08/23/2026
Shipping a Financed or Leased Car: The Lienholder Letter Nobody Warns You About
If you still owe money on your car, you may not be the only party with a say in where it goes. For most domestic moves that changes nothing -- but for ports, overseas, and some cross-border routes, your lender has to put it in writing first, and that letter takes longer to get than the shipment does to book.
✅ For an ordinary state-to-state move, a loan or lease almost never matters -- you do not need permission to ship a car you are financing across the ...
✅ It matters at a port. Ocean carriers handling Hawaii, Alaska barge, and overseas moves generally require written lienholder authorization before th...
✅ Leases are stricter than loans. The leasing company owns the vehicle outright, and many lease agreements restrict moving it out of state permanentl...
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If you still owe money on your car, you may not be the only party with a say in where it goes. For most domestic moves that changes nothing -- but for ports, ov