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Shipping a car
ceres
When the last moon is cast over the last star of morningAnd the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator Mod Emeritus
When the last moon is cast over the last star of morningAnd the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator Mod Emeritus
What the title says. I need to get a car from one end of the US to the other. If all else fails I can drive it, but it's a very small car and the money and time involved make it impractical. My father-in-law said it would run about $2500, which is even less feasible. Does anyone have experience with having a car shipped, and is that really the kind of money I can expect from an agency? Any recommendations? Unfortunately the car is not replaceable.
And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
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-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
My Backloggery
Basically you’ll pick one of the many websites that do this, put in your information, and then you’ll get a shitload of quotes both by email and phone from companies you e never heard of. The front end websites are basically just middlemen between you and the shipping companies, who are in turn basically middlemen between you and the truck. Everyone involved has terrible reviews and it’s very difficult to make informed choices.
That said, both times I’ve done this it turned out fine. Pick a quote in the middle from someone with decent reviews, as best you can tell.
But do be careful and research the fuck out of these companies because cars that aren't replaceable tend to get stolen/damaged in transit so they can milk you for more money.
The car is a 2000 Toyota MR2. I love that little car, and even though the KBB is pretty low it would be an absolute bear to find for sale in that good condition. Because the KBB is low I would never be able to recoup what the car is worth to me. I know there are enthusiasts out there (I've run into one or two) but most aren't really looking to sell. 2000 is arguably their best year and they're long, long out of production. So it is worth a good bit to me to have shipped here. The almost-as-big consideration is that I need to do something with my kids for that time and one way or another that will be its own expense.
I need to fly out there anyway to sign papers for it, so that expense isn't part of the consideration.
I also don't want randos calling me, or even emailing me, so I'm hoping to wind up with a direction before I start putting info into fields for quotes from lord knows who.
Call and find out about that stuff before you price out your options. it looks like a 34 hour drive.
30mpg, 2200 miles, average gas price is around $2.71/gal but you will probably pay closer to $3 average
2200/30 is 73 Gallons (probably slightly more since the car is older and it wont all be highway) that's $220-$250 in gas as a low estimate.
Hotel - 3 nights at $100 a night (probably save some of this if you plan your route to stop in middle-of-nowhere hotels) that's $300 as a high estimate.
Food - 30$/day is a pretty good estimate, you may not necessarily buy a subway sandwich and drink three times a day but you should definitely eat a meal at night and have a few small snacks while driving. We'll call it 3 days and figure the first and last day may be cheaper. Assuming 4 days at 8 hours a day of driving with a little extra at the end, that's at least 3 days of road food. $90.
You're in the northeast, there are toll roads... you'd have to figure that out but I have been as far east as Nashville, TN and all the way to the pacific ocean and once you get out of the east coast you don't end out paying any tolls along 80W or 440W (old Route 66).
So,
$250 in gas.
$300 for hotels (probably drop that by 30% if you plan carefully)
$90+ for food, depending on what you eat.
$??? toll roads/bridges.
$640, wear on the vehicle and 4 days of driving 8 hours a day,
Personally I love driving and if it were somewhere I lived and you offered to pay for gas and food I'd do it in 3 days as a vacation. With the childcare and other hassles you face, I probably wouldn't even consider driving it yourself unless that's the last option or you really like road trips. 4 days of your time and $600+, I think if you can find it for under $1500 where you don't have to drain the gas tank and have it towed to the cargo yard that would be your best bet. Or you could be like me and just love driving cross country, the time of year that it is right now you'd probably hit some really great convertible weather once you hit Utah and it's a little magical.
Final option would be to road trip it with a friend and share driving, you could potentially cut all the time costs and hotel costs if you have someone who wants to go with you. It would probably be pretty fun. One of my best memories is being in Elko, NV and eating a Subway sandwich in a parking lot or somewhere between Oaklahoma City and Amarillo at a hotel that basically only exists so that road crews and truckers have a place to sleep. Something about it is just awesome.
