Car Shipping Cost: 23 Real Quotes and What Drives the Price
Car shipping cost is not one number; it moves with the corridor, the vehicle, the transport type, how flexible your pickup window is, and the season. This page explains each driver and shows dated public ranges from broker cost guides we read today, so you can see the shape of the market. None of these figures is our price; ours is one number confirmed for your specific shipment before you pay.
What 23 real quotes for one car came to (September 2026)
On September 22 to 25, 2026 we asked car carriers and brokers what they charge to ship one car: a 2020 Toyota RAV4, running, on an open carrier, door to door, first available October 5 to 16 with a flexible window. We asked for the all-in total with every mandatory fee. These are the prices they sent back, by route. We do not name the companies; each figure is one company's written quote or on-screen price for that exact job.
| Route | Road miles | Quotes | All-in price | Per mile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orlando, FL to Jacksonville, FL | 140 | 1 | $450 | $3.21 |
| Detroit, MI to Grand Rapids, MI | 158 | 2 | $344 to $894 | $2.18 to $5.66 |
| Atlanta, GA to Savannah, GA | 249 | 3 | $210 to $625 | $0.84 to $2.51 |
| St. Louis, MO to Kansas City, MO | 249 | 1 | $795 | $3.19 |
| Miami, FL to Tampa, FL, and Tampa to Miami (one broker, same price each way) | 280 | 2 | $745 | $2.66 |
| New York, NY to Charleston, SC | 761 | 1 | $1,200 | $1.58 |
| New York, NY to Nashville, TN | 884 | 2 | $975 to $1,140 | $1.10 to $1.29 |
| Philadelphia, PA to Tampa, FL | 1,043 | 1 | $1,174 | $1.13 |
| Chicago, IL to Orlando, FL | 1,122 | 3 | $920 to $1,240 | $0.82 to $1.11 |
| Seattle, WA to Los Angeles, CA | 1,135 | 1 | $1,400 | $1.23 |
| Houston, TX to Miami, FL | 1,187 | 1 | $980 | $0.83 |
| Minneapolis, MN to New York, NY | 1,202 | 1 | $1,276 | $1.06 |
| Los Angeles, CA to Dallas, TX | 1,438 | 1 | $1,600 | $1.11 |
| Phoenix, AZ to Chicago, IL | 1,755 | 1 | $1,400 | $0.80 |
| Los Angeles, CA to Charlotte, NC | 2,414 | 1 | $1,465 | $0.61 |
| New York, NY to Los Angeles, CA | 2,794 | 1 | $1,895 | $0.68 |
What the numbers show:
- Short trips cost the most per mile. Under 300 miles, most quotes ran $2 to $3.50 a mile, because loading, unloading and the drive to the pickup cost the same whatever the distance. A 140-mile in-state move still came to $450.
- Long trips cost the least per mile. Coast to coast, New York to Los Angeles came to $0.68 a mile; Los Angeles to Charlotte, $0.61.
- Two quotes for the same trip can differ by more than double. Atlanta to Savannah came back at $210, $550 and $625; Detroit to Grand Rapids at $344 and $894. A low first number is worth checking against a second quote before you pay a deposit.
- Most quotes came with a deposit or a cancellation fee. Deposits we were quoted ran from $150 to $300; a published cancellation fee after a carrier is assigned is usually $100 to $250.
Routes linked in the table have an online price on this site today.
The parts of the price
| Driver | What decides it | Published ranges (their pages, their scope, read 2026-09-21) |
|---|---|---|
| Distance / corridor | Shorter hauls cost more per mile; longer hauls cost less per mile but more in total | Sherpa Auto Transport publishes per-mile bands from about $1.55-$2.50/mile under 500 miles down to $0.50-$0.65/mile over 2,500 miles (sherpaautotransport.com); a sample of quotes from eight transport companies for one sedan showed $650-$890 at 500 miles, $800-$1,350 at 1,000 miles, and $1,050-$1,800 at 2,500 miles (kbb.com) |
| Vehicle size and weight | Larger vehicles (SUVs, trucks, minivans) take more carrier space | A vehicle larger than an average sedan typically adds about $190-$250 (moveadvisor.com) |
| Open vs enclosed | Enclosed trailers protect the vehicle from weather and road debris but carry fewer cars per load | Both guides describe enclosed transport adding roughly 50% or more over open-carrier rates (sherpaautotransport.com; kbb.com) |
| Pickup-window flexibility | A flexible window lets a carrier fit your vehicle into an existing route; an exact date narrows carrier options | Expedited shipping can add about $250-$625 over a standard window (moveadvisor.com) |
| Season | Late spring through summer is the heaviest moving season | Summer prices run about $250-$375 higher per trip than the rest of the year (moveadvisor.com); prices also tend to run higher in January (sherpaautotransport.com) |
What "open vs enclosed" means for us specifically
Open carrier is our standard service and what almost every carrier we found runs. Enclosed transport is a request, not a priced service yet: tell us in your request and a person follows up; we do not publish an enclosed price until we hold cost evidence for it. When enclosed is worth the extra: open vs enclosed car shipping.
Inoperable vehicles
A vehicle that does not start or roll under its own power needs winching or a lift gate, which adds cost. We do not price inoperable shipments online yet; a person handles that request separately.
How our price is built
One all-in number for your shipment: the corridor, the vehicle, the transport type, your pickup-window flexibility, and the season. On routes with a current dated quote we show that price online and you pay at checkout; on every other route a person builds the price for your job before anything is charged. See how our pricing works.
What this page is not
None of the ranges in the drivers table is our price, and we did not request a quote from the guide sites cited there. The real-quote table above is the prices companies sent us for one specific car and window; your own route and dates can differ.
Questions
- Why do prices per mile go down on longer hauls? Loading, unloading and route planning are largely fixed costs, spread over more miles on a long haul; the sourced per-mile bands above show this pattern (sherpaautotransport.com, read 2026-09-21).
- Is a "$1 per mile" rule accurate? One guide we read describes that as a rough rule of thumb around a 1,000-mile shipment, not a fixed formula (kbb.com, read 2026-09-21); our confirmed price accounts for the other drivers on this page too.
- Does my exact vehicle model change the price? Size and weight matter more than the specific model; two mid-size sedans usually price close together, an SUV or truck typically does not.
Sources
- Sherpa Auto Transport, car shipping cost guide, per-mile bands and seasonal notes (https://www.sherpaautotransport.com/guides/car-shipping-cost/, read 2026-09-21).
- MoveAdvisor, car shipping cost guide, vehicle-size, expedited and seasonal figures (https://moveadvisor.com/move/how-much-does-it-cost-to-ship-a-car/, read 2026-09-21).
- Kelley Blue Book, car shipping cost guide, quoted-sample ranges by distance (https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/costs-shipping-vehicle/, read 2026-09-21).