advice on moving a car

I need to move a 1979 Pontiac Firebird from a NW suburb of Chicago to the Madison area (about 125 miles). The car starts and runs, but I don’t want to risk driving it that far, it’s been sitting in a garage for the last seven years. It also gets about 3-4 miles to the gallon.
My truck can’t tow it, it doesn’t have the guts.

So,

Does anyone know anyone who’s in the business or has the capability of moving a car about 120 miles in southern wisconsin? I’m thinking one of those flatbed trucks you occasionally see a car strapped to.

When I moved back to WI from Massachusetts, I had my ’77 Vette shipped out. The moving company took care of setting it all up with a car carrier. You might want to call your local moving companies (the big guys, not local movers) and see if they would give some contacts to you. If there is a car hauler making a delivery from Chi-Town to Mad-Town and they have room for one more car on their truck, I’m sure they’d be glad to take some of your money to fill their truck!

Not sure what kind of truck you have, but I pulled a mustang on a rented car hauler from Ind to northern WI, with an S10 with a six cylinder. Did not have a problem.

Do you have AAA?

If you’re hiring a car moving company take plenty of pics before the car is picked up. I CANT STRESS THIS ENOUGH!!

I had a very reputable national car moving company move a 1970 GMC Suburban for me from Houston TX to the Twin cities about 6 years ago. When the ‘burban arrived I was SHOCKED at the amount of damage that was done to it!! The front tie rod was bent in the middle where some idiot tied the truck down with it (you could see the fresh chain marks). The new aluminum drive shaft had a 8″x3″ gash in it from where the truck had actually dropped or fallen off something. Right in line with the driveshaft gash was a large dent in the passenger side rocker panel underneath the truck. The front drive shaft was MISSING all together! To top it off there was a 20″ rain in Houston while the truck was in one of the moving companies subconractors possession. The truck was flooded up to the floorboards. Had to drain all the fluids in the truck. Unfortunately I didnt figure this out until my whole drivetrain started cavitating one day. Eventually thought to pull some drain plugs and everything had water in it. Then I started noticing water lines and dead grass stuck to the underside of the truck.

This was a nightmare experience for which the moving company took ZERO responsibility for. After consulting with an attourney and various other people the end result was I didnt have much to stand on with out the previous condition pics. These car movers do not haul the vehicles themselves. Most of the actual hauling is contracted out to subs. Trying to track down all the companies involved was nearly impossible. In the end I only got $200 bucks knocked off the bill which barely covered a fraction of the damage done.

Remember to take pics if you hire it out to be moved!!!! The name of the company I used was DAS (Dependable Auto Shippers), stay far away from them!

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Not sure what kind of truck you have, but I pulled a mustang on a rented car hauler from Ind to northern WI, with an S10 with a six cylinder. Did not have a problem.

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My truck doesn’t have a big enough pecker to haul my car. I looked it up and my firebird (with a big block) has a curb weight of around 3700#. My truck, 3300#. It’s just an older 4 banger 4×4 toyota. I figured it would be easier to pay someone with the proper equipment. It especially made since seeing I’d have to rent a tow dolly or trailer, pay for two 45$ tanks of gas, burn most my weekend, and worry about it the whole ride. The car’s kind of my baby. I was just hoping someone on this site worked for/owned or knew of an outfit that could to this.

I did get one quote of 300 bucks, and my car would be fully insured. All considering, it seemed very reasonable to me. I just wanted to shop it around a little.

Thanks.

Jake,

if its been in a garage and runs, I just take it to a mechanic down there for a quick safety inspection and drive it back. Would be cheaper than hauling it up here for sure.

Yeah, i thought about that too, but…

my pops wants it out of his garage quickly, and although it runs it’s not road worthy yet.

The shifter is all frigged up, needs new back tires (funny how those disappear so quick), needs registration and insurance, and the power steering pump peas out fluid as quick as you can put it in. As tempting as it is to me to get it on the road asap, I just don’t have the weekend time to get it into shape. wish I did…

You can check with U-Haul, or some similar companies about renting a truck here that can tow your car, driving down to pick up your car and returning with it. If you need to get it out fast, this is probably the best you can do that I can think of.

Call the Chicago Chamber of Commerce and see if they have an auto auction there. If so call them and see if anyone from Madison consigns on a regular basis. Call them and see what they would charge. They will be bringing cars in but going back empty. Often times it’s a small time dealer with just a roll bed truck and maybe a dolly hooked behind.