Auto shipping quotes for Hawaii that cover every leg of the move

QUOTE RANGES

Typical quote ranges by route

These are the ranges we’re quoting on current sailings for a standard car that runs. Your written quote gives the exact figure for your car and dates.

A California port means Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland or San Diego. When you’re shipping from Texas or from Florida, most of the spread in the range is the trucking leg to the coast.

Pickup and SUV owners often ask us “how much to ship my car if it’s bigger?” On the ocean leg, usually nothing extra. Cars, SUVs, passenger vans and pickups up to 21 feet 8 inches long, 8 feet wide and 7 feet tall ship at the standard rate. Size costs more on the trucking leg, where a large truck takes up more trailer space, and we measure lifted or modified trucks before we price them.

A few other things move the number. A car that doesn’t run adds about $500 on the ocean leg. Enclosed trucking costs more than open, though the ocean rate stays the same. Summer and the holidays tighten truck capacity, so inland pickup costs more in those weeks. Active-duty service members get $100 off. Our full cost breakdown goes through each factor, and the cheapest way to ship a car to Hawaii usually starts with a port drop-off.

WHAT’S INCLUDED

What goes into a Hawaii car shipping quote

A move to Hawaii runs on two or three separate bookings, each with its own schedule and cutoff. The ocean lines sell port to port, so auto shipping quotes that start at your driveway are built from several pieces. We price each piece and show it on the quote:

• Pickup at your address on an open carrier, or an enclosed one for classic and low-clearance cars
• Delivery to the port terminal ahead of the receiving cutoff for your sailing
• The ocean crossing on a RORO (roll on, roll off) ship, where the port crew drives your car aboard and secures it for the voyage
• The connection to Maui, Kauai or the Big Island when your sailing doesn’t call there directly
• Release at the Hawaii port, plus delivery to your door if you want it

You choose how much of that we handle. Door to port means we collect the car at your address and you pick it up at the Hawaii port. With port to port, you drop the car at the terminal yourself, which costs least if you live near the coast. Door to door adds delivery from the Hawaii port to your address. On moves back to the mainland, port to door means you drop the car in Hawaii and we deliver it to your new address.

Two costs sit outside the freight price, and the quote names both. Some port terminals bill their own charges directly. And once your car is available, the Hawaii lot gives two to four business days of free storage, then charges roughly $10 to $25 a day. We tell you the day your car becomes available so you can collect it inside the free window.

The quote also states the liability on the ocean leg. Carrier liability runs roughly $3,000 to $8,000 for an average car depending on the line, and it is not insurance. If your car is worth more than that, we add coverage for its declared value as a separate line, priced before you book.

BEFORE YOU REQUEST

What we need from you to price your car

You don’t need your title or registration to get a price, just these details:

• Going to Hawaii or coming back to the mainland
• Your pickup ZIP code, or the port where you’ll drop the car
• The destination island, plus a ZIP code for door delivery
• The first day the car is ready to go
• Year, make, model and trim (the VIN helps if you have it)
• Whether it runs, brakes and steers
• Any lift kit, oversized tires, roof rack or bike rack
• Gas, diesel, electric or plug-in hybrid
• Open or enclosed trucking
• Who hands the car over at pickup or at the terminal
• The lender’s name if the car is financed and leaving Hawaii
• Active-duty status for the $100 discount, plus your report date if you’re on PCS orders to Hawaii

The car details carry more weight than most people expect. Body style rarely changes the ocean price, but height, tire width and powertrain decide which sailings will take the car at all. We ask about them before we quote instead of finding out at the terminal gate.

Details that send a quote to manual review

Every quote gets a specialist’s check before it’s final. The details below get a closer look, because each one changes where the car can sail or what we need from you before pickup.

Electric cars and plug-in hybrids always get reviewed by hand, because they can only sail on the San Diego route. So do cars that don’t run, which need a winch truck at pickup, and anything lifted, wide or wearing a roof rack. The standard limit is 21 feet 8 inches long, 8 feet wide and 7 feet tall. Some Oakland sailings stop at 6 feet 4 inches tall, so taller vans and trucks go through a Southern California port. RVs and campers with sleeping or cooking gear get checked as well, and any auxiliary propane tank has to be empty and certified gas-free.

Two paperwork situations need the same attention. Sometimes someone other than the registered owner hands the car over, including our driver on a door to port move. In that case we check whether the sailing needs a notarized authorization letter and send you the form if it does. A financed car leaving Hawaii can’t board without a lienholder authorization letter. Lenders take time to issue them, so ask for yours the day you book.

