Enclosed car hauler to rent?

[twistedtree]

I just bought 4 SLs - 3 230's and one 280.  My wife isn't happy, but I still need to transport them about 350 miles.  I'm getting quotes for hauling companies, but my backup plan is to trailer them myself one at a time, but I need a trailer - mine is open and I don't want to move a car in New England this time of year in the open.

Does anyone know where I could rent or borrow an 18-20' enclosed car hauler?  I've got a good tow vehicle.

Many thanks.  I sure am glad I found this site.

Peter

[knockmacool]

Peter

Congratulations on your recent purchases. You sound like someone who doesn't do things by halves! Can't offer advice on trailer, but I am sure others will. When you get a chance (and after the wife has settled down ) tell us more about yourself and the cars! 

HNY

Drew
 

[Jordan]

Peter, congratulations.  How did you ever find 4 SL's together?  I can't help you with a trailer but I just had mine shipped via enclosed carrier with AmeriFreight from lower NY to upper NY.  Just over 400 miles and it was $595.  Prices are all over the map.  AmeriFreight was reasonable and comes fully insured, bonded etc.  I was happy with the service.  You might be able to get a volume discount.

Are all 4 cars driveable or are you using one or two for parts?  Good luck with your move and your wife.
Cheers
Marcus

[dtuttle123]

We're assuming that Peter has only one wife?

[twistedtree]

Thanks for the welcome.  I suppose like everyone here, I've been a car enthusiast since I was a kid, and was quite obsessed through my 20's.  Along the way I worked on many cars both for myself and professionally, but very little on Mercedes.  They were just out of my reach.  My most extensive projects were full restorations of a BMW 2002, and a '63 E-Type.  Then along came kids and other aspects of life took over.  I finally sold the E-Type to put an addition on my house.  That was 20 years ago and until now cars have just been tools for me.

I always loved the Pagodas and started thinking about getting an older car again.  Then for Xmas and my 50th, my wife gave me one.  Not an actual one, but she set the gears in motion and engaged a friend who's a car buyer to try to find one.  I'll follow up in a few days with the story of my purchase.

[twistedtree]

We're assuming that Peter has only one wife?

Yes, just one wife.  She's over it - after all, she's the one who set the whole thing in motion - she just never imagined (nor did I) how it would turn out.

The cars supposedly all work, but I'm probably not going to attempt to get any of them running until they are in my shop.  At least one has a seized clutch and drained radiator, and another had a number of half connected parts.  I'm treating all of them as rolling, but non-operational.

If I could get someone to haul them enclosed for $595 each, I'd probably do it.  And I agree that hauling 4 together should be a lot less than 4x the price of one.  Some of the on-line instant pricing is around $1000 per car, and at that price I think I'll just buy an enclosed car hauler.  I figure the hauler will be useful down the road for moving cars around in the off-season.  Though I'm not real keen on 4 round trips between VT and PA to drag them one at a time.

[dtuttle123]

Well this is going to be a great story I can just tell!   

Peter, you list your port of call as MA - I'm located north of Boston, and can refer you to some local vendors that I would recommend as you get into your "quad-project".  You say that you are hauling between PA and VT --> is your shop in VT?

[twistedtree]

Well this is going to be a great story I can just tell!   

Peter, you list your port of call as MA - I'm located north of Boston, and can refer you to some local vendors that I would recommend as you get into your "quad-project".  You say that you are hauling between PA and VT --> is your shop in VT?

Hi Doug,

Yes, my shop is in VT, but my primary residence is in Gloucester, just a bit south of you.

[twistedtree]

I thought I'd let everyone know how this turned out.  I tracked down several outfits that were capable of moving the cars, but discovered that Vermont requires special permits for trucks over a certain length, and a car carrier that will fit 4 cars is over that length.  That eliminated several outfits right off the bat.  Then I found that even with the permits, said trucks can't venture more than a mile off the highways.  I never knew this.  We do have plenty of tight and winding roads, but I never knew trucks were restricted like this.  The bottom line is that the cars would have to be dropped off somewhere about 10 miles from my house and I'd have to individually transport them in a single car trailer to my shop, leaving the remaining cars in some parking lot or road side.  It's not exactly what I had in mind.

So, instead of spending $3k to $4k on trucking, I decided to put the $$ into a quality enclosed car trailer and haul them myself.  It's a lot of driving, but I'll be able to move them door to door.  I'll pull them all out of the previous owners property and stage them at my brothers house about an hour away, then haul them the 400 miles to my shop at my leisure.  Thank god for books on tape.