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Do you have a car that’s been sitting in your driveway for a few years now? Maybe you bought it new, or maybe it was a gift from someone else. Regardless, chances are that you’ve had the car for just long enough to know that it’s time to let it go. After all, why keep something when there are so many other things that you could be spending your money on instead? Not only will giving your car away help you get rid of some unwanted clutter, but it will also free up some space in your garage and beyond. In fact, donating your car can help you do so much more than just clear out some extra space in your home. It can help you give back to the community while at the same time helping other people less fortunate than yourself. And with the right tips and tricks, donating your car should not be as difficult as you think it will be either.
Go Car-Free
Before you donate your car, make sure that your family is on board with the idea. Otherwise, you might end up donating the car only to end up not using it at all. It’s easy to get sidetracked with the idea of getting rid of something that everyone else wants to keep, especially if it’s a car. Make sure to go car-free for a few weeks before you make the decision to donate your car. If you can’t go car-free for a few weeks because of work or family obligations, at least try to make it a part of your daily routine. That way, you’ll be more likely to keep the car off the road. And once you’ve gotten through that hurdle, it should go even smoother from there.
Check with Your Local Donations Center
Before you drop your car off at the local donation center, make sure that you check with the center first to see if accepting cars is something that they would be interested in. Many donation centers have specific criteria that they want to see met before they will accept certain items. That could be anything from the condition of the item to how it was donated. Also, be sure to find out how long they will hold your car. Some centers will only hold a car for a certain amount of time before they dispose of it. If that’s the case, you’ll want to find out how long they’ll keep your car before they dump it.
Don’t Forget to Disclaimer it
While many people are happy to donate their car on the spot, others will want a form to fill out or a receipt to sign before they hand over the keys. Be sure to ask the center employees if there are any additional documents that you’ll need to provide before dropping off your car. Some donation centers even have specific forms that you’ll need to fill out for each type of car.
Take Pictures and Record the VIN
Before you even think about dropping your car off, take a few pictures of all of its major components. This way, you have something to show the center employees if they try to take your car away without giving you any notice. And while you’re at it, take a few pictures of the car’s VIN as well. This will come in handy if the center has a chance to run the VIN and find out that they have some other type of car in the system behind your car. That could end up being the case if someone was nice enough to stop by and drop off your car and not fill out the right paperwork. So, make sure to get those pictures in before you drop off your car.
Organize Everything Before Shifting Anything
If you’re going to take items out of your car before dropping it off at the donation center, you’ll definitely want to do so with a clean slate. This means that you’ll want to vacuum your car out before you put any of the items that you’re taking out of your car. That way, you’ll be able to shift everything around in a clean fashion so that the new items won’t get muddled with the old ones.
Listing Features and Options You Want to Include
When you’re listing the features and options that you want to include with your car, keep things as general as possible. After all, you don’t want to get into specifics so that someone ends up stealing all of the doors off of your car. So, for example, if your car came with sunroof, front and side doors, and a back door, list those as the options that you want to include. You can go into a little bit more detail about the rest of your car later on.
Estimate Value of Everything Else You’ll Be Giving Away
While the donation center employees may tell you that they can’t give you an exact quote on how much your car will be worth, they can at least give you an idea of how much your car is worth. Simply take a look at the Kelley Blue Book to get an idea of how much your car’s worth. Once you have that information, use it as a starting point to get an estimate on how much your car should be worth. Once you have that information, you can adjust it until the cashier tells you that it’s worth.
Wrap Up
Hopefully, these tips and tricks will help you to get rid of your car sooner rather than later. At the very least, you should be able to get rid of it for free since you’ll have plenty of extra space in your garage. And once that’s done, you can start working on your spring cleaning list and getting your home in order. There are sure to be plenty of other people out there who could use the help clearing out some extra space in their garages. So, if you have a car that you’re ready to get rid of, you can always check with your local donation center to see if they’d be willing to take it.
