Stumbled across a fact about enclosed vs open transport that floored me

I was looking up shipping quotes for my 1967 Mustang from Dallas to Phoenix last night. Figured I'd just go with open transport since it's cheaper, same as I did with my daily driver last year. But then I found a post on a classic car forum where someone broke down the insurance claim rates. Turns out open transport has about a 2% damage rate overall, while enclosed is only 0.5%. I always thought enclosed was just for peace of mind, not a literal 4x lower chance of something going wrong. That stat really made me rethink my whole budget for this move. Has anyone else run into numbers like that that changed their mind on which way to ship?

2 comments

2 Comments

blair_allen1mo ago

Did you ever stop to think that the numbers might be skewed because people with more expensive cars are the ones using enclosed shipping in the first place? I heard a story from a guy who shipped a beat up old pickup truck open carrier and it came back with a scratch. He was mad until he realized the truck had more rust than paint already. Meanwhile my buddy sent a pristine '69 Camaro enclosed and still ended up with a rock chip in the windshield. So maybe the stat says more about the owners than the trucks.

kim_nelson1mo ago

Ha, right? It's like the car shipping version of "nice cars attract bad luck." I swear, some people would send a trailer full of brand new Teslas on a covered carrier and still find a way to blame the truck driver when a bird lands on one. Meanwhile, that beat up pickup guy probably couldn't even find the scratch if he tried. Maybe the real stat is that people who pay for enclosed shipping just inspect their cars with a magnifying glass and a flashlight, you know? Just my two cents, anyway.