I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago when I bought a car on the east coast but live in Arizona. For me, shipping made more sense since I didn’t want to stack up miles right away, and finding time for a cross-country drive can be tough. I ended up using a company recommended by a friend, and it worked out fine, good communication, timely pickup and dropoff, and no hiccups. I can definitely relate to being nervous about reading all those nightmare reviews though. If I’d been less busy, flying out and making a road trip out of it would’ve been tempting.
If anyone goes with shipping, something that helped me was checking reviews and making sure the company vets their drivers. I found out about this site:
https://threemovers.com/ with a ton of reliable options after the fact, so next time I’d probably check moving and car shipping companies here. Worth a look for anyone who wants somewhere to compare services in one place.