Michigan to Texas car shipping
Shipping a car from Michigan to Texas costs roughly $1,230–$1,400 and takes 4–6 days over 1,298 road miles (Detroit to Houston). Below is what moves that number, and how to get real quotes for this lane.
| Vehicle & trailer | Price | Transit |
|---|---|---|
| Sedan, open trailer | $1,230–$1,400 | 4–6 days |
| SUV or crossover, open | $1,320–$1,500 | 4–6 days |
| Any vehicle, enclosed | $1,650–$1,880 | 4–6 days |
Estimates from distance and vehicle type. Actual price depends on how busy the lane is the week you ship.
The distance behind this page runs Detroit to Houston, and the ends mean opposite things. Houston holds more of Texas's licensed carriers and brokers than any other town in the state: the delivery point and the register's center are the same place. Detroit is not that for Michigan. The towns holding the most FMCSA filings are Macomb, Lansing, Davison, Troy and Van Buren Twp, and the metro this corridor is measured out of is not among them.
So the near end is the unfamiliar one here. Delivery lands in the middle of a deep register; pickup starts somewhere that register does not point. It says where your questions belong: on how and when the car is collected in Michigan, not on what waits for it in Texas.
This corridor, measured
| Michigan → Texas | back | |
|---|---|---|
| Measured between | Detroit → Houston | Houston → Detroit |
| Road miles | 1,298 | 1,293 |
| Transit | 4–6 days | 4–6 days |
| Open carrier, sedan | $1,230–$1,400 | $1,240–$1,410 |
| Direction multiplier | 0.985 | 0.992 |
| Carrier reloads at the far end | 0.86 — with some hunting | 0.82 |
| Licensed companies based there | 69 | 272 |
Distance is measured between Detroit and Houston by a routing engine, not as a straight line. Registered companies at the Michigan end cluster in Macomb, Davison, Dearborn; at the Texas end, in Houston, El Paso, Dallas. A register counts businesses filed at an address, not trucks on this road today.
The other direction has its own page: Texas to Michigan.
Michigan's filings sit where the measurement does not
Michigan's registered companies sit in towns the measurement never touches, so no Michigan address stands in for the state's supply the way the Houston end does for Texas. A filed address near you is not what to look for here, and not finding one tells you nothing about what you will be quoted. What the scatter does mean is that the origin end of the measured line is the part least likely to resemble your own trip, while the delivery end is the solid one. Ask a company when a deck is next routed near you, because the register will not tell you.
Reverse the corridor and the register turns over with it
Run this lane the other way and the supply picture inverts. Going north, the car is collected inside the deepest part of the Texas register and delivered into the Michigan end, where filings are scattered across towns rather than gathered at the metro. The multiplier follows suit: the leg back carries less of a reduction than the one shown here. It is a different job to arrange, which is why it is written up separately instead of being this page read backwards, and it is searched from the Texas side in numbers of its own.
When to ship it
This lane runs with the retiree migration, and that migration is one-way at a time: Texas fills up from October and empties from March. Whichever way the trucks are scarce is the way that costs more, so a month of flexibility is worth more here than any amount of negotiating.
| Month | Sedan, open trailer | vs year-round |
|---|---|---|
| January | $1,360–$1,540 | +10% |
| March | $1,080–$1,230 | -12% |
| May | $1,230–$1,400 | level |
| July | $1,380–$1,570 | +12% |
| October | $1,480–$1,680 | +20% |
Indicative only. Fuel is indexed to the U.S. weekly retail diesel average, last read 2026-09-07.
What drives the price on this lane
- Distance. 1,298 miles puts this lane at about $1.01 a mile. Past 1,200 miles the per-mile rate keeps dropping but driver hours start to bind — the run needs rest stops, and a carrier will hold for a second or third car before rolling.
- Season. This is a snowbird lane. Southbound fills from October and northbound from April, and in those windows a week of lead time is worth more than any amount of haggling. Running south, this lane competes with everyone else heading for warmer weather in autumn.
