DBA SONIC AUTO TRANSPORTATION
708 N MANHATTAN PL
LOS ANGELES, CA 90038
USDOT#: 3437626
MC#: MC-1115582
Crystal Car Shipping
3.8 Stars out of 5
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29 reviews
Leave a Review & 1-5 Star Rating
File a Moving Fraud Complaint with the FMCSA
Some examples of Moving Fraud
- deliberately low-balling an estimate to later ask for more money (bait & switch)
- withholding customer belongings unless they pay significantly more than the quoted price
Aiden did his job diligently and was able to help me transport my son’s inoperable Mercedes CLK350 car from Arlington, TX to Houston, TX. Although prices changed from one driver to the next because they have to find one that has a winch, I am just glad that it made it to Houston in a speedy manner. It was picked up at 3:30 pm and arrived in Houston the following day at 8:30 am. The cost to transport is still a little bit lower than the others. I just appreciate how Aiden patiently looked for a driver to transport the car. I just wished that I was notified when the car was picked up but it arrived to Houston quickly so overall the experience was great! I highly recommend this company!
Don’t be a fool and sing any contract with this company, they are untrusted and will never do what they promise. I had a very bad experience with them, I signed the contract because they promised and confirmed to me that they will deliver my car in a specific date and time frame which never happened, and on the top of that they vanished when we contacted them to fix the issue. Total scam
Dishonest and Unreliable (Tina – the Broker)
I booked to ship 2 cars. Per the contract, I signed to pay $2300 and they were supposed to find a carrier within 5 business days. They delayed this until the day before my cars were supposed to be shipped. Less than 24 hours before car pick-up, the broker texted me asking for $2867 putting me in a corner and basically coercing me to pay more than we had agreed on. I tried to negotiate that with her. She spent a few more hours and finally came down to the original price –I was already surprised because she was telling me a few hours prior that $2867 is the final price!! At that point, I had lost trust in her and I explicitly texted her that ‘I am cancelling this contract’ based on the fact that she failed to assign a carrier within 5 business days per the contract and that she was playing this ‘bidding game’ with me when I was in the conundrum of not having any other option to ship my cars for my move. She simply ignored my cancellation request and failed to show me where/how it was defined in the contract that the 5 business days are counted in any other way than from the date the contract was signed.
Just after I informed her that I was cancelling, my wife found another company and signed with them to ship the cars. The next morning, we received this call from the truck driver and supposedly this was the driver my wife signed with (I spoke with their dispatch agent and discussed the appropriate location near our residence to load the truck with cars). We went ahead and my wife signed with the driver and he starts loading. Unbeknownst to us, this was a driver the broker had assigned WITHOUT my authorization and AFTER in informed her that I was cancelling with her. In less than 1 hour, we found out that this is not the driver from the company we signed with and tried to convince him to unload the car. My wife and I spent about 2 hours talking to the driver, his manager and the Broker to release the car. He refused to do so saying “[the Broker] wouldn’t let him let the car go.” I had to call the police to take my car back. Finally, I realized she had charged my credit card the day before for $300 and she refused to issue me a refund as she failed to deliver proper and timely service, not to mention the dishonest conduct during the whole time which I would call fraudulent.
Ethan Davis was very reliable and assisted in finding a driver. The car was shipped without incidence and from pickup to delivery was less than two days from Iowa to Virginia. The price quoted was $600 and ended up paying $800 as no driver would take the car for $600. It was still cheaper than a few others that were quoting over $1000.
