How Car Shipping Payments Should Work

Payment is where vague car-shipping ads do the most damage. The clean version is short. You see a Direct Quote. You book with $0 charged today. A payment method is saved. After you approve the assigned carrier and the final price, the card is charged. If no carrier is secured, you are not charged.

What to refuse

A request to pay the driver the “rest” in cash or by app, if that amount was not the price you approved. A request to wire a person who is not the company you booked. A price that only appears after the car is already on the truck. If any of those show up, stop and use Need Help? before the car moves or before you sign delivery.

Tipping is separate and optional. It is not a balance. See should you tip.

What the broker is paid to coordinate

Finding the carrier, keeping one price, and keeping the paperwork together. The role explanation, without a pay formula, is what a broker is paid to do. Cancellation timing is on pricing: free before a carrier is assigned, and a $250 fee for a customer-controlled cancellation after assignment. Read the page before you cancel.

The booking timeline is also on no deposit, explained.

Questions people ask

Do you take payment at delivery?

The charge is tied to carrier approval, not to a curbside terminal the driver carries. Do not improvise a second payment at the curb.

What if my bank flags the charge?

Contact the shipment contact with the order details. Do not pay someone else “to release the car” while you sort the bank.

Can I pay with a different card than the one saved at booking?

Ask before the carrier is approved so the charge goes to the card you intend. Do not wait until a driver is in the driveway.