Has anyones used a transport company?

[Matthew22]

Hi,

I am trying to get my mustang from New York to Texas. I found older threads but was not sure if anyone has user a auto transport company lately and had any recs? I found the guys linked on Google found mixed reviews about Montway. Thanks!

 

[RayTDmi]

Hi,

I am trying to get my mustang from New York to Texas. I found older threads but was not sure if anyone has user an auto transport company lately and had any recs? I found the guys linked on Google found mixed reviews about Montway. Thanks!

I found Montway to be excellent, great communication from start to finish.
Used them last year for my ‘07. I chose them mainly due to cost, and
although the trailer was NOT enclosed, all went well…

Best Luck w/ transporting your car!

 

[Matthew22]

I found Montway to be excellent, great communication from start to finish.
Used them last year for my ‘07. I chose them mainly due to cost, and
although the trailer was NOT enclosed, all went well…

Best Luck w/ transporting your car!

Thank you! I’m thinking about enclosed as well. I saw a YouTube video about a transport driver that he did not recommend them. But could also be out of spite. Thanks for the knowledge definitely will consider!!

 

[byronj]

If its across country I would recommend enclosed. My buddy had his M3 shipped from Seattle to Vegas and by the time it got to him it looked this the entire front and and a side of the car had been sandblasted. The delivery company tried to deny the claim due to natural causes but they finally agreed it was their fault after a few weeks of back and forth,. He said / She said.

 

[mwjscn]

If you're using an exposed trailer for any serious amount of time, you can also purchase automotive cling-film (like what the OEMs use for transport) such as trackarmour or similar competitors and cover the front end to mitigate road debris damage.

 

[GB218]

Hi,
I’ve used a company out of NJ called Horseless Carriage ( https://www.horselesscarriage.com/ ). They specialize in vehicle transport.

I know other people who have also used them to move their vehicles and they have all been pleased.

They do a really nice job documenting the vehicle prior to loading it for any damage, scratches, interior cracks, … A huge plus if you are selling/buying a vehicle.

For what it’s worth: everyone, including myself, chose an enclosed trailer when we moved our vehicles. Keeps it safe from the elements and no one but you/the company/driver knows what’s inside the trailer.

My vehicle was received clean with no extra mileage on it.

Good Luck.

 

[PaddyPrix]

I used Montway, which is a broker for my convertible from CT to CA. It changed hands multiple times, and at some point was on the bottom so my nice ragtop got covered in car oils from those above it, and a couple bird bombs. Definitely have somebody toss something like TrackArmor on it to minimize that damage, and have them take plenty of pictures should you need it later. If your car is lowered, expect things to get scratched up, at some point somebody backed it off too quick, bent the exhaust tip, scratched the muffler, and broke the exhaust hangar, as it was a metal coat hangar holding it up.

When you get final delivery, refuse to sign anything until you're sure everything is fine, and get a bunch of pictures similar to the ones you had taken before it was in their possession, should any issues arise, and be sure to put your objections or whatnot on that. Pretty similar to a rental car return where they go over it with a fine tooth comb when you return it, but they kinda just quickly gloss over nics and scratches on it before you get it, making it look like you did it. In my case, the guy did a delivery in a not greatly lit area a few blocks away from me at like 8-9pm, seemed to be in a hurry, and shoved a clipboard and a paper in front of me, semi misrepresented what I was signing, and dude was gone maybe 30 seconds after it was off the trailer.

The price wasn't bad, and perhaps I had gotten unlucky, but brokers also don't seem to have much quality control over that kinda stuff, they're more or less arranging people on like uShip to move your stuff and taking a chunk for their oversight and management. There are others with much worse reputations though, and there are those who will give you a dedicated hauler, but you're definitely paying for that additional fee too.

(I've done the cross-country now 3 times not so much because of them, but I enjoy seeing this big f'n place. Depending on the time of year and whether you want all that salt underneath, it comes out pretty close to the cost when you factor the return flight in.)

 

[TMSBOSS]

I recently used Nexus to transport a Focus RS from Seattle to Northern Illinois. Good experience, competitive pricing.

 

[Theviking]

Had a family member use Alliance Transportation to ship a GT500 from NJ down to Florida and they were terrific. Looking at the Bentley's and RR's already loaded for the trip told me people they were likely the real deal. Good luck!

 

[BluSnake]

I used Montway, which is a broker for my convertible from CT to CA. It changed hands multiple times, and at some point was on the bottom so my nice ragtop got covered in car oils from those above it, and a couple bird bombs. Definitely have somebody toss something like TrackArmor on it to minimize that damage, and have them take plenty of pictures should you need it later. If your car is lowered, expect things to get scratched up, at some point somebody backed it off too quick, bent the exhaust tip, scratched the muffler, and broke the exhaust hangar, as it was a metal coat hangar holding it up.

