Help! I need a truck.

[opabinia]

This is so retarded. I need to tow a car 250 miles. I need to drive 500 miles, total: 250 to get there, 250 back. You would not believe how much this is trying to cost me. I've looked at UHaul, AAA, car rental places (for pickups/SUVs), and transport services. They are all trying to fuck me in the ass with a tree.

Do you, or does anyone you know, feel like renting me their big truck or SUV for 12 hours? I'll cover fuel, your next oil change (we're talking 500 miles, after all), and... I dunno... $100 on top?

Any day from Wednesday, 11/1 through Friday, 11/3 would work for me. Other days might work, too.

[Edit -- I'll be at the ATA conference from the 1st to the 4th. Duh.]

Comments

[znuh.livejournal.com]

Have you considered having AAA tow the car to a local transmission repair joint (near where the car is, now?) Getting a B/O/P TH-400 rebuilt will probably cost the same as having it transported - plus the car will be 1) fixed and 2) you could drive it home.

Wait. Didn't you say the guy would pay for the trans work? Dude. Save your money, have it rebuilt by a local shop and drive it back.

[lepidosiren.livejournal.com]

Nope. The seller gave me $700, which is the price of the TH400 alone (He was under no obligation to give me anything). This doesn't cover the stall converter or labor. After a few million phone calls from up here, I learned it was going to cost me $1700 to have the old TH400 trans and the stall converter replaced with new ones. (The stall converter has to be replaced because it shares fluid with the transmission, blah blah blah.)

Instead of spending $1700 on a transmission I don't want, I'm going to haul the car up to a custom shop in Woburn to have the manual transmission swap performed. The shop owner told me to show up with the car whenever. Now I just need to get the %$#^ing car.

[znuh.livejournal.com]

$1700 for a TH-400 is a rip-off. Considering you can get a brand new unit from Jeg's or Summit for $900. And that's a performance unit. Add $200 for a torque converter and you've got a performance trans.

Seriously - anyone quoting you $1700 to rebuild a TH-400 is smoking crack.

Some transport companies are:

A-1 Auto Transport,Inc.
1-800-452-2880
www.a1autotransport.com

Direct Express Auto Transport
800-600-3750
www.AutoTransportDirect.com


Dependable Auto Shippers (on ebay website)
866-327-3229
http://pages.motors.ebay.com/services/das-shipping.html

[lepidosiren.livejournal.com]

The Summit catalog lists regular TH400s for $700, and I see stall converters from $100 to $400 in there; but apparently it's a long way between that and a running car, especially from 250 miles away.

I've got an SUV lined up, and I've reserved a transport trailer from UHaul. If all goes well, the car will be at Chop Shop Customs in Woburn by Friday evening.

I'm going to be out of town between the 31st and the 5th. I doubt I can make affordable arrangements with a transport service with such a tight schedule, but I'll call them up, just to see.

well whaddoyouknow

[lepidosiren.livejournal.com]

Hey, thanks for the tip. I just hooked up with Direct Express. $325 sounds too good to be true, but they took my deposit, and they swear $325's the whole price.

I called the "from" garage and the "to" garage. Everyone is on the same page.

That was too easy. I fully expect the transport truck to roll over somewhere in New Jersey.

Re: well whaddoyouknow

[eeyrg.livejournal.com]

so are you all good then? $325 is a kick ass deal for transport, I'm impressed.

Re: well whaddoyouknow

[lepidosiren.livejournal.com]

Yes -- all set. Thankyouthankyouthankyou. XOOOOOO

Re: well whaddoyouknow

[eeyrg.livejournal.com]

sure, sure. use me for my boobs SUV.... ;-)

Re: well whaddoyouknow

[znuh.livejournal.com]

(Bestows more foo upon thee :)

Hehe, good. If it sounds like it costs too much, it usually does. Remember, the fun of an old car is not in all the nice, happy days but in the tough ones and how you deal with it.

[anechoic.livejournal.com]

He was under no obligation to give me anything

WTF? He sold you a broken car!

[lepidosiren.livejournal.com]

He sold me a used car as-is. If I had the money for a legal battle (which I would lose), I would have been shopping for a different car.

[eeyrg.livejournal.com]

give me a call, yo... :)

[lepidosiren.livejournal.com]

I LOVE YOU

[eeyrg.livejournal.com]

hah! call the house, cell is off... i'll be here, with boobs on ... ;-)

[jasonlizard.livejournal.com]

Boobs and a truck! How's that for bacon!

[lepidosiren.livejournal.com]

Life gets no finer than boobs, trucks, and bacon.