Picture this: you need your car shipped from Toronto to Montreal next week. You go online, call a few companies, and get a quote that fits your budget. The rep says, “No problem, we’ve got you covered!” You pay your deposit and then… radio silence.
Sound familiar?
While most car shipping companies are legitimate, there are scams out there—especially online.
These companies prey on customers who don’t know what to expect from the shipping process. That’s why we’re breaking down the 5 most common car shipping scams — and exactly how to avoid them.
Car Shipping Scam #1: Too Good To Be True Prices
Starting off strong with the most obvious ploy!
Companies will use unrealistically low prices to draw in unsuspecting customers. Often you’ll feel pressured to make a decision quickly with these companies and you’ll find they offer vague terms & conditions.
A quick Google Search of the company can give you more information, but checking their Google Reviews isn’t the only thing you can do to safeguard yourself.
How To Avoid This Scam: Shop Around! Get at least three quotes from different companies to see what your baseline price should be. If one is drastically lower than the others, it could be time to dig a little deeper into their credentials (or move on to one of your other quotes)!
Car Shipping Scam #2: Hidden Fees & Unexpected Costs
Another obvious one that gets a lot of customers in deep water!
This scam involves giving you a great upfront quote and then, when pick up day rolls around, suddenly there’s a new fee they forgot to tell you about. Sometimes they’ll even say there were last-minute complications which result in a higher cost.
This one is most common when you’re working with Brokers. A Broker, rather than a company with their own fleet of trucks, will often take your vehicle even if they don’t have a load going to your destination yet. What happens is they post your vehicle to a load board, where independent owner-operators can bid for the job. The hidden fees and unexpected costs are usually a result of not being able to find a driver who will take your vehicle at that price.
How To Avoid This Scam: The easiest way to avoid this one is to work with a company with its own fleet of trucks, like Abrams Auto Transport. If you are going to work with a broker (there are reputable ones), make sure you get everything in writing and read the fine print before signing any agreements!
Car Shipping Scam #3: Full or Partial Upfront Payment
Another scam where businesses are hoping you’ve never shipped your car before!
They will ask you for the full cost or half of the cost of your shipment upfront. They’ll explain it’s a way to verify you’re legitimate and they might even offer you full money back guarantees.
Often, this results in them disappearing with your money and leaving you in the dust!
How To Avoid This Scam: Never pay more than a 20% deposit for vehicle transportation services. Anything beyond that is a huge red flag.
Our customers are charged a 20% deposit when booking their auto transport. Upon pickup day they are charged the full amount for the shipment.
Car Shipping Scam #4: The Disappearing Company
This one is more common than you think!
You’ll have booked your transport and likely paid upfront (these scams usually run together), then suddenly pickup day arrives and they’re nowhere to be seen.
You call the number you had and the line is dead or no one answers you. The email you got from them? Nothing. In some cases they’ll even remove their company from Google, disappearing from the world leaving you thinking it was all a bad nightmare.
How To Avoid This Scam: This one can be tough to spot but usually they’ve already pulled one of the other scams on you. Too good to be true prices and upfront charges are usually a strong indicator that they might ghost you after they receive payment.
As for spotting a company that has opened multiple Google Business accounts with different names: spotting them is easier than you think. Most of the time these companies are trying to avoid their one star reviews and scam claims by starting fresh. They’ll often have very few reviews, all within the last few months. You can search the phone number on the listing or the company name with “scam” or “review” to try to find any other businesses that use that phone number. If they’ve pulled this scam before, there will probably be a Reddit thread out there already!
Car Shipping Scam #5: The Hijacked Delivery
These are where we get some of the worst horror stories!
You hand over your vehicle and they hold it hostage in some yard, demanding more money before releasing it to you. Often, they don’t even have your car on their lot (if they even have one). They’ve already handed it off to someone else and good luck finding out who. So tracking down your vehicle can be extremely difficult.
Again, this is very common with brokers who are using third-party drivers or companies. Most times it comes down to your Broker not paying their driver or the third-party company and your car becomes the collateral.
How To Avoid This Scam: Again, the best way to avoid this is to work with a company who does not contract out to third-parties. Owner-operator businesses means your vehicle isn’t changing hands and you know exactly where it is at all times.
At Abrams, we have a tracking system that shows us exactly where all of our trucks are. So we know exactly where your vehicle is from the time we pick it up to the time it’s back in your driveway.
Check out our video of Abrams CEO, Tom Johnston, explaining our tracking system.
Spotting A Legit Car Shipping Company
Now that we’ve walked you through the most common scams and how to avoid them, you should have a pretty good idea of how to spot a trustworthy company.
We always recommend adding these things to your search:
- Find someone you know who has used a company before (better than relying on strangers’ Google reviews)
- Verify their USDOT Number or Motor Carrier (MC) Number
- Verify they have Cargo Insurance and Commercial Liability. General Liability Insurance is a bonus.
- Verify if they use their own trucks and drivers
- Ask about their payment options including deposits
Check out our recent blog on What To Look For In a Car Shipping Company for more details.
Save yourself from being another horror story! It’s so easy to fall trap to these scams, especially if this is your first time booking vehicle transport.
Book With Confidence
At Abrams Auto Transport, we’ve been moving vehicles across Canada and the U.S. for over 35 years. We own our own fleet of trucks, we don’t charge sketchy fees, and you’ll always know exactly who’s handling your vehicle.
Whether you’re moving across the country or just need seasonal vehicle delivery, you can get a quote and ask us anything — no pressure, no scams.
We’ve made car shipping simple and stress-free! Just ask our happy customers!
You can also check out our 100+ 5-star Google Reviews!
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