You’ve Found a Car Transport Company — Now What?
Finding a good car shipping company can be a pretty daunting task, and once you’ve finally found the right company, you’ll probably feel an overwhelming sense of relief.But then it hits you that you need to do a ton of preparations before sending your car into the Great Unknown with a driver you probably don’t know. You’re probably wondering at this point Where do I go from here?
Although preparations to ship a car will vary depending on the country you’re shipping from/shipping to, as well as the distance your car will travel, there are still some basic tips that can help anyone who needs to get their car ready for shipping:
- You’ve probably already filled out all the forms and contracts required with your car shipping company, but if you haven’t made extra copies of these forms, you’ll want to have everything on file and easily reachable before you send off your car. A lot of companies process transactions and send contracts via the internet, which makes it easy for customers to save an extra copy of any important forms on their computer’s hard drive or on a cloud service. If anything should happen with your car during shipping, you may need to file a legal claim, and all of these documents will be very important.
- You should always do your own evaluation of your car — both the exterior and the interior — before shipping your car. Many car shipping companies also offer to perform their own evaluations of your car, or you can request that some documentation is kept on file regarding the state of your car before shipment. This is extremely important because if something happens to your while it’s being moved — the paint gets scratched, the door gets dented, the radio inside gets stolen — you’ll be able to prove that the damage occurred while it was in the hands of the shipping company and/or third-party carrier.
- And speaking of personal items, make sure to remove everything inside of your car before handing it off — not just extremely valuable items. Does this mean that you should take out every single thing right down to the radio? Probably not — and we don’t want you to think that all car shipping companies are out to steal from their customers — but there’s always a risk that something could get stolen, and small items can easily get lost accidentally during transportation. It’s also a good idea to remove any protruding objects on the exterior of your car, like long antennas or spoilers, because these can easily be damaged during a move. And making an extra set of keys for yourself, just to have on hand as your car is being transported, is a good idea as well.
Additionally, many car transport companies will also offer extra insurance policies for their customers in case something is damaged during the move. Sometimes accidents happen — a scratch here, or a lost key there — and a good company will be ready to take responsibility for whatever happened. But if you’re looking for your own ways to prepare, then these tips should be a good starting point! Read this for more.