Ever donate a car to charity?

[spinbaby]

Is it easy? Will they take any car? We're considering this with our son's dying 93 Grand Am. Except I'd be a little embarrassed because it's such a clunker.

[stopthegop]

1. I've done it twice...it's easy..

though I guess the process will vary by charity...nice tax write off also..don't be embarrassed about the condition of the car..neither of the one's I donated ran, and they were still glad to get them

[Richardo]

4. I've done it twice also - to the Natl Kidney Foundation...

last time was in October of last year.

Very easy. They send the tow truck (neither car ran) and you give them the pink slip. (Keep copies for yourself). Your receipt arrives in the mail.

Look up the retail value of the car at about the date you donate to establish a value for the IRS.

[bif]

2. Almost none of the money goes to charity.

We donated a van and got a nice write-off. But we designated the Girl Scouts as the charity to get some of the money. They sold the van for around $500 and gave the Girl Scouts something like $20. We were less than pleased.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

7. IRS is reviewing vehicle donations

for just that reason. I donated an old Saab (pile 'o crap) that actually had a Blue Book value of $8,000. The outfit where I donated it sold it for less than $1,000 -- of which half went to my designated charity. My tax savings were greater than the actual charitable contribution.

[CanuckAmok]

8. If it was a 99GL, they should have charged you! n/t

[HuckleB]

10. Local charities will take them directly.

Often, they have pro bono deals with the auction house. The charity we gave our automobile too had that kind of deal. They got 100 percent of the selling price minus the towing costs.

[TNDemo]

3. We've donated two.

They had to pick the second one up off the interstate, where the axle had broken and it was pronounced there.

[FreeperSlayer]

5. Donated to the local women's shelter

They have a national donation center, but you'd have to google it.

[trotsky]

6. No need to be embarrassed.

Especially if you had seen what I donated. Yikes! But it could move under its own power, so off it went.

[HuckleB]

9. Yeah, it was easy. I suspect they'll take most cars,

as long as they're not rusting away. Usable parts are necessary.

[scottcsmith]

11. I did. Easy.

There are so many organizations out there to donate the car to. Most charities have a program to accept car donations. It usually involves filling out some paperwork and I'd say that just about every charitable organization will come and pick up the car. And you get a tax write-off!

[Kamika]

12. cars are cool as hell even if they don't run

Where I grew up we had two cars we used to play in, altough some gov sobs got them after like 2 years