- Direction. Texas is a dense freight market, so a carrier delivering here can reload quickly and does not need the trip to pay for the run back. This direction usually prices a little under Texas to Michigan.
- Trailer. Enclosed protects from weather and road debris and costs about 34% more here ($1,650–$1,880). The premium grows with distance — an enclosed trailer carries fewer cars, so the longer the run the more deck revenue the carrier gives up. Worth it for low-clearance, classic or high-value cars; rarely worth it otherwise.
- Condition. A car that does not run needs a winch at both ends and adds about $200. Tell the broker up front — a driver who finds out at pickup can refuse the load.
Pickup and delivery on this lane
The companies that run Michigan to Texas are registered in these cities. A carrier based near either end is the one most likely to already be heading your way, which is what makes the difference between a quote and a quote you can actually book.
Picking up around Michigan
- Macomb4
- Davison3
- Dearborn3
- Lansing3
- Troy3
- Van Buren Twp3
- Dearborn Heights2
- Detroit2
- Owosso2
- Taylor2
Delivering around Texas
- Houston27
- El Paso17
- Dallas12
- Mcallen12
- Brownsville9
- Katy8
- Edinburg7
- Austin6
- Laredo6
- Pharr6
Counts are companies with active FMCSA authority registered in each city.
Licensed companies based in Michigan
69 companies with active FMCSA authority are registered in Michigan.
- PIGEON AUTO LOGISTICSNORTHVILLE, MI · broker · bonded
- ABRAMS AUTO TRANSPORT INCDAVISBURG, MI · broker · bonded
- ACTION AUTO CARRIERS, CORP.WYANDOTTE, MI · broker · bonded
- ADVANCED AUTO TRANSPORT LLCMACOMB, MI · broker · bonded
- AWESOME AUTO TRANSPORTERS LLCDETROIT, MI · broker · bonded
- CROSS ROADS AUTO TRANSPORT LLCMUSKEGON, MI · broker · bonded
All Michigan auto transport companies →
Michigan to Texas: common questions
The car is not being collected in Detroit. Does that change this page?+
The corridor logic holds; the measured line does not. That line was drawn Detroit to Houston, and its origin end is a metro holding none of Michigan's registered companies, so almost every real pickup here begins off that line. Read the page for how this corridor behaves, then give the companies your true collection address and let them price that instead.
Does Texas to Michigan cost the same in reverse?+
No. The northbound run has a multiplier of its own, and the southbound figure shown here takes the larger reduction. The return is no afterthought either, so it is written up separately with a panel of its own rather than mirrored off this one. If the car is travelling up out of Texas, price it on that page and ignore the estimate here.
Who am I actually contracting with?+
The licensed company you pick, and never this site. We are not a carrier and not a broker: no operating authority, no equipment, and no moment at which the car is ours. Your request is passed to companies registered at the Michigan and Texas ends, and the replies are shown as they arrive. We do not choose who answers or what they quote. Look up whoever does on the FMCSA register before money moves.
How much does it cost to ship a car from Michigan to Texas?+
Expect $1,230 to $1,400 for a running sedan on an open trailer. An SUV on the same lane runs about $1,320–$1,500, and an enclosed trailer about $1,650–$1,880.
How long does it take to ship a car from Michigan to Texas?+
About 4 to 6 days in transit over 1,298 miles, plus one to three days to schedule pickup after you book.
Can the carrier pick up and deliver to my door?+
Yes on almost every lane. The truck gets as close as it legally and physically can — on a narrow residential street the driver will ask you to meet at a nearby lot.
How do I ship my car from Michigan to Texas?+
Give the two ZIP codes and what you drive, and the request goes to a panel of licensed companies at once instead of you calling down a list. They quote, you compare side by side, and you deal directly with whoever you pick — we take no commission and nobody gets your number until you hand it over. You do not travel with the car: the driver collects it, you both sign an inspection report, and the same happens at the far end.
More lanes from Michigan
More lanes to Texas
Where is the car going?
Two ZIP codes. No account, no obligation.
Shipping somewhere else in Texas? Texas car transport →