Rental Car Transporter Vans

[Jamp]

Anyone tried one of the ebay or small-time car transporter firms? It seems the mainstream van rental firms don't offer car transporters, but a few small firms do. Any experiences or recommendations around Sheffield? I've a post-1997 licence so can't do it with a trailer. The car I'm picking up is 1510kg so just doable for most car transporter vans if I don't take a passenger! Shiply might be cheaper overall but I fancy the experience of picking up my import from the port myself.

I found this place online but there's no details of who the company actually are which worries me a touch. https://www.transporterhire.co.uk/

[agent006]

I've used transporter hire before. They're an agency for various van owners rather than owning the stock themselves.
I hired from the one in Bath. 330k mile Sprinter with the dash lit up like a christmas tree. Started pissing oil smoke in traffic in central Bristol. Maybe the other locations are better.

[Jamp]

Hmm, pause for thought there - thanks for the input.

[944 Man]

Isnt everyone involved with cars in any way friends with Greg Newton on FB? He rents out new 3.5t beavertail transporters. I think that he is based in Nottingham and he used to charge £100 a day.

[C-J]

Jamp, interested to know if you found a solution?
I might also need to hire one around that Nottingham/Sheffield/Doncaster corridor.

[944 Man]

Try the fellow I suggested. He appears to be part of the network that someone linked to above, but his tackle was new and smart.

[C-J]

yes, from the details below it looks like Gregg Newton is part of the network in the OP's post. Thanks for the recommendation.

transporterhirenottingham
Gregg Newton
SELF DRIVE CAR TRANSPORTER HIRE RENT FROM £105 PER DAY
CALL US ON 07850542005
Email: [e-mail]

1. transporterhirenottingham

www.transporterhire.co.uk

[944 Man]

I was surprised to find that out, but I came to him via a different route. The vehicles were new though, which is very different to some franchisees.

[944 Man]

You are welcome.

[Jamp]

I ended up renting from Gregg earlier this week - thanks for the info above. I couldn't get him on the phone so did end up renting through the Transporter Hire website. The truck was pretty far from being new - 2012 Vauxhall Movano with approaching 300k miles and hadn't been cleaned inside in a fair while. The previous hirer had damaged the drivers door latch so that was cable-tied and taped shut for me - Gregg was very apologetic for this and gave me a better fuel allowance as a result. Worst thing for me though was the loading ramps were quite skittish and prone to lift off the truck during unloading when the rear wheels (only) were on them. Could have ended badly - scary! Maybe that's standard? Or just some strange combination with my car's wheelbase and weight (max for the truck). I'd not DIY it again I'm afraid.

[C-J]

Cheers for sharing - interesting, although sounds scary.

On a practical note, did that Movano have a winch fitted?

Presumably the car was facing forward and the ramps lifted at the truck end when the rear wheels were towards the bottom of the ramp - if it happened again, could it be possible to lash them to the truck somehow (only helps if knowing that andhaving something to tie down with!)

Hopefully it worked out in the end and you got your car shifted - without damage to the sills and underside - if I've understood the ramp rising issue correctly.

Edited by C-J on Friday 23 July 17:58

[944 Man]

I’m surprised to see this. All of his promotions mentioned new vehicles so they should be 18 registrations at the most.

[Jamp]

Yes thanks I got the car off without damage - but only thanks to having a second man seeing me back off the truck to spot the issue - would have been nasty otherwise, as in the driving seat I had no idea of the issue. For my second unloading I made sure to have an observer again and we took it very steady with wooden blocks under the ends of the ramp to reduce the angle, as well as him pressing down at the top (which was necessary again). My wheelbase (Legacy GT) was almost exactly the length of the ramps so this might have exacerbated things. It was also right at max weight for the truck so that could have been an issue too. Yes the truck had a winch if needed.

Re the age of the trucks - his FB page is all pics of the '12 Movano and an '05 Renault Master which was also in the car park - no newer trucks pictured except the Nissan (a rebadged Movano) in the logo. The Movano did drive ok to be fair and got decent MPG.

[InitialDave]

I've used transporter hire before, from the guy in Leicester. No problems at all.