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How Cheap is Too Cheap When You Ship a Car?

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Home  |  Car Transport   |   How Cheap is Too Cheap When You Ship a Car?


Some things you can go the cheapest route on: generic toilet paper, marked down milk, or thrift store clothes. But when it comes to shipping your vehicle, you get what you pay for. Customer service, adequate insurance and trust are all equally important, and with the right company, it’s worth every penny you spend. Here’s why it pays to invest in the right one.

Paying What It’s Worth

The cost of your vehicle depends on several factors: the type of vehicle you own, the type of carrier you need (open or closed transit), how far you’re going and how quickly you need it to get there. Shipping a 4-door family vehicle can cost between $600-$1,000 (with the lower amount being shipped during ‘off season’ during the winter months). The greater distance you’re taken it, the more it will cost. Saving yourself the time away from work, the hassle of driving it yourself, and the professionalism of a shipping company is all part of what you pay for.

Why Are Shipping Fees All Over the Place?

The hardest thing for people researching car moving companies to understand is that the prices they are getting are not hard and fast guarantees, but rather ESTIMATES of what one company thinks it will take to get a vehicle moved promptly versus another company's opinion of what it will take.

That being said, there are not carriers committed to take your vehicle at these quoted prices, the company you choose will still have to get to work getting a carrier to commit to move it at the price they quote you. Hidden fees are your biggest red flag that the company you’re invested in may only be interested in the bottom line – making money. Don’t rush, splurge and sign with the first shipping company you talk to. Shop around, and make sure they answer all of your questions – with all their fees out there for you to see.

America’s Leading Car Shipping Company

With it comes to your vehicle, should you put it in the hands of an amateur, or even a mediocre one. Put it in the hands of a 5-star review, iron-clad guarantee that your vehicle will be taken care of and be delivered in the exact shape you left it at. Ship A Car Direct has over 16,000 online reviews and maintains an accredited A+ BBB rating since 2008. Trust the experts (as if your car deserves any less). Fill out our contact form and receive a free quote within minutes.

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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