Car Donation or selling it to the garage? WWYD

[_ktg_]

So Murphy's Law has struck and I am left with a car which needs $1400 of repairs, but valued at $500.

We don't owe payments on this car and this was our "second" car per se, with this we've decided to not get it repaired.

The garage has offered to "clear" the bill with us for the car - which means they're offering $50 for it.

OTOH - I'm trying to look up car donations and I see I could claim a donated car for $500 on my 2010 taxes.

What would you do??

[feminist~mama]

I had a car a few years ago that Blue Book valued at about $750 and needed a new clutch that was about $1500 (if I remember correctly). I was really torn because everything else on the car was okay, but it did have over 100,000 miles on it and I was worried that this was just the beginning and everything was going to start falling apart!

I ended up selling the car to a friend who had a friend who was handy for about $400 or so. She was delighted, her friend was sure that he could replace the clutch without a problem.

I bought a new car which I'm still making payments on. :/ Lol. I'm still not sure if it was the right decision, but I was in nursing school at the time and just couldn't deal with the stress of having a car that was breaking down constantly!

I'd look for someone willing to give you more than $50 for the car, especially if this is just one big repair that is needed and not a bunch of little stuff!

[BetsyS]

We donated a car a few years back. Ours was a different situation, in that the car was in decent, driveable, no repairs needed, condition.

Because the charity used it for their work (they gave it to a single mother with no transportation), I was able to claim the entire kelly blue book value (around $3000) as a charitable donation. This did help our taxes.

On the other hand, some of the reading I did said that if the charity sold the car at auction (like many of the "give us your old car" programs do), then you can only claim the money that they actually get for it at auction. Which might be $50. In which case you'd be better off just giving it to the garage.

Good luck in your decision!

[StormySar]

You might look into selling it to a junk yard, too. The engine blew in my husbands old toyota and a junk yard gave him $200 for it.

[Eman'smom]

We donated ours to a nice organization out here when it died. I felt good about it and we got a write off.

[MissinNYC]

But donating it will always be less money, I think. Like if you are in a 25% tax bracket, and you donate the car worth 500, then you only "gain" $125. But if you sell it, you gain 500 straight out.

I think, right?

Our old car's KBB was only like 500, and we donated it to the Salvation Army, who auctioned it for 800, so we could write off the full 800. But that still only saves you your tax bracket X the cost.

[_ktg_]

Originally Posted by MissinNYC

But donating it will always be less money, I think. Like if you are in a 25% tax bracket, and you donate the car worth 500, then you only "gain" $125. But if you sell it, you gain 500 straight out.

I think, right?

Our old car's KBB was only like 500, and we donated it to the Salvation Army, who auctioned it for 800, so we could write off the full 800. But that still only saves you your tax bracket X the cost.

If we would sell this car with this major repair needed - we would never get $500 for it. I think we would be lucky to get anywhere near $150 in my book.

[_ktg_]

Thanks everyone for the replies - we're still thinking but I believe the option of having the garage take it off our hands is off the table as $50 is just too little for this car.

So now DH & I are consider donation vs. junk and this weekend we are researching each!

Thanks again!!

[leavemealone]

How about placing a for sale ad on Cragislist for a junk car? There are people out there who may be looking for a part for their car and could use your car that's no longer driveable. Another option may be a mechanic school in your area. They sometimes take junked cars and fix them up and/or it allows the students a place to practice. I don't know if you would sell it to them or just donate it, but it might be an option.

[laura163]

I think you could sell it for scrap metal for $200. Call around to junk yards or recycling plants.