H2

I'm talking to someone about buying an $17K car in New York...but it would have to be shipped all the way across the country to Washington State. Does anyone have any experience with approximately what it could cost to ship a car that distance? Companies that you might recommend? Cautions?

The reason this is important is that one has to take these costs into consideration when making a purchase. If you frontload the purchase price too much (shipping, new tires, new glass, new this and that, etc., pretty soon you can be over market value by quite a bit if you don't watch it). I know what the other things can cost but have no idea how much shipping costs might affect the total cost of what I'm buying. What's your experience?

Thank you,

Harvey

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Harvey:

You should budget around $ 1400-1500 for a one-way trip from NY to Washington.

The cheapest is NOT always the best and I'd talk to Fred at Concour Transport. Reach him at 702.361.1928 and mention my name. These guys are VERY good at what they do.

J. Brinkley

I used these guys, they came highly recomended $1000 for a nine hundred mile trip. (there was a fuel surcharge last year). quality outfit best I could tell
http://www.intercitylines.com

84_Carrera

I looked at hauling from Albany NY to San Francisco last year in preparation for the National SHO Convention. Estimates I got were between $700-$1000. HOWEVER, if you coordinate with others & rent the entire hauler (in my case, 10-car open-air trailer), the cost was $3000 for all 10 cars one-way.

Look into Rail as well - I was given an estimate a couple of years back for $800 terminal to terminal from Huntington Beach CA to Providence RI.

Of course, you could always make an adventure out of it like I did when I went out to Michigan to get my '84 Cab this year. ROAD TRIP!

hoffman912

ill second the road trip. just make sure to get a ppi, and have the shop do prep before bringing it back. (and be prepared with tools and books & spare parts just incase somthing happens).

cross country road trip (gas, food and hotel), can cost about 300 bucks and up one way. i wouldnt do it during this time of year though (weather).

wwest

Cost quote from "sunday", ad in Panorama, was $4100 to ship two 911s from Redmond to Daytona. Looking for a lower quote.

H2

This car in question has been sitting for TWO years...not quite the candidate for driving through winter storms all across the country. Otherwise I'd just do a red-eye and drive it home. However, if I can buy it right....maybe I can help offset the transportation costs.

Your comments are really helpful and are giving me some idea on what I should consider doing. Then again, a vendor will be prejudiced to sell the car to someone closer than lower the price to help me offset the purchase price....so I may be had on the cost end. I don't know what guys on eBay do who end up looking at a car close for the first time (and not liking it) after it arrives at their doorstep via an expensive transport.

Thanks!

Harvey

justkickenit

I bought mine on ebay. After a clean PPI, I flew to Colorado to complete the transaction, then drove it to the shipping terminal and then flew home. I felt more comfortabe doing it this way rather than buying it blindly. It was a good experience for me. However, I've heard of horror stories. I would definately ask for various recent high res photos as low res will hide imperfections that may suprise you when the car gets to your door. It cost me $1094 to have my car shipped top-loaded in an enclosed carrier from Denver to San Jose, CA using DAS. I was very happy with DAS - the car didn't have a scratch (and they washed it for me before I picked it up). Plus they have GPS on the trucks so you can follow your car around the country (I'm sure all carriers do).

Bill Gregory

I used Intercity for a cross county shipment, and it went without any problems or issues. Around $1200, as I recall. You can go to their web site and request a quote. The cheapest would be an open air carrier, enclosed carriers are more expensive, and, IMHO, worth it. Any damage I've received shipping cars has happened on open carriers.

951vr4

I also used DAS shipping because it was linked to the E-Bay sellers page and they had tracking of car info. I bought a 88 944 turbo and since it was not big money, I just shipped it from California to NY on an open trailer, on the bottom (top rack is optional and more money), and regular service (can be up to 2 weeks- which it was) as opposed to express service. All for $450.00. I was a little nervous afterwards, when I found out that a member from another car forum (3000gt) had his car shipped by the same company but had a bad experience-workers at the staton had taken car for a joy ride and messsed with his piggyback fuel system to the point were the car would not start afterwards. My car arrived without drama and they did have detailed writeup of all the imperfections they found on car before shippnig (much more than seller had described in add or shown in pictures- get high resolution pictures at the least).

Tom Tweed

You might also want to call Frank Beck at Competition Transport in AZ. Enclosed transport for a car coast-to-coast should be around $1200.

TT