2024 Sherpa Auto Transport Review

Move.org met with industry leaders and analyzed over 700 quotes to find the best car shipping companies in the country.
Best overall
sherpa
4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4
  • pro
    Guaranteed prices (up to $300)
  • pro
    Free car wash
  • con
    Newer company
Sherpa average price
Industry average price
Learn more
$1,010$1,108
Asha Kennedy
Feb 13, 2023
bullet8 min read

In 2022, Sherpa Auto Transport made some tremendous strides in pricing and customer service, and as a result it’s now our top pick in 2024. While Sherpa has always been famous for its customer service (and free car washes), the Price Lock Promise and online quoting tool have really impressed customers and kept pricing competitive. We love to see a company that continues to innovate in the interest of customers, and that’s why Sherpa takes our number one spot in car shipping for 2024.

pro
Pros
pro Low final prices
pro Guaranteed prices (up to $300)
pro Excellent carrier vetting
pro Free car wash
pro Impressive customer service
con
Cons
con Newer company

Table of contents

How Sherpa Auto Transport compares to the industry

Company informationSherpa Auto ShippingIndustry averages
Company pricing (out of 5)$$$$$$
Average customer review score4.8 / 54.6 / 5
Offers extra insurance coverage
bulletYes
bulletYes

Check out how Sherpa Auto Transport compares to its competitors in our article on the Best Car Shipping Companies.


How much does Sherpa Auto Transport cost?

The average price to ship your car with Sherpa Auto Transport is around $1,010. If you’re only going a few hundred miles, you may get away with shipping a mid-size car (on an open trailer) for as low as $375. On the other end, it can be almost $2,000 to cross-country ship your Ford F150 in an enclosed carrier.

Because of Sherpa’s Price Lock Promise, your quoted and final prices are likely to be the same. Why? Because Sherpa agrees to contribute up to $300 toward covering any changes (which are pretty common) to your final invoice.

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Car shippers usually offer discounts

 you’re an active duty military servicemember, Sherpa Auto transport will offer you a discount on your car shipping services. Auto shipping is expensive, and you shouldn’t feel uncomfortable asking a company if it offers discounts. Not sure how? Check out our guide.

Sherpa Auto Transport average car shipping pricing

Transport type
Open transport
Closed transport
Car (Toyota Corolla)
$891
$1339
SUV (Ford Explorer)
$1032
$1591
Truck (Ford F-150)
$1107
$1695

Data as of 10/5/2022. Offers and availability may vary and are subject to change. Average cost calculated by comparing shipping costs for 3 vehicle sizes across 11 distances.

How Sherpa’s pricing compares

Sherpa Auto Transport’s initial quotes may be slightly higher than its largest competitors, but its final prices are often lower. That’s because In the auto transport industry, it’s not unusual for prices to increase upwards of 25% from initial quote to the time your final bill arrives.

But not only are Sherpa’s initial quotes about 10% lower than the industry average, the transport broker also kicks in $300 with its Price Lock Promise toward your price if it goes up during the move—meaning its final prices often beat the other places.

Let’s give you an example: Say a transport company quotes you $1,080 to ship your car (which is the average price for open transport shipping in 2024). That number isn’t usually what you pay—it’s an estimate. From there, the car shipping company submits your shipment details for truck drivers to bid on and gives them $1,080 as the target price. Unfortunately, there usually aren’t many takers at the lowest price, so the transport company has to incrementally increase the price until a driver accepts.

Once the driver finally accepts, the lowest (and final) shipping price can be about 25% higher than your original quote. In most cases, that would mean you have to pay that extra $270. But with Sherpa’s guarantee, the difference is completely covered. Bottom line: most other companies make you pay the difference, but Sherpa covers the cost for you.

And as the cherry on top, we analyzed hundreds of quotes and found that Sherpa’s initial estimate is about $100 less expensive than the industry average. So you know your pricing is competitive, not just reliable.

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Still confused about car shipping pricing?

It’s not the most straightforward concept, but here’s the long and short of it:

  1. First, you request a quote
  2. Then, your broker gives you an estimate.
  3. And finally, carriers will bid on your shipment, and the lowest bid accepted by the carrier is your final price.

Don’t worry though, our car shipping pricing guide explains it in more detail.

Sherpa car shipping quotes vs. final prices

Description
Initial estimate
Expected final price
Difference between initial estimate and final price
Sherpa Auto Transport$1010$1010$0
Industry average$1108$1385$277

Data as of 10/5/2022. Offers and availability may vary and are subject to change. Average cost calculated by comparing shipping costs for 3 vehicle sizes across 11 distances.

