If you’re staring at a map trying to figure out how to get your car from one coast to the other, you’ve probably already found five different answers online — and none of them agree. Open transport, enclosed transport, driveaway service, rail, or just driving it yourself: each has a real cost, a real timeline, and a real trade-off. This guide compares all five side by side with current pricing data so you can pick the right one for your vehicle, budget, and timeline — not just the one a listicle ranked #1.
The Quick Answer
For most people shipping a standard daily driver cross country, open auto transport is the best overall method — it’s the cheapest widely-available option and the one 9 out of 10 shippers choose. Industry pricing data puts long-haul open transport at roughly $0.40-$0.60 per mile on cross-country routes, though per-mile rates vary by carrier capacity and route popularity, with shorter regional moves costing more per mile than longer hauls. Enclosed transport typically runs 30-60% more than open transport and is worth it for classic, luxury, or exotic vehicles. Driveaway service and Amtrak’s Auto Train are lower-cost niche options that only work in specific situations. Driving it yourself is rarely the bargain it looks like once you add up fuel, lodging, and vehicle wear.
Method 1: Open Auto Transport — Best All-Around Choice
Open carriers are the double-decker trailers you see hauling 7-10 cars at a time on the interstate. Because carriers split their fixed costs (fuel, driver, tolls) across every vehicle on the trailer, open transport is consistently the most affordable way to ship a car long distance, and it’s why the vast majority of vehicles shipped in the U.S. move this way.
- Cost: Lowest of the carrier-based methods; cross-country routes price lower per mile than short regional moves because fixed costs spread over more distance.
- Transit time: Typically a matter of days depending on distance and carrier routing.
- Pros: Cheapest reliable option, widest carrier availability, fastest to book.
- Cons: Vehicle is exposed to weather and road debris during transit.
- Best for: Daily drivers, standard sedans/SUVs/trucks, anyone prioritizing cost and availability.
Method 2: Enclosed Auto Transport — Best Protection
Enclosed carriers haul far fewer vehicles per trip — often just 1-6 — inside a covered trailer that shields cars from rain, road salt, rocks, and UV exposure. That lower vehicle density is the main reason enclosed transport costs more.
- Cost: Roughly 30-60% higher than open transport for the same route.
- Pros: Full weather and road-debris protection, often includes soft tie-downs and liftgate loading (no driving up a ramp).
- Cons: Higher price, fewer carriers available, longer lead time to book.
- Best for: Classic cars, exotics, freshly restored vehicles, low-clearance sports cars, and any vehicle where repair cost would dwarf the transport premium.
Method 3: Driveaway Service — The Budget Alternative
Driveaway services pair your operable vehicle with a professional driver who takes it from pickup to delivery personally, rather than loading it onto a trailer with other cars. You aren’t only paying for fuel — the price also covers the driver’s time, their return trip home, and specialized insurance for driving someone else’s car long distance.
- Pros: Can be less expensive than carrier-based transport on some routes, flexible scheduling.
- Cons: Adds mileage and wear to your vehicle, insurance coverage works differently than carrier cargo insurance, scheduling can be less predictable than a dedicated carrier.
- Best for: Operable vehicles where budget matters more than mileage accumulation, one-way relocations with flexible timing.
Method 4: Rail Transport — The Overlooked East Coast Option
Most people don’t realize passenger rail can move a car at all, but Amtrak’s Auto Train runs daily between Lorton, Virginia (just outside Washington, D.C.) and Sanford, Florida — an 855-mile run that happens to overlap with one of the country’s busiest snowbird corridors. Published 2026 fares start around $95 per person, with vehicle fees ranging from about $155 for a motorcycle up to $255 for a larger truck or SUV.
- Pros: Competitive pricing for the Virginia-to-Florida corridor, you and your car travel together, no added mileage on the vehicle.
- Cons: Only one route in the entire country — useless if you’re not traveling between those two end points, limited daily departures, advance booking required.
- Best for: Snowbirds and relocators already traveling the Virginia-to-Florida corridor who want to bring their car without driving or paying for separate carrier transport.
Method 5: Drive It Yourself — The “Free” Option That Isn’t
Driving feels like it should be the cheapest option because there’s no invoice — but the real cost adds up fast once you account for fuel, lodging, meals, and vehicle depreciation. Two data points worth knowing if you’re penciling out a DIY cross-country drive right now:
- The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline sat at roughly $4.41 in early October 2026, following a record-setting September — meaning fuel for a cross-country drive costs noticeably more this year than in a typical year.
