We ship cars out of Jacksonville every week — here's what it really costs and how it goes.

Most cross-state moves land between $500 and $1,800.

A short regional move of a few hundred miles often costs $500 to $700. A coast-to-coast haul can run $1,200 to $1,800 or more. Open transport is the cheapest option; enclosed transport costs more. Most cross-country deliveries take one to two weeks door to door.

We have a full out-of-state process built for exactly this. One buyer in Connecticut found a Lincoln Nautilus on our Jacksonville lot and had it shipped up: he told us the pricing was “extremely competitive, even compared to dealers across the country, which made it worthwhile to have the vehicle shipped to Connecticut” (Google review).

His one gripe was the shipping arrangement itself. That's exactly the part we'll be honest with you about below, because the delivery-driver hand-off is the one step neither the dealer nor the buyer fully controls.

Here is what drives the price, how long it takes, and how the buying side works when you purchase from out of state.

No two quotes match, but the price drivers are the same.

The final number almost always comes down to the same handful of factors.

Distance

Distance is the single biggest cost driver. But the math is not perfectly linear: per-mile rates drop the farther you go. A 300-mile move might cost roughly $1.50 to $2.00 per mile, while a 2,500-mile cross-country trip can fall closer to $0.50 to $0.75 per mile. Why? A short haul still carries the carrier's fixed costs, spread over fewer miles.

Open vs. enclosed transport

• Open transport is the standard, most affordable choice, and it covers the large majority of shipments. Your car rides on a multi-vehicle carrier exposed to the weather. It's the same way new cars reach dealerships.
• Enclosed transport protects the vehicle inside a covered trailer and typically costs 30% to 50% more. It is worth considering for low-mileage, specialty, or higher-value vehicles where you want extra protection from road debris and weather.

Vehicle size and condition

Larger and heavier vehicles take up more space and add weight, so trucks and full-size SUVs cost more to ship than compact sedans. A vehicle that does not run, an "inoperable" unit, also costs extra because it needs a winch or special loading equipment.

Time of year and route — the Florida factor

Snowbird season is the one that catches Jacksonville buyers off guard. Carriers get slammed hauling cars into Florida in October–November and back out in April.

A car heading north out of our lot in spring competes with every retiree's second vehicle for the same trailer space, and the rate climbs with it.

If your timing is flexible, shipping a northbound car in mid-summer or mid-winter usually costs less than moving it at the peak of the migration.

Less-traveled routes and rural delivery points add cost too, since carriers run fewer trucks on those lanes.

Door-to-door vs. terminal-to-terminal

Door-to-door service brings the carrier as close to your home as the truck can safely reach. Terminal-to-terminal, where you drop off and pick up at designated hubs, can be slightly cheaper but adds hassle. Most buyers choose door-to-door for the convenience.

Cost ranges at a glance.

These are planning ranges, not quotes. Fuel prices, season, and your exact pickup and delivery addresses move the final number. Always get a written quote before you book.

Open transport is almost always the value choice for an everyday vehicle. Reserve enclosed transport for cars where extra protection earns its premium.

Inside 250 miles, Merit delivers free.

One line those cost ranges don't cover: Merit ships nationwide, and delivery is free within a 250-mile radius of the dealership. From Jacksonville that reaches Orlando, Tallahassee, and Savannah, so a lot of Florida and South Georgia buyers pay nothing for transport. Beyond that radius the table above is your planning range.

Transit time has two parts people confuse.

1. Pickup window. After you book, it usually takes one to five business days for a carrier to be assigned and reach the pickup location. Booking a few days ahead of when you actually need the car gives the dispatcher room to find an efficient route.
2. Transit time. Once the car is loaded, expect roughly 300 to 500 miles of progress per day. A Jacksonville-to-Texas move might take two to four days on the road. A cross-country delivery to the West Coast can run a week or more.

Weather, mechanical delays, and route changes can shift the timeline, so treat any promised date as a target rather than a guarantee.

The shipping is simple. Handle the purchase with care.

The smart move is handling the purchase itself with care, since you may be buying a vehicle you cannot inspect in person first. This page covers the shipping side; the full buy-from-a-distance walkthrough — financing, paperwork, and signing remotely — is its own topic.

Merit Auto Group is a family-owned, faith-based multi-OEM used dealership in Jacksonville, FL, carrying 25+ brands across two rooftops on one shared inventory.

The shopping experience is no-pressure, with upfront wholesale pricing — vehicles priced thousands below KBB retail — and a 70-Point Inspection on every used car.

There's a substantial track record to read through before you commit from another state: a 4.8-star Google rating, 2,900+ reviews, a CarGurus Top-Rated Dealer 2025 award, and a cars.com Consumer Satisfaction Award (2026 and 2025).

Two things decide whether a distance purchase is worth it, and both happen before you book a carrier:

See the real car before you commit

Gather everything you'd normally check in person — detailed photos, the vehicle history report, and a walkaround video — and have Merit's specialists answer specific condition questions. Ask for a closer look before any transport is arranged.

Inside the Merit showroom in Jacksonville — a yellow Charger, a blue Corvette, and a red Charger under the lit sign. This is the indoor floor your car is photographed and detailed on before it ships.

Another look at the same floor — a BMW M4 convertible, a Challenger SRT, and a Honda S2000. Ask a specialist to walk any unit you're weighing, panel by panel, on a live call.

Get an out-the-door price with your home-state taxes built in

This is the number that makes shipping pencil out. Merit prices up front, thousands below KBB retail, and quotes an out-the-door figure that already includes your home-state taxes and registration — so the price you see is the price you pay, delivery aside.

It's why the Connecticut buyer above did the math and shipped: Merit's “pricing was extremely competitive, even compared to dealers across the country” (Google review).

Every car clears a 70-point inspection first, and eligible vehicles carry a complimentary 90-day / 3,000-mile limited warranty.

The financing, the video-call signing, and the door-to-door delivery all happen remotely too. Merit's team walks first-time remote buyers through every step of that side when you reach out.

A quick word on checking reviews.

When you check reviews from out of state, one thing to watch: there's a separate, unrelated "Merit Auto Group" in Chickasha, Oklahoma. Make sure the 4.8-star reputation you're reading is the Jacksonville, FL dealership at meritautos.com — that's the one shipping your car.

Questions we hear most.