This review is difficult to write because Rowan tried to do his job. However…We agreed to a price a week before the delivery then the night before the car was to be shipped he told me the car would not be picked up the following day. I was then asked to pay an additional $300 to the quoted price after I had the seller call off work to arrange pickup, and I had arranged my schedule to suit. I was a bit forced into the rate due to not being able to re-arrange schedules that were previously agreed on. Crystal said they would not charge me a fee but I was still charged the $150 brokerage fee and had to go to my credit card company to retrieve it. On the day of delivery I was forced to track down a delivery time which was stated as 2pm. At 3:30 I had to call the driver who was 300 miles away and told me that once he put the distance into the GPS he wouldn’t deliver it because it was too far. How would a delivery driver not understand that Pittsburgh is not local to Philadelphia? The driver was unresponsive to communication of any kind after that time. I ended up having to use my local police department to contact the driver which ultimately prompted him to text me regarding my delivery (which was 3 days late). I was forced to find final transport on my own. Crystal could not offer anything, if you read their contract they do not back the drivers, no guarantee of updates on the reschedule etc, they also carry zero insurance to back your transport it is on you to recover any damages. Crystal simply doesn’t do its due diligence to vet the carriers and their reliability. They also have zero recourse if their driver decides to not deliver your vehicle, they will tell you ‘I am contacting the driver just like you are’. I would strongly advise against using them again and very carefully vet your car delivery services, this is a very ‘scammy’ industry and I would suggest contracting a more premium company for your vehicle. What I learned from my experience is use a transport company who owns the transport from front to back, the booking, pickup, delivery, and tracking. I’d also suggest reading reviews, Crystal’s reviews look good but if their driver decides to go sideways you have zero protection from them, they say it in the contract, read the fine print.
It is also worth nothing that Crystal would not refund their fee after this experience.
Christopher was amazing and diligently worked to get my car to Chicago from SF in just two days. He quickly resolved a hiccup and led to no delays. Highly recommend Crystal shipping! Car arrived to destination very fast and in perfect condition.
Neil was great …. We had are car stuck in the middle of nowhere New Hampshire and needed it moved quickly to New Jersey …. Neil worked diligently for us over the weekend to get it moved at a fair price . These people are pros and go beyond.
I recently purchased a used vehicle from a car dealer (through CarFax) in another state. The car had to then be transported to me about 1,000 miles. I began to research Car Shipping companies (there were many and it is all works in a rather convoluted manner between agents/brokers and actual carriers (who actually transport the car to you)). After a full day’s research, I narrowed down to 2 shipping companies and contacted them by email. One was Crystal Car Shipping – they had good online reviews. Neil Castro from Crystal Car Shipping began to correspond with me. This was my first time with such a shipment, so I was quite nervous and did not know much. I then got on the phone with Neil and he walked me through the “this is how it will be done”. That itself was very helpful. Then, I told Neil that I was leaning towards using Crystal, but I needed his assurance that he would stay as my only contact and that he would commit to help me throughout the process. I got a formal quote and we began down this path.
Neil was superb! The first thing I would say is that he was VERY reassuring throughout. He actually did help bring my anxiety down considerably. As promised, he stayed in regular touch by email and text and even phone calls throughout the process to the very end. He was timely with his end and got a carrier lined up to pick up my car. He communicated those details and then he stayed in touch with the carrier and driver, and me.
The car got to me in 3 days, actually a day ahead of schedule and in good shape – no issues there.
For completeness, and in fairness to those new to this car shipping business, I will mention this for those who may be doing this for the first time as well – this Car Shipping industry has some interesting “inner workings”. Learn about that. I had nearly 50 solicitations for shipping my car, with prices ranging from $800 – $2300! Neil’s initial quote was close to the low end. By the time he picked a carrier, he called and said it would be $300 more. But at that point, I was getting calls from people telling me my car would not ship for less than $2000-$2500! These requests apparently get on some “national bulletin board” and so everyone knows you are trying to transport a car. Neil was still able to negotiate a decent price and I gave the OK to proceed. By that time, I had a better sense of how this worked – and I had also read many, many reviews by many angry customers about these price changes from initial quotes. Now some companies do guarantee the rates, but these rate variations seem to be the nature of the beast as well – so be well aware and do your research well. I can’t speak to how firm any other quotation may have been – but don’t go with the lowest price company or quote either. Talk to someone as I did with Neil. Get familiar and get comfortable with who you are dealing with.
I would highly recommend Neil Castro and Crystal. He did everything he committed to doing and put me at ease throughout the (what for me was) stressful week! Based on the nearly 50 quotes I got, most unsolicited at that (!), the price Neil was able to secure was still at mid-point and Neil helped see the transport through from start to finish.
