Car donation questions

[Powerstroke]

Has anyone ever donated a vehicle to one of the charities? How did it go? Did you think you got a fair deal?

Likes/dislikes? Who did you use?

I've got a mid-80 4wd pickup. It needs a repair in the steering column and even then its still not worth much. The rest is still in great shape.

I'm not trying to sell here so don't ask. I"ll buy an ad if I decide to go that route.

Anyway, so I'm looking into donating it.

[Tom7227]

I haven't done it but the tax law change took a lot out of the reason to do it. I think you now have to be able to prove the value of what you donated. I'm sure if you called one of the outfits they'd explain it to you. Apparently too many people were claiming high values to claim a charitable contribution on the taxes.

[Shack]

The last time I did this was about 7 years ago. I was happy with the deduction I received. I was not in any way, shape or form in control of what the value the car was given (the lung association decided) , but I thought it was valued at way more than I thought it was worth and I was in the auto industry at the time.

Like above, things have changed, but I do not know what happens now.

When I did it, I mailed the title in, they came and picked up the vehicle and I got an appraisal sheet with my deduction form and amount a couple weeks later.

Now, I have found to get rid of a vehicle is to be honest, place it on a cheap local selling site and ask about a $100.00 more than it is worth to you at this point .

Good luck PS !

[jwhjr]

The last one I donated was about 5 yrs ago. They provided paperwork for me that indicated the value of the vehicle for tax purposes. It was between the mid to high blue book value if I recall correctly.

[Scott K]

I donated one last year. It is great for the charrity you are giving it to, but if your looking to get fair value to deduct from taxes you wont get it! Lets say you donate a $2000 vehicle, you get to write off I believe 30% of that, so when you do your taxes you can right in a $600 deduction. Again, it all boils down to if you are truely trying to give to the charrity, or if you are interested in compensation for the vehicle. If you want to get what its worth sell it, if you want to feel better that you helped out some needy cause, donate it!

[Jeremy airjer W]

They are also great for vehicles that aren't "sell able". Like blown engines, bad transmissions, or need a lot of work in general. They really have no value other than a tax break incentive. You'd be lucky to get a couple hundred bucks for it if you sold it even with the rest of the vehicle in good shape.

The other thing to consider is a lot of the donation places aren't interested in old vehicles. Many have a cut off date for the year of vehicles they will accept.

I have given 2 to ATI (automotive technical institute) one had a blown motor and the other was not worth anything to me. In my case it worked out very well.

[IFallsRon]

I donated a car to Goodwill/Easter Seals about two years ago. It was a pretty simple process - sign the papers and turn over the keys. The car had about a $1,400 value but needed a new head gasket and I didn't want to spring for the repair. I ended up with a $250 credit slip that made little difference on my taxes.

[solbes]

Go for it!!! I donated two vehicles to Make a Wish and it went very well. Both vehicles needed repairs preventing sale and both were old (hi miles '91 Civic w/ bad alternator and low miles '92 Plymouth Acclaim w/ bad fuel pump). Make a phone call to them for pickup and leave the car unlocked with the title in the glovebox. Come home from work and the car is gone

The tax law change went into effect a few years ago requiring your deduction be based on actual value of the car (ind appraisal or auction price) instead of the blue book value. In my case, the two cars sold at auction for $1100 and $1200 respecively. They sent me a tax receipt for those amounts after sale and I got to deduct them from my taxes. So you get roughly a 1/4 of that back come tax time.

Great deal! I got money for vehicles with neglible value without dumping any more $ into them. And Make a Wish made $2300 to help out some kids.

[Jeremy airjer W]

There's no such thing as a high mile Honda Civic! grin: