How to Ship a Car You Bought Online or at Auction

Buying a car online has gone completely mainstream. People buy from Carvana and Vroom, bid on Cars & Bids and Bring a Trailer, win auctions on eBay Motors, and close deals with private sellers three states away without ever standing next to the car. The buying is the easy part now. Getting the car home is where first-timers get nervous, because the vehicle is often somewhere they have never been, held by someone they have never met. This guide covers how to ship a remote purchase cleanly and how to protect yourself when you are trusting the process sight unseen.

First, know who arranges the shipping

Before anything else, find out whether shipping is your job or the seller's. This varies by where you bought:

• Big online dealers like Carvana and Vroom usually offer their own delivery, sometimes free within a range and for a fee beyond it. You may not need to arrange transport at all, though booking it yourself can sometimes be cheaper or faster.
• Enthusiast auction sites like Bring a Trailer and Cars & Bids typically leave shipping to you, the buyer, and many even list estimated transport costs and connect you with carriers.
• eBay Motors and private sales almost always put shipping on you. You book the carrier and coordinate with the seller for pickup.
• Dealer auctions and wholesale lots have their own access rules and often require the carrier to have specific credentials to enter the yard.

Nail this down first, because it determines whether you are booking a shipment or just receiving one.

Coordinate pickup with someone you have not met

The tricky part of a remote purchase is that the person releasing the car, a private seller, a dealer, or an auction lot, is not you. Set this up carefully:

• Confirm the exact pickup address and a reachable contact who will physically hand over the car and be present for the driver.
• Make sure the seller knows the pickup window and will do the condition walkaround with the driver. Since you cannot be there, the seller and driver complete the Bill of Lading at pickup, so ask the seller to be thorough and to send you photos.
• Verify the car is ready to load: keys available, personal items removed, and accessible to a large truck. Auction lots and dealers are used to this. A private seller may need coaching, so point them to How to Prepare Your Car for Shipping.

Protect yourself when buying sight unseen

This is the real anxiety of online car buying, and shipping is where it comes to a head, because delivery is often the first time you see the car in person. Give yourself the best possible footing:

• Get thorough photos and ideally a video before you buy, and if the purchase is significant, consider a third-party pre-purchase inspection at the car's location. This is about the purchase, but it also gives you a documented baseline of the car's condition before it ever touches a truck.
• Ask the seller to photograph the car at pickup, timestamped, from every angle. This is your before baseline for any transport claim.
• Understand you are inspecting at delivery. When the car arrives, you do the delivery inspection against the pickup photos and the Bill of Lading. New damage from transport is a carrier claim. Pre-existing issues that were misrepresented by the seller are a dispute with the seller, not the carrier. Keeping those two straight matters. See Understanding the Bill of Lading.

Do not sign a clean delivery report until you have actually looked the car over. A signature that says the car arrived fine can waive a legitimate transport claim.

Paperwork the carrier and you need

Have the right documents lined up so pickup is not delayed:

• Proof of purchase and ownership details the seller may need to release the car.
• The pickup contact's information and the release authorization if an auction or dealer requires it.
• Your delivery address and a contact who can receive the car and sign, at least eighteen years old.
• Payment terms in writing, since many moves collect a balance at delivery in cash or certified funds.

Note that transporting the car does not transfer the title or handle registration. Those are separate steps you complete with the seller and your state's DMV. The carrier just moves the metal.

Getting a fair price on the move

Shipping a purchased car prices like any other move: distance, vehicle size, open versus enclosed, location, and season. Two things specific to buying online are worth flagging. First, auction and dealer lots are usually easy for carriers to access and are on common routes, which tends to help pricing and pickup speed. Second, resist the temptation to grab the lowest quote to offset what you just spent on the car, because a lowball often means a slow or failed pickup while the seller is waiting to release the vehicle. See How Much Does It Cost to Ship a Car and, for why the cheapest quote is a trap, Broker vs. Carrier.

For a non-running auction buy

Plenty of online and auction purchases do not run, especially project cars and salvage buys. That is a different service with special equipment and a surcharge, and you must disclose it up front. Confirm with the seller or lot whether the car starts, rolls, and steers before you book, and read How to Ship a Non-Running Car.

The bottom line

Shipping an online or auction purchase is routine as long as you manage the handoff you will not be present for. Find out who arranges shipping, coordinate a reliable pickup contact, get the car documented thoroughly at pickup since you cannot be there, and inspect carefully at delivery before signing anything. Price the move realistically so the seller is not left holding the car, and keep the transport claim and the seller dispute mentally separate. Handled that way, buying a car three states away and getting it safely into your driveway is a solved problem.