We really bought a lemon 6 years ago when DS started to drive. The engine will now need to be replaced. We are sick as we bought it for for $9,500 in 2000 and have probably put in $5,000 of repairs, each time thinking it would be good to go for several more years. It probably has about $150,000 miles.
I think we are going to have to donate it. From reading online it sounds fairly simple. Any suggestions or comments if you’ve been through this? I highly doubt we will be able to deduct much. Can I repeat we are just sick about it!
We would not do this with Goodwill. We have several local charitable organizations that take vehicle donations. In addition, you can look at other national ones where more of the money actually goes to the clients. national Kidney Foundation is one.
I donated mine to my local public radio station. It’s fairly simple–you drive it to specified location and it will be sold and funds donated to the charity you specified.
Meals on Wheels takes donated vehicles. I have not donated one, but a friend researched it and I believe you go to the main website and are able to choose your local MoW unit to get the donation.
Truck to Goodwill directly . BMW To KJAZZ through Kars for causes ( or something like that) both went smoothly, the BMW was sold for more that we thought (per the tax receipt) BMW needed too much done for smog to pass, was maybe 8 yrs old, had been ballon paint bombed so needed new paint job, H takes care of his cars but it also had over 150k miles).
We donated our clunker to a local technical school that has a Recycled Rides program. They came and picked it up since the transmission had gone out and we couldn’t drive it any longer. It was very easy.
We donated one to a public radio station also. They came and picked up our vehicle with a tow truck. It needed new breaks to be safe - no problem for the donation. Make sure you remove the license plates, or ask if they can do it. You’ll also need the title for them. There are tax forms the recipient provides to you.
A number of charities take vehicles. I’d pick a favorite and give them a call to see if they have a procedure that works for you.
You could sell the car (to a salvage yard if it is only fit for salvage and scrapping) and donate the money to your favorite charity.
Most donated cars (which tend to be junky) are sold by the charities for salvage, so you should eventually get a tax value receipt showing what the charity got for it.
As mentioned above, donation to a school where auto repair is taught is another idea.
I would junk it myself, around here you get around 100-150 bucks on a junk car, then donate it to the charity of your choice. This way for example you can donate it to a charity where more of the money gets to people in need.
I donated a car a number of years ago. Cannot remember the name of the charity. Wasn’t Goodwill though. If you search online you can find local charities in your area that will take vehicles. After calling them I left the key on the seat with the original title and the car unlocked. They came to pick up the car and left a receipt in the mailbox. Left me to determine value which I did using KBB.
Ditto to some of the posts above. We donated a car to public radio. It was extremely easy–just a call and they picked it up. We did need to locate the title. Still easy. We expect to receive a tax receipt.
We donated 2 different cars to charity. It was some kind of a kids cancer charity in New Jersey. They sent a flatbed truck to our house and picked up the car each time. In the old days you could deduct the car’s book value, which was often much more than what the car was actually worth. But now you have to wait until the charity sends a receipt for the amount they actually get for the car at auction. Still, we were shocked at how much they got for the junk car we donated! (Pleasantly shocked!)
We donated a car to the local public radio station. It was a 12 year old Corolla with nearly 200,000 miles that was causing problems and our mechanic said repairs would be far more than the car was worth. We filled out a form online and they came and picked the car up and towed it. We then received a receipt for the amount the car sold for at auction - which was far more than we expected, so the tax deduction was better than we’d hoped (I think the auction sale price was $1,800?)
It was always supposed to be fair market value, but donors frequently used a high estimate book value for a donated car that was worth much less at the auction that the receiving charity sold it for (and other donors would not necessarily guess accurately even if they wanted to be more honest about it). The 2005 change was made to ensure that the donor would know and deduct the true fair market value.