3 Tips For Shipping A Car That You Bought Online

Thanks to the internet, you're no longer restricted to shopping for cars being sold in your local area. You can now shop for the specific luxury or classic car of your dreams – even if the only one for sale is located on the other side of the country. You can look at photos, research the car's history, and even pay for the car online. The only problem is, how do you get the car from its current location to you? You have a couple of options, but the safest choice is to use a commercial auto transport service such as Inter-City Auto Transport to move it by truck. Here are a few tips that can help you safely and affordably move your car from Point A to Point B.

Save Money by Season

You can save some cash by having the car transported during the right season. If the car is coming from a warm vacation state like Florida, Arizona, or California, and you live in a more northern state, you may save more by shipping your car in the winter. Car transporters will be delivering cars for snowbirds who move south for the winter months, and may reduce prices in order to fill the slots in the truck for the return trip north.

You can do the opposite if the car is coming from a northern state and headed to you in a warm state. Have the car shipped in the late spring or early summer, when the snowbirds and their cars are moving back home.

Spend More For a Higher Value Car

You have two choices when you choose an auto transport truck – an open carrier or a closed carrier. Both are fairly safe, but if you're transporting a rare classic car or a very high end luxury vehicle, it's worth springing for a closed carrier. That will protect your valuable car from road debris and minor damage.

Closed carriers are considerably more expensive than open carriers – it can cost 75% to 100% more to transport your car in a closed carrier. If your car isn't especially valuable, an open carrier is more cost efficient. Even if you have to buff out a few dings from road dirt, it might be worth it for the less expensive transportation.

Ensure that You're Insured

Large commercial auto transport services offer their own insurance packages to protect your car in the event of damage on the road, but if you go with a smaller company you may have to find your own insurance.

Before you pay for any outside insurance, you should check with your own personal auto insurance company. If you already have comprehensive coverage, then your car transportation may already be covered. If it's not, your auto insurance company may be able to offer you a more comprehensive and less expensive policy for the trip than the transport company can.

With a few precautions, having the car that you bought online shipped to your home can be just as convenient as shopping for and buying the car was.