The Cheapest Way to Ship a Car

Sometimes you need to get a car from one part of the country to another, and driving it yourself isn’t an option. In situations like that, it often makes the most sense to ship your car.

As you can imagine, like any other type of shipping or moving services, transporting a vehicle can be costly. That said, here’s what to know about the cheapest way to ship a car.

Why would you ship a car?

Before jumping into the cost, let’s talk about why you might want to ship a car or other vehicle (a service also known as “auto transport”) in the first place. According to CarTalk’s John Goreham, there are three main reasons why people opt for auto transport over driving cars to their destination themselves:

How much does it cost to ship a car?

The cost of shipping a car tends to be between $550 and $2,060, averaging out to around $1,080, according to Move.org. The wide range in price comes down to a variety of factors like the size of the vehicle, the type of transport, gas prices, and the distance.

Always shop around when looking into auto transport. Getting in touch with between three and five companies should give you a decent idea of what you should be paying.

What’s the cheapest way to ship a car?

Open transport—when a car is strapped to the back of a huge truck also carrying other vehicles—is the cheapest way to ship a car, typically costing hundreds of dollars less than enclosed transport. This, of course, means that your car will be exposed to the elements and any debris on the road during the trip, so if you’re shipping a vehicle of great monetary or sentimental value, this may not be the best option.