Dallas to Los Angeles Car Shipping

The cost to ship a car from Dallas to Los Angeles is typically $1,175 for a sedan and up to $1,625 for a full-size pickup, on an open trailer, and takes between three to four days in transit time.

A mid-size SUV or crossover sits between the two, around $1,325 to $1,475. Enclosed transport runs about 80 percent more than open.

Prices are estimates and move with fuel. The calculator on this page gives you the live number for your car and your dates.

Three to four days on the road after pickup, across about 1,435 miles. That makes it one of the quicker long runs we handle.

Transit is counted from pickup, not from booking. Your pickup happens inside a window that starts on the date you ask for. Six days standard, three days expedited.

The driver gives you a direct number so you can check in while the car is moving.

Because the road is simple. It is Interstate 20 west out of Dallas to El Paso, then Interstate 10 straight into the Los Angeles basin.

There is no mountain pass on it that closes, and no seasonal detour. A driver can plan the run and hold to it.

Compare that with a northern route, where a single pass can add a day in January.

Barely. This is the southern road across the country and it stays open through almost any winter.

West Texas can get an ice day or two, and the high desert around Flagstaff is well north of this line, so it does not come into it.

If you are shipping in January and want the extra comfort, give the pickup window a day either side and you are covered.

Yes, and the table on this page shows it. Los Angeles comes in below San Jose and Sacramento from the same Dallas starting point.

Two things do it. Los Angeles is the closest major California market to Dallas, and it is the busiest one, so there is more room on more trucks.

If your plans allow either, a Los Angeles delivery is the better-priced option.

Close to it, which is unusual. Our Los Angeles to Dallas page publishes $1,200 to $1,350 for a sedan against $1,175 to $1,325 going the other way.

Most long routes have a cheap direction and an expensive one. This one does not, because Dallas and Los Angeles are both big markets that trucks are leaving full in either direction.

It means you can plan a round trip or a two-car move without one leg surprising you.

Not a staffed one, and we would rather say so. McKinney is the service area listing that covers this part of Texas, and your order is handled by our people on the phone.

At the California end we do have a staffed office, at 5111 Harold Way Suite 301 in Los Angeles, with its own local number.

Either way your car is collected from your address in Texas and delivered to your address in California. There is nothing to drop off.

Six things. Both ZIP codes. The size and weight of the car. Whether it runs. The season. How flexible your dates are. Open against enclosed.

Vehicle size does the most work here. A full-size pickup can sit $400 above a sedan on the same run, because it takes the space of more than one car.

Flexible dates help next. A wider window lets a driver fit your car onto a trip already heading west.

Plan on about 80 percent more than open. A $1,250 open move is roughly $2,250 enclosed. A hard-sided trailer holds two to six cars where an open one holds ten, so each car carries more of the cost.

Worth it for a classic, an exotic, fresh paint, or a car too low to clear a ramp. For a daily driver, open is the right call.

Nine out of ten cars on this route go open and arrive fine.

Yes. Every carrier we assign holds Carrier Cargo Insurance, and it covers your vehicle while it is on the truck.

Once your car is assigned to a truck and carrier, the certificate of insurance is on file. Ask us and we will send it over.

You and the driver both sign a condition report at pickup and again at delivery. That document is what any claim rests on, so take your time with it.

Usually yes, within reason. Most drivers will take a few things as a courtesy. Keep it under about 100 pounds, pack it neatly, and keep it out of sight from outside the car.

Think a few boxes in the trunk rather than a carload. The one thing to know is that you are paying to move the vehicle, so the carrier's insurance covers the car itself.

Keep anything you would hate to lose with you.

Yes, wherever a truck can safely and legally get to you. A car hauler is about 75 feet long, so some streets work and some do not.

Where a street is tight, the driver picks a wide spot close by. A shopping center lot a few minutes away is normal. It costs you nothing extra.

Los Angeles is the end that needs more thought. Hillside streets, permit parking and apartment access are all common, so tell us the delivery address early and we plan around it.

Wash it first so the condition report is accurate, then photograph it from every angle in good light. That is the most useful thing you can do.

Leave about a quarter tank of fuel. Fold the mirrors, take off a roof rack or spoiler if it comes away easily, and turn the alarm off.

Hand over one key. Tell the driver anything unusual about starting it.

One to two weeks ahead gives you good choice on this route. Pickup runs inside a window that starts on the date you request. Six days standard, three days expedited.

A deposit is due at booking and the balance at delivery, commonly by cashier's check, money order or cash. You can also put the full amount on a card at the time of booking.

Paying by card up front is popular. It lets you spread the cost rather than hand over money at the curb.

Check the numbers first. Smart Auto Move Inc runs under USDOT 2887232 and MC 969368. You can look both up on the FMCSA SAFER system in under a minute.

We are BBB accredited with an A plus rating, and our Google profiles and their reviews are public.

The biggest red flag is a quote far below everyone else. If four companies say $1,250 and the fifth says $650, ask that fifth company straight out whether the price is confirmed. A number that low usually comes back up later.

Because a car moves when a driver agrees to take it. If the number is below what drivers accept on the route, nobody picks it up and the car sits.

Then the call comes that the price has gone up. You have lost a week and you are paying the real rate anyway.

We would rather give you a true number now. That is what the Smart Price Promise is for.

Yes, as long as it rolls, steers and brakes. The driver needs a winch, so we match you with a truck that carries one.

There is no flat fee for it. It usually adds $200 or more over the same car running, and the exact figure depends on the truck.

Tell us at quote stage. A car that turns out to be non-running on the day is the most common reason a pickup gets rescheduled.

You get the driver's direct phone number, so you can call or text while your car is on the road. We also send email updates at the milestones.

Where the carrier and truck support GPS, we pass that on too. Plenty of trucks carry no reliable tracking system, and we would rather say so than promise a map that does not work.

Most customers find a quick text the day before delivery is all they want.

Cancel any time before we assign a carrier and your deposit comes back to you. Once we assign one and send you the driver's details, that money is spoken for.

It is not gone, though. You can push the move back and use it on a later shipment.

Plans change. Tell us early and we will work around it.

Yes. Fort Worth, Plano, Arlington, Irving, Frisco, McKinney, Garland, Denton and the surrounding towns are all collected the same way.

Prices across the metroplex sit within about $50 of each other, so where you are in DFW barely moves the number.

Give us the exact pickup ZIP at quote stage and you will get the figure for your address rather than for the city.