Shipping my CRV

[greentara]

Yet another moving question. I will be moving to Kauai in September, I will be shipping my vehicle and I have a couple of questions. 1) How reliable is Matson Lines when it comes to shipping cars? 2) Does anyone know how accurate they are regarding their delivery date? I really want to avoid renting a car, I'm trying to time my car arrival date as close to Sept. 1st, (when my rent starts) as possible. Impossible to live where I will be living with out a car. Also does anyone have any advice on the cheapest way to ship some boxes with household stuff…I was thinking of simply using the US Mail – UPS is really expensive so don’t want to use them if I can avoid it.

Thank You

[Beachboy]

Re: Shipping my CRV

put as much items as you can in your car. Mind you nothing that you're gonna lose sleep over if it somehow vanishes during the crossing. Matson has been in operation for who knows how long. I am yet to hear something super negative about them.

[Miulang]

Re: Shipping my CRV

You can only ship your car empty...very empty. If you look at this list from one shipper, it basically means anything that wasn't original equipment has to be removed before they will accept the car for shipment. Yes, ship via the US Postal Service which is the cheapest. If shipping books, use book rate which is even cheaper.

Miulang

[tutusue]

Re: Shipping my CRV

I shipped a car 4 times between 1978 and 1992. I'd heard horror stories of theft and vandalism. The shipping insurance was grossly expensive. Each time I removed the sound system and anything else that wasn't bolted down! I took a Polaroid camera to the drop off point and photographed the car in front of an employee. The photos went with me to compare on the other end! I had no problems!

Ok...now stop laughing over Polaroid. All those shipments took place pre-digital age!

[Da Rolling Eye]

Re: Shipping my CRV

I shipped a car 4 times between 1978 and 1992. I'd heard horror stories of theft and vandalism. The shipping insurance was grossly expensive. Each time I removed the sound system and anything else that wasn't bolted down! I took a Polaroid camera to the drop off point and photographed the car in front of an employee. The photos went with me to compare on the other end! I had no problems!

Ok...now stop laughing over Polaroid. All those shipments took place pre-digital age!

I was just going to say. Make sure to take plenty of pictures and document anything and everything. My brother just moved back to Hawaii from Long Island and they had major problems with their shipper. Car arrived damaged and lots of stuff went missing. Luckily, they're both lawyers and that helped get them a settlement for the damages, which the shipper was trying to get out of.

Most of their other stuff, they shipped via USPS. Their computers and such came via UPS or Fedex. Watch the latter. Knuckleheads left the boxes on the front door step and never notified anyone. They're known to do stuff like that especially with packages requiring an adult's sig.

[joshuatree]

Re: Shipping my CRV

Yet another moving question. I will be moving to Kauai in September, I will be shipping my vehicle and I have a couple of questions. 1) How reliable is Matson Lines when it comes to shipping cars? 2) Does anyone know how accurate they are regarding their delivery date? I really want to avoid renting a car, I'm trying to time my car arrival date as close to Sept. 1st, (when my rent starts) as possible. Impossible to live where I will be living with out a car. Also does anyone have any advice on the cheapest way to ship some boxes with household stuff…I was thinking of simply using the US Mail – UPS is really expensive so don’t want to use them if I can avoid it.

Thank You

Just as a side note, you can also look into Pasha Hawaii to compare shipping rates and schedules with Matson's.

http://www.pashahawaii.com/index.php?s=sailserv&a=0154

[tutusue]

Re: Shipping my CRV

I was just going to say. Make sure to take plenty of pictures and document anything and everything.[...]

That's just half the equation. The other half is to make sure at least one of the shipper's employees sees the photos. IIRC, I framed one shot to include the employee! And, since I could write on Polaroids I did a walk around the car with the employee, making notes on each photo. Photos were also taken of the interior, the engine and the battery. It seems like a lot of trouble to go to but it really isn't. The biggest hassle for me was getting the car to an audio shop to have them pull the sound system then getting it reinstalled on the other end!

[greentara]

Re: Shipping my CRV

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH~ I have a six CD player in my car, came with it ~ I'm thinking I don't have to remove it ~ what a pain that would be. I have another question how reliable are they, (Matson) when it comes to their arrival date. They said two weeks from CA, that just seems kind of short time to me. I would be so bummed if anything happened to my car, so thank you so much for the photo suggestions.

I will be sending books to and thanks for the "book rate advice". I’ll be so glad when I’m there and settled in this is a huge project!!!! But totally worth it.

