But a few years from now you'll be bitching and moaning about how the courts are all clogged up with these obvious open and shut cases and why can't the cops just issue some kind of civil penalty and why must this kind of thing go on one's record, and waaa waaa waaa.
You'll never be happy.
The prosecutor can charge you or not, entirely independent of whether your car is seized. And even if you're acquitted, that's no guarantee of getting your property back.
As I'm sure you've read here, the 'legal' (and I use the term loosly) basis of this confiscation is the car itself is an accessory to the crime. (bad car!), therefore you have no 5th Amendment right to due process for your property. Any comments on that?