How to Prepare Your Car for Transport

A fifteen-minute checklist that prevents almost every dispute, plus the one step nearly everyone skips and later regrets.

Preparing a car for transport takes about fifteen minutes and prevents nearly every argument that happens at delivery. Almost all of it is about being able to prove the condition of the car at the moment it left you.

Wash it first. This is the step people skip.

A dirty car cannot be inspected, and an inspection you cannot rely on is the root of most damage disputes. Wash it the day before pickup so existing chips and scratches are visible, then photograph it in daylight: all four corners, the roof, the wheels, the odometer, and a close shot of every mark you already know about.

Those photographs, timestamped, are the entire difference between a claim that resolves in a week and one that becomes your word against a driver's.

Empty it out

• Remove personal items. Cargo insurance covers the vehicle, not the contents, and loose belongings are not covered by anyone.
• Take out toll transponders and parking passes, or you will collect charges across several states.
• Remove or retract anything that adds height or sticks out: roof racks, bike carriers, spoilers that unbolt, aftermarket antennas.
• Fold the mirrors and disable the alarm, or leave clear instructions for it.

Fluids, fuel, and the battery

Leave about a quarter tank of fuel. Enough to load, unload, and drive away, not so much that you are paying to haul gasoline across the country. Top off the coolant and oil, check the tire pressure, and mention any active leak up front. A leak that is disclosed gets your car placed on the bottom deck where it harms nothing. A leak that is discovered mid-route causes a problem for somebody else's paint and becomes your bill.

If the battery is weak, say so before pickup. A car that will not start turns an ordinary load into a winch job, and a driver who arrives unprepared may simply leave.

At the curb

Walk the car with the driver, compare it against the condition report, and do not sign until it matches what you see. That report is the document everything later depends on.