Ship car from Texas to Hawaii, and from Hawaii back to Texas
Our price to ship car from Texas to Hawaii runs $2,250 to $3,250 for Oahu and $3,050 to $4,050 for Maui, the Big Island or Kauai, depending on which Texas city the car leaves from. Plan on 2 to 5 weeks to Honolulu. We pick the car up at your address in Texas, truck it to the Port of Long Beach, book it on a sailing that matches your dates, and coordinate the release on the island side. We also run this lane in reverse, so if you’re bringing a car home from Hawaii, skip down to the Hawaii to Texas section.
Pricing by city
Texas to Hawaii car shipping cost by city
Every quote has two parts: the truck from your Texas city to Long Beach, and the ocean leg to Hawaii. The ocean leg is set by the island you’re shipping to. The truck leg depends on distance, which is why El Paso comes in several hundred dollars under Houston.
| Texas pickup city | Road miles to Long Beach | Oahu (Honolulu) | Maui, Big Island or Kauai |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Paso | ~800 | $2,250 – $2,550 | $3,050 – $3,350 |
| San Antonio | ~1,350 | $2,650 – $3,150 | $3,450 – $3,950 |
| Austin | ~1,380 | $2,650 – $3,150 | $3,450 – $3,950 |
| Fort Worth | ~1,400 | $2,700 – $3,200 | $3,500 – $4,000 |
| Dallas | ~1,435 | $2,700 – $3,200 | $3,500 – $4,000 |
| Houston | ~1,550 | $2,750 – $3,250 | $3,550 – $4,050 |
These prices cover a standard running vehicle on an open carrier from your door in Texas to the port in Hawaii. Our quote includes the Texas pickup, the truck leg, the terminal booking and drop-off appointment, ocean freight, and release coordination at the Hawaii port.
A pickup crosses the ocean at the same rate as a sedan as long as it stays within 21’8″ long, 8′ wide and 7′ tall. A lift kit, oversized tires, a ladder rack or dually fenders can push it past those limits, and then the ocean leg gets priced individually. Measure before you book, not at the terminal gate. Trucks still cost a little more on the Texas leg because they take up more trailer space. Our guide to shipping a pickup or lifted truck to Hawaii covers the size rules in detail.
Four things move your number up or down:
- Enclosed transport for the Texas leg adds 40 to 60 percent to that portion.
- A vehicle that doesn’t run needs winch loading and special handling on both legs.
- A rural pickup well off the interstate can add $50 to $200.
- Summer is the busiest season for Hawaii moves, and the Texas truck leg can run 20 to 30 percent higher than in winter. Booking early and keeping your pickup window flexible are the two easiest ways to hold the price down.
For pricing on every mainland route, see our full Hawaii car shipping cost guide.
Transit time
How long it takes to ship a car from Texas to Hawaii
The ocean crossing is the short part. Most of the time goes into getting the car onto the right sailing and, for the neighbor islands, the connection out of Honolulu.
| Phase | Oahu | Maui, Big Island or Kauai |
|---|---|---|
| Truck assigned and car picked up | 1 – 5 business days | 1 – 5 business days |
| Texas to Long Beach | 2 – 3 days from El Paso, 3 – 8 days from other cities | Same |
| Staging at the port before sailing | Up to 7 days | Up to 7 days |
| Ocean sailing | 5 – 8 days | 5 – 8 days |
| Loading and unloading | 3 – 5 days | 3 – 5 days |
| Connection from Honolulu by barge | None | 14 – 32 days |
| Release after arrival | At least 2 days | At least 2 days |
| Planning total | 2 – 5 weeks | 5 – 9 weeks |
The neighbor-island barge often takes longer than the Pacific crossing. A car bound for Kahului, Hilo or Nawiliwili first lands in Honolulu, then waits for the inter-island connection. For Maui and the Big Island, we can sometimes book a direct sailing from Southern California that skips Honolulu and takes about 7 days at sea. Those direct sailings run every other week, so your Texas pickup has to line up with them. Kauai cars always connect through Honolulu. Our page on neighbor-island car shipping explains how those connections work.
If someone promises Texas to Hawaii in 10 to 14 days, ask which phases they left out. The road leg from Houston alone can take a week. The other common slip is the port receiving cutoff: we time the truck to the terminal’s receiving window, not to the ship’s departure date, because a car that misses the cutoff by one day waits for the next sailing.
For transit times on every route, see how long it takes to ship a car to Hawaii.
Ports and routing
How we route your car from Texas to Long Beach, Honolulu and the islands
No vehicle ship sails from a Texas seaport to Hawaii. Houston moves a lot of freight, but every Hawaii-bound personal vehicle crosses through California, so the route always starts with a truck heading west.
