[snakeeyes]

Darren,

Congrats on your new toy--you're in for a lot of fun. You might want to get the seller to record the mileage on the car (assuming the odo works, which is not always the case) when it goes on the trailer. The shipper will most likely record it and give the seller a carbon copy of that and other info on the vehicle condition, at the time it's loaded up, but every company is different and it can't hurt to have that as a little assurance that the transport driver didn't decide to take it for a little spin while en route. That may sound far-fetched, but if it's not at the very front of the truck they may have to unload it during the trip, and you never know...

Depending on how willing to work with you the seller is, and how concerned you are about the transport company, you might ask the seller to shoot a little video of the car just before it's loaded.

Make sure you inspect the car thoroughly when it's unloaded, BEFORE you sign off on it. Look under the hood, underneath it, and at least start it--if not drive it--before you let the driver get away. Consider videotaping it at the same time. I once met a transporter at a Wal-Mart parking lot, rolled the car off of his transporter, and then loaded it into an enclosed trailer via an electric winch. It occurred to me as I was closing up the trailer that I hadn't even started it. Guess what--the transport driver had unloaded the car during the trip while delivering another car, had left the key in the "on" position, and had burned up the ignition. When it wouldn't start he realized what had happened and sheepishly admitted it, saving me several hundred bucks of my own money in replacing the damaged parts.

Bottom line, it's a whole lot easier to deal with any shipping issues while the driver is still sitting there, than it is when you discover a problem the next day. I'm not trying to make you paranoid--I've shipped a number of cars and the above-related story was the only bad experience I've had--but it does pay to document things and do as thorough an inspection as you can--

Good luck!
Bob