Do a 15-minute sweep before the tow truck arrives. Remove the garage-door remote, spare house keys, toll transponder, parking permits, disability placards, insurance card, registration, and loose glovebox documents. Check the cabin, trunk, visors, console, under seats, and spare-tire well. Factory-reset the infotainment system so Bluetooth pairings, HomeLink buttons, saved contacts, and your saved home address are gone. Leave the keys and the signed-over title with the car.
Your pre-pickup checklist
Remove security items first
Start with anything that opens a door, gate, building, locker, or storage unit. Take the garage-door remote from the visor or console. Remove spare house keys, work keys, mailbox keys, and access fobs from the key ring, glovebox, ashtray, or cup holders. If the vehicle has programmable gate buttons, you will clear those in the infotainment reset step.
Pull billing items next
Remove the toll transponder, parking hangtag, garage card, campus pass, employee lot permit, and any disability placard. Then log in to your toll account and remove the donated vehicle from the account. Do this even if you removed the physical transponder. It helps prevent later tolls, parking charges, or account confusion after the vehicle leaves.
Clear the glovebox papers
Take out your insurance card, registration, maintenance receipts, loan papers, inspection notes, and any envelopes with your address or account numbers. Check the owner manual packet, visor sleeve, console, and door pockets too. Keep anything you may need for your records. For license plates, use our License Plates After Donation guide.
Sweep the cabin and trunk
Work front to back. Check under both front seats, between seat cushions, seat-back pockets, cup holders, door bins, the center console, and visor clips. Then check the rear floor, cargo pockets, trunk, hatch area, tool tray, and spare-tire well. Look for sunglasses, cash, medications, chargers, work badges, children’s items, and anything with personal information.
Wipe saved vehicle data
Factory-reset the infotainment system if the car has one. Delete Bluetooth pairings, saved contacts, call history, garage-door or HomeLink programming, navigation favorites, and the saved home address. If there is no factory-reset option, delete each item manually from the settings menus. Also remove CDs, USB drives, SD cards, and phone cables.
Remove optional add-ons carefully
You may remove personal aftermarket items such as dash cams, radar detectors, phone mounts, upgraded stereos, portable GPS units, child seats, bike racks, or roof cargo boxes. Do not strip parts needed for normal operation. Leave the car intact and as described when you scheduled the donation, including any equipment you said would stay with it.
Leave title and keys
After your sweep, put the vehicle keys where the pickup driver can receive them. Leave the signed-over title with the car, unless Drive Forward gave you different paperwork instructions for your situation. Do not leave unrelated personal records in the title folder. For release of liability, use our Release of Liability After Donation guide.
If a DMV rule is unclear
Vehicle donation paperwork is state-specific, and instructions can vary by vehicle age, title status, or ownership situation. In general, donors should not send personal papers away with the vehicle, but the ownership document needed for transfer must stay with the car when required. Some states rely on the signed title alone, while others also use a separate notice step. If your title situation is unusual, confirm the exact instruction with the Connecticut DMV before pickup.
Common questions
Is this checklist different in the Hartford Metro?
The sweep is the same for most donors. Focus on personal property, billing devices, security access, documents, and saved electronic data. The part that may vary is state paperwork. If you have a title problem, a missing owner, or an unusual vehicle status, check DMV instructions before pickup.
Can I leave the toll transponder in the car?
No. Remove the physical toll transponder before the vehicle is towed. Also remove the vehicle from your toll account online or by contacting the toll provider. Removing only the tag may not be enough if the license record remains connected to your account.
What if I cannot reset the infotainment system?
Delete what you can manually. Start with paired phones, contacts, call history, navigation favorites, saved home address, and HomeLink or garage-door buttons. If the screen is dead or locked, remove all removable media and personal devices, then note that the data reset could not be completed.
More donation prep guides
A short sweep keeps your personal items, billing accounts, and private data from leaving with the tow truck. Remove what belongs to you, wipe saved electronics, and leave only the keys and signed-over title needed for the donation. Drive Forward supports Heritage for the Blind (EIN 58-2164446). When your checklist is complete, you are ready for free pickup.