Edit:
You might be able to call a used car dealership in your area and find out what company they use or whether they have any suggestions. They go to auctions all over the place to get a hold of cars and have to get them back to the lot.
i don't remember the name as its been like.. a decade since I entertained this notion, but when I was researching it, I found a company that basically pools shipped cars together and will deliver them whenever it so happens there's a truck going that way
and I want to say it was about 1k for a solid distance, over a thousand miles, with the caveat that the delivery date was pretty slow because it was just subject to availability
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
I haven't shipped a car personally, but I've done some research on it and UShip.com seems to be the default option for finding a carrier. I believe that was the service my brother used when he shipped his Focus from Cali to MI, but I can confirm with him tomorrow and get you some more details.
You can't give someone a pirate ship in one game, and then take it back in the next game. It's rude.
You can't give someone a pirate ship in one game, and then take it back in the next game. It's rude.
So new question: We're in different states, and I'm still not entirely sure what I need to do as a "buyer," I think I need a temporary plate that will be good across state lines. The problem is that he and I won't be in the same place (or even in the same state) at the same time at any point without one of us drastically changing plans on which considerable money has already been spent. We know that as a "seller" his signature needs to be notarized, but does mine? Can he have it notarized and then leave it with my mom so I can just sign it and take it? Would the notary be able to hang onto it until I get there? I can always have it notarized on my own on my end, but does it need to be signed simultaneously? I know I need to call my insurance company ASAP whatever happens and that's a whole other thing.
There are pretty specific rules and procedures for sellers in his state, but both our states are pretty light on info for the buyer. I think I need a temporary PA registration? And then I can register it here in NV when I get back? I have never had to do anything like this before and the real hitch is that we won't be able to do it together.
Yes/yes. It also sounds like you'll need to get the title transferred to you in PA, then transfer it to NV.
Which sounds like a lot of paperwork? I bought a vehicle from out of state (NJ -> FL) once, they just sent me their title which had a section where they had signed it as being transferred to "_______" and I just signed my name and took it to my local DMV.
Per the PA DMV you (or your FIL) may also need a form indicating it was a gift to avoid some kind of tax:
https://www.dmv.pa.gov/VEHICLE-SERVICES/Title-Registration/Pages/Buying-a-Vehicle.aspx
I'm not a PA resident, I have no idea where that applies to me and I guess I'll need to look that up too.
Fartmuffins.
Now as far as driving back, I don't think a temp plate is necessary. At least in Michigan, I know that you don't need a plate to drive home as long as you have the signed title/bill of sale with you. I would imagine most states would be similar, but you could check with each state you're going to drive through if you're really concerned about it.
I've never been pulled over for not having a plate, not even when I drove my wife's Tahoe back from Missouri to Michigan when we bought it. Police cars aren't typically looking at the back of your vehicle when you're on the interstate, they're much more interested in if you're speeding.
You can't give someone a pirate ship in one game, and then take it back in the next game. It's rude.
From the DMV site:
So the steps you need:
1) FIL sends signed PA title sent to you
2) You sign title
3) Get insurance
4) Get movement permit from Nevada DMV (probably just register at the same time)
5) drive home
By my read, there is no requirement for a notarized title in NV, and there's also no special paperwork for family transfers. You can contact them and double check, but it shouldn't be a huge hassle to get this done.
You can't give someone a pirate ship in one game, and then take it back in the next game. It's rude.
You should probably contact them both either way. PA's DMV (mobile) website sucks.
My main unresolved question is: Is an NV movement permit valid out of state for the purposes of driving back to NV?
All the Other-state -> NV advice I could find included the suggestion that you needed a temporary tag from the state of origin, but I can't find any definitive statement either way.
How/if you can obtain a PA temp without a PA driver's license or proper title is a bit of a mystery, because the website answers "How do I get a temporary registration?" with "At your nearest authorized PennDot agent[, duh]" (see: PA's DMV (mobile) website sucks).
That all seems easy enough, so I should be able to turn around the day after I get there. Now I just have to get the hang of driving stick again in the space of about 12 hours well enough to drive the car across the country. I haven't driven a manual transmission car since about '12 or so. :P The real bummer about the drive is that since I need to bring the hard top too I don't get to drive with the top down.
Did you have to get a PA temp tag? Was the NV movement permit good out of state?
Car here, thread resolved, thanks guys.