While having a car can often be a great benefit in your life, if you’re planning on moving somewhere far away and won’t be able to fit everything into your car for the drive, figuring out how to get your car to your destination can be a challenge. Luckily, there are car shipping services that you can take advantage of. However, trusting your car to a business you’re unfamiliar with can be stressful. So to help ensure that you have everything in order for this process, here are three things you should do to prepare your car for shipping.
Have The Proper Documentation Ready
Before the logistics firm takes your vehicle into their possession for interstate car shipping, they will first have to ensure that the car is, in fact, yours. To prove this, you’ll need to have the proper documentation ready to show them.
Some of the papers and documents you’ll need to have include things like the original title for the vehicle, the vehicle registration information, proof that you’re insured with this vehicle, a bill of sale proving that the vehicle is yours, and your own personal identification. Depending on the exact service that you use to ship your car, they might ask for more or less than these documents. But to ensure that everything goes off without a hitch on the day of shipping, make sure you know where all these documents are so you can produce them if needed.
Survey Your Car For Any Damage
As you’re getting your actual car ready to be shipped, you should spend some time cleaning and going over every square inch of the vehicle.
While it might seem weird to wash your car right before shipping it, having a car that’s clean of dirt and dust will make it easier for you to see if there are any dings or scratches that are already on the car before shipping it. With this documentation, it will also be easier for you to tell if any new damage happens during the shipping process.
Reduce The Weight
For most car shipping services, you’re going to be charged based on how big and heavy your vehicle is. Knowing this, it makes sense to try to reduce the weight of your car as much as possible before shipping it.
To do this, you should try to leave only about a quarter of a tank of gas in the car, since no gas will be needed during the shipping process and having a full tank can add a lot of extra weight. Also, if you have any belongings in the car or aftermarket items, remove those to help bring the weight down even more.
If you’re going to be shipping your car in the near future, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you prepare your vehicle for shipping day.
