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Topic: Anybody ever ship a car cross-country? (Read 1969 times) previous topic - next topic

Anybody ever ship a car cross-country?

I am looking at a car for my wife in Arizona. The price is right, but I wonder what it would cost to ship it to Ohio.

Anybody got any advice?

I have submitted for a few quotes from transport companies, but I didn't know if anybody knew any other ways to get it here cheaper.

PS- This is a non-drivable roller, so flying out and driving it back is out.
CoogarXR : 1985 Cougar XR-7

Anybody ever ship a car cross-country?

Reply #1 –
most places won't ship a non drivable vehicle. The last quote I got was from jacksonville Fl to Buffalo NY... for around $800-$900. that's for a drivable vehicle (starts runs, and has brakes to put it inn the carrier)
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***** Project "EVOLUTION" 1987 Cougar LS  & 1985 Cougar Convertible *****
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Pretty much every panel on my 87 is new, rebuilt, or re constructed. :D
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Anybody ever ship a car cross-country?

Reply #2 –
A friend of my daughter recently had a Triumph Spitfire shipped from California to Pa.Approx $900 and the car had to be driveable on and off the carrier.Also be advised that she had at first hired and paid a "discount" carrier through a broker,this turned out to be a disaster.After many delays and excuses from the carrier( and an angry seller on the west coast) she had to hire a second carrier and then battle carrier #1 to get her money refunded...be carefull!

Anybody ever ship a car cross-country?

Reply #3 –
Take a vacation and go get it.
Old Grey Cat to this.88 Cat, 5.0 HO, CW mounts, mass air, CI custom cam, afr165's, Tmoss worked cobra intake, BBK shorty's,off road h pipe, magnaflow ex. T-5,spec stage 2 clutch, 8.8 373 TC trac loc, che ajustables with bullits on the rear. 11" brakes up front. +

Anybody ever ship a car cross-country?

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Kitz Kat;340872
Take a vacation and go get it.


I don't have a truck or a dolly, and the car I'm picking up has no drivetrain.

I did debate picking up a car dolly for $300 and trying to pull it with my 83 cougar ;). After all, the car has no drivetrain, so it probably only weighs 2500-2700lbs...

Here's the math-
3700 miles round trip
divided by 20mpg =
186 gallon of gas used
x 2.90 per gallon =
539.40 +
300 for the dolly =
------------------
839.40 my cost to go get it (not counting food, hotel, etc)...

Nevermind, I guess I won't go, since I don't get paid vacation days, it would be 839.40 plus missed work :mad:

Plus my car would probably blow up on the way back, and I would be so upset that I would have to abandon them both on the side of the road, and run off into the mountains to live the rest of my live as a nomad. Never cutting my hair, and pillaging campsites for leftovers.
CoogarXR : 1985 Cougar XR-7

Anybody ever ship a car cross-country?

Reply #5 –
Is $300 the cheapest you could get the dolly for? Why buy a car with no drivetrain in AZ? I see good deals for cars in ohio all the time.
Quote from: jcassity
I honestly dont think you could exceed the cost of a new car buy installing new *stock* parts everywhere in your coug our tbird. Its just plain impossible. You could revamp the entire drivetrain/engine/suspenstion and still come out ahead.
Hooligans! 
1988 Crown Vic wagon. 120K California car. Wifes grocery getter. (junked)
1987 Ford Thunderbird LX. 5.0. s.o., sn-95 t-5 and an f-150 clutch. Driven daily and going strong.
1986 cougar.
lilsammywasapunkrocker@yahoo.com

Anybody ever ship a car cross-country?

Reply #6 –
3700 miles.. :(  What were you looking at anyway?
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Anybody ever ship a car cross-country?

Reply #7 –
I have shipped a car twice.  Once when I sold my SC to a guy in TN (about 700 bucks.)  The other time was shipping my Cougar to me and it was also about 700 bucks, but the price near doubled if the car didn't run.
1986 Mercury Cougar - 2.3T/T5 swap, TC brakes and suspension and rearend, 3" exhaust, 255 lph fuel pump, Stinger BOV, Gillis MBC @ 18 psi
2003 Chevy Suburban Z71 - Daily driver
2015 Chevy Volt - Wife's daily driver

Anybody ever ship a car cross-country?

Reply #8 –
Quote from: Haystack;340878
Is $300 the cheapest you could get the dolly for? Why buy a car with no drivetrain in AZ? I see good deals for cars in ohio all the time.


I should have mentioned it's not a cougar/bird... Long story short, my wife loves her 65 Plymouth Fury. It's been an Ohio car it's whole life, driven in winters, so it's got a lot of rust issues. I found one out in AZ that has no drivetrain, but a perfect rust free body for super cheap. I'm just trying to see if I can get it here for a reasonable price. I am normally not a Chrysler fan either, but for some reason, I really like that car too...
CoogarXR : 1985 Cougar XR-7

Anybody ever ship a car cross-country?

Reply #9 –
I say go for the nomad thing... screw it all.... live in the mountains and grow your hair... it'll be more fun and relaxing than work, getting the other car or changing out the drive train.
:cougarsmily:~Karen~

Anybody ever ship a car cross-country?

Reply #10 –
I just had to have my new car shipped from a Lincoln Mercury dealer in Alabama to my local dealer in Baytown - near Houston. My dealer arranged for the shipping. The company they used charged them (me) $450.

Maybe there are some shippers that will take the car even though it is not able to move on its own. Hope you can find one!

Anybody ever ship a car cross-country?

Reply #11 –
Had a non-driving (roller) 66 Mustang shipped from San Francisco, Calif. to Akron, Ohio 2 months ago. Cost me $1000.00 . Had it been drivable, it was going to be $900. Those were the lowest of about 10 quotes I got. They picked up the car the day I agreed to the payment and 5 days later I had my car. Good experience.
88 Sport ,306 roller block, flat tops, ARP rods and bolts, Compcam 533 lift/ 270 duration, roller rockers, ported 351w heads with 1.94 - 1.60 valves, 550 springs, 600cfm carb , full length headers, 2.5" dual X-pipe exhaust, MSD ignition, Hughes built C4, Weld Draglites, Tracloc /Richmond 3:73's

Anybody ever ship a car cross-country?

Reply #12 –
Had a non-op Bird hauled here from Chicago cost me $600 or so. He hauls all our cars so I probably got a bit of a break. I sold my 70 to a guy in Australia this past spring and from here to the port in New Jersey cost the guy approx $400. It was considered non-op as it had no brakes. If you are in a rush non-ops will cost you. If I remember correctly the last one we got out of CA was about a grand but it ran.

Anybody ever ship a car cross-country?

Reply #13 –
I'm in the wrong profession. Maybe I should use my car hauler to make some money. Not looking to drive out to the West Coast or anything, but man, these prices are outrageous!
2017 Subaru Outback
2007 Lincoln MKZ
1990 Ford F250 / Banks turbo diesel

Anybody ever ship a car cross-country?

Reply #14 –
I've shipped from Florida to Maryland twice and from Maryland to Florida once.  I used FedEx enclosed shipping two of the times and I don't know who the third time was.  It was arranged by someone else.
I was happy with FedEx.
"lol.. because not too many people care for that style of car"
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