The Insurance check still isn’t here to pay off my old loan. Check was sent Thursday 12/28 from Georgia and still hasn’t arrived in Alabama. If check does not show up at the bank today I will have to have them cancel it, wait 3 days and then get them to send me another one .
The Auto shipper I went with was so friendly and easy to deal with until I signed a contract. They told me on the phone that they were not a broker and had their own “network of drivers”. I found out this was total BS, and they posted it up on dispatch just like everyone else. They also originally told me a driver could pick it up the day after I bought the car because he was in the area. Another Lie, now there is a massive snow storm up north and many of the roads/interstates are closed so they can’t get a driver to get the car ( but I thought you had one already there last week?). If they had shipped on the 31st like they said, it would have been fine. I drove back from Illinois to Alabama and the roads were great. I only went with the company because they had glowing reviews, but a little further research and it looks like all the good reviews may be shills, and they have terrible reviews elsewhere and on BBB. I think I will let my 10 business days run up and cancel the order under the terms of my contract as they have 10 business days to perform the service. The company is Auto transport 123, I wouldn’t recommend doing business with them. They are so great and friendly until they have you on contract, then you find out all of their lies.
I tow them myself. If it’s out of town like yours, just rent a u-haul and a car trailer. Drive it one way to 'bama and drop it off at home, turn the truck in full of fuel, and you’re done. You can do that over a weekend, if you reserve a truck and trailer online.
I’ve grown to not trust any of the haulers. I’ve heard horror stories about nearly all of them.
My favorite was the driver who was 2 days late and showed up drunk, then tried to pick a fight with the car owner who wanted to see his classic before they settled up just to be sure it wasn’t dented or hadn’t been driven.
Ain’t nobody got time for that.
I’ve put a number of cars on tow dollies and hauled them home after removing the driveshaft. It’s a lot of logistics sometimes when you have to fly in, but I have a short fuse and a low tolerance for people’s nonsense. It’s best for everyone if I just don’t even deal with carriers.
You’re probably more well adjusted and have better impulse control than me, though. Just my 2 cents, man.
Just checked on the prices for that and was quoted 1600 dollars on the uhaul site ! Thats about 3 times what I can spend. I may just fly in and hope the old car can make the 700 mile ride down at this rate
Edit:
Just got the Marti Report and the power windows are an added feature:
38573rd Mercury vehicle scheduled for production at Dearborn
02/71 Built: February, 1971
65F Cougar XR-7 Hardtop
V Light Pewter Metallic Paint, Ford #3314-A
6A Black Leather Bucket Seats
6 3.00 Conventional Rear Axle
X FMX Merc-O-Matic Transmission
41 Chicago Ordering District
DEALER#: 41A574
Your vehicle was ordered with the following features:
Black 3/4 Vinyl Roof
FMX Merc-O-Matic Transmission
E78X14 Belted Tires
White Sidewall Tires
Convenience Group
Power Steering
Power Front Disc Brakes
Air Conditioner - Whisperaire
Rear Window Electric Defrost
AM/FM Stereo Radio
Console
Appearance Protection Group
Tinted Glass Complete
Styled Steel Wheels
Kevin Marti
Your car was actually produced on February 15, 1971 – five days behind schedule.
Good luck on the drive back, then. Buy some service parts for it and stock the trunk. It might break down, but it’s not the end of the world if you have parts.
[quote=“Yogi”]Just checked on the prices for that and was quoted 1600 dollars on the uhaul site ! Thats about 3 times what I can spend. I may just fly in and hope the old car can make the 700 mile ride down at this rate
1600 ? Probably could have hired one of the big enclosed rig companies for that kind of coin. Good luck with the drive back
I know you are excited about getting it home quick, but the weather may be telling you to wait… When I moved to AZ from Oklahoma my cars got moved in the middle of an ICE storm. Everything went on a big 10 car carrier, except the mini van and our pickup truck. The driver told me he would head south of Dallas to get out of the ice and then go west on I10, should be smooth sailing… Except the ice storm intensified over north Texas and was actually much worse as he headed south. He jack knifed the rig crossing the Red River bridge entering Texas and by shear, miraculous, luck was able to use the guard rail to straighten out the load before he went over the side into the river. The driver was clenched up so hard they had to pry his butt off the seat. Put a new crease in the vinyl seat and everything. After he changed his shorts, he decided to give it a couple days to melt off…
Not to mention that the likelihood of getting to Chitown and finding a popped freeze plug or cracked block/head in this weather is very high.