Routing is the last thing we check by hand. On neighbor-island moves, choosing a direct sailing over a Honolulu connection can change delivery by weeks. A drop-off in Seattle adds a leg, since the car travels to California before it sails. When pickup falls close to a sailing, we work back from the terminal cutoff. Terminals stop receiving cars before the ship leaves (at noon on the last drop-off day in San Diego), so a late truck pushes the car to the next sailing.

HOW IT WORKS

What happens after you request a quote

Requesting a quote is free, with no deposit and no obligation. After you send the form:

1. Us The form shows your price right away. A specialist then confirms the sailing, the terminal cutoff and the car’s eligibility, and sends your final quote the same business day.
2. You You accept, and we book your sailing, usually about 30 days out, when terminal appointments open. You pay nothing until the sailing and pickup are confirmed. Your quoted price holds for 30 days, and once you book, it only changes if the car turns out different from what you told us.
3. Us We schedule the truck to reach the terminal ahead of the cutoff and send you a prep and paperwork checklist. At pickup, the driver records the car’s condition on the bill of lading.
4. Us The terminal inspects the car and fills in a vehicle condition report. We confirm the terminal has taken the car in, because a car sitting near the port isn’t on the ship until that happens.
5. Us The ship sails, and we send you the sailing date and the day we expect the car to be available.
6. Us For Maui, Kauai or the Big Island, we follow the car through the Honolulu connection, or straight to Kahului or Hilo when it sails direct.
7. Us We tell you the day the car is released, usually two or more days after the ship arrives.
8. You You pick the car up at the port, or our driver brings it to your door. Either way, walk around it before signing the delivery receipt and write any damage on it. Damage that isn’t noted at that point is hard to claim later.

TIMELINE

How long the move takes, from pickup to keys

The ocean crossing takes 5 to 8 days. The trucking, terminal handling and release around it take longer. Your quote gives the day we expect the car to be ready to collect, which comes a few days after the ship docks.

Counted from the day the ship sails, a car bound for Honolulu is usually ready in 9 to 24 days. For a California to Hawaii shipment dropped at the port, the whole move takes about two to four weeks. Door pickup from Texas or Colorado adds about a week, and Florida or the East Coast adds about two. A Seattle drop-off adds about a week for the trip down to California. The full Hawaii shipping timeline breaks this down by origin.

Most delays happen before the ship leaves. A late truck, a car too dirty to inspect, more than a quarter tank of fuel or a missing authorization letter can each push the car to the next sailing, usually a week later on the Honolulu route. We schedule pickup with a buffer before the cutoff and check the paperwork before the truck arrives, to keep the car on the ship it’s booked on.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Why neighbor-island quotes cost more and take longer

A neighbor-island quote runs roughly $700 more than Honolulu. The car either takes a longer direct sailing or makes a second move after Honolulu, with another round of handling. The bigger difference is time.

If you’re shipping a car to Maui or the Big Island, we have two ways in. Direct sailings call at Kahului and Hilo every two weeks and spend about 7 days at sea. The other route goes through Honolulu, where the connecting barge runs monthly, so the car is released 33 to 45 days after the ship sails. We price both on every Maui and Big Island quote and book the one that fits your dates and budget.

Cars bound for Nawiliwili usually connect through Honolulu, so every Kauai shipment we quote has that connection time built in from the start. Molokai and Lanai moves finish on the inter-island barge from Honolulu, which we coordinate after the ocean leg.

DOCUMENTS AND PREP

Documents and prep we check before pickup

Cars leaving Hawaii need more paperwork than cars heading there. We go through the list with you before the truck shows up, so the car isn’t turned back at the gate.

Prep mostly runs the same both ways. The car has to arrive clean inside and out, with 1/8 to 1/4 tank of fuel. Nothing can be inside except the spare, jack, owner’s manual, secured child seats, floor mats and seat covers. Roof boxes, bike racks, extra batteries and fire extinguishers come off. The terminal can turn away a car too dirty to inspect. Cars leaving Hawaii also pass an agricultural inspection, so wash the undercarriage before drop-off.

Take dated photos of all four sides before pickup and compare them with the driver’s notes on the bill of lading. After release in Hawaii, keep the delivery receipt from the port, because you’ll need it to register the car.

Our guide on how to ship a car to Hawaii has the full prep checklist.

WHY BOOK WITH US

Why customers book their Hawaii shipment through us

We book space on both ocean lines that run car service between the mainland and Hawaii, Matson and Pasha Hawaii, and pick between them for each car based on the island, the vehicle and your dates. Comparing both, plus the trucking options, is how we reach the best price that still makes your sailing.

The rest of the job is keeping the legs connected. We time the truck to the terminal cutoff and catch EV rules, height limits and lien paperwork at the quote stage. We stay your one contact from the trucker to the ship to the island. Then we tell you the day the car is released, so you collect it inside the free storage window.