For most people, the cheapest way to ship a car is an open carrier, door to door, between two big metro areas, with a pickup window of a week or more and outside the summer and snowbird peaks. Set up that way, a standard sedan goes coast to coast for about $1,350–$1,950. The same car on the same route can cost $3,000 or more if you want enclosed transport, a pickup in two days and a July date. Sometimes the cheapest way isn’t shipping at all: towing the car behind a moving truck or driving it yourself can cost less, depending on the distance and on who is traveling. This guide ranks the options and shows which choices actually move the price.
Key findings
- Open transport is the cheapest way to ship a car. An open trailer carries 7–10 cars, so each car pays a smaller share of the trip. Enclosed costs about 50% more.
- Flexibility is the cheapest discount you can get. A pickup window of one to two weeks costs about 5% less than a standard window. A pickup within one to two days costs about 30% more.
- Where you ship from matters as much as how far. Busy metro-to-metro lanes price best. Each remote end adds roughly $75–$150 and often a longer wait for a truck.
- Season changes the price by up to 15%. January, February and September are the cheapest months. Summer adds about 8%, and the snowbird routes add about 15% in their peak direction.
- Not shipping can be cheaper. If you are already renting a moving truck, towing the car costs about $700–$1,550 coast to coast. Under roughly 400 miles, driving it yourself usually wins.
- The lowest quote is often not the cheapest shipment. A price far below the market tends to rise after booking or leave your car waiting for a truck that never comes.
What is the cheapest way to ship a car?
The cheapest way to ship a car is the setup that makes your car easiest for a carrier to load. Carriers price from load boards, and the cars that fill a trailer fastest get the lowest rates. In practice, that means:
- an open carrier rather than an enclosed trailer;
- a pickup window of a week or two rather than a fixed date;
- pickup and delivery near a major highway and a metro area;
- a month when trucks are looking for cars, not the other way round;
- a running, standard-size car with nothing packed inside.
Each item on that list is a choice you control. Distance is the one big factor you don’t, and even there the price per mile falls as the trip gets longer. To see a fair price for your own two cities, start with the car shipping cost calculator, then use the options below to bring it down.
Cheapest ways to move a car, ranked
These are the realistic ways to get a car to another state, with costs for a standard sedan going coast to coast (about 2,800 miles). The right answer depends on whether anyone travels with the car and what you are moving besides it.
| Option | Coast-to-coast cost | Cheapest when | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tow it behind a rented moving truck | About $700–$1,550 (trailer plus extra fuel) | You are already driving a moving truck | 55 mph cap, extra days at the wheel, weight limits |
| Open carrier, flexible dates, terminal drop-off | About $1,200–$1,900 | A terminal is close to both ends | Two extra trips, storage fees after a few days |
| Open carrier, flexible dates, door to door | About $1,350–$1,950 | Nobody needs to travel with the car | Pickup day is a window, not a date |
| Drive it yourself | About $1,500–$2,650 all in | Short moves, or you need to make the trip anyway | 6–7 days, hotels, meals and wear on the car |
| Open carrier, standard dates | About $1,425–$2,050 | You need pickup within a few days | About 5% more than a flexible window |
| Enclosed carrier | About $2,150–$3,050 | Classic, exotic or high-value cars | About 50% more than open |
Shipping prices are estimates from our price model for a running sedan between two metro areas; your quote will vary with the route, the date and the vehicle. Driving costs include fuel at the current national average, about six nights in hotels, meals, wear on the car and a flight back, as calculated by our ship or drive calculator.
Towing it yourself
If you are moving your household and already renting a truck, towing the car on a rented auto transport trailer is usually the cheapest option in cash. The trade-offs are a speed cap of 55 mph, a heavier fuel bill and strict weight rules: the tow vehicle has to outweigh the loaded trailer. We compare the two in detail in car trailer vs car shipping.
Terminal-to-terminal shipping
Dropping the car at a storage yard and collecting it from another one takes about $50–$150 off a door-to-door quote. It only stays cheaper if both terminals are near you and you pick the car up before storage fees start. Terminals sit mostly in large metros, so for many people the nearest one is too far to be worth it. See door-to-door vs terminal car shipping for the full math.
Driving it yourself
On a long move, driving costs about as much as shipping once you add hotels, meals and the miles you put on the car, and it takes most of a week. It wins on short moves: under roughly 400 miles, shipping costs nearly as much as a much longer trip, and a truck can take days to come for a short load. We explain why in why 300 miles costs like 1,000.
Taking the car on the train
There is one passenger train in the US that carries cars, and it runs only between northern Virginia and central Florida. For one or two people traveling with the car on that corridor, it often costs less than shipping the car and flying. It has no car-only option. See taking the train vs shipping a car to Florida.
Cheapest way to ship a car cross country: one route, two prices
Here is how the same sedan going from New York City to Los Angeles can be shipped at two very different prices. Nothing changes except the choices you make when booking.
| Choice | Cheapest setup | Expensive setup |
|---|---|---|
| Trailer | Open | Enclosed (about +50%) |
| Pickup window | Flexible, 1–2 weeks (about −5%) | Expedited, 1–2 days (about +30%) |
| Month | January, February or September | June to August (about +8%) |
| Pickup and delivery | Near the highway in both metros | Narrow street or a small town off the route (about +$75–$150 per end) |
| Estimated price | About $1,350–$1,950 | About $3,150–$4,600 |
The gap is more than $1,500 on one car, and none of it comes from the distance. For price ranges on other long routes, see how much it costs to ship a car cross country, or open the New York to California route guide for companies and transit times on this lane.
