Donating a car?

[snowiit]

Has anyone donated a car to a charity? We want to donate a car to a charity who is reputable. Some advertise "gifts" for doing this and I would like to know if these are legit. Not greedy, but in this day and age we could use all the help we can get. Thanks a bunch.


Nancy

 

[Jockaroo]

We donated a car to a high school vocational program's auto mechanics class. The students were going to disassemble it and learn how things worked. The car was not going to be fixed up to running condition nor sold. We were able to deduct the Blue Book value on our taxes.

If you donate to many charity groups, they sell the car and you can deduct what they sold the vehicle for. Your tax accountant can help you. Since the engine in the car was shot, the car wasn't worth much, but it was a valuable learning tool for the school's program. Note the Blue Book value of the car wasn't very high since we wear our cars out. I know we had a signed letter from the school's principal on school letterhead that we gave to our accountant.

 

[sydneysmom]

my parents donated a car to the National Kidney Foundation. They were wonderful and most appreciative. It's a very wonderful charity and they do wonderful things for people in need. http://www.kidney.org/support/kidneycars/index.cfm

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Under the Tax Code if you donate a car and it is sold within 30 days, the only amount you are allowed to deduct is the amount actuallt received by the charity after all expenses and commissions are deducted. And this covers the great majority of donated cars.

If the vehicle is used in the charity's programs then you arer allowed to deduct the Fair Market Value.

In the first situation they will let you know exactly what is your allowable deduction; in the second they usually will not state a specific value.

 

[lisabarr]

My BIL donated his car to a returning veteran from the war. He called a local Veterans chapter and they helped find someone that really needed it.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

OP - does the car run? I asked this question not too long ago, and I was told that charities only want running cars that they can sell. A couple of months ago, my old 1994 Honda died in my driveway, and I was going to donate it. I thought it would be a fitting ending for my beloved car, to let a charity get some value from it. Nope, silly me - I was told that no charity would take such a car. And in fact, it was viewed as some sort of insult to even offer a non-running car to a charity, since there was nothing they could do with it, and it would cost them money to dispose of it. I have since learned this is not true for every charity - some charities do taking non-running cars, as they can be sold for parts. Just depends on who you deal with!

In my case, I decided to fix my car (major $$$$ though), since basically I had no idea what else to do with it at that point, and I had to get it moved out of the driveway. Glad I did - it runs well now and my family is happy to continue using it.

OP - hope your car runs! It gives you so many more options! Good luck!!

 

[coastiewifern]

My BIL donated his car to a returning veteran from the war. He called a local Veterans chapter and they helped find someone that really needed it.

I love this!!!!!!!

 

[SaraJayne]

We donated one of our cars to a program through our church, called Wres-a-wreck. They fix cars up (running or not) and give them to families in need (single mothers, families that aren't able to afford a car, etc).

Next year, we'll claim the blue book value on the car.

Our car went to a single mother who was very appreciative of our donation.

 

[kristenandrick]

Wer donated our 1997 Van to Angel Car in 2007. They came and picked it up, it did run but it was running rough, lol. We later got a tax form that would have allowed up to deduct the amount they were able to sell it for, which was almost $800. Since we don't itemize, we just considered it a donation. I really like the idea of helping out veterans. I wish I had known of such a program back then. Especially since my husband is now a retired veteran himself!

 

[Robindianne]

My BIL donated his car to a returning veteran from the war. He called a local Veterans chapter and they helped find someone that really needed it.

That's a brilliant idea!
We donated ours to salvation army but I REALLY LOVE your getting it to an actual person idea.

 

[cheshireqt]

We donated to Purple Heart. They gave us a receipt that we could use for tax purposes and picked the car up from our house.

 

[shortbun]

We've donated two to NPR and deducted the amount they got when they sold it. Worked just fine and it's a great way to support public broadcasting!!!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

If you live in the Washington DC area there is a charity at www.vehiclesforchange.org who will accept late model cars, make usre they are in running condition, and then sell them to people referred to them by social service agencies. They will sell them to the people for under $1,000 and require them to get insurance and make a total of 12 payments. They have found, over the years, that almost 75% of the recipients get better paying jobs and an average income increase of $4,800 the first year.

As the cars are used in their program, and not sold at auction, the donor will get to deuct the fair market value of the car. But it has to be a fairly recent model, and with no more than $850 in repairs should be able to run for 24 months or 24,000 miles.

 

[ktlm]

OP - does the car run? I asked this question not too long ago, and I was told that charities only want running cars that they can sell. A couple of months ago, my old 1994 Honda died in my driveway, and I was going to donate it. I thought it would be a fitting ending for my beloved car, to let a charity get some value from it. Nope, silly me - I was told that no charity would take such a car. And in fact, it was viewed as some sort of insult to even offer a non-running car to a charity, since there was nothing they could do with it, and it would cost them money to dispose of it. I have since learned this is not true for every charity - some charities do taking non-running cars, as they can be sold for parts. Just depends on who you deal with!
!

We too donated a car to the National Kidney Foundation a few years back. It was an old Honda Accord, and it was not running. They didn't care- they said they would still be glad to have it. They brought a tow truck and dragged the thing out of our driveway.

 

[IndianaPrincess]

The free vacation certificate that a lot of the donation sites offer is borderline scam. I looked into it and there was a lot of horror stories about them.

If you donate, I'd suggest dealing directly with a charity and not going through one of the online websites.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We donated my old van last year to a charity that helps young adults with drug and alcohol dependency issues. It is faith based.

My transmission blew and the van did not run. They said fine. They came and towed it away. They sent us a letter and said it was $500. I guess they just sold it for salvage but that was fine with us. We got to bless others so we were happy.

 

[DawnM]

We have donated two cars.

One was to Wycliffe Bible Translators (they are now based in Orlando but were in Huntington Beach, CA when we donated)

The other was to a Rescue Mission in Los Angeles.

Both times we received a tax deductible receipt.

Dawn

 

[dorothywebb]

@luvmarypoppins that $500 would b a big help for your chosen charity, did you get a tax deduction for it?


@DawnM two cars wow you're an such a generous act.

 

[prncess674]

I donated my 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee two years ago to Catholic Charities of Arlington, VA. I called several area resources to make sure that they actually give these cars to someone who needs them. CC chatted with me for a long time and when I dropped it off they were floored with the donation. They mentioned it was one of the nicest cars they have ever received. The volunteer at CC even gave me a ride home and since he ran the program he started telling me that he knew exactly who this car was going to. He had a single mom with two kids and one was in a wheelchair so it would be the perfect car for her.

The AC didn't run in the car, but no AC and car with less the 100K in miles was way better than trying to schlep a wheelchair on a city bus.