How Much Does It Cost To Ship A Car?

How Much Does It Cost To Ship A Car?

In 2026, most standard cars moving on an open carrier price out between $0.84 and $2.05 per loaded mile. That band is wide on purpose: car shipping is a spot market, and every number in this guide is an estimate, not a quoted rate. Where your shipment lands inside the band depends mostly on how far the car is going, what kind of vehicle it is, whether it runs, when you ship, and how busy the route is.

As quick planning figures, all estimates for a running mid-size sedan on open transport: a short regional move of 200 to 500 miles usually totals somewhere around $400 to $950. A 1,000 mile trip commonly lands between $1,000 and $1,300. A coast-to-coast move of 2,500 to 3,000 miles typically runs about $2,200 to $2,800. Enclosed transport generally adds 20 to 30 percent on top of a comparable open transport price.

The rest of this guide breaks down where those numbers come from, so you can read any quote you receive and know exactly what is driving it.

Car Shipping Quotes Per Mile

Shipping a vehicle gets cheaper per mile the farther it goes, and that feels backwards until you look at a carrier’s day. Loading, inspecting, and securing your car takes the same effort whether the car rides 250 miles or 2,500 miles, and pickup and delivery stops usually involve slow city driving. On a short run, those fixed costs are spread over very few miles, so the per-mile rate is high: roughly $1.50 to $2.05 per mile as a 2026 estimate. On longer lanes the same overhead is spread across days of steady interstate miles, so the per-mile estimate falls to about $1.00 to $1.30 around the 1,000 mile mark, and roughly $0.84 to $1.00 on true coast-to-coast runs.

Distance sets the base band, but six factors do most of the work in setting your actual price:

• Distance: the per-mile rate drops as mileage rises, while the total naturally grows.
• Vehicle size and weight: a carrier has a finite weight and length budget. A crew cab pickup or a large SUV takes up more of it than a compact sedan, so it pays a higher rate.
• Running condition: an inoperable vehicle needs a carrier with a winch and extra loading time, which typically adds a meaningful surcharge.
• Season: covered in its own section below, and worth real money on some routes.
• Lane density: corridors carriers run constantly, such as I-95 or I-10, price lower than routes off the main freight lanes, because a truck with an open spot is far more likely to be nearby.
• Fuel: diesel is one of a carrier’s biggest operating costs, so the whole rate band drifts up and down with the fuel market.

An open-air trailer remains the most common and most economical way to move a car long distance, and all of the pricing above assumes it.

Transport Distance: In State vs. Across Country

Here is how the per-mile math translates into real trips. Every figure is an estimate for a running sedan on open transport.

• Short regional move, 200 to 500 miles. Think Atlanta to Orlando or Chicago to St. Louis. Expect a total of roughly $400 to $950. Short hauls carry the highest cost per mile, and even very short hops rarely price below a few hundred dollars, because a full pickup and delivery is worth that to a carrier no matter the distance.
• Mid-distance move, around 1,000 miles. Think Dallas to Chicago or New York to central Florida. Expect roughly $1,000 to $1,300 in most months.
• Coast-to-coast move, 2,500 to 3,000 miles. Think Los Angeles to New York. Expect roughly $2,200 to $2,800, with the lowest per-mile pricing of any distance class.

Beyond raw mileage, accessibility matters. Metro-to-metro shipments are the least expensive version of any distance, because carriers can fill all nine or ten spots on the truck in one area. A pickup or delivery point far from an interstate can add to the estimate, since detouring a 75-foot rig costs the carrier time; meeting the driver at a nearby large parking lot is a common, free way around that.

Time of Year

Car shipping demand moves with the calendar, and prices move with it. Summer is the busiest season and usually the most expensive, since household relocations cluster around the school year and dealer and auction volume stays strong. Snowbird traffic adds a second pattern on top: routes into Florida and Arizona spike southbound from October through December and northbound from March through May. A lane that is expensive in its peak direction is often a bargain the opposite way at the same time, because carriers need to fill trucks for the return trip. Winter outside the holidays is generally the cheapest window, though weather can slow transit, and the whole industry tends to back up in late December and January while carriers catch up. As a rule of thumb, the seasonal swing can move the same shipment by a couple hundred dollars in either direction inside the estimate bands above.

Luxury & Vintage Automobile Shipping Cost

Luxury, vintage, and collector vehicles usually cost more to transport because their owners rightly buy more protection for them. The most common upgrades are:

• Enclosed shipping keeps the vehicle out of the rain, snow, road salt, and stone chips entirely. As an estimate, plan on 20 to 30 percent above a comparable open transport price; on a coast-to-coast move that difference can amount to several hundred dollars.
• Liftgate loading raises the vehicle on a hydraulic platform instead of driving it up ramps, which matters for low ground clearance cars that would scrape on a standard ramp angle.
• Top load placement on an open carrier puts the car on the upper deck, above road spray and away from any fluid drips from vehicles overhead.
• Door-to-door service keeps the vehicle in the carrier’s custody from your driveway to the destination, with no terminal handling in between.

For an irreplaceable vehicle, enclosed transport with a liftgate is the standard recommendation, and it is worth pricing both ways before deciding.

Extra Fees

A trustworthy quote should have very few surprises left in it, so it helps to know what legitimately changes the price and what should not. Legitimate adjustments include an inoperable vehicle (winch loading), oversized or lifted vehicles (extra deck space), expedited pickup windows (the carrier holds a spot open for you), and pickup or delivery in genuinely remote areas. Fuel costs are already reflected in the rate a carrier accepts, so a separate surprise “fuel surcharge” after booking is a red flag, not a norm.

It also helps to understand how a price firms up. Any figure you get up front, from this guide or from any calculator, is an estimate of what carriers are currently accepting on your lane. The number becomes final at dispatch: when a specific carrier accepts your vehicle for specific dates, that agreed rate is your price, and you should have it in writing before the truck arrives. SAC does not require an upfront deposit, so you pay nothing when you book, and payment is only arranged once a carrier is actually assigned and scheduled for your pickup.

No matter if you need to move your car across the country or just a few hundred miles away, the SAC auto transport team will work hard to make sure your vehicle arrives in the same condition it was in when you entrusted it to us.

Our reputation speaks for itself. Check out Ship A Car’s reviews from our customers to get an idea of our quality of service, then contact us at (866) 821-4555 and tell us all about the vehicle you want shipped.