When it’s time for a big move, you might want to consider whether it makes more sense to ship your car rather than trying to drive it with you. The process takes a bit of work, but can take a bit of pressure off you while you are working out on the go.

There are reliable and inexpensive ways to transport your car, as long as you know how to choose the right company. Rather than trying to bring the car with you and worrying about all those extra miles of vehicle wear and tear, take some of the following steps to make sure your car ships smoothly.

1. Know your shipping options

Most car owners will have two basic choices when it comes to shipping a car. These may include:

• Terminal-to-terminal services. With this, the vehicle will arrive and depart from a designated area. It will be consolidated with other vehicles and then shipped to a terminal near your new location.
• Door to door service. This one costs a bit more, but it allows someone else to pick up the car in the area of ​​your choice. They will then drop it as close to the new location as possible.

Terminal-to-terminal services will be cheaper and can still get the car to where you need it. Remember that you will need to drive it to the terminal and then pick it up at the new location.

2. Choose the type of carrier

The transporter you use will help you determine the final cost you will spend and can determine how much work will be required. ship a car. The two main options to use are open auto-shipping or closed auto-shipping.

For the lowest cost, you will need to opt for open shipping. These just have the cars on a rack and they are exposed to the elements. This makes the car more likely to be damaged, but the risks are still low and it can be the cheapest and cheapest method of shipping the car.

Car owners can also choose to work with closed transport. These will transport the car to a new location in a soft or hard carrier. They are not able to carry that many cars at once, so the costs will be considerably higher.

3. Look at the prices

There are a variety of factors that will go into the price of shipping your car. Each shipping company will have their own idea of ​​how much to charge and this may depend on their routes and some of the services they offer.

Some of the different variables that will determine how much you will pay to ship your car include:

• The weight and car type you want to ship.
• Whether the car is functional or not
• The time of year. You will often find that it is cheaper to ship in the winter if you have the choice.
• How far you plan to ship the car
• Whether you use door-to-door shipping or terminal-to-terminal shipping.

There can be a lot of variation in how much you will spend on shipping your car. You can look at each shipping company’s online calculators or call them directly to see how much it’s going to cost.

One example is sending a working Ford Fiesta door to door from San Diego, California to Miami, Florida. It could cost around $ 1000 if you used an open trailer. If you are using a more specialized car, it may cost more. Do the same with a BMW 745 and you put it in a closed transport, the cost will go up to $ 1500. This is just one example of the cost.

The rates charged by the services you use will also be based on the availability of the truck and whether you stick close to their routes or not. Shipping from big cities rather than trying to ship it to a small town can help you save money on the go.

4. Prepare the car

You should also take the time to prepare your car before handing it over to the shipping company. This may include emptying it among all articles which are inside the car before picking it up. If you leave a lot of extra items inside the car and then try to ship it, it can increase the overall weight of the car and increase the price you pay.

Try not to put too much gas in the car either. Having a little help with transportation is fine, but there’s no reason to have a full tank when you drop it. The car will hardly use this gas and this can increase the overall cost of the vehicle, adding more money to what you have to pay. Keeping it at a quarter of a tank or less is usually sufficient.

Also make sure your insurance is up to date in advance. The car shipper will need to have insurance, but it may not cover everything related to the car. It is best to have your own insurance in place. Tour the car with the shipping company before loading it to make sure the car is okay before and after the trip.

5. Find a reputable shipping company

One of the best things you can do to make sure shipping your car is as easy as possible is to find a reputable company to work in the first place. They understand the shipping needs and will work with you to make the process easier and affordable. Add that to the tips above and you are sure to see results in no time!