Recommendations for shipping Tacoma from dealership?

Would never go the shipping route. I helped a family member take delivery of a vehicle recently. The vehicle loaded behind his car was loaded weird and the driver struggled to get that moved out of the way first (tires were wedged on something and vehicle shifted to one side and very close to railing). Truck driver asked to use my vehicle to attach tow straps to get it shifted over to one side. I refused since i didn't want that liability or damages to my personal vehicle. He tried using another vehicle on the truck with no success (he destroyed the tires and messed something up on the suspension) before one of the neighbors with a HD Ram came over to assist. The guy did not care that he just damaged a vehicle he was transporting citing that it's a dealer car and not a personal vehicle. This driver was at one point asking me for ideas/help and that's when i realized he had no f'en idea what he was doing.

I would never ship a vehicle with a shipper after that experience. If you must, make sure it's a reputable and professional company. It may cost more but better to pay extra for that peace of mind.

 

My original post was in response to the quoted post above.
If I throughly test drove the mythical Subaru Forester locally, I would have zero problems buying one sight unseen a thousand miles away. However, I want to physically see it touch it and drive it before giving them my money. Buying through a broker is different. They do that stuff for you.

 

When I moved to Tennessee I had both my Camaro and my Tacoma shipped . it was 1950 miles from the Socal High Desert to Nashville Tn . It was $2800 per vehicle

 

I would not purchase a car sight unseen. Just ran into this issue with my own vehicle, got it shipped from Michigan to CA. The vehicle was transported in an open carrier. Had a lot of damage either from shipping or undisclosed. It was a mess getting it reimbursed but I would not do it again.

 

Good point..at least on Uship one has the option to choose wanting a closed trailer only as I'm told

 

My car shipping story to scare you...aunt kindly gave my wife and I her 2014 MDX last year. They even paid to ship it to us (love my aunt . Anyway, was coming up from Florida to New England. It rained for most of its trip, and it was on the bottom shelf below some late 70s vintage vehicles. Anyway, white MDX, was almost completely black. Cars above had either leaked or runoff every substance known to man onto the MDX along with rust and metal chips everywhere. Never seen a car that dirty in my life. Carrier looked at me like, sorry bud. Ended up NBD, just took me hours to clean it without damaging paint. But,,,,if that had been a new car I just bought, I would have been pretty sad. So I would either drive or ask them to put it up top

 

Hi All,
OP here. I appreciate all the feedback. Still trying to decide if I jump on a plane or ship. Whatever I decide, I am very happy to have found a Pro in Lunar Rock for MSRP. It is my first Tacoma. I have had F-150s and a couple other trucks in the past but looking forward to having this one. Glad I was able to test drive a Tacoma last year before the supply got really low. I "ordered" this vehicle in April from my local dealer (Southeast PA) and was told 2 weeks ago that they would not be able to get it now.

 

Just wanted to share my recent experience with vehicle delivery. Helped a family member with their new ride, and let me tell you, it was a bit of a rollercoaster. The truck driver had a tough time loading the car behind us, tires wedged and all. He even asked to use my car for tow straps, but I chickened out on that liability! Long story short, it got a bit messy, and the driver damaged another vehicle on the truck without batting an eye. After witnessing that, I'm a bit skeptical about shipping now. But hey, if you're considering it, make sure to go with a reliable and professional company. I stumbled upon this car delivery cost calculator www.a1autotransport.com/car-transportation-services/ that might help you figure things out. Can't vouch for it personally, but it's worth checking into.