BMW M3 Shipping

[loveskiing]

I just shipped my 2011 M3 E90 shipped from Dallas TX. to Portland OR. and called, e-mailed or contacted almost 50 different shippers. It took the better part of a week to finally find the one that I went with and I wanted to share my experiences to perhaps save another member from doing all that leg work if you should ever want to ship your car from one place to another.
I will state two things here first:
1) What I state is simply my OPINION, not fact...feel free to disagree if you feel otherwise or find/have different experiences.
2) This really applies primarily to those who are wanting to ship enclosed as I didn't want to be spending lots of $$$ to buy the car and then have problems occur in the shipping that might cause me headaches afterwards.

I discovered that almost all the shippers can be broken into 3 main groups or types:
a) those who are true brokers, have very little knowledge of who they are brokering your shipment to/with, and are more interested in taking a piece of the pie (your hard earned $$$) and set you up with anyone they can find that agrees to take the shipment for X dollars
b) those brokers who claim to know and only work with certain drivers that meet X standards and on some occasions will misrepresent themselves as something more than that when in reality they too are simply brokering a deal that if anything happens such as your car gets damage, your only recourse LEGALLY is with the driver. They will tell you that they will intercede on your behalf but you are left to depend on chasing someone to chase someone else and that might put you in a poor position
c) those outfits that have their own trucks, own drivers and if things go sideways they are responsible. BE CAREFUL here as some who fall into this category will also use someone else if their truck/drivers (type B) are full or not available to get your deal. Caveat Emptor!

I need to state here that if you don't live in the main corridors which are LA/Florida or Florida/NY good luck! It seems like the airlines if you live in the main big cities no problem with finding carriers and cheaper (sometimes) rates. But if you live in the boonies (who knew that Oregon & Washington with over 11 million people was the boonies?) many of the carriers do not service your area which limits who will take your vehicle.
I will now give you some of the rates that I was quoted along with open or closed and how long it would take:

Intercity Type B & C (Some folks mentioned this company but my experience wasn't that great) First I was told that they don't service Portland, then when I called another #, they did give me a quote but when pressed the guy indicated that they were simply going to broker the business.

Montway type A $1059 open (cash price $999) $1339 closed (cash price $1289 could pick up in 1-5 days and take 5-7 days for the trip

Reliable Carriers type C $1983 closed It would take 30 days because they were booked up; the guy didn't really sound like he wanted or needed my business

GT Sports type C $1950 closed The guy took my name and number said he would call back but never did

Vehiport type B $1050 open, $1550 closed

Rev Car-Go type B $1100 open, $1575 closed

Horseless Carriage Don't service Pacific NW, referred me to Passport

Passport type C $1950 closed would need 1-2 weeks

Wagoneers AutoTransport type B $1195 open, $1875 closed

JP Logistics type B or C not sure $1925 open, $2500 closed

Envision type A or B not sure but VERY aggressive $1000 open, $1450
closed

Pilot Transport type C I believe $2950 closed and need 3-4 weeks out

OK there are many others but the one that I selected was PLYCAR LLC type C for many reasons:
1) They are third generation company with THEIR OWN TRUCKS (30+), THEIR OWN DRIVERS, and if things go wrong they are responsible! They do NOT give your pride and joy to someone else that they "know and trust" just to make a buck.
2) I spoke to them on Thursday evening, they picked the car up that Saturday and I got her safe and sound 5 days later plus I got updates from the driver along the way.
3) They use white glove service and if your car is on the bottom it is fully covered to prevent any leaks, spills etc from the car above.
4) They service many parts of the country and don't treat you like a leper if you live off the main track
5) They routinely handle VERY expensive cars like McLaren, Ferrari, Lambo, etc. Matter of fact my M3 was riding with a McLaren mp4-12c which no matter how hard I tried, I could get the driver to give me instead of my car even though I offered him a few hundred extra!
6) Nick Pliaconis (the grandson of the original owner) was incredible and has indicated a desire to get our business. Give him a call at the Torrance CA office (Google it or PM me if you want more info) and mention that you read my review and ask him to take care of you!
7) Their price was very competitive but their service was out of this world.
8) They said that the biggest dealer of exotic cars in my state uses this company to ship all their cars.

So...be VERY careful who you select...make SURE you ask and re-ask who is responsible if there are ANY problems in shipping along with getting all your questions answered BEFORE you ship. Take LOTS of pics before the car is loaded and have the driver make any notations of any defects...that way if there is any problem when the car arrives you have a record that the defect wasn't present when it was loaded and must have occurred during the shipping process. The overwhelming time nothing will happen, I just think one might wish to be prudent in the rare case that a problem does happen.

Thanks for the long read...good luck and feel free to PM me if you want more info.

