How to ship a car you bought online

Shipping a car you bought online starts from a disadvantage: you have not seen it. The listing photos are the seller's. The pickup inspection is the first time a set of notes is made beside the car. Use that hour. Match the VIN. Photograph the panels. Do not sign a blank condition report. The driver works for the carrier, not for you. The notes protect the question "was this scratch already there?" They do not test whether the transmission is healthy.

RideShipper compares ranges and requests quotes. It is not the seller, not the carrier, and not the broker. It does not guarantee the car matches the ad. Companies that receive a request may pay RideShipper. See how we make money.

Who are you actually paying?#

There are usually two relationships.

A site that sells the car and also delivers it is a third pattern. That is retailer delivery. The seller's own truck or vendor brings the car. You follow that seller's delivery window and complaint process. You do not also need a quote from a car-shipping broker unless the seller told you to arrange transport yourself. Read the sale terms before you hire a second company and pay twice.

If you are arranging transport, the quote path is shipping a car bought online.

What should I do before I request a truck?#

1. Save the listing, the VIN, and the seller's name and address.
2. Decode the VIN so the year and model match the ad. The VIN decoder uses the NHTSA record. If the decoder and the ad disagree, stop and ask the seller.
3. Ask for a video of a cold start and a walk-around, with the VIN plate in the frame. A seller who will not do that is a fact about the sale, not about the truck.
4. Confirm who will be at the address during a multi-day pickup window, with a key.
5. Confirm the title path. A car you cannot title is a car you should not ship yet. The paper list is on out-of-state paperwork. NHTSA says a written odometer disclosure goes on the title when ownership transfers, with the exemptions that page describes for older vehicles.

If the car does not run, say so. A driver sent for a running car can refuse a car that will not roll. See a car that does not run.

How do I use the pickup as my first look?#

Ask the seller to be on the phone when the driver arrives, and ask the driver to wait long enough for photos. You cannot require a stranger to spend an hour, so set the expectation in the dispatch notes.

The person at the car should:

• Read the VIN on the dashboard and the driver's door and compare it with the listing and the dispatch. A wrong VIN means do not load.
• Start the car if it is supposed to start. Note warning lights in a photo.
• Walk every panel, the roof, the glass, the wheels, and the interior.
• Write chips, dents, stains, and cracked plastic on the bill of lading. "See photos" is weaker than marks on the paper the driver also signs.
• Photograph the odometer. NHTSA tells buyers to compare title mileage with the odometer and with wear on the pedals and records. Do that here, while you can still call the seller.

Then decide. If the car is the car you bought, load it. If it is not, do not use the driver as a place to store a dispute. Call the seller. Your right to cancel is in the purchase agreement. The driver's right to leave is in the shipping agreement. A missed pickup can still cost money if the contract says so.

What should I check about the shipper?#

FMCSA's automobile-transporter advisory says a broker arranges the move and a transporter hauls the car. Both, for interstate work, are supposed to be registered. Look up the MC number. Avoid a site that will not show one. Use the company check and match the legal name to the name on the invoice.

The Better Business Bureau's 21 July 2023 alert describes the failure mode: a low quote, a deposit through a digital wallet, and no truck. One report BBB quoted was a California-to-Florida offer, a $50 PayPal booking fee, and a company the consumer could not find on the USDOT site. That figure is from the consumer's report, not a normal booking fee. Pay the company named in a written contract, and prefer a method you can dispute. See when a quote is too cheap.

A range for a running sedan, so you have a yardstick before the phone calls:

Put the VIN in the request if you have it. Say you have not seen the car, and name the person who will release it.

What happens at your house?#

Walk the car before you sign the delivery side of the bill of lading. Compare it with the pickup photos. Note new damage on the paper, then sign. A clean signature is what the carrier will cite later. Claim deadlines are in that contract. RideShipper does not decide them.

Then register and insure the car under your state's rules. Shipping did not do that. If the seller was in another state, use registering a car after you move only for the order of steps. The deadline that applies to a purchase can differ from the deadline for a new resident. Read the agency page for a vehicle you bought, not only the new-resident page.

What should make you pause before you load it?#

You are not at the car. The seller is. These are reasons to stop the load and call the seller, not reasons to hope the problem is small.

• The VIN on the car does not match the listing or the dispatch.
• The car will not start, and the listing said it runs. Tell the carrier before they treat it as a non-runner you did not book.
• The damage is a different panel, or much larger, than the photos you saved. The condition report can record it. It cannot unwind the purchase.
• Nobody at the address has a key, or the person there is not the seller you paid.
• The title the seller shows is in a different name, and nobody can explain the chain.

A pre-purchase inspection, done before you send a truck, is a separate hire. The driver's notes are not that inspection. If you skip the inspection, you are accepting the listing plus whatever the pickup photos show. Budget the shipping quote as transport only. The out-of-state purchase calculator can line the transport range up with costs you still have to verify, such as tax. It does not know if the car was described honestly.

Pay the seller and the shipper on separate paths. A shipper who asks you to add the purchase price to the freight payment is asking you to mix two contracts. Decline. If the seller wants the shipper to collect the car price, that is a different arrangement, and you should not agree to it on a phone call. Get it in the written sale, or do not do it.

After the car is yours, and before it is home#

The gap between payment and delivery is when people lose the paper. Make a folder the day you pay, with the listing, the VIN, the seller's name, the payment receipt, and the title status the seller stated. When a carrier is assigned, add the MC number, the pickup window, and the name of the person who will release the car.

Ask that person to walk the car in daylight and send you the same set of photos the driver will take: VIN, four corners, odometer, and any panel that already looks wrong. You compare those photos with the listing before the car is on the truck. A problem you see then is a sale problem. A problem that appears only on the delivery photos is a transport problem. Mixing them is how both the seller and the carrier say the other one caused it.

If the seller will not send photos, or will not be present, decide whether you still want the car loaded. The driver is not your inspector and is not required to refuse a car that looks worse than the ad, unless the VIN is wrong or the car cannot be loaded as booked. Put that limit in writing to the seller before pickup day.

When the car arrives, do the registration steps for a purchase, not only for a move. Insurance has to be in force for the drive from the meeting point if you will drive it. The bill of lading is the shipping record. It is not a title. Keep both.