Car lifts rated 13,000 lb and above

What is in this range

51 lifts from 8 manufacturers: AMGO Hydraulics, Atlas Automotive Equipment, BendPak, Daytona Lifts, Katool, Triumph Auto Lifts, Tuxedo Distributors and iDEAL Lifts. Capacities run from 13,000 lb to 40,000 lb, across 12 distinct ratings. Configurations included: four-post, portable, scissor and two-post.

Prices run $3,695 to $35,995 with a median of $9,695. Each is the median of what independent US dealers list for that exact model, so the spread here is the market's spread rather than ours.

How to narrow it down

Three questions settle most of this list, and two of them are about your building rather than about the lift.

First, capacity. Check the curb weight of the heaviest vehicle you own, not the lightest, and not the marketing name: a modern crew-cab "half-ton" pickup is over 5,000 lb before anything goes in the bed. The rating is a total for the lift, not a figure per wheel.

Second, height. Measure your ceiling to the lowest obstruction, which in a normal garage is the door track or the opener rail rather than the drywall. We hold a published overall height for 24 of the 51 lifts here.

Third, floor. 13 of these carry a published concrete requirement. Anything anchored makes your slab part of the lift, and that is worth establishing before you shortlist rather than after.

What we know about these models, and what we do not

Specification coverage across this range: 37 of 51 with a published electrical requirement, 24 with an overall height, 13 with a concrete requirement.

Where a figure is missing from a listing it is because we do not hold it, not because it does not matter. A ceiling height or a concrete specification guessed from a similar lift is the most expensive wrong number in this category, so the listing shows a gap instead. Ask about any model and we will get the manufacturer's figure before you commit to anything.

On certification: 0 models in this range have a verified ALI directory entry, and 6 carry a certification claim from a retailer that we have not yet checked. A claim is not a certificate, and ALI certification attaches to a specific model at a specific capacity rather than to a manufacturer.

Getting one delivered

Every lift here is a freight shipment on a pallet, not a parcel. At a residential address that almost always means a liftgate, because a truck cannot get a pallet to the ground without a dock or a forklift, and it is a line item worth pricing in from the start.

Inspect the pallet and note any damage on the delivery receipt before the driver leaves. A clean signature makes a transit damage claim substantially harder, and lift shipments arrive damaged often enough for that to matter.

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• Car lifts