How much to ship a car??

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snoluver1

Active member
My Grandmother has reached the end of her driving career and has offered me her car. The car is in Massachusetts and I'm in IL. Problem is the car has a bad intake gasket and wouldn't make the road trip back in its current condition. I'm trying to weigh my options. Fly out, fix the car there and drive it back. Drive out with my gas guzzler Suburban, tow it back and fix it here. Or, put it on a truck and have it shipped.

I know it would be around $700 in fuel for my pig suburban, plus tolls and a few gas station hot dogs. (mmmmmm----yummy)
I'm guessing its somewhere in the $800 range to ship it on a semi with a car hauling/moving company, but I don't know for sure. I'm also curious what those mom-n-pop guys are charging for something like this. You know, the guys you see running down the road in there dully pick up, with a magnetic sign on the door and a car hauler trailer. Anyone ever deal with a company like that, know what it costs?

The trip would be right around a thousand miles and the car is a Chevy Lumina.

Thanks!
 
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t_man

New member
My parents were in the same boat two years ago when they had to get a vehicle from Tucson to Indianapolis. The easiest way to do this is go through an auto transport brokerage. The broker is basically a clearning house where truckers "bid" on the job.

Google will find quite a few brokers but we talked to the following three:

Honesty First Auto Transport
866-221-1664

Red Carpet Auto Transport
800-917-7954

Amerifreight
877-719-0916

They ended up going with Honesty First and it cost $925.

Hope this helps.

T_man
 
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jebjk1

Member
Do you really want a broken down lumina? Even if it ran well, is it even worth spending the money to move it 1000 miles?
 
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snoluver1

Active member
jebjk1 said:
Do you really want a broken down lumina? Even if it ran well, is it even worth spending the money to move it 1000 miles?
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That is exactly what I'm trying to determine. I can fix this car for nothing more than the cost of parts, which should be minimal. It has very low miles and was Grandma driven.

The car would be a grocery getter for the wife so we can park the Suburban. Also my kid gets his license on Friday. I would much rather have him driving around in a free Lumina than my $50k Suburban. The question is, how can I get it here as cheaply as possible?
 
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snoluver1

Active member
t_man said:
My parents were in the same boat two years ago when they had to get a vehicle from Tucson to Indianapolis. The easiest way to do this is go through an auto transport brokerage. The broker is basically a clearning house where truckers "bid" on the job.

Google will find quite a few brokers but we talked to the following three:

Honesty First Auto Transport
866-221-1664

Red Carpet Auto Transport
800-917-7954

Amerifreight
877-719-0916

They ended up going with Honesty First and it cost $925.

Hope this helps.

T_man
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Thanks! I'll look into those.
 
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ranlam

New member
Road Trip! Just drive out there and get it yourself. Probably gonna be the cheapest route. Either that or buy a 1500 car for your kid and put gmas car on craigslist...if you have someone out there to meet with buyers.
 
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arcticgeorge

New member
I would love to help you out, where in Ma. ? I have family out there and have been wanting to visit. And where in IL? i use to live there. I could fix the head gasket too if i had the tools.
 
indy_500

indy_500

Well-known member
I would bring it back here and fix it WITH your son. Just my opinion... can't put a price tag on that
 
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scott_l

Member
98panther said:
I'd like to know where the $1500 cars are, none to be found around here that run anyway.
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I coworker was looking for a car for his kid as well and said the same thing. I am thinking the cash for clunker deal a few years ago removed a lot of these off the road/market.

good luck
 
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snoluver1

Active member
arcticgeorge said:
I would love to help you out, where in Ma. ? I have family out there and have been wanting to visit. And where in IL? i use to live there. I could fix the head gasket too if i had the tools.
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Awful nice of you to offer Arcticgeorge! The car is in Sturbridge Ma, just south of Worcester. I am in Mchenry Il. What would it be worth to ya? Do you have something to haul it with?
 
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arcticgeorge

New member
snoluver1 said:
Awful nice of you to offer Arcticgeorge! The car is in Sturbridge Ma, just south of Worcester. I am in Mchenry Il. What would it be worth to ya? Do you have something to haul it with?
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....................I have a good Toyota Mini van that has a tow hitch so i could drive out, rent a tow dolly one way and deliver it. I have been to Wusta! (Saw the band Boston there.) I lived a little northwest of Boston in Tewksbury. And i grew up in Fox Lake so i am familar with both areas. What would be worth? Not sure, I/we would have to fiquere out gas and other expenses.
 
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borderstaff

New member
Don't forget about the website uship.com You can list the car there and people bid to haul it to you. If you don't get a price you like you aren't out anything. I've used the site for a couple of sleds in the past and it cost me less to have something shipped than it would have cost me in gas to get it.
 
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ranlam

New member
98panther said:
I'd like to know where the $1500 cars are, none to be found around here that run anyway.
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I must of got lucky, just bought a 95 s10 with 140k on it for 1300. Runs great, great on gas, gonna run it all summer for work.

snoluver...Good Luck with getting your car shipped anyways.
 
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anonomoose

New member
snoluver1 said:
My Grandmother has reached the end of her driving career and has offered me her car. The car is in Massachusetts and I'm in IL. Problem is the car has a bad intake gasket and wouldn't make the road trip back in its current condition. I'm trying to weigh my options. Fly out, fix the car there and drive it back. Drive out with my gas guzzler Suburban, tow it back and fix it here. Or, put it on a truck and have it shipped.

I know it would be around $700 in fuel for my pig suburban, plus tolls .....


The trip would be right around a thousand miles and the car is a Chevy Lumina.

Thanks!
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Road trip!

For about $500 in fuel (even your pig gets better than you figured) you get to take a long weekend, and go visit granny who will love the visit and you get a low mileage machine that is easily worth the cost to go get it. See the country, spend some time with the 16 year old, (who goes with you) and granny and fetch the car back in one piece on YOUR time schedule. And dats what credit cards are made for! Don't like or want the car when you get back...fix and sell it and put some money in your pocket. I know a good friend who had the pontiac version of that machine and he drove it out to 300k with just about all original parts. It is time well spent all around!
 
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snoluver1

Active member
anonomoose said:
Road trip!

For about $500 in fuel (even your pig gets better than you figured) you get to take a long weekend, and go visit granny who will love the visit and you get a low mileage machine that is easily worth the cost to go get it. See the country, spend some time with the 16 year old, (who goes with you) and granny and fetch the car back in one piece on YOUR time schedule. And dats what credit cards are made for! Don't like or want the car when you get back...fix and sell it and put some money in your pocket. I know a good friend who had the pontiac version of that machine and he drove it out to 300k with just about all original parts. It is time well spent all around!
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The more and more I think about it, the more I realize a road trip is probably the best idea. You and Indy make a good point in that some things you just can't put a price tag on. Time spent on the road with the boy and fixing the car with him would be memories that would last a lifetime!
Thanks for the help guys!!!
 
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arcticgeorge

New member
snoluver1 said:
The more and more I think about it, the more I realize a road trip is probably the best idea. You and Indy make a good point in that some things you just can't put a price tag on. Time spent on the road with the boy and fixing the car with him would be memories that would last a lifetime!
Thanks for the help guys!!!
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.........Yes very true. Keep us posted on the trip/repair thing.
 
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