Should You Ship Your Car or Drive It? The Real Cost & Time Comparison

You’re facing a move, a new job, a snowbird season, or a second home — and now you’re staring at your car keys wondering: do I drive it myself, or pay a company to ship it? Most people default to “I’ll just drive it” without actually running the numbers on gas, hotels, food, and the extra wear that racks up on a long trip. Below, we break down what driving really costs versus typical car shipping rates across three realistic distances, using current fuel prices, AAA’s own vehicle operating-cost data, and federal travel per-diem benchmarks — so you can make the call with real math instead of a gut feeling.

The Quick Answer

For short regional trips (under ~400 miles), driving is almost always cheaper in pure cash terms — shipping mainly buys you convenience. For medium trips (500–1,500 miles), the cash cost of driving and the cash cost of shipping land in a similar ballpark once you add gas, a hotel night, and meals — so the decision usually comes down to your time, your car’s mileage, and whether you actually want to make the drive. For true cross-country moves (2,000+ miles), shipping is very often the cheaper and lower-risk option once you count multiple hotel nights, days of lost work/PTO, and the extra wear a multi-day drive puts on a car you may be trying to sell or trade in later.

What Driving Yourself Actually Costs

Most people only budget for gasoline, which understates the real cost of a long solo drive. Here’s what actually goes into it:

• Fuel. The AAA national average price for regular gasoline recently stood at $4.0715 per gallon. Prices vary a lot by state — California, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon and Nevada run well above the national average, while Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Arkansas run well below it — so your actual fuel bill depends heavily on your route.
• Maintenance, tires and repair wear. AAA’s 2025 driving-cost study puts maintenance and repair costs, including tires, at about 11.04 cents per mile. That’s real wear you’re putting on brakes, tires, and fluids that wouldn’t happen if the car rode on a truck instead.
• Depreciation from the extra miles. Vehicle depreciation is the single largest expense in vehicle ownership, averaging $4,334 a year in AAA’s 2025 study — and every mile you add to the odometer on a one-way drive nudges resale/trade-in value down further, on top of the miles you’d have put on it anyway.
• Lodging. Anything over about 500–600 miles usually means an overnight stop. U.S. hotel rates have been running around $174/night on average nationally, though roadside interstate properties can run less — the federal government’s own standard lodging reimbursement rate is $110 for lodging as a lower-bound reference point.
• Meals. The federal government’s own travel per-diem gives a useful benchmark: the FY2026 GSA standard per diem is $178 per day, made up of $110 for lodging and $68 for meals and incidental expenses. Real families often spend less than the federal M&IE rate on the road, but it’s a fair upper-bound reference for two adults eating out for several days straight.
• Your time. This is the cost most people forget to price in: PTO, missed workdays, or a vacation day burned on driving instead of settling into your new home.

What Shipping Typically Costs (Illustrative Ranges)

Car shipping is priced by the carrier per mile, and — like driving — the per-mile rate drops as the distance grows. Based on current 2025–2026 industry pricing data for a standard, operable sedan on open transport:

• Under ~500 miles: roughly $1.20 per mile for trips under 500 miles, with short trips under 500 miles averaging around $700 — though rates as high as $1.40 to $2.20 per mile on a 300-mile haul aren’t unusual because the carrier’s fixed costs get spread over fewer miles.
• 500–1,500 miles: about $0.95 per mile for the 500–1,500-mile band, which lines up with roughly $1.00 per mile as a typical benchmark for a 1,000-mile shipment and an average cost of $700–$1,100 for standard door-to-door open transport in this range.
• 2,000+ miles (cross-country): per-mile rates keep falling — a 2,000-mile cross-country move can drop to $0.40–$0.70 per mile — but the total climbs, with coast-to-coast shipments running roughly $1,200 to $2,500 on an open carrier.

These are illustrative national ranges only, not a quote — vehicle size, open vs. enclosed transport, season, and your exact pickup/delivery ZIPs all move the number. See our full car shipping cost guide and state-by-state cost breakdown for more detail, or get an exact number from Best Care’s instant quote calculator.

Three Real-World Scenarios, Side by Side

Scenario 1: ~300 miles (regional move, e.g. Chicago to St. Louis)

Verdict: For a same-day regional trip like this, driving is almost always cheaper out of pocket. Shipping only makes sense here if you can’t drive (no time, no second driver, need to fly to your new city same-day) or you’d rather not put the miles on a car you’re about to sell.

