BMW M3 Shipping

[BOOF-M3]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

This indeed is a great thread. But I have a few tips for others as I'm going through the shipping process myself.

Background: I already bought the car, it's sitting at a BMW dealership in Dallas, and cars needs to ship to SF, CA.

What I'm learning: It's simply supply and demand and the margins brokers take.

Pro Tip: It always is recommend to get multiple quotes directly from the shipper AND brokers.

I'm starting to learn that the bidding process actually has rates that constantly adjust, both downward and upward depending on multiple factors such as the broker, the location and timing. Broker margins are likely in the $50-$100 range per car. The true cost paid to the driver is around $300 per 1000 miles (just estimates here).

-I obtained an online quote from Uship for $790. Uship is just a broker of brokers btw.
-I obtained an online quote directly from a broker for $760
-The online broker than emailed me 3 days later to lower the fee to $752 if I book today.
-My dealership who uses a different bidding system quoted me $700, but stated it's "out to bid" and it could go up or down depending on who's in the area.


All this implies that the bidding process is fluid and runs on supply and demand. And nearly EVERYTHING is negotiable. Sometimes, multiple trucks are in the area and they bid the price down. Other times, it's holiday week (like next week), and no one is around and if I MUST get it shipped I might have to pay up.

My plan: Dealer will firm up my quote next week. If due to the holiday week, the price is higher than my baseline figures, then I'll tell them to actually hold it past that week, so that more trucks come back on the road and possibly bid it back down.

From what I have seen I can almost guarantee the shipper I use will be cheaper, especially after thanksgiving. She specifically mentioned that if you wait until after the holiday it will be cheaper. Shoot me a PM and you two can speak/text. The bonus is Zero money down until you receive your vehicle. I'm curious for shits and giggled anyway if she will be cheaper.

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by BOOF-M3

From what I have seen I can almost guarantee the shipper I use will be cheaper, especially after thanksgiving. She specifically mentioned that if you wait until after the holiday it will be cheaper. Shoot me a PM and you two can speak/text. The bonus is Zero money down until you receive your vehicle. I'm curious for shits and giggled anyway if she will be cheaper.

my dealer said, they put the bids in a $700, $800, $900 and $1000 and no one is accepting it for Thanksgiving week. Which means, most drivers are spending the week at home.

I instructed my dealer to set in the pickup date to November 28th and see if someone will pick it up for $700 again. Darn...looks like I can't get my car until after Thanksgiving.

[BOOF-M3]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

my dealer said, they put the bids in a $700, $800, $900 and $1000 and no one is accepting it for Thanksgiving week. Which means, most drivers are spending the week at home.

I instructed my dealer to set in the pickup date to November 28th and see if someone will pick it up for $700 again. Darn...looks like I can't get my car until after Thanksgiving.

Hopefully my shipper can come through. Time will tell, let us know Ace.

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by BOOF-M3

Hopefully my shipper can come through. Time will tell, let us know Ace.

bruh! I want to marry this lady! I called her, she's got this hot Russian accent...anyways..

She gave me the details. She advised me on my anticipated pick up date and advised I mark it as "non urgent" to get the best rate.

She said this week if my car was ready, due to holidays, it's priced at $800+ with a strong possibility of cancellations. She said if I wait until Tuesday/Wednesday week after thanksgiving, pricing should revert back to norms which is $650-$700 range!

Fuck for $150, I'll pinch that penny and take a later delivery. Gave her my info and dealer info and looks like she'll actively monitor my bidding for the next 2 weeks.

[BOOF-M3]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

bruh! I want to marry this lady! I called her, she's got this hot Russian accent...anyways..

She gave me the details. She advised me on my anticipated pick up date and advised I mark it as "non urgent" to get the best rate.

She said this week if my car was ready, due to holidays, it's priced at $800+ with a strong possibility of cancellations. She said if I wait until Tuesday/Wednesday week after thanksgiving, pricing should revert back to norms which is $650-$700 range!

Fuck for $150, I'll pinch that penny and take a later delivery. Gave her my info and dealer info and looks like she'll actively monitor my bidding for the next 2 weeks.

And that is entertainment. Mic drop, BOOF out!

[///Mbitions]

Jenny is pretty awesome haha

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by ///Mbitions

Jenny is pretty awesome haha

Did you ask her to text you a photo?

[BOOF-M3]

Originally Posted by ///Mbitions

Jenny is pretty awesome haha

There you go Ace, Will is the 2nd one who used her.

[///Mbitions]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

Did you ask her to text you a photo?

Wasn’t sure if I should move in on Mark’s lady friend

[McSwine]

I looked into it and decided fuck it, I flew to Atlanta and drove it home. Granted it wasn't halfway (or more) across the country.

[Technics_]

Originally Posted by BOOF-M3

loveskiing wrote the Bible on shipping in the OP. I'm not sure why but my shipper is USUALLY quite a bit cheaper and you don't go through the kaos of dealing with the online quotes. Also, she requires zero money down until your car arrives. FYI I get no kickback, if anyone would like her info I'm happy to pass it along.

