Auto transport across California — Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, and every point between.
California is the largest auto transport market in the country, and Crestline moves vehicles across all of it. The state has more carriers working it than anywhere else, but it also has more demand, more port volume, and more distance between its major metros than people expect. Car shipping to California is rarely hard to arrange — the variables that matter are which part of the state you’re headed to, and whether your vehicle is coming off a ship.
Most vehicles moving to or from California land between a few hundred dollars for an in-state run and roughly twenty-five hundred for a cross-country enclosed move. California has deeper carrier capacity than any other state, so the price is driven less by availability and more by distance, direction, and the specific pickup address.
More people ship vehicles out of California than into it, which means outbound trailers fill first and inbound slots often go at a discount. If you’re moving a car to California from the Midwest or the East, you’re frequently the cheaper half of a round trip. Moving one out during peak relocation months is the expensive half.
Los Angeles, the Bay Area, San Diego, and Sacramento all have constant carrier presence and quick scheduling. The Central Valley is straightforward. But the far north above Redding, the Sierra foothills, and the desert east of the mountains are genuinely remote, and delivery there is priced accordingly.
If your vehicle is arriving at Long Beach, Los Angeles, Port Hueneme, or San Diego, the constraint is the release date, not the transport. Storage fees start accruing quickly once a vehicle is discharged. Getting a carrier scheduled for the day of release is usually the single largest cost you can control.
Open transport handles the overwhelming majority of moves and costs meaningfully less. Enclosed makes sense for an exotic, a restored classic, or anything heading to a Southern California collector market or anything where the paint is the point. Expect enclosed to run roughly 40 to 60 percent higher.
California moves more vehicles than any other state, and that scale works in your favor. There are more carriers running Californian lanes, more frequent departures, and more competition on price than anywhere else in the country. Pickup windows in the major metros are typically measured in days rather than weeks, even during busy relocation season.
Long Beach and Los Angeles are the largest container complex in the Western Hemisphere. Port Hueneme is a dedicated automotive terminal handling a significant share of West Coast vehicle imports, and San Diego’s National City terminal handles substantial RoRo volume. We coordinate port pickups at all four. Clear customs, settle any storage charges, and send us the release date — we schedule around it rather than guessing.
Camp Pendleton, Naval Base San Diego, Twentynine Palms, and Fort Irwin generate constant PCS relocation volume, and San Diego alone is one of the largest concentrations of military personnel in the country. We handle these moves regularly and understand that orders drive the schedule. Send us your report date and we work backward from it.
It depends heavily on origin and direction. Cross-country moves from the East Coast are the longest and most expensive routes we run. Regional moves from Arizona, Nevada, or Oregon are considerably less. Shipping into California is often cheaper than shipping out, because more vehicles leave the state than enter it and carriers discount the return leg. A quote takes about a minute.
Yes, and we do both regularly. Port Hueneme is a dedicated automotive terminal and Long Beach handles significant vehicle volume alongside container traffic. You’ll need customs clearance and any accrued storage fees settled before release. Send us the release paperwork and we’ll have a carrier scheduled for that date rather than letting fees pile up.
From the Pacific Northwest or the Southwest, two to four days. From Texas, four to six. From the Midwest, five to eight. From the East Coast, seven to ten. In-state moves between Northern and Southern California usually run one to three days. Carrier availability is the strongest in the country, so pickup windows are typically short.
Yes, but it requires a carrier equipped with a winch, which is a smaller pool of trucks and costs more than a standard move. Tell us up front whether the vehicle rolls, brakes, and steers. That determines what equipment we dispatch, and finding out at pickup means a wasted trip and a rescheduled move for everyone.
Every carrier we dispatch carries active cargo insurance, and we verify that coverage before assigning your vehicle. Your own auto policy typically remains in effect as well. The condition report signed at pickup and delivery is what actually protects you, so inspect the vehicle at both ends and note anything you see before signing off.