Scenario 2: ~1,000 miles (medium relocation, e.g. Chicago to Dallas)

Verdict: This is the closest call. Cash costs land in a similar range either way, so the decision usually comes down to whether you have 2 days to spare, whether you’d rather have 2 drivers (or none), and whether you want fresh(er) miles on the odometer when you arrive.

Scenario 3: ~2,500 miles (cross-country move, e.g. Chicago to Seattle or LA)

Verdict: At full cross-country distance, shipping is frequently the cheaper and less risky option once you price in the week of PTO, four hotel nights, restaurant meals, and the resale-value hit from 2,500 extra miles on the clock. See our dedicated cross-country car shipping guide for transit-time and route specifics.

Hidden Costs People Forget When Driving Long-Distance

• Resale/trade-in value. Depreciation is the single biggest cost of vehicle ownership, averaging $4,334/year in AAA’s study — adding thousands of miles in a single week accelerates that hit on top of the wear/tear cost already priced above.
• Breakdown risk on unfamiliar roads. A tire, alternator, or cooling-system failure hundreds of miles from home turns into an expensive, stressful detour — towing, an unfamiliar repair shop, and a delayed move.
• Weather and seasonal routing. Winter drives through mountain passes or northern states carry real delay and safety risk that a professional carrier routing around storms avoids. Our seasonal shipping guide covers how weather affects both driving and transport timing.
• Multiple vehicles. If your household has two cars and two drivers, someone still has to fly back or drive a second car separately — shipping one car while you drive the other (or fly) is often the more practical split.

When Driving It Yourself Still Makes the Most Sense

Driving usually wins when: the trip is under ~400–500 miles, you have a second driver to split the hours, you’re not in a hurry, your car is newer/under warranty and a few hundred extra miles won’t matter, or you actually want the road trip. It’s also the obvious choice if your move timeline is so tight that arranging carrier pickup/delivery windows adds more delay than it saves.

When Shipping Makes More Sense

Shipping tends to win for distances over roughly 1,000–1,500 miles, when you’re flying to your new location instead of driving, when you have more than one vehicle to move, when the car is a classic, exotic, or otherwise low-mileage vehicle you don’t want to put highway miles on, or when your schedule simply doesn’t have several days free for a drive. Real transit times run faster than most people expect — Best Care’s own transit-time data shows 0–200 miles typically taking 1–2 days, 600–1,000 miles taking 3–5 days, and 2,400+ miles taking 7–10 days, meaning your car often arrives close to (sometimes before) you would if you drove it yourself with normal stops.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it cheaper to ship a car or drive it cross-country?

For distances over about 1,500–2,000 miles, shipping and driving land in a similar cash range once you count gas, multiple hotel nights, and meals for a multi-day drive — and shipping avoids the added mileage, PTO, and fatigue risk. For shorter regional trips under 400–500 miles, driving is usually the cheaper option.

How much does it cost in gas to drive 1,000 miles?

At a national average price of roughly $4.07/gallon and 25 mpg, 1,000 miles of driving costs about $160–165 in fuel alone — before adding maintenance/wear, lodging, or meals for a multi-day trip.

Does driving my car myself put more wear on it than shipping?

Yes. Driving adds real mileage and running wear (tires, brakes, fluids) that a car shipped on a carrier doesn’t accumulate, on top of general depreciation that applies to any car regardless of how it’s moved.

Is it worth shipping a car for a short move under 500 miles?

Usually not on cash cost alone — a same-day drive is typically cheaper. It can still make sense if you don’t have time to drive, don’t have a second driver to bring the car back, or are flying to your new location and don’t want to add a same-day road trip on top of a move.

Do I still need to prep my car if I ship it instead of driving it?

Yes — carriers still need the car in normal running condition with less than a quarter tank of fuel and no loose or valuable items left inside beyond the standard allowance.

Get an Exact Number for Your Move

The ranges above are national illustrations — your actual driving cost depends on your specific route and gas prices, and your actual shipping cost depends on your exact pickup/delivery ZIPs, vehicle, and timing. If you’re weighing the decision for a real upcoming move, get a free, no-obligation instant quote from Best Care Auto Transport and compare it directly against your own driving math. Prefer to talk it through? Call us at (224) 218-2949 and we’ll walk you through your specific route.