I was recently at a trade show where a major car carrier’s advertising stated, “We have a 99.8 percent damage-free rate, which gives you 100 percent confidence.” This translates into one damaged vehicle out of every 500 moves, a statistic that may or may not inspire 100 percent confidence. The statement does, however, expose the reality that damage occasionally happens no matter how competent and careful your carrier may be.

Both online and newspaper auto classifieds are filled with private parties buying and selling vehicles independently of any auto dealers. This is very unfortunate because these transactions represent nearly half of the vehicles sales in the U.S.