I couldnt have come across this thread at a better time, so glad I searched.

I'm moving from New York to San Diego next week and looking for an enclosed trailer for my lowly 335i. It aint much but its all I got!

PM sent.

[BOOF-M3]

Originally Posted by McSwine

I looked into it and decided fuck it, I flew to Atlanta and drove it home. Granted it wasn't halfway (or more) across the country.

You should have looked up Spazzyfry123 He's the king of Atlanta.

[Flying Ace]

I can now finally contribute to this thread meaningfully on how this business appears to work.

Background: I bought a car in Dallas, Texas, I live in SF, California. Keys were released to me November 24th.

I decided to use 3 different "brokers". I used what you would call a "private broker" as recommended by BOOF-M3 , I also tried one of the largest brokerages "Door-to-Door Transport" and I used UShip's online quoting and auction systems.

Ultimately, regardless of the method you use, I learned you're simply at the mercy of supply and demand. I had the unfortunate timing that I needed to move my car post-holiday. There were about 3x the normal volume of cars in my pipeline than on a normal week. As such, while average prices should be in the $600-$700 range, even if my bid was raised to $1300, not a single truck would take my car simply b/c there were none out there!

What worked for me was the private broker. In this method, you can dictate the price you want to pay. Whereas all the other options you're taking the price the broker gives you. If you dictate the price, you're still at the mercy of the market, so I essentially had to wait 2 full weeks for someone to take my bid, i.e. for my price to meet the first available market price in my range.

What I learned: Be careful with brokers (door-to-door, uship auction) who aggressively try to collect the money upfront while giving you the bid. Note the "commitment" timeframes they give you, some of the "cheaper" pricing tend to have a 7-day pick up window. That's an indication that the market at the time of bidding is expensive and likely will drop throughout the week. You're essentially allowing that broker to lock in his fees and a higher price while giving them the full option to pick it up any time. Alternatively, you can simply just wait a few more days and submit another bid request. You'll see the price at that time will likely be less.

If your broker gives you a "book today for less fees" message - book it, if it meets your cost! The market is very fluid. Truckers work when they have an open slot. Sometimes a truck will just happen to be in the area and willing to do the work.

Be prepared for fallout, that is trucks committing to pick up but dropping you for a higher more lucrative offer. This is just the reality of business. Unless your broker has contract in place for commitments, you can get a fall out.

I had a fallout. For a week, I had a truck supposedly in Houston wanting to pick me up. However, he had a contract to pickup a dealership's multiple cars. I was his "gravy on top" as he had excess capacity. Well apparently his contract customer was not ready and he had to loiter in the area and essentially failed to pick up my car.

Lucky for me, another trucker picked up my bid. He appears to be also a contract carrier with 1 additional slot. He already got his load before me and will drop all his cars beyond my location. So essentially, I hitched a ride on a route he was going to drive with a "dead seat" anyways. I was the last car on, and first car off. Lucky me.

good luck everyone!

[mrspecter]

I'm curious, has anyone ever tried to negotiate the quoted price for shipping? If so, were you successful?
I got some quotes for a few companies and I'm leaning towards using Intercity, but they are definitely on the more expensive side.

[SUMO12]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

bruh! I want to marry this lady! I called her, she's got this hot Russian accent...anyways..

She gave me the details. She advised me on my anticipated pick up date and advised I mark it as "non urgent" to get the best rate.

She said this week if my car was ready, due to holidays, it's priced at $800+ with a strong possibility of cancellations. She said if I wait until Tuesday/Wednesday week after thanksgiving, pricing should revert back to norms which is $650-$700 range!

Fuck for $150, I'll pinch that penny and take a later delivery. Gave her my info and dealer info and looks like she'll actively monitor my bidding for the next 2 weeks.

hey brother,

please share her contact i need to ship my F10 as well

[SUMO12]

Originally Posted by BOOF-M3

There you go Ace, Will is the 2nd one who used her.

Please share her POC I am need of vehicle transport

thanks

[M3SCUZZI]

+1 for plycar
Enclosed Seattle to NY, pricey but well worth the money. White glove service and good customer service.

[SoCalRPM]

Thanks OP for compiling this great info

[SDPLV]

A week ago had my M3 (open transport) shipped from Las Vegas to Maryland (2,400 miles). Two dudes drove non-stop. Made the trip in 2 days.

Paid $975 for my M3, and $950 for the wife's X3. Used the same broker 2 years ago when moving to Vegas and it was only $850 at that time.

[RC Post]

Good read!

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

[PrnceDB26]

BOOF-M3 I'm shipping my new 2018 BMW M2 from Wash DC to Seattle at the end of the month. I'd love any recommendations you have for an enclosed transport service!

[marc6SPD]

I’ve used Bears Transport to help me ship cars over the last year or so. Superb customer service and solid quality shippers. Would definitely recommend them. https://bearstransport.com/