Shipping a NSX?

[HIJACKER]

I'm looking for a few recommendations on which shipping companies (enclosed haulers) would be best to use to ship a NSX to me. There are a lot out there, so I would prefer some recommendations based on prior experience and satisfaction than throwing a dart at a board and hoping for the best.

 

[docjohn]

Rather than a dart......just throw the words: shipping car transporter in the search engine on prime......voila.

 

[HIJACKER]

Rather than a dart......just throw the words: shipping car transporter in the search engine on prime......voila.

I did - and I didn't care for the results. I'm far from new on messageboards - been using them and administrating them since 1997.

Notice my post count is low and I joined over a year ago - the search engine is my friend.

 

[docjohn]

Couple of points there are good regional or local haulers and the big national firms,it would help those trying to help you by you posting where the car is and where it is going.What about those results did you not care for,because those results realy won't change

 

[tosugrad]

I did - and I didn't care for the results.

What didn't you like? There are two, maybe 3 excellent threads from the last 18 months that should be a big help.

 

[wntsom4]

I myself was looking for a transport.. I signed up online on several spots to get some quotes the shady deal is I have several quotes from the same shipper and are $200 apart.

I personally would look locally, maybe ask a local used car dealer, most go to auctions and have to have them shipped back to their dealerships.

 

[Todd McKelvie]

Where are you shipping the NSX from...to?

 

[Aaron94T]

PM me if you want to know who not to use.

 

[HIJACKER]

From CA to VA.

PM me if you want to know who not to use.

Please PM me whichever company/companies I should ensure to stay away from. I plan to ship the car end of this week or early next.

 

[mlambert890]

Check into these... all solid. I am currently using Horseless

Horseless Carriage out of NJ
Thomas Sunday out of PA
Intercity
Gary Almond
Exotic Car Transport out of FL

Coast to coast with an enclosed transport in the hands of someone you can trust is going to run a couple of grand (CA to PA is costing me $1820)

Search the above names on:

Ferrari Chat
Viper Club of America Forums
Rennlist
Corvette Forum

and see what you find. Thats what I did (member on all those forums). The same names come up over and over.

Things to look for... look for a small boutique shipper that runs their own fleet of trucks and deals with a short list of drivers over and over. Look for experience and testimonies from people that have shipped vehicles way more expensive than what you're shipping I know a bunch of Porsche, Ferrari, Corvette and Viper guys and some of them have some pretty high dollar vehicles (race prepped cars, classics, Carrera GTs, super Ferraris, etc) that they have shipped with the above carriers. I figured if they can handle those cars, then would be good for me.

I am receiving the car this week... If something goes wrong, Ill post.

Attached pic of car getting loaded...

 

[brandonsan]

I prefer Reliable. They ship a lot of high end cars and prototypes for a lot of manufacturers.

 

[mlambert890]

The trouble I found with Reliable was that there are lots of good reviews, but there are a few stories I found that were pretty bad.

This could be a pure result of the volume they do though... Still... In the end I figured Id rather go with one of the shippers for whom I couldnt find any really bad feedback.

For the OP, will be up to him - price vs volume of business vs absolute level of feedback.

Usually the bigger guys will have more flexible schedule options and be a bit cheaper but are more likely to have had something go wrong a time or two in the past.

 

[Jetpilot3]

I've used High End Transport to ship my Imola across the U.S. (Utah to Florida) without a hitch...

Contact Melissa at www.gohet.com

Awesome customer service!

 

[sidwac]

Some advice from a Prime member who shipped her car:

"I used ALPINE Transport Inc. I found them by going to the Transport Reviews website. I called about three companies. The prices were all close and I paid $1,400. I was very happy with Alpine but you need to see which companies make the run you need, on a normal basis. I think the website has a place where you can put that in and then read up the reviews people write.

http://transportreviews.com/ <---This is a good website to figure out who to use. I was told NOT to use a broker since you don't know who will actually be shipping your car. Use a company that is owner/operator, where you talk to the owner. I had the phone number of my truck driver and I could call him to see where he was. He even came a day or two early. I know I'm not wording it correctly about owner/operator but just don't get a broker who takes your money and then just farms out your car to who ever he hires. The drivers should work only for the shipping company."

