Here in beautiful, sunny California, it may seem a bit silly to count out the possibility of taking a road trip. Considering how nice the weather is, you may even think that it would be preferable to simply move a car yourself as opposed to using some sort of transport service. While it may appear this way at first, the reality is that if you need to get a car in or out of San Jose, you’ll probably want to change your plans a bit if you intended to drive there.
This is a pretty bold statement, we know. We’re here today to explain why this is the case. If you’d like to know more about car shipping companies in San Jose or about the process as a whole, then make sure to keep reading. We’ll be covering all of the juicy details.
Why Ship a Car in the First Place?
Perhaps you’re still wondering why it would be useful to ship a car, and we totally understand that thought process. We can just drive to wherever we need to go, right? Whether you’re entering San Jose or leaving it behind, it does seem sensible to just take a little road trip.
Here’s the thing: that won’t always be practical. Allow us to explain. What would you want to do if you were selling a vehicle? Would you want to drive it out to the buyer, or have them pick it up? What are the logistics there?
All of that would get complicated, fast. There’s also the simple fact that adding a road trip onto an already chaotic move (one of the other main reasons that folks ship a car) can be a disaster. Everyone is already tense and anxious, and sticking them together in a car often has explosive results.
When you do make the decision to ship a car, what happens next? Well, you may want to look into your local companies that offer these services. As we mentioned earlier, there are plenty of options available here in San Jose (and around California as a whole). Try looking for some reviews and see what other customers have to say about them.
Don’t forget that you can also ask for an estimate on how much it would cost to ship a vehicle. You’ll just need to know the make, model, and year of your car, as well as an approximate weight. It works pretty much the same as standard shipping, which you can read about here: https://www.wikihow.life/Determine-Shipping-Costs, in that the weight of your car will have a big influence on what you pay to transport it.
Once you get all of that sorted out, you can start to think about preparing for the transit in a few different ways. For one thing, you’ll probably want to head to an automated car wash or break out the hose at home to give the exterior of your automobile a wash. This is to help the driver when they arrive to pick it up – they’ll have a much easier time cataloguing current damage on the vehicle.
Also, double check the interior of your car to make certain that you’re not accidentally leaving anything behind. After all, there’s a chance that you could never see your personal belongings again if you do leave them inside. Even if you’re transporting it to a new home location because you’re moving, things can happen sometimes during transit.
Now, something else that you’ll probably want to get on top of is sorting out your own documentation as well. An example is your personal ID photo, and you can get more information on that process on this website. Thankfully, most of us looking to ship a car probably have a driver’s license or a passport already, so that gets that covered.
However, the shipping company may also request that you provide things like proof of purchase and insurance for the vehicle being transported, as well as the registration information. They don’t want to end up liable for transporting a stolen automobile, so it’s just a precautionary measure.
Is Car Shipping Worth it?
Part of the issue with car shipping is that many folks worry that the costs involved ultimately aren’t worth it. If you actually do the calculations and make a comparison of the transport costs versus what you’d be paying for gas and road stops along the way, often you’ll find that shipping is less expensive. Consider doing that for your own trip if you aren’t quite sure just yet.
Take into account that there are ways we can reduce the cost of shipping as well. One example of this is if we end up using an open container as opposed to a closed one. Transporting during the off season is another strategy.
