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Reviewed ByRebecca EdwardsKurt simplifies moving with nearly a decade of research experience. His writing appears in USA Today, Slate, and Martha Stewart Living. He holds an MPA.
You can get a car shipping quote by contacting one of the best auto transport companies and following its quote process. That usually entails entering some basic info about your vehicle, location, and time frame.
Once you’ve received your first vehicle transport quote, we recommend you gather a few more so that you can find the lowest rates (some differ by hundreds of dollars). We’ll walk you through each step below.
The first thing to do when getting an auto transport quote is to identify several car shipping companies. While there are thousands you could choose from, we’ve done the research to narrow down your options to five of the nation’s best vehicle shipping companies.
Since we recommend getting multiple auto transport quotes, you’ll want to visit the websites of three to four auto shipping companies.
Move.org researched 10 different companies and analyzed nearly 700 quotes to identify the nation’s best car shipping companies. In addition to carefully reviewing each company’s website, we also called them posing as customers to get a firsthand look at what customers experience.
We also invited several industry leaders to our headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, to learn more about current trends and get pricing and insurance details not easily available via company websites or phone calls.
An auto transport broker is the company that gives you your quotes. Brokers connect you with one of the thousands of truck drivers, called carriers, who delivers your vehicle.
Visit the websites of several auto shipping brokers to determine how to get an auto transport quote. Companies offer a combination mix of three auto shipping quote options:
The car shipping company estimates your car shipping cost based on the information you provide about your shipment. Every broker you work with will request basic details about your vehicle, location, and time frame. You’ll also need to choose between open and enclosed transport.
The car shipping broker needs to know whether your vehicle operates under its own power (it’s cheaper if your vehicle can drive directly onto the auto transport carrier). It will also ask for your vehicle’s year, make, and model. You can usually find this information on your vehicle registration or your car’s trunk or front grille:
In this example, we went to Montway Auto Transport’s website and said we wanted to ship a 2017 Ford Fusion in working condition.
You need to enter the year, make, and model of your vehicle to get an auto transport quote. Most brokers will also ask if your car is operable (or driveable).
The auto transport company needs to know your origin and destination zip codes to estimate a car shipping cost.
You may also be asked for specific address information (it helps ensure that the car carrier has room to unload at your new address). However, that information isn’t necessary to get a car shipping quote, so feel free to push back if the broker presses you. Most telephone reps respond well if you say something like, “I haven’t memorized my new address yet. Could you give me a quote based on my zip codes?”
Tell your auto shipping broker when you’d like your car picked up. We recommend giving yourself a week’s worth of wiggle room. Why? Most pickup dates aren’t guaranteed. We’ve seen rare exceptions like Montway Auto Transport, but in most cases, your pickup date is only an estimate.
For example, if you request a July 15 pickup date, the company will arrive on July 15—give or take a few days. If you must be out of town on July 15, and the transport company hasn’t shown up, that’s a problem. On the other hand, you’d have some room to breathe if you provided a pickup date of July 8.
Sometimes, companies may ask you for a time window rather than a specific date. For example, Sherpa Auto Transport allows you to indicate if your car will be ready immediately, within one or two weeks or two months.
Car shipping companies need to know when they can pick up your vehicle. You can usually enter a specific date or a general time frame.
Give the car shipping broker a two-week window before your car needs to be picked up. That’s about the perfect amount of time needed for truck drivers to offer the lowest bids for your shipment.
Almost nothing affects car shipping rates more than transport type, so the broker will ask whether you want to use an open or enclosed carrier. There are a few main differences between the two options:
About 90% of customers use open transport because it’s cheaper. However, enclosed auto transport is ideal for high-end vehicles like luxury cars or classic cars.
The specific language varies by the car shipping company but will always include “open” and “enclosed.” We like this example from Ship a Car Direct because it clearly explains the cost difference between an open and enclosed carrier.
To get a car shipping quote, you must tell your broker whether you want to ship your vehicle on an open or enclosed carrier.
Once you obtain your first auto transport quote, it’s important to repeat the process with a few different companies. That’s because car shipping rates aren’t the same from broker to broker. It’s not uncommon for two quotes to be hundreds of dollars apart, so it pays to request three or four auto transport quotes and compare them.
You can get a car shipping quote by following a few simple steps. Start by selecting one of the best car shipping companies and then determine whether it offers online or telephone quotes. (Online estimates are faster, while telephone rates are usually more accurate.)
Once you provide some basic information like your car’s make and model, you’ll receive an estimate of your shipping costs. We recommend getting quotes from a few different companies (it could save you hundreds of dollars).
The average car transport quote is approximately $1,290, according to Move.org. Costs vary widely depending on factors such as vehicle transport type, distance, seasonality, and even the car shipping company you choose.
You can save money on your car transport quote by providing at least two weeks’ notice to the auto shipping company. You can also knock about 30% off of your price by using an open transport auto carrier.
Yes, you can get a car transportation quote online. However, most car shippers require you to call after filling out the online form to complete the process. A few companies like American Auto Shipping and Easy Auto Ship have bona fide instant online quotes.
A car shipping calculator is computer software that enables vehicle transport companies to give you highly accurate quotes. However, some car shipping calculators are better than others. For example, the software Montway Auto Transport uses is so good that other auto shipping companies pay to use it.
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