Speed Reads:
- Montway is our top-rated auto shipping provider due to its strong reputation, affordable costs, range of transport services, and strong customer experience.
- Montway offers extensive additional insurance coverage compared to competitors, with $100,000 in liability protection and a $250,000 cargo insurance policy.
- With shipping services to all 50 states and international shipping options, Montway has an impressive amount of service options in addition to an instant quote calculator that makes gathering quotes easy.
In this article, our team takes an up-close look at Montway Auto Transport to see how it compares to other leading providers. We’ve spent over 300 research hours gathering more than 500 data points about the leading car shipping companies’ costs, services, customer experience, and more. Based on our findings, we give Montway Auto Transport a rating of 4.7 out of 5.0 stars and name it Best Overall for car shipping in 2023.
We believe Montway is an excellent choice for auto transport, but you might also consider any providers that landed on our list of the best car shipping companies. We encourage you to gather as many quotes as possible from reputable auto transport companies to make an informed decision for your needs.
At Motor1.com, we’re dedicated to supplying car owners with the well-researched information they need to make sound decisions about auto shipping. Our editorial team consists of experienced automotive researchers, writers, and editors that follow strict guidelines to ensure that our articles are unbiased and fact checked.
To compile our product reviews and rankings, our team continuously evaluates over 25 car shipping companies to compare costs, services, customer experience, and reliability. We verify each provider’s quality through our hands-on research process. We've spent hundreds of hours analyzing past customer reviews and mystery shopping top providers to gather 400 pricing quotes for various shipping routes. To learn what matters most to consumers when shipping a car, we sent surveys to 2,000 shipping customers to get their feedback. Lastly, to obtain first-hand product knowledge our team shipped three cars across the country to gather insight into the overall process.
Read our full car shipping review methodology and our editorial guidelines.
Our Montway Auto Transport Review And Methodology
We examined Montway Auto Transport in four key areas when crafting our review: reputation, cost, services, and customer experience. The following sections provide further details on these methodology categories and how Montway performed in each.
Reputation
Participants in our latest vehicle shipping survey conducted in August 2023 made it clear – company reputation was the most important to them when choosing a shipping provider. Close to a quarter of our 1,000 contributors felt this way.
We gauge a company’s industry reputation based on its state availability, years in business, and Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating. Montway is available in all 50 states and has been in business since 2006. The company also holds an A+ rating from the BBB. Taking all these factors into account, we give Montway a healthy 4.8 out of 5.0-star rating for reputation.
Cost
Cost was the second most important factor to our latest survey participants. We give Montway 4.5 out of 5.0 stars in the cost category. Our team gathered quotes to ship an operable 2018 Toyota RAV4 along various routes using open and enclosed shipping services to analyze the company’s rates. We found that Montway tends to offer lower prices than many of its competitors. Montway also offers a discount for paying in cash, which is somewhat rare for the car shipping industry.
Services
Montway shines in this category. Transit time is typically on the lower end of the normal range due to the wide network of carriers the company uses. Montway also ships to and from Hawaii and Alaska, which isn’t a given in the auto shipping world. The company offers cargo insurance, which protects your vehicle from damage during transit, of up to $100,000 for on-land shipments with no deductible. Overall, we rate Montway 4.8 out of 5.0 stars in this category.
Customer Experience
Customer reviews across multiple platforms paint a positive picture of Montway Auto Transport. The company has a 4.6 out of 5.0-star rating from customers on the BBB and a 4.3 out of 5.0-star rating from over 1,300 reviews on Trustpilot. Combined with its easy-to-use online quote tool, these ratings fuel our team’s 4.6 out of 5.0-star customer experience rating for Montway.
Montway Auto Transport Overview
Founded: 2006
Headquarters: Schaumburg, IL
Service Area: All 50 U.S. states, including Hawaii and Alaska
Montway Auto Transport is a well-established auto shipping broker with over 15 years of experience. Inc. 5000 included Montway on its list of the fastest-growing companies in 2015 and again in 2021. Montway moved 140,000 vehicles in 2020, according to Inc. 5000. Montway also ranked in Crain’s Chicago Business 50 fastest-growing businesses in 2017.
Montway Auto Transport Shipping Services
Montway Auto Transport ships to and from anywhere in the country, including Alaska and Hawaii. The company offers both open shipping, meaning your vehicle is loaded onto a trailer that’s exposed to the elements, and enclosed shipping, where your car is hauled in a trailer with walls and a roof. Note that enclosed shipping can cost 30 to 40 percent more per mile.
After your vehicle ships, the company offers a live chat service you can contact between 6:00 AM and midnight CST to ask about the location of your vehicle. In Montway Auto Transport reviews, many customers mention live chat as a standout feature of the company’s shipping process.
