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Transporting Your Car to Another State: A Step-by-Step Guide to Auto Shipping

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Home  |  Car Transport • Auto Shipping • Car Shipping   |   Transporting Your Car to Another State: A Step-by-Step Guide to Auto Shipping
A truck transports a car to another state

Are you planning to transport your car to another state? If so, it’s essential to understand the process of auto shipping and the steps that must be taken in order to ensure a successful and stress-free move. When you know how to transport a vehicle to another state, you’re much better equipped to take care of the process yourself.

Fortunately, you can rely on an experienced car transport service like Ship a Car Direct to facilitate the entire process and guarantee a damage-free experience. Keep reading for our step-by-step guide to auto shipping! 

Obtain Quotes & Choose Your Provider 

Before you start, it’s important to obtain quotes from different car transport companies so that you can compare prices and services. There are many things that can affect your quote, most notably the distance covered and the size/weight of your vehicle. On average, you can expect to pay anywhere from $500 to $1500 for car shipping to another state. 

You should also research customer reviews and safety records so that you can choose the most reliable provider. Make sure to do your research here, as there are many carriers who cannot guarantee your car’s safety and who will happily take your money without any concern for the actual transport of your car to another state. 

If you do not have the time, energy, or desire to obtain quotes and choose a provider, Ship a Car Direct is happy to do the work for you. We can guarantee damage-free transport because we have thoroughly vetted and can trust our partners. 

Prepare Your Vehicle for Shipping

Prior to transportation, there are certain measures that must be taken in order for your vehicle to be ready for shipping. These include removing all personal items from the interior of the car, ensuring your tires are inflated, and disabling any anti-theft devices or alarms. 

Sometimes, people will fill their cars with personal items. You can do this, however, it is best not to include anything of value or anything delicate. Keep in mind that the weight will affect the cost of shipping your vehicle to another state.

What to do on Transport Day

On the day of transport, it is important to note any pre-existing damage on your vehicle before signing off on paperwork with your car transporter driver when they arrive to your home. You will want to take photos of any existing damage as extra protection against possible claims in case additional damages occur during transit. You can use our free Damage Protection App (available for iOs and Android users) to easily document the condition of your car before and after it ships. 

Consider Ship a Car Direct 

By following these simple steps for auto shipping – obtaining quotes, choosing your provider, preparing your vehicle, and noting pre-existing damage on transport day – you can rest assured knowing that your vehicle will arrive at its destination safely and free from any new damages! 

With Ship a Car Direct's white glove service and Damage Free Guarantee, the transport of your vehicle to another state has never been easier or more secure! 

Looking to ship your car? Get a quote at our Ship a Car Direct website today!

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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