Can I get some recommendations on quality auto transporters? I'm in WA and our car is ready and waiting for us in Ohio, and the guy I was planning on working with is currently weeks out on getting the car to us. Every place I've called so far is at least two weeks out, and I'm hoping to get it on a truck sooner than later. Those of you that have gone through the wait know what I'm going through :smile: Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

I used Intercity to transport my car from Wisconsin to California. Superb! They do need enough lead time. If you haven't tried them I highly recommend them.

trixander

 

I've recently spent quite some time (too much) researching this.

I have a very detailed spreadsheet comparing the best covered carriers and illustrating some of the differences and important features.

I've even assigned numeric values to each important characteristic, so the decision was somewhat quantitative, rather than subjective.

I will put it on the web and post a link.

Intercity is quite good and was #2 overall. The biggest problem I had with them was the potential lead time from schedule to pickup. They told me worst case was a MONTH. Their insurance was the best at $150k per car. I like the fact that they use nylon tiedowns on the WHEELS (not axle). The seats and floor are covered with plastic, while the car is covered first with cloth then plastic -- this is the best covering procedure in the business IMO. Transit time was the typical 7-10, they said it was 90% guaranteed that they would not cross-dock the vehicle, they offered GPS navigation and communication systems for the drivers, AND the phone numbers of the drivers. The floors have metal drip pans and canvas. Finally, they rec'd an extensive number of recommendations on the BMW forums as well -- they had a reputation ranking of 2 as well.

I'll leave a bit of suspense regarding the #1.

Best Regards, Mark

 

Mark, your spreadsheet sounds interesting, you should post it.

The company I've been working with, Concours Transport, is telling me they can get out there sooner than later, so I may end up going with them. Where do they rate on your list?

 

Passport Transport

I have over 20 years experience with them, never a problem. They are not cheap.

Mark

 

I used Dependable Auto Shippers. They moved my Mini from Seattle to Philadelphia in an enclosed car carrier for $1295. The service was great and you can track your vehicle on their web site. The trucks have a GPS device that constantly reports the progress. Recommended. Here's the link DAS Auto Shippers

 

http://members.dsl-only.net/~mcdavis/transport_co.htm

This is sure to be controversial...

A few notes:

#1: The number represent the quantitative value of each category. The lower the better. The value corresponds to the field to the left of it. Some fields have no numbers -- these are the categories that I personally didn't care about -- price was one of them.

#2: The reputation aspect was based on my survey of online car forums for BMW, Porsche, and MINI and the quantity of recommendations from unique buyers for each company. This is somewhat subjective and this is why it is isolated...As it turns out, the reputation score is not relevant to the outcome. Finally, reputation can be both good and bad for the end user. It may give you peace of mind, but at the same time may allow a big customer to supersede your pickup time, for instance.

#3: Information was gathered by making several telephone calls to each carrier. Information was verified by asking the same questions to more than one rep. when possible. This was not possible w/Concours, but Fred seemed like an honest guy.

#4: When all carriers seemed to have about equivalent service, the category became a "dont care". As such, no score was given and no points were credited. This was the case for cover and lift gate, for instance...

Finally, I obviously have no affiliation with any auto transport companies. I've also gained nothing from any of the companies I have recommended.

I'll write more notes as I think of them. Enjoy.

Regards, Mark, '04 DS/DS coming soon!

Transport Spreadsheet Link

 

mini_for_me, I personally wouldn't recommend DAS for the following reasons:

1. they use curtins vs. steel sided trucks
2. their insurance is quite low
3. they use no covering on the lower level vehicles
4. they dispatch a flat bed to pickup the vehicle, transport to the terminal, then flatbed to your location...Too much car movement.
5. they are one of the few companies that I investigated that actually had negative feedback. see bimmer.org.

Just my opinion and the information above is based on my e-mail/calls to them.

Regards, Mark

 

MarkC:

Passport was #3 and recommended.

They lost out to either Intercity or Horseless Carriage in the following categories:

1. Price, but this one didn't count.
2. tiedows
3. car covering
4. insurance
5. transit time
6. ability to request upper deck

They won the following categories:

1. pickup timing
2. floors -- however, this was contested by Concours. Note that in the end, this one point didn't become a mathematical factor, so I don't care whether it is true or not.

Regards, Mark

 

good info, thanks Mark.

 

>>mini_for_me, I personally wouldn't recommend DAS for the following reasons:
>>
>>1. they use curtins vs. steel sided trucks
>>2. their insurance is quite low
>>3. they use no covering on the lower level vehicles
>>4. they dispatch a flat bed to pickup the vehicle, transport to the terminal, then flatbed to your location...Too much car movement.
>>5. they are one of the few companies that I investigated that actually had negative feedback. see bimmer.org.
>>
>>Just my opinion and the information above is based on my e-mail/calls to them.
>>
>>Regards, Mark

I did not realize the facts you stated. I will be more careful with my recommendations in the future. Thanks for your research.

 

I used Fred Conners in November from Classic to CA. I felt they did an excellent job taking care of my car.
Yes my car was part of the 7 Car shipment out of OH. Yet, my car was the special case in the entire transacktion. Because of a MINI USA mix up...my car was not running, missing the ECU. Long story short Fred's crew had to take special precautions loading and unloading the car. They did a wonderful job bring Blossom to California

The cost for the enclosed transport 900 because of the group deal. Yet No additional charge for the 3 aero kits that came West from Classic.
Would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

Scoutd, et al
Early_Apex couldn't wait any longer for a truck to pick up his MINI Cooper S from Classic MINI in Mentor, OH. He hopped on a plane yesterday (Thurs) and arrived in Cleveland in a blinding snowstorm. at 10 PM. Julie Saxa, Classic MINI Advisor extraordinaire, picked him up at the airport and brought him back to Classic, did all his "preflight" and got him on his way south (out of the snow, hopefully) before the stroke of Midnight. Now that's what I call SERVICE! Hopefully he'll hit good weather on his long journey home to Vancouver, WA.

I'm sure we'll hear from Mike after he gets home. Hope he washes the car before his wife sees it.
Charlie

 

Here is one non-mini writeup on who not to go to.

http://volokh.com/2004_01_18_volokh_...88529284515964