Tips to Avoid These 7 Common Car Shipping Mistakes

Transporting your car is the best way to have it arrive at your new destination while remaining stress free during the moving. But let’s face it, there are some common car shipping mistakes that people tend to make when shipping their car to another state. These errors mostly occur when people don’t do basic things such as researching well or comparing quotes, which leads to bad experiences or car damages during the process.

We know how important it is to you to receive your vehicle delivered in excellent condition and during the times scheduled by your company. And although most of your vehicle shipping depends on your auto transport company, there are several factors that rely only on you, and define the level of success of the service you requested. Let's get deep into the most common errors during car transport and the best tips to avoid them. Knowing about them will make your car shipping experience go smoothly from the start.

Common Errors and Tips To Avoid Them 

Bad Company Research

As we’ve mentioned before, one of the most common mistakes is not researching well for an auto transport company. Did you know that this is the most important step in the shipping process? Well, if you’re not taking your time to research for a good auto transport company, you’re doing it wrong. So, what does it mean to research wisely?

Researching wisely is basically looking for several reliable auto transport companies that are well known for having years of experience in the industry, great customer reviews, good prices and customer service. Right after you have your list with several companies that fulfill this, request auto transport quotes on each of them, reach out to an agent and compare prices and select the one that better fits your needs.

Last Minute Booking

Although there are certain circumstances that make you book a last-minute car shipping service, such as a job issue or an adverse family situation, doing it right before the deadline will not guarantee good results. 

As soon as you request a service, it will take some time to find a carrier for you, since this depends mostly on availability and the transport method chosen. Time range varies between a day and a week for most shipping companies, therefore doing it last minute is not the best option since it will take time to find a carrier. Also, your vehicle’s destination depends on the carrier’s availability, since less popular routes have fewer carriers driving along them.

We recommend you to book your service ahead, between 2 or 3 weeks prior to your shipment. Doing this will help guarantee carrier availability and expected delivery dates. 

Not Having Insurance for Your Vehicle 

Reliable auto transport companies must have appropriate insurance for shipping a car. This ensures you that the company will cover most unexpected damages in case it happens. If the company you’re requesting the service from doesn’t include vehicle insurance, then it is not a good company to trust. 

Always ask for a copy of the insurance certificate after your vehicle is assigned to a carrie. In case the coverage is not sufficient, you can look for additional coverage from your own insurance provider or pay an extra fee to the company. That mainly depends on the kind of damage coverages elected. 

Not Having Your Car Ready

By this, we mean being unprepared with certain things on your vehicle that are a must when you need to transport a car. They may sound basic, but are very important when it comes to this. 

• Have your car clean: Did you know that most scratches or dents caused during auto transport are missed due to dirty vehicles? Well, dust and other elements can actually hide the most minimal damage on the external parts of your car and you won’t even notice. As such, you’ll be signing the final documents, receiving your car, and after two or three days you’ll be cleaning it and noticing the small damages. Sadly, it will be too late to claim for insurance.
• Leaving personal belongings inside your car: A main factor that directly affects shipping car costs is weight. Therefore, leaving personal belongings inside your vehicle can add extra weight to your car and consequently, increase the total price. Most auto transport companies allow you to keep a few items inside your vehicle only with a maximum weight limit. However, we recommend you to keep everything while your car is shipped so you avoid any inconveniences, loss, high costs and even damages.
• Car functionality: Shipping a car without checking its main parts is like cooking something new without even looking at the recipe. This is a crucial step because there are certain requirements that auto transport companies ask you to follow so that everything works the right way. Check the tires, oil and gas levels for your car before shipment. Your gas tank should be filled up to ¼, enough for loading and unloading it.    

Paying Fees Prior to The Total Amount

Some auto transport companies ask for certain amounts of money before making you pay the actual total amount agreed to. You should know that a real and reliable auto transport company won’t ever ask you to pay a part of the total cost in advance of finding you a carrier. If you’re being asked to do this, you’re in the wrong place. 

You should always pay the entire shipping cost when you’re asked too, and avoid being priced for requesting a simple quote. Quotes should be always free, keep this in mind.

Transferring Money

Please don’t prepare a wire transfer payment! This is a crucial indicator that your shipping company isn't that reliable or trustworthy.

Reliable auto transport companies will only accept major credit cards, which are the most frequent and safe payment methods when shipping a car. Upon delivery - drivers are typically paid the remaining portion with cash, cashier’s check, or money order, and will provide you a receipt.

Not Indicating All of Your Vehicle’s Features

This is also known as vehicle misrepresentation, and is way more common than you can imagine. People usually don’t prepare well for shipping their vehicles, avoiding important information and facts they should know before starting the process.

Let’s take a look at an example. Imagine you request a shipping service for a pickup truck. While talking to your agent and giving him/her your vehicle’s information (size, weight, brand, type, among others) you forget to tell it's a dually pickup truck. When your carrier arrives for loading, he notices that your vehicle is not what he was told to. He requires certain elements for loading it, since loading a wider truck is a different process from loading a standard truck. 

This turns into an unexpected issue, because your driver won’t be able to start the shipping process, making you pay a dry run free for wasting his time, besides having you to request a new auto transport service with the right info on another date.

Remember to always give detailed information about your car’s features so your carrier prepares and begins the shipping process without any inconveniences to yourself or the hauler.

AmeriFreight is Right There For You

An experienced auto transport company will not only help you avoid these types of mistakes, but will also ensure you the best experience along with competitive prices. All you need to do is request a quote via phone call or website, and chat with one of our expert agents. They will provide you the necessary information to ship your car, and will ensure you complete the steps mentioned above before starting the process. 

We have years of experience in the industry and thousands of customers that return to our services whenever they need to transport a vehicle to another destination, no matter the distance. You’ll be more than happy with us during the entire vehicle shipping, so don’t think twice and chat with us today!