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The Cost to Ship a Car

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Home  |  Car Shipping   |   The Cost to Ship a Car

There was an interesting email chain that went around between the owners of many of the top Car Shipping Companies this week regarding the cost to ship a car (and some very misleading Pay Per Click advertisements that were resulting in angry and frustrated customers).

The email was generated by a equally angry and frustrated owner and sent out to us fellow owners, in which he asked everyone to band together against some of the larger auto transport 'lead generation' companies in an effort to get them to remove their PPC ads that contain headlines like "499 Ship a Car Cross Country".

He brought up an excellent point, since 499 certainly wouldn't be anywhere near enough to Ship a car across the country (unless, of course, we were all magically transported back to 1979) and the only goal of an ad like that is to generate a 'click' so that the poor, misled consumer's information could be captured and sold to 8-10 hungry (read: bloodthirsty) car shipping brokerages.

In the end, it's bad for everybody (except the PPC advertiser who made the ad, mind you) because the consumer has been misled and is now being FLOODED with calls and emails that are WAY out of line with his expectations; and the brokers are stuck chasing a customer that is basically a 'dead lead' because if he had known or even suspected what the actual price was, he probably wouldn't have asked for a quote in the first pace.

It's lose-lose and time wasted for all involved. (Again, except for the unscrupulous Advertiser)

I personally didn't engage in the dialogue beyond reading the frustrated responses that were generated by various owners and cc'd to everyone on the original email.

I realized a long time ago that purchasing leads from these advertisers was a waste of time, because a customer that clicks on an ad like that is not "Safe-Direct Car Shipping Material" (as uppity as that sounds). That customer is just looking to go with the company that quotes him the lowest price, and that just simply isn't what we bring to the table.

Our car carriers are the best of the best, and unfortunately, that means they are often not cheap.

But, I have always found that when you are up front and honest about the cost to ship a car, it is better for all involved. In fact, it's a big reason that we offer a Free Rate Calculator on our website and strive to keep it up to date and as accurate as possible. With the calculator, you can get a fairly accurate assessment of the cost to ship a car, before ever picking up the phone or sharing your contact information.

That way, if shipping a car is too costly for you and you know it going in, it's time saved for everyone involved.

There are too many "bait and switch" operations in the car shipping industry, and we will never be one of them. While it may result in one order placed, it will never result in happy customers and referrals from friends, which is one of our best sources of traffic.

So, the next time you read a PPC ad that sounds too good to be true, I would encourage you to "think before you click".

Just like Mom always said, If something sounds too good to be true - it's probably because it is.

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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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