Moving cross country

[dermathon]

I'm moving from New England to sunny SoCal for prelim and derm residency.

Does anyone have any tips on the move?

What are some good auto transport companies?

Should I sell all my furniture and start over?

I think I get a relocation stipend of a few grand.

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[gutonc]

I'm moving from New England to sunny SoCal for prelim and derm residency.

Does anyone have any tips on the move?

What are some good auto transport companies?

Should I sell all my furniture and start over?

I think I get a relocation stipend of a few grand.

Do a search.

 

[dragonfly99]

There is a company where you can rent a big cubicle thingy and put some of your furniture in there and ship it. It will probably cost $1200 or so at least and that's not for the big one...I found it more economical just to sell most of my stuff. It may depend on how much you like your furniture, and whether it is worth anything. You can ship a car, or drive it cross country yourself. No absolute answers here.

 

[ShyRem]

PODS is a pretty awesome deal. We're moving an entire 4 BR house worth of stuff halfway across the country, including 2 months of storage fees for about $5500.

 

[thesauce]

I looked into this just recently. I had a trailer hitch (graded for 3500lbs) attached to my Toyota Camry for $180. In June, I'm going to rent a 5'8' uhaul trailer (fits a queen size bed and plenty of boxes) for $380 and move everything for just a few hundred dollars.

 

[Smashweasel]

2yrs ago we rented a big Penske truck for 4bdrm house and moved from Tx to Il. We also got a tow/dolly to put wifes car on. Came out to just under $950 plus about $500 for gas for moving truck and my car to follow it. Chance to drive cross the US w/ kids...priceless

 

[RussianJoo]

hmmm, i am moving from NJ to MI. I looked into Uhauls, the 10foot truck would cost me $850 for 4 days and I could leave the truck there. PODS was something like $1,200 but it would take them 6 days to move my stuff. Since all I was moving was my bedroom, I decided that it would be cheaper to just buy new stuff at Ikea or something, I could easily buy a new bedroom set and desk for that much.

 

[Bobblehead]

I looked into this just recently. I had a trailer hitch (graded for 3500lbs) attached to my Toyota Camry for $180. In June, I'm going to rent a 5'8' uhaul trailer (fits a queen size bed and plenty of boxes) for $380 and move everything for just a few hundred dollars.

Your hitch may have a 3500 pound capacity but what is the towing capacity of your Camry? Remember you must include the trailer weight in that sum. A brief search shows that the Camry's towing capacity is about 1000 pounds. The U-haul website indicates the 5' x 8' trailer weighs 900 pounds empty. Be kind to your transmission.

 

[thesauce]

Your hitch may have a 3500 pound capacity but what is the towing capacity of your Camry? Remember you must include the trailer weight in that sum. A brief search shows that the Camry's towing capacity is about 1000 pounds. The U-haul website indicates the 5' x 8' trailer weighs 900 pounds empty. Be kind to your transmission.

Gotcha. I had a "towing inspection" from a trailer mechanic who seems to think it's fine and sees it done quite often. He said that the main concern is the suspension, but that can be fixed by distributing the weight in the trailer appropriately. He also gave me some common sense tips (air up tires, don't use O/D, keep it under 55mph, etc.) Anyway, I'll post on here afterward about whether it was a good choice or not

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Haole]

Last year I called Uhaul and got a quote, then I called budget and penske and got a quote. At first, budget was the cheapest so I called Uhaul and Penske and told them what Budget was charging. Penske bowed out, Uhaul wanted to play. They then gave me another quote that beat Budget. Then I called budget and told them what Uhaul was charging and they gave me another offer that beat Uhaul. Another call to Uhaul and they again beat out budget with a price that was way less than half the originally quoted price with unlimited miles. If I remember correctly it was in the neighborhood of $440-460 for the 26' truck(or whatever the biggest was) to go 1500 miles. My Original quote was ~$1100.

PODS was crazy expensive. $5500 is not a good deal in my opinion. You can hire a mover to play ball for cheaper than that. Its all about wheelin' and dealin'. Doesn't hurt to try!

 

[RussianJoo]

Last year I called Uhaul and got a quote, then I called budget and penske and got a quote. At first, budget was the cheapest so I called Uhaul and Penske and told them what Budget was charging. Penske bowed out, Uhaul wanted to play. They then gave me another quote that beat Budget. Then I called budget and told them what Uhaul was charging and they gave me another offer that beat Uhaul. Another call to Uhaul and they again beat out budget with a price that was way less than half the originally quoted price with unlimited miles. If I remember correctly it was in the neighborhood of $440-460 for the 26' truck(or whatever the biggest was) to go 1500 miles. My Original quote was ~$1100.

PODS was crazy expensive. $5500 is not a good deal in my opinion. You can hire a mover to play ball for cheaper than that. Its all about wheelin' and dealin'. Doesn't hurt to try!

great post thanks a lot.

 

[Bobblehead]

Gotcha. I had a "towing inspection" from a trailer mechanic who seems to think it's fine and sees it done quite often. He said that the main concern is the suspension, but that can be fixed by distributing the weight in the trailer appropriately. He also gave me some common sense tips (air up tires, don't use O/D, keep it under 55mph, etc.) Anyway, I'll post on here afterward about whether it was a good choice or not

Thanks for the tip!

Please, please be careful. Remember there are several issues that you must take into consideration. Beyond the ability to move (i.e. torque from your transmission) and burning out your transmission you must consider the ability to STOP from 55 mph. That's the other half of the recommended towing capacity limitations.