 

[tosugrad]

I myself was looking for a transport.. I signed up online on several spots to get some quotes the shady deal is I have several quotes from the same shipper and are $200 apart.

I personally would look locally, maybe ask a local used car dealer, most go to auctions and have to have them shipped back to their dealerships.

PLEASE don't do this! Most places are simply brokers. They take your money and farm out the business to the lowest bidder. Your car gets moved from truck to truck 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 times and take 2 weeks to go 1000 miles.

Get a reliable closed truck carrier.

 

[HIJACKER]

PLEASE don't do this! Most places are simply brokers. They take your money and farm out the business to the lowest bidder. Your car gets moved from truck to truck 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 times and take 2 weeks to go 1000 miles.

Get a reliable closed truck carrier.

That's the issue I want to be sure to AVOID.

So far, the posts are excellent. I have a list of things to do and places to call first thing in the morning.

 

[Kyras]

Some advice from a Prime member who shipped her car:

"I used ALPINE Transport Inc. I found them by going to the Transport Reviews website. I called about three companies. The prices were all close and I paid $1,400. I was very happy with Alpine but you need to see which companies make the run you need, on a normal basis. I think the website has a place where you can put that in and then read up the reviews people write.

http://transportreviews.com/ <---This is a good website to figure out who to use. I was told NOT to use a broker since you don't know who will actually be shipping your car. Use a company that is owner/operator, where you talk to the owner. I had the phone number of my truck driver and I could call him to see where he was. He even came a day or two early. I know I'm not wording it correctly about owner/operator but just don't get a broker who takes your money and then just farms out your car to who ever he hires. The drivers should work only for the shipping company."

That was my PM and I'm glad you shared it. Now I don't have to.

 

[mlambert890]

Update:

Caveat on Horseless... As of right now, Im not so happy. We'll see how they handle things from here before I post more detail, but Id at least throw up a caution flag at this stage.

One thing that bugs me about ALL of these transporters is... If you inconvenience them, you pay. If they inconvenience you, you pay too. They seem to be cutting it very close with scheduling because if they go over, well its "hey, no guarantees" Yet if you arent available on the dot when they say, its hundreds in fees.

To me, that is BS. They all quote a delivery window "5-6 days, 7-10 days", etc. But I suspect none of them care too much if they hit it. If they did, they wouldnt be playing musical cars up to the last 18 hrs a car needs to be dropped off. If ANYTHING goes wrong (and as you may have guessed, in my case, something has gone very wrong) then they are DAYS late.

DAYS late is unnaceptable. This isnt a UPS delivery. People have to take off work, make strange arrangements, etc for a car delivery (these trucks usually cant fit on your street). And you pay thousands. Id have happily paid a lot extra for a transporter that actually MEANT to meet their quoted delivery window.

 

[socalx]

i used a company called hog haulers (i think the hog came from the fact that they also shipped a lot of high end harleys). anyway they did a great job

 

[SuperSonic]

Update:

Caveat on Horseless... As of right now, Im not so happy. We'll see how they handle things from here before I post more detail, but Id at least throw up a caution flag at this stage.

One thing that bugs me about ALL of these transporters is... If you inconvenience them, you pay. If they inconvenience you, you pay too. They seem to be cutting it very close with scheduling because if they go over, well its "hey, no guarantees" Yet if you arent available on the dot when they say, its hundreds in fees.

To me, that is BS. They all quote a delivery window "5-6 days, 7-10 days", etc. But I suspect none of them care too much if they hit it. If they did, they wouldnt be playing musical cars up to the last 18 hrs a car needs to be dropped off. If ANYTHING goes wrong (and as you may have guessed, in my case, something has gone very wrong) then they are DAYS late.

