Estimate your car shipping cost
Honest all-in range, not a lead-bait teaser. Rates as of 2026-07.
Estimated all-in range
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How this estimate is worked out
The cheapest quote you see online is usually not the real price. Brokers often lowball to win your contact info, then raise the price once a carrier is found. This range reflects honest, published market pricing, not a teaser rate. Learn how the quote game works.
Cost per mile, by distance
| Distance | Open transport, per mile |
|---|---|
| Under 500 mi | $1.25 – $2.00 |
| 500-1,500 mi | $0.65 – $1.20 |
| Over 1,500 mi | $0.55 – $0.95 |
Short hauls cost more per mile because fixed carrier costs spread across fewer miles. Rates as of 2026-07, reviewed 2026-07-02.
What changes the price
- Enclosed transport: 1.3x–1.6x the open rate. Enclosed typically runs 30-60% more per mile than open transport for the same route.
- Inoperable vehicle: +$150–$300 flat. Non-running vehicles need a winch and add a flat surcharge for the extra loading time and equipment.
- Snowbird / peak season: +10%–25% on affected lanes. Snowbird migration season (fall southbound, spring northbound) plus summer peak moving months push demand and price up 10-25% on affected lanes.
- Expedited pickup: +15%–40% over flexible-date pricing. Guaranteed or expedited pickup windows commonly add 15-40% over standard flexible-date pricing.
Why the cheapest quote is usually a trap
Page one for almost any car-shipping search is brokers running a quote calculator built to capture your phone number, not to price your move honestly. Here's the mechanism, plainly.
- A broker quotes you a price that looks great, often well under what the route actually costs to move.
- You book and often pay a deposit. The broker now has your business locked in.
- The broker shops your load to actual carriers. No carrier will take it at the lowball price, because carriers know their real costs.
- Days pass. Eventually the broker calls back: the price has to go up, or your pickup keeps getting pushed.
- You're stuck. Cancel and lose the deposit, or pay the new, higher price. Either way, the "great deal" was never real.
Red flags to check before you book
- A quote that's noticeably below every other quote you got for the same route and vehicle. A price roughly 25% under the market average is the classic warning sign.
- A broker who wants a deposit before telling you which carrier will actually move your car.
- Contract language that lets the price change with no cap, buried in the fine print as an "estimate subject to change."
- Pressure to book immediately, or a countdown-style urgency pitch. Legitimate carriers don't need to rush you.
- No physical address, no verifiable FMCSA/USDOT number, or reviews that are suspiciously uniform and recent.
A legitimate carrier or broker asks for a modest deposit, usually $100-$200, often only after a carrier is actually dispatched to your vehicle. The balance is paid to the driver at delivery. If the numbers on your quote don't look like that, ask why before you sign anything.
Check the detail behind the estimate
The estimator gives you a range. These explain what moves it, so you can tell a fair quote from an opening bid.
Ready to book? Compare vetted carriers.
We don't move cars ourselves. When you're ready, compare quotes from multiple vetted carriers, not a single lowball teaser.
We're still vetting a vetted auto-transport carrier network for honesty and legitimacy before linking out. No lowball-bait partners, ever.
Protect the move with shipping insurance
Carrier liability coverage has real limits. A dedicated car-shipping insurance policy closes the gap for high-value or classic vehicles.
We're still vetting a car-shipping insurance provider for honesty and legitimacy before linking out. No lowball-bait partners, ever.
Affiliate/lead disclosure: if you book through a link above, CarPassage may earn a referral fee at no extra cost to you. We don't ship cars or sell quotes ourselves; we estimate costs neutrally and only link to partners we've vetted for legitimate, non-lowball pricing practices.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a real quote or an estimate?
An honest estimate, built from aggregated published auto-transport pricing data, not a locked quote from any single carrier or broker. It exists so you know the real range before a broker gives you a lowball number.
Why does the estimate show a range instead of one number?
Because a single number invites you to compare it against a broker's teaser quote and feel like you got a deal when you didn't. A range is honest about how pricing actually works: it depends on carrier availability, season, and how flexible your pickup date is.
Does CarPassage broker or move cars?
No. CarPassage is a neutral cost estimator and guide. We don't own trucks, dispatch carriers, or take a cut of your shipment price. When you're ready to book, we point you to vetted carrier networks, but the estimate itself is independent of who you end up booking with.
How often is the pricing data updated?
We re-verify the underlying cost bands quarterly, since rates move with fuel prices and seasonal demand. Every page with a price shows its rates-as-of date so you know exactly how current the numbers are.