Cost factors to consider

Sherpa Auto Transport says there a four things that affect the overall cost of shipping your vehicle:

  1. Distance: The farther you ship your car, the more expensive it is. Shipping to a neighboring state is cheaper than shipping from coast to coast.
  2. Car size and weight: If you’ve got a small, light vehicle, it costs less to ship your car than it costs for a heavy-duty truck. Heavier cars take more fuel to transport, and that means it costs more to ship them.
  3. Condition of your vehicle: As long as your car’s wheels, brakes, and steering wheel function, Sherpa can transport it for you. But FYI—there’s an extra charge if the car won’t start.
  4. Method of transport. Sherpa offers both open and enclosed trailers, and while open trailers generally cost less, enclosed trailers offer more protection from the elements on the road.

Sherpa’s liability and transit coverage

Sherpa Auto Transport requires all its carriers to have active liability coverage and cargo insurance—a minimum of $1 million in liability coverage and $100,000 in cargo insurance. Plus, Sherpa also requires carriers to list them as a policy certificate holder so it can help you file a claim if your car gets dented or scratched in transit. But you can rest easy knowing that Sherpa carefully monitors its trucking safety records across all carriers to minimize your chance of damage.


Sherpa’s best features and services

Sherpa Auto Transport at a glance

DescriptionCompany information
MC #51106
USDOT #3053476
Broker or carrierBroker
Carries basic insurance
bulletYes
Availability (# of states)50
Average customer service rating4.8 / 5
Years in business5

Services offered

We already touched this earlier, but Sherpa offers both open and enclosed transport options for almost any type of vehicle:

  • Family vehicles
  • Personal cars
  • Luxury and classic automobiles
  • Antique vehicles
  • Exotic cars
  • Collectible autos
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Looking for someone to ship your motorcycle?

Move.org looked at shippers all across the country to find the best motorcycle shipping companies. Long story short: we strongly recommend choosing a company that has proven motorcycle expertise, offers extra insurance, and has multiple positive customer reviews.


What we like about Sherpa Auto Transport

Price Lock Promise

With Sherpa’s Price Lock Promise, you know you have a cushion of up to $300 for your final car shipping price. You can frequently expect your final bill to be just as affordable as its competitors—even though your initial quote’s usually higher. We already mentioned this above, but it’s important enough to cover again because it’s something customers rave about in reviews. It isn’t just this company’s best feature—it’s one of the single best car shipping offerings we’ve seen with any auto transporter.

At the end of the day, Sherpa’s transparency with its customers is what truly sells us. Sherpa could tell you it has the lowest prices and then increase your final price at the last minute, like many other shippers in the industry. But it wants you to be a customer for life—so Sherpa tells you from the get-go that car shipping pricing is funky, and then pledges to cover up to $300 of potential price increases.

To be perfectly honest, that’s virtually unheard of in the car shipping industry. And it’s one of the reasons why Sherpa lands in our top spot on our Best Car Shipping Companies list… even though it’s been in business for only 5 years.

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Should I consider an enclosed carrier?

We recommend enclosed transport options, especially for those with high-end vehicles like classic cars, custom cars, and luxury vehicles.

World-class carrier vetting

Sherpa Auto Transport makes it a top priority to find the safest drivers to transport your vehicle. And while the carrier selects its drivers from the industry’s shared pool of more than 13,000 carriers, Sherpa does the legwork to find the best ones:

  • Sherpa reviews government records. Sherpa reviews all public safety, regulatory, and insurance information from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) for each of its carriers. If there are any red flags, it won’t work with that carrier.
  • Sherpa analyzes the data. Sherpa maintains accurate statistics across the details of all shipments and each carrier’s performance, so it can maintain consistency and accountability for each driver and shipment.
  • Sherpa follows a “do not use” list. If a carrier fails to meet Sherpa’s safety requirements and service expectations, they are added to an internal “do not use” list. Drivers only get one chance to make a mistake with Sherpa, so you know it’s not messing around.
  • Sherpa provides extra insurance coverage. We already touched on this, but Sherpa requires carriers to add them as a certificate holder to their insurance policies. In the car shipping industry, this isn’t necessarily a standard.

Unmatched customer service

Customer service is the cornerstone of operations at Sherpa Auto Transport. The company’s founder experienced his fair share of car shipping pitfalls—from fickle pricing to poor communication to unreliable carriers. It soon became clear to him that he could find a solution to the industry’s biggest drawbacks, so he started his own company.

He focused on hiring representatives who could provide customers with unparalleled customer service and even implemented the industry’s first Clean Car Guarantee (free car wash) with each shipment (an offer many companies now use).

Sherpa also implemented its innovative Price Lock Promise to make customers more comfortable with their final bills—and other companies can’t quite measure up to the same value of the offer.