[tnts2k]

Re: Shipping my CRV

We shipped three vehicles over last summer with Matson and found them to be pretty accurate with their delivery date. The problem for us was the fact that we didn't deliver our cars directly to Matson. We had a transport company take them. As a result, they got to California and then "got in line" to be loaded on a Matson container. They really can't tell you when the car will arrive in Hawaii until they have a good idea about when it will sail. My husband's truck was damaged in shipping but other than the hassle of having to take it in for an estimate and then to the body shop they were very easy to deal with. Good luck.

[greentara]

Re: Shipping my CRV

Once again thank you all for the information, don't really have a choice I have to ship my car so I'll just have to take my chances and hope for the best with Matson. The good thing is I just have to drive across the bay to drop it off. Sure would save me some money on shipping some of my stuff if I could pack the car but from what I hear the people at Matson will steal everything that isn't bolted down. Sad...

I know this sounds strange but my car is a standard shift ~ five speed and I always worry that so many people don't know how to drive a car with a clutch. I'm thinking I'll bring it over beginning of August and hope that it arrives before September 1st.

[Miulang]

Re: Shipping my CRV

Once again thank you all for the information, don't really have a choice I have to ship my car so I'll just have to take my chances and hope for the best with Matson. The good thing is I just have to drive across the bay to drop it off. Sure would save me some money on shipping some of my stuff if I could pack the car but from what I hear the people at Matson will steal everything that isn't bolted down. Sad...

I know this sounds strange but my car is a standard shift ~ five speed and I always worry that so many people don't know how to drive a car with a clutch. I'm thinking I'll bring it over beginning of August and hope that it arrives before September 1st.

I'm sure the Matson guys know how to drive a 5-speed; can't vouch for how well they'd do with the clutch, though . Eventually, you might find yourself pining for an automatic transmission car, though. Not too many years ago, Kauai didn't have a single stoplight. Now between Kapa'a and Lihue, especially, it's gridlock city and riding in 1st gear or sitting on your clutch while burning up in traffic will start wearing thin really really quickly.

Miulang

[tnts2k]

Re: Shipping my CRV

I understand the desire to fill your car up with belongings but Matson won't let you. It has to be empty. We didn't go as far as taking pictures but did a thorough examination when it was dropped off and when we picked it up. Allow yourself enough time when you go to pick it up to look at it carefully. It may be really dusty and dirty if its been rained on but check it out really well before you sign off. I wouldn't worry too much about the clutch issue. I would imagine that's a job requirement. Good luck.

[greentara]

Re: Shipping my CRV

I'm sure the Matson guys know how to drive a 5-speed; can't vouch for how well they'd do with the clutch, though . Eventually, you might find yourself pining for an automatic transmission car, though. Not too many years ago, Kauai didn't have a single stoplight. Now between Kapa'a and Lihue, especially, it's gridlock city and riding in 1st gear or sitting on your clutch while burning up in traffic will start wearing thin really really quickly.

Miulang

LOL ~ I know what you mean about the drive from Kapa'a and Lihue ~ I've driven it many times ~ But keep in mind Miulang, I live and work in SF, people always tell me “why in the hell did you buy a stick shift” ~ just like to drive one brings out the machismo in me...

[greentara]

Re: Shipping my CRV

I understand the desire to fill your car up with belongings but Matson won't let you. It has to be empty. We didn't go as far as taking pictures but did a thorough examination when it was dropped off and when we picked it up. Allow yourself enough time when you go to pick it up to look at it carefully. It may be really dusty and dirty if its been rained on but check it out really well before you sign off. I wouldn't worry too much about the clutch issue. I would imagine that's a job requirement. Good luck.

I will check it out well when I pick it up and I'm thinking of taking TUTU's advice about the pictures...thank's again for the info. it makes me feel better to know that you had good luck with Matson.

[Miulang]

Re: Shipping my CRV

LOL ~ I know what you mean about the drive from Kapa'a and Lihue ~ I've driven it many times ~ But keep in mind Miulang, I live and work in SF, people always tell me “why in the hell did you buy a stick shift” ~ just like to drive one brings out the machismo in me...

At least you have areas beyond the Golden Gate and Oakland Bay Bridges where you might be able to hit the speed limit every now and then. But jimminy crickets! Kauai is only one small island with only one main road. That so-called "By-pass" is a joke, too. What Kauai and all the Neighbor Islands need is better infrastructure which includes, yes, more public transportation. BTW: All my past cars, with the exception of my current one, have been 5-speeds because I, too, liked the notion of thinking I wanted to be a female Parnelli Jones. But with my last car, I finally threw in the towel and got a 5-speed automatic so now I have the best of both worlds. When I want to play Parnelli I can; when I want to not have to hassle in stop and go traffic, I can do that too!

Miulang