I’m after a TX350 in Seattle (cash purchase), but dealers have 3-4 cars on their lots and selling them for over MSRP (can’t really blame them, it’s selling well).
Reading other posts, dealers in SoCal have 50 cars on their lots and are offering $4k+ off MSRP.
Even with broker fees (~$500) and shipping costs (~$1500 enclosed), I’d be coming out ahead.
How much of a headache is it? What can go wrong? Anything I should particularly pay attention to to prevent headaches?
You have to get it inspected at a Smog Check Station and 2 trips to the DMV?
Sorry - thats from WA → CA, CA → WA should just be a trip to the registration. Make sure they do not charge you CA registration, if you drive it off the lot, they might.
I’ve shipped a lot of cars, I’ve only had one incident (involving a $3k carbon fiber spoiler). The dealer should have a shipper for you to use, they’ll typically drop it off at or near your house. You’ll have insurance, so will the operator. Unless you want a scenic drive, just ship the damn thing.
Dealers rarely arranges shipping for their customers, usually the customer has to do that
yeah, I was alluding that they likely had a reference for a shipper if he didn’t.
Is driving it back not an option for you?
I’ve done it a lot. It’s no big deal. Registration and tax is the biggest pain but even that’s not a problem.
Issue with driving it back is you’ll have to pay CA tax and then the difference when you register in WA. Not a huge problem, but just added complexity.
It is very simple and straightforward to ship a vehicle. Just don’t request bids until it is ready to be picked up because they typically want to move immediately on it.
Thanks for the replies everyone.
Driving isn’t really an option for me, it’d be a 2 day trip, the cost of flight, gas, lodging, added miles would probably exceed the shipping costs. And obviously I’d need to clear 2 days for driving.
Are there any recommended vendors? I know most companies you interact with are just brokers, but I’m wondering if some are easier to work with.
Enclosed is about $350 extra ($1500 vs $1150), seems like it’s worth to avoid road debris and insurance claims?
The auto shopping industry is driven heavily by brokers; there are companies with their own fleets but it’s usually the brokers that will be able to facilitate your transport faster.
Also, if you’re looking to buy from CA, make sure the dealer is first willing/able to work with an out-of-state buyer. Many times, it’s not that the CA dealer cannot work out-of-state, it’s that they chose not to.
Good luck with the search!
Are you willing to pay a little more for good service? Id recommend you do. Shipping brokers are sketch AF.
@Benedetto is a trustworthy name.