Shipping a car

I have to move across the country and I'm trying to figure out the best way to move my car. Anybody know of a reliable, affordable car-shipping service?

 

You could drive it. Or pay a buddy to drive it. Cheaper than shipping it, I'm sure.

 

Or you could sell it and buy a different one. I know that sounds nuts, but I'm sure people do it.

 

That is nuts. You'll usually lose your shirt financially.

I know someone who wanted a Corvette shipped. Cost her $2,000 - probably wasn't worth it.

Drive it yourself, or if time and logistics make that difficult, see if you have a friend who has nothing better to do for a few days. Seriously ... a one-way plane ticket, meals and gasoline might be cheaper.

 

Yeah but I have to drive the UHaul instead.

 

U-Haul usually has trailers to rent behind their trucks which can get all four wheels off the ground. Not cheap, but a great deal compared to having it professionally shipped. Never mind that you would have an alternative should the truck fail.

 

You're driving a U-Haul across the US? Good luck

Have you factored in a couple of days of breakdown time?

Toronto Star did a story a few years back indicating that almost half of U-haul vehicles in Ontario were not road-safe,

 

No. No. A thousand times no.

That will be the WORST drive of your life.

Those trucks don't go very fast, and that trailer will whip around back there. And that breakdown danger is very real.

Not to mention those trucks get about 8 mpg, which over a 2,500-mile drive would work out to 312 gallons of fuel. Consider that, oh, $800 the down payment on getting your car to where you need to go ANY. OTHER. WAY.

 

I agree, but paying for a professional to haul the vehicle won't be much better. The good ones are too pricey (unless we're talking about a serious collector's item of a vehicle) and anything below that has been known to scar and ding up a vehicle in transport. Think your machine will be shrink-wrapped and styrofoamed in the right places the way a new vehicle is on a hauler?

 

Sounds like it will be cheaper to drive the U-Haul then fly back to get your car and drive that across. Or pay a friend to drive the car and buy him a plane ticket home.

 

Maybe you should ship via commercial carrier the stuff you're planning to stuff into the U-Haul and drive the car.