3 Myths About Auto Transportation

Myth 2. It’s Cheaper To Drive A Car Yourself Than To Transport It

This popular car shipping myth is actually only part true however when driving the car yourself there are many other factors to consider that would otherwise not be present if you were to transport your vehicle. While in theory, yes, you may be able to drive your car across the country for a cheaper price than if you were to pay a carrier to ship it, however, with so many hidden costs it makes it an inefficient means of transport. Lets take a look.

When you look at the costs and what’s involved with actually using a car transport service you’ll see it’s really just as easy as making the initial down payment and then paying the remainder of the balance during the time of delivery directly to the carrier.

Now when we take a look at what’s involved when you drive the vehicle yourself you will see there a few extra factors you will need to consider.

• Cost Of Fuel: The price of fuel will be the primary expense for any car transport driver and it will likely be the largest cost you will incur as well. Let’s say you have to travel a distance of 4,000 miles but you cars tank can only hold enough fuel to travel 400 miles; this means you will have to stop to fill up 10 different times. And because of this you can expect to spend a considerable amount of money on gas.
• Hotels: We all need to sleep right? Well, unless your planning on sleeping in your vehicle this is another cost to figure in. If you consider that a trip across the country will take you about 3 days that leaves 2-3 days worth of lodging you will need to account for and with average costs between $100-$300 a night you can see how it can get expensive.
• Vehicle Wear and Tear: One other factor you need to be aware of is the wear and tear you will be subjecting your vehicle to during the car transport process. How long of a distance is your trip going to be? If you are driving thousands of miles across the country you can almost guarantee the need for an oil change. Ideally you would want to change the oil before and after the long trip, probably even need to get your tires rotated if not flat out requiring all new tires to be put on. All that driving and wear on your vehicle will ultimately cause you to incur new repair costs in the future. When you take all the extra costs into account its pretty easy to see that it will be much more cost effective to let a professional car transport company handle your vehicle shipment.

Myth 3. The Cheapest Car Transport Quotes Are The Best

This last car transport myth is also one of the most untrue. Carriers obviously want to make the most money possible so if you are provided with a seriously lower priced quote the chances are likely that no carrier will actually agree to the bid to transport your vehicle and it will be left sitting. An important aspect of what a transport broker does is to negotiate the price with a carrier on your behalf. In order to secure a carrier however, the agreed upon price will have to be realistic. If the average price for a car transport tends to be $1,000 and the broker you are using offers $700 to a carrier for the transport, then you are going to encounter some issues and waste a lot of time.

If you end up picking a shipping quote that is lower then any other available quote, in all reality your vehicle is gonna end up just sitting there. And if you are in a hurry to get your car shipped somewhere this wont be the best option to get you a transport secured quickly. You also don’t need to pick the highest listed quote either but somewhere in the middle should be pretty good to entice a carrier to take the bid in a fast enough time frame to meet your shipping requirements.