Ben,
Could you elaborate a bit?

PMing you.

Frank

Yes, had a nice oldsmobile covertible shipped from AZ to GA on a flatbed. It arrived in GA without a softop, and a very damaged top frame. The soft top came apart in transport due to aerodynamic stresses. The truck driver admitted what a bad idea it was to carry the car on an open trailer. He also told me that he should have lowered the top for transport. Of course, they told me "no problems" before the haul and "no liability for damages" when the car was delivered. It was over $3k to get a new top and frame.

It's not as extreme with the miata because you can score a complete used M2 top and frame for $500-600 if you have to. But I think the safety advantages of enclosed transport outweigh the additional cost. Maybe the current owner would be willing to pick up a hardtop locally if you found one on his local craigslist? I wouldn't hesitate to put a hardtop car on a open trailer.

Actually, you get 45 days to transfer tags after you buy the car. I bought my 90 out of San Diego in july 02 and drove it back to Colorado on the tags. I even got tagged for speeding and the officer said I had 45 days to get new plates. And as long as you are an insured driver, you are fine. I added mine to my policy about a week after I bought it. If I didn't already have plans for Christmas break, I would offer to drive it out for you. I drove from Colorado to Maine twice in mine and enjoy road trips.

tag policies are a state thing, so it will vary state to state. in the northeast, they are not as liberal about grace periods. that's something else learned the hard way. :td:

We were pulled over around the corner from grandma's house in Long Island, NY because we had a drive out tag, not a real plate. The car was only a week old. In GA it takes 30 days to get a real tag after you purchase a new vehicle. In NY, they tow your vehicle if there's no tag. What a mess that was. The cop said, "I've never heard of the state of Boomershine before!" (the car was purchased from a dealer named Boomershine)

Where did you get that awesome shipping quote? Its costing me $850 to get the Gti shipped from NJ to CO.

DAS website. Terminal to Terminal, Gardena, CA to Baltimore, MD. I'm still checking on shippers. Long stick thread at movingscam.com on auto shippers. Waiting on a quote from a well respected shipper, Golden Key. I'm not too concerned on the price. Given what I got the car for, anything under a grand will work. My piece of mind is worth something.

Frank

LOL.

Tags are that important?

I moved from Texas to New Mexico, and i have lived here for 5 months with expired texas plates and havent gotten on trouble.

Not to mention my Drivers license is 4 months expired also...

But today i just got my plates and by friday i should have my new license, but still! People are really slack here, ive sped by many a police and they dont seem to care. Small town ftw.

I spent $850 for door to door shipping with 5star Auto Transport. They pick the car up tommorow and I should have it by Tuesday.

Man, you bent that guy over. Good work! I'd sell mine in a heartbeat for a deal like that.

NINE GRAND? He was offering it up for 14k everywhere. said his reserve was 9k... ouchie.

Robbi did good things to that car. Shame he had to sell, but you got a KILLER deal out of him.

shipping cars sucks. I got quotes on shipping my E30 from nor cal to DC and gave up on the idea because the car was worth under 3k. do yourself a favor and find a real shipping company that will cover any detail that goes wrong. or better yet, do the four day drive I did last november. two days off work and two weekend days.

See the USA in your turbo miata.

PS I still have california tags and I moved here over a year ago. :P

I know he was looking for 12K for it. Heck, Edmunds has it for almost 11K with that low of mileage in "clean" condition with no mods of course. I threw up a bid figuring I'd get outbid but it didn't happen. The mods probably scared people away. And the fact that he has no feedback on ebay. I've known him through the powerlist for a long time. Talked to him before I bid. Seems like a good dude, just doesn't have time to part it out or actively sell it in a lot of places. Winter isn't the greatest Miata selling season either of course.

Golden Key Express Shipping has a good rep everywhere I've searched. They do want 1100 to ship it to my door though. Probably worth it.

Tags in MD are a funny thing. I removed a car from insurance while I was parting it out and MD got on my butt and wanted me to pay a tag penalty for not returning the tags after the car was removed off insurance. Something like $30 a day. I got a buddy in the industry to write a letter saying it was totaled and dismantled so they got off my ass.

At least passing emissions here is cake.

Frank

holy shit!!!