So after 8 years of pestering I finally got my friend’s dad to sell me his 1969 912. I know it is not a 914 but figured guys on this board could still appreciate it and I am a 914 owner after all. I find 914 guys tend to be a bit more creative Than other Porsche owners too. Anyway, the car is not running, engine is out and in pieces in the front footwell. I am trying to get the car from Santa Rosa, CA to Franklin, TN but prices seem to be outrageous.

Does anybody here have a contact that runs this route or have a cheap way to ship cars. My buddy and his dad are willing to make a road trip but I looked into a uhaul and it was almost $2600 before gas Trying to find a more economical route. I have used the big shippers in the past but have had bad luck with changing prices and shady tactics. Look forward to suggestions. Thanks in advance!

I’ve used Uship in the past for a 914 and several new cars with good luck. They moved a 914 from North Carolina to Miami in a few days for $400. I had the drivers cell and he called throughout the trip with updates.
Uships website allows you to enter all the information and people doing that route will bid on it. Sometimes waiting a few days helps lower the price. You can request a covered trailer as well and they will charge more since it’s a non-running car. Hope this helps and good luck!

Thanks so much for the reply, I did put a post on UShip, but so far everything has been 2500-2600 as well. I have done some car shopping in the past and never spent anywhere near that. I just posted yesterday so hopefully waiting a few days like you suggested will help.

I'd expect it to cost between $2-3,000 Ryan, prices have gone up in recent years.

It's been almost 20 years since I had a car moved (inbound) long distance, and I don't know if they are still in business, but Kiwi Carriers in WA gave me a good rate.

@rcarson25 - send me a PM. I sold a car to a guy in Miami, and am arranging with a transporter that I’ve worked with before to get it from San Diego to Florida.

When I was trying to buy that wrecked 914-6 out in Petaluma CA to here in MD, I was quoted ~$1400. I was going to close the deal before someone local bought it up.

My son just shipped his car from DE to CA. $1,800.
The name of the company was - Budget Transport. He was happy with the service other than their pickup and drop off times/days ended up different than scheduled.

He has a new Honda Civic so it was a running car.

This was closer to the price I was planning on. I shipped a 1959 MGA from MD to same location in CA before I loved to TN, I paid 1250 then. Not sure if it is BS but shippers are saying there is a backlog of cars to leave CA due to COVID and that is driving higher prices.

I've only shipped a car once - about 4 years ago. . . Intercity Lines. . . figured I'd give Jay leno's recommendation a try (especially as I'd seen them so often entrusted with $$$$ Pebble Beach invitees). The car, while not worth much, was a special family car, so I wanted to be sure of its safety. Their reviews seemed- at the time - the most consistently positive . . .my assessment is no less. Husband and wife team, handled it like it was their Tucker. They were a bit later than hoped - supposedly due to a late customer or 2 en route - but they kept me updated with more than sufficient contact. It cost me $1650 (914-ish sized car), which ironically was cheaper than it's competitors . . .Passport and Reliable quoted me 2200-2600, which shocked me. Didn't feel good about U-Ship.

Doing the calculations and knowing the cost to transport, if it was a single truck towing a car, commercial costs at best $2720.20 based on the break even cost of 8 categories. Reason you can get it lower is distribution networks and moving cars around.

A Non operational car becomes a hassle to move through the distribution network.

You up for a road trip in a U-hual truck? It will cost you $3184 wish dollars plus your time.

Be very very careful on U-ship, it's the wild west of shipping. A few years ago I sold a 356 to a guy, he didn't want to use my transporter, he went with U-ship, the guy who showed up had a converted motor home full of furniture. He unloaded the furniture, load the Porsche, and re-loaded the furniture, on top of the car!
More recently a guy used U-ship, the guy who showed up normally hauls ATV's, said he had about 10 stops between here and dropping the car, so that's loading/unloading the non-op Porsche at least 5-6 times, ripe for damage. Not to mention the truck had Oregon plates, the trailer FL plates, one belonged to his cousin, the other his uncle. If your car got damaged who is paying for it?

You will want to make DARN sure bits don’t go missing, worth a premium.

When purchasing my 914 (In KY, from MD) I rented a f150 from Enterprise Trucks, (~$400, 3 days, unlmtd miles) drove out, picked up the trailer (1 way) for $60 and was on my way.

Much closer than CA. But cheapest way I could find to haul it home from 16hrs away.

This is exactly what I was looking into as well. Looks like it could be the cheapest/safest option. My buddy and his dad are looking for a road trip too so this could work.

Normal shipping from CA to the East Coast is about $1200 for open transport, unless it's auction season than to goes up to about $1500. Add $700-1000 for enclosed.

I bought a 914 in February and had it shipped via Montway Auto Transport....mainly because they had good reviews. They do sub out their jobs to other carriers, so I'm sure it is somewhat of a crap-shoot. However, based on their feedback and my experience, I am guessing they mostly use subs that they have vetted.

When Reliable was quoting me like $1800 from New Mexico to Georgia, they did it for $919. They also turned the whole thing around in about 5 days door to door, when Reliable was telling me it would be a month before they could even pick it up. In my case, the seller was ready to get rid of the car, so I couldn't wait a month.

Only negative was it rained like crazy the whole trip and, unlike Reliable, my shipment was uncovered, so the 914 arrived very wet.

Probably the best way to go with a non-op car.

Meh. I’ve shipped a half dozen non-op cars, including one bare chassis without suspension, through u-ship. Worked fine each time. I was going to drive out to CA from DE with my son and see the sights along the way but Covid 19 made me change my mind.