Frequently Asked Questions

All of your questions about donating your car, answered!

Find out everything you need to know about donating your car to charity with Charity Car. Click one of the frequently asked questions below to see the answer. If you can’t find what you’re looking for please contact us.

Your donation

You can choose from a variety of charities and all Charity Car’s Official Partners are registered charities. View our full list of charities >

You can donate cars and light vans of any age and with any mileage through Charity Car. Whether they’re roadworthy, or an MOT failure, we’re happy to turn them into a donation, we’ll even accept cars that are beyond repair and ready to be recycled. We can’t accept cars that have major parts missing or major damage. We don’t usually accept motorbikes or caravans, but if you do have a different type of vehicle to donate, please get in touch.

No, donating your car is completely free of charge. It won’t cost you a penny!

If we recycle your car, which is usual for the majority of vehicles donated via our scheme, 100% of the market value of your scrap car will be donated to your chosen charity.

It may be that our recycling centre assesses your vehicle and decides it could be repaired and re-used. In this case your chosen charity will receive the same value as if it had been recycled.

If your car is auctioned, your chosen charity will receive the full amount raised minus a low fixed auction fee. This low fixed fee covers the valeting, valuation, sales particulars, storage, viewings by prospective buyers throughout the sales process, paperwork and transfer of payment to your chosen charity. (It also covers entry in up to two auctions in case the car is unsuccessful in the first sale.) We will only ever submit a vehicle for auction if our specialist team is confident it will make more for your charity, minus the fixed fee, than it would have made as scrap.

If you’d like to find out how much we think your car will be worth, please get in touch – we’ll be happy to let you know the estimated donation your charity will receive.

We assess every car on a case-by-case basis to ensure vehicles are effectively identified for recycling or auction. While we could show everyone an instant scrap donation value using registrations and postcodes, this would not always be an accurate estimate of the final donation.

If you’d like to find out how much we estimate your car will raise for your chosen charity through the Charity Car service, please get in touch. All our customers are informed about the donation total that their car has generated once the process is complete.

Cars donated via the Charity Car scheme do not currently qualify for Gift Aid as they fall into the category of donated goods. This is advice from HMRC.

You can only donate the value of your old car to one charity at a time, and the full value goes to the charity you choose.

When you donate your car, it will be based on the following minimum requirements:

  • you are able to provide photographic ID and proof of address;
  • your car is free of all finance charges, such as a hire purchase or loan agreement;
  • your car is free from any additional waste, such as litter, refuse or rubbish;
  • your car is powered by a petrol, diesel, electric or hybrid powertrain as originally manufactured;
  • your car (or light van) has no more than 9 seats (i.e. not a motorbike or HGV); and
  • your car is accessible (in the case of a collection) meaning that it is parked on solid ground with inflated tyres, so that it can be safely winched onto a recovery vehicle.

If any of the above criteria are not true, we may not be able to accept your car for donation. You’ll be given the opportunity to provide further details.

When you donate your car, to help establish its value, we may ask you some questions about your car’s condition, such as:

  • What’s the approximate mileage?
  • Do you have the keys?
  • Has it ever been written off?
  • Does it start and drive?
  • Is there any service history?

If you’re unable to answer any questions, we may make some assumptions about your car’s condition. Your answers and our assumptions will be shown to you alongside your donation.

These questions are in addition to the minimum requirements.

Finding your car details...

Working on it...

Updating your answers...

Accepting your donation...

Loading your account...

Official Partner to:

Multiple Sclerosis Trust charity logo
Royal Surrey Charity logo
Redwings Horse Sanctuary charity logo
The Lighthouse Project charity logo
Kids Club Kampala charity logo
ARNI Institute charity logo
Crisis charity logo
RSPB charity logo
Marie Curie charity logo
Well Wishers charity logo
The Children's Hospital Charity logo
British Heart Foundation charity logo
Bowel Cancer UK charity logo
Teckels charity logo
Through Unity charity logo
Home-Start charity logo
Deki charity logo
Cool Earth charity logo
PHASE Worldwide charity logo
MS Society charity logo
North Yorkshire Horizons charity logo
TREE AID charity logo
Youth For Christ charity logo
The Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital charity logo
Woking and Sam Beare Hospice charity logo
Shakespeare Schools Foundation charity logo
Cambodian Children's Fund charity logo
Families Need Fathers charity logo
CHIPS charity logo
Operation Smile charity logo
Cystic Fibrosis Trust charity logo
We Stand charity logo
Child.org charity logo
bibic charity logo
The Akshaya Patra Foundation charity logo
Wirral Mencap charity logo
Breast Cancer Support charity logo
Royal Trinity Hospice charity logo
National Autistic Society charity logo
Alzheimer's Research UK charity logo
The Donkey Sanctuary logo
Street Child United charity logo
The Air Ambulance Service charity logo
Anxiety UK charity logo
Hope For Tomorrow charity logo
Teen Challenge Strathclyde charity logo
Hope And Play charity logo
Cancer Research UK charity logo
The Haven Wolverhampton charity logo
Matrix Neurological charity logo
BulliesOut charity logo
Whoopsadaisy charity logo
Pregnancy Sickness Support charity logo
The Children's Air Ambulance Service charity logo
Rainbow Trust charity logo
Clean Air Day charity logo
The Lunar Project charity logo
Genesis Research Trust charity logo
RSPCA Northamptonshire charity logo
Emmaus UK charity logo
Coeliac UK charity logo
PANDAS Foundation charity logo
Alcohol Change UK charity logo
Heeley City Farm charity logo
KASSSI charity logo
WWF charity logo
Cotswolds Dogs & Cats Home charity logo
Latin Link charity logo
Legs4Africa charity logo
Parkinson's UK charity logo
The Rainforest Foundation charity logo
Jessie May charity logo
Alex TLC charity logo
War Child charity logo
ROLDA UK charity logo
The National Coastwatch Institution charity logo
Fertility Network UK charity logo
St Columba's Hospice Care logo
Oxfam charity logo
The Metropolitan Police Benevolent Fund charity logo
Make-A-Wish Foundation UK charity logo
Motor Neurone Disease Association charity logo
CRY charity logo
Remember Rubén charity logo
SOS Children’s Villages charity logo
Perennial charity logo
International Otter Survival Fund charity logo
Kids Need Both Parents charity logo
Whale and Dolphin Conservation charity logo
Pump Aid charity logo
Alder Hey charity logo
Crohn's & Colitis UK charity logo
Merlin MS Centre charity logo
The Book Bus Foundation charity logo
Go Beyond logo
Poverty Child charity logo
Arms Around the Child charity logo
Surrey Wildlife Trust charity logo
Bullying UK charity logo
Abbeyfield charity logo
Age UK Birmingham charity logo
Just4Children charity logo
Polbeth Community HUB charity logo
Acorns charity logo
Battle of Britain Memorial Trust charity logo
WISH charity logo
Afasic charity logo
Versus Arthritis charity logo
Butterfly Conservation charity logo
The Maypole Project charity logo
TJ Danes Rescue charity logo
Yorkshire Ambulance Service Charity logo
Spear Search and Rescue charity logo