$1,000 to $1,575 for a running mid-size car on an open trailer. San Diego to San Antonio is the cheapest pair at $1,000 to $1,150 and San Francisco to Houston the dearest at $1,425 to $1,575.

San Diego to San Antonio. It is the shortest of the thirteen at about 1,250 miles and the only one that starts below $1,050.

Three to four days on the Southern California pairs, four to six from San Jose or Sacramento, and five to seven from the Bay Area into Houston. The count begins when your pickup window closes.

The car has further to go before it is even pointed at Texas. A Bay Area or Sacramento vehicle usually travels south or east within California first, which adds a day or two before the trip proper begins.

The California one, by about half again. Into Dallas the low end runs $1,150 from San Diego up to $1,375 from San Francisco, a $225 spread. Out of San Diego the whole state of Texas covers $1,000 to $1,150, a $150 spread.

Freight density rather than distance. Southern California is the busiest outbound market on the West Coast for car haulers, so a Texas-bound truck is already there and filling. Northern California is quieter and the Central Valley sits off the main line.

Because it is off the corridor. Bakersfield to Dallas is only about 45 miles longer than Los Angeles to Dallas yet runs $75 higher, since the driver has to reach the car before the run east starts.

Out of Southern California, yes. Houston and San Diego price $1,100 to $1,350 either way, and Los Angeles and Dallas are level. Out of Northern California they do not: Dallas to San Jose runs about $150 above San Jose to Dallas, and Fort Worth to Sacramento about $200 above.

A driver heading out to the Bay Area or Sacramento has fewer loads waiting there for the trip back, so the rate has to cover more of the round trip. Both ends of the Southern California lanes are busy enough that this does not happen.

It does if you are in Northern California. Budget for the return leg costing $150 to $200 more rather than assuming the same figure. Out of Southern California you can plan both legs on one number.

I-10 for most Southern California pairs, through Phoenix, Tucson and El Paso. I-40 and US-287 by way of Flagstaff, Albuquerque and Amarillo for Dallas and Fort Worth from inland or Northern California. Inside Texas it is I-35, I-20 and I-45 depending on the delivery order.

Not on I-10, which stays low the whole way and runs in any month. Flagstaff on the I-40 line sits near 7,000 feet, so a winter storm there can cost a few hours. Drivers wait it out rather than push through.

Because your car is one of eight or nine on the trailer and the driver builds a route that serves all of them. Its place in that sequence comes from geography rather than who booked first.

Within six days of the earliest date you give us. Choosing expedited tightens that to three.

On the Southern California pairs, often yes. Three to five days on the road means the pickup window is a large share of your total time, so halving it shortens the finish date noticeably. From the Bay Area the drive is longer and the share smaller, so buy it there for a firm start date rather than raw speed.

Add about 80 percent to the open number. Classics, collector cars, exotics and new paint are the usual reasons, and the desert stretches of I-10 and I-40 give it a second one: wind-blown grit.

It travels anyway. Getting it aboard takes a winch, and that equipment adds $200 or more to the running figure. Rolling, steering and braking is all it needs. Say so when you ask for a price.

Those go too. They occupy more trailer space, so they sit above the mid-size numbers. Describe any lift kit, larger tires or roof rack when you ask and the quote lands right.

Plenty do. Bring it to around half charge before collection day and leave the charging cable inside.

Yes, and two vehicles from one California address to one Texas address usually cost less per car than two separate bookings.

Yes, and on this lane that works almost everywhere. Texas suburbs are wide and newer, and most of California is manageable. Downtown high-rises, gated entrances with a height bar, the hillside streets above Los Angeles and the steeper San Francisco blocks get a short meet at a wider road nearby.

They let the driver settle the approach in advance instead of improvising on collection day. A ZIP on its own does not tell us which road the truck can use.

Within 30 days of moving, at your county tax assessor-collector office, with proof of ownership and proof of Texas insurance.

Texas ended the annual safety inspection for most non-commercial vehicles at the start of 2025, and a $7.50 replacement fee is collected with registration instead. Emissions testing applies in 17 counties, covering the Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and El Paso metros.

None. Smog testing in California attaches to registering a car there, so a vehicle on its way out of the state is not affected.

Better to send it empty. The carrier's Carrier Cargo Insurance covers the vehicle rather than its contents, and weight counts on a full trailer. Anything that must go should be small and out of sight.

Yes. A tag left on the windshield can read as the truck passes gantries in Texas, which leaves you with charges that take time to unwind.

About a quarter. Enough to load, unload and drive away, and light enough not to add weight across 1,500 miles.

Yes, though it does not have to be you. Any adult you trust can walk the car with the driver and sign the condition report at pickup and again at delivery.

By the Smart Price Promise. The figure holds as long as the vehicle, the route, the condition and the shipping details match what you told us.

No. We make no outbound sales calls at all. Contact concerns your own shipment, and the driver reaches out about collection and delivery.

The assigned carrier, through Carrier Cargo Insurance, from pickup to delivery. We confirm the policy is active before your car goes on the load, and the certificate is yours on request.

Note it on the delivery report before the driver leaves and photograph it. That report set against the pickup one is what any claim is settled from, and we work it through with you.

One to two weeks suits most of the year. Summer, month ends and the weeks around the holidays run busier, and the Northern California pairs benefit from more notice because there is less traffic on them.

Send the California pickup ZIP, the Texas city, the year, make and model, whether it runs, and your earliest date. Use the form on this page or call 888-709-9078, and if your pair is on the table above you already have the range.