Ship Car Guide
Are you someone who’s been considering the matter of shipping a car, but you aren’t entirely sure how to do it? The thing is, for a lot of people out there, it may not even seem like an option at first. Most of us tend to assume that driving a vehicle from point a to point be is the only way to move one, and that does make sense (at least at first glance).
Thankfully, there are a lot of other options besides driving. In fact, you may find that driving is actually the most expensive option, depending on the length of the trip you’d be taking. Don’t forget that road trips are pretty pricey these days, especially when you take into account the cost of gasoline (as you can see here: https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=emm_epm0_pte_nus_dpg&f=m).
The catch here is that it can be a bit difficult to ship a car if you’re not familiar with the process. That’s why we’re here, though – we’ll explain some of the nuances that you need to know for the next time you plan to ship a car. Although it can be stressful, hopefully this will safe you some of the hassle.
First Step: Get Your Plans in Order
The first thing that you should do is make sure that you know exactly what will be involved when you decide to ship your car. That means you should know details like what the start location will be, what your ultimate destination will be, just as a few examples. This will speed things along when you do start to work with a company.
Of course, for folks who opt to transport a car because they’re moving, this will all likely seem pretty obvious. Why wouldn’t you already know this information, right? Well, just keep in mind that this isn’t the only reason that people ship vehicles. Rather, they could also choose to do it if they’re going to sell a car and the buyer doesn’t want to come pick it up themselves.
As long as you have these details ironed out beforehand, as well as what your ideal timeline is, then you shouldn’t have any serious problems while going through this process. When it comes to shipping your vehicle, there are a few other tips and tricks to know about beforehand as well.
Next Step: Find a Company and Work with Them
Once you’ve got those previous details ironed out, then you’ll want to take a few more things into consideration. Namely, it will be time to figure out which car shipping company you want to work with, as well as some other details related to that. How can we pick just one out of the many that are available, though?
An option to consider when you’re narrowing them down is to check out what the customer reviews are, especially if you’ve already got two or three top contenders that you’re choosing between. See what other consumers have to say about transit time, customer service, and the like – this can give you a better idea of what to expect when you’re getting this sort of service.
Of course, you can also look at aspects such as price and the like. Usually, you can get some sort of estimate or quote right on the website of each respective car shipping company, you just need to know things like the approximate weight of your car. Unfortunately, even the smallest things like the amount of gas you have in it can impact that weight.
Now, with that in mind, you can think about the pricing of gas (as you can see on this page) as well as what you’re comfortable with leaving in the tank when the driver comes to pick your vehicle up. One of the nicest things about most of these shipping companies is that they will send a driver to pick the car up as well as to drop it off at the destination.
Final Step: Make Sure You (and Your Car) are Ready
When the day does come, you’ll want to ensure that you have everything ready for the driver when they arrive. This means that you should have your personal identification details, proof of ownership of the car, and even some insurance information. What else does this entail, though?
Because of the way that shipping companies track things such as the state of the vehicle when it’s picked up versus how it lands at the end of the journey, they’ll want to inspect the car when they first arrive. Having it clean on the inside and out can both expediate that process and ensure that everything is documented fairly.
Of course, this will also help protect you from leaving anything behind unintentionally and having it get lost along the way. Try your best to be ready right when the driver arrives!