When you get final delivery, refuse to sign anything until you're sure everything is fine, and get a bunch of pictures similar to the ones you had taken before it was in their possession, should any issues arise, and be sure to put your objections or whatnot on that. Pretty similar to a rental car return where they go over it with a fine tooth comb when you return it, but they kinda just quickly gloss over nics and scratches on it before you get it, making it look like you did it. In my case, the guy did a delivery in a not greatly lit area a few blocks away from me at like 8-9pm, seemed to be in a hurry, and shoved a clipboard and a paper in front of me, semi misrepresented what I was signing, and dude was gone maybe 30 seconds after it was off the trailer.

The price wasn't bad, and perhaps I had gotten unlucky, but brokers also don't seem to have much quality control over that kinda stuff, they're more or less arranging people on like uShip to move your stuff and taking a chunk for their oversight and management. There are others with much worse reputations though, and there are those who will give you a dedicated hauler, but you're definitely paying for that additional fee too.

(I've done the cross-country now 3 times not so much because of them, but I enjoy seeing this big f'n place. Depending on the time of year and whether you want all that salt underneath, it comes out pretty close to the cost when you factor the return flight in.)

Wow! Paddy, your story sounds almost exactly like mine. I got quotes from 4-5 transport companies, all were competitive. I arranged to have Mecum transport my Boss from Phoenix to DFW via enclosed trailer. I even had them provide certificate of insurance. Mecum sub-contracted the job to McCollister's Transportation Group. It took about 2 weeks to get it scheduled; understandable. The driver contacted me on a Wednesday estimating a Thursday pick-up w a Friday late-evening delivery. On Thursday, he updated his delivery estimate to Saturday very early morning (5:00am), or late Saturday evening after 8:00pm. He claimed he couldn't do a day time delivery because of a Saturday mid-day doctors appt in his home 2.5 hours East of DFW. And he refused Sunday, because of other scheduled pickups. I agreed to the Saturday evening delivery.

We met at 9:30pm (Feb 18th - local sunset around 6pm) in a poorly lighted parking lot (but large enough to provide him easy access) near my commercial garage. By 9:37pm, my car was unloaded. We both inspected the car in dim light. He pointed out blemishes he had recorded himself during pickup in Phoenix. I thought it was odd, because most were nearly invisible (especially in the dim light) rock chips in the clear coat on the front bumper. He didn't even point out the single major blemish (fender paint chip) that the seller included in his listing photos. At 9:46, I signed the release form - time stamped on the acceptance confirmation email. I drove the car to my garage less than a block away. In my well lit garage, I noticed a large wavy scratch about 18" long along the top of the drivers door near the handle. My first photo of the scratch is time stamped at exactly 10:00pm. I texted the driver about the scratch at 10:08 pm and included photos. Of course, he claimed, "I never saw it either."

The driver text me the photos he took during delivery. Of course, the single photo of the door was taken approximately 5 feet from the car. And in the dim light, our fancy phone cameras will increase the light sensitivity at the expense of resolution or clarity (in photographic terms, known as increasing the ASA). So conveniently for him, both conditions work together to produce a low enough resolution that it's very hard to identify the door scratch in his photos.

Now I'm in the same he said/she said argument w Mecum and McCollisters. They say I signed for the car before I noticed the scratch, therefore it's my problem, not theirs. In retrospect, I now realized the driver tried scheduling all 3 delivery estimates at night time hours! I argue that McCollisters had possession of the car approximately 32 hours, inside a truck in which other cars were being shuffled in/out for other pickups/deliveries in route between Phoenix and DFW. I had possession for 13 minutes in an empty dimly lit parking lot, and only 1 minute in my well lit nearly empty 2800 sf garage before noticing the scratch. What's the more likely time frame for the damage to have occurred? What's the more likely mechanism? The overweight truck driver with whatever (keys, a phone, pocket knife, jacket zipper, etc.) hanging from his waist, who accidentally scratches it while scooting between cars in the narrow enclosed trailer as he loads and unloads other cars? The seller has offered to sign an affidavit (a legal document w penalty for perjury) stating there was no such scratch on the car at pickup.

No resolution at this point. But with all the resistance I'm encountering, I don't expect it to end in my favor. I will keep you guys posted.

 

[PaddyPrix]

Wow! Paddy, your story sounds almost exactly like mine. I got quotes from 4-5 transport companies, all were competitive. I arranged to have Mecum transport my Boss from Phoenix to DFW via enclosed trailer. I even had them provide certificate of insurance. Mecum sub-contracted the job to McCollister's Transportation Group. It took about 2 weeks to get it scheduled; understandable. The driver contacted me on a Wednesday estimating a Thursday pick-up w a Friday late-evening delivery. On Thursday, he updated his delivery estimate to Saturday very early morning (5:00am), or late Saturday evening after 8:00pm. He claimed he couldn't do a day time delivery because of a Saturday mid-day doctors appt in his home 2.5 hours East of DFW. And he refused Sunday, because of other scheduled pickups. I agreed to the Saturday evening delivery.

