Interstate Car Transport Experiences

[Eu-GenixX]

how do these companies keep getting away with this stuff...

i'd definately recommend calling one of those current affairs shows.... tell them you are hearing about a lot of these problems...

in fact.. everyone who has had a problem should contact the same show... and they might invesitgate.. and blow the whistle on these dodgy operations... with hidden camera's and such things... that would be cool...

[Plugg3r]

Ok my old man ran his own car carrying company from Adelaide to Darwin (NT Car Carrying)

At no time did we ever have joy rides, yes sometimes you drove the car from depot to drop off but only under owners approval.

Sometimes you do get mud on the car from driving it up the truck if its rained or if on the truck and going through washed over roads and such..

But this is NT im talking about.
For NSW-VIC and such you should have no problems and yes I would be pushing this and claiming insurance.

And they haven't even washed the car?
The old man made me wash every car when it arrived even if they were smick!

Basically mate i'd push this and report this to there heads.

For lowered cars I have no compashion.
It takes hours to get them up and in the end they will most of the time always scruff.
Hense why most companys have "And height modifications to car cannot be accepted as our responsiabilty if damage occurs"

I've seen it happen many times, doesnt matter if you go up the ramp with a secondary ramp of the ramp and go up at 0.001 they will just about always scrub if they're lowered like alot of lowered cars are.

And with the comments pay peanuts get monkeys..
Look for companys who are Operator Owned.
You will always find better service.

[Fev]

i just saw a truck go past through the city(sydney cbd), Alan's specialised car transporters or somthing, looked very professional although id be guessing their prices were sky high as it was a semi trailer with a full enclosed v8 supercar style trailer and it was gleaming. im assuming it was dropping off some ferrari's or masers up the road as i always see them on the backs of trucks going up bathurst street

[CRUSHU F150]

I would be writing or calling the CEO, they hate to get annoyed customers wasting their time, and usually go and head hunt the manager in charge.

I know thats how it works at my work!

[addi_351]

Id be careful with TNT aswell for anyone out their, the boss just bought his Chev Silvarado from perth(were in melb), freight was booked and the car was droped off at the TNT depot. After 3days the boss wanted an ETA, they had quoted 7 working day, he questioned as to why this was, the car was put on a train and not on a truck as per the booking. In this time the Sat Nav was removed from the box and the box was hidden under the seat. It had taken him 3days off msgs and him trying to call them so they turn around an say "nothing should have been in the car". No one has answered as to why it was on the train but the boss has decided to cut his losses as the car is in one piece.

[XR8 Uterous]

Originally Posted by Plugg3r

Look for companys who are Operator Owned.
You will always find better service.

Very true, dealing with the owners is always going to get you better service, especially in the transport industry. Medium size, family owned is the best way to go.

[RIPGMH]

Originally Posted by vanman_75

holy cr ap i wouldnt be looking for answers from company, i would want to meet the bloke who done it ! hi i hear you went for a drive in my car !!!!!!

The car was unloaded in Townsville, before heading to Brisbane. If anyone knows anything about the additional k's in Townsville I'd be glad to hear from them.

[XRQTR]

Originally Posted by EL XR6

Very true, dealing with the owners is always going to get you better service, especially in the transport industry. Medium size, family owned is the best way to go.

To a dgeree, again ask if they do the run themselves or sub the work out, some smaller companies won't do the longer runs as they don't have the numbers to make it profitable.

When dropping off a vehicle a damage report is done at most depots, go over it with a fine toothed comb, take pictures making sure that there is some kind of distinguishing feature in at least one photo to prove that they were taken at time of delivery, otherwise they will argue you took them at an earlier date and any damage was on their when they received the vehicle at eh despatch end. Keep all your paperwork as you should get a copy of the damage report from the despatching depot, if you don't then ask for one (demend it if you have to), this way it's their signature prior to despatch that says the car was had XYZ damage prior to transport.

I do this whenever I hire a car, they might go over it but I always find other damage on their and I'm not going to pay for damage someone else has done, this is the same when I'm towing, even if there is no report I will still go over the car and make the owner aware of any damage prior to me picking it up.

If you're in Melbourne whatever you do don't use companies like Payless Towing which are actually a transport company, I often see there trucks on the road carrying new cars to dealers and don't even strap the cars down. Sure it's quicker to load and unload that way way but I'd hate to be the owner of the one that comes off around a fast bumpy bend.

