I have a good connection that shatters all quotes I've ever gotten. I've used this company for my last three shipments and have saved a lot.

I'd be happy to share my discount to all forum members. All it takes is a call to my guy and you can compare the rate. I just need zip to zip info. Super quick pick up too, never had even a rock chip!

I don't work for this company nor have any affiliation or agreement by the way, merely trying to help. That's why I make no mention of the name.

 

A rock chip??? Not a frickin chance... if your carrier does not transport high-dollar cars in a fully enclosed transport vehicle, you need a new carrier.

Here's another important question to ask when transporting vehicles: Do they ship door-to-door, WITHOUT TRANSFERS? Depending on the length of the haul, many of the less expensive auto carriers will send the loaded transport in one direction, then have another transport somewhere closer to the point of destination meet the first transport half-way... this way neither transport vehicle travels too far from the point of origin. Problem with this method is that the highest probability of damage occurs when the vehicles are off-loaded and/or loaded onto the transport. So when you have two transport carriers meeting at some truck stop in the middle of nowhere, and swapping vehicles in who-knows what kind of weather, the probability for damage increases dramatically. Also have to remember that many transports carry multiple vehicles, and it may be some other vehicle being swapped, but yours had to come off first...

Reliable Carriers charged me $1500 to ship my F-Type from Maryland to Southern Calif., Fully Insured, Fully Enclosed, No Transfer!

 

+1

 

I plan to order/build a 2017 F-Type S but have not done so yet. I was planning to buy it in southeast Florida but if anyone has a recommendation of a dealer you think will give a price competitive enough to beat the shipping costs I'd consider ordering it from a dealer out of the area and shipping it. Please let me know if you do.

 

+2.

 

$1500 is over 1/10th of a complete pain job.

I think you are being overly cautious and unnecessarily wasting money on transport. You won't be driving your car in a fully enclosed transport, so why ship it that way?

The only time I'd use fully enclosed transport is if I ship preservation-class classic car that is rarely or never driven.

 

When taking delivery of a NEW car, I expect the car to be in pristine condition, not new with a few rock chips; or new with some touch-up paint; or even new with a fresh coat of paint over the top of the factory clear coat.

New is new. See if you can beat $1500 for a vehicle transport of any kind from Maryland to Southern California - 2800 miles.

 

I've shipped dozens of cars around the country and I can tell you that the difference in price between enclosed and not enclosed is so small, that you'd be hard pressed to find a reason NOT to spend a few extra bucks for the protection afforded by an enclosed carrier. The $1500 mentioned earlier in this thread for enclosed would have likely been $1200 for an open carrier. So, then the question has to be asked: Would you be comfortable exposing your high dollar car to rock chips, bad weather (hail) and the elements to save $300 bucks? I sure wouldn't.

 

It's the shuffling around of cars that ended up being a nightmare for me. When I moved from NoCal to DC 20 years ago, my org paid for my move and shipping a car. I didn't know any better at the time, but my nearly new BMW was loaded and unloaded several times on it's cross-country journey, and it arrived with severe chassis damage, which I didn't spot until later.

I had to go to court to force the shipping company to pay.

 

what he said.

I said "not a rock chip", not "just one rock chip".

When cars are delivered brand new, its done in an open carrier.

 

Yes, but the cars are covered, or supposed to be per JLR SOP.

 

Had my boat transported from Florida to NH and upon arrival it was covered in dead bugs. I think I'll stick to enclosed trailer if I buy one out of state. And thanks for recommending Reliable Carriers - I will get a quote from them as well.

 

double post

 

JLR uses Waggoners covered transport to ship cars from the port to their respective dealers.

 

My car should be arriving Thursday and I've used them three times in the last year.

You guys are missing the entire point which is; there is no "better" carrier company because they are all brokers. The care shown for our car is up to each individual driver. All we can do is know that they will honor a claim if necessary and if they are up to date with their insurance. My guy called me upon my delivery, asked if the car was as perfect as I expected and said "let me know if theres a problem, were here to ensure your happy and that you continue to use us." It's that simple. I was merely saying that not only are they communicative, timely and concerned, they provide me with the best rate by far.

The company is Upscale Auto transport. The issue may be that I'm getting a better quote bracket (commercial) than a random caller may get so it may make sense for me to make the intro. Debating the merits of transport is a different story,

Just know that transport companies don't vary in terms of using better people. Trucking jobs are sent out to bid and its a lottery as to whether your particular job will be fulfilled by a meth smoking junkie or a guy who cares about cars as much as Wayne Carini. All we can hope for is that the company stands behind their claims. I've personally have NEVER needed to file one so I don't know the ease of needing to do so but I'm quite sure it goes directly through their insurance company who in most cases pay the claim without too much hassle.

I find the issue is not "a better company", but the better rate.

 

I've used uship to get quotes (and ship) a car and two motorcycles (not high end cars/motorcycles though), and they shippers I've used from that site have been good each time.

PS...you should try Crown Jaguar in St Pete. Ask for the manager Mike. Really nice guy and he'll probably take great care of you. Or the sales girl D. She was very very good to deal with too.

 

In that case yes.

Still, when couple years back I had a car shipped from Texas (like to buy classic cars there, they don't rust there and no emission testing so they don't get scrapped like in CA), open was $800 and closed was $2000. I shipped open and nothing bad happened. YMMV.

 

After 30 minutes off the phone with the shipping company, I discovered that the car just left the New Jersey terminal this morning for a whopping 6 day, no communication delay (car was picked up from Boston on Friday).

The reason for the delay was the shipping company refused to ship the car in an open carrier and decided on their own to wait for an open spot on an enclosed carrier. I can only assume that someone saw the beauty in the F-Type and said "were not taking any chances with that pretty car!"

For the delay, they gave me another $100 discount as well as the carrier upgrade so then the net for the haul is now $850 from Boston Massechusets to Fremont California in an enclosed carrier. Another upside is the detail the dealer put on the car will still be in force and I don't have to spend a half day washing the grime off the car.

The downside:

The 6-7 day trip is now looking at 13-16 days of travel.

All and all I think I am ahead of the game here and have the piece of mind that the car won't be exposed to the elements.

This is my first snafu with Upscale Auto Transport. I want to provide full disclosure as I recommended them. I am unclear as to who exactly provided me the carrier upgrade although I know the $100 discount was offered directly to me by the transport company, not Upscale. For all I know, the upgrade may have been simply the next thing smokin' and wasn't a consolation at all but rather the next means of getting my car out of town. Either way when presented to me, I must say I liked the sound of "enclosed" at a $100 discount from the open quote.

Speaking of quotes...

I was quoted $1575 for enclosed by the dealership from another company.
$1200 for open by the dealership from another company.

At the end of the day $850 for an enclosed and a little patience, I may come out of this happy after all.

Moral of the story, transport consists of a lot of smoke and mirrors, promises from entities that have no control, drivers that could care less. Be careful.

 

Heck, I would have driven it out to you in a lot less than 6 days! It would be covered in bugs, however...

 

Hey DJS do you have and info on Herb Chambers BMW in Beantown?

Thats who I bought the car from...

Used 2015 Jaguar F-TYPE R at BMW of Boston | Serving Sudbury and Peabody | VIN: SAJWA6DAXFMK12002