Thanks Neil – great job!!!
Max made everything easy and worked with us until we were happy with the price and timeline. Would definitely use again.
Toyota Matrix from LA to Colorado.
Derek Hics was my point of contact for Crystal and he made the car shipping process easy peasy. It cost more than originally quoted but I understand that the price increase was due to the rising cost of gas. My car was safely shipped to me from FL to CA in 3 days. Can’t ask for anything more
Used this company to deliver a new car from out of state. Derek Hicks was my point of contact. While the price was 1.5 times originally quoted, I understand that the current market conditions and fuel costs contributed to that. Communication was great and both Derek and the driver were in constant contact providing estimated arrival times.
Penny was. Outstanding and on her game
She was very understanding and worked with me and my budget.the service was great. Your company need more employees like her. If I ever need my car shipped again I will call on her again
Rowan and Crystal Car Shipping got our truck from California to Michigan. No hiccups.
I was bombarded with calls, texts and emails at the start of my search for a broker from an enormous number of transport brokers. I was discouraged as many were relentless and dishonest in their approach.
Until I met Tina with Crystal Car shipping. She is straight forward and honest. Easy to work with and very quick to reply but didn’t bug me unnecessarily.
The transporter had to haul my camper over 2,000 miles across the US and called or texted me often with updates. It was a good experience overall..
I satisfied with this everything was good and smooth the only thing I don’t like is the driver ask us for more money. I can understand it but $200 it’s a lot for just 5 pound of cloth inside the car. And yes thank you Amelia Perez, she help me a lot.
Great experience with this company.
Driver and shipment were fine. Price was double original quote.
Penny did a nice job. She was very patient. Thank you!
I shipped my car from Texas to Washington. Well I booked this move a month ahead and just a day before my car get shipped Driver said he can’t take it as his truck is not full. I was so frustrated and disappointed.
However, Penny, looked through the drivers in last minute and found me one very quickly. She is very responsive and follows up continuously with me and dispatch people to get updates. I will definitely use Crystal Car Shipping and will request for Penny next time.
Casey Hill was great to work with. Fast reply’s and
helped navigate some minor hiccups with the trucking company. Would definitely work with her and Chrystal Shipping again
They were very punctual picking up my car in California and it was delivered on time without incident to Michigan. Vienna was very helpful in keeping in contact with me
I like their great service. Penny takes extra step to find the right schedule for me and always updates me at the earliest time. The driver Oscar is also very friendly. I strongly recommend them.
When you need help moving your car, make sure you call Casey. He is very helpful.
I highly recommend Crystal Car shipping, and especially their associate Marge. Marge was friendly, efficient, and answered my every question and phone-call (I had a lot!) I thought shipping my car from LA to NY would be extremely stressful, but it wasn’t! Marge took the stress out of the equation. She worked closely with me to find the best deal and best driver to ship my car cross country. The whole process went smooth. My car arrived on time, without a single mark or scratch and all items inside untouched. Each driver was also efficient and friendly. Marge went above and beyond, I would highly recommend her service, and Crystal Car Shipping to anyone and plan to do so. Thanks Marge!
My overall delivery service experience with this Company was phenomenal. Highly recommendable for its quality service, professionalism and decency…..thumbs up to Casey
This is the 4th time are use Crystal shipping company because of their outstanding service. Casey has been an exceptional and an excellent contact information she has arranged all information date and time with the driver and she made The entire process so easy and seamless. Recommend this shipping company to anyone cross United States.
This was my second time using Casey from Crystal and the service was just as amazing. The car arrived early and Casey provided excellent communication throughout the process. Great pricing as well! Will continue to use Casey for all my future shipping needs
I worked with Penny to transport my car. She’s proactive about any unexpected situations that came up and resolved the issues quickly. She also answered all my questions in a timely manner. I definitely will work with her again.
I was satisfied with the service Penny gave me.I got my car on the schedule time it said I was to receive it.