Relocation Cost for a Car

If you’re wondering if the relocation cost for a car is different from the cost of shipping, that’s because it is. Shipping cost is the amount of money that you pay to an auto shipping company like Riley Auto Transport to have it moved from one location to another. Shipping cost includes taxes, fees, and surcharges associated with the shipment of the vehicle. Relocation cost is the total cost of the project, including things that you don’t necessarily pay to an auto shipping company.

Here are a few minor external costs that you might want to take into account when shipping a car, truck or other vehicle. These costs will not be included in any quotation you receive from Riley Auto Transport, and other car shipping companies will not cover these costs either.

Pre-shipment cleaning. Cleaning the outside of your vehicle is important prior to shipping, because it makes it easy for the driver to see pre-existing damages at the time of pickup. Pre-existing damage will be noted on the Bill of Lading. No special cleaning is needed. You can just take your car or truck to a regular car wash or even wash it by hand in your driveway. Riley Auto Transport does not provide any vehicle cleaning services at this time.

Removal of personal items. We strongly recommend that you remove any and all personal belongings that you may have stored inside your vehicle. We provide insurance to cover any damage to your vehicle during shipment, but insurance does not cover personal items inside the vehicle. If you require assistance to remove the items, you will need to hire someone to help you with this prior to shipping your vehicle as this is not a service that Riley provides.

Insurance on personal items inside the vehicle. If you choose to leave personal items inside the vehicle and wish to ensure them, contact your insurance agent about taking out a special policy to protect them against damages during shipping. Your insurance company may be able to help you protect your items. Riley Auto Transport does not provide any such insurance policies, so these costs are also not included.

Towing or driving to a terminal. If you elect to ship your vehicle from terminal to terminal rather than opting for door to door shipping, please note that it will be your responsibility to drive your car to the terminal or have it towed or driven there by a third-party company. The cost of transportation to a terminal is not included in quotes that Riley provides. (This does not apply if you elect door to door shipping.)

The relocation cost for a car is generally not much different from the shipping cost for most customers. However, we thought it might be helpful to note these slight differences in case you have an exceptional situation.

If you need further clarification about what specific items are covered in the quotations that you receive from our Instant Quote form or from our call center, just call the number on this web site and we will be happy to answer your questions.