Car Moving Services: Five Ways to Get a Car to Your New Home

When you move to a new state, the car has to get there somehow. There are five realistic ways to do it, and each one trades money, time and risk differently. Here’s an honest look at all five, including the ones that don’t involve us.

1. Drive It Yourself

The obvious choice, and for a move of a few hundred miles it’s often the right one. Over long distances the costs add up fast: fuel, hotels, meals, days off work, and thousands of miles of wear on the car. Our driving vs. shipping breakdown runs the numbers on a 2,000-mile trip.

Best for: short moves, or when you want the road trip.

2. Tow It Behind the Moving Truck

Truck rental companies rent tow dollies and car trailers, so you can pull your car behind the moving truck. It saves the cost of shipping, but it makes the drive harder: you can’t back up with a tow dolly, fuel economy drops, and some states set lower speed limits for vehicles towing a trailer. California, for one, caps them at 55 mph.

Best for: confident drivers on shorter moves, with one car.

3. Hire Someone to Drive It

A driveaway service puts a hired driver behind your wheel. Your car arrives on its own schedule, but it also arrives with every one of those miles on the odometer, plus whatever happened along the way. Check the company’s insurance carefully.

Best for: cars where extra miles don’t matter much.

4. Send It With Your Household Movers

Some moving companies offer to take your car. Sometimes it rides in the moving van with your furniture; often the mover hires a car carrier and adds a fee. Ask exactly how it travels, who’s insured for what, and whether the car can arrive on a different day than your boxes. See our guide to lining up movers and car shipping.

Best for: keeping everything on one contract, if the terms are clear.

5. Ship It on a Car Carrier

A licensed carrier picks the car up near your old home and delivers it near your new one, with no miles added. Open carriers are the standard choice; enclosed costs more and protects special cars from weather and road grit. You fly or drive the family car, and the second car shows up on a truck.

Best for: long moves, second cars, and anyone who’d rather not spend a week on the interstate.

How to Choose

• Under about 500 miles: driving is usually simplest, unless it’s a second car with no second driver.
• Long distance, one car, tight budget: towing can work if you’re comfortable with a trailer.
• Long distance, or more than one car: shipping often wins once you add up time, fuel, hotels and wear.

Whatever you choose, get the shipping number before you decide. Get a free quote and compare it with the real cost of the other four.