You’re picking up stakes and moving. Far away, as in across the country or from one region to another. Hundreds of miles away. You’re packing up the house/apartment and hiring a moving company to ship your household goods from the old place to the new.

As for your car(s)? “Golly,” you say to yourself (if anyone even says “golly” anymore), “this would be a great time to see the country. The spouse and the kids and I could tumble into the ol’ SUV and see the great USA. What wonderful memories we’d make! And the kids could first-hand about the country!”

HOLD. UP.

Let’s take a close look at driving the car yourself vs. shipping it.

Driving it yourself.
  • Aside from the fact that you and the family would be squeezed into one (or two, if you decide to caravan with both family vehicles) cars and spend so much time this close to each other for days on end, sleeping in hotels/motels, eating in restaurants/fast food establishments, etc., let’s not forget the potential for explosive family exchanges with no place where everyone could escape to calm down until you land at the motel for the night.
  • If you’re driving by yourself, you’ll have no one to take over the wheel when you’re tired. Eight-plus hours behind a wheel can take a toll.
  • You definitely will see parts of the country you’ve never before seen, especially if you take the side roads rather than the interstates. Doing so adds time to the trip, of course.
  • You incur the cost of food on the road as well as hotel/motel rooms. You possibly could stay with friends and family along the way, saving money, but do you have friends/family all the way along the route?
  • Do you – and your family members – have enough time? Many moves occur due to job changes. Will you be able to get to your new home in time to arrive at work or school on time? Will you have to rush your trip or will you truly be able to stop and see some sights?
  • You will incur extra wear and tear on your car.
  • You can take precious keepsakes (photo albums, important and sensitive papers, etc.) with you in the car: you can rest assured that the transport company won’t lose your items.

Shipping the car.
  • The transport company comes to your location to pick up your car for transport. Some car shipping companies deliver the car to your new home, but in some situations they are not able to: you will need to pick it up where the company designates (this usually is close to your location).
  • You can’t pack household goods in the car.
  • Depending on your budget/choice, the car may be transported in a “enclosed carrier” truck or shipped on what is known in the industry as an “open carrier,” which means it’s open to the elements (rain, snow, etc.). Open carrier shipments cost less than shipping a car in an enclosed carrier. They also may take longer.
  • Many auto transport companies, however, are happy to work around your schedule to ensure the car arrives at your new home within a time frame that works for you.
  • Shipping the car allows you and your family to fly to your new home and arrive in plenty of time to meet any work- or school-related deadlines.
  • Mileage and wear/tear on your car is minimal.
  • You may need to rent a car for a few days at your new home before your vehicle(s) arrive.

So, what’s the answer? It depends on YOUR needs/desires/budget.

Distance also factors in to the decision to ship or drive: if moving just a few hundred miles away, it probably is best to drive yourself. A cross-country move, however, has different considerations:

The cost to ship a four-door, mid-sized sedan across country costs between $1,400 and $1,800. The American Automobile Association (AAA) estimates that it costs about 51.06 cents/mile to operate a car (includes gas, maintenance, wear and tear, insurance, etc.) so a cross-country drive (from,  for example, Philadelphia to San Diego (2,695 miles) would cost about $1,376.

That amount doesn’t take into consideration, food on the road, hotel costs, tickets to attractions, etc.

It also doesn’t factor in how absolutely tediousand tiring driving a car for hundreds of miles a day can be.

Shipping the car also may mean the cost of airline tickets to get to your new destination and a rental car upon arrival.

Naturally, our answer is ship the car! Once the car has left your old home, you have one less thing to worry about. We’ve provided door-to-door car transport nationwide for more than 35,000 vehicles (and growing) and we have an ‘A’ rating from the BBB, with an average 4.9-star rating from our customers.

Call us at 866-821-4555 now to speak with one of our expert shipping agents.