Car/Auto Transport Recommendations?

[VBD]

Hello! I'm trying to figure out how best to ship a car across the country on an affordable price. Specifically, I am trying to figure out how to move a midsized sedan car from the L.A. region to a suburb of Seattle, WA. Are there any companies fellow forum members recommend? 

 

Is there any difference in the quality of customer service if it is arranged through a broker vs. the transport company itself?

If the car is shipped in an "open" option rather than an "enclosed" is there /that/ great a difference in preventing damage to the car?

Someone once told me that contacting locally-based brokers/affiliates of national companies may guarantee a lower price and better customer service than a national company directly. Has someone actually tried this?

Thanks in advance. When doing a regular google search, some companies come up, and I've been trying to get free quotes from google'd companies, but some ask for a lot of info, like full name, phone number, email, etc before I can even get a quote. So it's been a bit frustrating to say the least. I appreciate any answers. 

[Monochrome Spring]

Is it possible to hook it up to the back of a UHaul truck when you move the rest of your stuff?

[iowaguy]

Couple of thoughts - that's a great road trip, why not hook it on the back of a U-Haul as keawood suggests?

 

Rather than shipping it through a company, it might be cheaper to have a friend/parent drive it up & then buy them a one-way ticket back to L.A.

 

If the car is not super nice/new, might be cheaper to sell it in L.A., and then buy an equivalent car in Seattle.

[ak48]

I'm interested also, going West to East Coast.

 

LA to Washington's probably a doable drive though.

[VBD]

Is it possible to hook it up to the back of a UHaul truck when you move the rest of your stuff?

 

 

Couple of thoughts - that's a great road trip, why not hook it on the back of a U-Haul as keawood suggests?

 

Rather than shipping it through a company, it might be cheaper to have a friend/parent drive it up & then buy them a one-way ticket back to L.A.

 

If the car is not super nice/new, might be cheaper to sell it in L.A., and then buy an equivalent car in Seattle.

Agreed, it could be a good road trip. However, I suppose I'll have to make some clarifications. This move is for a friend who is moving up to that area for a short 3 month internship. (Notice I never used the words, "my car" in the previous post ) Since it's such a short stay, my friend is hesitant to sell the car (plus probably other personal sentiment reasons?) and deal with that hassle. Furthermore, most of the classmates of the friend are starting on THEIR internships required as part of the program, so no one's really available to execute iowaguy's good plan. Apparently road-tripping it was considered, but for personal logistics reasons (and probably car-related reason -- the car might not make the mountainous route well). So thanks for the suggestions, but it's just not possible for them at this time. Still would appreciate suggestions on car shipping companies though

[MadScience]

You can try Uship.com - my Uncle has used them to ship a car with no problems. It's basically a site where thousands of movers bid on different shipments listed by different people. The shipping companies will bid on your shipment and keep bidding lower until the time runs out.

[rising_star]

Might be easier to just use a car rental service (ZipCar, Hertz Connect, etc.) in Seattle... The cost of renting a car when you need one might be less than the cost of shipping.

[Purplescarves]

Montway Auto Transport

[danieleWrites]

It's cheaper to ship in an open trailer than a closed one. You've seen them on the road, a semi pulling a trailer that has two rows of cars, one on top of the other. The damage is usually little to nothing. An exposed car will have weather elements, bugs, and whatever rocks that get kicked up by the drive tires on the semi and aren't deflected by the flaps. The difference between a broker and a company is the difference between who pays for the guy in the seat of the semi. A company has a fleet and that company pays the drivers, or subcontracts to another company that does it. A broker offers the job up and companies/owner-operators take the job. The broker is a middle man who can sometimes swing a better deal, but sometimes not. Logistics is very competitive right now. I don't know if you're more likely to get a better driver from a broker or a company. Most of that would depend on price and insurance, I would think. Shop around for price and make sure they're insured. The other consideration will be delivery time.

 

However, it's Seattle. Washington in the summer is for bicyclists. They have a metric ton of public transit. While I wouldn't move to one of the midwestern states without a car (no public transportation at all around K-State!), if there were other options for transit, and I was to be there for a few months, I would leave the car behind. We're talking a thousand or more to transport the thing. But that's me and not everyone else!

[cancergrad]

I'm interested also, going West to East Coast.

 

LA to Washington's probably a doable drive though.

We should trade cars I'm going from Washington to LA  jk

[mpheels]

Thanks in advance. When doing a regular google search, some companies come up, and I've been trying to get free quotes from google'd companies, but some ask for a lot of info, like full name, phone number, email, etc before I can even get a quote. So it's been a bit frustrating to say the least. I appreciate any answers. 

