Moving your personal items from state to state is simple, but what should you do with your car? Easy! Find out why towing a car is the best option.
The average American moves about eleven times during their lifetime. Many of these moves are across the country. Whether you’re facing a move that’s across the state or across the country, you need to figure out a way to get your car to your new home.
You may think that you need to drive the car to its destination yourself, but this isn’t your only option. You could also have it shipped. Although, you may find that towing a car is your smartest and most economical option.
This guide will help you decide what method will work best for your needs and budget.
Options for Moving Your Car
If you need to get your car from one side of the country to the other, there are a few options that you should consider.
- Drive the car yourself
- Tow the car
- Have the car professionally shipped
The method you choose will depend on your budget and timeline. You’ll quickly see that towing the vehicle yourself can be cost-effective, safe, and timely.
Timeline
Both driving and using a car dolly trailer have the advantage when it comes to your timeline. You can decide when you’ll leave, how long you’ll take to travel, and when you’ll arrive. This can be important if you need the car at the destination by a specific date.
When shipping your vehicle, you’re at the mercy of the carrier. This can result in it taking several weeks for your car to arrive at the destination. There’s also no guarantee that your car will arrive at a specific date.
There’s a way around this; you can pay extra for expedited shipping or guaranteed delivery date. These will help you ensure that your car is there when you need it. The downside is that the cost significantly rises with these extra services.
Costs
As we briefly touched on in the last section, shipping your vehicle can get expensive. But the exact price you will pay depends on several factors. This can make planning a budget challenging.
Shipping Your Vehicle
The cheapest way to ship your vehicle is by open-air truck. If you’re willing to pay more, then you can hire an enclosed truck to transport your vehicle. Then the most expensive option is a dedicated enclosed truck, which means only your vehicle is on the truck.
The cost to ship will depend on the type of truck, the distance you need to ship it, and the size of your vehicle. Large vehicles and longer distances will increase the cost. Additionally, shipping to more remote locations outside of the carrier’s main shipping lanes will also increase the cost.
The shipping cost rises even higher when you elect to have additional services. This includes pick up and drop off at your front door, expedited, and guaranteed delivery date.
Driving and Towing Your Vehicle
Don’t assume that driving or towing the car are low-cost options, though. If you drive the vehicle, then you’ll need to pay for the gas and travel expenses. This includes hotels and food, which can get expensive.
Towing your vehicle will require the same costs as driving. However, you can leverage these expenses to be in your favor. Consider towing your vehicle behind a moving truck. Then you can load everything into your truck and tow the vehicle behind it.
This will save you money on professional movers or shipping your household belongings.
Potential for Damage
Don’t let yourself get drawn into looking for the cheapest shipping option. This can increase the risk of damage or theft, which will cost you more in the long run. This is a common risk with shipping your vehicle on an open truck.
Shipping Your Car
You save money on the open truck, but you put your vehicle at risk of damage or even theft while in transport. Transport trucks aren’t always parked in the safest of locations and can be parked in shipping yards while carriers manage the logistics of their shipments. An enclosed truck will provide your vehicle with more protection.
Driving Your Car
Driving your vehicle also comes with risks. You could end up driving hundreds of miles across the country through heavy traffic. This increases your odds of having an accident.
You’ll also be tempted to load the car up with your personal belongings. This can increase the risk of damage as you load and unload the car.
Towing Your Vehicle
Towing a vehicle provides you with the most amount of protection for your vehicle. Your vehicle will be safely strapped to one of these low loaders, so if there’s an accident, your car is safe. Another option is to use a tow dolly, where your vehicle would roll behind your moving truck with the front wheel elevated.
There’s a slightly greater risk of damage with a dolly. This is because your car is still rolling on the road. So the tires could get punctured or the car hit by someone from behind.
When towing the vehicle yourself with an auto transport trailer rental, you can avoid road debris damage and potentially damaging situations. You can also keep your vehicle safe by only parking in safe places.
Get Your Rig Ready for Towing a Car
As you can see, towing a car can be economical, protective of your car, and flexible for your timeline. This lets you customize how you’ll get your vehicle to its destination. If you’re planning on moving across the country, then you should start looking for trailer rentals.
Browse our other car articles for more helpful advice.
Thanks for helping me understand why hiring towing services is a better option than shipping my vehicle. I have three cars at home, and since we’re moving to a different state, I am looking for a solution to get my car transferred. It’s good to know that towing can protect my car. Besides, it can avoid road debris damage and other damaging situations because it’s safely placed in low loaders. Hopefully, I can find a firm that has been in the business for more than 10 years.