Non runners and project cars · Birmingham B1
Non runner transport in Birmingham, booked in advance
A vehicle that cannot be driven is not an emergency, it is a loading problem. Winch, skates and a bed solve it on a date that suits you.
Owners of cars that do not start, do not steer, or are not road legal, being moved on a planned date.
Project cars, seized engines, half finished restorations and insurance write offs all move the same way. What matters is whether the wheels turn and whether the steering is locked.
Bookings from B1, B2, B3, B4, B5 tend to come from two directions: households near New Street Station, and businesses around Aston. Both are planned jobs, so the truck arrives in a window you agreed rather than whenever it can.
Garage to garage, driveway to lock up, auction yard to workshop. The route is planned around whether the vehicle can be manoeuvred at either end.
How a booking works
- 1Describe the stateDoes it roll, does it steer, is there a key, are the brakes seized.
- 2We pick the kitWinch, skates or both, decided before the truck leaves rather than on your driveway.
- 3Fixed quotePriced on the loading method and the distance, agreed before booking.
- 4LoadingWinched on slowly with the condition already recorded, allowing for damage that was there first.
- 5Placed, not parkedAt the other end we put it where it needs to sit, because it cannot be moved again by hand.
What moves the price
- Loading method
- A straight winch is quicker than a skate job, and quicker means cheaper.
- Where it sits now
- A car at the back of a garage or against a wall needs pulling out before it can be loaded.
- Ground surface
- Gravel, grass and soft ground all slow a winch pull compared with tarmac.
- Distance
- The same mileage logic as any other transport job, with a little extra time at both ends.
From Birmingham the usual runs are local drops within West Midlands, deliveries into Edgbaston and Handsworth, and longer routes joining the network at M6 J6 (Spaghetti Junction). Long runs are quoted per mile with the return leg included, so the figure does not change on delivery day.
Access at the Birmingham end
Access matters more on a planned job than people expect. Where the collection point is a multi storey or an underground bay, the height barrier decides everything: a flatbed will not follow you in, so we agree a ground level loading point nearby and move the vehicle out to it. Around Aston the yards are usually wide enough to load on site.
Before collection day
- Clear a straight pull line if you can
- Tell us if the steering is locked
- Say whether the handbrake is seized on
- Move anything parked directly in front of it
- Decide exactly where it should sit on arrival
- · Confirmation of what does and does not work before the day
- · SORN status noted where the vehicle is off road
- · Condition record allowing for existing damage
- · Clear delivery instructions for a vehicle that cannot be repositioned
Birmingham transport questions
- Do I need to be there?
- Someone should be, at least at the collection end, because a non runner cannot be repositioned once the truck has gone. Collections across B1, B2, B3, B4, B5 run most weeks.
- Can you move a car in Birmingham that has no key?
- Yes. No key means no steering lock release, so the driver brings skates and puts them under the wheels before winching. The A45 keeps the truck route simple from our side. Mention it at the booking stage and it changes nothing about the price you were quoted.
- Is it legal to move an untaxed car from a Birmingham address?
- On a truck, yes. Driving it on the road would not be. A vehicle declared SORN can be transported freely, which is why planned transport exists.
- The wheels are seized, is that a problem?
- Not with skates. Each seized wheel goes on a skate and the car is rolled onto the loading point sideways if it has to be. Around New Street Station that is a routine job for us.
- Can you get a non runner out of a garage?
- Usually. We need a straight enough pull line and room for the winch to work. Send a photograph of the garage and the approach when you book and we will tell you honestly before the day.