[jacobm99]

Hey guys,

I want to ship a car from Wisconsin to the Bay Area, CA and was wondering if anyone could recomend a cheap and reliable company.

Also, I'm concerned about paying the guy and him never shipping the car, does anyone know of some kind of escrow company that will hold the money until the car is shipped?

[cboy]

I had a car shipped from the west coast (Vancouver, B.C.) to Lac du Flambeau, WI back in 2003 by Fivestar Auto Transfer and was satisfied. Unfortunately, I just tried to look them up on the web and couldn't find them - so maybe they have changed names or gone out of buisness. The most recent number I have for them is toll free: 877 247 1285. They actually sub contracted the delivery out to Darcol International 800 665 0756, but they are a Canadian outfit so I don't know about a WI to CA run with them.

At the time I also talked at length with the owner of weber transports. He is a "good old boy" who specializes in classics and rods and operates with just two (double) enclosed trailers. He had the best price and the best reputation I could find. The problem was he wasn't set up to transport a car from Canada (lots of extra paper work at the boarder) so I couldn't use him. You can go to his web site and get a quote for your job.

http://www.webertransports.com/index.html

Just a couple small tips. Whoever you go with insist on an enclosed trailer (higher cost but it is worth it) and insist on seeing a copy of their insurance coverage.

Dewey

[jacobm99]

Thanks for the info, I'll have to make some calls in the morning.

How did you handle the payment? did you use an escrow company?

[cboy]

Originally Posted by jacobm99

How did you handle the payment? did you use an escrow company?

I used VISA. All VISA payments have an automatic 30 revocation period. If the car had not been delivered, I would have simply notified VISA and then not paid them. However, it does not work with VISA "debit" type cards. Those cards draw the money directly from your bank account and there is no revocation period. So it has to a a "credit" type card.

Now paying the seller is a different deal. I know ebay has an escrow company they offer on all auto sales over a certain value. I think you can also use that company for private, non-ebay, sales. You can find them through the ebay site. I don't know their fee, but I believe it is reasonable if you are talking a $10,000 car or more.