Before donation pickup, take 15 minutes to remove anything personal, valuable, private, or billable. Pull the garage-door remote, spare house keys, toll transponder, parking permits, disability placards, insurance card, registration, and glovebox papers. Sweep the cabin, trunk, under-seat areas, visors, center console, and spare-tire well. Factory-reset the infotainment system, including Bluetooth pairings, HomeLink, and any saved home address. Leave the keys and the signed-over title with the car.
Your pre-pickup checklist
Remove Security Items First
Start with anything that can open, identify, or access your home. Remove the garage-door remote from the visor, console, or door pocket. Take out spare house keys, office keys, mailbox keys, key cards, gate fobs, and building badges. Check any hidden magnetic key box or emergency key pouch. If another driver used the car, ask them about extra remotes or keys before pickup.
Pull Billing Items Next
Remove the toll transponder from the windshield or glovebox. Then log in to the toll account and remove this vehicle from the account so future charges do not follow the plate, transponder, or vehicle record. Take out paid parking hangtags, garage access cards, neighborhood permits, employer parking stickers, and disability placards. Keep anything connected to a credit card, billing account, or parking right.
Clear Glovebox Documents
Open the glovebox and door pockets. Remove the insurance card, registration, maintenance receipts, old repair orders, warranty papers, loan papers, and anything with your address or signature. Check the owner’s manual packet for hidden envelopes or cards. If you want maintenance records to go with the vehicle, remove private pages first. Do not leave medical papers, tax papers, school forms, or mail.
Sweep Cabin And Trunk
Do a slow physical sweep. Look under all seats, between seat cushions, in seat-back pockets, in the center console, cupholders, overhead holder, sunglasses bin, visor clips, and side pockets. Open the trunk or cargo area and check storage bins, cargo nets, jack compartments, and the spare-tire well. Remove tools, cash, chargers, medications, photos, clothing, garage items, and anything you would not hand to a stranger.
Wipe Saved Electronics Data
Factory-reset the infotainment system if the vehicle allows it. Delete Bluetooth pairings, call logs, contacts, text-message sync, navigation history, garage-door programming such as HomeLink, saved home addresses, saved work addresses, Wi-Fi settings, and app connections. If you cannot find the reset menu, use the owner’s manual or remove entries one by one. Unplug USB drives, memory cards, phone mounts with trackers, and adapters.
Remove Optional Add-Ons
Remove personal aftermarket items only if doing so does not change the car from how you described it. Take dash cams, removable GPS units, phone mounts, child seats, custom floor mats, tools, emergency kits, and upgraded audio accessories you plan to keep. Leave built-in parts in place unless you already discussed removal. Do not strip required safety equipment or leave loose wires, holes, or damaged panels.
Leave Required Donation Items
After the sweep, put the keys with the car. Leave the signed-over title with the car as well, unless River City Rides has given you a different document instruction for your specific file. Keep your own copies or photos of paperwork before pickup if you want records. Do one last look through the console and glovebox, then lock or secure the vehicle as instructed.
Title And State Paperwork Notes
Do not use this sweep checklist as a title-law substitute. A vehicle donation generally needs valid ownership documents, and special cases can change the sequence. If the title is missing, there is a lien, the owner has died, or the name is wrong, check with the Michigan DMV before pickup. For plates, see our separate guide, License Plates After Donating a Car. For the post-donation notice, see our separate guide, Release of Liability After Donating a Car.
Common questions
Should I leave the keys in the car?
Yes. The keys need to stay with the vehicle for donation pickup. Include every key you are turning over, such as the ignition key, remote fob, valet key, and wheel-lock key if you have one. Remove unrelated keys first, especially house, office, mailbox, and storage-unit keys.
What if I forgot something after the tow truck leaves?
Call River City Rides as soon as you notice. Recovery is not guaranteed once a vehicle moves through the donation process, so the best protection is a careful sweep before the car leaves. Focus on small hidden areas: console trays, visor clips, under-seat gaps, trunk side panels, and spare-tire storage.
Should I remove a dash cam or child seat?
Yes, remove child seats and any dash cam you want to keep. Also remove memory cards and saved footage. If an item is permanently wired or built into the vehicle, remove it only if doing so will not damage the car or change the condition you reported.
Do I need to erase phone data from the car?
Yes. Delete Bluetooth pairings, synced contacts, recent calls, navigation destinations, garage-door programming, and saved addresses. A factory reset is best when available. If the screen or battery does not work, unplug devices and remove any USB drives, adapters, trackers, or memory cards you can access.
More donation prep guides
A clean sweep protects your privacy and keeps the donation handoff simple. Take 15 minutes, remove personal and billable items, reset stored electronics, and leave the keys plus signed-over title with the vehicle. River City Rides supports Heritage for the Blind (EIN 58-2164446). When your checklist is complete, you are ready for your free pickup.