Earlier in the year, my mom had stopped driving, and I told her I would help her get rid of her car. No need to keep paying insurance on the vehicle if it wasn’t being used. I initially thought I would help her sell it. It’s an older car but in decent condition and well maintained. I would pick it up at her home in Pleasanton and bring it back to the Coastside. I would need to get it detailed and do some minor repairs to get it ready to sell. The registration was about to expire so I would need to get a smog check and then pay for the new tags. Unfortunately, we could not find the title for the car which is required for selling it. We would need to apply for a replacement title which would take several weeks to get.

Instead, I thought of CSPA and our car donation program. My mom agreed that we should look into the program. I went online to https://careasy.org/nonprofit/coastside-state-parks-association and filled out a short pre-donation form. An hour later, a representative from Car Easy called me back to get more details. I assumed that they would not accept the donation since we didn’t have a title. They said that this was no problem. After a brief phone call, they informed me that the car would be picked up at her home and then brought to auction. Once the car was sold, they would send us the paperwork that will use for next year’s taxes. We will receive a tax write off for the full amount of the auction.

Within 3 days from filling out the initial forms, the tow truck came and picked up her car which had been sitting in her driveway for several months. She was thrilled to have the car gone, and I was thrilled not to have the hassles of having people come to my house to test drive the car, haggle for price, and deal with all the paperwork.

It was a very simple process that required no interaction with the DMV. She will receive a nice write-off and CSPA will receive 65% of the cars auction price. The remainder goes to the service for towing the car and dealing with the paperwork and sale. What could have been a long, complicated process turned out to be incredibly easy, and I was grateful for the donation towards improving our Coastside parks. This was the epitome of a win-win situation.

Have a Car to Donate?

If you have a car that you are thinking of getting rid of but don’t want the hassles of having to sell it, consider using the CSPA car donation program. Less headaches for you and more funding for our park system! Just click here (https://careasy.org/nonprofit/coastside-state-parks-association) to get started.

Article written by Bill Murray, Coastside State Parks Association Board President