How I Shipped My Car Across The Country [PARTNER POST]

As many of you know, I was pretty sick of my Subaru Forester and replaced it with a brand-new Honda CR-V Hybrid. Even better, because our co-founder Beau owns a Honda dealership I got a great deal on my big red hybrid. The problem? I live on the East Coast and Galpin Honda, Beau’s dealership, is on the West Coast.

As much as I’d love to drive the car from LA to New York on one of my frequent visits to California, I didn’t have the time this summer and I didn’t feel like immediately putting all those miles on my car. This meant I would need to ship my car.

As luck would have it, we brought on a new partner in Nexus Auto Transport, and shipping is their specialty. The company reached out to The Autopian just as I was trying to solve my problem and, in addition to coming on as a partner, Nexus agreed to let us document the process and arrange to have a camera put in the transporter to see what it’s like to drive cross-country.

There are a ton of options when it comes to getting your car moved, and it depends a lot on your specific needs. What I needed was what I think most people need: reliable, predictable, quick, and affordable transportation for my car. Here’s a guide to how I did it.

Step One: Decide What Kind Of Transporter You Need

As mentioned, I got a great deal because of our relationship with Galpin. Expensive shipping could have eaten up much of those savings, so I was on the lookout for something affordable. It’s a brand-new car and not a collectible (yet) so an open carrier was what I was looking to book. While it’s not a new 911 GT3, I did want a trustworthy and easily trackable service.

Here are the ways I considered doing it, ranging from the least to the most expensive:

Driving The Car Myself

I’m not Alex Roy, so the fastest I could probably do this is four very long days of getting nothing else done but driving (and listening to podcasts). If I tied purchasing the car to an existing trip I could save on the flight and I’d just have to pay for gas and hotels/food. This was still likely the cheapest option, but barely, and not worth the time away. Add wear and tear to the car, and you can forget it.

Consumer-Shipper Marketplace

There are a few marketplaces out there, like U-Ship, that let you accept bids from shippers. You can potentially snag a good deal here, but it’s harder to know who the other person is that you’re dealing with and the risks are seemingly higher. There are also marketplaces that will connect you with an individual, which opens up a whole different can of worms. I know people who have had good experiences and people who have had bad ones using these marketplaces.

A Trusted Broker

This is the sweet spot for me. Nexus Auto Transport is a broker that deals only with specific shippers it trusts, and Nexus handles all the work for you. I also got a cost that was very competitive with what other shippers were offering and had the option for enclosed/open and expedited shipping.

A Name Brand Car Shipping Company

There are some name-brand carriers out there, and that can be a good solution for specific types of cars or situations, but having used some of these carriers before it wasn’t worth the cost for me.

Step Two: Get A Quote

Before we sign up a new partner we also make sure the companies are legitimately something we’d use and are on the up-and-up, which means I did most of my planning before I reached back out to Nexus. Of all the options out there, Nexus had the easiest-to-use calculator for getting a quote.

I told them what I needed shipped, where it was going, and roughly my timing.

The price they offered me was $1,755 for an insured, door-to-door delivery. For $2,133 I could have had an expedited delivery and for $2,355 they offered an enclosed carrier, white-glove service, and more insurance. Obviously, it’s a CR-V, so I went with the best price.

It’s important to note that these prices aren’t the same from day to day or even by vehicle type, as pricing fluctuates due to how much trucking availability there is, fuel prices, et cetera. This was, proportionally, a little cheaper than what David was charged to ship his BMW i3 the other way, so I pulled the trigger.

Step Three: Arrange Shipment With The Parties

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I paid for the shipment in advance and was assigned a dispatcher, James, who would handle all of the details. I connected him with my dealer contact, Ron, at Galpin Honda and they worked out most of the arrangements.

I like to do things by text and email, so that’s how we mostly communicated during the delivery. A car dealer constantly receives and ships cars so there was no concern about doing a pickup at Galpin. My street is a little narrow, so we arranged to have the car dropped off at a parking lot in a nearby big box store to be safe.

Rather quickly, Nexus was able to find an approved driver and get me a slot a day earlier than I expected. Because there was still paperwork, we moved the pickup to the next morning. You can see from the Instagram reel above (or linked here) how easy it was.

Step Four: Wait And Watch

The initial estimate was for a 7-to-8-day window of delivery, which was a little tight due to a camping trip I’d scheduled. Weather, accidents, and road closures can impact a vehicle that has to cross almost 3,000 miles of North America so they tend to give a broader range of time, just in case.

Both James, from Nexus, and Beck, the driver were in communication with me the whole trip. David also put an AirTag in my trunk and so I was able to watch as Beck made quick work of the Arizona and New Mexico before dropping off a car in Dallas.

Once the carrier reached Dallas I had the sense that the CR-V was going to show up early and, in fact, both James and Beck reached out to confirm that the vehicle could be there as soon as five days if I was ready to receive it.

Step Five: Getting Your Vehicle

I excitedly waited in the Home Depot parking lot, my eyes laser-focused on the road that connects to the freeway entrance ramp. I didn’t have to wait long before Beck wheeled the big Volvo and its carrier into the lot with precision.

Beck was pretty sure he could drop it on my street, which was even better, so that’s what we ended up doing.

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There were fewer cars than when the truck had left Los Angeles, so my CR-V rolled easily off in Beck’s expert hands. I did a quick walkaround of my new car, handed Beck a box of Girl Scout cookies and a tip (not required, but a good thing to do), and signed paperwork asserting that the vehicle was free of any damage.

Other than a little dirt from the road, the CR-V looked great. Knowing I was going to be taking a camping trip the next day in my new hybrid crossover I didn’t even bother washing it (a smart move).

Overall, the experience with Nexus was great, and both the price and speed were better than I’d initially expected. The communication was excellent and I was never worried about the car. Don’t just take my word for it! A friend/reader needed to move a car and reached out to see if I had any recommendations. They used Nexus and also had a great experience:

Dad knows what’s up!

Come back tomorrow and I’ll post the full 25-minute, 3,000-mile timelapse from Los Angeles to New York and then link it back here.

[This is a partner post created with Nexus Auto Transport. They’re the shipper we recommend for moving whatever kind of car you’ve got. In addition to being an Autopian partner, they provided a discount on this shipment.]