mrfourpointo

I'm trying to buy a used SL550 and have it transported from California to Texas. Mercedes dealer says they only use whoever their transport is. Quoted $1,500 for open trailer. Sounds high. I would expect door-to-door enclosed for that. Am I off?

fun33

Try Uship. It's a reverse bidding service that should give you a better price

Utopia Texas

Call Passport Transport or FedEx for quotes. I have used both and had great results.

TennesseeZ4

Folks here use Reliable Carriers a good bit. Open transport is not the safest IMO, had a friend that put his Q5 on an open trailer from here to Idaho. His car, a Porsche 911, and an R8 all burned to the ground; insurance recovery was a rather protracted process. Good luck!

Patric

Plus one for Passport. I've used them a few times with good results.

Streamliner

And, they have been around forever. I used them in 1979 or so to transport a 1962 Corvette from Racine, WI to L.A. The car had won many awards, including the McDorman Chevrolet show, where the owner won Best of Show and a brand new Corvette as first prize.

Anyway, Passport actually flubbed the job. The seller had provided an all weather cover and a plastic cover to put over that, but when the car was offloaded in Chicago or wherever their Midwest terminal was,, it was not recovered for the final leg of the trip and the covers were put in the trunk. This was during the winter and the truck got rained upon, the truck leaked, the Corvette got wet and the Sateen Silver paint fogged. However, Passport made good on the problem, paying me in full. What a memory.

mrfourpointo

I tried to get the dealer to let me choose my own transport company and they will not allow it. Is that typical? They use High End Transport, which is a broker. As a broker, I don't like that I won't know who is ultimately going to deliver the car. This is the only thing holding up the deal.

fun33

Might want to fly out and drive it back yourself; is that an option?

mrfourpointo

30 hours and 1,700 miles. It's one of those deals where I'll probably just have to use their guys and hope they selected them for good reason. This is my first time buying a car sight unseen, but the sales rep did a great job of taking pics of even the smallest blemished (literally penhead). It's CPO and I have a good service advisor at my home dealership.

On a good note, it looks like I might sign for my first SL tomorrow with every option I wanted!

Now to find a paint matched spoiler...

allfortheunion

If you’re paying for it yourself you should choose your own transport. I live in Calif and bought a new MB from a dealer in Kentucky, they didn’t want to handle the transport at all. I went through a local broker but specified owner driven point to point (no transfers) enclosed trailer, and was very happy, although it was expensive. But once the car leaves the dealer’s lot legal ownership transfers to you, so its worth it to pay more for good service and avoid problems.

Utopia Texas

Don’t over think the transportation. Every car sold in the U.S. has at one time either been on a ship, rail train or semi truck for transport. Tens of thousands of cars are transported every week especially for military folks being transferred or folks moving across the U.S. Things can happen but 99.9% arrive the same as they left. Don’t let this stall your deal.

Wolfman

The transport sounds a bit pricey and I would only accept an enclosed transport. We paid $1600 from CA to MN 6 weeks ago...
Using an enclosed trailer is the only way to be sure that the finish doesn’t diminish.

Our dealer arranged the transport.

Utopia Texas

In my experience with transport companies the price of diesel fuel changes the price of delivery. The cost 6 weeks back may not be the cost today.

Wolfman

Well, if anyone had a more recent experience I am all ears

I don't think fuel prices play a role as I had originally checked around and quotes for enclosed transport came in at $750-$1100. Also had a $3500 one that specializes on exotics with a dedicated trailer.
Our transport originally wanted $2k and when the dealer asked for a better deal, they dropped to to $1600.

Couple pics...