Won unexpected Ebay motors Auction - need help

Update on last page!

Good Evening Fellow Enthusiasts,

So as most of us do, I have been looking for a specific car that needs work (for price point reasons).  One popped up on EBay the other day with good description and pictures so I figured what the heck and put a bid in lower than what I wanted to pay.  Well, I just won the ad, which is great, and terrifying at the same time as I haven't ever purchased a car online, especially half way across the country.  Here are the facts:

• Car is located near sin city in Nevada (Boulder City), I am located in New Hampshire.
• The car runs and drives and I am going to ship it.
• I paid the deposit and now will need to work with the seller (private seller) on getting the rest of the funds.

Here are my questions:

• Anyone use U-Ship or have any shippers they have used that they like?  I am fine with open trailer.
• Should I fly out there to give a cashiers check and get the title?  Will the shipper need the title proof or just a copy?  How do I arrange for the shipper to get the car?
• Pay for a post purchase inspection and arrange the title transfer and shipping?  I know the car needs work and the seller sent detailed pictures and descriptions of the issues so I am not concerned with a thorough inspection for a pristine vehicle.
• Anyone live near or in Boulder City, NV and want to make some fun money for inspecting it and making sure the seller is legit?

Any assistance would be great to help a small town guy in the internet purchase world.

Thanks!

Chris

Congratulations! Any details on the new car?

I don't have much to contribute that's actually helpful, but I know others will.

In reply to classicJackets :

Thanks! Its a CTS-V with the 6 speed manual and pano roof.  It needs cosmetics, maintenance, and possibly a tranny rebuild, which is right up my alley.  I have a corvette (2006 c6) and while I absolutely love the car, having twins (1yr) does not lend itself to a two seater.  They just changed car seats however so can fit in sedans now!

Originally, uShip wa intended to be a place for truck owners to go find side work.  It was to be an Online Broker.  A broker is a business that has salesmen who have loads that need to be moved and they sell those jobs out to drivers who need work.  In short, a broker is a dating agency for people who have things to move and people who can do the moving.

As the years have past, uShip has become a haven of brokers.  The brokers will promise you they can make your move for a price (like $2,000) and then the broker will try through his other sources to find a driver who will do it for less (say $1,500) and the broker then keeps the $500.  

The brokers will make some hollow promises to you about how fast they can get your car moved to get you to commit.  In reality, when you commit, they still do not know how or when or who is going to bring it to you.  When you see places on uShip that have feedback scores of 35,000 or some huge number, those are usually brokers.  Montway is a big broker player on uShip

However, uShip does still have some hard working, independent operators who you can get joined up with directly.  I have had great luck by seeking out or waiting for replies from these types.  Keep in mind, all the initial and almost instantaneous replies you get from uShip will be brokers.  

Another thing to know is there is a chat function of uShip.  In this function the companies can ask you questions.  Just know that these chats are not private.  Any company who is considering you can see the chats from other companies. So, if you tell one company that if they could come down to $1,500 you'll do it then never expect any company to come in at less than $1,500.  But, you can use this to your advantage.  Don't be afraid to put it right out there in every reply that you have a target price of $1,400.  Now everyone can see what you're looking for.  You will get less replies but you will get more honest inquiries.  That price will also be low to keep the brokers from trying to play.  

Uship charges the shipper near 30% of the job total as a uShip commission for booking the work.  If it a broker that you committed to then 30% will go to uShip and the broker is trying to keep another 15% or more for himself you the best your driver can get paid is 55% of the job.  That means you can be getting a low wage driver who cares less about customer service.   If you bypass the broker and go straight to an independent then the independent will get 70% of the job pay.  

Or, you can go right to the big companies with the stellar reputations like Horseless Carriage, Inner City, and Reliable.  They cost more.  They deliver more confidence and have more control over their dedicated fleet.  

That is a long haul back home. What about a fly and drive as you said it is a runner? Even if it craps out you might get it much closer to home before needing a deck.

In reply to John Welsh :

Wow John,  thanks for all of the details!  This is extremely helpful.  I read some of your posts with the search function and they were also helpful.

