I am moving back to CA from MA in a few weeks and have to move my Ram and a 93 Accord. U-Haul wants almost $500 just for a dolly to haul the Accord. I figure driving the Accord alone will be $350 just in fuel. Have someone to drive the Accord nearby but don't want to do that to her if I don't have to. The Ram will obviously get a few MPG less towing the Accord but this is the best option I can come up with. Anyone have an idea I haven't thought of?

 

im always looking for a reason to buy something. In this case it would be a trailer. Just buy a good double axle car hauler and if you decide you dont need it when you get there, sell it. should be able to sell it and get almost all your money back, but id keep it if i was you

 

You should be able to buy a dolly for that price, maybe a little more, sell it when you get there

 

I'm very sick of moving and don't think I'll need the trailer again for any purpose. Your ideas are good but I don't really want the hassle of selling the trailer after just one trip. They have to be registered too, right? I've never owned a trailer.

 

trailer registration depends on your state.

mine doesn't require registration. You might be able to pick up a tow bar for less than fuel would cost for the car.

http://automobiles.honda.com/info/ne...=2004091352190

the accord is rated for flat tow with a 3 minute engine operation before the tow and every 8 hours afterwards.

Tow bar will run $150 at http://www.1800hitchit.com/ part number 40450

 

Some good ideas up there. Another (your title is thinking outside the box is it not?) is you could sell a vehicle (or both and fly/train/bus to CA); or you could look up a car driving service or a car hauling service, or you could try and hit it big in the lottery and just pay someone gobs of money to save you the hassle.

If it was me I'd look into buying a used car dolly and selling it at the far end - should be able to offload it in CA pretty easy.

 

Throw the accord in the bed of the Dodge and put her in the wind

 

I bought and fixed up a used tow dolly to haul a car cross country and then sold it for what I had in it. I chose a dolly because I could haul it in the truck cross-country to where the car was and then tow it back. In your case, I'd suggest a trailer because of the trailer breaks but even if you don't see any need for a flatbed/car hauling trailer in your future, you can always sell and recover most or all of your cost.

 

Another thought. You might try calling U-haul back and have them re-price your trailer rental different ways. Sometimes taking it to another town nearby can save a couple of hundred dollars. Or if you had a reason to go back you could return the dolly or trailer back where you rented it.

I pulled a car from Dallas to Houston recently. I cost me less to drop the trailer off in Conroe (a few miles north) than in Houston. It was also less to drop it off in Conroe than to pull it all the way back to Dallas and return it where I rented it. Go figure.

Anyway, you might call U-haul back and play around with some different ideas that might work for you and save you some bucks. Don't assume that whoever told you the $500 dollar quote was giving you the absolute cheapest way of getting the job done. Good luck.

 

Have you tried one of our relatively free states, yet??

 

I'll second the tow bar set up (similar to how RV's tow cars). It'll be the cheapest, wont be much stuff in your way when you get there, and you can resell it when you get there.

 

Ha - I was thinking the same thing - I was just back in CA for a couple of weeks (I'm a CA native) and couldn't wait to get the heck out of there.

 

If you had time, there are some cheap deals on flying lately. Is it possible to fly back from CA to MA, and then drive the Accord? That's $350 in gas plus airfair. Personally, I'd find as cheap a trailer as I could with good tires, and tow the car 4 tires up.

You're going to drop from maybe 19 mpg empty, to 13 mpg towing. Over 3,000 miles you're going to spend about $220 extra with a tow dolly or a regular trailer. You're cheapest route is the buy/sell like mentioned above. $350 gas plus air fair, or $220 and the leg work of buying/selling.

- JyRO

 

I like it!

 

Definately buy the trailer. I bought a like new tandem axle trailer a few years ago, to haul the wife's Explorer up the Alcan to Anchorage. Paid $1500 for it in Montana, and beat the heck out of it coming to Alaska. Got to Anchorage, put it on a lot, and in 3 hrs sold it for $2000. Wish I didn't sell it, cause it was handy to have, but I definately got my moneys worth and then some. Plus, you'll save the wear and tear on the car, save on gas for the car, and give your truck a bit of a work-out, which is good for it every now and then!