Chrysler minivan
Ron
Submitted this review about
Pasha Hawaii
Review made Live: 12/19/2006 1:34:00 AM
I needed to transport my Chrysler minivan from New Jersey to California to Hawaii. The van was new with only 500 miles on the odometer. I wanted to ship the van enclosed to be certain that it arrived in perfect condition, the same as when it left NJ. I called every highly rated transporter on this site. After a screening process using my very certain criteria, I contracted with Auto Transport Connection, which brokered with Autolog, for the New Jersey to California segment. Almost no one was licensed to arrange ocean transport, and I was not satisfied with the few offerings that I received. After a Yahoo! internet search, I found 3 companies which transported vehicles across the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii. All 3 had ships arriving in Honolulu, but only one had a ship arriving in Kauai. Moira at Pasha Hawaii spent quite some time with me on the phone answering my questions about procedures, schedules, and insurance with patience and politeness. My van was loaded in California and not moved until arrival at my island port. Additionally, the van was below deck during the entire trip. The other 2 shippers would have put my new van on an open barge for the ocean voyage from Honolulu to Kauai, which due to the barge company's route, would have taken 2 days of top deck exposure to the elements. When my van was delivered in Hawaii, only 2 miles were added to the odometer, and except for a dirty exterior (quickly resolved with a hand-wash in my driveway), the van arrived in perfect condition. The delivery people at the port were pleasant and efficient. My battery was dead after the 5 week journey across land and sea, but staff in the yard readily offered to jump-start the van, which started immediately, and away we drove. I would recommend Pasha Hawaii because they handled my shipment with efficiency and good service, and the people were pleasant to work with.
Now a word about insurance. The transporter's insurance is very limited, no matter how the company or broker may present it to you. Additionally, your own company may not cover the vehicle during transport, especially if you are moving permanently. Since my van was new, I wanted full coverage including liability, collision and comprehensive with fire, theft and vandalism coverage. Such coverage is not included in the transporter's insurance, and is apparently not available from the transporter. Call companies and brokers in your destination state to learn if coverage is provided during transport under your new policy. I did, and found no local agent in Hawaii willing to provide coverage until the vehicle reaches Hawaii. I called the national companies, and found only 2 who would begin coverage from the day my van was given to the New Jersey transporter. Because of the ocean voyage, my experience with the move to Hawaii may be different than that within the 48 contiguous states. But if you want coverage, allow yourself time to search for an insurance company. Luckily, there were no problems with my van during transport. But read some of the reviews and see where a few encountered damage and insurance claims problems.
