How to Ship a Car You Bought Out of State

You found the car you want, agreed on a price, and purchased it from a seller in another state. Now there’s one more thing to figure out: How are you going to get it home?

Maybe you bought it from a private seller hundreds of miles away. Maybe you found it on Autotrader or eBay Motors. Or maybe you won an online auto auction like Copart and need to arrange transportation before storage fees start adding up.

Whatever the situation, you don’t necessarily have to travel to pick up the vehicle yourself. You can hire an auto transport company to pick it up from the seller and deliver it to you.

At J&S Transportation, we arrange shipments for customers who purchase vehicles throughout the country. We’ve learned that the shipping itself is usually pretty straightforward. The details that require more attention are making sure the vehicle is ready for pickup, coordinating with whoever has it, and arranging transportation that works for that particular situation.

Here’s what you need to know.

How Do I Arrange Shipping for a Car I Bought Out of State?

The first step is to get a car shipping quote using the vehicle’s pickup and delivery locations, year, make, model, and operating condition.

You can do this before completing the purchase. In fact, getting a quote while you’re still considering the vehicle is a good idea. You’ll know what transportation will cost and can factor that into your total purchase price.

Once you’ve purchased the vehicle, there are a few things to coordinate before pickup:

1. Confirm the sale is complete. The seller needs to have received payment and complete any paperwork required to release the vehicle.
2. Provide the pickup contact information. Your transport company needs to know who has the vehicle, where it’s located, and how to reach the person responsible for releasing it.
3. Confirm the vehicle’s condition. Make sure the transport company knows whether the vehicle runs and drives normally or has mechanical problems that could complicate loading.
4. Arrange for someone to meet the driver. At a private residence or dealership, someone over the age of 18 needs to be available to hand over the keys and complete the pickup inspection. Auction facilities have their own procedures.
5. Keep important documents with you. Don’t leave the vehicle title, bill of sale, or other important ownership documents inside the car during transport.

Once everything is ready, the transport company can coordinate pickup and delivery.

The process is similar regardless of what state the vehicle is shipping from, but there are some important differences depending on who you’re buying it from.

Shipping a Car From a Private Seller, Online Marketplace, Auto Auction, or Dealership

One of the biggest factors in arranging transportation for an out-of-state purchase is where the vehicle is being picked up.

Picking up a car from someone’s driveway is different from picking up at a dealership or an auto auction with restricted pickup hours. Here’s how we approach each situation.

Transporting a Used Car Bought from a Private Seller

If you purchase a used car from an individual in another state, we’ll work with both you and the seller to coordinate the shipment.

Before scheduling pickup, we may ask the seller for a bill of sale or other written confirmation that the transaction is finalized and payment has been received.

We want to make sure the seller is ready to release the vehicle before sending a driver. Anything the seller tells us about the vehicle’s availability or pickup arrangements, we share with you.

We also make sure the seller understands what’s required when the driver arrives.

The seller, or another person who is at least 18 years old, must be available at pickup. That person needs to meet the driver, provide the keys, and sign the shipping paperwork (Bill of Lading).

If the vehicle is parked at a private residence, the driver may not be able to bring a large car carrier directly to the front door. Residential streets sometimes have weight restrictions, tight corners, or other obstacles.

The seller needs to be willing to meet the driver at a nearby location if necessary.

Once we confirm the sale is complete and the seller is prepared for pickup, we can move forward with scheduling transportation. That way, you can have your used car shipped directly from the seller without having to travel out of state to pick it up yourself.

How to Ship a Car You Bought Online

If you bought a car online from a seller in another state, you can arrange delivery through an independent auto transport company like J&S Transportation.

Some popular places to buy vehicles online include Autotrader, eBay Motors, Cars.com, and CarGurus.

The first step is making sure the transaction is finalized and the seller is ready to release the vehicle.

Some online marketplaces also provide access to shipping services. For example, eBay Motors works with uShip to offer transportation options to vehicle buyers.

However, you can also arrange transportation independently with a company like J&S Transportation.

When you choose us, we’ll coordinate with the person or business selling the vehicle, confirm it’s ready to be released, and arrange pickup.

Even though you purchased the car online, the actual pickup usually takes place at a dealership, private residence, or another physical location.

We’ll work with the seller to arrange the shipment.

Buying a Car From an Auto Auction

Shipping a vehicle purchased from an auto auction can be more complicated.

Two of the major auction companies we regularly deal with are Copart and IAA (Insurance Auto Auctions).

These auctions sell a variety of vehicles, including many that have been damaged, declared total losses, or issued salvage titles.

That creates a challenge for transportation.

A vehicle might be listed as running and driving but have a weak battery, mechanical problems, or damage that makes it difficult to load. Others are completely inoperable.

