Auto Transport Questions,
Answered Directly

Shipping a car in the US costs $400 to $2,500 in 2026, averaging $1,100 to $1,300 for a typical mid-range move. Open transport is the cheapest option; enclosed transport costs 35 to 60 percent more.

Five factors determine your exact price: distance, transport type (open vs. enclosed), vehicle size, route popularity, and season. Cost per mile drops as distance increases, a short 300-mile move can run $2+ per mile, while a 2,000-mile coast-to-coast trip drops to around $0.60 per mile.

For a full breakdown by vehicle type and route, see our complete cost guide.

Car shipping takes 7 to 14 days from booking to delivery for most moves. This breaks into two phases: 2 to 5 business days to assign a carrier, then the actual transit time.

Transit time alone is 1 to 3 days for moves under 500 miles, 3 to 7 days for 500 to 1,500 miles, and 7 to 10 days for coast-to-coast. Carriers cover roughly 500 miles per day due to federal driving-hour limits and multi-stop routes. Your car rarely travels point-to-point, it shares a truck with other vehicles being dropped along the way.

Yes, shipping a car is safe when you use a licensed company. Carriers must be registered with the DOT and FMCSA and are legally required to carry insurance covering your vehicle during transport.

Your protection comes from the Bill of Lading, the condition report signed at pickup and delivery. Inspect the vehicle and document any pre-existing or new damage in writing at both points. This is your legal record if you need to file a claim. Millions of vehicles ship safely in the US every year; damage claims are relatively rare and are covered by carrier insurance when they do occur.

A carrier owns the trucks and physically moves your car. A broker coordinates the shipment but does not own trucks. Most companies consumers interact with are brokers.

Brokers post your shipment to a carrier marketplace (such as Central Dispatch) where independent carriers bid on it. This is why brokers can cover almost any route, they tap a network of thousands of carriers. Direct carriers offer fewer handoffs but limited route coverage. Neither is inherently better; brokers win on availability and price competition, carriers win on direct accountability. Understanding this distinction explains most of what confuses first-time shippers, including why quotes vary and why pickup windows exist.

Your quote went up because no carrier accepted the original posted rate, so the broker raised it to attract a driver. This is a structural feature of how the carrier marketplace works, not necessarily a scam.

Brokers estimate a price and post your shipment to the marketplace. If carriers don't bite at that rate, common on less-popular routes or during high demand, the broker must raise the offered rate to get your car moved. Companies with a price-lock guarantee (Sherpa is the best-known example) absorb that increase themselves rather than passing it to you. Always ask whether a quote is price-locked before booking.

The cheapest way to ship a car is open transport with a flexible 3 to 5 day pickup window, booked 2 to 3 weeks ahead. Shipping in January or February instead of peak summer saves an additional 15 to 20 percent.

Other levers: choose a terminal near a major highway rather than a rural door-to-door pickup, ship a standard sedan rather than an oversized vehicle, and avoid expedited service. One warning, the lowest quote is not always the cheapest option. A quote $200+ below all others is usually a bait-and-switch that rises once you've committed or paid a deposit.

Choose open transport for most vehicles; choose enclosed only for high-value cars. Open transport is the same method used to deliver new cars to dealerships and costs 35 to 60 percent less than enclosed.

Enclosed transport is worth the premium for classic cars, exotics, luxury vehicles, show cars, or anything worth over $50,000, because it protects against weather and road debris. For a standard daily driver, open transport is the correct and cost-effective choice. If a factory-fresh vehicle rides open from the plant to the dealer, your used sedan can too.

Most carriers allow up to about 100 lbs of personal items in the trunk, but they are not liable for them. DOT regulations technically prohibit shipping household goods on auto transport trailers.

Carriers are licensed to move vehicles, not personal property, and their insurance does not cover items left in the car. In practice many people put a few items in the trunk, but anything valuable, fragile, or important should travel with you. Overloading the car also adds weight that some carriers charge for or refuse.

Avoid suspiciously low quotes, never pay a large upfront deposit, and verify DOT and FMCSA registration. These three checks eliminate the vast majority of bad actors.

Specific red flags: a quote far below all others (bait-and-switch), pressure to pay the full amount up front, no physical business address, few or no reviews, a company name suspiciously similar to a well-known brand, and no Bill of Lading provided at pickup. Legitimate brokers collect payment at or after pickup, provide clear documentation, and have a verifiable DOT number you can check on the FMCSA website. When in doubt, get three quotes and compare, scammers stand out fast against legitimate competitors.