[pooyab]

Pretty sure JP Logistic is type C. I've seen the handle so many expensive cars. Quite a few Veyrons, 918s, P1s, and I think they've delivered most the Huayras in the country. But logically they'd be one of the more expensive ones as well.

[loveskiing]

Originally Posted by pooyab

Pretty sure JP Logistic is type C. I've seen the handle so many expensive cars. Quite a few Veyrons, 918s, P1s, and I think they've delivered most the Huayras in the country. But logically they'd be one of the more expensive ones as well.

You are most likely correct with the type C...but I found it curious that what JP charges for open ($1925) is what many others in type C charge for enclosed...and the others especially PLYCAR also handle exotics...to each their own eh?

[X5-User]

What was your quote for PLYCAR type C

[Bimmed Out]

Very helpful, thank you for posting all of this.

[s85e90]

Informative post but you could've drove there and enjoy the car one last time and flew home for cheaper

[loveskiing]

Originally Posted by s85e90

Informative post but you could've drove there and enjoy the car one last time and flew home for cheaper

Hmmmm...I did the math and found it to be less expensive to ship it...
Not to mention the wear and tear on the car, possible road damage, mileage depreciation, and loss of $$$ from missing work...all = shipping her and getting it here as pristine as it was in Dallas

[loveskiing]

Originally Posted by Bimmer-M3

What was your quote for PLYCAR type C

PM sent

[CBS]

OP: awesome post and thank you! I ship twice a year on average (enclosed) and have used a few you mentioned but I will give PLYCAR (Nick) a call next week.

Thank you!

Chris

[M3Bimmer77]

Originally Posted by s85e90

Informative post but you could've drove there and enjoy the car one last time and flew home for cheaper

If you read carefully the guy just bought the car!!!! Not sold it

[M3Bimmer77]

I quoted to ship an M3 from Ft Worth to S.Fla, $ 1,500 plus taxes??? What taxes?? Surprise they didn't state truck description and service details. Also they are charging a gas surcharge which with gas prices these days doesn't make any sense. I will you guys posted on other quotes.

[xcsgenius]

I can't believe nobody said anything about Uship.com i have been using them for 3 years now and never had a problem. Basically you list your shipping needs and people or companies get into a bid war to try and win your business. I shipped my M3 from Miami to Detroit for 500 open transport.

[mc-m3]

OP: Thanks for the info. When I finally find the right car I will likely be shipping to the NW as well.

[Rewted]

The M3 isn't an exotic, ship it on a flatbed and call it a day. Hardest part is finding a reliable transport company, just make sure they're fully insured.

Factors that affect price: Distance, season, lone transport or pick-up on the way back.

[Colo M3]

Originally Posted by xcsgenius

I can't believe nobody said anything about Uship.com i have been using them for 3 years now and never had a problem. Basically you list your shipping needs and people or companies get into a bid war to try and win your business. I shipped my M3 from Miami to Detroit for 500 open transport.

Had a bad experience when I filled out a general form and had it disseminated to all the carriers, I still get emails and calls from them, and that was 2 years ago when I had a car shipped.

[z3papa]

I used Montway and was pretty satisfied at their communication, responsiveness and the entire process. I have a friend that does enclosed route from Chicago to Florida and would have preferred him but the car was in San Diego.

[m3buckeye]

Originally Posted by Colo M3

Had a bad experience when I filled out a general form and had it disseminated to all the carriers, I still get emails and calls from them, and that was 2 years ago when I had a car shipped.

don't use your phone number and have a junk yahoo or gmail email address for these types of situations.


+1 on Plycar and Nick. They do a great job.

[loveskiing]

Originally Posted by m3buckeye

don't use your phone number and have a junk yahoo or gmail email address for these types of situations.


+1 on Plycar and Nick. They do a great job.

You are SO right with your advice not to use your phone number and to have a junk e-mail address. I read many many people who said that the calls, e-mails, etc. were virtually non-stop from the vultures and continued unabated for some time even after they were asked to stop.
Glad that you liked Nick and Plycar...his company was 5 star all the way.

[Rupes]

Anyone have thoughts on open vs closed transport?

[M3Bimmer77]

Originally Posted by loveskiing

I just shipped my 2011 M3 E90 shipped from Dallas TX. to Portland OR. and called, e-mailed or contacted almost 50 different shippers. It took the better part of a week to finally find the one that I went with and I wanted to share my experiences to perhaps save another member from doing all that leg work if you should ever want to ship your car from one place to another.
I will state two things here first:
1) What I state is simply my OPINION, not fact...feel free to disagree if you feel otherwise or find/have different experiences.
2) This really applies primarily to those who are wanting to ship enclosed as I didn't want to be spending lots of $$$ to buy the car and then have problems occur in the shipping that might cause me headaches afterwards.

