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Lately I have been getting people reaching out and asking questions about when we made our move here. It has been almost a year since we headed to North Carolina from Ohio. Solicitations of advice, lessons learned and overall questions about the experience.
One of the things that people tend to think about as an afterthought when relocating is the expense associated with moving vehicles.
Shipping a car is not cheap.
Based on an article from Consumer Affairs the national average to ship a car or SUV can range between $600 and over $1000.
And then there is always the option to rent or buy a car trailer and pull your car. Based on another article from Costhelper.com, renting a car trailer can range between $65-$200 a day, and buying one can be between $2000 and $10,000.
Because we are a multiple car family (my husband's cars are his toys) we had to think about how to make this part of our move as reasonably affordable as possible.
We had three cars at home and one car that is housed out of state and being worked on (his girlfriend is what I call her).
We knew that with being a family of 5, we could not afford to fly and ship 3 cars. Driving was the only way that we were gonna get here.
So for us, we decided that we would get rid of one car leaving us with two cars to move.
The lease on our Nissan came due the month before we moved. So for the first time we actually turned in a car without pulling off the lot with something new.
I had just gotten my SUV, and hubby decided we needed a pickup too; with all the the house projects I am always doing and different things that come up. He also decided that we were going down to only having one car payment so we would be buying used.
We decided we would wait until we got here to replace the Nissan.
So we packed up the Yukon with the kids and essentials and drove down. We left the third car, the Monte Carlo, behind. After hubby got us settled, he flew back to Ohio 3 days later and drove her down too.
As soon as he got back he got on Cars.com and got on the hunt for a new car.
In our past car hunts Cars.com has been our go-to because of the ease of use, selections from dealers and private sellers alike, and the ability to research info about and search for different models all in one place.
We weren't here two weeks before we had the pickup truck thanks to Cars.com.
Retro ended up finding the truck at a car lot not far from our home and knew it was the one.
Two pieces of advice I have to offer when relocating
- Make sure that you account for the shipment or moving of your vehicles.
- Use cars.com to shop for a new vehicle in your new area if you have to buy a new or used car.
[clickToTweet tweet=”How you can use @carsdotcom to help you plan relocation with your vehicles” quote=”Use Cars.com to help you plan relocation with your vehicles!”]
23 comments
Moving your family, your stuff and your cars is definitely not easy or cheap. We have driven cars, towed our own cars on a car trailer, and had our car shipped. The price of everything played a huge part in which option we picked for each move.
Man you guys are no strangers to making out of state moves huh?
Moving is so hard. As a military wife, this is a constant struggle. We moved a car to Hawaii a few years back and decided we would definitely sell before moving back to the mainland.
I can see why. When me moved that was my thought how do military people do this all the time!
We moved from MD to FL 4 years ago and though we were blessed with some $$ help from my husband’s new employer we still had to navigate the other logistics of getting our cars down to FL. We ended up doing the auto train which was crazy long (17 + hours with unexpected delays) but the kids thought it was a fun experience and we survived lol.
that would have taken me OUT! 17 hours????
I didn’t even think of the cost associated with moving your car. You provided a lot of helpful information and tips to make this process less stressful. Any useful advice on moving is great because the process is stressful.
It is indeed stressful. Man, wont be doing that again. Or at least not until my kids are grown. LOL
Moving with 3 cars would have definitely. Even hard. I love pick up trucks and have been trying to convince my husband we need one. I am always picking things up (yard sale shopper) Lol.
Never used cars.com but will look into it.
you sound like my kind of girl!!
OMG I just went through this and I wish I hadn’t shipped my car. I hadn’t taken into account the age of my car and that I’d be selling it within my first year so really, I wasted my money on the shipping. I also didn’t use Cars.com to find my new vehicle but I know for next time!! Thanks for the tips.
I’ve moved across country twice and the hardest part was trying to figure out the car situation. In the end, I just drove the last time! next time, I will probably ship my car lol
I’ve moved across country twice and the hardest part was trying to figure out the car situation. In the end, I just drove the last time! next time, I will probably ship my car lol
That is such a stressful part that people often forget about! I wanted to ship and fly so bad, but with 5 people it was no way that was happening an my hubby shut it down QUICK!!!
I have always wondered about transporting vehicles when moving out of state. Thanks for the insight. We are using cars.com now. I have less than two months to make a decision on what I want.
I hadn’t even considered what it would be like to pack up and move with cars! I struggle with the idea of moving with just stuff. I would be the one to get rid of it all and start over in a new place. You guys had a great plan!
RIGHT! moving belongings and people is hard enough, right?? lol
WE drove ours when we relocated. It was the best decision for us but I know it can be expensive.
Right! Just gotta do what works!
Moving alone is such a big deal. Figuring out what to do with your car compounds the situation. Lol.
We have no plans to relocate but if we did we would need to figure things out. We have two SUVs, two motorcycles, a dirt bike and 4 wheeler.
I have yet to have to move cities and involve a car and can only imagine the additional stress it brings. I have finally decided that I want a new [used] car and so I’ll definitely check out cars.com
I agree you definitely have to plan for an out of state move for your cars. I’m already thinking about moving all our cars next year. We have four of them and i think i will visit cars.com to see about posting one of them for sale. Didn’t think of advertising with them, but getting ready to look at that right now.