Has anyone ever hired someone to drive your car cross-country?

[luvmypeanut]

We are thinking to have our car shipped from Hawaii to the west coast and then hire someone to drive it to VA. I'm told it is $900 to ship the car but takes several weeks. We called Hertz and were quoted $1500 per month to rent a car for three months. How do you find reputable people to drive the car? Is this a service a company would provide? Any experiences would be helpful.

Thanks.

[miki]

I used www.dasautoshippers.com to ship my car from CA to NC. It took 2-3 weeks and they delivered to my door on the receiving end. I think I paid between $700-750 which included the door-to-door service and putting my car on the top part of the trailer so there would be no other cars over it to leak potentially corrosive fluids. I used this company because friends of mine used it with good result. I got my car in good shape and it even looked like they washed it before delivery. I thought it a reasonable price considering if you drive yourself, it takes at least 3 days. Add on the cost of motel, meals, gas, it would cost me at least $500 to do it myself, leaving out the value of time.

There are bulletin boards on-line where you can find people who run their own small business to ship your car. My husband hired a guy to take a car from NC to MI. It was much less expensive but you don't have the benefit of being certain you're dealing with someone reliable.

HTH

[luvmypeanut]

I just got a quote from a company for $2000. So it's not really worth it to me since I'll have to pay another $2000 to get it back to Hawaii. Waiting to hear back from two more companies, but it looks like I'll be renting the car for an arm and a leg.

Thanks!

[ErinMC]

I can't help with shipping your car, but can you call around to other car rental agencies, like Avis, Budget, Alamo, etc? I know that when I travelled for business, Hertz was generally one of the most expensive to work with. Granted, it's been a while since I travelled for work, but $1500 a month seems like a lot. If you call one of the rental offices that *aren't* near an airport (because those are notoriously more expensive), maybe they'll strike a deal with you, since you need the car for 3 months?

Good luck!
Erin

Mom to Chase Feb. 2004
... and another coming in June :-)

[Momof3Labs]

If you're going to spend $4500 to rent a car for 3 months, why not just buy a car and sell it when you move back? CarMax makes selling a used car pretty darn easy, and I can't see how you'd lose $4500 on the car in a 3 month period as long as you bought a used car and didn't incur any major repairs along the way.

[Corie]

The first thing I thought of when I read your post
was Dana Carvey driving Richard Pryor's Saab across
country in the movie, "Moving".
Hysterical !! :)

[MelissaTC]

Me too!!! LOL!