You searched online for weeks to find the perfect company to ship your car from Boston to San Diego and now it’s a week before your shipping date. You trust your shipper but how do you get your classic car ready for transport? You want to make sure everything is done correctly to ensure your car will arrive in San Diego in the same condition as when it is loaded onto the carrier. Your car shipper and transport carrier will most likely have insurance coverage for the transport, but you will also want to speak to your own insurance agent as well to make sure your personal insurance will cover the car while it is being shipped. There is never anything wrong with having too much insurance to ease your mind and protect your valuable classic automobile.
Next you will want to consider the type of transport your car will be shipped in. Some cars are shipped by open transport while others are shipped by enclosed carriers. Whichever you have chosen, you will need to prepare your car. You’ll want to remove all personal items from your car. If you have anything inside that is detachable such as a pull out stereo console or a removable DVD player you will want to remove those before the car is loaded. You’ll also want to make sure you have taken all personal paperwork and other items out of the car. When your car is being transported there are a lot of people who may be near the car as it travels and it is always safe to have anything inside of the car taken out before travel. Also be sure to disable any alarm system you may have on the car. There is nothing more annoying on the highway than to have a car alarm begin going off as it travels down the road.
You will want to clean your car before it is loaded onto the carrier. Not only does this ensure that debris do not fly off the car while it’s being transported but it will also assist with seeing any signs of damage prior to shipping. That brings us to another good suggestion. The day that the driver arrives to pick your car up they will complete an inspection of the car for visible signs of damage such as chipped pain, dents and scratches. Both you and the carrier driver will need to sign the inspection paperwork after it has been completed. To better safeguard your investment, you should take pictures or videos of the car from all angles to check for signs of damage. Make sure that all photos and videos have a current time and date stamp on them. This way of there is anything wrong with the car when it arrives you will have pictures to show. Seldom ever does damage occur during car shipping, but it is always better to be safe than sorry on the off chance that something does happen. You’ll want to keep in mind that when cars are shipped, especially on open carriers, they are just as susceptible to the flying debris and weather as they are when you are personally driving.
Some last things you will want to check will be to your battery to make sure it is fully charged and your fuel and fluid levels. Fluid levels should be full but usually shipping companies will recommend that your fuel no fuller than ¼ tank during transport. Some shippers will need you to remove all fuel from the car prior to loading for transport. Your shipping representative will let you know what their requirements pertaining to fuel are. Just as your car is about to be loaded, take one last walk around it and make sure there is nothing that can fall off and make sure your side mirrors are pushed down so there is no chance of them hitting something and being broken during transport.
Once this has all been done your car should be ready for transport to where you need it to be.
Image courtesy: freedigitalphotos.net / Sharron Goodyear
