Hello again. Anyone shipped a vehicle from the mainland? Any recommendations? Getting really close to leaving and I need to ship my car, and this ones out of pocket since only one car is covered by orders. Thanks for the help!

 

I used cardinal moving systems (I think that's the name) to ship from IL. Charged me $1800 and they had a truck come to my house to pick it up.

 

Yah, I'm a little curious myself. I'm still toying with the idea of buying an LS430 and there are so many more cars available in the mainland. I've got family in LA and friends in Vegas that may be able to help me out, so if anything I'd be looking at just shipping from Cali to Hawaii. Any other shippers and how easy is it to do? Does the registered owner have to be the one that drops the car off?

 

I had a truck shipped form Colorado to Oahu in February. It was about $1900 picked up from a private residence in Denver then trucked to Cali and shipped VIA Horizon Lines to the docks at Sand Island. I went with DAS (Dependable Auto Shippers). It took about two weeks. I wasnt really happy with the service. DAS contracts out their business to smaller trucking companies. These guys really didnt take good care of the truck. It arrived with some small dings and scratches and really dirty. Plus DAS will not insure your vehicle if its shipped over water, check with your insurance company to see if they will cover it. Only reason I went with DAS is because they were the least expensive and were able to ship straight from Denver to HI.

If I were you I would drive the car to the docks in Cali and drop it off then catch a flight to Hawaii from there. It will cost you about $1K. PASHA would be your best bet, the cars driven in the ship (kinda like a big parking garage) and not put in a container. Plus you can work it out with the military travel agent to fly out of Cali instead of Arizona.

 

Nope, All you need to do is arrange for someone to be there when its picked up.

 

When I shipped mine they said someone just had to be there to sign the paperwork. However I think the registered owner had to pick it up. I got really good service with Cardinal Moving Systems Hawaii. They answered all the questions I had in a timely manner. When I picked the car up everything was in order and in the same shape it left in except I had to air up one of the tires. Mine was picked up at my residence in IL and trucked to the port of Long Beach and then over water with Matson and it was insured by the shipping company throughout the transit time. I did however have to pay part of the total when the car was picked up and then the other part when it got to Long Beach and total transit time was 1 month. I was happy overall with the service and how everything went down.

 

Matson only required all the paperwork for the car (reg, ins) and a notarized note saying you're allowing so-and-so to drop off and pick up the car.
It was $1200 from Long Beach to Honolulu a few years back.

 

Yah, that's about what I thought I heard too. It sucks because I really wouldn't want to ship a car and run the risk that it would be damaged along the way. We write a ton of estimates for shipping damage, ranging from minor scratches to couple thousand dollars worth of damage. So tempting though with the amount of cars available in the mainland. Hmmm, may have to save up for my October Vegas trip and come home with a new car.

 

That's what allways worries me about shipping is damage done when receiving it back home. Most people get the front bumper screwed up, maybe take the front bumper off before shipping it? I would pay top dollar to get it shipped with no damage, anyone know someone that ships cars from East coast to West coast? Been looking at some cars on East coast but I don't trust the car shipped. If you know a great place PM me details, I would believe there are some company's out there that take pride in their work!

 

What's most important is to take extensive pictures of the car when you bring it to the place that is shipping it.

What I tend to do is take an up close photo (don't use your stupid instagram thingie for this or any other photoshopping) of every panel with a little bit of background of the drop off place so the lawyers can't say the pics were taken previously. In this day and age, you can accomplish this with your phone in like 5 minutes.

This plus the drop-off condition form is key to calling a company on anything they've broken.

I have yet to hear of a company with a spotless record but I have heard of many idiots that either:

1. Didn't call out the company when they received their car with damage.
2. Didn't CHECK THE CAR upon delivery and signed the paperwork...because they were so excited to get back in their ride.


In my own history of shipping cars (twice), I have had a good experience (through DAS shipping from HI to OH) and bad (shipping through Matson from WA to HI). The Matson damage I called them on and made sure to show the paperwork stating no damage where there was now damage...they paid for the replacement mirror.

 

I wonder if anyone can chime in on this, but I was thinking if i ever shipped, I'd wrap the body in "roadwrapz" material (basically the same stuff used when new cars are shipped)

I'm pretty sure they won't accept a car which is already wrapped because they can't verify prior damage, but maybe you can show up with the wrap in your hand, do the inspection walk, take your photos then wrap it up in their lot?

 

Never did a wrap on previous cars, but i can say this, if you're **** about your car and you are worried it will get damaged, buy a container.
Sell it when you're done using it. It's really easy to do as I've done it a few times already.

Make sure the port it is shipped to doesn't have a super surplus of containers as well so you can sell it off. Even if it does have a ton of containers, you can still sell it, it just may take a little longer. Most times, it's pretty easy, also, make sure you have somewhere to put it for that time you are trying to sell it as well.

Else.... like dub says, check it out, snap as many pictures as you can and be creative about putting the car in a picture with a background of the port/holding facility with names is a bonus.

I've done both Horizon/Matson and even Young Bro's on the barge. It really pays to be careful, meticulous, and get all the info you can on the shippers process.

good luck!

 

Great info and it seems not only for myself, thanks! Looks like PASHA is my best bet right now. 1074 from San Diego but almost 1900 from Phoenix??? So the wife and I will be making a quick road trip in a couple of weeks! lol

 

Pasha will be your best bet....I shipped a car to Hawaii and shipped a car to the Mainland and used Pasha both ways.

You should drive to Cali...San diego to be exact and pay about 1k to ship it to Oahu. You can track it and you will pick it up at the Port or in Mapunapuna.

PM me if you have any questions.

 

All the good recomendations for PASHA really put me a bit more at ease. I should be driving out to San Diego this next week, just spending today prepping her. Thanks! Getting soo close and excited!