1984 300D Turbo: shipping options for doors, hoods and trunk lids.

[qualified-merc]

Most of the body panel sellers choose to ship doors, hoods and trunk lids "palletized". My concern is the possibility of damage in-transit. I've asked the sellers about the possibility of crating the door, hood or trunk lid and so far, none of them are interested in crating.

Of course, I can purchase shipping insurance, that said, the best insurance is proper packing for shipment. What are your thoughts concerning possible damage during shipment to a door, hood or trunk lid that is "palletized"

[WWhitmore]

Any body after market and even NOS body panels will have some damage whether shipped using a pallet or not. If it is possible to actually pickup the body panel itself that is the safest/least destructive method of transporting possible.

[qualified-merc]

I would prefer picking up the body panels in person, however most of the nice rust-free examples are over 500 miles from where I live.

In another life, I was in the piano business. Most piano manufacturers understood the value of proper wood crating; 99% of the pianos we received at the music store arrived free of damage. After a nine foot grand piano arrived and was gently taken off the truck using a power lift gate, we took it out of its wood crate. The left-over wood was treated like gold. Some of the store's workers took the wood home to use on other projects.

This is one reason I believe in proper crating, that said, most of the body panel sellers I talk to simply do not want to take the time to either learn how to crate properly or appear to be to lazy to want to do it.

[Diesel911]

Originally Posted by qualified-merc

Most of the body panel sellers choose to ship doors, hoods and trunk lids "palletized". My concern is the possibility of damage in-transit. I've asked the sellers about the possibility of crating the door, hood or trunk lid and so far, none of them are interested in crating.

Of course, I can purchase shipping insurance, that said, the best insurance is proper packing for shipment. What are your thoughts concerning possible damage during shipment to a door, hood or trunk lid that is "palletized"

I bought a complete rear left door shipped from Northern CA to the Los Angeles area and the seller shipped it by bus. I can't recall that he did more than wrap double layers of thick large cardboard box around it. In this case it arrived fine. Also, I bought it from eBay.

In the case of shipping by bus the lighter the whole thing is the easier it is to manhandle and there is less chance of damage.

I bought a complete auto glass set for my truck and some of it got damaged. The seller took care of it and replaced the damaged ones.

When I had something damaged shipped by an eBay seller the Post Office said that the seller was the customer and that it was the seller that had to file for any insurance. So, it is the seller that has to purchase any insurance.

[qualified-merc]

Card board box or shipped on a pallet is a far cry from a professional crating of the hood, trunk lid or door. The best insurance is proper package for shipment. I've had several expensive body parts arrive damaged from Ebay sellers who refused to take responsibility for the damage their inadequate packing had caused. Ebay is fine for small parts shipped in small cardboard boxes, however move up to larger bulkier items such as body panels and I'm not willing to take the chance anymore.