I relocated to the Caribbean from sunny Miami in October. It took almost eight weeks to get the Ghost down here(it should have taken two), and it wasn't in the same shape as it was when they took it away on the carrier -- It was atrocious! In addition to the dirt, grease/tar, and scratches, here is the list of other horrors inflicted on my baby:
1. My cool headlights and sidemarkers got traded for the cracked and faded stock variety. I guess someone had too much time on his hands
2. The interior looked as if someone had come in from a fishing/hunting trip -- muddy carpets, seats and rear glass. Greasy handprints and footprints throughout the interior completed the decor.
3. The exhaust was FUBAR, so I had to order a new system
4. The cylinders on my Nitro Drop shocks (rear) were pinched/crushed about 1/3 of their diameter.
5. The tonneau cover had cracks in the shape of footprints from every knucklehead who thought they could walk on it.

All the damaged pieces have been fixed/replaced, except the exhaust, headlight assembly, and the shocks(on backorder or snail mail). Thankfully, they stock Meguire's and Stoner products here, so at least I had quality products to accomplish the cleanup/detailing chores. I had a boat guy refinish the tonneau cover, so the ghost is beginning to gleam again. The interior took the longest to get cleaned (3 days) and I have that new car smell again.

Anyone else have any moving stories they'd like to share?

 

No stories, but have always been facinated with your ID. I am a long time Percy Sledge fan and have most of his recordings.

 

My mother said I sounded like him when I was younger, so they called me Percy Jr. The nickname stuck, and even my wife calls me Percy...go figure!

 

Now that is special. Do you look like him? He is a short little black dude about 5'8". His wife sings harmony with him at live shows. She weighs about 3 times what he does, but man, she can belt it out.

 

Yep. Shipping your truck sucks.
I shipped mine from Houston to England last year.
Fortunately, nothing got damaged but it did somehow get very dirty both inside and outside.
The one thing that really pissed me off was that somebody wrote "suck my
*****" in the dirt on the windows just to show what they thought of my truck.
Ok, it was only dirt which does clean off but I felt almost vioalted if you can understand that because of the way that somebody had treated my pride and joy.

Anyhoo, this is how it looked when I dropped it off at the shippers.



And this is how it looked when it arrived

 

Shipping a vehicle overseas DOES blow. The price you pay for Uncle Sam...

It's amazing how many extra scratches and dings you can get when shipping a vehicle from Charleston to Italy and back. I mean normal dirt and other crap is understandable but if we are expected to give it to the shipping company immaculate, then we should get it the same way.

 

I was going to tell you to talk to "EnglishAdam" about shipping a truck by container, but I see he already beat me here!

 

Nothing wrong with a container apart from that somebody has to clamber in to drive the truck in and out.
It's tha fact that the guy who does it probably has very dirty clothes and boots and doesn't care for your detail job.

 

Man this really sucks! We have been seriously considering moving to Hawaii. Between you and EnglishAdams, I fully understand that I must sell both my vehicles if we move.

That's OK though... I want to buy a convertible if we do move there!

 

I moved my wife's van from VA to Germany and back - both times (in Germany and then back in VA) it looked like it had just finished a gangland shooting and the government only paid me about $500 for estimates over $2500

Going to Hawaii, I shipped her van again from VA and it got there with only minimal damage, settled at the port for $200. I shipped my truck and paid about $1600 from VA to Hawaii - by truck from VA to LA then shipped on to HI. My truck arrived without a scratch - they only left the windows cracked too much so there was some salt staining on the front dash

Finally, I shipped the van from HI back to LA and paid $900 to ship my truck. This time, good luck smiled on me and neither vehicle had any damage at all.


Bottom line, it's hit and miss. But, there does seem to be better care given if you pay for the shipment, though it is more expensive, especially with high gas prices these days.