Carriers need to know about those conditions beforehand so they can arrive with the appropriate equipment and trailers.

Auction pickups also come with logistical challenges. Facilities may have limited pickup hours, required appointments, specific vehicle-release procedures, and deadlines for removing purchased vehicles.

Then there’s the issue of storage fees.

Some auctions begin charging storage fees within days of the sale. If you wait until after winning the auction to arrange transportation, you might not have enough time to schedule pickup before those charges begin.

Our advice is to get a shipping quote and start planning transportation before you bid.

J&S handles auction transports throughout the country, including shipments from Copart and IAA. These transports generally cost more because of the additional coordination, equipment requirements, and pickup challenges involved.

We’ve covered those issues in more detail in our article about the cost of shipping a car from Copart.

If you’re considering an auction vehicle, make sure you understand its condition, the auction’s release requirements, and how quickly it needs to be removed from the auction facility.

Shipping a New or Used Car Bought from a Dealership

Of all the situations we’ve discussed, shipping cars purchased from out-of-state dealerships is where we have the most experience because we do these kind of transports daily – and have since 2000.

Dealership-to-customer auto transport is one of the biggest parts of our business. We regularly work with dealerships across the country to deliver new and used vehicles to customers who have purchased them from another state.

We also have extensive experience working directly with dealerships through our own fleet operations and nationwide carrier network.

When you book a dealership purchase with us, we work directly with the dealership to confirm the transaction is complete, determine when the vehicle can be released, and coordinate pickup.

We stay in contact with the dealership throughout that process, so you don’t have to manage all the pickup details yourself.

If you’re purchasing a new or used vehicle from a dealership, we have a dedicated page explaining exactly how our car shipping from a dealership service works.

Does Door-to-Door Car Shipping Deliver Directly to My Driveway?

Not always, but that’s the goal whenever the location can safely accommodate a car carrier.

With door-to-door shipping, the transport company picks up the vehicle as close as possible to the seller’s location and delivers it as close as possible to your requested address.

However, the large trucks used to transport multiple vehicles can’t access every residential street.

Low-hanging trees, narrow roads, weight restrictions, steep driveways, and tight turns can make an address inaccessible.

When that happens, we’ll coordinate a nearby location where the driver can safely unload the vehicle and you can meet them. That is usually a large parking lot or another easily accessible location close to your home.

The same principle applies at pickup. If you’ve purchased a vehicle from a private seller, the seller may need to meet the driver somewhere nearby.

For most buyers, door-to-door shipping is the most convenient option because the vehicle comes to them rather than requiring a separate trip to a shipping terminal.

Can I Ship an Out-of-State Project Car or Vehicle that Doesn’t Run?

Yes, in many cases. However, shipping a non-running vehicle requires more planning than transporting one that starts and drives normally.

This is particularly relevant if you’ve purchased a project car, a damaged auction vehicle, or an older vehicle that hasn’t been driven in years.

A carrier normally loads an operational vehicle by driving it onto the trailer. When a car doesn’t run, the driver may need a winch or other specialized equipment.

We can arrange transportation for qualifying inoperable vehicles, but the vehicle must be able to roll, steer, and brake.

If it has locked wheels, damaged steering components, or other problems that prevent it from being moved safely, it may require specialized transportation beyond a standard auto carrier.

It’s also important to be accurate about the vehicle’s condition.

If the seller tells you the vehicle runs but has trouble starting, share that information with us. A vehicle that starts occasionally is not necessarily one the driver can reliably drive onto a trailer.

Inoperable vehicle shipping costs more and may take longer to schedule because fewer carriers have the necessary equipment.

The earlier we know about the vehicle’s condition, the better we can plan the shipment.

How Do I Inspect the Vehicle at Delivery So Damage Is Properly Documented?

When you’re buying a vehicle in another state, there’s a good chance you haven’t seen it in person before it arrives. That makes the vehicle inspection especially important.

Before the vehicle is loaded, the driver inspects it and documents any existing visible damage on the Bill of Lading (BOL). Photos are also taken to record its condition.

When the car arrives, inspect it before signing the delivery paperwork.

Walk around the vehicle and compare its condition with the pickup inspection. Look for new scratches, dents, or other visible damage that wasn’t documented when the vehicle was loaded.

If you find something that appears to have occurred during transport, point it out to the driver, make sure it’s noted on the delivery Bill of Lading, and take photographs.

Try to complete the inspection in good lighting so you can clearly see the vehicle’s condition.

One important distinction: The carrier’s cargo insurance addresses covered damage that occurs during transportation. It doesn’t cover damage that existed before pickup or problems that weren’t caused by shipping.

That’s particularly important when buying used vehicles remotely or purchasing damaged vehicles from auctions.

Proper documentation at both pickup and delivery helps establish what happened during transport and can be important if you need to file a damage claim.