I want to get a car from Adelaide to Cairns: what's the best way? Rail, i'm lead to believe, will take a few swaps, meaning more opportunities for damage

What about car carriers? Has someone got some websites I can hit, or advice/contacts?

Suggestions please!

Solution - Catch train down there, get into new car, refuse to leave car and sleep in it all the way
Doubt they'd let you, but hey, it'd avoid damage... It's train or drive it back.... would be a bloody good drive, albeit, quite long, i'd drive, spread it over 3 days (would be 3 days, most likely ~10hrs-12hrs/day, but would be fun )
Aaron

I like my road trips, but Brisbane in a stretch is about as long as I want to spend in a car.... (18-19 hours). I'm thinking it'd cost a grand to drive it up minimum, plus $350 per airfare.... if I can get it freighted for around a thousand, it'd be worth it to save hassle!

dude i honestly dont think it would cost that much to drive it!

first of all, find a cheap flight through virgin (as low as $75 if you book during a special)

second of all, we drove 650kms on just $70 worth of petrol, and the same back.

so it doesnt have to be that expensive, and even if you got a mate to tag along, and made it like a road trip it could be fun

with trains, i have heard good and bad things. my dad has a 1920 rolls royce, so its worth a couple hundred thousand or something, he got it transported from perth to sydney for a rally thing, he had no problem whatsoever with it, he's done it a few times. but, another guy puts his vintage roller on a train as well and it rolled off the train, the car was written off and its pretty hard to replace a vintage.
and, you should be able to sleep in the car if your that worried about it being transported on the train. when my dad got our boat brought over from sydney, it came over by truck and he slept in the boat and would ride up in the truck with the driver. he said it was a good experience and the truckie was cool with it cos it meant company, dad just shouted him a few beers and lunch on the trip over.
thats my 2c.
cheers.

I've kind of already written off the road trip as a possibility: I do the Cairns -> Brisbane thang at least once a year, and that's enough for me to know that I'm not changing careers to a long-haul trucker for a living......

Plus, I'm no longer a teenager - the thought of 3-4 days on the road will only fit inside my head when it's partnered firmly with 2-3 nights of hotel stays! Add the cost of hotels and meals (and more for a friend), fuel, temp insurance, renewing the RACQ membership, etc, etc

Not to mention roo's, stone chips and the possibility of an accident.

Or.... pick up the phone, book the transporter and wait a couple of weeks.

Anyone got any names apart from TNT or movnignagain.com.au???

Toll do car transport and IMO would be your best bet. Toll website might give u some detilas as well.

I got a car shipped from Tassie to Sydney once. Cost around $500. I don't know if there'd be boats between the cities you need but its another option at least

Many people I know have done the rail thing.. All mainly for imports and stuff. One guy did it from Melbourne to Brisbane, was a Evolution 2 Lancer in perfect nick and came through to him with a f**ked up rear end. So yeah.. I'm not too sure about rail.. But one experience doesn't make them all bad, right?

SuFz

My dad works for www.advancecarcarriers.com.au
It is probally best to ring them! (Ask for jarrod (Sydney Depot "main" he is the person that does all the interstate orders and stuff)
For a one-way trip that far its not cheap and will prob cost less in petrol lol!
Off the top of my head ud be looking at $450-$800
And they do a report on ur car to see what scratches it has before they even touch it and then go over it again to make sure there is no damage caused on the trip and they are Fully Insured!

Cheers,
Scott

or you could find someone that's near where the car is now and who wants to make a roadtrip up north for christmas!

if anyones got any info on how much it may cost to get a car trucked from newcastle to sydney (not that far at all) i'd LOVE to know...

if its gonan be less than trailer hire + fuel for teh car (about $150 all up i reckon) i'm very keen

A mate of mine gor his car sent by truck (TOLL from memory) from Adelaide to Brisbane and it cost him $650. It was a Mazda 323. They go over it and check for scrathces and marks and then compare when you get there. To Cairns, I guess it would be a little more so possibly in the area of about $750-$800?