Note that Montway doesn’t offer shipping services for RVs or trailers but only passenger cars (including SUVs and pickups).
Montway Auto Transport Extras And Add-Ons
Montway offers a few additional auto transport services that may improve your shipping experience:
- Expedited shipping (guaranteed pickup dates)
- Door-to-door delivery (your vehicle is delivered as close to your home address as possible, offered standard)
- No fee for shipping up to 100 pounds of personal items in your vehicle’s trunk
The shipper provides insurance, which is part of your shipping cost. Montway also offers contingent cargo insurance up to $250,000. This can be thought of as extra protection for your vehicle while it’s being shipped. It goes beyond basic cargo insurance to pay for damages if your trucker’s policy fails to cover a valid claim fully.
In our latest car shipping survey, respondents stated that delivery speed and insurance coverage were the third and fourth most important considerations for choosing an auto shipping company. Montway satisfies these requirements with its expedited shipping service and extra insurance coverage.
Montway Auto Transport Cost
In late 2022, Montway quoted our team $1,369 to ship a Toyota RAV4 1,500 miles from Los Angeles, CA, to Houston, TX. This is cheaper than the average rate of $1,425 across 18 major car shipping companies for that same route.
Our latest survey data shows that almost half of all respondents paid between $1,000 and $2,000 for their shipping services. This is an increase from our previous shipping survey’s data, which showed that just over 41 percent of respondents paid between $1,000 and $1,999 for their vehicle shipment.
Montway Auto Transport Quotes
To give you an idea of what it might cost to ship your car with Montway Auto Transport, we reached out for quotes to ship an operable 2018 Toyota RAV4 through open transport. Note that your rates may vary based on time of year, vehicle, route, and other factors.
Here are the car shipping rates Montway quoted us in 2022:
Shipping Route | Shipping Distance | Estimated Cost |
---|---|---|
Chicago to Kansas City, MO | 503 miles | $719 |
Los Angeles to Houston | 1,556 miles | $1,369 |
New York City to San Francisco | 3,036 miles | $1,809 |
For some added context, here are the quotes we received from Montway for the same shipments in 2021:
Shipping Route | Shipping Distance | Estimated Cost |
---|---|---|
Chicago to Kansas City, MO | 503 miles | $689 |
Los Angeles to Houston | 1,556 miles | $979 |
New York City to San Francisco | 3,036 miles | $1,789 |
Our car shipping cost research revealed that Montway Auto Transport is one of the cheapest options in the U.S. The auto broker also offers discounts for returning customers as well as active and former military members.
What Affects Car Shipping Costs
According to Montway’s website, auto shipping prices are usually around $1.96 per mile for distances under 500 miles, 93 cents per mile for distances between 500 and 1,500 miles, and 58 cents per mile for distances over 1,500 miles. However, as noted earlier, multiple factors can impact your shipping price. Here’s a more comprehensive list:
- Vehicle size and weight: Most car shipping services will charge based on weight, so larger vehicles cost more to transport than smaller vehicles.
- Vehicle operability: Inoperable vehicles will cost more to haul than operable vehicles because they add more labor.
- Shipping distance: Shipping a car over a long distance will cost more overall, but less per mile than shorter trips.
- Type of transport (open versus enclosed trailer): Open transport is cheaper than enclosed transport.
- Destination and pickup locations (urban versus rural): Typically, shipping to a rural location will cost more than shipping to an urban area. Along the same lines, door-to-door transport is more expensive than terminal-to-terminal transport.
- Season: Summer months and January tend to be more expensive.
Montway offers instant quotes online, taking the hassle out of budgeting for your move.
How To Ship A Car With Montway Auto Transport
If you’re wondering how to ship a car with Montway, use the online quote tool and enter the following information:
- Departure and delivery locations (door-to-door shipments available only)
- Transport preference (open or enclosed)
- Vehicle info (year, make, model, and operability)
- Shipping dates
- Urgency (as soon as possible, within two weeks, within 30 days, or more than 30 days)
Shippers will bid once you post your job, and Montway will match you with the best offer. After being paired with a car shipper, you schedule a pickup date and location with your driver. At pickup, you and the driver inspect your vehicle and sign a bill of lading. After the car arrives, you will examine it again and sign the bill of lading if you don’t see any damages.
Any order is fully refundable if you cancel before you are assigned a carrier. After being assigned a carrier, you’ll pay a minimum $249 cancellation fee. You can pay for your shipment one of two ways: either a partial deposit and the rest of the payment in cash at the time of delivery, or the full cost up front by credit card.
What To Know For A Successful Auto Shipment
Shipping a car isn’t as easy as mailing a package, and you should be aware of the following to make your experience a smooth one.
