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How Car Home Delivery Works When You Buy a Car Online

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Home  |  Auto Shipping • Car Carriers • Car News • Car Shipping • Car Transport   |   How Car Home Delivery Works When You Buy a Car Online

If you are in the market for a new car, look no further than your laptop. These days, thanks to technology, consumers can shop dealers all over the country to find the perfect car. They can even make the purchase right from the comfort of their own home. Forget about spending your entire weekend strolling around car lots. Online car shopping has changed the way consumers shop for cars and the process has never been easier. Once you have found that perfect car, you can even arrange for home delivery. Avoid the hassle of spending hours at a dealership and forget about driving across the country to pick up your new car. Home delivery makes buying a car online easy, convenient, and hassle free.

Here’s How it Works

The last thing you want is to put additional miles and wear and tear on your brand new car. Home delivery is the best way to get your new vehicle, without compromising the quality of the car.

Discuss it with the dealer: Before purchasing your new vehicle, be sure to let the dealer know that you are interested in home delivery. Some dealers will offer this service as an option when purchasing the vehicle, while others might not be willing to do so. Some dealers might have a policy where you have to arrange for your own delivery. Either way, you want to discuss this service up front with your dealer so you can negotiate the best price for the vehicle, including transport.

Fill out the necessary paperwork: If the dealership offers home delivery services, the process is pretty straightforward. They will ask you to sign all of the sales documents and verify that the car is indeed the make and model that you chose. At this time you should also ask for photographs of the vehicle as well as a photograph of the odometer. You want to be sure to have these photos so you can properly document the car’s condition prior to shipment. The sales rep should also arrange for an inspection of the vehicle before you conclude the sale.

Research car shipping companies: If the dealership will not provide home delivery services, you will need to make your own shipping arrangements. Start by researching car shipping companies and make sure to verify proper licensing, registration, and insurance. You also want to check reviews and ask for a quote before booking. Once you have chosen a reputable car shipping company, you will arrange for them to pick up your new vehicle at the dealership. (the sales rep should still take care of photos and inspection.)

Choose your transport option: When booking shipping services, you will have the option to choose between open and enclosed transport. Though it costs a bit more, enclosed transport offers the most protection for your vehicle during shipment. Covered transport is recommended for antique, luxury, or expensive cars.

The Bill of Lading: The Bill of Lading is an important document that acts as a contract between the shipping company and the customer. As soon as you come to an agreement on the delivery time, this information will be inserted into the Bill of Lading and the shipping company will arrange to pick up your car from the dealership. Upon pickup, the sales representative will also provide documentation and photographs of the vehicle’s condition. You will electronically sign the Bill of Lading, confirming the condition of the vehicle. Once the vehicle is delivered to you, you will inspect it again and sign the Bill of Lading once more to finalize shipment.

Your car is delivered to you: Confirm all shipping details and ensure all documents are signed. You also want to arrange to have someone available when the car is delivered, so you can sign the Bill of Lading. Once everything is arranged, your delivery is scheduled and your vehicle will be on its way. You should receive notifications about estimated delivery times as your vehicle is in transit.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Honest Answers to Your Car Shipping Questions

Yes, we always ask for your specific pickup and delivery addresses, if the carrier can get right to the addresses you provide, they will. If the addresses that you give us are not safely accessible for a Multi-car carrier, however, you will need to make arrangements with the driver to meet at a nearby location where the carrier can safely get in and out.

People do it all the time (rarely for free) but the official answer is no.

Not what you wanted to hear, we know, but that is the honest answer.

We are not licensed to broker the shipment of household goods and, likewise, no car carrier that operates in the USA is licensed to transport them from state to state either. Despite what you might be being told by other car shipping companies you may speak with.

Remember, at the end of the day we're all salespeople, and the true answer to this question is not a great selling point.

You will hear a lot of companies tell you that you can put up to 100 pounds of items in the trunk, but that is not entirely true. That fact is that items of that amount are fairly common and the department of transportation is probably not going to split hairs and fine the trucker over items of that amount, provided they are not over their weight limit. They could fine them, however, if they see a vehicle stuffed full of personal items so the car carrier will most likely try to negotiate something with you to cover themselves against any costs they could incur. It's not something we can build into your contract though.

We have a short and helpful video on this topic in our user videos.

Only in rare cases and car carriers will usually charge a premium to make it happen.

All dates given by car carriers are typically estimates and projections.

For this reason (and to keep your cost down) we ask that you build in some flexibility and give us the earliest possible date you would be WILLING to release the vehicle, even though it may not be your preferred date.

We'll put you in direct contact with your car carrier and the driver will also typically call you the afternoon or evening before your pick up and delivery (they won't just show up unannounced, and if they do we want to hear about it). However, car carriers are out on the road battling traffic, weather and any number of other factors that can and do throw them off of their pickup and delivery projections from time to time.

If the projected dates we give you come and you are unable to make contact with your carrier, please call our office immediately so that we may help resolve the situation.

The average transit time from pick up to delivery on any vehicle going coast to coast will average 7 to 10 days. From there you can figure your transit time based on how far your vehicle is traveling, i.e. from either coast to the Midwest might average 3-7 days.

Yes!

Even better, we do not even ask for payment until we have you confirmed for pickup by a safe, reliable, fully insured, direct car carrier. If for any reason you do not ship your car with the carrier that we arrange for you, there is no fee.

The fees paid directly to the carrier however, (in most cases, their fees are not paid until your vehicle is delivered) are not directly controlled by us, so any requests for a refund of the carrier's portion would need to be addressed with the carrier directly.

Of course! And you are always backed by our Damage Free Guarantee policy.

Part of what you pay us for is to verify that the car carrier that we put you on is covered by the proper amount of insurance and that everything is up to date.

There is never any additional cost to you for this coverage, and their insurance is always primary.

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