How to prepare your car for international shipping

Shipping a car to another country comes with a slew of rules and regulations. You will need to be familiar with them if you want to avoid any troubles in the shipping process. Luckily, you can get all the necessary information from any of the international moving companies NYC. However, you are still going to need to go through the process of obtaining the necessary documentation and prepare your car for international shipping. In this article, we are going to provide you with the outline of the process and give you some tips and tricks on how to make it easier on yourself.

How to prepare your car for international shipping – Useful tips

Here is what the car shipping process will have you do:

• Gather all necessary documents
• Wash your car thoroughly
• Remove all personal items
• Visit mechanic
• Remove outside accessories
• Sign the bill of lading

There might be other things involved, as well. It will depend on the brand, make, and state of your vehicle. For example, you may need to replace a couple of parts that will have you visiting scrap shops and the like. International car transportation is no joke, and you may need to get your vehicle into top shape before you can ship it. It is in your best interest to do so, anyway.

Gather all necessary documents

Alright, to start things off, you will have to ensure that all the papers for your car are in order. Every country has its own requirements, customs, and rules that you are going to need to follow. The easiest way to deal with all of these is to simply hire international services for the transport of your vehicle. They will sort out all the necessary papers and let you know which ones you need to obtain. If you are going at it on your own, however, you may still want to contact a professional international shipping company and ask for advice. They will point you in the right direction, at the very least.

Wash your car thoroughly

Moving on, with the papers in tow, it is time to prepare your vehicle for transport. The first thing that you will want to do is to thoroughly wash your car. While this will have a pleasant visual effect, that is not the main reason for doing so. No, the main reason for washing your car as thoroughly as possible is that you can easily assess if there is any damage to it. This is extremely important, as you will want to take pictures both before and after shipping. It is not uncommon for some scratches and dents to happen when moving to Luxembourg from US, for example, and you want to have proof that your vehicle was in mint shape before the trip. By having it spotless, you will be able to do just that.

Prepare your car for international shipping – Remove all personal items

This is something you can do while waiting for your turn in line at the washers. Go through the inside of your car and remove any and all personal items that are there. Your vehicle may be on a crane, for example, and those items within may get tumbled quite a bit. They can cause damage to your vehicle and you need to remove them. Other than that, there is always the chance of them simply not being there after your car is shipped. No company will guarantee the safety of the items inside your car when shipping overseas. But, speaking truthfully, most of the time nothing will happen to your belongings. But they still pose a security issue to your vehicle, so it is always better to remove them before transportation.

Pay a visit to your mechanic

Aside from making sure that there is no external damage, you want to know that all the internal components of your car are working as they should. Therefore, you will need to visit a mechanic before you ship your car overseas. It is best if you already have a trusted mechanic, though. If not, you may want to get some recommendations from your friends before you take your car to them. Saying that you need to ship a car and that you want it in tip-top shape is going to put a sparkle in most mechanics’ eyes. They are going to suggest extensive repairs and modifications, more often than not. That is why we said you might want to go to a trusted one. You can also be a bit sly and say that you want the car to be safe for sale and that you don’t plan on investing a lot into it. Regardless, you will want to make sure that there are no immediate dangers to your vehicle, from the mechanics side of things.

Prepare your car for international shipping – Remove outside accessories

And speaking of the dangers, any accessories that you’ve installed on the outside of your car are going to pose a threat. You see, your vehicle might need to slip into cramped confines, that is built to accommodate the car and nothing but the car. This means that your accessories might end up stripped or damaged. As you don’t want this happening, simply remove all the accessories beforehand. You can ship them separately, take them with you (if they are small enough), or might even put them in the trunk. If you opt for the latter, make sure that you secure them so they can’t move an inch even if the entire vehicle is shaken or rattled.

Sign the bill of lading

Every shipment will require you to sign the bill of lading. However, you will need to pay attention to what exactly is stipulated there. You can prepare your car for international shipping in the best possible way, but not reading the bill of lading is a grave mistake. Like any other contract, it is binding and by signing it you are agreeing with everything within. Always read the whole thing several times, make sure you understand it, and you will be just fine!