Vehicle Donation

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sleepery

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Does anyone have any experience with donating a vehicle to charity ?
I was wondering if it is safe to just sign a title and let someone take possession of a vehicle without a bill of sale .

My concern is that there would be parking tickets etc. issued to the vehicle and the title was still in my name and I was unaware of it .

I was looking at various charities like Salvation Army and Kars4kids and wonder if they are "safe".
 
I recently donated my 71 MGB to Breast Cancer Research. They sent me a form to fill out and set up an appointment to pick up the car. When they sold it they sent me a tax form listing the amount sold for tax deduction. I got to the point where I had a hard time getting in and out of it due to age. Plus I can't lay over that fender working on it like I could when I was in my 30's. Got to the point where I hardly drove it anymore and neither of my older kids wanted it. No more LBC's for me though I still love them.
 
Most states put the transfer requirements online including required transfer documentation. Try googling "donate car ". This paperwork is what generally protects you once you transfer the title.

I'm sure you are aware, but for tax reasons, you can only claim a tax deduction for what the charity actually sells the car for, not what you/they value it.
 
Originally Posted by sleepery
Does anyone have any experience with donating a vehicle to charity ?
I was wondering if it is safe to just sign a title and let someone take possession of a vehicle without a bill of sale .

My concern is that there would be parking tickets etc. issued to the vehicle and the title was still in my name and I was unaware of it .

I was looking at various charities like Salvation Army and Kars4kids and wonder if they are "safe".
It's different in Ontaria, but I recently scrapped a car and you sign the vehicle portion of the title over, and keep the plate portion. They only thing the guy asked me about was liens and I had to sign a document stating that there were none against the car. The only time unpaid tickets matter is when the car is going to be registered again.

I suppose that if the car is nice enough, they can sell it or keep it. If they were an actual charity I assume they can get infractions like that waived or reduced. They would get stuck with cars all the time if they couldn't clear the title.
 
Thanks for the replies .WagonWheel good idea with the google search . I wound up on the NY DMV website and it specifically states not to leave the new owner section blank .
 
Bullwinkle is right. I donated a car to the NRA some years back. They came and picked it up and I handed over a signed title. I was given a receipt and the car later sold at auction. I received paperwork through the mail and all was A OK.
 
I gave an early 80's BMW 320is to the Sal Army. They took care of everything; no issues whatsoever.
I think I wrote off $1,000.
 
Sell the car yourself. Then make whatever charitable contributions you want with the money.

The charities auction the cars they get so they don't get much. What you get is the convenience of not having to sell it yourself.
 
I donated my car to the local alternative high school automotive program. I was given a value plus $200. Find a good charity. I got hosed. The local high school said they'd keep my cars and every vehicle they get for years to rebuild. The jerks scrapped it after a year. Someone would have loved a running car had they swapped a rebuilt engine into it hence why i donated it to a automotive class
 
Originally Posted by Bud
I recently donated my 71 MGB to Breast Cancer Research.


While that was generous, if you sold the car yourself and donated the proceeds, the charity would have been better off and you would have a bigger tax deduction. Most of the donated cars are pretty beat and only bring a couple hundred so the buyers at these auctions won't pay too much for an old MG. Plus some of the auctions are pretty crooked with people on the inside buying up all the valuable cars for cheap before they ever hit the auction block.
 
It used to make sense to donate a car to charity because they let you write off the full retail value of the car, but since they changed the laws, now you only get to write off whatever they get. So now it's not worth it because they will get a worse deal than you selling the car and it's only a tax deduction. Means you have to itemize and I'm not sure you even get it if you just take the standard deduction. At that point, you're just donating to support the charity. As others said, if you really want to support the charity, sell it yourself and donate the money to charity, they will get more than just donating it.
 
I tried giving my cutlass ciera to "kidney cars" in the early 2000's but they wanted me to pay them $65 to take it! Wound up having a junkyard haul it for free. Scrap prices were terrible.
 
A
Originally Posted by Kira
Sell the car yourself. Then make whatever charitable contributions you want with the money.

The charities auction the cars they get so they don't get much. What you get is the convenience of not having to sell it yourself.


You also avoid some kook who tries to hunt you down because the rad sprung a leak.
 
Kars 4 kids had a radio commercial in Colorado for a little while. From what I've heard they actually fix up donated vehicles for families in need. Thats what I wish more places did. Pull n pay in Denver has 4 dodge neons with no damage on them, likely a bad motor or something minor to fix. Yet 90 days and the get crushed really is wasteful
 
Originally Posted by Kira
Sell the car yourself. Then make whatever charitable contributions you want with the money.

The charities auction the cars they get so they don't get much. What you get is the convenience of not having to sell it yourself.


Do this. But Don't expect to use this dedutcion on your Schedule A to any advantage given the large std. deduction.

Just do it for charity.

K4K is a fairly targeted charity you may wish to research.

Plus, why do kids need kars?
smile.gif


And they will not stop playing that minor variation of "Hush Little Baby, Don't You Cry" lullaby.
 
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