Aging Well

Steps to gift your car to a child, grandchild or charity for the holidays

It's the end of the year and property taxes and insurance are due for the car that's been sitting in your driveway unused all year. Here are the steps to get rid of it.

Posted Updated
Getting rid of unused car
By
Liisa Ogburn

It’s the end of the year and property taxes and insurance are due for the car that’s been sitting in your driveway unused all year. Here are the steps to either give it away or sell it it.

  1. Find the title. (If you have lost the title, you will need to fill out this form and have it notarized. Note: there is a 15 day waiting period before requests for duplicate titles are processed. There is also a fee. Don't forget to bring a government-issued photo ID).
  2. If you are selling it, you will want an idea of the car’s value. Most of us have an inflated idea of what our car's value is. However, to get a more accurate idea, go to You can do so at Kelly Blue Book. You will need to know what year, make and model your car is, as well as how much mileage it has on it. You will also need to provide an accurate assessment of its condition. There will be two valuations—one, if you were to sell the car privately yourself and the second would be what a used car dealership would pay (its trade-in value). Depending on the gap between these two values, you may decide whether selling it yourself is worth the trouble or whether you would be content gifting it to a family member or charity.
  3. Once you’ve established who will receive the car, you and the new owner will need to go to a notary (most banks provide this service for free) and transfer the ownership. On the back of the title, the old owners will sign over ownership to the new owner. The old owner will also need to indicate the mileage at the time of transfer, as well as whether the car has been in any accidents or has any outstanding loans.
  4. You should then remove the license plate and call up your insurance to remove the car from your insurance plan.
  5. Before the new owner can drive the vehicle away, they will need to add the car to their insurance plan (and take a hard-copy proof from the company that it is indeed insured) to the License Plate Division of the Department of Motor Vehicles with the title, a government-issued photo ID and a credit card. (The new owner will be required to pay not only the nominal fee for the license plate, but also the vehicle taxes for the coming year.)

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