The Port of Long Beach is our default gateway for Texas cars. Sending a car north to the Port of Oakland adds 350 to 450 road miles and a day or two of driving. Oakland also has a hard size cap on one of the ocean lines: nothing over 6’4″ tall or 6’4″ wide. That rules out most full-size pickups and SUVs, which is a big share of what leaves Texas. Tacoma stopped accepting Hawaii-bound personal vehicles in February 2025, so any guide that routes a Texas car through the Northwest is out of date. It would add hundreds of road miles anyway.
For Dallas-Fort Worth customers, certain sailings let us hand the car off at an authorized vehicle facility in Arlington. The car enters the ocean line’s network there, and the long haul west happens behind the scenes. It still departs from California, but you deal with a local handoff instead of a cross-country one. We’ll tell you at quote time whether your sailing qualifies.
At the port, your car drives onto the ship and rides in an enclosed vehicle deck, lashed at the front and rear. This is roll-on/roll-off (RORO) shipping. Choosing open or enclosed transport only applies to the Texas truck leg. On the ocean, every car rides inside.
Where the car goes after Long Beach depends on the island:
| Island | Hawaii port | How we route it |
|---|---|---|
| Oahu | Honolulu Harbor | Direct from Long Beach. This route has the most frequent sailings and is the fastest. |
| Maui | Kahului | Neighbor-island barge from Honolulu, or a direct Southern California sailing every other week |
| Big Island | Hilo | Same as Maui |
| Kauai | Nawiliwili | Neighbor-island barge from Honolulu only |
The island-specific details are on our pages for shipping a car to Maui and shipping a car to Kauai.
Prep and documents
What we handle, and what you prepare in Texas
Most delays on this route come from a handoff that nobody owned. We own every one of them. Your part is the vehicle and a few signatures.
| We handle | You handle |
|---|---|
| Booking ocean space and the terminal appointment before a truck is dispatched | Signing the booking and authorization forms |
| Timing the Texas pickup to the port’s receiving window | Preparing the vehicle (checklist below) |
| The notarized authorization that lets our driver turn the car over at the terminal | Being at pickup, or having someone 18 or older there with the keys |
| Tracking the car through each handoff: truck, terminal, ship, island port | Picking the car up in Hawaii within the free storage days (usually 4 days) |
| Release coordination in Hawaii, plus door delivery on the island if you want it |
Before our driver arrives:
- Fuel between 1/8 and 1/4 tank. More than a quarter tank gets the car turned away at the port.
- Empty the cabin, trunk, truck bed and toolbox. Only the spare, the jack, floor mats and secured child seats can stay. Some Texas truckers let you pack a box, but the ocean terminal won’t, and its rules win.
- A working emergency brake, no fluid leaks, and roughly 6 inches of ground clearance. The car has to roll, brake and steer on its own.
- Keys for the ignition, trunk, gas cap and any locked compartment. Inspectors open everything.
- Your toll tag removed, whether it’s a TxTag, EZ TAG or TollTag. Hawaii has no toll roads, and a tag left on the windshield can get read on the way west.
- Texas soil washed out of the wheel wells, undercarriage and truck bed. Hawaii inspects incoming vehicles for soil, seeds and insects, and a car that’s dirty underneath can be held. A drive-through car wash won’t reach these areas.
- Photos of every panel, wheel, window and the interior. These back up the vehicle condition report we complete at pickup and the bill of lading at each handoff.
Documents for shipping to Hawaii are lighter than most sites claim. You need current registration or title, a photo ID, and the signed authorization we prepare. A lien holder authorization letter isn’t required going to Hawaii. It’s a must-have in the other direction, which is why so many guides mix the two up. A company-owned vehicle needs a letter from an officer of the company. Active-duty members should have military ID ready so we can apply the discount.
Electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids are the exception to everything above. One of the two ocean lines serving Hawaii stopped accepting them in July 2025. The other carries them with a 20 to 50 percent battery charge and an added surcharge, and a non-running EV can’t ship at all. Tell us the powertrain when you request a quote, and we’ll confirm a sailing before a truck ever leaves for your house.
Avoiding delays
Where Texas to Hawaii shipments go wrong, and how we prevent it
Most of what goes wrong on this route happens at the handoffs between the truck, the terminal and the island port, not out on the ocean. Here’s what we watch for on every Texas shipment.
| What goes wrong | What it costs you | What we do about it |
|---|---|---|
| The truck reaches California after the terminal’s receiving cutoff | The car waits for the next sailing. On an every-other-week direct sailing to Maui or the Big Island, that’s 2 weeks lost. | We dispatch against the receiving date, not the departure date, and track the truck once it crosses New Mexico and Arizona. |
| Paperwork is still pending when the truck arrives | The terminal won’t schedule a drop-off until documents clear. The truck waits, or leaves. | We clear documents and lock the appointment before we send a driver to your door. |
| The car fails intake at the port | Turned away for a full tank, leaks, belongings or a locked compartment, and the sailing goes with it | We confirm the prep checklist with you at pickup, in Texas, where it’s still easy to fix. |
| “Ship arrived” gets read as “car ready” | A wasted trip to the port | We tell you when the car is actually released. That’s at least 2 days after the ship docks. |
| Pickup happens after the free days run out | Storage charges of $25 a day on some lines | We send your release notice the day it posts and remind you before free time ends. |
| A cheap truck quote that no driver accepts | The order sits on a dispatch board and misses the sailing | We price the Texas leg at a rate drivers actually take, so the truck shows up. |
One slipped day on a mainland car move is an inconvenience. On this route, it can push your arrival back one to two weeks. That’s why we run both legs under one booking instead of handing you off between companies.
