Washington State Ferries 144 highroof

[Kevin C]

Hi,
I‘m still in the reaching phase Trying to find the right van for a weekender and wondered if any knows if a 144 highroof automatically kicks you into the under 30’ over 7’2 price bracket now that they don’t list an over height charge for sub 22’ vehicles? I live in west Seattle and we use the Vashon/southworth ferry quite a bit to get out of town.
thanks
Kevin

 

[sprint2freedom]

It might depend on who's working that day. The one time I've taken a WA state ferry I was charged the regular car rate ("1 vehicle under 22ft"), with no height surcharge.

My 170ext is a hair over 24 feet long, a regular 170 is a few inches shy of 23 feet, and a 144 is around 19 feet 5 inches. It's tough for somebody in the booth to eyeball those lengths, if they don't see enough Sprinters to have the numbers memorized.. and if they're not gunning for employee of the month.

The cab of a Sprinter can look and feel more like a car than, say, a box truck with a reefer. So you may get lucky (or not).

 

[hilld]

Depends on the ferry. The SJ islands route does not charge for overheight, however, you still need to make a reservation for the right height. I have a 170, so I am 10" over the 22' and get kicked into the next category, going from a $50 fare to a $150 fare. Ouch. I don't take any of the other routes, so I cannot answer those for you.

The WSF ferries are on the lookout for sprinters and will charge a 170 or ext in the over 22' category. I had one of toll booth people tell me that a lady was throwing a fit at the Coupeville terminal demanding the shorter rate and she managed to piss a bunch of people off. They now have pictures of the various sprinter lengths at all the toll booths. But since you are driving a 144, you are golden.

 

[Hooligan]

I don't know about Vashon but Port townsend/keystone, kingston/edmonds and Bainbridge/Seattle don't charge extra for over height, just length.

 

[Kevin C]

Thanks everyone for the great info! Glad to hear they did away with the overheight charge on standard length cars. Back when I had my westy they used to nail me if I had my kayaks with me.