Shipping a Car Advice Needed

What are the guidelines for having a car shipped after purchase? Are there preferred companies to use, expected costs, enclosed transport vs open, etc. How do people do this? Seems like an ordinary event from a lot of the sold posts I've seen. Trying some the shipping calculators but most are for passenger cars.

Getting back into racing after a long while and am in Southern California and am looking for a local older car - FV, FF, FC. The FF I had before was local and I never entertained buying a car in another state and having it shipped. But my search for a local car on the west coast hasn't been fruitful yet, and most deals I see are mid west to east coast and am wondering if finding a good car 2000 miles away for example and having it shipped would be worth it. I see posts that have sold saying "the car's going Texas, or Florida", or where ever frequently. Are all shipping deals one off's, or are there industry preferred shippers? Looking for a deal on a car this side of 20K and see if I should stay local and wait or cast a bigger net and have it shipped.

Thanks

A lot of folks already have trailers and pickups so they just go get them if not too far. Now is a good time to ship I hear, lots of people who can haul and not much competition.

I just bought a car last week in Ohio and am having it shipped to CA the end of next week. Call Malia at (503) 347-7773. She's really easy to deal with and the price was competitive. Its about $1 per mile.

A lot of the generic shippers won't touch, or will charge huge premiums for a car they can't drive into and out of the trailer.
Passport Transport and a few others will accommodate a "push in, push out" race car.

Think hard about letting a guy ship your race car on an open car carrier, those trailers often sit parked outside exposed for hours or overnight while the drivers are in their off-duty mode. They also work to much less rigid schedules compared to Passport.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the input.
Using the Passport Transport as an example I did an online sample quote and picked a zip in Ohio at random and to my zip, the distance was 2211 miles and cost was $2365. So that gives me a good idea for a reputable transporter, enclosed. Estimate delivery time between 1 and 2 weeks.

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Originally Posted by Extreme1

I just bought a car last week......

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Originally Posted by fitz2816

Getting back into racing after a long while and am in Southern California and am looking for a local older car - FV, FF, FC.

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What are you guys bringing out?

I used bats motorsports when I had my car that I bought transported from Deleware. The car with spares cost about $1800, but that was a while ago.

I have shipped a couple of cars along with spare parts.Pa to Tx , FL to Tx used u ship around 1$ per mile enclosed trailer.
regards
Paul

Opinion from a shipper; if you are quoted a $1.00/mile/enclosed to ship a formula car to your door / in your time frame, BOOK IT!

That above stated, a few things to consider (in addition to the excellent comments already provided):

~ Is the quote a "flat-fee"?
~ Are spares included in the quote?
~ Can the shipper meet your time frame?

As a shipper, I'm fully committed until mid-late Sep (and $1.00/mile is a non-starter). For reference, attached a photo of my latest shipment; 83 Reynard roller, 7 Totes, 2 Cartons, 1 Tail, 2 Noses, 1 Tire/Wheel Set, and 1 Bare Chassis...

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Originally Posted by BeerBudgetRacing

What are you guys bringing out?

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Nothing yet, just starting my search for a car. Looking for a FF on the west coast first, DB1 or mid 90's VD. Going to post a WTB.

Thanks All for the information, gives me a good idea on shipping.

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Originally Posted by BeerBudgetRacing

What are you guys bringing out?

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I bought a PFM. It’s going to be a track day car for Willow Springs and Buttonwillow.

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Originally Posted by fitz2816

What are the guidelines for having a car shipped after purchase? Are there preferred companies to use, expected costs, enclosed transport vs open, etc. How do people do this? Seems like an ordinary event from a lot of the sold posts I've seen. Trying some the shipping calculators but most are for passenger cars.

Getting back into racing after a long while and am in Southern California and am looking for a local older car - FV, FF, FC. The FF I had before was local and I never entertained buying a car in another state and having it shipped. But my search for a local car on the west coast hasn't been fruitful yet, and most deals I see are mid west to east coast and am wondering if finding a good car 2000 miles away for example and having it shipped would be worth it. I see posts that have sold saying "the car's going Texas, or Florida", or where ever frequently. Are all shipping deals one off's, or are there industry preferred shippers? Looking for a deal on a car this side of 20K and see if I should stay local and wait or cast a bigger net and have it shipped.

Thanks

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2,000 highway miles on a tractor trailer (highway miles being harder on a formula car than track miles), should the car be equipped with decent shocks, is a fair amount of wear and tear. Just something to work into the equation of local vs say east coast.

good luck

bt

Thanks bt,
I've cast a small net for now in the Southwest here to see if I can lure anything local out of the woodwork within a 500 mile radius. Gotta be someone with a good car that needs some dust blown off it, or one would think.

I shipped a P2 car in 2019. Got a half dozen quotes. The one I picked was reputable and sounded knowledgeable and like he really wanted the job and wanted to help. Said he'd shipped race cars before.

Sent him many photos and made it clear what I had. He said he understood.

Truck arrived. Driver checked out the car, called the boss, and extorted more money from me which I didn't pass along to the buyer.

And I had a contract. Didn't want to have to sue to get my deposit back.

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Originally Posted by Jim Garry

checked out the car, called the boss, and extorted more money from me

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Race car tax. I get this all the time when buying anything for my car. Paint, bodywork, exhaust, electrical, fasteners, etc.

How much?
$50. What are you going to use it for?
I need it for my open wheel race car.
Did I say $50? It's actually $300.

I never, ever tell anyone what I'm buying things for anymore.