Car shipping in Miami

Cars move through Miami in every direction at once. Relocations run year-round between Miami and the New York metro, and increasingly between Miami and California. Snowbirds from New York, New Jersey and New England arrive down I-95 from November on. And buyers from the Caribbean and Latin America purchase cars here and send them out by sea. Miami doesn't have a dead season the way Naples does, so a carrier heading south always has a reason to come.

Miami is the end of I-95, which makes the drive in simple. What takes planning is the delivery address itself: towers with loading-area reservations, islands reached by causeway, and old neighborhoods where the trees hang lower than a loaded upper deck.

We cover all of Miami-Dade, from Aventura and Sunny Isles down to Kendall and Homestead. Here's what a truck usually deals with in each area:

Most cars reaching Miami come down the East Coast. New York to Florida is the heaviest lane into the city, fed by moves out of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Long Island and Westchester (our New York City car shipping page covers that end). Boston to Florida adds New England's snowbirds in late fall. The cross-country lane, California to Florida, carries a steady stream of West Coast relocations into Miami-Dade. In spring and at the end of a lease, the flow reverses on Florida to New York.

Two services come up more in Miami than elsewhere. If your car is low, rare or expensive, enclosed transport with a liftgate keeps it off steep ramps and out of the weather. And when a closing date, a lease end or a flight won't move, expedited car shipping buys a faster pickup window.

In Brickell, Edgewater, Sunny Isles and on Miami Beach, the building usually sets the rules for delivery day. A few things keep it smooth:

• Ask management whether deliveries need a reservation. Many towers book their loading area or drive in time slots, and some ask vendors for a certificate of insurance. If yours does, tell us at booking so it's arranged before the truck is dispatched.
• The car comes off the truck on the street, not in the garage. A car carrier can't enter a parking structure, so you or the valet drive it in after the inspection.
• Go early in Brickell. A morning window, before office traffic builds on Brickell Avenue, makes it much easier for the driver to stop safely on a side street near your building.
• Islands mean a causeway. Carriers reach Miami Beach on the main causeways and Key Biscayne on the Rickenbacker, and stay off the smaller residential crossings. Agree on a meeting spot that a full-size truck can actually pull over at.
• Coral Gables and Coconut Grove have low canopy over narrow streets. The hand-off usually happens on a through street such as South Dixie Highway (US-1) or LeJeune Road rather than in front of the house.

High season runs roughly December through April. Arrivals start in November as snowbirds from the Northeast and Midwest come down, and they peak before the holidays. Early December adds Art Basel Miami Beach, when hotels fill and getting around the Beach slows noticeably. For a November or December arrival, book three to five weeks ahead.

Summer is the rainy season. Afternoon storms roll in most days, so drivers favor morning deliveries, when there's light and dry pavement for a proper inspection. From June through November, hurricanes are the wild card: when a storm threatens South Florida, carriers hold off until roads reopen, and delivery dates move with it.

Relocating families, snowbirds and buyers flying in usually land at MIA, though Fort Lauderdale can be the easier airport for the northern end of the county. If the car arrives after you, schedule delivery for a morning when you or someone you trust can meet the driver:

Miami is a gateway for cars bound for the Caribbean and Latin America, and many buyers purchase here, then hand the car to a freight forwarder for the ocean leg. We arrange the domestic part: pickup from the seller, dealer or auction, and delivery to your forwarder's warehouse (many are in Doral and Medley near the airport) or to the terminal your forwarder names.

The export itself, including CBP's documentation requirements and the ocean booking, is your forwarder's job. Have the original title or the dealer's export paperwork ready, because most forwarders won't accept a car without it. Coming from an auction? Our dealer and auction transport page covers gate passes and release timing.