I work in auto transport, so weigh the source — but I'd rather post honest math than pretend shipping always wins. It doesn't.  
  
What skews everyone's estimate is that people budget fuel and stop. The full driving cost:  
  
Fuel: \~25 mpg at \~$3.20/gal ≈ $0.13/mile  
Hotels: roughly one night per 500-600 miles, $120-150  
Food: $50-60/day  
Tolls: varies enormously  
Wear and depreciation: $0.20-0.30/mile. Tires, brakes, fluids, resale value. Nobody counts this and it's large.  
Lost workdays: median US full-time earnings are $1,251/week (BLS Q2 2026) = about $250/workday.  
  
Three distances:  
  
500 miles  
Drive: $455-505 including one lost day, \~8 hours  
Ship: $500-700  
Verdict: drive. Even including the lost day it wins.  
  
1,000 miles  
Drive: $1,075-1,175, two days, \~16 hours  
Ship + one-way flight: $1,075-1,325  
Verdict: genuinely a coin flip. Within a couple hundred dollars. Decide on your schedule, not the money.  
  
2,500 miles  
Drive: $2,525-2,775, four days, \~40 hours  
Ship + flight: $1,425-1,925  
Verdict: shipping is roughly $1,000 cheaper AND gets you there four days sooner.  
  
So the crossover is around 1,000 miles, not 1,500+ like I assumed before I ran it with lost income included.  
  
Important caveat on that lost-income row: if you'd burn PTO anyway, or you drive over a weekend, subtract it entirely. If you're hourly or self-employed it's very real. That single line swings the whole comparison, so plug in your own number.  
  
Four things that move the crossover earlier:  
\- Multiple cars. Two vehicles = two drivers or two trips. Driving costs double; shipping often gets a multi-car discount.  
\- Needing to fly back. Add that flight to the driving column.  
\- Old or valuable car. A 200k-mile commuter may not survive it; a classic shouldn't try.  
\- Winter mountain routes. Risk that doesn't show up in a spreadsheet.  
  
And the honest counterpoint: if you genuinely enjoy the road trip, that's a real benefit. Count it on the other side of the ledger. Some people should absolutely drive.  
  
Full write-up with the tables: [here](https://crossautotransport.com/cheaper-to-ship-a-car-or-drive-it/?utm_source=reddit-organic&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=reddit-organic&SourceName=reddit-organic)  
  
Happy to run numbers for a specific route if anyone's deciding.

Is it actually cheaper to drive a car yourself than to ship it once you factor in gas, hotels, food, and lost workdays?