Thanks!

In reply to bearmtnmartin :

Unfortunately time constraints limit that.  I would love to though!

Walletsmallerthanideas said:

In reply to John Welsh :

Wow John,  thanks for all of the details!  This is extremely helpful.  I read some of your posts with the search function and they were also helpful.

 

Thanks!

Here is some more chatter about shipping

bearmtnmartin said:

That is a long haul back home. What about a fly and drive as you said it is a runner? Even if it craps out you might get it much closer to home before needing a deck.

One issue with Fly&Drive is that plates don't stay on the car in NV and they've made it a lot harder to get a movement permit for more than a day or two out there. Not to mention that the movement permit is theoretically only good until you hit the state line.

What's your time frame for getting it back? I'm flying to Vegas for work in mid march and might be able to drive it to you for expenses plus a ticket home to ATL.

Okay, that might not be cheaper. Or a good idea. But I've always wanted to do a cross country, and what better than someone else's SPEC V, right?

John Welsh said:

Walletsmallerthanideas said:

In reply to John Welsh :

Wow John,  thanks for all of the details!  This is extremely helpful.  I read some of your posts with the search function and they were also helpful.

 

Thanks!

Here is some more chatter about shipping

Given that I was the instigator of that thread and it covers shipping from NV to the East Coast, I'd like to summarize a bit:

• Try to avoid brokers if you need to get the cars picked up by a certain date. Several people on here have recommendations for small mom&pop operators and if you're lucky enough that they cover the route you need, I'd say consider using them.
• The big carriers are more expensive but if you're on a common route of theirs, they tend to be able to give you a timeframe that they can actually adhere to.
• From Carson City, NV to the WV panhandle, the price difference between what the broker pretended to be able to get me on an open transport and closed transport with Intercity ended up being about $750 per car. Given the E36 M3show the broker triggered by letting me down the night before we closed on the sale of our house and had to get the cars out, I gladly paid those $750.
  Intercity was super professional, they showed up when they said they would at both ends. I really did get what I paid for.

With all of that said, when I sold my MR2 to someone in Austin TX, the buyer found someone (I think via uShip) who had an enclosed car trailer and that transaction went completely without a hitch, other than, well, dates and pickup times being somewhat fungible.

BoxheadTim said:

John Welsh said:

Walletsmallerthanideas said:

In reply to John Welsh :

Wow John,  thanks for all of the details!  This is extremely helpful.  I read some of your posts with the search function and they were also helpful.

 

Thanks!

Here is some more chatter about shipping

Given that I was the instigator of that thread and it covers shipping from NV to the East Coast, I'd like to summarize a bit:

• Try to avoid brokers if you need to get the cars picked up by a certain date. Several people on here have recommendations for small mom&pop operators and if you're lucky enough that they cover the route you need, I'd say consider using them.
• The big carriers are more expensive but if you're on a common route of theirs, they tend to be able to give you a timeframe that they can actually adhere to.
• From Carson City, NV to the WV panhandle, the price difference between what the broker pretended to be able to get me on an open transport and closed transport with Intercity ended up being about $750 per car. Given the E36 M3show the broker triggered by letting me down the night before we closed on the sale of our house and had to get the cars out, I gladly paid those $750.
  Intercity was super professional, they showed up when they said they would at both ends. I really did get what I paid for.

With all of that said, when I sold my MR2 to someone in Austin TX, the buyer found someone (I think via uShip) who had an enclosed car trailer and that transaction went completely without a hitch, other than, well, dates and pickup times being somewhat fungible.

When Tim was shipping from NV to WV I was shipping a car from NorCal to New Hampshire.  My uShip experience was terrible, brokers took the order and never got a driver.  I was moving and needed to get the car moved and used Intercity at the last minute.  They picked up early and delivered early.  The cost was $600 more than uShip quoted but didn't show up.

BoxheadTim said:

bearmtnmartin said:

That is a long haul back home. What about a fly and drive as you said it is a runner? Even if it craps out you might get it much closer to home before needing a deck.

