How much to charge to pick up a car? 1000 mile round trip

I have a buddy who asked me if I could go to Oklahoma City with him to pick up a car. He asking me because he needs a truck and trailer because he isn't too confident it'll make the drive back. So, essentially he's asking if we could drive my excursion with my trailer to get a manual audi 90 quattro project. I told him he'd have to at least pay for fuel to and from, and fill my tank to where it was when we left. I can get at least 600 miles a tank while towing all highway at 60mph. So, I'm estimating about $275 in gas alone which is about the same as a plane ticket. He could fly there and drive back and it'll probably be about $320 dollar trip for him.

If he was a friend I'd do it and have him just pay me in fuel or let him borrow the ex and trailer. I usually don't mind the drive or helping but it'll be taking a Sunday away from my family. A whole day with my family doesn't come often anymore.

Homie don't work for free!

Also, its my fault he's buying the car. I knew he was looking for one and I enabled 

If it's a friend I'll do it for gas money and meals on the road. 

Not a friend, they can figure out how to get it on their own. 

Go to Uship, do a "Name your Own Price" type.  The other types on Uship are Quote and Reverse Auction.  Do the name your own price version.  Figure up a price based 48 cents per mile, one way.  In this case that seems to be 500 miles.  

500 miles x .48 = $240.  Once your trip is chosen and agreed to with a driver, well hidden in the Uship Ts&Cs is a statement that they charge you a 7% "scheduling fee" or some other BS type name so the $240 will become $256.80.  

Moral of the story...you can have it shipped right to yourself 1-way for cheaper than you can go get it and travel 2-ways.  

In the past couple of years I have done this 4 or more time from FL to Ohio or roughly 1,000 miles each way.  

Uship might not be the right answer if the car has to be moved immediately or you do not have a friendly party to meet the driver on the other side.  

In reply to John Welsh :

Dude, excellent idea!

Edit, I just did a "Name your own price" shipment and the lowest it allowed me to set it was $343. 

i have used friend-with-truck, in which case i paid all expenses for the trip.  i have also been the friend-with-truck, and was paid for all expenses.   nothing on top of that either way.

Make him buy a plane/train/bus ticket, and tell him you will go pick him up wherever the Audi quits, which it inevitably will, because Audi.

yupididit said:

In reply to John Welsh :

Dude, excellent idea!

Edit, I just did a "Name your own price" shipment and the lowest it allowed me to set it was $343. 

 

 

Interesting.  Maybe things have changed.  Last time I shipped was Nov of '16 or about a year ago.  

How many miles is the trip?

Other tips.  Set the parameters that the car is ready to be picked up as an example, anytime between NOW and 2 weeks and delivery can be as soon as Now to 2 weeks out.  What you are trying to attract is the shipper who is in the area of the car and has the room NOW.  If he is going your way anyhow, he would rather go with another car.  Even if your car pays less than others, he will jump on taking your car for a little more money rather than go empty.  

When you set up a Name your Own with Uship, this will also activate the Uship messaging service where the potential shippers can send you messages.  It's funny how this works because if you did have in a price of $250 the first message you would get is something like, "i'd be willing to do it for $400."  

But, this is good because you have opened dialog.  The shippers are just trying to get you to say yes to amything.  Most sending you these requests are brokers.  

Watch on UShip, all the companies with 4,000 plus reviews are brokers.  That means they will try to get you to agree to $400 and they expect that they can still get an independent trucker to do it for $250.  The broker keeps the "profit".  Uship doesn't really like to do the Name your Own because it upsets the brokeres who are a big part of their business.  Hold out for an independent hauler who wants to get the full $250 for himself.  

Usually i cover gas, meals and drinks for my friend when i need him to help me drag some other junk home.  Occasionally its gas plus some kind of trade. 

In reply to John Welsh :

Yeah, I've had a Uship program for about 5 years now. I know the tricks but this car isn't mine LoL

I was curious so I went out to Uship and tried to replicate my previous shipment from Jax, Fl to my house in Ohio,  which Google says is 949 miles.   The Name your Own price function let me go as low as $417 or .44 per mile.  

If it's a buddy that I like to road trip with then I just ask them to cover expenses.  Otherwise I charge $1.00 a loaded mile plus lodging if needed.

Where in OKC? Does it need a set of neutral eyes on it before the purchase goes through?

I'm in OKC.

z31maniac said:

Where in OKC? Does it need a set of neutral eyes on it before the purchase goes through?

I'm in OKC.

The car

He's bent on getting it because he lost his previous one. 

In reply to APEowner :

 Eh I might just do it and have him pay fuel.  I'm good friends with his girl friend. 

The windows might not roll down and the gauges might not work, but Audi drivetrains are basically unkillable.  If it starts, it'll most likely get him home.

I told him to rent a car airport to airport then drive his new Audi home. He's too flakey about it for me!

yupididit said:

I told him to rent a car airport to airport then drive his new Audi home. He's too flakey about it for me!

Some advice about rental cars and airports...

If you rent a car at the airport you will typically be hit with a lot of fees and taxes that get placed on Tourists.  If you rent and return at a non-airport location, you can avoid these fees and taxes which can be as much as $20+ per day.  

Here is a way to test.  Go to the Hertz website and try a rental from Airport to Airport to check the prices.  The, re-run the Hetz quote but choose the HLE locations in your cities.  HLE stand for Hertz Local Edition.  There are the Hertz store typically int he suburbs or near the car dealer strip portion of town.  These HLE locations compete with Enterprise and largely rent to people who's car is in the shop for repairs.  

Not all the rental companies do one-way rental.  Enterprise does not or at least their pricing is such that they completely discourage it.  With all the companies, one-way rental can be significantly more expensive than regular rental.  If renting one-way, be sure to book a reservation on-line.  Do not just show up at the counter or you are likely to get a royal f'ing if they sense your desperation.  

I told him airport because they're open on Sundays. I haven't found them to be significantly more expensive but I use a military/govt rate + my credit card company covers any insurance if I pay for a rental with the card. So I can decline insurance and earn points lol. 

The best prices I've found are the enterprises that are attached to a collision repair facility. I've done a few one way rentals they seem fine when it's airport to airport. 

Another way to go about it is to rent a Penske truck one way with unlimited mileage and just pay for an extra day and take the long way home. For example, San Antonio to Austin, one way might include picking it up Friday and turning it In Sat, but you can buy an extra day for $50 to turn it in Sunday. Pick up truck and trailer on Friday, drive to OKC and back sat and drop the truck off on the way back through on Sunday. It doesn't always make sense or work out, but sometimes it does.