A lot of people with old iron v8’s here in NC are experiencing these very things, even with cars in garages. Very often people just don’t service the coolant the way they should, and even when they do sometimes the freeze plugs rust out where they sit or weaken and pop easily under frost conditions.
I’ve had 3 people message me this morning about their cars. Probably when the temps rise I’ll hear from a dozen more when people go out to see green on the ground.
Stuff happens, man.
So, look before you leap.
I think this is god just teaching me patience :/. Either way I feel like I will cancel with the company I hired to ship it here, I feel really uneasy with them after my dealings with them and seeing all of the other negative reviews. The guy I sold the supercharger out of my mustang to has a truck and a car trailer and may be willing to go with me and pick the car up for $400 if the weather permits next weekend.
Given the weather issue you might consider (should be some in the area) paying for a couple of months in a storage locker, flying in - making the purchase - and storing it until you can arrange transport and the weather gets better.
Done this a few times- on vacation, run across a good buy, just take it to a storage locker/garage then return weeks later and bring it home. Sometimes I’ve flipped it before I get back to it and it never has to cpme home
400 sounds like a good deal since your driving round trip. So where is the car sitting now? From your prior post I believe your contract expires on the 10th with your current transport and your planning on driving up the 11th or 18th?
Currently the car is sitting at the dealership. My contract should expire Friday and I will be canceling with the shipping company. The dealer said due to the weather he has about 3 cars just sitting on the lot waiting to be shipped. Im hoping I can cancel and then hop my car on with the next shipment out. If that doesn’t work out I can go up with my buddy MLK weekend.
Meanwhile, its so cold down here I can’t even finish painting my truck
You won’t get a correct quote on the Uhaul website, you need to call them. And make sure you get a commercial rate otherwise the mileage charge is ridiculous. On the other hand, if your buddy is serious I’d take him up on it. $400 seems pretty reasonable. Just make sure you work out who’s paying for what ahead of time.
Ok guys I woke up this morning and started working on the car: Removed the front license plate holder, replaced the broken front grille and put on an extra I had from the PO ( Thanks to this forum I also have a XR7 grille emblem coming for free!). By this weekend I plan to replace the thermostat with a 180* and possibly upgrade the points to Pertronix electronic ignition. Right now I have a few questions for you guys
I want to replace the stock Air Cleaner with a shiny Edlebrock one. This air cleaner had a few extra hoses going to it than what is in my 77 truck.
I know someone said this hose provides heat to the air cleaner when its cold, is it ok to just leave this just hanging here or will it need to be removed/plugged?
The striped hose to the right looks like it goes to some sort of smog system? Same Question, can I just tuck it away or does it need to be hooked to something? Keep in mind Alabama does no smog testing/emissions at all. The other hose is my PCV right, and there should be a spot for it on the new cleaner.
Now this is weird. This is the passenger side mirror. It should be manual, but it looks like it is a remote drivers side mirror. So I dont have to remove the mirror can I just cut the remote wires and replace this mirror with this? : http://www2.cougarpartscatalog.com/c3c4.html
Also the power windows are still not working in the much warmer Alabama weather. I know they work, where should I start looking to trouble shoot?
Last question I swear! There are these weird baffles around the rear tray speakers in the trunk. I wanted to remove them to test the wiring since Im getting no sound from the rear speakers, but they won’t budge. Can these just be strong armed off or are they one of those pieces I want to keep in tact?
thanks guys, so eager to get this thing at the top of its game!
Well It doesn’t even have a way to control it inside! Its like wires run into the door, but there isnt a remote knob to control it. Also the mirror itself looks like its from another car as it does not fit in the housing correctly. Right now its just kind of there and I cant reposition it to actually be able to see with it.
Probably could have hired one of the big enclosed rig companies for that kind of coin. Good luck with the drive back 
