Quick & Easy Car Donation

The 3-step donation flow

Step 1 (60 seconds): Visit /donate-car and fill in vehicle year, make, model, condition + your name, phone, email, ZIP. Submit. Step 2 (5 minutes, next business day): A real person from Cars Helping Kids calls you to confirm address, time, and any vehicle access details (gate codes, etc.). Step 3 (10 minutes at pickup): Tow driver arrives at agreed time. You sign the back of the title in the 'transfer of title' section, hand it over, watch the truck drive away with your vehicle. You receive a pickup confirmation email. Days later (30-45 days after pickup): IRS Form 1098-C arrives by email with the actual sale price (= your tax deduction).

That's the whole process. Donor time investment: ~15-20 minutes total spread across 3-4 days.

What we eliminate from the typical 'get rid of a car' experience

• Cleaning the interior for buyers (skip — we don't care)
• Photos for Craigslist listings (skip)
• Fielding lowball offers from random buyers (skip)
• Scheduling test drives with strangers (skip)
• Negotiating on price (skip)
• Cash/payment handling and risk (skip)
• Drive to the bank for cashier's check verification (skip)
• Notarized title transfer (skip — most states don't require for charity donations)
• Worrying about post-sale liability (skip — we file DMV release)
• 'I'll buy it Tuesday' that becomes never (skip)
• 'You have $5,000 extra on top of your asking price' Nigerian prince emails (skip)

All the things people hate about selling a car privately. We absorb the work; you get the tax deduction.

Truly hands-off — even the title transfer

If you can't be present for pickup, we can sometimes arrange title pickup separately (you leave the signed title under a doormat or with a neighbor; tow driver verifies and tows). Call us for the details on absentee donation if needed.

Most donors do prefer to be present at pickup — it takes 10 minutes and you get a pickup confirmation in real time.