We know Sherpa isn’t perfect, but its guaranteed pricing and strong customer service produces happy customers. In fact, Sherpa has maintained an average customer review rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars for the last 2 years.

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What should I look for when hiring a car shipper?

Let’s keep it simple: you want to look for low prices, guaranteed quotes, and positive customer reviews when you’re trying to find the best car shipping company. We also recommend choosing one that offers extra insurance. But be wary of car shipping scams, which are pretty common in this industry, as they could cost you.


A long-term review of Sherpa Auto Transport

A historical review of Sherpa Auto Transport shows the company has been an impressive industry-player since it opened. After being founded in 2017, Sherpa quickly landed a spot on our list of best car shipping companies. And now, in 2024, Sherpa is our favorite auto transporter.

We can tell you with confidence: it isn’t easy for new companies to break into the car shipping industry, and many close before they reach their one-year anniversaries. But Sherpa continues to innovate and grow with the industry, making it a real force to be reckoned with—at least for its competitors. For example, Sherpa’s prices have dropped considerably, going from 10% above the industry average in 2020, to 9% below the average in 2022. That’s a change of almost 20% in only two years. That’s pretty impressive, indeed.

Another big change we should mention is Sherpa’s addition of its online quoting tool, which provides customers with a quote in less than two minutes and enables many customers to book their shipment fully online. This, combined with Sherpa’s competitive pricing and services, makes it easy to understand why Sherpa’s average customer review rating (4.8 out of 5 stars) hasn’t budged in over two years.


Our recommendation

It’s a fact: Sherpa belongs at the top of our best car shipping companies list. Between its $300 Price Lock Promise, $20 Clean Car Guarantee, and ability to find drivers who are the cream of the crop, it’s no wonder Sherpa receives an average customer rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars. Sherpa puts its money where its mouth is, and we think that’s pretty great.

Do you like Sherpa’s Price Lock Promise?


FAQ about Sherpa Auto Transport

Does Sherpa have cheap car shipping?

Yes, Sherpa has cheap car shipping. The company’s $300 Price Lock Promise means you often pay less for car shipping even though your initial quote may seem high.

What’s the average rating of Sherpa Auto Transport reviews?

The average rating of Sherpa Auto Transport reviews is 4.8 out of 5 stars. Move.org looked at a dozen review sites and found that Sherpa’s positive transport reviews often mention things like professional service, prompt delivery, and accurate pricing.

How highly does Move.org rank Sherpa Auto Transport?

Move.org ranks Sherpa Auto Transport highly enough that it lands a spot on the Best Car Shipping Companies list. In addition to customer reviews, Move.org also looks at things such as pricing, features, and insurance.

Does Sherpa have a damage-free guarantee?

No, Sherpa doesn’t have a damage-free guarantee. However, the shipping service requires its carriers to list it as a certificate holder on their insurance, so it can help you file a claim.

What is Sherpa’s Clean Car Guarantee?

Sherpa’s Clean Car Guarantee is a $20 reimbursement to wash your car. Many people need to wash their vehicles since automobiles shipped on an open carrier often get dirty.

Does Sherpa have vehicle tracking?

Yes, Sherpa has vehicle tracking. The car transport company says that it will tell you your vehicle’s location and estimated delivery time if you call 1-877-850-1231.

What is Sherpa’s auto shipping dispatch fee?

Sherpa’s auto shipping dispatch fee is a $25 charge for shipments canceled before the assignment of a carrier.


How we chose the best car shipping companies

Move.org calculates industry averages and identifies pricing trends by following a fourfold research approach:

  1. Compare quotes. We collected nearly 700 quotes from 10 different companies. The car shipping quotes included prices for a motorcycle, car, SUV, and truck across 11 distances on both open and enclosed transport.
  2. Mystery shopping. We contacted auto transport companies posing as customers to gather pricing data and learn how the brokers formulate their prices.
  3. Site visits. We invited several industry leaders to visit our headquarters in Salt Lake City, UT, and explain what goes into their pricing. We then compared their answers to information we independently obtained to verify accuracy.
  4. Annual calendar. We repeat this process every year and save our data so that we can compare trends over time.

Asha Kennedy
Written by
Asha Kennedy
Asha Kennedy is a researcher and content writer who brings almost 5 years of experience working directly with multiple carriers as a Move Coordinator, including Mayflower, United, and Allied International. During her career, she has successfully partnered with diverse clientele to coordinate Military, International, Interstate and Corporate relocations—and uses this experience to create meaningful and educational content for future movers! Asha graduated from Hampton University with honors in English. Asha enjoys being in nature, reading books, and learning new things.