Car Shipping Costs

Car shipping has become the ultimate method of transporting valuable assets such as cars, collectibles, boats, ATVs, motorcycles and so on, over large distances that sometime implied going overseas. There is no safer or faster way to get your precious car from the states to Europe and back. Let’s check out some of the prices necessary to transport various cars around the US.

Keep in mind that, no matter what shipping company you may choose, the criteria regarding costs is the same everywhere. It relates to the distance traveled, the car’s size and type and finally the time of the year.

For example if you want to transport a compact four door sedan from coast to coast, than you’ll be pulling anything from 600 to 1000 dollars for the transport. In winter time you’ll pay the lowest end while a summer transport is a lot pricier. If you want to move something a little bit bigger such as a small van or a pickup truck or an SUV, you’ll have to pay about 800 to 1050 bucks to have it transported from California to New York. The larger versions of these cars will be a bit more expensive, somewhere between 900 – 1170 dollars. The same thing goes for the winter and summer differentials.

Between New York and Florida, you can have a sedan transported for 650 bucks as a minimum and rising to a max of 850 dollars. If you’re transporting a SUV or a van the price runs somewhere from 800 to 1000 dollars. Large SUVs or vans will get you near the 1100 limit. A Hawaii to west coast transport can reach a maximum of 1360 dollars while the minimum has been registered at 800 dollars.

There are a lot of factors and different offers when dealing with so many shipping companies. Here are some of the feats included in the whole transport process (basically what you are paying for).

Usually, vehicles are shipped on open carriers or enclosed containers. In case you choose the enclosed shipping option, the size of the car cannot exceed the normal container which is 7 feet wide, 7 feet tall and 19 feet long. The shipping times can fluctuate according with the shipping company’s schedule. For example a Hawaii route can be done in one to three weeks time, while a coast to coast delivery can take from 14 to 16 days. There are some expedited services available which is like sending a package “express”. It gets a lot faster to the destination (usually saves about a week) but it’s a lot more expensive. You can pay from 200 to 500 extra bucks for the shipment.

Always remember: BEFORE shipping the car, you need to clean it thoroughly, remove any items that might get free and move around during transport and cause damage to your car. Afterwards, take loads of photos to have documented proof of the car’s condition. In case something happens during transport, you will have proof that the car wasn’t in that shape before.

The additional costs are a “necessary evil” when dealing with shipping companies. For example, a summer transport will be somewhere between 200 to 300 dollars more expensive than a winter transport. It may seem strange because in winter the conditions are harsher and that poses a problem to the truck. But if you stop and think about it, not many people do their car purchasing on winter time so shipping companies are doing everything they can to attract customers. So if you want to get a transport, do it during winter time.

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