Let’s say you need to look into auto transport companies to ship your vehicle. You mention it to a buddy and they ask: ‘why not sell the car, and just by another one?’ Or, why not drive it yourself?
These are fair questions, and many people genuinely wonder if shipping a car is worth the effort. Well, the honest answer is: it depends. Mostly, on you.
To understand if hiring an auto shipping company is worth the trouble, we need to take a closer look at the benefits this process prevents. If they don’t sound like something appealing to you, then you’ve got your answer.
The Value of Auto Transport
Companies that ship vehicles promise fast, reliable services at incredible rates, and for the most part, that’s completely true!
Auto-shipping is also one of the safest ways of transporting your vehicle because even if something goes wrong and the car suffers damage, the mandatory insurance these companies have will pay for the repairs. Plus, these companies have professional equipment that they use to secure and transport vehicles, minimizing any risk of damage the cars may suffer during transport.
Yet, even if you know all these benefits, a tiny voice may still be questioning if you’re not better off just selling the car instead. To know if that’s the case for you, we need to look at this process from the perspective of three big components:
- Time
- Money
- Peace of mind
1. Time
Time plays a big role here, and we’re not just talking about how much time it takes for the vehicle to physically travel from one location to another.
As you may soon discover, there are a lot of auto transport companies out there, so if you want to hire one, you’ll likely need to dedicate some time to analyze what they offer and see if they can be trusted with your vehicle.
And if you’re the kind of person who doesn’t make decisions based on whims, that research can end up taking a lot more time than the transport itself!
But here’s the thing: selling the vehicle also takes time. You need to take pictures of the car, promote it, and even interact with potential buyers who may not be quick to match your asking point. So if you want to quickly buy a new car from the money you made, this plan can be delayed if you can’t find a buyer fast.
And when it comes to driving it yourself, well, just consider if you have to move to the other side of the country. That would take at least a few days since you can’t drive 24/7 without breaks for sleeping.
2. Money
Shipping your car costs money, that much is no surprise. It’s not the cheapest service around, but given the requirements of this particular kind of job, it can’t exactly come for free.
Many companies will offer special discounts to repeat customers, through referral programs, or if you simply choose to ship your vehicle outside the high seasons, when the numbers of shippings are way down. If you contact several companies, ask for a price estimate, you can use them to compare prices, and find a company that offers services for your budget.
Driving the car yourself won’t be as cheap as you’d hoped, especially for longer distances. Apart from the cost of gas, you need to also factor in money for food, water, and maybe 1-2 nights in a motel.
Selling the car may cost you some money at first, too, especially if you hire someone to help, or pay for an ad to get the message out there. But when you sell the car, you need to consider how much it’s actually worth.
In other words, can you actually buy another car? Or has it devalued over time? Maybe you can sell the car, but need to add extra money to buy another one. If you crunch the numbers, this process can end up costing more than auto shipping prices.
3. Peace of Mind
Lastly, it’s about your peace of mind. Auto shipping’s biggest selling point is that it’s a convenient way to transport a vehicle from one location to another.
Depending on your time, budget, or just willingness to take care of this, the company you hire can even handle every single step of the process, including picking up the car from your garage to dropping it off at its new home. And since the car is secured and insured, you can rest easy and simply wait for the vehicle to arrive.
To be fair, you can get the same peace of mind out of selling your vehicle if you hire someone to do it for you, but that lowers your profits since you’ll likely be paying them a commission.
So, Is It Worth It?
In general, yes, it’s absolutely worth it. As long as you find the right company that can deliver on its promises (that’s a whole other conversation), auto shipping is a great option for people who need to transport their vehicles and can’t drive it themselves.
But again, it really depends on what you need, or even the car itself. If the auto shipping can end up costing more than what the car is worth, then perhaps it’s not worth the trouble at all. Or, if you really like the idea of days on the open road driving the car yourself, then why not just do it?
Can A-1 Auto Transport Help?
If you still don’t know which option is best for you, let A1 Auto Transport put your mind at ease. We’ve got decades of experience in the business and can provide you with a detailed price estimate so you can know exactly what your auto shipping would cost.