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Is your vehicle donation-ready?

Identify the vehicle from its VIN, then prepare the ownership, access, and towing facts a legitimate charity should ask before promising pickup.

Vehicle identification data: U.S. Department of Transportation, NHTSA vPIC About the official data source

1. Identify the vehicle

The VIN is optional. Vehicles made for the U.S. market since 1981 normally use 17 characters. Older vehicles can be entered manually in the donation form.

Look through the windshield at the driver's side dashboard or check the registration. Do not enter a license-plate number.

Skip VIN lookup and enter manually
Privacy: this page has no advertising, analytics, or chat scripts. The VIN is sent in a private request to our no-storage decoder and NHTSA, then discarded. Only decoded year, make, model, and vehicle type can be carried to the donation form.

2. Check the pickup facts

This does not accept or reject a donation. It highlights details to disclose before a charity or towing partner schedules anything.

Do not sign a title, leave keys, remove plates, or make the vehicle available for unattended pickup until the receiving organization gives instructions for your state and situation.

3. Check safety recalls separately

A VIN decoder identifies manufacturer-supplied vehicle facts; it does not determine whether a particular vehicle has an unrepaired safety recall.

Open NHTSA recall lookup Download the printable handoff checklist