Hawaii to Texas
Ship car from Hawaii to Texas
Shipping a car from Hawaii to Texas runs the same two legs in reverse: the ocean from your island port to California, then a truck from the port to your Texas address. You drop the car at the Hawaii port, and we handle everything from there to your driveway in Texas.
How much to ship a car from Hawaii to Texas
Coming back costs less than going over. Hawaii imports far more than it ships out, so space on the return sailings is priced lower. From Honolulu, the ocean leg is roughly $800 less than the same leg westbound.
| Texas delivery city | From Honolulu (Oahu) | From Kahului, Hilo or Nawiliwili |
|---|---|---|
| El Paso | $1,500 – $1,800 | $2,450 – $2,750 |
| San Antonio | $1,900 – $2,400 | $2,850 – $3,350 |
| Austin | $1,900 – $2,400 | $2,850 – $3,350 |
| Fort Worth | $1,950 – $2,450 | $2,900 – $3,400 |
| Dallas | $1,950 – $2,450 | $2,900 – $3,400 |
| Houston | $2,000 – $2,500 | $2,950 – $3,450 |
These prices are port-to-door for a standard running vehicle: you drop the car at the Hawaii port, and we deliver it on an open carrier to your Texas address. They include the drop-off appointment, ocean freight, the California release and the truck to Texas. An enclosed truck for the mainland leg, oversize vehicles and non-running vehicles are priced separately.
Hawaii to Texas timeline
| Phase | From Honolulu | From Kahului, Hilo or Nawiliwili |
|---|---|---|
| Ocean transit including loading and unloading | 9 – 24 days | 33 – 45 days (includes the barge to Honolulu) |
| Release at the California port | At least 2 days after the ship docks | Same |
| Truck assigned | 1 – 5 days | Same |
| Long Beach to Texas | 2 – 3 days to El Paso, 3 – 6 days to other cities | Same |
| Planning total | 2 – 5 weeks | 6 – 8 weeks |
Neighbor-island departures connect through Honolulu, and on one line that barge connection runs monthly. Missing it can cost you weeks, not days. Ask us before you book your flight off the island.
We line up the Texas truck while your car is still at sea, timed to its expected release date. Free time at the California port runs 4 to 7 days depending on the line, and storage starts at $15 to $25 a day after that. A truck booked after the car lands usually means paying storage.
If you’re shipping under military PCS orders, our military car shipping to Hawaii page covers the orders-based scheduling, the personally-procured move (PPM) reimbursement path, and the documents the government needs separately from the carrier.
Documents for leaving Hawaii
Leaving Hawaii takes more paperwork than arriving, and none of it can be waived. Hawaii state law requires proof of ownership and a physical VIN check before a car can leave the state.
Have these ready before your drop-off appointment:
- Current title and registration, with copies of both front and back.
- A lien holder authorization letter if the car is financed or leased. It has to come from your lender and name the vehicle, the VIN, the destination and the person authorized to ship it. Request it early, because lenders often take a week or more.
- A notarized authorization if someone other than the registered owner drops off the car, or if a co-owner on the title won’t be there.
- Your photo ID, the booking confirmation, and keys for every lock.
- An agriculture declaration. Hawaii outbound inspection looks for soil, plants and fresh produce, so clean the trunk, truck bed and wheel wells before drop-off.
One line doesn’t carry Corvettes or Camaros out of Hawaii at all, and EVs and plug-in hybrids follow the same limits as the westbound trip. Tell us the make and powertrain when you request a quote, and we’ll book the line that will take your car.
For returns to other states, see our Hawaii to mainland car shipping page.
FAQ
Texas to Hawaii car shipping FAQ
Get your Texas to Hawaii shipping quote
The quote takes about 60 seconds. We need your Texas pickup ZIP, the destination island, the year, make and model of the vehicle, and a target sailing window. We come back with a firm price to ship car from Texas to Hawaii, the sailing date that fits your timeline, and the document checklist for your direction.
Or call (808) 865-5525. Same-day response on weekdays.
If you’re on military PCS orders, mention it on the form. If you’re shipping a lifted truck or anything with racks, add the height and width. If it’s an EV or PHEV, give us the make and battery type. Shipping home from Hawaii to Texas? Tell us if the car is financed so we can start the lien holder letter early.