The short answer: both are FMCSA licensed brokers with instant online quote calculators, so neither requires a phone call to see a price. Choose Nexus Auto Transport if you want three calculator tiers, a cash on delivery option with a 20 to 40 percent deposit, and a large review sample (roughly 2,100 Trustpilot reviews, retrieved July 2026). Choose Car Haul Direct if you want a stated $2M cargo coverage figure, typical pickup in 1 to 3 days, and a broker built around auction and dealer logistics, including 3 to 5 free storage days on auction pickups. The sections below walk through the verified numbers.
Quick answer: Nexus fits shoppers who want three price tiers per quote and a cash on delivery option with a 20 to 40 percent deposit. Car Haul Direct fits auction and dealer shipments: one transparent instant quote, $2M stated cargo coverage, pickup typically in 1 to 3 days, and 3 to 5 free storage days on auction pickups. Both are FMCSA-licensed brokers.
How Do Car Haul Direct and Nexus Auto Transport Compare at a Glance?
How Do the Quote Calculators and Price Tiers Compare?
Both companies lead with an instant online calculator, but the outputs differ in a way that matters for how you shop.
Nexus’s calculator returns three quotes at once across three service tiers. On the page retrieved July 2026, the worked example showed Expedited (described as accelerated open carrier) at $1,105, Standard open carrier at $855 (labeled lowest price, best availability), and Premium enclosed at $1,530. Those dollar figures are on page examples, not fixed rates for your route, but they illustrate the spread Nexus presents: in that example, enclosed costs about 79 percent more than standard open, and expedited about 29 percent more. Nexus also states it provides two quotes per request, one for credit or debit payment and one for cash on delivery, and its calculator page publishes market statistics including an average car shipping cost around $650 and a range of $0.40 to $2.00 per mile for January 2026.
Car Haul Direct’s calculator gives you a single transparent price with no phone call required. Rather than tiering the quote, CHD publishes its pricing adjustments plainly: enclosed transport typically runs 40 to 60 percent more than open, and inoperable vehicles typically add $100 to $200. If you are comparing a Nexus standard tier quote against CHD, you are comparing broadly similar open carrier products; if you are looking at Nexus’s premium tier, compare it against CHD’s enclosed option.
One caution that applies to both: broker quotes are estimates of what a carrier will accept, and they can move with the market. Our guide on why car shipping quotes change explains the mechanics, and it is worth reading before you treat any calculator number as final. Neither company guarantees pickup or delivery dates; Nexus states this explicitly on its homepage and in its terms, describing expedited service as making your order a number one priority rather than a guaranteed window.
When Do You Pay, and Who Covers Your Car?
Payment timing is one of the clearest structural differences in this comparison.
Nexus states, on its calculator page retrieved July 2026, that you are charged only when a driver is assigned to your order. At that point you pay either the full shipment fee if you chose credit or debit, or a 20 to 40 percent deposit if you chose cash on delivery, with the balance due to the driver at delivery. On cancellation, Nexus’s own pages conflict: its FAQ describes canceling by phone before a driver is assigned, while its Terms and Conditions (last updated 10/10/2025) state a $75 dispatch fee if you cancel before dispatch, and that orders cannot be canceled or changed once the carrier takes control of your vehicle. Where a company’s FAQ and its binding terms differ, the terms are the document to rely on.
On insurance, both companies are brokers, which means the carrier that physically moves your car carries the cargo policy. Nexus says its open carrier partners provide a minimum of $100,000 in coverage and, on another page, that drivers carry policies with coverage up to $1,000,000. Its Terms and Conditions section 8 state that Nexus, as a property transportation broker, is not and will not be liable for any cargo loss or damage claims, and that you must report any claim no later than 72 hours after delivery. That 72 hour window is short; if you ship with Nexus, photograph your car at pickup and inspect it immediately at delivery.
Car Haul Direct states $2M in cargo insurance coverage, a headline figure that sits on top of the carrier side policies. CHD’s typical pickup window is 1 to 3 days across the 48 contiguous states. CHD does not publish its deposit timing, payment methods, and cancellation terms online; ask for the current terms in writing when you request your quote. If you want to understand what a broker is and is not responsible for before you book with either company, our car shipping broker vs carrier explainer and the car shipping scams playbook cover the questions to ask any provider.
How Do FMCSA Authority and Review Scores Compare?
Both companies check out as legitimate, active brokers in federal records. Car Haul Direct is an FMCSA licensed broker, USDOT 4321158, with active authority you can verify on SAFER. Nexus AT LLC, based in Schaumburg, Illinois, holds USDOT 2801954 and MC 933173, with property broker authority granted 09/28/2015 and a $75,000 BMC 84 surety bond on file (the standard broker bond), per FMCSA derived registry data retrieved July 2026. One registry note worth knowing: Nexus lists zero power units, which is exactly what you should expect from a pure broker.
