Totally OT: Donate your car!

[lindrusso]

I just wanted to let everyone know about a great program with the American Lung Association. They will come tow away your old car (free of charge). They sell off the parts and use the money for their programs. You write off the value of your car on your taxes.

My husband wrecked our old 1990 Mazda - it wasn't worth fixing, so we decided to donate it after my SIL told me about this program.

They just picked it up yesterday! It was so easy! It's been disgracing our neighborhood for about 6 months now, so I'm sure my neighbors were more than thrilled to see it finally get towed away.

Anyway, here's a link if you ever find a need for it: www.donateyourcar.com (http://www.donateyourcar.com)

[This message has been edited by lindrusso (edited 05-30-2001).]

[Peeps]

I did the exact same thing recently and it was so easy - except I gave mine to the American Red Cross, I found the info on their website. They came and towed it away and took care of all the paperwork and everything, I would highly recommend it. The big plus is that if your car is worth under $5000 you can claim whatever you want as the value on your tax return, it can be even more than blue book. (I think above that you have to go with blue book). In my case the car had a very expensive stereo that wouldn't have been in the blue book and I can add that to the value.

[Joyce]

We donated ours to the kidney foundation, same deal.

[lindrusso]

Wow - I didn't know all these organizations had the same deal. Thanks for the info!

[crlykat]

We did that, too. The company was Cars4Causes; they came to get the car and we chose which charity (easter seals) got the proceeds of the car auction.
And we got a tax writeoff!
Made us feel great to donate.

[kirkbyky]

Thanks for the reminder! My DH and I have been planning to do this w/our old truck for a local charity. time to get on the ball....
Kyle

[Karen M]

one of my co-workers donated her car and when she got the valuation back on it, it was a -$315. Guess it needed a lot of work!

[olive101]

This could be a bad rumor, but I heard donating your car is a sure fire way to get audited! I guess there is a lot of tax fraud on overestimating the value of the donation.

[lindrusso]

olive101 - That could be true! You know how the IRS is! I don't think it will be a problem in my case though. It was a 1990 Mazda 323 Hatchback, manual, no frills. The rear was caved in on one side - one wheel was bent inward. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/eek.gif Not much value left on that car except for parts - it did have new brakes and new tires!

[This message has been edited by lindrusso (edited 06-01-2001).]

[SueK]

We tried to find someone to take our car last year, with no luck. Although we didn't contact the organizations mentioned above (I wish we had known!) we did ask 3 other groups in the area, and no one wanted it! We even offered it to the local high school for their vo-tech students to putter around on/tear apart, and they didn't want it either! Oh well, next time we'll know who to call!

[Searcher]

We donated a Peugot that wasn't running to the Kidney Foundation and they came right out and towed it away.

The MS society will also take cars and researchers are very close to finding significant help for Multiple Sclerosis victims. The cars will help.

[Don]

I agree. Donating a car is a wonderful thing to do. But please, please, please make sure that the title transfer is done properly. One friend of mine donated an old clunker that was sold at an auction. The person who bought the car at the auction refurbished it and was driving around. Unfortunately, the new owner had an accident, but since the title was not trasferred properly, my friend was partially liable for damages. If a title transfer is not done correctly, under some state laws you may still be legally responsible for any damage done by the car. Either do the transfer yourself or ask for proof that the transfer has been done. Donating a car is a wonderful and generous act, but you want to wise about it.

[Beth]

We donanted a car when we moved from CA. Used cars are worth more there, and by the time we paid to have it shipped and lost $1000 in value, we couldn't justify keeping it. I don't know if you are any more likey to get a full blown audit, but make sure you get a bluebook valuation, record you mileage and record your reasons for any deviations from the bluebook value (low or high mileage, extra options, etc.) Check classified ads toi see if they offer support for the value you claim. Be honest with yourself about the car's condition and don't claim any more than the bluebook would support; in fact, my experience is that the retail value stated by bluebook is a little on the high side for cars that are not in peak condition. If the car is too old for a bluebook value, get something in writing from ads or a dealer to support your figure. Keep those, possibly a photo of the car, with your tax records and you will be able to back up your claim.

Also, I heard a consumer advocate on the radio saying you should always take care of transfering title yourself to make sure it is done. Otherwise, you could wind up being sued if the car were in an accident, etc. since you are legally responsible for the car if you still legally own it. Usually all you have to do is record the mileage, the new owner, mail it in with a fee for the transfer. If you don't do it yourself, follow up and make sure that it gets done. You might be able to do something to get off the hook.