Donating your Car

[titelines]

All,

I have an older car that I'd like to get rid of at some point here. It's a 1990 Honda Accord with 200,000+ miles. It is extremely reliable and runs great. The only obvious things wrong with it is a small leak in the oil pan, the air conditioner doesn't work and there is pretty bad rust in both rear quarter panels.

Has anyone ever donated their car to a charity or organization? Was it fairly easy? How does it work? Do you think you got a fair shake as far as value goes?

I'm looking at donating it to a program that fixes up cars and provides them to needy recipients, or uses them to train people on auto repairs/auto body work, but am not sure it would be an eligible car.

Can anyone recommend a worthy program/charity?

Thanks!

[jwhjr]

I've donated a few vehicles to Newgate and have gotten fair value. They repair the vehicles and provide them to people who need them.

[solbes]

Newgate sounds good. I donated 2 cars to Make A Wish. It was a great experience. I called and scheduled a pickup. One of the two cars needed a new fuel pump, the other needed an alternator. I don't know how they did it, but they got around $1k for each car at auction. Money went to help out some kids in need of a smile, and I got a really easy way of getting rid of the car and a nice tax deduction to boot. The car doesn't even have to be running for them to pickup.

[Scott K]

They have changed the tax law in the last couple years, so you can only right off the actual value of the vehicle. Total cash saved is about 10% of what they sell it for. But if you are donating it, it shouldnt be about profit any how. If you are looking to get the most dollars out of it, try c list, or post it right here on HSO classifieds.

[titelines]

Thanks all. Being the car is only worth $400-$500, it's really not about the $$. I'd like to donate it and help some folks out that really need it. Think I'll call Newgate first and, if it doesn't qualify for their program, I'll try Make-a-Wish.

Thanks for your input!