How the car donation process works
You start your Austin donation with Ride Forward
You provide basic vehicle details, such as the year, make, model, mileage, location, title status, and whether the car starts. Ride Forward can help donors across the Austin-Round Rock area, including South Congress, Mueller, Hyde Park, East Austin, Round Rock, Pflugerville, Cedar Park, Leander, Georgetown, and nearby communities. You do not have to decide whether the vehicle should be repaired, auctioned, or sold for parts. The goal is simple: make donation easy for you and create sale proceeds for Heritage for the Blind, EIN 58-2164446.
Your vehicle is picked up at no cost
After your donation is scheduled, a towing provider contacts you to arrange free pickup at a time and place that works for you. Many donors choose pickup from a home, apartment complex, workplace, repair shop, storage lot, or driveway in the Austin-Round Rock metro. You remove personal items, provide the signed title as required, and hand over the keys if available. There is no towing charge to you. Once the vehicle is picked up, it moves to the next step: assessment for the best sale path.
The vehicle is assessed after pickup
After pickup, the vehicle is reviewed for condition, mileage, drivability, age, damage, and resale potential. This assessment helps determine where it is most likely to generate value. Running vehicles in resalable condition are typically assigned to public or dealer auction. Vehicles that are non-running, severely damaged, very high mileage, missing key components, or not economical to resell are typically directed to licensed salvage or parts buyers. Ride Forward does not promise a specific outcome before assessment, because the right channel depends on the vehicle itself.
Most running, resalable cars go to auction
If your donated car starts, drives, and has resale value, it will typically be sold through a public or dealer auction. That could include everyday vehicles used by Austin commuters, older family SUVs, trucks from the Hill Country area, or compact cars that still have useful life. The auction process lets buyers compete, and the gross sale price becomes the basis for your tax receipt if the vehicle sells for more than $500. Those sale proceeds go directly to Heritage for the Blind as revenue to support its charitable work.
Non-running or high-mileage vehicles may be sold for parts
Not every donated vehicle is a good auction candidate, and that is okay. Cars with major mechanical problems, storm damage, accident damage, missing parts, failed engines, transmission issues, or very high mileage may be sold to licensed salvage or parts buyers. This keeps the donation useful even when the vehicle is not practical to repair or resell to a driver. Instead of paying to keep an unwanted car in a driveway in North Austin, Round Rock, or Buda, you can turn it into proceeds for Heritage for the Blind.
Proceeds support blind and visually impaired people
Heritage for the Blind, EIN 58-2164446, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving people who are blind or visually impaired. The money generated by selling your donated vehicle becomes revenue for Heritage for the Blind and helps fund its services. Heritage also connects people with benefit resources, and donors or families who want to check eligibility for programs such as SSI, LIHEAP, Medicare Extra Help, or Section 8 can visit nhftb.org/finder. Your car may not go to a family directly, but its sale can still help move the mission forward.
Key facts about car donation
Free towing is available for qualifying vehicle donations throughout Austin-Round Rock and nearby Central Texas communities.
Vehicles are assessed after pickup, not pre-assigned to auction, repair, family placement, or parts sale.
Running vehicles in resalable condition typically go to public or dealer auction for competitive sale.
Non-running, damaged, or high-mileage vehicles typically go to licensed salvage or parts buyers.
Heritage for the Blind is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, EIN 58-2164446, receiving sale proceeds as revenue.
For vehicles sold over $500, donors receive IRS Form 1098-C showing the gross sale price.