- Rates can change: Supply and demand significantly influence shipping prices. If enough carriers aren’t available for your shipping time and route, you may pay more to secure the shipment.
- Flexibility is key: If you can be flexible with your pickup date, you can avoid paying for expedited shipping and find the best price. You can also authorize a friend or family member to meet the motor carrier with your vehicle if you have a tight time frame.
- Plan for delays: A lone trucker usually drives an auto carrier and doesn’t have other trailers readily available if something happens on the road. It’s common to get your car a few days after the original estimated drop-off date.
Montway Auto Transport Customer Reviews
Montway Auto Transport is diligent about replying to positive and negative reviews. It has replied to 92 percent of negative reviews on Trustpilot, with response times clocking in at less than a week. This is impressive for the industry and highlights Montway’s dedication to providing a good customer experience.
Positive Montway Auto Transport Reviews
Satisfied Montway customers say the company provides timely deliveries and excellent customer communication. Seventeen percent of reviewers positively mention the customer service at Montway Auto Transport.
Montway Auto Transport Complaints
Not all customers have enjoyed timely delivery, and some Montway Auto Transport reviews mention final rates above the original cost. Other reviews cite difficulty canceling a shipment, and many customers don’t like the minimum $249 cancellation fee.
Montway Auto Transport Review: Conclusion
Montway doesn’t offer guaranteed pricing, and, as mentioned, some users have complained about the cancellation fee. But these are the only real drawbacks we’ve found in our research. Most customers are pleased with Montway’s service and praise the high level of communication the company provides.
Best Car Shipping Companies
Montway Auto Transport is an excellent place to look for cheap car shipping, but it’s not the only place. SGT Auto Transport and Sherpa Auto Transport are two other shippers in the auto transport industry we recommend checking out. Learn more about their vehicle transport services below.
SGT Auto Transport: 4.6 Stars
SGT Auto Transport stands out for its price-match guarantee, which is a unique benefit in the industry. Under this guarantee, SGT Auto Transport will match a written quote from a direct competitor if you find a better rate elsewhere.
The company offers car shipping to 49 states, including Hawaii, and provides a wide selection of transport services. SGT Auto Transport also has a positive customer service reputation. In our 2023 car shipping survey, the provider tied with Montway Auto Transport for the highest percentage of customers very satisfied with their shipment.
Learn more about the company in our SGT Auto Transport review.
Sherpa Auto Transport: 4.6 Stars
Unlike Montway Auto Transport, Sherpa Auto Transport offers locked-in pricing, meaning Sherpa guarantees quoted prices and will pay the difference if a shipper charges more. The company’s car shipping services are available in the continental U.S. but not in Alaska and Hawaii.
Sherpa receives high marks for customer satisfaction, with an A+ rating with accreditation from the BBB and a near-perfect 4.9-star rating from customers on the BBB website.
Read more in our complete Sherpa Auto Transport review.
Montway: FAQ
Montway Auto Transport has an A+ rating from BBB and receives 4.6 out of 5.0 stars from more than 2,200 customer reviews on the platform. The company also holds a 4.2 out of 5.0-star rating on Trustpilot based on more than 1,300 customer reviews. It’s fair to say that Montway Auto Transport is a trustworthy car shipping broker.
The best overall vehicle shipping company in our industry-wide review is Montway Auto Transport. Our ability to obtain service easily, the provider’s consistently affordable prices, and options such as enclosed transport make the company a solid pick.
You can track the status of your auto shipment by contacting a Montway customer service agent through chat from 6:00 AM to midnight CST every day. Montway doesn’t offer GPS tracking directly online, but we found its chat feature easy to use.
Montway Auto Transport was founded in 2006 as a basic brokerage. It has since become one of the largest auto shipping companies in the country.
Montway Auto Transport is a licensed auto transport broker and is registered with the U.S. Department of Transportation. The car transport company works with over 15,000 car carriers for long-distance moves.
Montway Auto Transport is headquartered in Schaumburg, IL. The company offers standard auto shipping, classic car shipping, and flexible delivery dates.
Shipping a car with Montway Auto Transport can take up to three weeks or more from the first time you get a quote to delivery. First, it can take Montway a week to secure a carrier to transport your vehicle. Then, the carrier will pick up your car within a five-day window from the first available date. Finally, cross-country transit times can take up to a week or more.
Montway Auto Transport is a privately held independent company. It is not a subsidiary of any other business.
The easiest way to reach Montway Auto Transport customer service is by phone. You can call the Montway Auto Transport phone number at (888) 998-8552 for help and support. You can also reach out through chat at Montway.com during the day and on evenings and weekends.