Anyone have any recommendations who to use to transport a car from Kansas to Michigan? I have never used such a service before and have no clue who is reliable and reasonably priced.

Thanks.

Steve

 

I've been going through this exact process myself in getting a car shipped from Ohio to New Mexico. There are several sites online where you put in your particulars and then receive quotes from various carriers. Do a Google search on "auto transport" and you'll get lots of hits.

Don't forget to check the local phonebook, too, if you're at all near a large city, and don't assume that a carrier won't work with you just because they're in a city 50 or 100 miles from you. Pretty much all of these services work nationwide, regardless of where they're headquartered.

One site I've gotten quotes from is uship.com

http://www.uship.com/


Whatever you do, check the company out at the Better Business Bureau website. http://www.bbb.org/

You'll need to know the company's name and city, but you can quickly see what its rating is. I was surprised at the range of ratings for the companies who responded to me. The highest grade is A+, and the lowest is F. I received bids from companies with A ratings and with D ratings and everything in between.

I also ended up with bids that varied by more than a factor of two. The lowest was $750, and the highest was $1,700. I ended up going with a Chicago-based company with an A rating and a price of $1,100. I just, as a matter of fact, dropped the car off with the carrier today. It should arrive at the destination in about two weeks, which is more than fine with me.

 

Or you can avoid the brokers and call these guys... I used them and highly recommend them.

http://www.hillbillyautotransport.com/

 

They've got an A+ rating from the BBB. You can't beat that.

http://www.bbb.org/southwestern-miss...banon-mo-20164

They're not BBB accredited, but that's not an issue as companies are not required to seek BBB accreditation to be rated.

 

When I bought my 69 Hurst I went through the same process. I found a husband and wife team to ship my car this past march. They have an enclosed rig. They were really great,took real good care of my car I would recomend them to anyone. The cost from mesa,AZ to Wis. was $1000.00 plus $250.00 for the booking agent. But if you deal direct you may avoid the agent fee. Their name is Poff transportation Inc. Brian &Sheila Poff. Try giving them a call.

Guy

 

Stupid me Forgot to give phone number that is 574-849-8539 (Sheila's cell)

Guy

 

http://www.autotransportdirect.com

I've used these people twice to transport in an enclosed semi trailer from Arizona to Michigan and worked great both times. Rates were good too.

 

How important is it to have enclosed transport in the winter?

If it is just a regular car (not a fancy showcar), and I can get them to top load it (to keep off road grime, salt etc.) is it worth it to save the money ($800 in my case) and just wipe the car down well when it arrives - or should I bite the bullet and pony up for enclosed transport?

 

This company did me right.

USA Auto Shipping
Licensed and Bonded
MC# 693728
786-317-1475
sales@usaautoshipping.com
www.usaautoshipping.com

 

nothing at that domain but a placeholder :-(

 

If the car is just a daily driver, then who cares if it gets dirty in transport? How is that any different than driving home from work on a snowy, slushy day? When the car arrives, wash it.

I think enclosed transport is really only an issue for high value cars. I had my '67 Delta 88 convertible transported on an open carrier, bottom level, at the rear, from Ohio to New Mexico last June. Admittedly this wasn't winter, but the car arrived somewhat dirty as though it had been through one or two rainstorms. Ten minutes with a garden hose and a sponge restored it to pre-loading-on-the-truck appearance.

Save the $800!

 

Sorry, It's been a few years since I used them..

 

This is the company I used:

http://www.elitemover.com/


They're primarily a household goods mover (we had our furnishings moved, too, at the same time), but when I mentioned that I was also looking for transport for my car, they stepped right up and gave me a good price and prompt service. I couldn't complain.

 

OK - thanks for the input.
i should have been a little clearer.
it will be a summer weekend driver (not daily) - so no snow or slush anticipated in the future for the car.
the car has (supposedly) been in california and arizona for it's entire life (no rust)
and i am bringing it to the northeast
i don't want to welcome it with grime
but it does not have nice paint, or anything - so I think you might be right.
my only worry with that approach is that the convertible top might not be incredibly waterproof (the one i drove years ago was not) and it would be a shame to fill it with water over 2000 miles.
that is where is was coming from...

 

You didn't mention (until now) that what we were talking about was a convertible that wasn't necessarily water tight. That changes things, and enclosed transport is the way to go as you don't want the car filling up with water.

On the other hand, the $800 extra you would have to spend for the enclosed transport would pretty much buy you a new convertible top, installed professionally. Maybe you should spend the $800 and do that, and then have it shipped on an open carrier. Spend the $800, which you were prepared to spend, anyway, on yourself instead of giving it to the shipping company.

