Getting the car home

Every car we sell is sitting on the lot at 7526 Alameda Avenue in El Paso. Two things can happen next: you drive it away, or it goes on a truck. This page explains the second one, because it is the part people have questions about.

Two ways it leaves the lot

Both are worth pricing before you buy

You drive it

The cheapest way to move a car is to sit in it, and the drive home is an honest test of everything the car was described as being.

Think it through first if the car is old. Interstate 10 out of El Paso is long and empty in both directions, and a car built in the 1960s wants a slower pace, more fuel stops and a look at the coolant every time you stop. Plan the route, plan the day, and carry water.

It goes on a truck

Transport is a separate arrangement from the sale, with its own price and its own timetable. Ask what it would cost to your address before you commit to buying the car, not after — the number can change which car makes sense.

There are two shapes the job can take, and the difference between them is mostly money against control.

How a hauled car travels

A multi-car carrier loaded with vehicles

On a shared trailer

Your car rides with several others on a truck that is already running a route in your direction. It is the cheaper of the two and the way most cars travel.

  • You pay for one slot, not the whole trailer
  • You wait for a truck heading the right way
  • Pickup and delivery days can move either side
A single vehicle being transported on its own trailer

On its own trailer

A truck goes out for your car and nothing else. You are paying for the whole trailer rather than a share of it, and what the money buys is the calendar.

  • Dates you choose rather than dates you are offered
  • Nothing else loaded or unloaded around your car
  • A shorter trip, and a higher price for it

What a quote turns on

Six things, and none of them is a flat rate

Where it is going
Distance is the biggest number in any quote, but the route matters as much. A car going to a city on a busy interstate corridor moves more cheaply than one going somewhere a truck has to detour for.
Open or enclosed
An open trailer is the two-deck carrier you see on the interstate. It is the cheaper option, and the car is out in the weather and the road grit for the whole trip. An enclosed trailer is a box on wheels: more money, and the car arrives as clean as it left.
Shared or dedicated
A shared load is cheaper because you are paying for one slot on a truck that is going anyway. A dedicated trailer costs more because you are paying for all of it.
Whether it runs and steers
A car that can be driven onto the trailer under its own power is straightforward. One that has to be winched needs the right equipment and costs more to load.
How tight your dates are
Flexible dates are cheaper than a fixed day. If the car has to arrive on a particular afternoon, that is a dedicated run, and it is priced like one.
The time of year
Carrier rates move with the season and with the direction of travel. The same trip can be priced differently in March and in October.

Ask for a number before you commit

17 cars on the lot today

Call or email with the car and the destination and we will find out what it takes to get it there. It is a short conversation, and it is worth having before the car is yours rather than after.

Have this to hand

  • The stock number of the car, so we know which one you mean
  • The delivery address, or at least the ZIP code
  • A window of dates rather than a single day, if you can manage it
  • A phone number a driver can reach on the day
  • Somewhere a full-size truck can legally stop near the address
(915) 615-1843sales@swautosales.us
Monday to Friday
10 AM - 6 PM
Saturday and Sunday
Closed

7526 Alameda Ave
El Paso, TX 79915