- The IRS’s standard mileage rate for 2026 started at 72.5 cents per mile and was increased mid-year to 76 cents per mile effective July 1, 2026 — a rate the IRS uses to capture the full cost of operating a vehicle, including fuel, maintenance, insurance, and depreciation, not just gas.
Using the IRS’s own 76-cents-per-mile figure as a stand-in for “true cost of driving,” a 2,500-mile cross-country trip represents roughly $1,900 in real vehicle operating cost before you even add hotels and meals for a multi-day drive. That’s often more than a comparable open-transport shipment would cost, before you factor in the days of your own time and the extra miles (and wear) added to a car you may be trying to sell or keep in good condition.
- Pros: No coordination with a carrier, flexible timing, you keep full control of the vehicle the entire time.
- Cons: Adds thousands of miles to the odometer, multi-day time commitment, fuel/lodging/meal costs, fatigue and weather risk.
- Best for: Short-to-medium distances, road-trip enthusiasts, situations where you need the car with you during the move itself.
Which Method Is Right for You? A Simple Decision Framework
| If this describes your situation… | …consider this method |
|---|---|
| Standard daily driver, budget matters most | Open auto transport |
| Classic, exotic, or $50K+ vehicle | Enclosed auto transport |
| Operable car, flexible on mileage added | Driveaway service |
| Traveling between Virginia and Florida specifically | Amtrak Auto Train |
| Need the car with you, short-to-medium distance | Drive it yourself |
Open vs. Enclosed: The Most Common Decision
For most cross-country shippers, the real choice comes down to open vs. enclosed, not the full list of five methods. We break down the cost gap, protection trade-offs, and which vehicles justify the enclosed premium in our dedicated Open vs Enclosed Car Transport guide.
What About Working With a Broker vs. a Direct Carrier?
Whichever method you choose, you’ll also decide whether to book through a broker (who sources a carrier from their network) or go straight to a carrier yourself. Each path affects price, carrier choice, and how much legwork falls on you — see our Broker vs Direct Carrier comparison for the full breakdown.
What Will It Actually Cost? Route-by-Route Pricing
Method is only half the equation — distance and vehicle size are the other half. For detailed route-by-route pricing on major cross-country corridors, see our Cross-Country Car Shipping Cost guide. If your main goal is minimizing total spend, our guide to the cheapest ways to ship a car covers booking timing, flexible pickup windows, and terminal-to-terminal savings that apply on top of whichever method you choose.
Still Deciding Between Shipping and Driving?
If you’re weighing the DIY option more seriously, our dedicated Should I Ship My Car or Drive It? comparison walks through the full cost and time math in more detail than we can cover here.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the cheapest way to ship a car cross country?
Open auto transport is the cheapest widely-available method for most vehicles. Driveaway service can undercut it on some routes for operable cars, and Amtrak’s Auto Train is competitively priced but only runs between Virginia and Florida.
Is it cheaper to drive my car cross country than to ship it?
Often not once you count real costs. Using the IRS’s 2026 standard mileage rate of 76 cents per mile (effective July 1, 2026) as a benchmark for true vehicle operating cost, a 2,500-mile drive represents roughly $1,900 before hotels, meals, or your own time — frequently more than a comparable open-transport shipment.
How much more does enclosed transport cost than open transport?
Enclosed transport generally costs 30-60% more than open transport for the same route, reflecting the lower number of vehicles a covered carrier can haul per trip.
Can I ship my car by train?
Only on one route in the U.S.: Amtrak’s Auto Train between Lorton, Virginia and Sanford, Florida. It’s not an option for other cross-country routes.
What is driveaway service and is it safe?
Driveaway service means a professional driver takes your operable vehicle from pickup to delivery personally instead of loading it on a carrier trailer. Reputable driveaway companies carry specialized insurance for the driver and vehicle, but your car will accumulate the full trip mileage, unlike carrier-based transport.
Does the method I choose affect transit time?
Yes. Carrier-based methods (open and enclosed) typically move on a set multi-day schedule, Amtrak’s Auto Train runs on a fixed daily departure, and driving yourself gives you full control of timing but takes the longest in total elapsed days once stops are factored in.