Review volume is where you should be honest with yourself about sample sizes. Nexus has the larger footprint: about 4.2 of 5 on Trustpilot from roughly 2,100 reviews and a BBB A+ rating with accreditation since 8/1/2016 (all retrieved July 2026). Its own pages report 500,000 plus customers served since 2015, and its network size is stated inconsistently as 16,000 plus car hauler partners on the homepage and 59,000 plus vetted carriers on the calculator page; treat the true figure as somewhere in that self reported range.
Car Haul Direct’s numbers are smaller and we will state them plainly: Google 4.0 stars from 67 reviews, Trustpilot 4.2 stars from 13 reviews, and BBB Accredited Business with an A rating, accredited 7/13/2026. A sample of 13 or 67 reviews tells you less, statistically, than a sample of 2,030. What the service model tells you instead is where CHD concentrates: auction and dealer work, including 3 to 5 free storage days on auction pickups, and a stated $2M coverage figure. Judge the model on whether it fits your shipment, and the reviews on their limited but real volume.
Who Should Choose Nexus Auto Transport?
Nexus is the better fit for you in several clear situations. If you want to see three price points and pick your own trade off between speed, price, and protection, the three tier calculator ($855, $1,105, and $1,530 in the July 2026 example) does that in one step. If you prefer to pay most of the balance in cash at delivery, the cash on delivery structure, with only a 20 to 40 percent deposit charged when a driver is assigned, is a genuine differentiator that many brokers do not offer. If you are shipping something outside a standard sedan, Nexus’s service menu is broader on paper: heavy equipment, motorcycles, ATVs, and EVs all have dedicated pages. If published discounts matter to you, Nexus lists military, multi vehicle, senior, back to school, and dealer discounts. And if a deep review history is how you build trust, roughly 2,100 Trustpilot reviews give you a much larger base of customer feedback to read than a newer broker can.
Who Should Choose Car Haul Direct?
Car Haul Direct fits you if your shipment touches the auction and dealer world: buying at Copart or IAA, moving units between rooftops, or needing 3 to 5 free storage days while paperwork clears. It fits if you want a stated $2M cargo coverage figure rather than a carrier minimum, and if a typical 1 to 3 day pickup window matters more than a tiered menu. It also fits if you value reading the actual terms: this page exists because we think side by side facts serve you better than slogans, and our blog applies the same standard across every comparison. You can run your route through the calculator and get a quote in under a minute, no phone call required.
Comparison data retrieved July 2026; verify current terms with each provider.
Frequently asked questions
Is Nexus Auto Transport a broker or a carrier?
Nexus Auto Transport is a broker. Nexus AT LLC holds FMCSA property broker authority (USDOT 2801954, MC 933173, active since 09/28/2015) with zero trucks of its own, and its terms state it assigns independent carriers to move your vehicle.
Does Nexus Auto Transport require a deposit?
Only when a driver is assigned. Nexus states you are charged the full shipment fee at assignment if you pay by card, or a 20 to 40 percent deposit if you choose cash on delivery, with the balance paid to the driver at delivery (retrieved July 2026).
How much does Nexus Auto Transport cost?
Nexus’s calculator example from July 2026 showed $855 for standard open transport, $1,105 for expedited, and $1,530 for premium enclosed on a sample route. Its calculator page cites an average car shipping cost around $650 and $0.40 to $2.00 per mile. Your quote will depend on route, vehicle, and timing.
Is Car Haul Direct a legitimate company?
Yes. Car Haul Direct is an FMCSA licensed broker, USDOT 4321158, with active authority verifiable on SAFER, a BBB Accredited Business with an A rating (accredited 7/13/2026), Google 4.0 stars from 67 reviews, and Trustpilot 4.2 stars from 13 reviews.
Which is cheaper, Car Haul Direct or Nexus Auto Transport?
Neither publishes fixed route rates, so the honest answer is to quote both. Nexus shows three tiers per quote; CHD shows one transparent price. Broker quotes reflect what carriers will accept on your route that week, so the cheaper option can change by lane and date.
Does Nexus Auto Transport guarantee pickup or delivery dates?
No. Nexus states on its homepage and in its terms that it cannot guarantee shipping windows, pickup dates, or delivery dates. Its expedited tier makes your order a number one priority, which is not the same as a guarantee.
What is Nexus Auto Transport’s cancellation policy?
Per its Terms and Conditions (last updated 10/10/2025), canceling before a carrier is dispatched carries a $75 dispatch fee, and orders cannot be canceled once the carrier takes control of your vehicle. Nexus’s FAQ describes canceling by phone before driver assignment; where the two differ, the terms govern.
Who insures my car during transport?
The carrier’s cargo policy is primary with any broker. Nexus states a $100,000 minimum from open carrier partners and up to $1,000,000 on driver policies, and its terms say Nexus itself is not liable for cargo claims, which must be reported within 72 hours of delivery. Car Haul Direct states $2M in cargo insurance coverage.
Do I have to call anyone to get a quote?
No. Both companies offer instant online calculators. Nexus returns three tiered quotes plus a cash on delivery variant; Car Haul Direct returns a single price with no phone call required.
