Auto Transport

GolfBavaria

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Getting back on topic on an older thread (that I wish I would have read before shipping my Bav from CA to ID). Sad to report the shipper (a 3rd party shipper from (2) two brokers). I will explain so that nobody on here has the same experience I did in a minute. Needless to say was and am still very upset. The first pic is a before, the others after shipping and delivery. First off, this was my first auto shipping experience. I've helped a friend ship many cars before, but never were they my own. I didn't know how all this worked with the brokers. I contacted Uship, I knew they shopped (or were a broker) for "shippers" (I thought), but find out the company I researched and based my decision on, Tempus Logix, was also a "broker", not the actual shipper. So, two middle men to get to a shipper, I had no idea who the final actual shipper was until they showed up at my door Thursday (Kimberly Express, LLC out of Utah. No way to research them or anything. When Tempus Logix said they found a "driver", I assumed it was through Tempus Logix. That is who I purchased the insurance through, the cargo insurance, inland marine insurance. Well, I'm going to circle back to that.

Anyhow, I'm not going to get into certain aspects of my experience but make sure, make 100% sure you do a visual inspection, a walk around, a video and take pictures before and after the vehicle is Ioaded on the trailer. I used to do this every time. Well I wasn't there when it was loaded and long story short, other than the one pic below, the first one, nothing else was done, no walk around, no video, nothing. The good news was the driver didn't do anything other than sign the Bill of Laden. I had just finished my 6 year restoration and was going to enjoy the car, "As-Is" and just maintain it. All that wasn't done prior to shipping was totally unheard of in my experience.

Anyhow, I just say all this so that it helps someone on here that has never shipped a vehicle before. The insurance falls under different insurance then if you got in a wreck driving or something. I called Hagerty (my regular insurer for the vintage cars), they did say that if there was a total loss, and I had (2) vehicles in the trailer they would be covered, but I would check with your Insurance Company and get that in writing before shipping and or paying for supplemental insurance. So, short story long, long story short. When the driver loaded the Bavaria which was toward the rear of the trailer, he loaded it so that when the gate closed, it was smashed up against the rear rubber bumper over riders. After 20 hours of driving, bumps, shocks going up and down etc., it wore on the bumper on the driver side as the driver parked it at an angle inside the trailer during transport. The other pictures show what happened. That is why the left side or drivers side was damaged like it is.

Now, back to the insurance. I had various deductible options, I chose the $500 deductible. Well I figured for some reason that would cover any damage that would occur. It didn't occur to me that had a limit which they were very sneaky about, ONLY $6,500. Imagine if both cars where a total loss? Tens of thousands of dollars. My Porsche was in there as well. And that's another story but it almost got majorly damaged coming off the trailer. The transport driver was a young kid and he couldn't even drive a clutch, and he's a transport driver! He was literally a 1/2" away from destroying the Porsche. He had these flimsy, aluminum ramps made for a light motorcycle. On top of that, the aluminum in sections delamed and stuck up like a nail on BOTH RAMPS! Thank god I saw that too. I had to have him get out and I had to pull it off the trailer. Hammer the aluminum down, etc. A total "Sh*t Show" is the best way to describe what happened.

Anyhow, it's fixable, my fairly newly chromed bumper I hope will be straight again once I address the body and paint. It could have been much worse I guess, both Bavaria and Porsche. They "Kimberly Express" want to settle without going through insurance. We are negotiating that as I type. Big lesson learned, it makes me NEVER want to ship a vehicle EVER AGAIN. But I will know what to look for next time. Frustrating, seems this sh*t always happens to me. Wah wah wah, I know, but I'm still emotional about it.

I wrote this so that something like this never happens to anyone's car on this board. It'll be fixed, it's only metal, paint and chrome, but hey, they are our baby's. I guess the silver lining here is I think I'm going to finally ditch the 10mph steel hoops that were on the '73 rear bumper and move the bumper forward as it was originally designed to do and have it tucked in like a '72. It will look much better. I tried keeping as stock as possible but now that I have done some major mods like a 3.5L motor, it's no longer a stock car. It will look way better; the way BMW designed it in the first place. Happy Motoring Gents! May this NEVER happen to you! -GB
 

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GPD

Greg
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Sorry that happened. When I bought my Bavaria down in CA and had it shipped up here, they “brokered” it out. There was nothing about the experience that gave me comfort nor any sense they cared much about the merchandise. My car was not expensive and did not yet have my soul invested in it, but knowing the cars on this forum, I would double the shipping fee to get a pro if I ever did it again.
 

HB Chris

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Shane, Please double check, the holes in the body are reinforced, you can’t modify those. You current hoop uses bolts to body and bolts to bumper. You need a bracket of some sort, it’s female to female.
 

GolfBavaria

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Shane, Please double check, the holes in the body are reinforced, you can’t modify those. You current hoop uses bolts to body and bolts to bumper. You need a bracket of some sort, it’s female to female.
Thanks Chris yes I’ll look into it when I take it in and mention the concerns. Where there is a will there’s a way. I’ll reply back if we find a solution.
 

GolfBavaria

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Another jewel the auto transport guy left me to fix....man I swear to god!!!!! Totally bent, FUBAR passenger side from that idiot using the tie downs on the brake heat shield or whatever it is called. Driver side messed up too but fixable, dug into rotors a bit, I knew that sound I heard driving it was what that was caused from, now verified. Unbelievable.....never ever use a broker for shipping your baby....always do a lot of research and preferably an owner/operator with years of vintage car moving experience. Hard lesson learned. Please don't let this happen to you! Super hard to have noticed this when delivered too.
 

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JFENG

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"never ever use a broker for shipping your baby....always do a lot of research and preferably an owner/operator with years of vintage car moving experience"

Sorry to hear about your bad shipper. Your quoted statement are words I live by when shipping a car.
For work, I've shipped many many cars around the world. Based on this, I use Intercity and a 1-rig local guy https://motoragetransport.com/enclosed-auto-transport
 
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mulberryworks

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Another jewel the auto transport guy left me to fix....man I swear to god!!!!! Totally bent, FUBAR passenger side from that idiot using the tie downs on the brake heat shield or whatever it is called. Driver side messed up too but fixable, dug into rotors a bit, I knew that sound I heard driving it was what that was caused from, now verified. Unbelievable.....never ever use a broker for shipping your baby....always do a lot of research and preferably an owner/operator with years of vintage car moving experience. Hard lesson learned. Please don't let this happen to you! Super hard to have noticed this when delivered too.

I'll say that I used a broker to get my E9 from Austin to Jacksonville. I specified an open trailer as both cars are due for new paint anyway. The driver was good and used tie downs that went over the wheels of the E9 and the Boxster. Both arrived quickly with no issues for a good price. Luck of the draw I guess.
 
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Ron Plantz

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I have used Montway out of Chicago twice for enclosed hauling from the northeast to Indiana and it went well
both times. They are a little more expensive than most but have good reviews.
 

CSteve

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Reliable was professional, careful, and of course reliable. My coupe: Philadelphia to Chicago. Over a half hour going over the car before driving onto the enclosed transporter at 3 mph. Same in Chicago.
 
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