The Ultimate Guide of Shipping a Car

So, you need to ship your car? Perfect.

Whether you’re off on your next great adventure or purchasing a car online, you want to book with the very best auto transport company you can find. And, you want it at a great price.

Montway Auto Transport has years of experience, with a trusted group of more than 46k truckers. Follow the simple guide of shipping a car below, and contact us if you have questions along the way. Montway’s team is available 24/7 via live chat or phone.

Decide on the destination you want to ship to/from

The first step in shipping a car is the most critical: you need somewhere to ship your car! If you don’t have a specific destination in mind and are just shipping cars for fun, maybe you should find a more cost-effective hobby. After all, the cost of shipping a car is not a light order. But when you work with a trusted company like Montway, you will ensure the best bang for your buck.

Once you know your exact destination, write down the address somewhere handy (and make sure you’ve included right zip code). Then, do the same thing with your pickup location. Having this information readily available will ensure your car transportation booking process goes as smoothly as possible.

The best-case scenario involves booking as far in advance as you possibly can. Once you know you’ll be relocating, begin looking at auto transport companies and getting quotes immediately so you can take your time choosing a transporter.

Decide on the pickup and delivery dates

Now, it’s time to set your pickup and delivery dates.

Don’t worry, most car transport companies will let you revise these dates before your vehicle is dispatched. To make sure your auto transport company will let you make changes after booking, it would be wise to work with a trusted company like Montway.

You don’t personally need to be at the pickup location, but it is highly recommended that you have a representative at both the pickup and the delivery points (if you cannot be there personally). The representative must be at least 18 years of age. At both pickup and delivery, you (or your pickup representative) will need to inspect the vehicle and mark any damage on the Bill of Lading (BOL) before signing it.

Remember: At pickup, you are looking for any pre-existing damage and at delivery, you will note any new damage that occurred during transport. To ensure the safest car transportation, work with an auto shipper like Montway.

Read later: Common questions about car transport pickup

Next, look at reviews to find the best-rated car transport company

To give you an even bigger head start on your auto shipping, here a few simple methods to ensure the auto transport company you’re shipping a car with is not just dependable, but reputable.

1. Ask people you know: Do a quick Google search or ask around for car shipping experiences. This might help you find other people with experience shipping their car. You should be wary of companies without any reviews at all and companies with a lot of negative reviews that mention the same issues.  
2. Read reviews online: When looking at different car transporter company reviews, it’s important to pay attention to details. You should look at websites such as BBB, TransportReviews, Google, Facebook, and TrustPilot. Typically, the best vehicle transport company will have a presence on all of the major review websites.
3. Quote: At this stage, once you’ve found a reliable auto transport company or two, you can give them a call or fill out an online form on their website to receive a quote. Learn more about this in the next step of this guide to shipping a car.

One of our primary goals at Montway has always been to make the car shipping process as simple and as stress-free as possible for our clients. When you talk to one of our representatives, no matter where you are in the process, they’ll walk you through all of your options so you feel completely comfortable.

Search for the best car shipping cost

Stop and compare auto shipping quotes from different car moving companies. There are several things to keep in mind once you do.

First, remember that no quote is set in stone. The rate you receive is an estimate of how much it will cost to ship your car given the details.

Secondly, don’t go with the lowest bidder. You should get several quotes from different companies in order to have a ballpark estimate. Because the prices fluctuate, you shouldn’t automatically choose the lowest price. Some companies will intentionally quote you a low price to get your business, and then the actual price you receive later is much higher than expected.

Before booking, learn how the process of shipping a car with your selected auto transport company works, so you’re comfortable with the car transportation process once it begins. Check out our How Auto Transport Works page for more info on Montway’s services specifically.

Finally, here are a few rules of thumb you can use to answer your car shipping cost questions:

• Larger vehicles usually cost more to ship than smaller ones.
• Shorter trips will cost less than moving your car from one state to another.
• If you need your vehicle to reach its destination ASAP, you’ll likely have to pay a little extra.

Book with the car transporter

Can you feel it? That’s the feeling of almost being done with shipping a car. When you work with trusted experts like Montway Auto Transport, it can be as easy as pie.

Once you’ve decided your pickup/dropoff points, auto shipping dates and looked at reviews to determine the best-rated car transport company, you’re ready for the easy part. If you book with Montway, here’s how this process would go from here.

Step 1: Book order: Review the steps above for information on how to do this.

Step 2: We pick up your vehicle: Schedule your pickup date, time and an easy-to-access pickup location with your trucker.

Step 3: You receive your vehicle: Your trucker will call you when your vehicle is almost home. You can greet them both right at your own driveway, or wherever the nearby agreed-upon pickup location is.

Learn more: Common questions about car transport delivery

After a careful inspection to make sure everything looks good to go, you’ll simply sign the Bill of Lading to accept your delivery. If you pay in full with a credit card you will not owe anything to the trucker at delivery. If you instead chose the “Discounted Cash Price” option, you must pay the trucker in cash or certified funds. Certified funds can include a cashiers check or money order (but not a personal check/credit card).

Here at Montway, we make it easy by streamlining pickup and delivery, giving you around the clock updates on your vehicle, and handling the details so you can focus on getting settled in.