International car shipping, and the two decisions that price it.
The car travels on its own wheels or sealed in a container. It stops at the destination port or at your door. You settle both before booking, and both appear on your written quote.
Two ways it travels, and two places it stops.
The first decision is how the car travels.
On a roll-on roll-off (RoRo) sailing, it is driven aboard and lashed to a deck. Nothing may be packed in it.
In a container, it is strapped at the wheels and sealed in. That suits a valuable, low or non-running car. Sharing one keeps the car sealed for less.
The second is where the job stops. Door to port ends at the destination terminal, where you or your agent clear it.
Door to door adds clearance and delivery to your address. At that end, the work is handled by our own in-house coordinators, working with a vetted agent network and local destination partners.
Scope
What a car shipping quote covers, and what it does not.
Compare two bids on the second column. It names the costs a quote leaves out.
Included in every car shipment we quote
- A written condition report before the car leaves you, with photographs of every panel, the wheels, the interior and the odometer
- Collection from your address, and transport to the loading port
- Preparation for the sailing: fuel run down, alarm disabled, battery secured and personal items removed
- The export declaration at origin, and the ocean booking on a named service
- All-risk marine cover at declared replacement value, included as standard
Not included, and named here rather than later
- Import duty and taxes, which the destination assesses on the car and no mover can waive
- Registration, road-worthiness testing and any modification the destination requires
- Port storage or demurrage caused by paperwork that was not ready
- Belongings packed inside the car, which most authorities treat as undeclared cargo
- Winching a non-running car at either end, quoted once we know it does not drive
How it works
Five stages, and what your side owns in each.
This is the order, not a timetable. Your dates are on your quote.
Survey and written quote
We take the make, model and size, whether it runs, and where it goes. The quote names the method and where the job stops. Your side: say if the car does not drive.
Condition report
Before collection, the car is photographed panel by panel, inside and out, with the odometer recorded. Your side: be there, and check the report.
Preparation
Fuel is run down, the alarm is disabled and the battery is secured. Your side: hand over one key and empty the boot and glovebox.
Collection, export and loading
The car is collected, the export declaration is filed and the car is loaded on the booked service. Your side: stay reachable if the authority has a question.
Arrival and release
At the far end the car is cleared, then released at the port or delivered to your door, as you chose. Your side: have ready the documents listed for that end.
What decides your quote
Why two cars on one route are quoted differently.
There is no price list. Any figure that ignored your method would mislead.
- 01
RoRo or container
RoRo sells deck space and a container sells a sealed box, so this moves the quote most. - 02
The size of the car
Sea freight is sold by space. A long SUV takes more than a hatchback. - 03
Whether it runs
A car that does not drive is winched, and may need a different service. - 04
Port, or your door
Delivery past the terminal is a road leg, priced mostly on distance from the port. - 05
What the destination requires
Inspections, modifications and home-country papers take time. Each is named on the quote. - 06
When you sail
Vehicle sailings are rarer on most lanes. A fixed date has fewer choices, which shows in the quote.
Where we ship from
A car leaves from one of three places.
The origins on this page are the ones we collect from, not the ones we deliver to — where the car is going is the list below.
Reviews
What IMove customers say about their moves.
We shifted from Bangalore to Auckland and our complete move was handled by Venissa from IMove Global Mobility LLP.There was a vessel delay due to port congestion in Hong Kong, but the team communicated well and managed everything smoothly. Still very happy with the service. Highly recommend their service for international relocation. Thank you Vanessia and I Move
Kumail Abbas Jung Mir · Household move · Bangalore → Auckland
Special mention of appreciation to Venissa for handling our shipment door to door from Bangalore to Chicago. Her crew had packed all the items very well and marked each item for identifying as it was a shared container. All the items were intact and without damage or scratch especially the Marble dinning tables, chairs, Diwan and the console. Venissa was tracking the shipment from port to port an updating us every step of the way. Her counterpart team in New Jersey also did a very good job of unloading, opening crates and assembling the furniture. Also they removed all the debris from our site. Overall we were very impressed with the service the Venissa - IMove had provided and will definitely recommend them to our friends and also to people who wish transport items from India. Well done IMove. Once again special thanks to Venissa.
Harish Manjunath · Household move · Bangalore → Chicago
I recently moved from Australia to India and IMOVE handled Indian customs and the experience was seamless. They delivered my shipment within the promised timeframe, and the process was straightforward from start to finish. Riju kept us informed every step of the way, providing regular updates, assisting with the paperwork, and ensuring everything went smoothly. Their professionalism and excellent communication made the move incredibly easy and stress-free. I highly recommend their services to anyone looking for reliable relocation services.
Anushree Chacko · Household move · Australia → India
Common questions
Shipping a car abroad, answered.
Is RoRo or container shipping better for my car?
Neither is better in general, because the choice turns on what the car is worth to you and how it runs, so RoRo suits an ordinary running car you would be happy to see parked among other people’s vehicles, and a container suits one that is valuable, low or not running. Sharing a container sits between the two.
Can I pack belongings in the car to save space?
No, because on a roll-on roll-off sailing anything left inside a vehicle is prohibited outright, since the car travels as a vehicle and the deck is not a hold, and inside a shared container the destination’s own rule applies, which almost always gives the same answer. Anything you want shipped goes on the household inventory instead. There it is declared and inspected like everything else.
How long does it take to ship a car overseas?
This page gives no figure on purpose, because a duration averaged across our lanes would be true of none of them, and the sailing itself is rarely what decides when you get the keys back, since the next sailing your paperwork can catch and the speed of release at the far end matter more. Your coordinator gives you both on the written quote, for your lane.
Who pays the import duty on a car, and how much is it?
You do, and nobody can give you the amount on a web page, because the destination authority assesses duty on the car itself, using its age, engine size and declared value, rather than on the shipping, so it depends on the country and on the car. A quote never absorbs it. We tell you before you commit what that end assesses on, so the bill is one you expected.
Is my car insured in transit, and what if it is damaged?
Insurance is all-risk marine cover at declared replacement value, included as standard, and a claim is measured against the condition report made before the car leaves you, which photographs every panel, the wheels, the interior and the odometer, so that document is the baseline for any damage found at the far end. A claim is settled against the declared value agreed at booking. Be honest about that figure at the survey.
Can you ship a car that does not run?
Yes, but tell us first, because a car that cannot be driven onto a deck rules out most roll-on roll-off services and goes instead into a container, which is loaded by winch at origin and unloaded the same way, so it changes the booking as well as the price.
Some terminals handle non-runners only on certain days. Told at the survey, that is a detail. Found at the port, it is a delay.
Tell us what the car is and where it is going.
You get a free, no-obligation quote that names the method and where the job stops. A real person replies within 2 hours.