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Vehicle Shipping Tips – Good Advice Before You Ship

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Home  |  Vehicle Shipping   |   Vehicle Shipping Tips – Good Advice Before You Ship

This is just to go over a few things about Vehicle Shipping for you before you make a decision.

Price and getting the car moved safely and on time are probably your biggest concerns.  Here are some things to consider.

First, never pay an upfront deposit.  This is very important.

If you are requesting quotes online, I can assure you that every company you’re speaking with is a broker (or a carrier with a brokerage division) and the people you are speaking with are salesmen who work on commission.

So what happens sometimes is that some salespeople will tell you whatever you want to hear just to get that deposit because they don't get paid until you pay the company. Then if they can't get you a car carrier because they bid it too low you could be the one left with no car moved.

Plus, now you've given out a deposit that you have to somehow get back. And if you do get the deposit back you'll see a $75 cancellation fee in their terms and conditions.  (not in ours, of course)

So, whether you ship a car with us or someone else, do NOT give an upfront deposit.  There are to many ethical companies like us who don't ask for a deposit until after we get you locked down with a carrier.

Secondly, make sure that the Vehicle Shipping company that you choose to move your car has a good rating with the BBB.  Again, this is very important. You want to make sure that they are going to set you up with a reputable carrier.

We only use car carriers that carry a minimum of $750,000 in insurance and have been PRE-SCREENED so that they are known to be very good. 

One problem with this industry is that most people only move a car once in their life and so it allows for people to be, how shall we say, "less than honest" since they don't need to worry about repeat business.

We have an A rating with the Better Business Bureau and are Accredited by them.

It's easy to see anyone's rating.  Just go to www.bbb.org.  Once there, select the company's location, (ours is Los Angeles).  Then just type in the name of the company (i.e. Safe-Direct Car Shipping).  From there you can read a 3 year history on what the BBB has to say about the company.  If they have a lot of complaints (especially unanswered complaints) you may want to consider a different company.

As far as quotes are concerned, all of the quotes you are getting are actually just estimates.  What really happens is that we all use the same website to post your move once you select a company.  It's called Central Dispatch.  This way the carriers have one place to go and can see what moves are out there.  It makes it easy on them since they are driving all day and can only check when they stop at a truck stop and such.

Anyway, when you look at someone's quote, usually the amount of the *deposit* goes to the broker and the rest is what they are going to offer the car carrier when they post it. (This is usually the amount you pay COD)

So if you get a quote that is much lower than everyone else, you need to realize that it may not pay the car carrier enough to get their interest.  So your move can just sit on that website with no one interested in it. And it's usually those low quotes that want a deposit up front as well. Be careful.

With that being said, if you ever feel the quote you get from us is not *competitive* enough, we have no problem re-looking at your quote with you on the phone, and we'll even go online while we're talking and tell you what other cars are offering at the time. Making sure you are priced in line with the competition is your our top priority.

I hope this has helped you understand this industry a little bit better. If you have any questions, just call us at 866-221-1664 and we'll take the mystery out for you.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Honest Answers to Your Car Shipping Questions

Yes, we always ask for your specific pickup and delivery addresses, if the carrier can get right to the addresses you provide, they will. If the addresses that you give us are not safely accessible for a Multi-car carrier, however, you will need to make arrangements with the driver to meet at a nearby location where the carrier can safely get in and out.

People do it all the time (rarely for free) but the official answer is no.

Not what you wanted to hear, we know, but that is the honest answer.

We are not licensed to broker the shipment of household goods and, likewise, no car carrier that operates in the USA is licensed to transport them from state to state either. Despite what you might be being told by other car shipping companies you may speak with.

Remember, at the end of the day we're all salespeople, and the true answer to this question is not a great selling point.

You will hear a lot of companies tell you that you can put up to 100 pounds of items in the trunk, but that is not entirely true. That fact is that items of that amount are fairly common and the department of transportation is probably not going to split hairs and fine the trucker over items of that amount, provided they are not over their weight limit. They could fine them, however, if they see a vehicle stuffed full of personal items so the car carrier will most likely try to negotiate something with you to cover themselves against any costs they could incur. It's not something we can build into your contract though.

We have a short and helpful video on this topic in our user videos.

Only in rare cases and car carriers will usually charge a premium to make it happen.

All dates given by car carriers are typically estimates and projections.

For this reason (and to keep your cost down) we ask that you build in some flexibility and give us the earliest possible date you would be WILLING to release the vehicle, even though it may not be your preferred date.

We'll put you in direct contact with your car carrier and the driver will also typically call you the afternoon or evening before your pick up and delivery (they won't just show up unannounced, and if they do we want to hear about it). However, car carriers are out on the road battling traffic, weather and any number of other factors that can and do throw them off of their pickup and delivery projections from time to time.

If the projected dates we give you come and you are unable to make contact with your carrier, please call our office immediately so that we may help resolve the situation.

The average transit time from pick up to delivery on any vehicle going coast to coast will average 7 to 10 days. From there you can figure your transit time based on how far your vehicle is traveling, i.e. from either coast to the Midwest might average 3-7 days.

Yes!

Even better, we do not even ask for payment until we have you confirmed for pickup by a safe, reliable, fully insured, direct car carrier. If for any reason you do not ship your car with the carrier that we arrange for you, there is no fee.

The fees paid directly to the carrier however, (in most cases, their fees are not paid until your vehicle is delivered) are not directly controlled by us, so any requests for a refund of the carrier's portion would need to be addressed with the carrier directly.

Of course! And you are always backed by our Damage Free Guarantee policy.

Part of what you pay us for is to verify that the car carrier that we put you on is covered by the proper amount of insurance and that everything is up to date.

There is never any additional cost to you for this coverage, and their insurance is always primary.

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