Shipping a vehicle

[OkiePoke]

Well, I bought a vehicle I wasn't planning on really buying on an auction. Now I have to get it to me. It is located in Montana.

Does anyone have a recommendation on shipping carriers? Everything I have tried is telling me they don't run that route.

[stile99]

I'm guessing there's a reason a one way plane ticket to Montana is out of the consideration, but is it a matter of that would be difficult, or a matter of that would be impossible? Keeping in mind that you've already tried the shipping route and seem to have hit a bit of a wall. It's about a 20 hour trip, depending exactly where the starting point is. That could be made in a weekend if you power through it, or a holiday weekend if you split it up a bit. Sometimes the impossible becomes possible when it is the only remaining solution.

[u50254082]

What about uShip.com?

[Zuplar]

I can't remember who a friend of mine used, but they said never again and they fly one way to pick it up. He does it for work a couple times a year.

[Bellaboo]

I bought a 1966 Shelby cobra, the AC version out of Northern Utah. I drove to Albuquerque and picked up a Uhaul car hauler. The cheapest way was to rent from Alb to OKC, but I happened to take it the long route through Utah. It was a long and grueling 2 and a half day trip but 2 of us took turns driving and made It over a long weekend. IIRC the trailer rental one way was less than $ 150, but that was 16 years ago.

Add info - We only had one hotel night and gasoline so it wasn't to bad. The Utah destination was Provo.

[stile99]

Throwing in a modification to the prior idea...got any friends/family with a couple days to kill? If it absolutely positively is completely impossible for you yourself to fly up to Montana and drive it down (unless the reason is the vehicle is non-functional of course) it still might be cheaper to send someone you trust up to do it. And even if the vehicle IS non-functional, that's why Uhaul has trailers. I haven't priced shipping a vehicle, but I can't imagine it is cheap. $350-400 for the plane, double that to pay for gas and hotel, couple hundo for your friend's trouble and you're at $1000. It might change based on the type of vehicle, but going to uship and picking one at random (turned out to be a 2000 Chevy Monte Carlo) they quoted $1024-1828...before whatever uship's fee is. Just for funsies I decided it's a 2010 Hyundai Elantra, similar quotes.

[rezman]

Throwing in a modification to the prior idea...got any friends/family with a couple days to kill? If it absolutely positively is completely impossible for you yourself to fly up to Montana and drive it down (unless the reason is the vehicle is non-functional of course) it still might be cheaper to send someone you trust up to do it. And even if the vehicle IS non-functional, that's why Uhaul has trailers. I haven't priced shipping a vehicle, but I can't imagine it is cheap. $350-400 for the plane, double that to pay for gas and hotel, couple hundo for your friend's trouble and you're at $1000. It might change based on the type of vehicle, but going to uship and picking one at random (turned out to be a 2000 Chevy Monte Carlo) they quoted $1024-1828...before whatever uship's fee is. Just for funsies I decided it's a 2010 Hyundai Elantra, similar quotes.

Go to Hemmings on line and peruse their site. They have numerous reputable carriers from gooseneck haulers to enclosed tractor trailers.

https://www.hemmings.com/

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/services-offered/

Click the drop down menu on the left and scroll down to"transport".

[CloudDeckMedia]

Passport Transport shipped an antique car 1,200 miles for me about a decade ago. They rolled it on, shipped it, and rolled it off about 10 days later as promised. https://www.passporttransport.com

[OkiePoke]

After investigating further, I have found it will cost about $1,300 for an open and $1,600 for an enclosed. I think I could make a trip out of it and drive through Yellowstone and the Rockies. The issue is, the car is a rwd car with performance tires. I'm very afraid of the possibility of a snow storm. After it's said and done, it's about a wash in price either hiring or fly & drive.

[Bill Robertson]

I’ve bought a van, two cars and two Harleys on eBay. Flew out and drove/rode all five home. The adventure is part of the fun. You should be able to route around any possible snow.

[Buffalo Bill]

After investigating further, I have found it will cost about $1,300 for an open and $1,600 for an enclosed. I think I could make a trip out of it and drive through Yellowstone and the Rockies. The issue is, the car is a rwd car with performance tires. I'm very afraid of the possibility of a snow storm. After it's said and done, it's about a wash in price either hiring or fly & drive.

Better get after it; roads in Yellowstone close Monday.

https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

[OkiePoke]

Great info, probably why Google wasn't letting me take that route. I honestly believe the better option is to ship. Getting numbers around $1,000. My flight would be $250, best case, then $150/night in hotels. Would need at least 2, if not 3. That is $700 right there. Plus $200 in gas... Break even almost. Again, if it wasn't for the potential for snow storms, I would do it in a heartbeat.

[tfvc.org]

My dad used to haul cars and horse trailers for dealers 10 or so years ago. May want to call around a couple dealerships to see who they use to send cars from one dealer to another. Most of them are private contractor kind of guys with commercial licences/insurance. I don't know how much it costs, but that might be an option. Those guys have flat bed trailers that they will roll the car on to haul it and a lot of them are used to hauling classic/expensive cars so they will do it with care.

[TheTravellers]

Great info, probably why Google wasn't letting me take that route. I honestly believe the better option is to ship. Getting numbers around $1,000. My flight would be $250, best case, then $150/night in hotels. Would need at least 2, if not 3. That is $700 right there. Plus $200 in gas... Break even almost. Again, if it wasn't for the potential for snow storms, I would do it in a heartbeat.

Smart choice, we got stranded in Utah on the way from Seattle to OKC due to snowstorms basically closing stretches of entire highways across 2-3 states (with the whole gates-down, flashing lights thing). It was in April, so may not be as bad now, but if the cost is close to the same, save yourself the pain, it's not as much of an adventure as you'd think if you have to deal with snowstorms and the Rockies.

[LibertyOKC]

J & S Transportation is located in Billings Montana. They shipped a 54 Oldsmobile from Billings to OKC for me for $839.00. You might try igor@ebusinesscoach.co

[mkjeeves]

Tesla used Fedx to pick up my Tesla in a showroom in Seattle and bring it to me in OKC. The transport had several classic cars in it. Just one Tesla. From what I understood talking to him, that guy was probably a private contractor working with Fedx, but it was an enclosed car hauler with FedX graphics on the side of it.

https://www.a1autotransport.com/usin...uto-transport/

I sold it to a doctor in San Francisco and he hired a private contractor to move it. If I think of the name I'll let you know.

[OkiePoke]

I found a local company our of OKC that makes the route. $800. Thought it was a deal. Going to go that route. Thanks for all the options everyone. Goes to show that there are many options with transporting a vehicle. A lot depends on timing.