Eight ways to lower your car shipping price
1. Choose open transport
Open trailers move most of the cars shipped in the US, and they are the reason car shipping is affordable at all. Enclosed transport makes sense for classic, exotic and high-value cars. For a daily driver, it mostly buys protection from dust and rain at about half again the price. If you are unsure, our guide to how to ship your car helps you decide.
2. Give the carrier a pickup window
A carrier fills its trailer one car at a time along a route. A car that can be picked up any day within a week or two fits into far more trips than a car that must leave on a set date, so it gets a better rate. Expedited service works the other way: you pay about 30% more for a truck to change its plans for you.
3. Ship in a quiet month
Summer is the busiest moving season, and the snowbird waves fill southbound trucks in autumn and northbound trucks in spring. Direction matters as much as the month: October is cheap going north and expensive going south. Our guide to the best time to ship a car covers the calendar month by month.
4. Meet the truck near a highway
A loaded car hauler is 65–75 feet long and can’t turn into most residential streets. Offering a big parking lot near an interstate saves the driver time, and some will price that in. If you live in a small town far from the main routes, driving the car to the nearest metro can save the $75–$150 a remote pickup adds, and often several days of waiting.
5. Ship more than one car together
Two or three cars going from the same pickup to the same delivery take less work per car. Expect about 5% off for each extra car, up to about 15%.
6. Don’t pay for extra weight and space
Bigger vehicles take more room and weight on the trailer. A midsize SUV costs about 12% more to ship than a sedan, and a full-size pickup about 30% more. Remove roof boxes and bike racks, and don’t fill the car with boxes: most carriers allow only a small amount of personal items, and they aren’t insured. Here is what you can leave in your car when shipping it.
7. Make sure the car runs
A car that doesn’t start needs a winch and a carrier that has one, which adds roughly $150–$300. If a new battery or a jump start gets it driving onto the trailer, that is usually the cheaper fix. If it can’t be made to run, see how to ship a non-running car.
8. Compare real quotes, not the lowest number
Get two or three written quotes for the same dates, vehicle and trailer type. A quote far below the others is the most expensive mistake in car shipping: it either rises after you pay a deposit or sits on the load board because no carrier will take it at that price. We explain how that happens in why car shipping quotes go up after booking and how to spot the worst cases in auto transport scams. Before you book, check the company’s USDOT number in our car shipping company lookup.
Where car shipping costs least, and where it costs more
Car haulers run most of their trips between big metro areas on the interstate network. Cars that start and end on those lanes fill trucks fastest, so they get the best prices and the shortest waits. Some of the busiest markets are Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, Orlando, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta and Phoenix. Each city page lists the companies based there and estimated prices to other major cities.
Prices rise where trucks are scarce. Rural parts of Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Maine and Vermont see fewer carriers, so a pickup there can cost more and take longer to schedule than the mileage suggests. In winter, routes through the mountain states and the northern tier add weather delays as well. Hawaii and Alaska are a different case: most cars go by ship, and the cheapest way there is usually a truck to the port and an ocean crossing rather than door-to-door service.
Shipping from or to a busy state? Compare companies on the California, Florida, Texas and New York pages, or browse popular car shipping routes.
When the cheapest option isn’t worth it
Saving money on car shipping is mostly about flexibility, not about risk. A few savings cost more than they save:
- A company you can’t verify. A low price from a company with no active authority or a recent name change isn’t a bargain. Check it first.
- A large upfront deposit. Most legitimate brokers take a small deposit or none until a carrier is assigned.
- Open transport for a car that needs enclosed. A repaint on a classic or a car with fresh paint costs more than the enclosed premium.
- A flexible window you can’t actually live with. If you have to be without a car for two weeks, the cost of a rental can wipe out the saving.
- Thin insurance. The carrier’s cargo insurance is included in every quote, but the limit varies. See what car shipping insurance covers.
Methodology
Shipping prices come from the same price model as our car shipping cost calculator: distance bands for a running sedan on an open carrier between metro areas, with adjustments for enclosed transport (+50%), pickup window (−5% flexible, +30% expedited), season (+8% summer, +15% snowbird peak), remote pickup or delivery (+$75–$150 per end), terminal drop-off (−$50–$150), vehicle size and extra vehicles. New York City to Los Angeles is about 2,900 road miles in the model. Driving costs come from our ship or drive calculator using the national average price of regular gasoline published by the US Energy Information Administration in October 2026. Towing and train figures come from our separate guides linked above. All figures are estimates, not quotes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest way to ship a car to another state?
An open carrier with a flexible pickup window, between two metro areas, outside the summer and snowbird peaks. If you are already renting a moving truck, towing the car can cost less. For the full process, see how to ship a car to another state.
What is the cheapest way to ship a car cross country?
Open transport, door to door or terminal to terminal, with a one- to two-week pickup window in January, February or September. For a sedan, that comes to about $1,350–$1,950 coast to coast.
Is it cheaper to drive or ship a car?
On long moves, the two cost about the same once you count hotels, meals and wear on the car, and shipping saves you most of a week. Under about 400 miles, driving is usually cheaper. Our ship or drive calculator compares the two for your route.
Is terminal-to-terminal shipping cheaper?
Slightly, by about $50–$150. The saving disappears if the terminals are far from you or the car stays long enough to pay storage fees.
What is the cheapest month to ship a car?
January, February and September are usually the cheapest. May through August are the most expensive, and snowbird routes peak heading south in October to January and heading north in March to May.
Should I take the cheapest car shipping quote?
Not if it is far below the others. Quotes are mostly what a carrier will accept on that lane, so a much lower number often means a price that rises later or a car that waits for a truck. Compare quotes for the same dates and service, and check the company before you pay anything.