My son is moving to California and needs to ship his car from the Raleigh, NC area to Nevada City, CA (between Sacramento and Reno).

He’d like it done in the next couple weeks at a reasonable price.

Anybody done this before and have some recommendations or advice?

Thanks in advance!

My best suggestion and maybe the cheapest is a road trip. If not then check out the Amtrak auto hauler train thing. I have no experience with the latter but have looked it up once or twice.

Auto train is a NO-GO. It runs from DC to FL only (it was a privately run op until Amtrak bought it).

A road trip is probably the lowest cost option. Barring that, hire a college student or a retiree to drive it for him.

Shipped a 1965 Corvette across country 15 years back, in a covered trailer. Cost the Buyer basically a dollar a mile.

What type car?

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
What type car?

Probably not a 1970 Dodge Challenger...

Unfortunately I think you'll have to deal with the GOOD -- FAST -- CHEAP equation.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
What type car?

It’s a V6 Mustang, nothing special.

I've shipped three cars in five years buy using one shipping site or another. It has averaged about $750. Two shipped Texas to Iowa and the third Florida to Iowa. The car shipping industry is an odd one (at least to this outsider). It seems like everybody that is a shipper is also a broker and your odds of seeing your car on the actual shipper you hire's truck is slim.

My suggestions are as follows:

1) Temper your expectations about how long it will take. Add a few days to your fuse because there are a lot of things that can happen and they're going to move the truck in the most profitable way.

2) Be explicit and clear about your pickup and delivery expectations. Put it in writing. Get affirmative confirmations on yours terms.

3) If something goes awry, accept that they have your car and you may have to absorb a bit to get it delivered.

My two Texas purchases were smooth, but the shipping was a little on the slow side. Both sets of drivers were professional and prompt once they got to my area. Great communication.

The Florida purchase...took nearly an extra week to get the car to me because of mechanical problems. Lots of problems with the dispatcher from the shipping company. They were supposed to call the night before they would deliver and they gave an hour's notice, which caused big problems as I work nights, live on gravel, it was snowing, below zero, and they were delivering a 911. The DRIVER, was great, but the dispatcher sucked. We had an exchange that was something like "It's not my fault you live in Iowa!" and my reply "it's not my fault you didn't call me in advance as we arranged."

I've tried doing it 3 times over the past 15 years. Always from Wa. State to SC. Every Single Time it has been easier to just drive the vehicle. It's just easier less expensive and I get it to my house and never have to wonder where it is or when it will actually arrive.

Agree on driving. Most people I know that have shipped cars when moving have had damage or other issues. High quality shipping (like for collector cars) is going to be expensive. Low cost, you get what you pay for.

check out Intercity or Applewood

its how I shipped my Ferrari's

2 weeks? That's not much time to arrange this.

Is he using a commercial moving company to move his belongings? Is he using a service like U-haul to move himself?

Does he have a pickup too, or just the Mustang?

One possibility is to rent a U-haul truck to move some of his stuff himself, and rent a U-haul car moving trailer or dolly to pull behind the U-haul truck and do that himself.

Good luck on this.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
2 weeks? That's not much time to arrange this.

Is he using a commercial moving company to move his belongings? Is he using a service like U-haul to move himself?

Does he have a pickup too, or just the Mustang?

One possibility is to rent a U-haul truck to move some of his stuff himself, and rent a U-haul car moving trailer or dolly to pull behind the U-haul truck and do that himself.

Good luck on this.

He’s traveling light so no moving company or truck involved. Actually flying out with pets and needs the car to follow soon after. Doesn’t want to fly back and drive across country if possible, and doesn’t want to spend too much. Timing can be a little flexible.

Sell it and buy another in California.

shipped an SUV from NC to NV about 2 years ago.

IIRC it was about $700-ish.

no major issues.

you will typically contact a broker -- who will bid the job out to various 'mom and pop' shippers. the broker gets a cut.

once you pick a shipper -- you eventually will be contacted by the actual driver and arrange the pick-up. 'Bob' will show up and inspect / load your vehicle onto his rig and off he goes.

Bob is hauling a bunch of cars to CA so the exact delivery date might flex a little but it will be pretty close. Arrange pick-up boom done.

Ours went smoothly. No issues. If i had a high dollar car i might have been more demanding -- but ours like yours was a pretty basic vehicle.

-----------------------------------

I shipped an old Land Rover to the mid-west from NC and I had a nice sedan shipped from AZ to NC, actually, quite a while ago. But the comments above about private shipping companies describe our experiences and are probably still true.

Using a transport company found in Hemmings magazine, the 1958 Land Rover was shipped on a fifth-wheel trailer along with a new & expensive Range Rover belonging to a NFL star, who was shipping his car from FL to his regular season home. Professional. Expensive. Went well.

See Hemmings listings for transport companies:
https://www.hemmings.com/class...&typeFacet=Transport

Using a local shipping company in AZ, the sedan was shipped to us in NC for a reasonable price but on an indefinite time-table. Got a call one night a few weeks after handing it over in AZ that indicated it was being dropped off at a gas station along I-95 in NC, with the keys being left for me with the gas station/food mart guy! The car was dirty as all get out but undamaged. Price was cheap for this service.

Overall, I guess my only recommendation would be to make sure the vehicle is covered by owner's insurance while being shipped.

I've also heard that some folks will advertise on the web they will drive your car to a distant destination for a small fee. This looks like a good chance to audition the car for the drug trade, or perhaps to never see it again at all. Avoid.

Check your local auto auction. After an auction they have trucks going all over the country. Auction can suggest, and/or, put your name on a list and a trucker going your way will take if they have an empty spot on trailer.

Check out
uship.com
Uship is like a shipping bidding site, different
shippers will bid on the job.
I have never used them, but a friend used it to ship a car couple years ago . Everything went good.