lakeviking

Looking for some input on whether to drive or ship my car, from Georgia to Colorado, and recommendations for trucking company and estimated costs. I perused a couple prior threads involving shipping companies, but am looking for some recent experiences, and costs. I have a 2019 911 4s cabriolet, manual, with about 10,000 miles. I'm not concerned about the miles, as I drive my cars but end up with low miles because I have several. The car does not have a protective wrap (and I don't intend to get one). On the one hand, the lengthy drive (about 21 hours) might be "fun", but I've not driven my 911 for more than about 4 or 5 hours for any single outing, and though I am fit (early 60s with just the usual aches and pains), I'm weighing the potential wear & tear on me, and potentially the car (chips. windshield, etc.), versus the cost of shipping the car and any "risks" associated with shipping. Anyone make the cross-country drive and wish they hadn't? Are several/numerous chips unavoidable on such a journey? Any excellent enclosed shippers out there with an impeccable track record to put my mind at ease, and at what approximate cost? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Bud Taylor

If I don't have a job to deal with life is gonna become one big road trip. If you decide to ship, I have used uship now several times with very good results. Start the auction around 30 days in advance read the reviews to select someone good.

docskeet

Take your spouse, child, or buddy; and have an adventure. Take your time and enjoy the trip. If you drive the car it will end up with experience marks. “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for”.

2000se

A few years ago I found a 991 in Texas that I wanted to look at and potentially purchase. So, my daughter (12yrs) and I hopped on a one way flight to Texas. I decided if I liked the car I'd drive it back to NC. I did buy it and we drove the 20 hrs back but stopped all along the way. Made a fun trip of it and will never forget it. A great story to share between us. Memories like that never depreciate.

snake eyes

Plycar enclosed trailer. I have used them on two moves, from OKC to STL in 2016, and STL to ATL in 2020.
If you have the time to drive, do it... great excuse for a good roadtrip. I would otherwise ship it, like I shipped my porsche.

shklein911

I bought my 991.1 in Denver in September and drove it to LA on the first Sunday of the NFL season. It was a great day and a great way to become very familiar with my new obsession. I can't think of a better reason to drive the car you bought to drive!

BearsTransport

Feel free to PM me for rates and schedules.
Check out our reviews right here on Rennlist.

Liz
Bears Transport
847-810-7641

TXGerman

Personally, if my schedule allows, I would drive it and make a fun trip out of it. I wouldn't take the shortest route either, I would look for "interesting" side roads and fun things to see. As was mentioned previously, the memories of the trip are worth every penny. In my situation, the last two cars I purchased I flew one-way and drove them home. The last car I shipped (using uship btw) ended up damaged and I just really don't want to take that risk again or deal with that headache again. If I'm driving the car and I get a rock chip or something, well, that's a risk I'm willing to take rather than put my car in someone else's hands again. But that's just me.

huntflyer

I've taken my 911 on a couple of coast to coast trips and I've been super impressed with the "grand touring"capabilities of the car. If you aren't too concerned about the miles, especially given that it's one way, I'd recommend driving it. As far as not having your car PPF'd - that does add some level of risk, but as a one-off trip, I wouldn't let that hold you back.

Cut the drive into two days if you need to get there quickly, or three if time isn't as much of an issue.

One last piece of wisdom - every time I take a Porsche car or SUV on a long trip, I gain a greater appreciation for the versatility of the car and how well made they are.

jnolan

that is not a cross country drive, it’s not even a half cross country drive. I’d do the drive, you will see some amazing scenery. Take your time and do it in 3 days. Plan your route to see interesting attractions. I’m envious, when I load up my car trailer in CA and go to FL it is a 3 day cannonball run covering 1k miles a day. I don’t have time to see anything except a Love’s Travel Stop.