[vanman_75]

the wife had some bad luck a couple of years ago with a hire car breaking a windscreen from top to bottom ,must of been badly put in or defective just split from top to bottom on our rough roads up here. we paid for new windscreen cause of bad roads !

[bonspeed]

Originally Posted by RIPGMH

The car was unloaded in Townsville, before heading to Brisbane. If anyone knows anything about the additional k's in Townsville I'd be glad to hear from them.

Any more details of where it was unloaded? and approx dates? Ill see if I can find out more for you.

[wilba]

crap isnt it

[Plugg3r]

Well in the defense to car companys they do get the *** end sometimes.

We have a brand new 75 series with 4" left with a 350chev in the *** and toolbox and when taking up ramp in bowed them in wards.

Then when taking in from adelaide to darwin it broke two 4500kg tie down straps and moved around.

He then complained that his 350 chev dented tray... :s

[ELGT4me]

Some shots of the car before it left QLD

[ELGT4me]

Some shots after it arrived in Perth.

[ELGT4me]

All the damage you can see was down to the fibreglass, no explanation of how it was done, or how my car lost 1/4 tank of fuel & gained 7 kilometres!!

[ELGT4me]

Some documentation, note the dates for repair approval & TNT/Ceva,s refusal of claim. The pix were taken the Saturday after they were supposed to pick the car up. They picked the car up 3 hours after the agreed time on the following Monday. The car was locked in a garage until the TNT/Ceva/ vip rep called to say he was on his way to pick the car up!!!

[fast gt]

My mate and i almost got in to fisty cuffs with a yard rat that works at tolls in adelaide. My mate brought a gq patrol with a holden 5L in it from queensland and told it was going straight to adel,the day came to pick it up no phone call so we called them at 3:30 in the afternoon on friday got told it went to melb told it would be in adel on monday. It showed up on said day got a phone call to pick it up got there to find they where washing it red dirt on it my mate drove fridge vans from queensland and asked them where the dirt came from NO REPLY! Then we heard it start up, we were standing by the office and we heard the thing get the t!ts rung out of it! they guy brought it to us we asked him what the hell he was doing driving it like that and he replied he doesnt know what we are talking about i had to drag my mate off of him after a 5 min argument. If i were you i would go see them and make them an offer they cant refuse godfather style!!!!!!!!!

[r8response]

Originally Posted by RIPGMH

Snip....

Wow, i wish i had seen this thread and indeed this post before i choose CEVA to transport my XR8

I had mine pride and joy transported from Alice Springs to the Brisbane Depot. Was happy as pie when i went to pick the ol' girl up.

Half the car was hidden by a caravan so the blokes there asked me to come start it (it needs special attention to get it going) and as soon as i stepped around the caravan i was instantly ****ed off.

You see, somewhere along the line they'd managed to almost (only 4 clips holding it) rip the entire front bar off of my car. At first they tried to deny they'd caused the damage and it was how they recieved it.

But they soon ate their words when i handed them my copy of the shipping documents that indicated there was nothing wrong with the car except for it not having had a wash.

But i've come out on top i reckon, it set me back around $1100 to get it transported. Now they have to pay in excess of $1500 to get a whole new bumper bar and minor respray :

[strik9]

i just put my car on transport to melb a2wks ago. and if it does,nt return the way it left. there will be a headbutt, in it for thr guy that drops it off. :togo:

[blueoval]

re-reading this thread has just got me angry with these cowboy tactics. I feel like going postal on them just for the sake of it. :jab:

[EFPWR]

mmm.. was considering a transport company to get my car to perth.. now i think ill drive it.. :/

[NEEDspeed]

What we're finding at the moment is that there seem to be more instances of damage occuring across the nullabor possibly due to the roughness of rail operations with our car containers (Ceva). From both melb. and perth, heavier cars are breaking loose and its not just us...apparently tolls have had movements AND some removalists I've heard more things coming loose in their containers.

All this adds up but according to some recent stats Tolls do about 4%, and we're trying to get down below 1% and I think we're close atm. Honestly guys we are not out to thrash your cars (I certainly pay a lot of respect to nice Fords : ) and all of us are doing our best to log any damage as the cars leave/arrive depots so we can eliminate situations like what ELGT4ME has mentioned. At Ceva Perth we're working very hard to bring the levels of service up so bear with us.

So my advice is go straight to the source, go straight to a carrier with their own equipment so you're not dealing 2nd hand so to speak. Get the inspector to do a thorough survey on a professional survey sheet and make sure you keep your copy. There should be no problems claiming on incured damage to any car then.