DAYS late is unnaceptable. This isnt a UPS delivery. People have to take off work, make strange arrangements, etc for a car delivery (these trucks usually cant fit on your street). And you pay thousands. Id have happily paid a lot extra for a transporter that actually MEANT to meet their quoted delivery window.

My friend shipped a 240sx he got off ebay. The shipping was more than the car and on top of that, the shipper said they charged hime like 200 bucks because the contract said the car had to be running to drive it on the truck when my friend was told by the previous owner they just jumped the battery and car was fine. So $200 bucks for a jump start, bs. Just drive it your self, no one drive your car better than you, even coast to coast.

 

[Aaron94T]

I've used High End Transport to ship my Imola across the U.S. (Utah to Florida) without a hitch...

Contact Melissa at www.gohet.com

Awesome customer service!

I would think twice about doing that. If there are any issues with the transport they do not stand behind their work. I have used 4 companies in the past and only had an issue with High End Transport. Beware!!

 

[EuroBoutique]

From CA to VA.
Please PM me whichever company/companies I should ensure to stay away from. I plan to ship the car end of this week or early next.

hey HIJACKER, I have some direct personal experience so let me share my 2 cents as I have shipped quite a few cars over the years from the midwest and east coast to CA.

Actually my NSX was shipped from VA to CA (backwards from ya...haha)

here's a few things to consider:

1) Is price savings important to you as you always get what you pay for?

2) Is your NSX lowered or modified in such a way that it's hard to lift such as a body kit, rims, slammed?

3) Door to Door or you can go pick it up at a port?


I've used Horseless Carriage back in the 2001 and again in 2003. They are VERY careful with your car and have some really cool drop flat beds that can lift everything from an Enzo to a Veyron safely. They are NOT cheap and not always timely in their delivery but they only do door to door and I feel very confident with their handling of my high dollar cars.

Last year I bought my 2004 NSX from another member in VA and I decided to use DAS's premium service going from port to port. This made it easier for me to drop off the car in Manannas and pick it up here at their port in San Lorenzo. It's cheaper port to port and best of all is you don't need to wait at home! Amazingly both times I used DAS they got my car to arrive EARLIER than expected and handled both transports safely. I love how DAS lets you do online tracking of EXACLTY WHERE THE TRUCK IS LOCATED on the web 24hrs a day. My g/f found it hilarious I would check every couple hours....haha

PM me if you have more questions but I would not hesitate to use DAS again. btw, DAS has all their own trucks so no out-sourcing! :biggrin:

oh btw, recently DAS brought my latest toy, an IS-F also from you guessed it, VA to CA!



rick

 

[mlambert890]

I've used Horseless Carriage back in the 2001 and again in 2003. They are VERY careful with your car and have some really cool drop flat beds that can lift everything from an Enzo to a Veyron safely. They are NOT cheap and not always timely in their delivery but they only do door to door and I feel very confident with their handling of my high dollar cars.

VERY fair and accurate assessment of Horseless. They are definitely VERY careful and are adept at handling the cars. My car is on a truck with about $1M worth of automobiles.

It is true that they were more expensive, and I am definitely falling into the "not always timely" camp. For me, the timely part was incredibly important so that is the source of my personal frustration.

Based on s4plays description of DAS, I'd have been better off with them. Personally, I didnt necessarily need a guy that could surgically deliver a $2.9M parts matched original classic Ferrari, but rather someone who could ACTUALLY get the car to me in a reasonable and predictable timeframe without destroying it.

All things for the OP to consider. Im thinking the bigger carriers are more conservative with their estimates of shipping time, but are more likely to actually get the car where it needs to go in a reasonable timeframe. The small guys do a great job of handling the car and are always GREAT with their time estimate, but whether or not they actually deliver anywhere NEAR what the promise comes down to pure luck.

 

[HIJACKER]

^^ Outstanding replies and VERY appreciated. I'm looking into DAS now and seeing if they can be used rather than the carrier the Mercedes dealership recommends.