 

It is standard practice for moving companies (both car and home) to ask for contact information. They aren't going to give you a quote online. They will have someone call and get all the details to prepare the quote. It might be worth setting up an email account and google voice number just for the moving process, so you can turn them off when you're done.

[VBD]

Hey, I just wanted to update you guys. Thanks for the suggestions (and explanations -- to DanieleWrites and mpheels), everyone. We got a car shipment planned soon and for cheaper than expected. We also did set up a dummy email account for communications purpose and it worked out well. 

In case others, like Ak48, are interested, some of the companies mentioned lead me down a google rabbit hole of a car transport review site. In addition to searching individual companies, we were able to search by shipment route: http://www.transportreviews.com/directory/infobyroute.asp and found a company that works for my friend. Good luck to others trying to ship cars!

[justinb96]

I actually just shipped my car from Miami to Los angeles with a company in Florida All Day Auto Transport. They were real helpful and picked up my car in a timely fashion. I would recommend them to any one shipping a car across country [link removed]

[florida_boca]

I had really good results with [linked removed] . They have an A- rating with the Better Business Bureau.

Edited January 11, 2016 by TakeruK

[Dropit]

There's a lot to address here, but I've shipped a car a couple times so I'll do my best to answer your questions. As far as a difference in quality of service between a broker and a transporter, that really depends on the company. some brokers have a good reputation and some do not--the same can be said of transporters. It's a good idea to call them and see what kind of professionalism they convey over the phone before getting an estimate. I've personally stuck with one company over the years, A1 Transporters Inc, because they were really good about answering my initial questions and seem to have offices all over the U.S. 

As far as using an enclosed transport carrier, that's really not necessary unless you're shipping an expensive or high-end car. It does cost more and the small bit of extra protection is more for peace of mind than anything (in my opinion, anyway). Regardless of which option you choose, insurance must be included as part of the cost so you'll be protected against damages caused by the shipper anyway.

I don't know that contacting a local affiliate is any cheaper. There's also a bit of danger in taking the cheapest option if it's drastically lower than all the other estimates you receive. That's usually a red flag and signals a company you should probably avoid, or at the very least, inquire as to how their price is so much lower. Hope this helps. 

 

[Dropit]

Sorry, did not catch the original date on this. Hopefully you've addressed this by now!

[Jerrygjones]

On 4/29/2013 at 4:43 PM, VBD said:

Hello! I'm trying to figure out how best to ship a car across the country on an affordable price. Specifically, I am trying to figure out how to move a midsized sedan car from the L.A. region to a suburb of Seattle, WA. Are there any companies fellow forum members recommend? 

 

Is there any difference in the quality of customer service if it is arranged through a broker vs. the transport company itself?

If the car is shipped in an "open" option rather than an "enclosed" is there /that/ great a difference in preventing damage to the car?

Someone once told me that contacting locally-based brokers/affiliates of national companies may guarantee a lower price and better customer service than a national company directly. Has someone actually tried this?

Thanks in advance. When doing a regular google search, some companies come up, and I've been trying to get free quotes from google'd companies, but some ask for a lot of info, like full name, phone number, email, etc before I can even get a quote. So it's been a bit frustrating to say the least. I appreciate any answers. 

 

For anyone else looking I've found this great auto transport company www.smartautomove.com the have weekly trips from all major cities and offer flat rates with gauranteed dates. If you visit their site find their "Cities and Fares" page. I too was having a hard time finding a trustworthy auto transport company. the people at smart auto move were very nice and all went well with my transport.

[jacksontom]

It depends according to the company you choose (customer service) and the price may go higher when you select a broker. When a ship through a enclosed container it protects your vehicle from harsh weather and also damage. Personally i recommend companies like uship, AAA, autotransportusa etc.

[jon1241]

I have used TCI logistics Inc to move my car to Arizona and back from Illinois.

Gave me a great deal, while their communication was out standing.

If you are looking for a reliable auto transport, I would definitely recommend TCI Logistics Inc, I had used another company before them that stopped answering their phone after my vehicle was damaged while in transit. So far, TCI logistics has been outstanding.

Look them up at TCIships.com,  they have an online calculator.

Good luck guys.

[Val_nbc]

this thread has been sitting here for awhile, but if anyone comes back to this I used Corsia Logistics when I moved to California.

here https://www.corsia.us/

I'm new here and I am trying to find info about MBA on this forum. will appreciate any links to a thread.

thanks