skl2

Do the drive! Just drove my TTS from Scottsdale to South Dakota and it was awesome. If you need to ship, I just helped a buddy get his C4S from NY to South Dakota and we used Plycar. They picked up the car within 4 days of securing the shipment and delivered it 3 days later. It was 2500 bucks I believe.

lakeviking

Thanks everyone for the input thus far. I'm trying to arrange shipping of some furniture from Georgia to Colorado (not giving up my Georgia residence, but pilfering lots of the furnishings for Colorado house), and thinking that I might just drive the 911 myself once the furniture leaves town. (I am retired, and have the time.) Moving companies are telling me it will be anywhere from 3 to 17 days for them to get the furnishings delivered, so I can surely beat them there, lol. It's a novel concept, though, for me to consider driving 21 hours across the country without a spare tire! I have the original P-zero tires, at 10,000 miles, and the tread seems okay...

duxsi

1-800-Porsche is your friend..

justabout

It all depends on the traffic load. Not as much fun in heavy traffic and will seem more like a chore than enjoyment. Do some upfront planning to avoid construction and bottlenecks.

I suggest getting a spare tire. Probably will not need it but that is one less thing to worry about. Travel during daylight to reduce the potential for hitting road debris and animals. Fiancé just returned to Pittsburgh from Indiana and noted lots of dead deer along the highways.

Enjoy!

barrett

I just had this exact same issue: I bought a 991 in North Carolina, and I needed it shipped to Texas where I live. I didn't have time in my schedule to drive the car myself, unfortunately.

So I searched Rennlist high and low for insights regarding shipping. Here's what I found:

1. There are two types of shippers: the ones you call yourself and deal with directly vs. calling a broker who identifies a shipper through its network. There is a general preference among the folks on Rennlist to deal with shippers directly, apparently. I guess the thought is you have more control over the situation.

2. Going from the above premise, I called a number of shippers: Masney, Plycar, Shaunnassy, JP Logistics, Reliable, InterCity, Horseless Carriage. Some carriers focus on certain routes and thus weren't available to ship from NC to TX. Of the ones that could take the job, prices varied between $1500 to $2400 (so a pretty significant swing). Wait times also varied. The shortest wait time I was given was by PlyCar (pick-up in 10 days, 3-4 days shipping); the longest was by Reliable (5-6 weeks before pick-up). So big swings there, too.

3. I decided to go with PlyCar based on the decent price and the relatively short wait time. Communication, however, was pretty poor: it was hard to reach my contact person, and no paperwork was provided until I insisted on receiving something. The pick-up date was pretty vague, and when that projected week for pick-up came and went, I couldn't get a definitive picture of when pick-up would actually occur. Then when I finally heard from them, it had been pushed back a week. Then it looked to be pushed back to the following week. Meanwhile, the car I had bought was just sitting at the dealership.

4. So I thought about using a broker, who has access to many more carriers. I got comfortable with using a broker under the following thinking: if I deal with a carrier directly, I'm just one customer. If I deal with a broker, the carrier is likely going to want to do right by that broker, because the broker is responsible for giving that carrier multiple jobs over time. So if you find a good broker, you might actually have more leverage with the carrier than you would if you were dealing with the carrier directly.

5. I called Liz at Bears Transportation. Bears is a broker, but as I soon found out, they're awesome. Every time I contacted Liz, I either reached her immediately or got a response very shortly after. I called her maybe on a Friday, telling her my tale of frustration. She put a search out for an expedited pickup. The car was picked up from the NC dealership THE NEXT DAY (Saturday), and it was in my possession on Monday. Not a scratch on the car. The price--even expedited--was on the cheaper end of the spectrum. Liz gave the driver of the transport my contact information, and I spoke and texted with him while he was en route. There were no surprises (other than modifying the dropoff point a bit, due to narrow streets). In short, LIZ CAME THROUGH IN A BIG WAY FOR ME, AND I CAN'T RECOMMEND HER HIGHLY ENOUGH.

This was, of course, just my experience, and YMMV.