Cost of Transporting a Car

There was a period in time that nobody cared about hiring professional shippers. It seemed impractical, inaccessible and expensive. Until today, the average American still worries about the cost of transporting a car, which is why they hesitate getting the services of a car shipping company.

The first option is still to do it yourself, but driving across the country is easier said than done. Driving across states is definitely not advised for non-expert drivers. It is better to leave it to the professionals. So how much does it cost to hire a shipper? There is no easy and quick answer.

As you request for free car shipping quotations over the internet, what the software does is to ask you for the following information: (1) city and zip code of origin, (2) city and zip code of destination, (3) year, make and model of your car, and (3) mode of shipping. The software puts them all together and computes an estimate.

The reason why the car shipping websites are asking you for the year, make and model of your car is for them to estimate how much it weighs. It makes sense that the weight of your car greatly determines how expensive shipping could be. The mode of shipping involves either open multi-car shipping or enclosed shipping.

Open car shipping typically involves trucking service where cars are placed on top of a carrier truck. This is less expensive because it involves a number of cars, typically up to ten, at one go. On the other hand, enclosed shipping exclusively hauls and ships your car inside a freight container.

This is more expensive because it is primarily intended to ship expensive cars, antique automobiles, exotic models and hard-to-find vehicles. Enclosed shipping is about 75% more expensive. So, these are the three most important determiners of the cost: distance, weight and mode of shipping. While the final cost can only be determined as you show yourself and your car to the car shipping company, it’s fairly safe to say that car shipping from across the United States, coast to coast, is about $600 to $1000.

Obviously, the price goes up when shipping internationally, typically about $2000, excluding incidentally costs such as Customs, inspection and importation/exportation fees.

Is there a way to make it less expensive?

Weight and costs of transporting a car...

Yes, there is. Regarding the distance, if you can drive all the way to the port or terminal, do so yourself. And if at the city of destination you can also go to the port to pick up your car, do so, too. Door-to-door pickup and drop-off will cost you a few more dollars.

Regarding the weight, you might think you can’t do anything about how heavy your car is but if you look closely, there items you can remove that can significantly make your car weigh lighter. Remove the backseat, any detachable add-ons, ski rack or bike rack, and so on. You can also drain the gasoline to a fourth of the tank.

Finally, about the mode of shipping, if you’re not shipping an antique car, sports car or an exotic vehicle, go for open shipping. Another option is shipping a car by train. This is much cheaper, and you can consider this option if your car is coming or going near a train station. These are ways to lower the cost of transporting a car. Think about it.