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Sat at a Love's in Amarillo for 3 hours and finally understood why my dad always shipped cars instead of driving them
So I was doing a favor for my cousin, driving his Camry from Phoenix out to Nashville because he didn't want to pay a transporter. Big mistake. Somewhere past Amarillo the alternator started whining, and I got stranded at a truck stop off I-40 for almost 3 hours waiting on a tow. Ended up costing me $480 for the repair plus a night in a motel. Meanwhile my dad has shipped every car he's ever sold, and I always gave him a hard time about it, said it was lazy and a waste. Sitting in that parking lot watching semis roll by, it finally clicked. He wasn't being lazy. He was buying himself out of exactly this mess. The quote for door to door from Phoenix to Nashville would've been around $900. I spent $480 on repairs alone plus gas and two extra days off work. Has anyone here actually done the math on when it makes more sense to just book a transporter instead of driving it yourself? Would love to hear how you all decide.
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victorb749d ago
Check the one way and round trip flight prices too because that's the hidden cost most people skip. If you fly out to pick up a car you're looking at a ticket plus whatever it costs to get to the airport, and on short runs that can eat most of the savings from driving it yourself. The real math isnt shipping vs driving, its shipping vs driving plus a flight plus a day of your life. For anything under like 800 miles the drive usually wins unless the car is sketchy. Past 1500 miles or if the car has any age on it, book the truck and sleep in your own bed.
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