How to clear your personal data from a car before you sell it

A junk car is no exception. The screen in a car headed for parts still holds your phone book and the route to your house. The checklist takes a few minutes, and the plate and paperwork steps after it protect you once the car is sold.

The checklist, in order

Hyundai publishes a list of what to remove before selling one of its cars (Hyundai). It works as a model for almost any car with a screen:

1. Bluetooth pairings. Delete every phone the car knows.
2. Phone data. Delete stored phone numbers and call history.
3. USB drives. Pull out any portable drive in a USB port, along with anything in the glove box or console.
4. Garage door codes. Delete codes stored in a built-in garage door opener.
5. Maps and saved places. Clear pre-programmed destinations and route history. The "Home" entry on the map screen is your address.
6. Connected services. Cancel the car's subscription. For Hyundai that is Bluelink.

Hyundai also says to cancel the Bluelink subscription before selling. If your car has a connected service, cancel it before the car goes. Then check the owner's manual for a reset or "restore defaults" option on your system and what it clears. Menus differ by model and year, so the manual is the place to look.

Removing a paired phone, by maker

The phone list is the one step every car shares. The menu names differ.

Chevrolet. Chevrolet tells owners to delete any device no longer in use from the paired devices list. You remove it by choosing Delete or "Forget This Connection" (Chevrolet).

Ford. Ford says the unpair steps depend on which infotainment system the car has, and you can do it through SYNC or Ford Digital Experience. You choose Forget and confirm the deletion if asked. On one SYNC version you pick the Delete icon and then Yes (Ford).

Hyundai. Delete Bluetooth pairings and the stored numbers and call history, as above (Hyundai).

For any other make, search the maker's owner site for "unpair phone" or "delete Bluetooth device." Then remove the car from your phone's Bluetooth list too, so the phone stops trying to reconnect.

If the car won't power on

Non-running cars are where data gets left behind. The screen usually needs battery power, and a dead battery means no menus.

• Pull the USB drives. Taking out a portable drive needs no menu at all.
• If nothing powers up, do what you can by hand: pull USB drives, clear the glove box and console, and take out paper with your name or address on it.
• Cancel the subscription. Hyundai says to cancel Bluelink before selling. If your car has a connected service, cancel it too.

Whichever way it goes, don't sign the car over until you've done what you can. Our non-running car guide covers the rest of selling one.

After the data: plates and the sale notice

Wiping the screen protects your information. Two paper steps protect you from what the next owner does: the plates and your state's notice of sale. Both are laid out below for every state.

Two rules worth reading twice. Georgia puts the registration ahead of the insurance: end the first, then the second, or risk penalties (Georgia DOR). Virginia warns that if your insurer drops a car DMV still thinks is yours, DMV sees a registered, uninsured vehicle and may suspend your license and registration (Virginia DMV). In both, the paperwork comes first and the insurance call comes after.

For more on each state's final steps, see after you sell.

Wipe it yourself or leave it to the buyer?

Wipe it yourself. Whoever takes the car next, a private buyer, a yard or a parts seller, has no reason to clear your data.

If the screen won't come on, still pull out any USB drives. That step needs no menu.

Selling the car to us

We buy whole non-running and junk cars, and you sell the whole car as it sits, with free pickup anywhere in the US. Clear your data first using the list above, pull the plates if your state says they're yours, and keep a copy of whatever you sign. If you're new to selling a car for parts, how to sell a car for parts lists every step.

Questions before you start? Call (877) 421-6008.