How to export a car you won at a US auction

There is no single number, because the price moves with the US pickup location, the destination port, the container size, and whether you are shipping alone or sharing space. What you can control is the markup layer. Booking directly with a licensed NVOCC removes the freight-broker margin that sits on top of most online quotes. Cassandra Logistics is FMC-licensed under OTI No. 025125NF, so the rate you get is the carrier rate. Get a free quote in 24 to 48 hours.

Two things move the number more than anything else. First, book direct with the NVOCC rather than through a broker who resells the same space. Second, fill the container. Ocean freight is charged on the box, not per vehicle, so three or four cars in a 40ft container costs dramatically less per car than one vehicle shipped alone. Timing several auction wins onto one booking is the single biggest saving available to a regular buyer.

Usually one of three reasons. It is a broker quote that gets revised upward once the booking is real. It excludes pickup, towing, loading, or the export filing. Or it is quoted port to port while implying door delivery. Ask any cheaper quote in writing exactly what is included and where their responsibility ends, then compare the two on the same basis. Often the gap disappears.

It scales with distance from the yard to the loading warehouse. A car bought in Texas moving out through Houston positions far more cheaply than the same car bought in California and railed east. This is worth knowing before you bid, because a slightly higher hammer price near the right port can beat a bargain three states away. We build the pickup cost into the quote so you see one number.

Very often yes. The jump from one vehicle to two in a 40ft container barely changes the ocean cost but splits it across two units. If you buy at auction regularly, holding the first car at our warehouse while you win a second is usually cheaper than shipping each alone, even after any storage. Tell us your buying pattern and we will tell you whether waiting pays.

The honest list is destination-side. Import duty, VAT or local sales tax, port handling, customs agent fees, and inland delivery are all paid at the far end and are set by your country, not by us. Our quote covers the US side and the ocean leg. Anyone who quotes you a single door-to-door figure for a country they do not clear in is guessing at numbers that are not theirs to set.

Yes. Vehicles won on Copart, IAA, Manheim and eBay Motors are exported every day and it is one of our most active service lines. A licensed NVOCC can collect the car from the auction yard, bring it to a loading warehouse, handle the US export filing, and ship it to your destination port. What varies is not whether it can leave the USA but whether your destination country will admit it.

Yes, and most of our auction clients are overseas buyers. Depending on the auction you may need a registered broker or a business account to bid, since some platforms restrict public bidding. Once the vehicle is won and paid for, we take over: collection from the yard anywhere in the USA, loading, export filing, and ocean transport. You never have to be in the country.

Auction yards typically allow a short free period after payment and then charge daily. The exact terms are set by the auction, not by us, and they add up faster than most buyers expect. This is why getting the vehicle moved promptly is often the first real saving in the whole shipment. Arrange the collection at the same time you pay, not after.

If you can, yes, and it is worth more on auction stock than on a private sale. We can report on the condition as received at our warehouse, which gives you a checkpoint between the auction description and the container. It will not turn a damaged car into a clean one, but it means you find out in the USA rather than at your port.

We are the ocean carrier, not a vehicle buyer or a bidding agent, and we would rather say that plainly than pretend otherwise. What we can do is tell you before you bid whether a given vehicle is likely to clear at your destination, which is the part that most often goes wrong. That advice is free and it has saved clients from bidding on vehicles they could never have imported.

Yes. The vehicle cannot be exported without the title or the equivalent ownership document, because the US export filing requires it and US Customs requires it to be presented in advance of sailing. There is no route around this and anyone offering one is proposing something you do not want your name attached to.

This is one of the most common delays on auction shipments and it is manageable if you flag it early. We can collect the vehicle and hold it at our loading warehouse while the title clears, which stops auction storage charges building at the yard. The container is booked once the paperwork is in hand. Tell us the situation at quote stage and we plan the timeline around it.

You provide the title or auction certificate and the bill of sale. We handle the US export side, including the filing in the Automated Export System, known as AES or EEI. Destination-side import documents, duty and clearance are handled by your customs agent in your own country. We tell you exactly which documents are needed for your specific vehicle and route before anything sails.

Not until the lien is released and you hold clear title. A lienholder has a legal interest in the vehicle and exporting it without release is a serious problem for you rather than a technicality. Get the release documented first, then ship. If you are unsure what you are holding, send us the paperwork and we will tell you whether it is exportable.

