Moving Your Luxury Car Overseas
For a lot of people, a luxury automobile is almost a member of the family. People take pride in their car, and will go to great lengths to make sure that it is being taken care of. However, if you are planning on relocating overseas, you might be worried as to how your luxury car is going to make the journey with you unharmed. Fortunately, there are a number of moving options available, provided that you choose the right moving company. If you are choosey on who gets to drive your car, or are very particular on where it gets parked, then why would you pick any company to move it for you? Do as much research as you can, and find the perfect company, with international vehicle relocation experience, so you can ensure that your prize car will make the journey safely.
When you are doing research, there are several places you can look. Obviously the internet is the best place to start. There are many different apps and websites dedicated to customers rating the quality of whatever business they wish. This will give you a good idea, but you do not want to rely too heavily on customer reviews. You do not know the circumstances under which a particular customer would give a bad review. Furthermore, a rival company may create a fake poor review to bring down their stats on that website, so you may not want to completely rely on customer review. You can also check with the Better Business Bureau to make sure the company is legitimate. But also, consider just contacting the company yourself. Make sure you ask a thorough list of questions like how long they have been in business and what experience they have in moving vehicles, particularly luxury brands. They will be happy to let you know anything that they can, but be wary because they may just tell you what you want to hear. So before making your final decision, utilize a number of different methods and weigh them all together.
Preparing for Shipment
Once you have made a decision on which company to go with, you will have to do some preparations of your own before your luxury vehicle will be ready to be shipped. First and foremost, contact your insurance company. Make sure that your coverage is active, as many people in the northern colder states do not keep coverage active in the winter when they have no plans of driving their car. Next, find out exactly what they cover in terms of damage that may happen during a move. The last thing you will want is for your car to get severely damaged, and for your insurance company to say there is nothing they can do for you. After that, you will want to do some general maintenance on your car. Check all the fluids, check the battery, make sure there is only a little amount of fuel in the tank, and check that the tires are inflated properly. Then you will want to remove any personal items that you have inside, remove any antennae and loose parts, fold the mirrors back, and take extensive notes of any damage that the car currently may have. You might even want to take pictures of this.
Your moving company will then come and crate your vehicle, or move it to the moving dock where it will be crated. You will want to disconnect your battery, as this will prevent it from draining in case anything accidentally gets turned on. There are many options to choose from when it comes to the type of moving you might prefer. Most people that own a luxury vehicle will probably choose to have it stored in its own crate or container. This is a more expensive method, but there is far less of a chance that it will get damaged.
Once your vehicle has been shipped, the first thing you should do is inspect it for any damage. This includes dents, scrapes, scratches, or paint damage. Check this damage against your records that you made before shipment. If you do find damage that has incurred during delivery, report it immediately both to the moving company, and to your insurance agency. This is why taking pictures of any damages that you had beforehand was a good idea. You will have proof that the damage did happen during shipment, and will not have to be stuck with the bill for repair. If everything is good, reconnect your battery and any other thing that you removed to get it ready for shipment, fill it up with gas, and cruise the landscape of your brand new home in your luxury automobile.
