Anybody ever have a vehicle shipped?

112 LS

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I'm looking for a carrier to transport my LS from Kansas, and the horror stories I'm reading about the major companies are frightening.
Seems like they are all just middle-men who overcharge you for the lowest rate trucks available.
 
Upon reading your thread, I too just browsed through the list of carrier with not so good reviews. I have pasted some other carrier reviews for you to look at. They are probably the same ones you had looked upon.

https://www.a1autotransport.com/ Top 41 Reviews and Complaints about A-1 Auto Transport

Other car carrier companies: Best Auto Transporters & Car Shipping Companies | ConsumerAffairs

My personal opinion, I would look into Reliable Carriers. They have the orange tractor trailers. They ship vehicles for auctions like Barrett Jackson and Mecum. They do ship to independents like us. I've read fabulous reviews just now about them. Here is a synopsis of a transport in that of a Mustang: My Review of Reliable Carriers, Inc - Auto Transport Company

Keep checking on Reliable carriers, sometimes they have a time scheduling issue. Most are happy with the service. Get everything up front on when and how long it will take to get your vehicle to you. Make sure you have the original owner of the LS take pictures of every square inch of car. That way you know if something happened or not. Then inspect vehicle very carefully when you receive it, of course you know this already.

I'll tell you a story. I bought a '96 Mustang Cobra SVT, black on black, coupe. Had 8,576 original miles on it when I bought it back in Dec. 21st '01. My Dad and I knew someone with a tractor trailer, that hooked up to a 48 ft. enclosed race car trailer. The car was in Cleveland Ohio, only 50 miles or so from Youngstown, where I live. My Dad drove the truck and trailer to get the car, he has a CDL. It was fun, the car came back perfect. Now IF you know someone who has an enclosed trailer and or truck that would be the way to go. Just making a suggestion, who knows you might be able to network with who you know to make this happen. Maybe a friend of a friend. A close family member possibly, maybe a neighbor? If you look at a poster board of peoples businesses maybe they might have a business card that offers transport services in the local library, or Small Business Development Center near a University, Grocery Store, Local Bank.

I don't know if this helped you out or not. Wish I could offer more of a solution to you. I know the things that are going through your head, the same thing was going through mine.
 
Leawood Kansas to Columbia NJ
 
Not knowing if you want enclosed or open transport, I used Montway for open transport of my LS from Texas to TN when we moved this past June. They contracted with an owner-operator based in Nashville, RightLane Transport. They were the only transporter able to work with my somewhat-restrictive schedule (had to pick the car up by a certain date and not deliver it for about a week since we were actively moving).

My LS was one of 2 vehicles on the flat trailer. The car was picked up on schedule and the driver was very careful with it. It was unloaded at the Nashville yard to be held until delivery. I did have a bit of delay on the delivery end due to the original driver being unexpectedly unavailable. One call and Montway put the pressure on and got a new driver assigned.

Door to door was around $750.
 
I've bought a few cars sight unseen but I always flew there to drive them home.
 
Thanks to everyone for the advice and sharing your past experiences. My original plan was in fact to fly over and drive the car home, but unfortunately I was involved in an ATV accident this past weekend and I'm in no shape to be flying.

lincolnshiplol.jpg
 
So sorry to hear of your accident! Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

I weighed the enclosed vs. open as well. Princess Pristine '02 vs. highway debris, etc. TBH, it wasn't that much more for enclosed through Montway's bid process, but it *is* a 16 year old car that is now at the bottom of the family food chain. I took the chance and there wasn't a single scratch or ding as a result. Would have driven it except we had 3 other vehicles to move in a very limited timeframe - DH driving the RV (first) towed the second and I drove the third.
 
I'm looking for a carrier to transport my LS from Kansas, and the horror stories I'm reading about the major companies are frightening.
Seems like they are all just middle-men who overcharge you for the lowest rate trucks available.

I bought my LS sight unseen and had is shipped to me. I used U-Ship. www.uship.com put an ad out and then picked a shipper from there. I was satisfied, granted I did not have it shipped as far as yours. The only unplanned problem was that it was not in an enclosed carrier so there was one rock chip on the windshield that I did not notice before signing the release. I of course was not there for the loading, such an issue may be preventable if you are there when they load it and do some last minute security measures before they hit the road
 

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