I'm looking for recommendations for the best value company to ship a car from the Los Angeles area to southeast PA. I'd really appreciate recommendations for any company a member of this forum has used that they were pleased with both the service and the cost. Medium size car, about the size of the Mercedes R230.

Thanks for your help.

Gary

 

What you need to know is that you really can't deal directly with any of the carriers. Generally speaking, all of the 'shipping' companies that will give you a quote on a single vehicle move are brokers, not carriers. There is one major load board that all of the these companies use. It is basically a reverse auction, a broker posts a load on the board (vehicle, pickup location, drop location, running condition, pickup date window, drop off date window, amount willing to pay). If the price is too low, nobody will take the load and the broker will have to raise the offer. If you have a large window for pickup and drop off, you should be able to get a better price since it is more likely that your shipment will align with a carrier' desire to fill a truck.

The way it really works is that many of these brokers will quote you a lowball price. They will tell you that they have a shipper lined up (a lie) and have you sign a shipping agreement. THEN, they will list it on the load board. If they get someone to take the car, all is well. However, in MOST cases, they will not be able to find a shipper at the low price (and in reality, probably didn't even try because they knew it wouldn't get any takers). They will then give you a call back and tell you that the shipper they had lined up cancelled (a lie, they didn't have a shipper) and then they will quote you the 'new' price for the 'new' shipper. By this time, you are tired of the process, possibly paying high storage fees in an auction yard, and just want to get it done. In other words, a classic bait and switch.

I work with an broker who charges me $75 to be the middle man and list my transports on the load board. He will look at prices paid on similar routes and tell me within a couple of hundred dollars how much it will cost. If you have time and flexibility, he can put it on at the low end of the possible rates and see if someone takes it. If it sits on the board for a day or two, you can always raise the price. If you need to find a shipper right away, he can price it in the mid to upper range and a high rated carrier will take it right away. It is probably not appropriate to put his name in the public forum, so I will send you a PM. BTW if you go on any of the vehicle shipping sites on the internet, you will be bombarded with calls and emails for months from these bait and switch brokers. If I had to guess, the move you are talking about would be in the $1600-$2000 range, but give my guy a call.

 

Mike,

Thanks for the prompt reply, and 'education'. I usually fly to the location and drive a car home (OR, UT, TX, etc.). Pandemic and age are reasons for not doing this now.

By the way - I spent my first 18 years in Tecumseh, NE, then 4 at NWU in Lincoln, then 3 teaching science and math at Louisville HS (parents were teachers in Wahoo after 1961). I left for grad schools east then west, then employed/settled in the Delaware Valley (DE and PA).

I know Gretna well!!

Cheers,

Gary Knox

 

Shipped my clk55 in a closed container for $800 from Los Angeles to Maryland in 2016. Want to say took 6 days but don’t remember exactly. There were other vehicles in the truck

 

<!--td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}-->A couple of months ago, I bought a new house in Florida and was concerned about how I would get my car transported. I had to do a lot of research on the company's status and the intricacies of working with the insurance company. I also studied the clarity and responsiveness of the answers to my questions because, in good company, you will be talked to politely, and will give you all the information and answer your questions. Ultimately, I found the best company to ship car to and did not regret my choice. I would never have thought they could send my car so fast that it would be waiting for me.

 

Sorry, but I give zero credibility to someone who just joined to make two posts shilling a specific company.