One issue with Fly&Drive is that plates don't stay on the car in NV and they've made it a lot harder to get a movement permit for more than a day or two out there. Not to mention that the movement permit is theoretically only good until you hit the state line.

Pay for car, get title mailed, get tags in your home state, fly out drive home.  I'd never ship if a fly and drive is an option.  No better way to get to know your new car.  And to the OP welcome to CTS-V life.  You'll love it. :)

I used Plycar last year and highly recommend them. They're higher-end but not super expensive and were great to work with. A bit more expensive but the carrier is enclosed and they treat your car really well.

Geeeez, I have never shipped a car or needed to ship a car but reading some of these posts sort of makes me want to stay that way.  Good luck to the original poster though, don't mind me.  

I hate uship for the reasons mentioned above.  I did find find a great shopper via uship, private carrier, bo broker.   Check him out here for a quote: http://trustedtransportmt.com/

I think I paid $1100 for my non-running Triumph 2000 from Oregon to Toledo. Uship, but a one man company.

Just a thought here is that truckers also plan into their bid how far they have to go to get another load out of an area.  How much freight moves out of NH?  I used to have a rough time finding a company to go to MIA / FLL because it was tough to get a load back out.  I'd have to pay a premium to send a load down there from ATL.  It happened often that I would have an extra full truck load to go there on a Sunday, have to be there by Monday.

JThw8 said:

BoxheadTim said:

bearmtnmartin said:

That is a long haul back home. What about a fly and drive as you said it is a runner? Even if it craps out you might get it much closer to home before needing a deck.

One issue with Fly&Drive is that plates don't stay on the car in NV and they've made it a lot harder to get a movement permit for more than a day or two out there. Not to mention that the movement permit is theoretically only good until you hit the state line.

Pay for car, get title mailed, get tags in your home state, fly out drive home.  I'd never ship if a fly and drive is an option.  No better way to get to know your new car.  And to the OP welcome to CTS-V life.  You'll love it. :)

I keep forgetting that a lot of states out East don't seem to require VIN inspections for titling and tagging a car.

I think your best bet is to just start googling and calling shippers yourself. Good luck. 

68TR250 said:

Just a thought here is that truckers also plan into their bid how far they have to go to get another load out of an area.  How much freight moves out of NH?  I used to have a rough time finding a company to go to MIA / FLL because it was tough to get a load back out.  I'd have to pay a premium to send a load down there from ATL.  It happened often that I would have an extra full truck load to go there on a Sunday, have to be there by Monday.

If that's the case, OP you might look at getting it shipped to a larger area (say Boston) where the shipper is more likely to get their next load.

Dave M said:

I used Plycar last year and highly recommend them. They're higher-end but not super expensive and were great to work with. A bit more expensive but the carrier is enclosed and they treat your car really well.

I have used Plycar  a couple times , they have a depot close to my house so I can pick it up there , 

I had a car taken to the depot around NYC and them shipped to SoCal .

They own their trucks and also are Plycom and ship other stuff cross country

Thanks everyone for all of the comments/suggestions/info!

I am going to head into the wilderness of shipping companies and let you know how it goes.  I will document the progress!

Thanks,

Chris

I don't know if you have found someone yet, but I just shipped a 2019 F250 from Washington DC area to Cleveland Ohio for $500 using Direct Connect Auto Transport. They were a good $200 cheaper then any of the quotes I got from U-Ship.

I've used Uship 3 seperate times and have had nothing but a good experience (with maybe one hiccup). I'd say go for it. As far as paying the seller goes, there's been a few good suggestions above. 

1. Bought my A4 Quattro + manual in Florida. Florida -> Michigan $560 open trailer 

2. Jeep Grand Cherokee. Denver -> Michigan $800 open trailer 

3. AP2 S2000. Des Moines -> Michigan $600 open trailer. This is the only one that had a hiccup. I included that the car was pretty low (Ohlins), but the driver showed up anyways. So they had to cancel that, and contract a new driver. It was all done behind the scenes and the price I payed didn't change.