Way OT - Car donation?

[pantherlj]

I know there is a lot of traffic here so hoping someone here has some ideas/experience. My car died on me a couple of days ago. It needs a new engine but it isn't worth replacing (car is 12 years old Saturn).

I did a google search and found lots of places that will take "dead" cars for a donation but I haven't heard of some of them. Anyone ever do this before?

Thanks

 

[Chickysmom]

I know Habitat for Humanity takes them. You could try them. And your thread isn't really off topic....you will get a nice tax write-off for this year! YAY!

 

[runwad]

I've heard of Lady of the Wayside, but never used them or any of them for that matter.

 

[cats mom]

I know Habitat for Humanity takes them. You could try them. And your thread isn't really off topic....you will get a nice tax write-off for this year! YAY!

Don't count on much of a write-off.
IRS recently changed the rules.

The charities that solicit cars generally pick them up and turn them over to places that auction them off. You used to be able to claim the full value of your car (based on blue book numbers, comps, etc) now you can only claim what it actually sold for.

Might be worth looking into taking it to one of the places that run the auctions yourself. That way at least you'd get the full amount it sells for instead of just getting a deduction on that amount.
I've never done this though so I'm not sure how it works, maybe someone else will have info.

Probably wouldn't work in your case since it sounds like your car is dead - but if you can find a charity who will actually use your vehicle for awhile before they sell it you can get a bigger deduction.

Good Luck

I HATE dealing with old, worn out cars!

 

[daughtersrus]

We donated our car to Make -A -Wish. For those that are not familiar with the organization, they grant wishes to sick children. Our daughter has a very rare genetic disease so they are a charity close to our hearts. In the future, we will probably ask them for help in planning our next trip to Disney Wo rld.

 

[mamacatnv]

We donated my old Honda to the Altzheimers Assoc a few years ago.

 

[mousekelicious]

We donated a car to MakeAWish also. It was dead, but they came and towed it away for us. They gave us a receipt to use for tax deduction.

 

[tar heel]

Make-a-Wish and the kidney foundation are the two big charities I usually think of with car donations, but a lot of small nonprofits take them, too. I would suggest calling your local United Way office to ask who takes car donations, then donate to the one closest to your heart.

Car donations used to be a really good deal for the donor, but the rules have changed. We donated our last van under the old rules, and my goal is to keep all our cars until donating them is the logical thing to do.

 

[bnorm27]

Unfortunately, the rules have changed. That is beacuse too many people were abusing the system. Most agencies will only take cars if they are running. We did donate a 1995 Ford Taurus back in 2003 to the Salvation Army. They gave me a letter stating the value was between $2200 and $4975. The car did run, and had new tires, but had over 175,000 miles on it. You got to pick your own amount.

 

[goofy370]

I donated my old car to a local fie company for training purposes. They cut it up and practice extracation. They gave me a letter for my taxes.

 

[keishashadow]

Goodwill Industries in Pittsburgh was happy to tow away an old car that didn't pass inspection. Said they auction them off on a regular basis.

Was glad to get the deduction and help them out

 

[Traveliz]

You might try your high school also - ours has a car shop program that is pretty extensive and they will take cars - dead and all.

And they are actually using them so it might work better tax wise.

Liz

 

[Plantlady]

We donated a car to the Kidney Foundation several years ago:

http://www.kidney.org/support/kidneycars/

It was VERY easy to do. We placed a call, and they did the rest of the work.

 

[dcfromva]

I think our next vehicle donation will be to Vehicles for Change. I like the fact that they parley your gift into a way that could help someone get on their feet by providing reliable transportation.

Vehicles for Change Inc.`s (VFC) mission is to assist less fortunate families who are ready, willing, and able to advance themselves, become financially secure and help others. VFC will assist these families by selling them a reliable automobile at a minimal price and assist in identifying resources to pay for insurance, title, tags and taxes.



Vehicles for Change!

-DC

 

[Tinkerjane]

Epilepsy Foundation accepts them and gives a tax receipt.

 

[Mommy Poppins]

We're donating ours to our local fire company for their use in training. They will practice with the jaws of life. We also get a tax deduction for the donation.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

We donated our minivan to Purple Heart. They took it to the auction then sent us a letter to tell us how much it sold for so we could use it for a write off on our taxes.

 

[PaulaSue]

Such a great idea!

I will need a place for my purple minivan, sooner than I like. This might help someone else out since it is older and we wouldn't get much for it anyway.

 

[moretigger]

For the OP or anyone who might be donating a car for the charitable aspect, there is a difference in how much the charity gets for your car depending on whether they use an auction agency as a middle man in the process or if they have their own auction site. Some charities contract out their auto donation process to companies that keep part of the auction proceeds - I have read where some charities only get 25% back from the sale of your car and the auction company gets the rest. There are some charities that do it on their own so that they get more money from the car sale.
Just thought I would share that information in case it would be helpful to anyone.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

There are two different sets of rules, dsepending on what the charity does with the car.

1. If it is sold within six months they will provide you with information stating the amount that the charity received for the sale of the vehicle. That is the allowable deduction.

2. If it is used by the program they are allowed to provide a letter that states that it is used by the program and the value of the vehicle is deductible. Note that if the vehicle is not in operating condition, or will not pass inspection, normally the scrap value will be shown.

There are three possible program uses:

A. It is used for transportation purposes within the charity, either administratively or in their program, such as Meals on Wheels.

B. It is otherwise used by the agency, such as being used for Fire Department training.

C. It is given or sold at a bargain price to a qualifying person for furtherance of the cahrity's prigrams, such as the DC area Cars for Change program, when the Fair Market Value is allowed.

Mike (CPA)