When you need to move to a new town, new state, or across the country, you may need to ship your car to your eventual destination. There’s just one problem: this is often quite pricey, especially if you have to ship your car a long distance.
However, there are ways to lower car transport costs, especially if you plan. Today, let’s break down seven ways to reduce the cost of car shipping services.
Seven Ways To Reduce Car Transport Costs
- Use Terminal-to-Terminal Shipping
- Gather Multiple Quotes
- Use Open Trailers
- Clean Out Your Car Before You Ship
- Ship Multiple Cars
- Flexibility With Dates
- Timing Is Key
Use Terminal-to-Terminal Shipping
The first way to reduce costs for car transport services is to rely on terminal-to-terminal shipping. With terminal-to-terminal shipping, you must drop your vehicle off at an auto transport terminal nearby.
Then you reach your final destination and head to the nearest auto transport terminal. Your vehicle will (in theory) be waiting for you, ready to pick up.
Terminal-to-terminal shipping is often cheaper because many of these agencies offer discounts. However, remember that the longer you wait to pick up your vehicle at an auto transport terminal or the longer the transport terminal has to hold your car before shipping it, the more you’ll pay due to storage fees.
Gather Multiple Quotes
The next tip for lowering car shipping rates is gathering multiple free quotes from different auto transport services. If, for instance, you speak to car carrier A and tell vehicle transport company B that company A has a lower price than they do, then transport company B might be willing to lower their cost for you.
Even if that’s not the case, gathering multiple car shipping quotes is still the best way to compare different auto shipping companies directly. That way, you can always hire the auto transport carrier that provides the best bang for your buck in the auto transport industry.
But remember that pure cost isn’t everything. The cheapest shippers may not be the best car shipping companies overall; for instance, a car shipper that’s a little more expensive than the most affordable shipping option might offer more excellent perks and better protection for your vehicle. Car shipping prices are not arbitrary; while you should shop around for the best transport price, you often get what you pay for with vehicle shipment.
Use Open Trailers
You can quickly reduce car shipping costs by going for the most economical option: open auto transport. Also called open car hauling, open transport has your vehicle shipped alongside many others, you guessed it, an open trailer.
There is a downside to this. Your vehicle gets exposed to dirt, debris, grit from the road, and inclement weather. However, if you're okay cleaning your car after receiving it, this could be the cheapest way to get your car shipment across the country, like from Florida or New York to Los Angeles, California.
A lot of this depends on vehicle type and vehicle condition. For example, this open auto transport is a bad idea if you have a luxury or classic car you want to be kept in pristine shape. In that case, you’ll be better off paying more for enclosed carrier hauling or shipping. Enclosed auto transport services are oftentimes worth it compared to open carrier services, especially when shipping cross-country, even with a higher average cost.
Clean Out Your Car Before You Ship
It's a good idea to clean out your car thoroughly before the movers and auto shippers arrive, no matter what vehicle shipping company you use. Why?
Some car shipping companies charge you an extra fee if they have to clean your vehicle before they can sit down comfortably and drive it onto a transport or trailer. Most transportation companies aren't in the business of cleaning your car and removing the trash in the seat or compartments, which is an extra hassle that can interfere with their expedited shipping plans.
By cleaning your car before you ship it, you’ll entirely avoid this potential and, ultimately, unnecessary fee, lowering your costs.
Ship Multiple Cars
What if you have several cars you need to ship to another location? In that case, you should try to ship multiple vehicles simultaneously.
Contact a car transportation company or transport broker, tell them how many vehicles you need to transport, and have them all be picked up on the same day (or bring them to the auto transport terminal on the same day, depending on your service use).
By shipping multiple cars simultaneously, you reduce the work the transportation company has to do. Furthermore, the transportation company can put all vehicles in the same trailer or truck for shipping.
Some agencies may even provide you with a discount if you ship multiple cars through their service. However, this is highly variable, and not every business will offer such a discount.
Flexibility With Dates
It’s best to have your pickup and drop-off dates as flexible as possible. More flexibility allows transport carriers to fit you into their schedules alongside other clients.
If you have a rigorous date for the company to pick up your car, on the other hand, they may have to move other clients around or go to additional trouble to make sure they retrieve your car on time. The same is true if you have a strict date on which you need your vehicle to get dropped off at its final destination.
Generally, you’ll save money if you give a car shipping company a range of dates on which it’s OK to pick up or drop off your vehicle. This isn’t always possible, but it is an intelligent way to reduce costs if you don’t need your car when you arrive at your new home. Note that the same is accurate in terms of delivery locations.
Timing Is Key
Lastly, remember that you can save money on car transport costs if you consider timing. Peak travel seasons, like during the summer, are much more expensive when moving or shipping anything, including cars. That’s because most people move at that time of year, so transportation companies can charge higher rates and have fewer available shipping dates.
In contrast, if you ship your vehicle during the off-season, such as during the fall and winter after the school season has already started, you’ll likely benefit from cheaper rates, and a more comprehensive range of dates for vehicle pick up and drop off.
Bottom Line
As you can see, there are multiple ways to reduce auto shipping costs. By following these steps, you’ll have more money to spend on other expenses for your move and save a little more than you would otherwise.
Of course, you can always get the best possible prices by hiring Carvaygo for all your car transport needs. We offer an instant quote to each of our customers — compare our prices against other auto transport quotes, and you’ll see for yourself.
As an experienced and trustworthy auto transport company, we’re well-equipped and ready to move your vehicle anywhere it needs to be at a price that works for your wallet. Contact us today to learn more.
Sources:
Peak shipping season ahead of the holidays is about to begin for a volatile supply chain | Moving.com
12 Tips for Moving During Peak Moving Season | Moving.com
What’s the Difference Between an Estimate, Quote, Bid, and Proposal? | FreshBooks Blog
