Car Charity Donation

[TinkTock]

If you've ever donated a car to charity, how did it work out for you? Who did you donate it to, and were you happy with them in the end?

 

[IUTBAM]

Yes, we have (several times). The most recent was in July, when our 2000 Nissan van died, and we bought a new truck.

This time, I donated it to Make a Wish:

http://www.wheelsforwishes.org/

It could not have been easier. I put the information in on-line, and they called me within a day to arrange pickup. I got a tax receipt in the mail for $500, and was told that if it sold at auction for higher than that, I'd get a new tax form. It ended up selling for $1,000 at auction, and they did send me the appropriate tax form receipt, as promised.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

As far as Income Tax Deductions are concerned there are two possibilities.

One, and the most common, is that it is actually handled by an outside company, who will take the car to an auction and then forward the net proceeds (after their expenses/commissions) to the charity. The charity will send you a receipt for the actual amount that they received.

The other is where the charity will actually use the vehicle in their programs for more than 30 days. In that situation you will be able to deduct the fair market value of the vehicle. But this tends to be very rare.

Mike (CPA Retired)

 

[packofjedis]

I've used Goodwill and it worked the same as IUTBAM's Make A Wish. Easy and yes I'd use them again.

 

[Sandy321]

we did the www.kars4kids.org online - but our car was worthless - to us, when we went to get it fixed, it cost more than the blue book value, the mechanic told us it was better for us to donate it - and then we let it sit for probably about a year while we thought, out of sight, out of mind (it was a red convertible, over 150,000 miles, but I loved that car!)


Quick Tips for Donating a Vehicle

• Make sure the nonprofit organization is reputable by being familiar with its purpose and work in the community. Check with the local Better Business Bureau or similar organization to see if the nonprofit is in good standing. Web sites like this help; http://www.give.org/reports/index.asp

• Inquire what percent of the vehicle’s sales go directly to the nonprofit organization. Habitat for Humanity receives between 65 and 85 percent of the total auto donation (after towing fees, etc.) via Habitat's Cars for Homes program; http://www.carsforhomes.org .

• Make sure the tower is licensed and insured and the donated vehicle will be sold through a licensed dealer.

• Sign the vehicle’s title directly to the nonprofit organization or their certified agent.

• Ask the nonprofit organization how funds from the donated vehicle will be used. Donated cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, RVs and other vehicles to Habitat for Humanity's Cars for Homes program are sold and the funds raised help build simple, decent homes in partnership with low-income families.

 

[kerplop]

We used Habitat for Humanity's program and it really went off without a hitch. Basically you sign up and give them information about your car. They will then send you a form which you need to fill out and send in with a copy of your title, which you sign over to their organization and mail back to them. Then they call to set up a time for someone to come and tow the car away. They will provide you with a receipt for your taxes and you can itemize it when the time comes. In total it took about 3 weeks for us to get the car removed and we got a deduction of $500 (which the car was probably worth about that for scrap). Very simple and a great way to donate to charity.

 

[prncess674]

As others have stated it depends on the condition of the car where you should donate it. I had a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 70,000 miles on it. The only thing really wrong with it was the AC needed to be fixed and I just decided that this car really needed to go to deserving family because this car still had plenty of life. After a lot of calling around I found that my local Archdiocese representative of Catholic Charities had a car donation program and they assured me that it would go to a deserving family.


Be wary of those billboards looking for junker cars. Very little of the money goes to the charity, since the broker takes most of the money as "fees"

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We have donated two lately. Our goal is to not worry about a tax deduction etc, to just get rid of the car.

I donated my van to a chairty we already knew that is faith based and helps drug and alcohol addictions with counseling,job training etc. My transmission blew so the tow truck driver just came and picked it up locally.

This year, and can I say thanks to the Conneticut disers. We live in NY and our ds transmission of his Grand Am blew up in Conneticut.

The car would cost more to fix than it was worth. So I asked here what charitys took cars that were not running as all the ones I researched on line wanted running cars. I let him choose between a breast cancer charity and MADD. Of course ds does not itemize anything so he cant deduct it, who cares. It was a hassle as he had to take a ferry back to CT, get the tow truck driver to pick him and and drop him back at the ferry for extra cash and go to the place where it was broken and take off the plates, scrape off the window sticker of the registration, give them the title and get a receipt etc.

Hope it all works out for you.