Car shipping in Naples

Naples is one of the most seasonal car markets in the country. A large share of the cars arriving between October and January belong to part-year residents from the Midwest and the Northeast who keep a home here for the winter. In April and May the same cars head north again. Between those two migrations, the city also sees a steady stream of relocations, second-home purchases and collector cars going to and from shows.

For a carrier, Naples is the far end of the I-75 corridor, so cars coming down from Michigan, Ohio or Illinois usually arrive on trucks working their way south along the Gulf Coast. Getting the truck to Naples is easy. The hard part is the last few hundred yards.

We arrange door-to-door delivery and pickup throughout Collier County and into southern Lee County. These are the areas that come up most, along with what each one usually means for the truck:

The busiest lanes into Naples run straight down I-75 from the upper Midwest. Michigan to Florida and Chicago to Florida are both strong all season, and Ohio, Indiana and Minnesota plates fill the same streets. From the Northeast, New Jersey to Florida and New York bring a steady flow of seasonal residents, often two cars per household, and the spring trip back is covered on Florida to New York.

Relocations run the other way too: people moving to Collier County for good often ship a second car down months after the first. Our snowbird car shipping page covers round trips, and multi-car shipping covers households moving more than one vehicle. A smaller number of winter residents come from Ontario; their border paperwork is covered on our Canada to US page.

Naples is full of guard-gated communities, and many of them have rules about commercial vehicles. A full car carrier is around 75 feet long and 13 and a half feet tall. Some communities wave it through with a gate pass, and some require a meeting point outside the gates. Here's how to keep delivery day simple:

• Call your gatehouse or HOA office before pickup and ask whether a tractor-trailer car carrier is allowed in. If it is, put the carrier on the vendor list for your delivery window.
• If it isn't, choose a meeting point just outside the gate: a wide commercial lot off US-41, Immokalee Road or Pine Ridge Road works well. Ask the property's permission if it's private.
• Old Naples and Port Royal streets are narrow and lined with low oak and banyan canopies that can clip a car on a carrier's upper deck. Expect to meet the driver on a main road like Gordon Drive or US-41.
• Beachfront towers in Park Shore and Pelican Bay have tight drop-off loops. The car is unloaded on the street side and you drive it into the garage.
• Marco Island deliveries cross the S.R. 951 bridge. That's fine for the truck, but allow extra time in season, when the island's single main road gets busy.

Naples' population swells from roughly January through April. That's when traffic peaks, restaurants are full and everyone's car needs to be here. The arrivals that make it happen mostly ship in November and December, so carriers heading for Southwest Florida are at their busiest then. Book four to six weeks ahead if you want the car in Naples before the holidays.

The return trip clusters in April, especially around Easter. Northbound space out of Southwest Florida fills quickly that month, so book your spring pickup when you book the fall delivery, or at least by February. Summer is the quiet season and the easiest time to schedule a relocation. Keep in mind that Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, and a storm in the Gulf can pause deliveries for a few days.

Most people who ship a car to Naples fly into Fort Myers and take a car service or rental for the first day or two. If your car is scheduled to arrive after you, pick an airport with good rental options and line up delivery for the morning after you land: