Submitted by bartowskii77 t3_120ohgb in newjersey
Hey guys,
I’ll be moving from Bergen county to (a neighboring city of) San Francisco in July.
My main issue is my car. I need to bring it with me.
I don’t know what is better, driving across the country, or flying and shipping my car cross country.
Has anyone had experience with such a cross country move? What’s your advice?
Shipped a car from CA to NJ for a love. Was easy and worth it. Definitely recommend gonna they route.
We’re doing the opposite move this summer (Bay Area to Essex county). We’re planning to make a fun road trip of it, which will also allow me to schlep my house plants.
If you have the time and maybe a copilot, driving could be fun. If you don’t have those things, shipping cars seems pretty common but might be pricy.
You don't really give much details, but if you have the time and are not overburdened, I think you should drive. I drove from CA to NJ years back and had enough time that I could really enjoy it.
I would drive just so you can literally drive the entire length of I-80 from Teaneck to San Francisco only if your car is reliable and not an EV.
Depends on a couple of things.
How old/reliable is the car? if its a 2006 with 120k miles, youre risking a costly breakdown. On the flip size, a professional move may cost more than the car is worth
How are you moving your stuff? If you drive your car, you have extra room to bring stuff
If you have the time, drive. I drove both to San Diego with a friend, then when I moved back I was solo. On the way out we just wanted to get there and only stopped a few times in Memphis and OKC. My drive back was solo and I took my time through Vegas, Utah, and Colorado which was well worth the sites. Utah is beautiful so I stopped at every scenic overlook.
I was supposed to ship my car back, and had been trying to find a transport company 3 months out, then I finally found one that was able to pick it up on their route, until they called back a week before and said it had been cancelled. So I cancelled my flight, packed a Ubox from Uhaul, packed my car with certain things and drove and just found hotels along the way. Im a single male so I didnt have much to worry about as far as wife/kids, and would recommend this to anyone who has the ability to do so. Great Experience.
Have done both. The cost comes out to about the same cross-country, assuming you don't need your car for a week or two while it's in transit or you are able to take a week off to do the drive. If you do fly and ship the car, the cost of a rental will be a problem if you need one in the meantime.
I would make sure you have roadside assistance (AAA or otherwise) and keep your wits about you at truck stops, but otherwise it's just around a week's worth of driving if you don't want to burn yourself out. Lot of driving through forests, then plains, then deserts, so bring a couple of podcasts or something to listen to.
I shipped my car from NJ to NorCal in 2017. Cost about $900 then and took roughly a week to show up, I think.
It was a great experience except my car’s rear was situated above the truck cab, so it was splattered with 2500 miles of bug guts…but other than that, 10/10 do recommend.
There's a lot to factor in here. If you're driving by yourself, realistically you can do about 12 hours a day. So 4 days, that means 3 nights in a hotel (assuming you can go straight to your apartment or wherever the day you arrive in NJ). Plus food, and about 100 gallons of gas. Yeah, you could just sleep in the car at rest areas, but having a bed and a shower makes a huge difference in your moral and back pain.
If you ship the car, you can also fill up the car with some of your stuff so that saves a bit on moving costs. You'll be without a car for probably a couple of weeks so be sure to factor in the cost of Uber or other public transportation. Then also the flight cost.
I helped a friend move from NY to AZ awhile back. We took 8 hour shifts each of driving, and stopped for the night in Indiana and western Kansas. This country is so huge, and most of the driving is incredibly boring. I really appreciated having a 5 hour flight home versus 3 days in a car. I was so sore afterwards.
80 is one of the most outfitted charging routes in North America. Easy to do with an EV and you get to actually stop and see america
I’ve done both — moved to WA in 2014 and drove out there and just moved back in November and shipped 2 cars to NJ. It really depends on the type of trip you want for yourself. We ultimately decided to ship on the way back because the cost of fuel was so high during the timeframe of our trip. It was about $3k to ship a car and SUV from WA and took about 5 days, door-to-door. We used AirTags to keep track of them and have peace of mind. The company we used is out of Philly - Umbrella Transport, I believe. Having the freedom and flexibility of having a car for the NJ to WA trip was great. The way back we did an RV and I felt a little trapped. Good luck with your move!
Driving through Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada with an EV would make me nervous lol.
I'd do the cross-country drive, take a couple extra days and see some things you wouldn't see otherwise. It's a beautiful country!
We moved from Boston to San Francisco and then back home to NJ. We shipped the cars both times without any issues.
What company did you use May I ask?
I have done the drive 3 times and it depends the time and how much you like to drive. It was about 5 days when driving in 8 hour spurts. Stayed in hotels and stretched when we needed. Depending on route it could be a really nice trip or boring trip. Do you like mountain driving? When are you going because right now snow in the mountains are fucking terrible. You will need chains and not a guarantee that the passes are open.
I moved to San Diego back in 2003. The drive there was an experience I loved. Would highly recommend. Although when I moved back 2 years later the drive back was the worst experience of my life and would not recommend. Hope this helped.
[removed]
Check out www.ViceAutoTransport.com to ship it, works out cheaper than driving WRT hotel, food, fuel and time. Probably ballpark $1500-$1700 for a cross country move depending on what car you're sending.
Lmao thanks 😅😅
It was a few years ago so I honestly don’t remember. Sorry
ansky201 t1_jdi7mfh wrote
My neighbors moved to CA a few years ago and shipped their car. They have young kids so driving across the country was not really practical. A big car carrier came to the house and they drove the car onto the truck. I believe they said it would take about 2 weeks for the car to arrive in CA. I am not sure what company they used or how much it cost.