smooth west to east trip

Karen B. Submitted this review about Autolog
Review made Live: 4/9/2009 9:51:00 PM
My son bought a new 2008 altima in California and after 6 months could not find a job and moved home to New York. I spent over a month researching these auto transporters. I OBSESSED over this as I read many horror stories. We decided to decrease the amount of people transporting his car so we opted not to have a flatbed take it to the Fontana, California location. Instead we had a friend drive it there. This way it went on a truck and was driven directlly to the Linden, NJ location. We opted to pick it up there so that it didn't need to be taken to another location, even though it would have been closer. We figured the least amount of people touching the car the less the probability it might be damaged. We picked it up the day we got the call from NJ. It was a little dusty and my son asked if they could wash it so he could inspect it and they gladly did that. It took only 14 days. Many of these companies broker out to independent truckers , so I feel you are really at the mercy of the truckers.

I read alot of reviews about many companies and suggest the following: Take alot of pictures of the car exterior and interior at the time of leaving the car, including the tires with model numbers ( I read one review about another company that their tires were changed), don't accept a car at night when you can't look for damage, take water and rags with you in case you get a dirty car (possible coverup of damage)that you can't examine. Don't sign anything until you exam car. All claims must be made at time of picking up car before you sign.

We were told we could put a few things in trunk of car so we opted for a box of clothing. They told our friends no boxes were allowed, so they just put the clothes in trunk minus the box, no big deal. I guess they are subject to being searched by authorities. The price was the best and we were very happy with them. I liked that I could go to a location (Linden, NJ) and pick up my car in the daytime at a storefront. Some companies have you meet the truck at local parking areas because they can't get their big trucks into residential areas. The only thing I didn't like was after you drop off your car you don't know when it actually gets on a truck and starts its journey. I did call though and they gave me the information, it would just be nice if you got an email saying "your car just left our lot." We were not in a rush to get the car, my concern was just getting it to us undamaged. We even got 2 tiny cute functional keychain fob flashlights with autolog logo.I work in a hospital and these will come in quite handy... Hope this helped. PS. I got the name of autolog from a friend who had used them 4 years earlier and I got him a $50 referral fee at the time I booked.