In my case, the top on my car is in excellent shape and does a good a job of keeping the water out, so that was not an issue for me.

 

good point on the top - it will need a new one at some point.
i wonder if they would let me cover it with a tarp... or if that would flap too much on the trip.

 

Good question on the tarp, although a fitted car cover would be much better. Whatever, though, there might be too much of a chance of it loosening and flapping for them to agree. But it can't hurt to ask.

 

A tarp or a car cover is just something to get loose and beat on the car. Weather is easy to wash off.

I have used Monarch car Shipping, Robyn Roberts, 800-239-9339 website is: www.monarchcarshipping.com and email is: sales@monarchcarshipping.com had recent good service with no issues across the country and would use again.

 

Not from INSIDE the car! That's his concern with his not-quite-watertight convertible top.

 

Believe it or not FedEx has enclosed transports. Wisconsin to NY $1000. FedEx bought out a bunch of smaller transport companies a while back. I think it used to be “Passport” when I used them around 2000. When they got bought out (2005ish) they were still using the same phone # same trucks but all the paperwork said FedEx. The driver told me all this. They had several high end cars in the trailer when he picked up mine, wood floors nice and clean etc... They gave it the white glove treatment.

 

just went through this a few weeks ago. i used MJ Parker Trucking to get a car from LA area to Chicago area. enclosed was $1104. If you truly care about the car, step up and go enclosed, it will offer you piece of mind. Mine rode along with a BMW, 911 and McLaren. A tarp will beat the crap out of the paint on an open carrier, so if you are (or aren't) planning to repaint, go ahead. 95-99% of the transport companies are also brokers, so most likely the company you select will broker it out to another company that actually picks the car up and drops it off. You can go door to door, or some offer a little cheaper price to drop off and/or pick up at one of their locations. Running and driving cars are much cheaper to ship than one that doesn't run and drive. Most are very limited in the amount of extra "stuff" you pack in the car, be it household items or car parts. I recommend calling companies and talking specifics which is what I did since this was the first time I dealt with shipping a car. Overall I was happy with the company I used.

 

I had this restriction, too. I'm sure the issue is not what's being carried, but rather its weight. The company bases its price on the weight of the vehicle. The weight doesn't include the extra 500 lbs of stuff you have crammed in the trunk and the back seat.

I think this is an understandable restriction. These haulers usually carry multiple vehicles, and they have to know how much the truck as a whole is going to weigh when they schedule the vehicles that the truck will be picking up. After all, they're vehicle hauling companies, not vehicle-plus-stuff-in-the-trunk hauling companies.

 

Franks Auto Transport. They will pickup and deliver very quickly and will accomodate your schedule. The best part is theyre not brokers so they either ship themselves or subcontract. I bough my cutlass from a small town in Utah in the middle of nowhere and no other auto transprt service woul pick it up except for Franks. I only gave them a two day heads up and they got to my house in illinois from utah four days after i called them.

 

Wait a minute. Isn't that just another word for brokering?

 

I have used them on many occassions and have always been completely satisfied. They use team drivers pulling Intercity enclosed trailers. The
guy that picks up your car is the guy that will deliver it. It does not get re-trailered, cross docked or anything else. It goes on his trailer and stays on
his trailer. The only exception is if he needs to back yours off to get one that's loaded in front of yours off at that customers location. They are truly door to door. Everyone I had transported was picked up at my home in either Ca. or Il. and delivered to my home at the other end. You can call them everyday and they will tell you where your car is. 48 hours before delivery the driver will contact you and again at 24 hours before delivery and finally when you have set up a time, he will contact you either 1 or 2 hours out. Great outfit.

Nufo

 

Brokers post the vehical to be shipped on a website and it sits there until a trucking company accepts the job (I originaly had my car schedualed to be shipped this way but it sat for three weeks with no pickup date in sight). When a shipping company subcontracts it calls another transport comapany to take the job it they are not available to do it themselves so there is no wait. I learned all this from a company that brokers all of its shipments (montway).

 

I agree I used passport when they where passport and now FedEx A1 operation.

 

A lot of BBB stuff in this thread & I just wanted to offer a word of caution about that. They can be a very useful, even helpful, consumer resource, but they also offered paid membership that significantly helps a company's "rating."

If you're shipping a classic I'd use an enclosed trailer as they're a little more secure and protected. I've had good luck with A1 Auto Transport for classic cars and I know they operated in both kansas and Michigan, but it's also a good idea to get a couple quotes before making a decision.

 

Disregard, thought this was from this year.