I discovered that almost all the shippers can be broken into 3 main groups or types:
a) those who are true brokers, have very little knowledge of who they are brokering your shipment to/with, and are more interested in taking a piece of the pie (your hard earned $$$) and set you up with anyone they can find that agrees to take the shipment for X dollars
b) those brokers who claim to know and only work with certain drivers that meet X standards and on some occasions will misrepresent themselves as something more than that when in reality they too are simply brokering a deal that if anything happens such as your car gets damage, your only recourse LEGALLY is with the driver. They will tell you that they will intercede on your behalf but you are left to depend on chasing someone to chase someone else and that might put you in a poor position
c) those outfits that have their own trucks, own drivers and if things go sideways they are responsible. BE CAREFUL here as some who fall into this category will also use someone else if their truck/drivers (type B) are full or not available to get your deal. Caveat Emptor!

I need to state here that if you don't live in the main corridors which are LA/Florida or Florida/NY good luck! It seems like the airlines if you live in the main big cities no problem with finding carriers and cheaper (sometimes) rates. But if you live in the boonies (who knew that Oregon & Washington with over 11 million people was the boonies?) many of the carriers do not service your area which limits who will take your vehicle.
I will now give you some of the rates that I was quoted along with open or closed and how long it would take:

Intercity Type B & C (Some folks mentioned this company but my experience wasn't that great) First I was told that they don't service Portland, then when I called another #, they did give me a quote but when pressed the guy indicated that they were simply going to broker the business.

Montway type A $1059 open (cash price $999) $1339 closed (cash price $1289 could pick up in 1-5 days and take 5-7 days for the trip

Reliable Carriers type C $1983 closed It would take 30 days because they were booked up; the guy didn't really sound like he wanted or needed my business

GT Sports type C $1950 closed The guy took my name and number said he would call back but never did

Vehiport type B $1050 open, $1550 closed

Rev Car-Go type B $1100 open, $1575 closed

Horseless Carriage Don't service Pacific NW, referred me to Passport

Passport type C $1950 closed would need 1-2 weeks

Wagoneers AutoTransport type B $1195 open, $1875 closed

JP Logistics type B or C not sure $1925 open, $2500 closed

Envision type A or B not sure but VERY aggressive $1000 open, $1450
closed

Pilot Transport type C I believe $2950 closed and need 3-4 weeks out

OK there are many others but the one that I selected was PLYCAR LLC type C for many reasons:
1) They are third generation company with THEIR OWN TRUCKS (30+), THEIR OWN DRIVERS, and if things go wrong they are responsible! They do NOT give your pride and joy to someone else that they "know and trust" just to make a buck.
2) I spoke to them on Thursday evening, they picked the car up that Saturday and I got her safe and sound 5 days later plus I got updates from the driver along the way.
3) They use white glove service and if your car is on the bottom it is fully covered to prevent any leaks, spills etc from the car above.
4) They service many parts of the country and don't treat you like a leper if you live off the main track
5) They routinely handle VERY expensive cars like McLaren, Ferrari, Lambo, etc. Matter of fact my M3 was riding with a McLaren mp4-12c which no matter how hard I tried, I could get the driver to give me instead of my car even though I offered him a few hundred extra!
6) Nick Pliaconis (the grandson of the original owner) was incredible and has indicated a desire to get our business. Give him a call at the Torrance CA office (Google it or PM me if you want more info) and mention that you read my review and ask him to take care of you!
7) Their price was very competitive but their service was out of this world.
8) They said that the biggest dealer of exotic cars in my state uses this company to ship all their cars.

So...be VERY careful who you select...make SURE you ask and re-ask who is responsible if there are ANY problems in shipping along with getting all your questions answered BEFORE you ship. Take LOTS of pics before the car is loaded and have the driver make any notations of any defects...that way if there is any problem when the car arrives you have a record that the defect wasn't present when it was loaded and must have occurred during the shipping process. The overwhelming time nothing will happen, I just think one might wish to be prudent in the rare case that a problem does happen.

Thanks for the long read...good luck and feel free to PM me if you want more info.

How much did they quoted you enclosed Dallas - Portland?

[M3thodical]

I used Montway when I had my car shipped last year. Very smooth transaction and the driver was very professional. Good group to work with. Looks like you did your research and chose the one that worked best for you and I'm glad it went well.

[loveskiing]

Originally Posted by M3thodical

I used Montway when I had my car shipped last year. Very smooth transaction and the driver was very professional. Good group to work with. Looks like you did your research and chose the one that worked best for you and I'm glad it went well.

Thanks!
You are so right, I think it's crucial to do the research and only go with someone you trust and believe will take care of you when and if things go wrong.
Glad that you had good luck with Montway... I didn't want to use a broker for the above mentioned reasons