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Is Car Shipping Right for Me?

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Home  |  Car Transport   |   Is Car Shipping Right for Me?


Perhaps you are moving to a new state and you need to transport your vehicle. Or it might be that you find the car of your dreams but it’s located across the country. Whatever the reason, people might find themselves faced with the decision of whether or not to have their vehicle shipped. Shipping a car might sound like an odd and costly solution at first. After all, why wouldn’t you just drive the car yourself? However, despite the cost, having a car shipped can be extremely beneficial and can prove to be a better solution than driving. In order to decide if shipping a car is right for you, consider the ways in which car transport can save you time, money, and effort. 

Consider How Far You Would be Traveling

The first step in deciding whether or not to ship your vehicle is to figure out the total distance you would need to travel. Is this a distance that is reasonable to drive? Would you need to fly one way to pick up or drop off the vehicle? How much time would it take you to complete this trip? Once you have an idea of how far you would be traveling, you can get a better idea of whether or not it would really be worth it to drive. 

Think About Travel Expenses

At first glance it might seem like shipping your car is an expensive option, but when you really stop to consider the alternative, you might find that shipping your car would actually be cheaper. Driving might seem like a more economical way to transport a car, but this is not always the case when you are traveling a long distance. You will need to consider the cost of gas, lodging, food, tolls, and vehicle maintenance. Unless you are planning to stay with friends or family along the way, you might quickly find that the cost of driving can really add up. 

Time Considerations

Depending on how far you will be traveling, it could take several days for you to pick up or drop off your vehicle. It might be difficult to take off work during this time or make arrangements for your children while you are gone. You should consider the fact that taking off work costs money and you might not want to use your vacation days to transport a vehicle. Likewise, you might have important things going on at home that would cause you to be more in a rush. Remember that your time is valuable and shipping a car will most definitely save your time!

Wear and Tear on the Vehicle

Aside from the hassle and expense of driving long distance, it can also be a bad idea for your vehicle. Obviously, the less long-distance driving your do the better off it is for your vehicle. There is no doubt that driving your car across the country will put a lot of strain on it and this can be especially true if you will be driving through extreme weather conditions like storms, snow, or ice. It can present a safety hazard to the driver if you are forced to drive your vehicle through unfavorable conditions. 

Convenience

When you decide to ship your vehicle, you will prepare the vehicle for transport and then you are done. The auto shippers will take care of the rest and you have the convenience of simply waiting for your vehicle to arrive. Auto shipping companies can take care of the logistics of getting your vehicle from one place to another so you don’t have to worry about taking off work, making arrangements for kids and pets, and dealing with the hassle and expense of a long-distance road trip. After weighing your options carefully, you will probably find that shipping your vehicle is a reasonable, convenient, and affordable solution.

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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