Cheers,
Mike Edgcumbe (Ceva Perth yard / Quarantine)

[ELGT4me]

Gidday Mike, thanks for your input. Just for your info, your boss has refused to pay for my claim, Sean Dunlop I'am gunning for you !! A further tragedy, a concourse correct XT GT got transported to Melbourne, for the Wagga Wagga Round up. The car is damaged (substantially), owner complains to transport manager depot in Melbourne. (Ah mate, it was like that when it left Perth!!!) NO it wasn't!! No worries mate, send it back to Perth we will fix it for you. Problem, yep, they damaged it again, turns out it was not the company that was paid to do the transport, they used a subbie instead (cheaper!!!) All of this has taken it's TOLL on the cars owner!!! :

[XRQTR]

Found out just recently that Australian Muscle Car Sales use TNT to transport cars sold interstate, also found from a mate of mine in Sydney that they have been using some really dodgey characters with even dodgier trucks to do some work for them so they can save a few bucks.

I mean if you just payed 100K+ for anything these days I think you'd want to know it was being transported by not just professionals but enthusiasts that will treat it as their own and will not try to get out of any damage that may occur. The example my mate gave me was an RPO being moved interstate by a small timer with no insurance, so maybe next time you move your pride and joy don't look at what it costs you to move it but what it might cost you should something go wrong. As for those that say "it won't happen to me" well just read back over some of the posts here.

I thought I'd let you guys know, so if you choose to use them you can't blame anyone but yourself if you read this and still decide to go with them.

[SPArKy_Dave]

A very old thread here, I know.

Just an alert: DO NOT USE ALIGN CAR CARRYING

I had a Range Rover transported from Sydney to their Melbourne depot.

Naturally, when I go to pick up the Rangie, I find the drivers side mirror smashed off and missing completely, with panel damage directly below the mirror.
I also find that the RH rear door is substantially caved in, and the rubber bumper strip badly gouged and torn.

When I went to pick it up, I find it out in the street, across the road from the depot.
The depot manager tells me it won't start, and has a flat battery.
Alarm bells start ringing.

I attempted to jump start it, only to find that the negative battery terminal is fried, and it's completely and utterly out of fuel.
Funny, as the vehicle had 1/4 tank when picked up in Sydney!

I'd say that they've left the car running/idling in a depot somewhere for an extended length of time, maybe whilst it was between transport trucks.

They have then fried the battery terminal by extended cranking time, from trying to start the vehicle again.

Upon attempting to lodge a claim with Align Car Carrying, (and asking for a copy of the vehicle condition report)
they flatly denied the claim and refused to produce a condition report.
Their reasoning was:
a. they didn't provide a condition report for a non running vehicle
b. they didn't warrant non running vehicles against damage, and according to them, my vehicle was not running.

Being young and stupid, I gave up trying to pursue them, not being able to afford legal representation, and not realising at the time, that I could apply to VCAT (administrative tribunal) to take it further.

I now hope to take the matter to VCAT. Doubly so, after reading these continual transport horror stories.

Next time, I would definitely go on a road trip, and bring the vehicle back myself.

Repeat: BEWARE OF ALIGN CAR CARRYING

[falconnut]

Yikes thanks for the heads up, ill never use any car transport ever, roadtrips ftw.

[XYLINC]

It certainly pleases me to see this thread pop up from time to time. They may not have lost much business from me sharing my negative experience in using them but I have no doubt it would have been cheaper for them to honour their agreement with me, cover the damage and avoid the bad publicity. Having the link to this story appear directly under their business on a google search is karma by the bucket load.

[AU Mont]

Originally Posted by ELGT4me

In all honesty, I would not use TNT/Ceva (or whatever they are called this week!!!) VIP or Autotrans.

nothing wrong with posting your personal experience?

i used ceva once and the car showed up with a nasty scrape on the rear guard, but because it had been touched up with the right colour, i assumed it the car had that before hand, as i bought the car sight unseen so didnt know who to blame?

[SPArKy_Dave]

Here's some pics of what they (ALIGN) did to my baby............. the dogs......


















Bush mechanics fix on the negative battery lead








The diode rectifier pack in the altenator got fried too, so I bush mechanic'd in a falcon unit, to get me home.

[redial]

If you go and look up the names on the ABN Lookup site, you will see that the companies/business names are all active, as at 19Jul12. It could be BS that one of them is out of business, as that would be shown on the ASIC site as a reportable item. I looked up VIP Automotive, VIP Automotive Solutions, and Pitstop, but only quickly, so you might have a deeper look.