start low and work your way up.

OP, what did you end up doing? I'd like some feedback as I'm also looking to ship a car from MD to CA.
I looked at the uship website and a quick quote said it's going to cost around $1,000. This would be for open carrier. Maybe I can get a cheaper price using that bidding system they have. Anyone tried that before?

I paid 1200 for a sketchy company that took 2 weeks from Georgia to Washington. It was stressfull, but the car made it in good shape besides being really dirty.

Originally Posted by Dave 330i

I did a lot of research before a 911 Turbo was shipped from Camarillo, CA to Houston, TX a few days ago.

Here is what to expect. You deal with brokers, and they try to make as much money as possible. The broker places a shipping requirement into some sort of data base. The carrier, moving about the country decides which cars to pick up, based on the type of auto due to his liability, but the bottom line is how much money your broker puts on the car to be shipped. It's like bounty hunting. The cars with the most incentive get shipped first, and cars with low incentive will never get picked up. There are more cars shipped across the country during the summer than in the winter, therefore, the incentives are higher, otherwise your car will never get picked up by the carrier. I was told there were 400 cars moving from CA to TX. I can't really say if that is a lot or not. I guess it depends on how many carriers are in CA going across the county, the southern route.

Sometimes a broker will give you a low quote only to find excuses for you to give him more money. He got you hooked. For example, a car from CA to TX for $600 incentive will get picked up. If the broker placea $500, the car may just sit there because the carrier can make more money picking up cars with higher incentives. So, when you hire a broker, regardless whether he wants some money up front or not, you pay the carrier when the car is delivered. A broker will take $100 to $200 fee, very typical. Any broker who will tell you he only charges $50 is lying to you. One question you have to ask the broker, how much money is he giving placing on the car to be shipped. The difference is what he make. He may tell you he is giving the carrier $600. In my case, I want the car ship ASAP, so my cost was $800. I could have negotiated a lower cost, but I want the car now! $200 from CC to the broker, and $600 to the carrier in cashier check.

The carrier does not keep his schedule. He has to pickup cars and offload others, so when he schedule with you to pickup your car, good luck that he will show up as agreed.

2 years ago, the Carrera S went from Houston to New Jersey. The guy in NY bought the car and paid for the shipping cost. And this Turbo I paid $800 to have it shipped from CA to TX. It got here in about a week, arriving late at night. I had to pick it up from about two miles from the house because the driver said his load couldn't clear some wires. I could bitch, but I rather receive the car than having the driver off load the cars on top, which would have taken a lot more time. I was too pissed to take any pictures. It was dark and the mosquitoes were out. I drove the car to a bright gas station to check for damage before signing off the release form. I have to agree that the carriers are pretty good to make sure the cars are not damaged.

When I moved from CA to TX, the BMW 330i got to ride inside the moving van because the mover got paid by the weight of the stuff inside the Mayflower. It was OK with me because the company was paying for the move.

Ive shipped several cars between CA and TX.
AVG cost to me is $500-600
Usually if im giving a good timeframe between pickup and delivery I can get it for low 500s.

Anyways typically if you can get a good broker it shouldn't cost more then $600!

Used some Red Carpet company for my 1921 Model T completely restored. By the time it got here the hood had fallen off and been all scratched, along with the whole vehicle. Needed completely repainted for $2500 even though the previous owner gave receipts for a paint job just a few months prior to shipment. The drivers were from overseas and barely spoke English, not to mention swearing at us in whatever language they spoke.
Finally, after filing compliant after complaint there insurance company paid out, and we got a decent amount. A huge pain in the ass, and definitely not something I would want to go through again.
The only part that was a bit humorous was when he arrived at our house and saw our giant grain bin set-up behind our house. First words out of his mouth: "Are those filled with oil? You must be rich!" Got a good chuckle out of that

Hello. Anyone know of empties? I need to move a daily driver that doesn't have to be enclosed from PA to CA.

Is this impossible for $700?

Thinking of those already doing the route.

Thanks!