Find The Right Car Carrier For Your Move

I looked at several car shipping companies to get a quote as I needed to ship my car (2016 Nissan Versa Note) from Maui to Washington state. (*Tacoma port is currently closed*). Hawaii Car Transport was one of the companies I checked and initially they said that it would cost $2895 “with everything included,” but when I spoke to one of their agents, William, and he processed a booking/shipment confirmation, it went up to $3131 which includes insurance and a processing fee.

I didn’t realize that William made a booking confirmation when I simply asked about the final cost. When I got the “Booking Confirmation” email, I called him and said that I am still unsure about which company to choose and asked if I can still cancel. He said, “Yes you can cancel but remember, since Tacoma port is currently closed, we are the only company who will ship your car from Oakland, CA and then take your vehicle by truck to deliver it to Washington. No other company will do this.”

This is absolutely false! When I checked with another company to see if they would do this for me, (Port to Door delivery), they said yes – they offer that service, and when I said, “Hawaii Car Transport claims that they’re the only company who would do this so I just wanted to check,” the lady that I spoke with from the other company laughed and said, “Of course they said that. They are lying. I get about 8-10 of their angry customers every day.”

Now Hawaii Car Transport is sending me an “Action Required” email every single day to agree and sign to their Terms & Conditions: “TO AVOID ANY DELAYS WITH YOUR BOOKING, YOU MUST AGREE TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS BY CLICKING THE FOLLOWING LINK.” I suggest reading those terms before signing anything if you decide to make business with them.

Thank goodness I didn’t sign the Terms and Conditions of this company. I trusted my instincts. They seem very sketchy, especially after not answering any of my calls anymore after I said I might want to cancel, and based on their reviews here on Yelp, it appears that a lot of their customers who made business with them are highly dissatisfied.

I would say be cautious with making business with them and trust your instincts. Get a quote from other companies first and weigh your options before signing an agreement with them.

We had planned to use Matson to ship our car from Seattle to Honolulu but when we went to schedule it, Matson’s website said, “Auto shipments to/from Hawaii through Tacoma have been suspended.” Yikes! We contemplated driving to the port at Oakland, but 1. we needed those hours to finish packing; and 2. when we did the math for the drive ($150 gas + $120 hotel + $222 flight back from Oakland), it made more sense to use the services of Hawaii Car Transport. We booked it, then read the reviews and got worried.

I’m happy to say, we’ve received our car on time and in perfect condition (yes it needed a bath). Pickup in Seattle: we identified the day that worked perfectly with our schedule. The driver of the 18-wheeler car transport called in advance and gave us his arrival time. We met at a large parking lot nearby (our street was narrow and winding and the driveway was steep). Car got loaded up fine. The estimated pickup date in Honolulu was May 11.

In Honolulu, got an email on May 9 saying please call the port to schedule a pickup appointment and reference port booking number.

So (not obeying the instructions… phone???) we got on the Internet and went to the Matson website and it said vehicle not found. Ha. But when we actually followed the instructions and called the number as directed, and yes talked to a real human, we discovered the “port” was actually Pasha’s.

Made the appointment, went to pick up the car on May 11, exactly as estimated. It was neatly parked in Pasha’s indoor car pickup warehouse on Kohou St. near Dillingham Blvd (took 10 minutes to get there from downtown), entrance is on Mookaula St. Super quick (though it is a bit of a sketchy area). Friendly and pleasant fellow handling the paperwork. Apparently the car was shipped out from the port of San Diego! And not a scratch on it.

Right down the road on the way to town is a Texaco station with a car wash. Got the wash that included undercarriage. I swear the car was purring.

Just wanted to share my experience, and express appreciation to both Hawaii Car Transport and Pasha.

Thank you to Michelle Oconnor and Brandon Plumb!

After I got quote from few different companies, I was going to ship my car with Matson as their price is reasonable until they stop accepting new reservation due to Tacoma port was suspended. Hawaii Car Transport was one of company I got quote originally so called Brandon if they can shipt to WA under this circumstances. He said can do ship to CA and then transport to WA. The quote was double than just to ship to Tacoma but there was no other choice unless you wait until the port open which was unknown by that time and it also almost $1,000.00 less than other company I got quote.

I wasnt 100% sure if I can trust this company as there are many negative review, comments but I also asked around friends and neighbors who used this company and their comments were positive so I decided to use this company. During transition, I only got email once when they assined ground transportation with estimated arrive date. Later I got call from driver saying that he is on his way to arrive in few hours. Luckily, I was able to be home by that time they arrive. What if I was not able to be there by the time my car arrive?? I wish he or someone called prior to leaves CA. The arranged service was port to door but he did not deliver my car to door but dropped off on main street!

My friend was surprised how my car was not dirty as his car was full of dirt when picked up his car shipped by different company.

I got a call from Michelle few days later to making sure my car was delivered.

Hawaii Car Transport and PASHA were good in my experience but I am questioning about ground transportaion company they are using.

Overall, I am happy to used them and most likely I will use them again if I need it in the future.