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How to Prep Vehicles For Shipping

Once you’ve received an affordable quote from Ship Overseas to get your car from one port to another, set up the pickup date at your location and make your payment. You can call us or do it online as part of an easy process. After that, it’s time to prepare your car for the trip. You may want to clean it up, vacuum out the inside and have it detailed. This is an important part to remember if this involves a sale for pickup by the seller at the destination port. What if you are shipping your own car overseas for your own use later? Do you still need to remove all personal possessions from the vehicle?

Generally, you are allowed to pack personal goods inside the vehicle if you elect to ship your vehicle in a shared container. This is a great space saver so you don’t have to use so much luggage. That being said, you’re sending those goods at your own risk because they are not insured. If you go with an exclusive container (your car is shipped by itself), you can pack the vehicle and the container with all your stuff and get it insured against loss (not damage). If you fail to declare or disclose certain items on the packing list, you could be fined when going through at U.S. Customs AND destination Customs.

It’s a good idea to include an itemized packing list of the goods packed in each box, along with a count of the boxes and their combined value. Don’t forget to include the last six digits of the vehicle’s vehicle identification number, or VIN, then attach the itemized list to the original Title of Ownership. You’ll need to obtain a signature at the terminal upon delivery of the goods.

The above is all well and good for container shipping. But what about if you elect to go with RoRo shipping? This is short for roll on, roll off, which is just like it sounds: your car is rolled on and off the ship. In this instance, you can’t pack any personal possessions in your vehicle at all. Your best bet is to remove your license plates and registration tags at vehicle dropoff before leaving the port or before the trucking company picks up your vehicle at your home. You may replace them when picking up your car at the port. Yes, it’s a cumbersome extra step but it’s really all for your protection.

Ship Overseas is your #1 overseas car shipping company, in business for many years, so we know a thing or two about shipping cars overseas. We’re friendly to talk to, too, so if you have any questions at all, pick up the phone and call!

 

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