The Daily Vroom

The Shipping Quote Experience Is Broken

For years now, one of the most frustrating experiences in the collector car world has had nothing to do with auctions, dealers, or pricing.

It’s shipping. Not the actual shipping itself. The quote process.

You go onto a website thinking you’re about to get an instant quote, fill out the route, enter the car, hit continue… and suddenly before you can even see a number they want your phone number, your email, and half your life story. Then the real fun starts. Endless calls. Endless emails. Ten different brokers. Ten different prices. Half of them sounding like a guy with a pickup truck and a Gmail address.

And somehow the experience still feels broken even after all that.

Prices vary wildly from site to site. You have no idea who is actually transporting the car. Some companies tack on huge commissions or surprise charges later. Others make the whole thing feel like a lead generation funnel disguised as a quote tool.

It’s annoyed me forever.

Last week’s newsletter about how automotive websites have destroyed the reading experience with ads clearly struck a nerve because a lot of you agreed with the broader point: bad user experiences have become normalized online. And honestly, shipping quotes are another perfect example of that.

At The Daily Vroom, we’ve always tried to do things a little differently. No ads. No popups. No paid “top picks.” Just impartial news, market trends, pricing analysis, tools, and information that actually help enthusiasts make better decisions.

So eventually we came to the conclusion that if we’re going to constantly complain about terrible experiences in this industry, we should also be willing to build better ones.

That’s why today we’re launching the TDV Domestic Shipping Calculator.

Now to be clear, we are not trying to become a shipping company or a shipping broker. We have zero interest in doing that. What we wanted was a cleaner, more transparent way for enthusiasts to get real shipping prices without the nonsense that normally comes with it.

So we went out and looked at nearly every major option in the space.

And after comparing the technology, professionalism, pricing consistency, and overall experience, one company consistently stood out to us: RunBuggy.

Some of you may already know them. Some of you may have even used them yourselves. We recently shipped a Dodge Demon using their platform and the entire experience was smooth, professional, transparent, and exactly how this process should feel.

So we partnered with them, but not in the usual way.

The biggest thing I wanted to solve was the problem I mentioned above: I want to see the quote before giving away personal information.

So with the TDV Domestic Shipping Calculator, you simply enter the route and the vehicle details and instantly see live pricing for both open and enclosed transport. No email gate. No phone number wall. No waiting for callbacks. No broker bidding wars.

One route. One real quote.

And importantly, the price you see is the price unless there are unusual circumstances involving oversized vehicles, non-runners, restricted access locations, or something outside a standard shipment.

We also wanted the experience itself to feel trustworthy because not all shipping is equal. Cheapest is not always best. Some companies make it nearly impossible to understand what level of service you are actually getting.

With this setup, you know exactly who is handling the shipment, exactly who contacts you, and exactly how the process works.

Once you’re happy with the quote, you can submit a shipment request directly through the calculator. From there, RunBuggy contacts you directly to confirm pickup and delivery details, arrange scheduling, and handle payment securely. No endless broker calls. RunBuggy works with a vetted network of professional carriers and manages the process end to end.

We’ve also included a simple “How It Works” section directly inside the booking flow because we wanted the process to feel as transparent and straightforward as possible from start to finish.

And because transparency matters, we’ll also tell you exactly how this works commercially.

We are not running this as a traditional profit center or trying to build a brokerage business around it. We take a flat $50 per completed booking to cover our technology and operating costs. That’s it.

In fact, because the calculator is ungated, feel free to compare quotes against anyone else you want. Run ten routes. Compare open versus enclosed. Cross-check pricing elsewhere. We actively encourage it because we think the difference in experience speaks for itself.

It’s very similar to why we built TDV Import Calculator in the first place. That tool is completely free, costs us money to maintain, and exists because we were tired of how confusing the import process had become for enthusiasts trying to understand the real landed cost of a car.

This is the same philosophy. Cleaner tools. Better information. Less friction.

And just like the Import Calculator, this is only the beginning. We’ve got more tools coming that we think will make buying, selling, shipping, importing, and understanding the collector car market a whole lot easier.

And as always, if you have ideas, feedback, or things you think we should improve, reach out. A lot of the best features we’ve built so far have come directly from conversations with readers.

Try the TDV Domestic Shipping Calculator here.