Nate Tempest

I recently purchased a Taycan Turbo S from a seller in Montreal and had it shipped out to Vancouver using Hansen's. When I received the car, it had a coolant warning on the dash, so I drove it straight to the local dealer, about 10 minutes away, who found that it was completely empty of coolant. When they got it on a lift, they found a significant dent in the undercarriage, and on pressure testing, coolant leaking out the sides of the battery enclosure.

I presented this evidence to Hansen's, and they claim that it did not occur during transport, and are refusing to cover it. They say because pictures of the undercarriage are not taken at drop-off, there is no way to know whether it happened before they had it. Of course this is nonsense, because the car had coolant when they got it, and not afterwards.

Also for what it's worth their claims department takes at least a week to respond to any contact, which suggests to me that they're dealing with a lot of claims. I thought they were a great deal, as you get enclosed (rail) transport for much less cost than a truck, but based on this experience it certainly doesn't seem worth it! Now it looks like I'm going to have to go to court to hopefully get this damage covered (which could be very expensive, as obviously the battery is the most expensive part of the car).

KILOFINAL

perfect example of why I've never used rail to transport vehicles across the country. Paying for an auto transporter door to door service was worth the cost. I've also heard horror stories about the car jockey's in the rail yards.

Gregster

That's insane! But not surprising given how the industry is for car shipping. Unfortunately that battery pack is going to be an INSANELY EXPENSIVE repair

bcrdukes

Wow, sorry to hear. I hope you get this sorted out.

I feel awful. I suggest a really good friend of mine to give these folks a shot.

Nate Tempest

Yeah, just dropping the battery to determine the extent of the damage is apparently 16 hours...

Gregster

We once sold an R8 and the buyer arranged transport. Transport showed up with a car carrier and had a hell of a time loading it. We took photos and filmed the car being loaded.

a month goes by and buyer calls us saying the transport company damaged the car and he wants us to pay. The reasoning? Because we let it leave. Anyways took ages to sort out and these companies operate on brokers. Lots of hands touch the car in process. Rail transport isnt the entire way either. We bought a Mercedes from Vancouver that got trucked to Calgary before being loaded on a train then unloaded in Winnipeg onto another truck. It went missing for 5 days and took 40 days to ship to Montreal

.2PDK

I had my R8 delivered from Ottawa by car transport specialists in enclosed trailer, we inspected the car for over an hour and it was perfect (I was concerned as it was my first time).

Can't remember the company name and lost some pics that were sent to me...

Slngshot

ya, no clue why rail was chosen with the money not spent by obtaining the cheapest taycan turbo on the market.

This is going to be a nightmare to resolve.

Onami

Very sorry to hear this. We ship other products throughout North America and I can tell you that our damage claims are through the roof this year. Much more than any other year! Unless you have indisputable proof that the car was received by Hansen's in perfect shape, you won't stand a chance on a damage claim. I'm out about $30k this year on shipping damage claims...

Just curious...did you have the car inspected on a lift before purchasing it? Just wondering if there was a reason that it was the cheapest in North America.

Nate Tempest

I had no idea enclosed rail was any riskier than enclosed truck! It wasn't any less convenient for me, so I didn't see a reason not to use it. I expect others would think the same, hence sharing this experience.

Nate Tempest

Not with pictures unfortunately, but I did speak to the dealer that services the car, and they'd just seen it, and told me it was mint, including the undercarriage. No damage, never winter driven, full PPF, no mechanical issues. Also under extended warranty.

It was briefly the cheapest Turbo S, but Canadian cars are all cheaper than US ones right now, so that just means it was the cheapest 2020 out of the 5 or so that were for sale at the time up here.

Regardless, the damage caused all the coolant to drain out, and it was definitely holding coolant when it was driven to the terminal, so it could only have happened in transport.

Adamant1971

Did they have a minimum ride height requirement? Usually, with rail, it is a min of 4 inches clearance.

Turbodan

ya lots of cars get damaged in transport. too bad the carriers almost never pay.
small claims court doesnt cost much.
good luck

Gregster

small claims wont cover the battery replacement on that car. It will need to be superior court filing and likely will be sent to arbitration

SToronto

I am assuming in this instance the car was picked up from source by non-enclosed transport (cheapest). Taken to a rail container yard to be placed into a rail container or regular rail car for vehicles (mostly enclosed with perforations on the sidewalls) then offloaded into rail yard at destination and onwards to final destination in another form of transport.

That would be similar to how pallet freight is done via rail.

Sea containers are brought to the source and a seal placed after its loaded, so there is no further handling on the goods inside the container. Assuming you are paying for full container. This process is more secure, provided the car is properly secured in the sea container.