Open or enclosed car transport: which one your car needs

Open transport

An open carrier takes several cars on two decks, usually 7 to 9 on a full-size rig. It is the most common way to ship a car, and there are more open trucks on every lane, so pickup windows are usually shorter and the price is lower.

The car rides outside. It sees the same rain, sun and road dust as it would on a long drive, and arrives needing a wash. It is strapped at the wheels, inspected and photographed at both ends, and covered by the carrier's cargo insurance like any other load. For an everyday car, a work truck or a family SUV, open is the right choice and the one most people make.

• Open car transport

Enclosed transport

An enclosed trailer carries fewer cars, typically 2 to 6, fully covered. Nothing touches the paint on the way: no rain, no road grit, no stone from the truck ahead. The cars are strapped with soft straps over the tires rather than chains, and many trailers have a lift gate, so a car that sits low drives onto a flat platform instead of up a ramp.

Fewer trucks run enclosed, so the pickup window can be a little longer, and the car arrives as clean as it left. Drivers who run enclosed tend to specialise in it and handle cars that cost more than the truck every week.

• Enclosed car transport

Which cars need enclosed

• Classics and collector cars, where the paint is original or the restoration cost more than the car.
• Exotics and high-value sports cars, where one trailer of cars on an open rig would share the carrier's per-load cargo limit.
• New cars with delivery miles, or any car being sold where the buyer expects it to arrive as photographed.
• Cars with custom or soft paint, matte finishes and wraps, which road grit marks.
• Cars that sit very low, which need a lift gate rather than a ramp.
• Convertibles with soft tops that are not fully weatherproof.

If your car is on that list, choose enclosed. If it is not, open is fine, and the money is better spent elsewhere.

• Classic car shipping
• Electric vehicle shipping

The price difference

Enclosed costs more because the trailer carries fewer cars, so each one pays a bigger share of the truck's day. The gap is not a fixed percentage. It depends on the lane, on how many enclosed trucks run it that week, and on the season.

The price screen shows both for your own lane, built from what carriers were paid on it in the last 90 days, so you see the difference for your car before you choose rather than a rule of thumb. On most lanes the enclosed figure is noticeably higher, and for the cars in the list above it is the cheaper insurance.

• What sets the price