[MattP]

Okay, I'm so happy

I gave a dealership $1000.00 to hold this insight until next Friday. http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?c ... rdist=2317

Now, I need to arrange shipping from North Carolina to California,

Does anyone have a recomendation? I need a reputable company, that is also pretty cheap.

Any help would be great.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[james]

Why not fly there and drive it back?

 

[Rick]

Your best bet it to fly there and drive it back. Most likely the dealership will pick you up from the air port. This will be a much cheaper option anyways. Getting a car shipped that distance will likely run you about as much as the deposit you put down on the car. The other advantage to this is you can see the car in person so if there is anything wrong with it your not stuck with buying it site unseen.

 

[bretthans]

The one and only time I had a car shipped, they destroyed nearly all the paint and refused to pay anything. :evil: As a result, I will never ship a car again. I think something in a car above mine let loose brake fluid or something all over my car. The shipping company I used was really just an office contracting the work out to independent towing outfits. The name of the place was "The Car Carrier". As I later found out, many of these places are scam jobs waiting to happen, so you're right to get a recommendation.

When I bought my Insight, I bought an $80 one-way ticket from Boston to Atlanta and drove the car back myself. My leg was sore from lack of cruise control, but at least no damage was done to the car, and I got by pretty cheaply (I only got 70 mpg, I was new to the car and the tires were underinflated).

Driving it from NC to CA would be a heck of a long trip and not practical for most people. If you insist on shipping the car, look for an enclosed trailer (more $) or at the very least make sure they use a car cover (or both).

 

[figgy]

pros and cons

I also had a bad experience with getting a car shipped from NJ to CA.

I am sure some car shippers aren't rotten, but I have yet to find one.

If you can take a driving vacation and see some things on the way, it would make the drive fun as well as practical.

:!: Beware!

A very important benefit of flying out is that if there is a problem with the car you can refuse to accept it and demand your deposit back again. If you have it shipped, it will be virtually impossible I imagine.

I had an LA dealer (East of LA) lie to me about a car down there which I luckily found out about before I drove down. Had that been shipped to me, I would have been screwed.

I think this alone makes it worth flying.

 

[Holicow]

They should be insured, so any damage would (should) be covered. The dealer should be able to help you with arrangements, they deal with this all the time.

I had a great experience with my last shipping episode, but I paid for it too. It was a classic Mustang I had restored, and it rode in an enclosed truck with a couple of Ferraris...

 

[ericbecky]

It would be great if people give some reccomendations of reputable shipping companies. A lot of people could benefit from the advice.

But if you decide to do the driving thing, I've got to say using biddingfortravel.com in combination with priceline.com can save you a ton of money on hotels. (Probably air fare, too, but I've never used it for that.)

 

[bigtrouble77]

You also want to see it in person first. I found an insight on auto trader that had only 3k miles and listed as perfect condition. Turns out the elec assist wasn't working, it was keyed, it didn't shift smoothly and it had exhaust issues. If you do buy it before you see it make sure you get a carfax account and make sure the car is eligable for the buy back option.

 

[Delta Flyer]

Fly there.

If there is a problem, you can back out.

You might even be able to get in a story "Insight Travels Across US on Just 40 Gallons". Popular Science did a story like that on the CRX in the 80's and they spent about $50 on gas (60 gallons?)

 

[cakley]

It will probably cost about 800-1200 for shipping. I don't know of a good company. When you find one double check the the BBB.

Whats the Lifetime MPG?
What was the cost?

 

[MattP]

The cost is $13985 and that's pretty good for my area. That is $600.00 under blue book retail.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to fly there now, based on your guys' advice. It also has under 27,000 miles so there shouldn't be anything wrong with it because it would have been covered by the warranty, right? Plus the guy told me it is in excellend condition and he should be sending me more pictures pretty soon.


Thanks for the responses,
Matt