Well I made a decision on shipping company(broker) to get the 1975 Cutlass Cruiser from KS to SC. It seems you have to deal with a broker,and the internet is full of horror stories. As of now I am on 1-10 day wait for a carrier to pick up. Will update this as it progressess. Maybe I found a good one,or a dud.Either way at least you guys will have my experiences to use if you ship a car. When it is all done I will give the Broker name. I just have a horrible uneasy feeling about this.Figured I would at least try. I am not uneasy about the cars physical transport,but actually getting it on a carrier,you know, getting the run around.Later
This shouldn't be the way it is. Sadly we can't seem to trust anyone now days. I hope you have a good broker and shipper for your transport and others may have someone to go to in the future too. My part time Canadian neighbor is an ex trucker and he hauls RV's all over the US and Canada. Sadly I lost his name and address and he hasn't been around here in a long time. Makes a good neighbor! I do know he is honest and a car guy himself. There must be others out there who we can trust. With the size of this forum and others it would be a great business for someone to get into. Word of mouth would get customers and everyone would be happy. It's been a long time since a hand shake and your word was the only guarantee we needed.
Jmt good to see your pickup and delivery is happin soon , a few of these may settle the nerves(on oceans involved):2_thumbs_up_-_anima
Make sure that the person on the other end does a very close inspection and notes every dent, scratch and whatever else on the inspection sheet before the driver leaves. Then, you check the sheet against the car when it arrives. If you are not familiar with what I'm talking about....the driver should/will have a sheet with a car drawn on it. Your person on the other end, presumably the seller, and the driver do a walk around the car and scrutinize every mark and record it on the drawing. When it gets to your end...if there are damages that are nor shown on the sheet then the driver is responsible for those damages.
Yup. Very important. I had the seller of my Pontiac scan the inspection and E-mail it to me, so I had it before the wagon got here.
That's not bad at all. These are independent drivers with their own or leased trucks that bid on the loads. They could be anywhere in the country and it usually takes them time to get to the area the vehicle needs to be picked up at. It isn't an exact science, they're picking off and dropping off cars every day and have to go in roundabout routes sometimes, not always point A to point B. If you're in an out of the way place it could take months before somebody takes the job, a lot of those they won't even take unless you move the car to a larger city or closer to an interstate. Most of the time you have to get the car to where a big truck can get it too, they usually won't go down residential streets unless it's any easy shot. I have a spot behind K-Mart by the freeway that I send them to. Nobody wanted to get my former Vista Cruiser from Wisconsin and they finally found a guy that was picking up new Jeeps at the factory to grab it. The driver said he could of loaded three more Jeep Compass deals in the room my car took up on the transport. Here's my Vista leaving on a big-buck Intercity enclosed transport, the driver was still the usual seedy character though. The cars are tall with the bumped up roof and roof rack and it almost hit the top of the truck when the driver was pulling it in. I was screaming at him like a girl but he looked quick and kept moving and it cleared by an inch. Two brothers bought it for their dad who had one exactly like it when they were kids. They're big east coast Porsche collectors with a building/museum for their cars and my baby lives there now. She has a good home and and I've been told the car is even driven once in a while.
Well it has been six days and no shipping yet. No worries yet,6-10 days for pickup. At least the broker responded and said he is working on it.I read some CANNOT be reached after they get a deposit.
Right now there is alot of bad weather across the country so I'm sure that could be a factor. I've heard all the horror stories about using brokers but I've used them many times with no problems.
Well I can safely say do not use US Direct Auto.I learned my lesson.Well beyond the window of pickup,called Tuesday and still no return call.I should have trusted my gut. Got some fellas on my own off uship to do it.They are on top of things. Just booked them last night.They called me today to tell me they had already coordinated a pickup with the seller and will deliver the 25th. I like the fact that they do COD.Plus they are not an "auto carrier". Just two brothers and their two pickups..a little more personal. Damn I'm ready to for the 75.
Yeah...all a broker does is try to find a guy that's going your way and has room. If the broker has an answering machine; leave a message that you have cancelled and have other arrangements. Hope this works out for you, jmt.