We met at 9:30pm (Feb 18th - local sunset around 6pm) in a poorly lighted parking lot (but large enough to provide him easy access) near my commercial garage. By 9:37pm, my car was unloaded. We both inspected the car in dim light. He pointed out blemishes he had recorded himself during pickup in Phoenix. I thought it was odd, because most were nearly invisible (especially in the dim light) rock chips in the clear coat on the front bumper. He didn't even point out the single major blemish (fender paint chip) that the seller included in his listing photos. At 9:46, I signed the release form - time stamped on the acceptance confirmation email. I drove the car to my garage less than a block away. In my well lit garage, I noticed a large wavy scratch about 18" long along the top of the drivers door near the handle. My first photo of the scratch is time stamped at exactly 10:00pm. I texted the driver about the scratch at 10:08 pm and included photos. Of course, he claimed, "I never saw it either."

The driver text me the photos he took during delivery. Of course, the single photo of the door was taken approximately 5 feet from the car. And in the dim light, our fancy phone cameras will increase the light sensitivity at the expense of resolution or clarity (in photographic terms, known as increasing the ASA). So conveniently for him, both conditions work together to produce a low enough resolution that it's very hard to identify the door scratch in his photos.

Now I'm in the same he said/she said argument w Mecum and McCollisters. They say I signed for the car before I noticed the scratch, therefore it's my problem, not theirs. In retrospect, I now realized the driver tried scheduling all 3 delivery estimates at night time hours! I argue that McCollisters had possession of the car approximately 32 hours, inside a truck in which other cars were being shuffled in/out for other pickups/deliveries in route between Phoenix and DFW. I had possession for 13 minutes in an empty dimly lit parking lot, and only 1 minute in my well lit nearly empty 2800 sf garage before noticing the scratch. What's the more likely time frame for the damage to have occurred? What's the more likely mechanism? The overweight truck driver with whatever (keys, a phone, pocket knife, jacket zipper, etc.) hanging from his waist, who accidentally scratches it while scooting between cars in the narrow enclosed trailer as he loads and unloads other cars? The seller has offered to sign an affidavit (a legal document w penalty for perjury) stating there was no such scratch on the car at pickup.

No resolution at this point. But with all the resistance I'm encountering, I don't expect it to end in my favor. I will keep you guys posted.

I'm sorry to hear that, really. I was fortunate to have a few industry friends, and just happened to be that Bassani Xhaust needed a late-run 98 Cobra to test fit their kit, so lucked out there, but I don't think you'll easily find somebody to be making any doors in your case. This becomes semi court stuff where it's very plausible, and very believable, but not enough for a conviction, y'know? The guy being cautious and goofy about the times also seems sketchy, and I have friends who are haulers and know they generally aren't off schedule by days, as they do it for a living. If I were to do it again, now thinking about it, I'd take a video instead of pictures, as almost anybody can photoshop, but a lot less can video edit stuff out, especially if you go over the areas, and kinda go in and out over detail areas. The hard part is that you don't really have any idea of what they're going to mess up beforehand, so you kinda have to just talk and slowly sweep over areas and explain to future you, or future small claims court you. Sadly, the costs and effort to take them down over it are probably more than fixing it, which really, really sucks, and yeah, I'd bet it was the guy walking past it back and forth as they're moving and unloading cars with like the big Janitor keyring just tapping and dinging over and over.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

I would reach out first to Reliable Carriers as they are the largest Enclosed Custom Carrier in the US and I have used them in the past with thousands of customers. They were the exclusive contract company for all Viper shipments in years past, and they have delivered more collectible vehicles to Barrett-Jackson, Mecum, Russo and Steele, Gooding, Sothebys, etc. than anyone. With distribution centers all around the Country they often have more trucks going the right direction. I would caution anyone on using an open trailer or using a broker, because I have seen instances where someone contracted for an enclosed trailer, the car was dropped off somewhere mid trip to help the truck driver pick up a different load, and the vehicles gets delivered on an open trailer. There is often a different level of care, since few quality high end, performance or specialized vehicles go on open trailers. So that someone may feel I am talking out of my hat I sold over 3000 vehicles when I was working, the bulk or them were performance machines, and 90% were shipped from the dinky little town in Nebraska I live in, ha.

You will pay for care, but you also have reassurance the driver is used to taking care of quality, fun machines.

Reliable Carriers 800-521-6393
EXT 6281 old friend Larry Donatelli
He is normally in charge of cross border shipping now, but he told me I could send my friends to him and he could still help them out. I would keep this name and number in your files if you need to ship now or in the future.

One other quality Transport I have used is Passport Transport 866-582-3185

 

[Fat Boss]

I second Passport Transport. They were great when I shipped my GT350 from N.C. to Nor Cal in 2017.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

I listed Passport also as I know the owner and though I used his company fewer times , they are a class act also!