Shipping a new car across the country - Experiences and things to look out for?

[freesole]

I live in Washington State and ended up buying a B9 S5 from Audi Wilmington in Delaware as they gave me a great price and they were great to work with (also helps that someone a lot of people trust vouches for them :)). The thing that I am looking at now is shipping the car from Delaware to Washington. The prices that I am getting quoted are between $1,300 to $1,650 for an open container or $2,500 for a closed container.

Questions I have are:
- Anybody have issues with open container shipping? Would closed container be recommended?
- Do the prices look to be adequate? I have been advised to use Fisher Shipping.
- Anything else to look out for?

[tstiles]

A year ago, I shipped a small boat in an enclosed truck to Washington State via Intercity. The boat was accompanied by six new Ferraris from New Jersey. The Intercity experience was second to none and done for ~ $1/mile. Highly recommended.

[q5 dave]

Send me a gas card and I'll deliver it in 2-3 days

[WinterRunner]

Yeah, two things: Covered carrier, and not using a broker carrier service, but one that owns it's own fleet.

I shipped my R8 from Co to MA, and it was 2,100 enclosed I beleive from a specialized carrier service. Pay the premium on something like this, it's worth it.

[heisnuts]

A lot depends on how picky you are about cars. An open carrier will deliver the car to you covered in bugs guts, dirt and debris. An enclosed transport will deliver the car in the exact condition it was given to them. If it were me, I would pay for enclosed transport, but if you are someone who does not get bothered by slight paint imperfections, open carrier will work too.

[Audi 4 Life]

If you want no worries ship it in an enclosed transport, its gonna cost more but it's the only proper way to do it.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[larkyan]

I think that opened container wold be enough.

[Dan_G]

Audi ships them to the dealers in open trailers. I would have no problem using one. Spend the $1k you save on paint correction.

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

[Hostile]

Audi ships them to the dealers in open trailers. I would have no problem using one. Spend the $1k you save on paint correction.

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

Montway is quoting me only like $400 more for an enclosed trailer from Chicago to NoVA. ~$800 vs ~$1100.

[JonS]

Yeah, two things: Covered carrier, and not using a broker carrier service, but one that owns it's own fleet.

I shipped my R8 from Co to MA, and it was 2,100 enclosed I beleive from a specialized carrier service. Pay the premium on something like this, it's worth it.

I have shipped several cars across country and the last one was through a broker from a dealer in NYC. That seems a bit more complex than the other car carriers I have used, but the car was more or less OK. It was in a covered trailer, but a small one. I would definitely use a specialized carrier service - I think the overall experience is better. You might pay a tad more, but it is worth it. About $2,500 would have definitely covered it a couple years ago, I don't know about now.

I have used Reliable transport to ship a car to a storage facility a specialty cars and they did a great job. I just checked and when I look for Reliable, I come up with Montway Transport. Perhaps they purchased Reliable. I do see a quotation for Montway to ship another car (not enclosed), and they did a good job as well.