Update: I skipped the enclosed trailer and paid $425 for open transport on a 900 mile move. It was the right call. | Car Transport Recommendations - The Design Community Hub
Update: I skipped the enclosed trailer and paid $425 for open transport on a 900 mile move. It was the right call.
Everyone on here keeps saying you have to pay for enclosed if you care about your car at all, and I just don't buy it after my move from Kansas City to Albuquerque last month. I got quoted $1,100 for enclosed and $425 for open on my 2015 Mazda3, and I went with open because the car already has 140k miles and a couple door dings. The guy picked it up on a Thursday morning, strapped it down properly at all four corners, and it showed up Sunday afternoon with nothing but some road dust that washed off in ten minutes. The driver sent me a text with a photo at every stop, which honestly the enclosed quote didn't even promise. I get that a show car or a fresh paint job is a different story, but for a daily driver I think people are burning money on fear. What actually got damaged in your open transport move, and was it the carrier's fault or just bad luck?
Take the fear out of the price and look at what you're really paying for. That extra $675 isn't buying safety, it's buying a feeling, and a lot of folks never stop to check what the carrier's actual damage record looks like. Ask for their claims history and you'll find most open carriers have a solid record because strapping a car down right is the whole job. The damage stories you hear usually trace back to a cheap broker who hired whoever was available, not to the fact that the trailer had no roof. Pick a carrier with good reviews instead of picking a box, and you've basically solved the problem.