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How To Prepare My Car For Shipping

8 Tips That Will Help You Get Ready Before Shipping Your Car Cross-Country.

Are you relocating your car? It’s always very confusing on what you can leave in your car during shipping, or should i fuel up before the carrier picks up. Don’t make these simple mistakes as some could potentially cost you.

Door to door shipping is not going to save you from clearing items out of your car, make sure you prepare for shipping and save on some headaches later.

Before your scheduled pickup and delivery date, we suggest that you:

Disable The Alarm

As your vehicle is about to be delivered hundreds or thousands of miles, the auto transporter is sure to encounter a few bumps in the road during the process. Deactivating your alarm will save them a lot of time and frustration during your vehicle’s transport. If these bumps activate your car’s alarm, the carrier will need to stop and address the problem.

Wash The Interior

The interior of your vehicle should be washed for two reasons. First, you will have the opportunity to make sure that all of your personal belongings have been taken out of the car. Second, your car will be clean when you pick it up at your destination.

Wash The Exterior

As well as cleaning the interior of your car, we recommend thoroughly washing the exterior as well. Get rid of any dirt and debris that may cause a safety concern for other drivers. Make it easy on yourself and the driver to identify the real condition of your vehicle at pick up and delivery. If its travelling in an enclosed car carrier, you’ll have a fresh clean car to get into at delivery.

Check For Leaks

When your car leaks oil and transmission fluid, the excess fluid can get blown around, particularly if it is being transported on an open carrier transport. The fluids may run down and damage other vehicles. We recommend repairing leaks before transporting your vehicle, not required but more of a recommendation.

In the event that you cannot, please notify us so that we can pass this information onto the carrier. The hauler will probably put your car on the bottom level of the trailer in an effort to minimize this concern.

Run The Fuel Down

Your auto transporter charges you for shipping based on the distance traveled and the weight of your vehicle. Don’t pay more by filling up your tank before shipping, turn your fuel down to about a quarter tank before the carrier arrives. You will have plenty of opportunities to fuel up when you get your vehicle delivered to your destination. Once your vehicle is loaded onto the trailer, it is hauled to its destination and unloaded.

Document The Condition Of The Vehicle

As we mentioned above, washing your car will this mthis step so much easier, before the carrier loads your vehicle into the trailer for cross-country car shipping, thoroughly document its condition. After you’ve washed your car, take photos from various perspectives.

Compare the current vehicle condition to the images you took when your vehicle is delivered. If there are any anomalies and your automobile does not arrive in excellent condition, notify your car movers at once.

Remove Personal Property

Unfortunately, you will not be able to load your trunk and passenger compartment with bags. Not only will the extra weight increase your average expense, but it can also be unsafe. If your luggage is tossed around, it may cause damage to the interior of your vehicle.

The Department of Transportation regulates commercial truck weight on the highways to ensure public safety at all times, if the truck is overweight they may levy fines against the carrier. If this happens, you could be held liable for the breach. You should minimize delays and car shipping costs by not packing your car full of stuff.

 Remove Toll Transponder

Doesn’t matter if its going in an enclosed transport, or open carrier, remove the toll transponder.

It’s really advantageous to have a transponder in your automobile to rapidly pass through toll checks. However, you must remove it before the auto carrier arrives to pick up your vehicle. If you leave it turned on, your account will be charged for each toll the carrier passes through. Those tolls are going to build up rapidly because your car is about to drive hundreds or thousands of miles.

Do you want to ship your car? Click here to get a quote from our team of auto transport specialists!

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