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How to Prepare Your Car for Auto Transport
A working checklist — fuel, photos, access, and what to leave out of the cabin.
Published 2026-09-20 · First-party guide
Preparation is mostly access and documentation. The truck is a full-size auto carrier. If the street cannot take it, the driver meets at a nearby legal lot. That is still door-to-door.
Checklist
- Remove personal items, garage remotes you need, and toll tags you do not want traveling.
- Leave about a quarter tank of fuel. A full tank adds weight; an empty tank can be a problem if the car has to be moved in a lot.
- Disable aftermarket alarms that will go off on a trailer, or tell us how to silence them.
- Fold mirrors if they fold. Remove or secure loose parts (bike racks, antennas) that a strap or another vehicle could catch.
- Photograph every side, wheels, glass, and existing damage. Keep the photos.
- Make sure someone with a key can meet the driver in the pickup window, or leave the car at a lot the truck can enter.
- Tell us about gates, apartments, downtown loading rules, and low trees in the quote notes.
Inoperable vehicles
If the car does not roll, steer, and brake, select inoperable on the quote. A $200 add-on applies because of extra handling. Winch-capable equipment has to exist on that load.
Enclosed vs open
Open is the usual choice for daily drivers. Enclosed is a $380 add-on when you select it and a covered trailer is available. See open car transport and enclosed car transport.
After you book
You still approve the carrier before the card is charged. Pickup is a window, not a promised minute. The short version of this checklist also lives on how to prepare a car for shipping.
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