I know that for many families, it is a major battle to get mom or dad to give up the car keys. Mom started driving in her early teens and has always been a confident and competent driver. Dad never drove, so she drove everyone everywhere for many years. About 3 years ago, she started having issues with getting lost going to familiar places; in fact, that was one of the early clues that something was seriously wrong. After her Alzheimer's diagnosis, she continued to drive, but less and less because there weren't too many places she felt confident about anymore. She would sometimes drive with me as navigator, and that worked pretty well for awhile, but then I read that this is not considered a wise strategy and she was making more frequent little slip-ups behind the wheel. She would often say, "I know you will be honest with me and let me know if you think I shouldn't be driving." Apparently my reputation for unflinching honesty is way over-rated. In truth I was very hesitant to be judge and jury for something that meant so much to her. Mom also often said "I hope I die before I ever have to give up driving." I finally realized that I was sort of waiting for some really bad thing to happen, and that was not a good strategy at all.
Things actually fell into place rather nicely. Mom spent the xmas holidays with her friend, then it was winter weather and she didn't want to go out, and time just kind of went by and Mom was saying, "I think I would like to take one last drive in my car," but then Covid happened and Mom started saying "I don't suppose I'll ever drive my car again," and then "we need to do something with my car."
We have a dear friend of many years who works a minimum wage job and takes the bus everywhere. He had a car several years ago, but someone totalled it and he hasn't had one since. We suggested to Mom that she might give her car to Bill, and this absolutely delighted her. That is how she is wired, if she could give the car to someone who could really use it, then that would give her great joy. DH and I had to facilitate everything (friend is not terribly sophisticated) so I arranged his insurance, we brought him to the broker, broker got his plates, we picked up plates, put them on the car and gave the car to Bill. It's a decent car too, 2009 Camry with 48,000 miles and all maintenance done regularly at the dealership. So there was a happy ending to all this!
Mom has increasing difficulty with the details of daily life, but she still retains her essential wisdom and values, and I am very grateful for that. If we had sold the car for her, it would not have made her nearly as happy as giving it to someone who needed it.