How Much Does It Cost to Ship A Car?

Marine insurance covers physical loss or damage to cargo while it is in transport. According to Simba Shipping, marine insurance is typically 1.5% of the value of the item insured.

Insurance policies will cover the total loss of a vehicle, with more extensive policies covering theft and damage.

The cost of insurance will depend on a few factors including:

• The value of your vehicle
• The shipping method being used
• The type of insurance and coverage you need

You may also need to consider collection fees if you are not delivering the vehicle to the port yourself. Auto Shipper provides an example of a collection from London to the port of Southampton, which cost an average of £159.

There may also be local charges, duties and taxes for your destination. According to the UK Government, you may need to pay import duty on your vehicle if you take it outside the UK. They recommend that you check with the authorities of the country you’re shipping your vehicle to.

Important duty is not required if you are taking a vehicle from Northern Ireland to Great Britain or the EU.

Larger or heavier cars will cost more to transport, with the height of a vehicle taken into consideration. Ship Cars states that a 4x4 could cost approximately £250 - £300 more than the average saloon car. Additionally, insurance costs will rise for vehicles of higher value, including luxury or vintage cars.

The mileage, departure and destination ports can impact your costs, with charges differing depending on the country you are shipping to.

The two main methods of shipping cars are via shipping container or “Ro-Ro” (roll on/roll off). Car Shipping Worldwide reports that Ro-Ro is typically the cheaper option and is available for most destinations. This means the car is driven directly onto the vessel at the start of the journey and driven off when the destination is reached.

Where Ro-Ro is not available or not suitable for any reason, cars can be transported in 20ft or 40ft shipping containers.

Air freight is also an option but it is vastly more expensive than shipping by sea. It is used when a car is needed quickly or is a high-value vehicle. For example, Auto Shippers reports that the average cost of shipping a car by air from Manchester to Abu Dhabi is £5,689, which is approximately 5 times the cost of sea freight.

According to Auto Shippers, factors such as changing exchange rates, oil prices and fluctuations in the number of cars being shipped to and from a particular destination can have an impact on shipping prices.