Need your car in Cali but shipping too costly? ReloRides gets someone to drive it out

Relocating a vehicle from the East Coast to the West Coast can cost around $700 for smaller cars and over $1,000 for larger cars. An Arlington-based startup is turning to the ridesharing model to do it much more affordably.

ReloRides gives car owners the ability to list their vehicles and come to an agreement on relocation price with a driver who has a particular destination in mind.

“Our platform aims to take the hassle and expense out of relocating vehicles while providing the means for responsible drivers to get paid to travel to their destinations,” cofounder and CEO Jamie Bowerman told Technical.ly DC.

Despite the competitive market with other car-sharing platforms such as Turo, Getaround and Driveway, there’s not a service that connects people who need their vehicles relocated with others traveling to that destination. Enter ReloRides.

“The auto shipping industry dates back to the early 1900s and has yet to be modernized,” aid Bowerman. “We’re very excited to do so.”

Auto Relocation, Sharing Economy Style –https://t.co/ou14XC1s2s

— ReloRides (@ReloRides) August 28, 2018

The motive behind ReloRides comes from Bowerman’s past struggles with relocating her own car. For example, in 2010, Bowerman needed to relocate her car from Arlington, Va., to Hood River, Ore., and dealt with the expensive nuisance.

Not only was it a tremendous expense for Bowerman, her car arrived at the destination 10 days after she arrived, and even after the move she continued to be bombarded for months with sales calls from car carriers and brokers.

Following years of traveling, Bowerman decided to reach out to a close friend who is a car transport broker to resolve the high cost of traveling.

“I realized that snowbirds, out-of-state college students and others were looking for this service because travel is expensive and the current car shipping options are costly and inconvenient,” Bowerman said.