Do a 15-minute sweep before the tow truck takes the car. Remove your garage-door remote, toll transponder, parking permits, disability placards, insurance card, registration, glovebox papers, valuables, and personal items. Check under seats, visors, the trunk, and the 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 access items
Start with anything that lets someone into your home or building. Remove the garage-door remote, apartment fob, gate card, spare house keys, mailbox key, and any valet key you do not intend to donate. Check the driver door pocket and the small tray by the shifter. If a remote is built into the visor, clear it in the electronics step.
Pull billing devices
Next, remove every item that can create charges after the car leaves you. Pull the toll transponder from the windshield or dash. Remove parking permits, garage stickers, fuel cards, and fleet cards. Then log in to the toll account and remove the vehicle from the account, not just the tag from the windshield. Save any confirmation for your records.
Clear the glovebox papers
Take out your insurance card, registration copy, repair invoices, owner notes, financing papers, emissions paperwork, and anything with your address, policy number, or account number. Check the glovebox, center console, door pockets, and visor sleeves. Do not accidentally remove the donation title packet. The signed-over title is one of the items that stays with the car.
Sweep cabin and cargo areas
Now do the full personal-item sweep. Look under both front seats, between the seat and console, inside seat-back pockets, in cup holders, under floor mats, behind third-row seats, and inside all storage bins. Open the trunk or hatch. Check the cargo side pockets, jack compartment, spare-tire well, tool tray, and any boxes or bags still in the vehicle.
Wipe stored electronic data
Use the vehicle menu to factory-reset the infotainment system if the car powers on. Delete Bluetooth pairings, call logs, text-message access, contacts, garage-door programming, HomeLink buttons, navigation history, and any saved home address. Also remove USB drives, SD cards, garage codes, and dash-mounted phone holders. If the battery is dead, remove what you can and make a note for your records.
Remove optional aftermarket gear
Take aftermarket items only if removing them does not change the donated vehicle from what you described. Common removals include dash cams, phone mounts, upgraded speakers, detachable stereo faces, child seats, roof-rack accessories, emergency kits, and loose tools. Leave built-in equipment, major parts, and anything you included in the vehicle description. Do not strip the car for parts before pickup.
Leave title and keys
Finish by putting the keys and the signed-over title with the vehicle, as directed in your donation paperwork. Include all working keys and remotes you mean to donate. If you have a lien-release document or other title-support paperwork that Ride Revive requested, keep it with the title packet. Do one last walkaround before handing off the car.
Separate DMV cleanup items
This checklist is only for items inside or attached to the vehicle. For license plates, see our License Plates After Donating a Car guide. For release of liability, see our Release of Liability After Donating a Car guide. Vehicle-transfer rules are state-specific; some tasks are handled before handoff and others after the transfer is recorded. If your title, donor receipt, or account instructions conflict, check the Colorado DMV before you send anything with the car.
What should stay intact
Leave the donated vehicle substantially as described. Standard parts, built-in screens, factory radios, wheels, batteries, catalytic converters, and installed seats should stay with the car unless Ride Revive already knows otherwise. Remove your belongings, not the vehicle’s core equipment. If you are unsure whether an item is personal property or part of the vehicle, treat loose, removable items as yours and installed operating parts as part of the donation.
Common questions
What if I forgot something in the car?
Contact Ride Revive as soon as you notice. Recovery may depend on where the vehicle is in the donation process, so act quickly. For future pickups, the safest approach is to empty the car before the driver arrives, including hidden storage areas and any bags or boxes in the trunk.
Should I remove a toll transponder even if the account is closed?
Yes. Remove the physical transponder and also verify the vehicle is no longer listed on the toll account. The device and the account record are separate issues. Keeping a screenshot or confirmation number helps if a later charge appears after the vehicle leaves your possession.
Do I need to reset the infotainment system on an old car?
If the vehicle stores phone, navigation, garage, or address data, reset it. Older systems may only require deleting Bluetooth pairings and saved destinations. If the car has no power or no working screen, remove USB drives, CDs, SD cards, and paperwork, then keep a note of what you could not access.
Can I leave child seats, tools, or extra parts inside?
Remove child seats, tools, emergency kits, and loose parts unless Ride Revive specifically asked you to leave them. Loose items can be lost, discarded, or separated from the vehicle. Installed parts that were included in your vehicle description should remain with the car.
More donation prep guides
A clean sweep protects your home access, billing accounts, documents, valuables, and stored data. It also helps the donation handoff stay simple: personal items out, vehicle intact, keys and signed-over title with the car. Ride Revive supports Heritage for the Blind (EIN 58-2164446). When your sweep is done, keep your records handy and you are ready for the next step.