Does Shipping a Car Add Miles to It?

A car carrier is a moving parking lot. The driver brings your car up the ramps under its own power, lines it up on a deck beside the other cars, and straps the wheels down. From that point the car is cargo. It sits still for the whole journey while the truck does the driving. At delivery the straps come off and the car is driven back down the ramps to the curb.

• Pickup: the engine runs for the short drive from the curb up the ramp and into its spot.
• In transit: the car is strapped down and switched off. The odometer does not move.
• Delivery: the engine runs again for the short drive down the ramp to where you are standing.

That is the whole of it on a door-to-door move. A car that doesn't run is winched onto the deck instead, so it isn't driven at all, and the reading you handed over is the reading you get back.

Nobody worries about a handful of feet for its own sake. The question comes up because the odometer is tied to money in three common situations.

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  A lease with a mileage limit

  Leases set an allowance and charge for miles beyond it. If you are already close to the limit, you want the car moved, not driven.

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  A sale, trade-in or appraisal

  Mileage is one of the first things a buyer or appraiser looks at, and the reading has to match the paperwork you sign.

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  A warranty or service interval

  Coverage and service schedules are written in miles. A move shouldn't bring the next threshold any closer.

That last point is why sellers in particular care about the reading at both ends. If the car is being shipped to a buyer, the mileage you disclose on the paperwork should still be the mileage on the dashboard when the buyer opens the door.

You don't have to take anyone's word for this. The odometer is recorded twice by two different people: by you, in a photo, and by the driver, on the inspection report.

1. 1Photograph the dashboard at pickupIgnition on so the display lights up, close enough that the digits are readable, before the driver loads the car. Include any warning lights in the same shot.
2. 2Check what the driver wrote downThe inspection report and bill of lading record the odometer reading along with the car's condition. Read it and make sure it matches your photo before you sign.
3. 3Keep your copyPaper or emailed, keep the signed pickup copy where you can find it. It is the document that fixes the reading at the start of the trip.
4. 4Photograph the dashboard again at deliverySame shot, before you sign anything. Do it while the driver is still there, not after they have gone.
5. 5Compare the twoTwo photos and one signed document are enough to settle any question about mileage, for a lease return, a buyer or an appraiser.

There are several ways to get a car across the country, and they do not all leave the odometer alone. The difference is simply whether someone sits in your car and drives it.

Driveaway is the one people mix up with shipping, because it is also something you hire a company to do. It suits vehicles that don't fit a car carrier, and it can be quicker. But your car does the travelling, which means fuel, tires, wear and a longer reading at the far end. If the mileage is the thing you are protecting, driveaway is the option to rule out first.

Start with your own record rather than an argument. Compare your delivery photo with your pickup photo and with the reading written on the bill of lading. Quite often the gap is smaller than it felt, or the number you remembered was never written down.

• Someone drove the car after you last looked at it: a family member, a dealer, a detailer, or you, on the way to meet the driver.
• The car was moved at a terminal, or loaded onto a second truck part-way through a long route.
• The pickup reading on the paperwork was rounded or misread, which is why your own photo matters.
• The car was repositioned on the deck so another vehicle could be loaded or unloaded ahead of it.

Then ask the company you booked with which carrier actually had the car, and for the record of the shipment. If a broker arranged the move, federal rules give every party to the transaction the right to see that record.