Washington Car Shipping

For a standard sedan on an open carrier, the table shows $950 to $1,300 from Los Angeles to Seattle, $1,000 to $1,400 between Phoenix and Seattle, $1,300 to $1,800 between Chicago and Seattle, $1,450 to $1,800 between New York and Seattle, $1,200 to $1,550 between Dallas and Seattle, and $350 to $550 between Seattle and Spokane. The Los Angeles figure covers cars coming north into Washington only; the rest read the same in either direction, and none of them is a quote. When your route is not one of these six, our car shipping cost guide shows what customers paid by distance.

Once loaded, Los Angeles to Seattle takes 2-3 days, Phoenix 3-4 days, Chicago 4-6 days, New York 5-7 days, Dallas 3-5 days, and Seattle to Spokane a day over the pass. Before loading, allow a pickup window of a few days while a carrier is assigned, plus some winter slack in Washington when storms close Snoqualmie or bring traction rules.

Yes, both get door-to-door service. Spokane, the Tri-Cities, Yakima and Wenatchee sit on I-90, I-82 and US-2, with pickup windows a little wider than around Puget Sound. Island addresses, and peninsula towns where the ferry is the usual way in, are planned around the ferries: the carrier meets you at a wide lot on the mainland side, because taking a loaded car hauler onto a ferry is rarely practical.

Yes. The carrier’s cargo insurance covers the car on the truck, and we verify that policy and the carrier’s operating authority before assigning the job. Damage in transit is the carrier’s liability, judged against the bill of lading, so walk around the car at pickup, photograph it, and check it against that record at delivery, in daylight if a short winter day allows.

Plan on an empty cabin. The carrier’s cargo policy covers the vehicle, never the contents, and a loaded car draws attention at overnight stops. One soft bag under about 100 pounds strapped down in the trunk is the usual tolerance; camping and ski gear should ride with your household goods instead.

Open transport is the standard and the lower price, and Northwest rain does an everyday car no harm on an open deck. Enclosed costs about a third more and is worth it for a collector car, a low-clearance build or a winter crossing of the passes, where road treatment is heavy.

Yes. A car bound for Alaska travels by truck to a marshaling yard south of Seattle, usually in Kent, and then sails north on a scheduled vessel; we arrange the road leg and the sailing as two parts of one plan. Book earlier than you would for a lower-48 move, because sailings follow fixed schedules and the terminal cutoffs are firm.

Take the bikes, kayaks, roof boxes, and camping gear off and out before the driver arrives. The carrier’s cargo policy covers the vehicle and nothing riding in or on it, and a roof box changes the height the hauler plans for on the passes. A soft bag in the trunk travels only after your coordinator approves it.

Puget Sound rain and Cascade grit hide fine scratches, so wash the car and photograph every panel, the wheels, the glass, and the roof in daylight the day before pickup. Time-stamped pictures are the baseline for the inspection when the car reaches Spokane, California, or the other coast.

Remove or bag your Good To Go! pass before loading. A live transponder riding an open carrier can rack up charges on the 520 bridge, the Tacoma Narrows, and express lanes, plus tolls in every state the truck crosses.

Aim for a quarter tank: enough to load, unload, and reach a station in Seattle, Tacoma, or Spokane, and no more. The hauler climbs Snoqualmie or heads down I-5 across the Oregon scales, and extra fuel is weight it does not want on a grade.

Any active oil or coolant leak gets a car turned away at pickup, because it drips onto the vehicle stacked below. Fix it first. Damp Northwest winters are quietly hard on batteries, so test one that has been sitting, and tell your coordinator about a canopy, a roof rack, a lift, a sticky parking brake, or a manual gearbox so the right trailer height and driver show up.

At 75 to 80 feet loaded, a car hauler cannot climb Seattle’s steep residential hills, squeeze down a tight urban block or turn inside most gated communities. Agree on a wide lot nearby, a park-and-ride or a big store’s lot, and the handoff takes minutes.

An adult hands the driver the keys and signs the bill of lading at pickup, and an adult inspects and signs at delivery. JBLM and Navy families and Seattle tech hires often arrive on a different day than the car, so name a sponsor, colleague, or neighbor for that end when you book, and plan island handoffs around the ferry schedule.