Leaving the USA is generally not the obstacle. The real question is whether your destination country will admit it, and that answer varies enormously. Several countries exclude salvage vehicles by name, some check the physical condition as well as the paperwork, and some do not restrict them at all. Confirm the position for your specific destination before you bid, because this is the single most common reason a shipment fails at the far end.

It differs country by country and the rules change, so this must be checked against the destination customs authority rather than assumed. The Dominican Republic excludes salvage vehicles explicitly. Ecuador does not accept vehicles marked Salvage or Salvataje as part of a returning-migrant shipment even if they arrive repaired. Peru screens used vehicles on accident history. Tell us your destination and we will tell you what we know before you bid. See our Latin America guide.

It can, because a vehicle that cannot be driven needs winching into the container and more handling at both the yard and the warehouse. It is entirely routine and we move non-runners constantly from auction stock. What matters is telling us up front, because a car described as running that arrives dead changes the loading plan on the day and that is where delays come from.

Physically, usually yes. Legally at your destination, often no. Flood and fire branding is treated harshly by many import regimes and some inspect for it on arrival regardless of what the paperwork says. This is the category where buyers get caught most often, because the auction price looks irresistible. Check the destination rule before the hammer falls, not after.

Either you arrange the trucking yourself, or you use a shipper who collects. We offer nationwide vehicle pickup and towing from any state in the USA, collecting the vehicle directly from the auction yard and bringing it to our loading warehouse in New Jersey, Savannah, Houston, or Baltimore. For an overseas buyer that removes the hardest part to coordinate from a different time zone.

Any state. A car at a Copart yard in California, a dealer in Florida, or a private seller in Ohio all get collected and brought to whichever of our four warehouses suits the routing. Distance affects the cost, not whether we can do it. If you are choosing between two similar cars in different states, ask us before you bid and we will tell you which one lands cheaper once the trucking is counted.

The auction location and lot number, the vehicle details including the VIN, proof that it is paid for, and any release paperwork the yard requires. The VIN matters more than people expect, because it lets us confirm the exact dimensions and plan the container load properly rather than guessing from the model name.

Typically three or four, depending on the vehicles. Sedans and compact SUVs load efficiently. Full-size American pickup trucks take considerably more room and often reduce the count to two or three. We confirm the loading plan once we know the exact units, and every additional vehicle lowers the cost per car.

For one vehicle a 20ft is often cheapest. From two vehicles upward the 40ft usually wins on cost per unit. Sharing with another buyer splits the box between shipments and suits someone buying one car at a time. We price the options against your actual cargo rather than pushing whichever is easiest to book.

Sometimes, but everything must be declared on the export filing and it changes how the shipment is treated at destination. Undeclared goods packed inside vehicles are one of the most common causes of clearance problems worldwide, and the penalty lands on the importer rather than the shipper. Tell us everything going into the box and we file it correctly.

The stages are collection, loading and export filing, then ocean transit. Collection depends on distance and yard release, filing is quick once the title is in hand, and transit depends on the destination, the carrier schedule and any transshipment. The delay that actually catches people is title release from the auction, not the shipping. We give you a concrete timeline with the quote.

Within 24 to 48 hours in normal cases. Send the auction location, the vehicle details including the VIN, and your destination port. The more specific you are the tighter the number, and a VIN lets us confirm dimensions rather than estimate them. Request a quote

Your customs agent clears the cargo and you or your representative collect it. We are the ocean carrier of record, our responsibility runs to the port of discharge, and we hand over a clean bill of lading with the documentation your agent needs. Being clear about where each party's responsibility ends is what keeps shipments from stalling.

You receive a bill of lading issued by us as the carrier, showing the vessel and the booking. That is a transport document, not a confirmation email. If a company quoting you cannot issue one in its own name, it is an intermediary reselling someone else's space, and you are one step further from whoever actually controls your container.

We are the NVOCC. Cassandra Logistics is a federally licensed Ocean Transportation Intermediary under FMC license OTI No. 025125NF, legally Royal Port Container Lines, Inc. DBA Cassandra Logistics. That licence number is public and you can verify it with the Federal Maritime Commission before you send anyone money. We would rather you checked.