Anyone use Livingston Freight (formerly Searail) before?

[Kg810]

I've been browsing around for a company to ship a car up from Coram, New York.

I understand that Searail was a hit and miss here on Beyond, but I'm wondering if things have improved since becoming Livingston Freight.

Here's the website -
http://www.livingstonintl.com/View.a...transportation

I'll be honest, their website looks 10x better than the other companies I went to. I've been emailing and calling a few companies for quotes and Livingston Freight said they'll price match anyone that provides the same service.

Can anyone who has used Searail in the past please check out their website and tell me if you feel things have improved? This would be based on the services, tracking, features, etc that Livingston Freight provides now and compare it to what Searail provided. I never got a chance to check out the old Searail website so I don't know what they offered and how professional they looked.

I did check the BBB Review on this newer company and their current rating is a A-. Not sure what Searail's BBB rating was and can't really check it now since it's linked with Livingston now.

Seems like they provide their own customs brokerage service as well. They also have a system called "Insight." Not sure if Searail had that, so has anyone used their brokerage service/Insight?


I have not decided which company to go with yet, so I am by no means firm on Livingston Freight, I am just trying to get some information on them since Searail had quite a negative track record in the past.

If anyone has any other recommendations on who to go with, feel free to post your experiences and links to said competitors. Thanks.



*****I just want to point out before any members say "drive it back yourself and save $$$!!!!" that I've already worked out the numbers.

I'll be looking to spend the following if I were to drive it back:
$960 for two-way ticket to New York
$86 for one night's hotel
$950 to ship from New York to Montana
$350 for one-way ticket to Billings, MT
approx $200 for gas
$150 for food and taxi
factor in approx 2 days off work
factor in time spent going back and forth

vs

$2000 for door-to-door
$240 for customs brokerage (not sure if I need this service or not)

[nickyh]

No experience with Searail, but have used Hansens to send a car out to Ontario.
The only grip I had was it took close to a week for the car to move between the Odgen railyards, after that super fast to it's destination. Car arrived dusty but no issues reported by the new owner.

Would use them again for sure

[wintonyk]

When did they make the change?

I used searail/livingston 2 summers ago, halifax to calgary. It was fast and easy. Car was here in 8 days. No dings, scratches or anything. I hid a bunch of textbooks underseats and in the frunk of the MR2. I think I paid around 1300.

[vtec4life]

sent you a PM

[Kg810]

Originally posted by nickyh
No experience with Searail, but have used Hansens to send a car out to Ontario.
The only grip I had was it took close to a week for the car to move between the Odgen railyards, after that super fast to it's destination. Car arrived dusty but no issues reported by the new owner.

Would use them again for sure

Emailed Hansens a few days ago, haven't heard back since.

Originally posted by wintonyk
When did they make the change?

I used searail/livingston 2 summers ago, halifax to calgary. It was fast and easy. Car was here in 8 days. No dings, scratches or anything. I hid a bunch of textbooks underseats and in the frunk of the MR2. I think I paid around 1300.

Not sure when they made the change. That's good to hear that there was no dings, scratches, etc. How was their communication with you throughout the whole transaction?

Originally posted by vtec4life
sent you a PM

Replied, thanks.

[E46..sTyLez]

I use Livingston all the time through my work, they are our customs broker. Good reputable company, no issues for us. We import from Korea, USA, Germany...etc, they take care of everything, including arranging for local delivery.

[Royle9]

sent a PM

[Kg810]

Originally posted by E46..sTyLez
I use Livingston all the time through my work, they are our customs broker. Good reputable company, no issues for us. We import from Korea, USA, Germany...etc, they take care of everything, including arranging for local delivery.

What kind of importing do you do through them? Is there anyone you recommend at Livingston? Would much rather deal with someone who has a trackrecord of providing good service than going with the first person who responds to my inquiry.

Originally posted by Royle9
sent a PM

Replied.

[T-Dubbs]

i used searail to ship my car from calgary to toronto.
it was flawless

[Kg810]

Hmm, so it appears that a lot of people have had positive experiences with Livingston/Searail.

I just got my quote from Hansens and good lord... A few bucks shy of $3000 where competitors have been quoting me for $1957-$2050. Is going with Hansens worth $1000 more?

I replied back asking if they can price match the competitor quotes, so we'll see if they are willing to shave their inflated rates to a more reasonable rate.

Still going to contact another company tomorrow to see what they can do.

I'll keep updating this thread just in case someone is in, or will be, in the same boat.

[heavyD]

I would pay $10,000 before ever considering using Searail again. They don't mess up every car but they messed up mine and many others.

[jaysas_63]

I used them a few months back shipping a car bought in BC. car was delivered with mild front end damage from another car rolling onto the front hood. after some back and fourth they finally agreed to pay for all damages.

[bignerd]

Used Searail to bring a car up from New Hampshire... literally took about a month by train.

Plus when they unloaded it from the truck to park it at their lot until the customs paperwork was done, whoever unloaded it must of had filthy dirty overalls on as the entire seat, arm rest and floormats of the car on the drivers side were filthy-this was a brand new $50k car off the dealership lot. Was not impressed.

Used a smaller more private company the next time around and it was a much better experience. Truck driver called when he picked the car and up and called every couple of days updating us where he was and when to expect him at the border etc...
This time only took about 8 or 9 days from the same place in New Hampshire.

Searail was also the type of company to go get your car when they had a truck " in the area " whereas other companies actually send a truck to go get your car specifically.

[Mayhemm]

I used Searail twice a year from 2003-2007.

They were by far the cheapest of the solutions I looked into back then:

- Started off around $1200 to ship a car from the Prairies to Halifax or vice versa
- After a couple shipments they recognized me as a repeat customer and my rate dropped to about $750!
- Over time my cost steadily increased though (they eventually added a fuel charge, which increased each time)
- At the end I was paying around $1000 each way, which was still much cheaper than the alternatives. But it still rankled a bit to pay more than I had been before.

I never had problems with the condition of my vehicle. No exterior damage that I could find and the interior was always left clean.

What wasn't so good were the transit times. It often took the better part of a month for my car to arrive. The tracking system was also very basic; you had to call them for info (no web tracking) and the details were always very vague like "it left Toronto yesterday". Unscheduled delays were frequent. They were supposedly transitioning to a newer, more precise tracking system that could be checked online, but this never manifested in the 5 years I dealt with them.

They also had a real problem with security. Their policy stated that they couldn't guarantee the safety of any items left in the vehicle, but I would always leave the car pretty packed (to ship my items otherwise would have cost as much as shipping the car). Large items or sealed boxes proved to be pretty safe, but anything small and unsecured frequently went "missing". During my time using them I lost things like spare change from my glove box and a sunglasses clip hooked on my visor. The most brazen things stolen were my Mercedes Benz key chain (from the key left with them) and a brand new pair of running shoes I stowed behind the seat. Searail, of course, would not hear any complaints since they were "not responsible" for items left in the vehicle.

I am currently looking at purchasing a car from Ontario and having it shipped home to Saskatchewan. I wasn't even aware they'd changed names.

[T-Dubbs]

i used searail once, and another company to ship my Subaru STi to toronto.
The second company(performance auto carrier) put 9kms on my car somehow
(i took photos of the odometer, when i dropped it off and when i picked it up)
......but it arrived fine. I bitched and complained to the owner about the "extra" kms, but nothing ever came of it.

so dont use these pricks. They probably bagged the shit out of my STi for 9kms, between taking it off the truck and parking it.

horrible company, do not use them!!