What It Costs to Transport a Car Across the UK

Why cost per mile drops over distance

Every transport job has a fixed element. Getting to you, loading, strapping down, unloading, and the paperwork at both ends. That happens whether the journey is thirty miles or three hundred.

On a short move, that fixed element is most of the cost. On a long one, it is spread across far more miles. This is why a 300-mile run rarely costs ten times a 30-mile one, and why very short moves can look expensive per mile.

It is also why combining a delivery with a collection in the same direction can bring the price down. If a transporter is heading that way anyway, the fixed cost is already being paid.

The four things that change the quote

Whether it starts, rolls and steers. A car that drives on under its own power loads in minutes. One that rolls but will not start needs winching on. One that will not roll or steer needs skates and considerably more time.

Access at both ends. A transporter is a large vehicle. Narrow terraced streets, height-restricted car parks, tight farm tracks, steep driveways and soft ground all add time, and occasionally mean the vehicle has to be moved to a meeting point first.

How fixed your dates are. A specific day at a specific time is worth more than 'any time next week'. Flexibility lets the job be fitted around other work in the same direction.

Size and weight. A supermini and a long-wheelbase van are different propositions. So is anything lowered, oversized, or unusually heavy.

The one that catches people out

Access. Almost every awkward transport job I have done was awkward because of where the car was, not how far it was going.

The common ones: an underground car park with a two-metre height barrier, a cul-de-sac with cars parked both sides and nowhere to turn, a gravel driveway that is fine for a car and not for a loaded transporter, and a farm track that looked passable in the summer photos.

None of these are problems if they are known in advance. All of them are problems when they are discovered on the morning of collection with a booked delivery slot at the other end. If you are not sure, say so and describe the street.

Open against enclosed transport

Most cars travel on an open transporter, which is the standard and the cheaper option. The car is exposed to weather and road dirt, which for an ordinary vehicle is no different to driving it.

Enclosed transport costs more and exists for cars where that matters: classics, show cars, freshly restored or resprayed vehicles, and anything where the owner would rather it arrived without a week of motorway grime on it.

For most people, open is the sensible choice. If you are moving something valuable or irreplaceable, ask about enclosed and expect to pay for it.

What a quote should include

Collection and delivery, strapping and securing, and insurance while the vehicle is in transit. Ask what the insurance actually covers and what the excess is, rather than accepting a yes.

Ask whether the price is fixed or an estimate, and what would change it. A quote that can move after booking is not really a quote.

Ask who is driving. Brokers take the booking and sell the job on to whoever is cheapest that week, which is why the vehicle that arrives is sometimes not the company you spoke to.

Getting an accurate price first time

Give both postcodes rather than towns. 'Milton Keynes to Manchester' is a different job depending on which end of each.

Say what the vehicle is, and whether it starts, rolls and steers.

Mention anything odd about either address before you are asked.

Say whether your dates are fixed or flexible.

That is a complete brief and it should get you a firm number rather than a range.

Why your dates change the price

Transport is a routing business. A driver going from the Midlands to the south coast on Thursday has space, and filling it is worth more than leaving it empty.

If your dates are flexible, your car can be fitted into a run that is happening anyway, and the price reflects that. If you need a specific vehicle on a specific morning, the job has to be built around you instead, and that costs more.

This is the single easiest way to reduce a transport quote. Saying 'any time in the next fortnight' rather than 'Tuesday the 14th' often makes a real difference, and costs you nothing but patience.

Brokers and operators are not the same thing

A large share of car transport is sold by brokers. They take the booking, take a margin, and then advertise the job to drivers who bid for it. The vehicle that arrives belongs to whoever took the work at the lowest price that week.

That is not automatically bad, and plenty of good drivers take broker work. But it does mean the company you researched, spoke to and trusted is not the company handling your car, and if something goes wrong you are dealing with an intermediary.

The simple test is to ask: are you the person who will be collecting it? An operator will say yes and tell you what they drive. A broker will tell you about their network.

Getting the car ready

Leave roughly a quarter of a tank of fuel. Enough to load and move it, not so much that you are paying to transport fuel you could have used.

Take everything out that you would not post. Transport insurance covers the vehicle, not the contents, and loose items move around on a transporter.

Disable the alarm if it is sensitive, or tell the driver how to. An alarm triggering repeatedly on a motorway is a genuine nuisance.

Photograph the car from all four corners before collection, with the date visible if you can. It takes two minutes and removes any argument about an existing mark.

Make sure somebody can be present at both ends, or arrange keys and access properly in advance. Delivery to an empty address with nobody to sign is where problems start.

Common questions