How To Compare Car Transport Prices & Why It’s Important

Whether you’re shipping a car domestically or you’re interested in shipping a car abroad via ocean-going freight, it’s always important to compare car transport prices and get the best deal. Find out more about how to compare prices for shipping cars now, and see why you should always shop around to find an affordable, reputable shipping provider.

How Should I Compare Car Transport Prices?

Domestically, most car transport providers will provide you with a per-mile rate and an overall quote for shipping your car. You can contact multiple companies to get estimates about how much shipping will cost. For ocean-going freight, you will typically get a flat rate quote, which you can compare between shipping providers.

“Shopping around” and contacting multiple companies for quotes is always the best way to get the best possible rate – and even if you can’t find a company that offers a significantly lower price than the others, you’ll know that you’re being charged the average market rate for car transport.

It’s also important to be cautious when comparing car transport prices. If you get a similar quote from 2 companies and a much lower quote from another company, it’s worth asking yourself why – does the deal sound too good to be true? If it does, there may be a reason. The company may be unlicensed or unreputable, or may even be scamming its customers. Use common sense when picking a car transport provider and comparing prices to avoid working with a risky company.

Why Does It Cost More Per Mile To Ship My Car A Short Distance?

You may have found that a shipping company will charge a higher per-mile rate for short distances of 100-200 miles compared to shipping a car 1,000+ miles. Basically, this is because there are some fixed costs of shipping a car that are the same no matter how far the car is being shipped – and car shipping companies have to adjust their rates accordingly.

For example, no matter how far your car is being shipped, a truck driver has to come to your location, load the vehicle, and secure it – and this process must be reversed at the destination. Even if the car is only being shipped 100 miles, these costs are the same.
But when a car is being shipped a long distance, these costs are less influential on the overall price of shipping the car, and factors like vehicle wear & tear and fuel are more important. Counter-intuitively, this leads to a lower overall per-mile rate.

The overall cost of shipping a car 1,000 miles will always be higher than shipping it 100 miles – but the per-mile rate is lower because of the reduced importance of fixed costs.

Is It Really Worth Shipping A Car Instead Of Driving It Myself?

This depends on your situation. Shipping a car may seem expensive, but it can save you a lot of time and headaches, particularly if you need to transport your car from coast-to-coast while moving. You’ll also avoid mechanical wear & tear, fuel costs, paying to stay at a hotel and meals while driving your vehicle, and other such costs.

If you don’t mind a long road trip and you want to save some money, driving your car to its destination while moving may be a great idea.

But if you’d rather fly to your new home, or you’ll be doing a DIY move and you’re driving a rental truck like a U-Haul to your new home, and you can’t tow your vehicle, it may be a better idea to ship your car to your new home instead of driving it yourself.

Get An Instant Quote For Car Transport And Compare Us To The Competition!

At A-1 Auto Transport, we make it easy for you to get a fast quote for shipping your car. If you want to make sure you’re getting a market-leading rate, you can get a quote right away and compare car transport prices with other companies to get the best deal. Contact us online or give us a call at (888) 230-9116 to get a quote today!