As life slowly gets back to normal, experts are predicting a surge in auto sales.

But if you’re thinking of selling your vehicle, or trading it in, cybersecurity specialists are recommending “wiping it clean” before you hand over the keys. As in: Erase all the data on your vehicle’s dashboard infotainment system!

That’s according to Justin Schorr, president of DJS Associates, a company that analyzes vehicle data. He says, these days, you have to think of your car as a smartphone on wheels. Because if you’ve ever paired your REAL phone with the infotainment system, it likely has copies of all your text messages, emails, contacts, and even your photos! Schorr says all of that personal data can easily be accessed by others who drive your car… and there have been recent cases of hackers buying old vehicle infotainment systems on eBay, and finding troves of personal information still stored on them!

That’s why Schorr says, before you even think about selling or trading-in your vehicle, read the owner’s manual and perform what’s called a “factory reset” – which should erase most of that data. Then, just to be safe, ask your car dealer to do a separate data wipe, to erase anything you may have missed.