How to Ship a Car Cheaply

Are you already stressing about your cross-country move? Maybe you’re not even moving that far away but the thought of moving multiple vehicles is already driving you insane?

The last thing that you really want to tack on the to-do list is an expensive car shipping service. Well, we’re here to help with our tips on how to ship your car(s) cheaply!

Is it even possible to ship a car cheaply?

With the amount of diverse car shipping services in today’s market, there are absolutely cheap and expensive ways to ship your car. Just like any other service, there are many facets of car shipping to consider–whether it’s time, qualified workers, reputation, availability, or cost. With that being said, there is a shipping service that can work for an array of budgets and individuals. So, you can absolutely ship a car cheaply!

What would you recommend for a cheap move?

1. Do your research! The best way to find the cheapest shipping prices is to research the industry. From here, you will be able to choose the most cost effective option without having to sacrifice service or your sanity.
2. Find out what needs must be met. Are you looking for a seamless process with very little work done on your part? Or are you okay with putting in a little bit more work to ship your car as cheaply as possible? Once you are able to discern your own needs, then you will be able to find the best service provider that meets your expectations and price point.
3. Looking for another way to cut costs? Consider shipping your vehicle to a major city instead of to your door.Door-to-door shipping will always be the more expensive option in this equation because car shipping services will always stick to major highways in shipping your car. What does this mean for you? The more time a transporter has to spend off a major highway, means there will inevitably be a higher bill delivered to you. So picking up your vehicle in a major city will always be cheaper.
4. Move in the off season. Just as there are cheaper days to hire a moving company, there are cheap seasons and days to hire a vehicle shipping service. This means that the summer season will not be the most cost effective shipping option for you. But autumn brings a lot of promise for movers. Not only is the weather wonderful, but the housing market has settled down from summer sales and so have people.
5. If you are looking for another cheap option, choose an open shipping option over an enclosed in a shipping container option.

But perhaps you’re looking for an even cheaper way to ship your vehicle? Consider a Do-It-Yourself shipping option that includes a trailer or car dolly. This option clearly doesn’t work for everyone, but will hands down be the cheapest shipping option for all the work you personally have to put in.

Cost Effective Saving Tips

1. Weight. A part of your shipping costs will boil down to the weight of your car. An option to consider here to minimize your car’s weight would be to not fill your gas tank up fully. We recommend having your tank filled up to a quarter if possible.
2. As a continuation of the tip above, choose to ship a smaller vehicle than a larger one. If you have the option to choose between shipping your SUV or compact car, choose the compact car to save even more money.
3. Discounts. This is hands down another way to ship your car cheaply. Whether that be a military discount, student discount, early bird discount, or senior discount, use this to your advantage and prioritize services that offer even further discounts for shipping your vehicle.
4. Be flexible. Flexibility in timing, location of pickup and so on will yield you more cost effective results in moving a car cheaply. So planning way ahead of your move will be even more advantageous in this situation because you will save more the longer it takes to move your car from point A to B. Even better, if you are able to drive further to pick up your vehicle, the better off your pockets will be.

The more proactive, the better

Although the thought and process of shipping a vehicle can be nerve wracking, the more effort in research and creativity you put toward the shipping of your car, the better off you will be with saving money on your move. And that’s really all we want for you. Take your time to understand how vehicle shipping works and success will follow.