The cost to ship a car from Illinois to Texas is typically $800 to $1,100 on an open trailer, depending on your two cities. Six routes with real numbers: $800 to $950 Aurora to Dallas, $800 to $950 Chicago to Dallas, $800 to $950 Springfield to Austin, $850 to $1,000 Rockford to Fort Worth, $900 to $1,050 Chicago to Houston, and $950 to $1,100 Naperville to San Antonio. Mid-size sedan, reviewed September 2026.

Two to three days to Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin, and three to four to Houston and San Antonio. Count those from the moment the car is loaded, not from the day you book, so your pickup window sits in front of them. This is one of the quicker long-distance lanes in the country, because it is under 1,200 miles end to end.

Because of where the truck enters Texas. Dallas and Fort Worth sit at the top corner of the Texas Triangle, straight down I-35 from Illinois, so they are the first stop on the run. Houston and San Antonio are further around the Triangle, which adds miles and usually a day. The spread is around $150 across the whole state.

Yes, and the table shows it. Springfield to Austin covers about the same ground as Chicago to Dallas, so it prices about the same even though Austin is 200 miles further into Texas. Downstate origins on I-55 start with a genuine head start, and Rockford is the one that gives a little of it back because it sits north of the city.

On this lane it is a fair question, and we would rather you ask it than not. Illinois to Texas is 13 to 18 hours behind the wheel, which is two comfortable days. If you are relocating, you are driving down anyway and you have a second driver, take the car with you. Ship it when you would need a flight back, when it is a second vehicle, or when you would rather land in Texas and find the car waiting. Past about 1,500 miles shipping wins on the numbers alone. Here it is closer, and it comes down to your week.

Which Texas metro you are going to, first, because the Triangle sets the order the driver works in. Then the vehicle, since a full-size pickup takes more deck than a sedan. Then the pickup window, then the season. A wider window is the easiest saving you control.

It is the spread of days inside which your car will be collected, counted forward from the date you name. Six days on standard, three on expedited. Chicago and Texas are two of the biggest freight markets in the country and trucks run between them constantly, so windows on this lane tend to fill quickly.

Open, for a daily driver, and every figure on this page is an open trailer. Plan on about 80 percent more than open for enclosed. A $1,000 open move is roughly $1,800 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.

Yes, through the hauling carrier's Carrier Cargo Insurance, from the Illinois driveway to the Texas one. As soon as a truck is assigned to your order that carrier's certificate of insurance is on file with us, and a copy is yours whenever you want it. Employers and relocation departments tend to ask for it up front, which is a perfectly reasonable thing to want.

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, to any address a 75-foot rig can reach safely and legally. Where it cannot, we move the handover a few minutes down the road to somewhere with room, rather than leaving you to sort it out. A gated community in Plano, a downtown Austin block during South by Southwest, a narrow street on the Chicago end. We pick the spot with the driver while your order is being scheduled.

Give it a wash, so the driver can actually see what he is writing down. Burn the tank down to a quarter or so. Tuck the mirrors, strip the roof bars, clear the cabin. He needs one key and nothing else. Your own photos, taken before he pulls up, are worth the two minutes. Say at booking if it sits low or has been modified. Take the I-PASS off the windshield as well, and if you are heading to Texas, plan on a TollTag once you arrive.

Two weeks is comfortable on a lane this busy, and a week is often enough outside the summer peak. A deposit is due when you book and the balance is paid to the driver at delivery, usually by cashier's check, money order or cash. You can also put the whole amount on a credit card at booking.

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.

Two checks and you are most of the way there. First the credentials: look up USDOT 2887232 and MC 969368 on FMCSA SAFER, free, takes a minute, and see the A+ accreditation on our BBB listing. Second the pricing: get several quotes and watch for the one sitting way under the rest. That is the one to interrogate, not the one to grab. And do not be put off by a deposit. Firms that ask for nothing tend to be the ones least sure they can deliver the number.

You get GPS tracking when the carrier and truck support it, the driver's phone number for a call or text along the way, and email updates from us. We say it that plainly because no one booking your shipment controls whether a given truck carries a tracking system. On a three day run a quick call usually beats a map anyway.

Yes, provided the wheels turn, the steering works and the brakes hold, and provided the trailer has a winch on it. No set surcharge, but budget $200 upward of the running price. Flag it when you ask for the quote so we send a winch truck instead of discovering the problem on the driveway.

A person has to be at each end for the paperwork and the key, but it need not be you. A partner, a parent, a neighbor, a colleague, anyone sensible over 18. Name the Illinois person and the Texas person when you book, with a phone number for each, and the driver calls whoever is actually standing there.

Yes, statewide. Aurora, Naperville, Rockford, Peoria, Springfield, Bloomington, Champaign, Joliet, Elgin, Decatur, Carbondale and the towns in between. Southern Illinois is genuinely closer to Texas than Chicago is, and on this lane that shows up in the price.

Anywhere in the state. Texas vehicle shipping covers Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, McKinney, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, Corpus Christi, Lubbock, Amarillo and everywhere between. Our Houston office and our McKinney service area both work this lane. West Texas and the Panhandle sit well outside the Triangle, so give those a little more lead time and we will say how much.