Car transporting to Darwin

I had looked at sending my 4wd back from WA to SA last Easter. On further investigation as my vehicle was longer than 5m and taller than 1.9m it was going to require two spaces on the truck effectively doubling the cost :-(

The other challenge was i needed my vehicle soon after I was back in SA but they indicated it could take 2 weeks or longer for it to arrive.

Obviously there are restrictions on what can be in the car EG gas bottles etc. Some companies from memory insisted on no luggage in the vehicle

In the end it became all too hard, but would have been a great option

Ian

You can take a hire car off road.
But expect a $5grand surcharge once returned.
It was posted on EOZ here some time ago.
Sat tracking or excess speed was the excuse when vehicle suffered damage.
And 5k surcharge

Im sure if you seriously looked into the fine print
Youd be ok
But knowing hire companies love making profits out of you for already there damage
Its just a huge gamble in the end.
But you might get lucky and find a decent mob to hire from

Like the britz ? Brand
You see overseas people use them and travel quite alot of Australia
Soo surely they must be ok.
Decked out troopies with lift up roofs or standard.
Good luck

We had a not nice (that's putting it politely) experience with a transporter company some years back. Vehicle suffered a glitch in the electrics and had to be brought back to Perth.
All arranged by the warranty people for it and camper to be picked up in Newman and back to a yard in Welshpool..... well over a week later it still hadn't happened and no one seemed to know what was happening but it turned out the car transporter drivers couldn't be bothered rearranging things on their trucks to get it on with the camper attached.
Maker arranged for a low loader to take it to Perth and when we went to the yard got abused because we had left everything in the car like the Engel and other camping gear.
The fat little yard boy told us in no uncertain terms that it should have been ditched by the side of the road because they didn't want responsibility for it.
A work colleague was told the same thing in the same fashion by the same bloke when they took their daughters car loaded with her gear there to be taken to Broome.... "Chuck all that stuff out"!
They arranged transport with someone else and sent her stuff by other means.
Apparently their attitude stems from many false claims made by people for lost gear in transit and they get the blame. Pity that particular bloke couldn't have been nicer about it though.
AlanTH

I've 2 experiences of car transport to/from the Top End.

First was way back in 1975 from Katherine to Adelaide as a backload on a privately owned Roadtrain and the other for a car purchased online in Brisbane and transported by CEVA Logistics on a dedicated car transporter to Darwin 7 years ago.

The main problem for here is that just about all transport North is fully loaded so it's unlikely to get significant discounts. Whereas there is little backloading for return trips. Over the years while using the Stuart Hwy we've seen a lot of car carriers going South empty and many partially loaded. It's also common for many empty roadtrains to go back South with piggybacked trailers and prime movers. You may find a private one to get a good price back South but who you would contact I have no idea. There's also the possibility that Company transports will charge their standard price regardless just because they can.

When I was searching for a good price to get the car from Brisbane CEVA seemed the best but I guess that they had to get together a full load as it took a month to get here from the booking time. The car did arrive in good order though and I have no problem with their service. I don't remember what their policy was about personal items in the car as it didn't matter in my case as the car was empty anyway. I didn't really have a choice as when the cost of an airfare to Bribane and fuel & accomodation for a return home trip was added up it was similar to the transport without the worries of a partly unknown cars possible issues, and it turned out to have one that could have been costly for a drive back here.

You didn't indicate when you are doing the trip but bear in mind that there may be Wet Season disruptions to any transport across the North from WA and also some may only go down the centre before going West.

Cheers Alan and Phil. Yeah it seems like it’s all too hard, wanted to take the car up fully loaded with our infants stuff, and Engel etc. Plus the landcruiser is lifted with racks and stuff so extra charges blah blah blah. Just going to hire a 2wd I think then go back properly with 4wd and camper later on!
Thanks for all the advice.