The reason I'd ask you to re-think this is because I was going through the exact same process when I moved for residency. My car's towing capacity is also 1000 pounds and when I started looking at U-haul trailer weights most of that capacity was taken up by the empty trailer alone. Then, if you're planning on filling the inside of your car with stuff that extra weight needs to be subtracted from your towing capacity. Remember your transmission and brakes will need to start and stop EVERYTHING in and attached to the car.

I settled on just packing as much stuff as I could into the car and shipping the rest (i.e. non-breakables, stuff I didn't care about). If you're set on driving I'd consider renting a U-haul truck and then flat-towing your Camry behind it or renting a flat-bed trailer. It's going to be somewhat more expensive than renting just a trailer but would be much safer.

 

[Bruingirl6]

I moved from Baltimore to San Diego for residency....unless your furniture is nice....don't move it...the movers really messed it up. I paid 800 to have my car put on a truck and brought over. I paid about $4k for all my furniture and boxes. Prob would've been about $1k for just the boxes.

 

[gutonc]

Please, please be careful. Remember there are several issues that you must take into consideration. Beyond the ability to move (i.e. torque from your transmission) and burning out your transmission you must consider the ability to STOP from 55 mph. That's the other half of the recommended towing capacity limitations.

If you show up @ U-Haul with your Camry and it's 1000# towing capacity and try to rent a 900# trailer, they won't rent it to you for liability reasons. I tried to rent a car trailer using a small Toyota truck and they wouldn't rent to me b/c of the towing capacity. Had to borrow my brother-in-law's 1-Ton Dodge Ram Cummins Turbo Diesel instead. That was more fun anyway.

 

[Haole]

great post thanks a lot.

No problem. I should clarify that originally I made reservations online, then I would call once I got a quote from a competitor and get adjustments made to my reservation. Then, when I was finished I just cancelled my reservation with the more expensive company.

 

[thesauce]

If you show up @ U-Haul with your Camry and it's 1000# towing capacity and try to rent a 900# trailer, they won't rent it to you for liability reasons. I tried to rent a car trailer using a small Toyota truck and they wouldn't rent to me b/c of the towing capacity. Had to borrow my brother-in-law's 1-Ton Dodge Ram Cummins Turbo Diesel instead. That was more fun anyway.

I would've thought this to be the case as well, but I called 3 separate UHaul locations and all 3 said it would be just fine provided the hitch was sufficient (which they installed themselves). The website also claims it won't be a problem. That doesn't mean they won't surprise me when I get there to pick up the trailer, but I have enough guarantees to be confident.

According to the trailer mechanic, the real issue isn't "towing capacity" as rated by the company, but rather GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating). It is recommended not to exceed this value, which I won't be doing. People tow 6x12' trailers (1700lb+) with Smart Cars even though they have essentially no towing capacity.

 

[dermathon]

Wow, thanks for the great discussion guys.

Any specific auto transport companies you can recommend?

Or any auto transport gotchas or hidden fees?

 

[Bobblehead]

Wow, thanks for the great discussion guys.

Any specific auto transport companies you can recommend?

Or any auto transport gotchas or hidden fees?

Read carefully on Movingscam before choosing one:

http://www.movingscam.com/

They recommend two on their front page. More details in the reviews and forums.

 

[sunset823]

wow, I'm surprised at people actually having furniture in their residences in med school - I guess I understand for those that are married, but in my years in apartments, I either got a furnished apartment/room in a house or slept on a mattress with boxes holding up my things (tiny 20" TV, etc.) - pitch the old mattress, pitch the boxes, load everything else into the car, and my move was done.

Is this that unusual? While I'm not a big fan of moving, I've been kind of nomadic in recent years, will probably continue to be until I'm settled in practice (i.e., 40) and therefore try to live meagerly.

 

[thesauce]

Please, please be careful. Remember there are several issues that you must take into consideration. Beyond the ability to move (i.e. torque from your transmission) and burning out your transmission you must consider the ability to STOP from 55 mph. That's the other half of the recommended towing capacity limitations.

The reason I'd ask you to re-think this is because I was going through the exact same process when I moved for residency. My car's towing capacity is also 1000 pounds and when I started looking at U-haul trailer weights most of that capacity was taken up by the empty trailer alone. Then, if you're planning on filling the inside of your car with stuff that extra weight needs to be subtracted from your towing capacity. Remember your transmission and brakes will need to start and stop EVERYTHING in and attached to the car.

I settled on just packing as much stuff as I could into the car and shipping the rest (i.e. non-breakables, stuff I didn't care about). If you're set on driving I'd consider renting a U-haul truck and then flat-towing your Camry behind it or renting a flat-bed trailer. It's going to be somewhat more expensive than renting just a trailer but would be much safer.

As promised, I wanted to post my moving experience with my Toyota Camry towing a Uhaul trailer. First off, I found out that my Camry, which is a 1999, has a bigger engine than the Camry's that came before and after it. Thus, it's towing capacity is 2000lbs, not 1000lbs like the newer ones.

I had Uhaul put on a towing hitch which cost ~$180 and I rented a 4x8 trailer for ~$300 (downgraded because I just didn't have enough stuff to warrant a 5x8). The trip went quite smoothly for the entire 2000 mile trip. We kept ourselves on cruise control at 55mph the whole way and never had a problem. In the end, I probably saved around $1,000 on the move, so you might look into it if you're trying to save money.

 

[UserNameNeeded]

Glad it worked out for you and glad that you posted the outcome. Too often, posters never come back and tell how things turn out.