The first step in shipping your vehicle from New York to Dallas is picking the transport company you’ll use. While there’s no definitive guide to choosing the best business, generally, you’ll need to keep a few questions in mind:
- Location. Some shipping companies might not operate in New York or Texas, so you must check their services to see which parts of the country you can find them.
- Services. Shipping companies can offer different selections of services. Reading their website or customer reviews can help determine whether they provide enclosed shipping, your preferred payment method, etc.
- Pricing. While cost should not be your sole concern in picking a transport company, finding one within your budget will still be necessary.
- Reliability and legitimacy. Not all transport companies are equally trustworthy! Make sure the business you work with has solid reviews, the proper licensing, and excellent customer service.
Once you’ve chosen your shipping company, you’ll often need to select which shipping method you want to use to transport your vehicle.
The two main types of shipping to keep in mind are open-air and enclosed transport. Open-air shipping is the most common choice, as it’s almost always cheaper and usually ships more quickly.
However, there are also cases where enclosed shipping is the preferred option. Expensive and luxury vehicles, for example, are typically better suited for enclosed shipping, as this transport method significantly reduces the possibility of damage to the car.
When you’re getting ready to send your car to its new destination, there are three crucial steps to follow:
- Ensure you have the proper documentation.
- Carefully inspect your vehicle to ensure it’s ready for transport.
- Create a plan for sending off and retrieving your car.
Let’s go through each of these three steps in more detail.
Generally, the documents you’ll need for shipping your car are relatively straightforward.
First, proof of ownership of the car will be required. Additionally, you must gather other documents: registration for the vehicle, a bill of sale, and proof of insurance.
Fortunately, you likely already have most of these documents readily available.
Next, we strongly recommend that you inspect your car before shipping it to Dallas to ensure it’s ready for transport.
Here’s a quick checklist of items you’ll want to look at beforehand:
- Check the tires’ inflation.
- Double-check that the windows are closed.
- See if the oil levels are full.
- Make sure the radiator has water in it.
- Remove any valuable items from the car.
Lastly, you must know New York and Dallas’s pick-up and drop-off locations.
You or someone you’ve authorized will need to be at both the drop-off and pick-up sites, so it’s crucial to plan ahead and ensure you can be there at both points of the transportation process.
To verify this information, we suggest contacting the transport company directly and writing down the locations and times of arrival.
Generally, you can expect it to take between 5 and 7 days to transport your vehicle from New York to Dallas.
Some factors can cause this period to be shorter or longer, such as the time of year you’re shipping the vehicle, the transport method you’ve chosen, and the company you’ve picked to ship the car.
It’s best to contact the transport company directly to get a more precise estimate of how long the process will take.
The total price of shipping your car from New York to Dallas will vary based on a few broad factors:
- Distance. Even though the distance between the two cities is somewhat uniform, the exact distance between the pick-up and drop-off points will still affect the end price.
- Transport method. As mentioned earlier, some methods (e.g., enclosed shipping) are generally more expensive than others.
- Shipping hours. The total labor hours spent on shipping your car will increase the final transport cost.
You can put your information into an online calculator to get an approximate shipping price estimate.
While shipping your car from its old home in New York City to its future destination in Dallas can pose some challenges, it’s ultimately a straightforward process. So long as you pick the right shipping company, prepare your vehicle for its journey, and budget accordingly, there shouldn’t be any issues.
To learn more about shipping your car and what excellent services you can use to your advantage, check out the rest of the Ship a Car website and browse its many guides and offerings!