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Car Scrap vs. Donation
Recently I have been thinking about donating an older car I have - a 1990 Acura legend coupe. It is used but with 170,000+ miles on it. It does still run but it is very used. I am weary of donating though as I do not want the car to go anywhere but the intended charity (I don't want it to be misappropriated). Are there any reputable charities to donate to? Otherwise, might it just be worthwhile to scrap it instead?
I have looked around places like www[dot]usedcardonate[dot]com to find some trustworthy charities, but am still not sure whether to scrap it or give it away.
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The tax write off may be worth more than you could get for scrap, so definitely worth looking into.
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sell to dumb kid for 1g that's what i did...MMMUUUUUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA>:)
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It's an Acura, so you probably could find a younger driver for it. My Buick LeSabre has 225k on it, so it may have some life in it. I'd try selling it locally first. I bought my Buick when I was still in school, and that car really helped to change my life. That Acura may help someone else.
Depending on where you are, there may be some other options (Like Saint Vincent DePaul). The donation centers will usually send the vehicle off to an auction (Out here, a lot end up at Copart) where they'll be bid on by salvage yards, rebuilders, or someone who may just want a cheap car....
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Goodwill here in SW PA has a car donation program dont know if it nationwide though
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We may be doing the donation thing as well. Some a hole turned in the broken down van at my father in laws house, he passed away in August and we haven't done any thing with the van as scrap prices so low. And dealing with other stuff with his house. Van parked in his carport, has 3 flats have to look hard from the street to notice as van sat low anyway. It's a 96 Plymouth grand voyager transmission is shot
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Long story but a couple of year ago, I took in a Chevy custom van I had acquired in a money and vehicle deal from a friend. He had bought my 96 Honda Accord for cheap and gave me this thing to donate to a charity for a tax write off. We have an "Angel Car" program here were a local charity has Tires, Tires, Tires (don't know if thta's a national or regional chain) check out the vehicle for them and if it qualifies, they would give a value higher than scrap. Well, TripleT held onto this thing for 2 weeks or more before telling me they wouldn't fix it for the charity (it ran but had several issues).
That sort of teed me off that it took so long and then rejected it so I don't know why I did it except maybe I felt sorry for him but I signed it back over to my friend and told him to have someone in his family drive it until it quit running and then we could split the scrap value when it got taken to the yard. Well, I never saw any money from that after the van died about 2-3 months later and I figure the whole situation cost be about a grand from what I could have 3rd partied the Accord to someone else besides my friend. But they got good use of that Honda with only 1 repair (front ball joints) of which he did himself when things were tight for them so sometimes money is not the largest motivator. So hobo could luck in donating a no tranny van, more power to ya if you can get it done!!
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I really think it depends on your situation and the reason you want to get rid of it.
If you want it to go to someone that will benefit from the car and the money is not an issue:
1. Find someone I personally could give it to.
2. Sell it and donate the money to a charity.
If you wanted to financially improve your situation, I would NEVER donate a car. Its always better to sell the car (if running) on CL for a few hundred. Scrap is just too low for a running car. There is always someone that will pay 500.00 for a running car. I bet I could sell the car in 1 weekend.
Take a look at the tax chart below:
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040tt.pdf
If you make 50,000.00 a year and donate the car, get a 1000.00 credit (and are single), it will only lower your tax by 250.00. If you got a 2000.00 credit for the car it only lowers your taxes by 500.00. I could find something much more worthwhile to do with it.
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And, if you don't need the money, see if you can help someone out. About 10 years ago, we had some health issues in the family, and our Ford Escort blew the head gasket. We were given an old Chrysler New Yorker by a family friend that was considering scrapping it. We only were able to drive that car for a year, but it really helped us out.
Selling it for $500 may not seem like a lot, but it could really help someone out....
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Pull a part place will pick it up for $75. Found 2 guys that advertise that they take vehicles only one called back, said he needed to look at it but would give $200 also said as metal prices were so bad that that would be the best price... I figure this guy is the best choice as long as he is over the $75 the pull a part place. I thought the Pull a part place would have been much higher...
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We don't have a Pick-N-Pull here, but my guess is that they work on high volume. I think they count on people not shopping around.
About 4 years ago (When scrap was better), we had a scrap yard stop by our place, and offered us a whole $50 for our 1992 F250. I've pulled more than $50 of parts off it for my F-150 (And still have 99% of the F-250), but that yard always has a lot of vehicles in their yard.
There must be people that go for it, I guess....
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I have a similar predicament on my hands as well. I have a 95 Benz E320 wagon with over 5k in replacement parts, but I've had no luck trying to sell it over the past 3 years. Even as a parts car only (all the parts were OE replacements put on by cert. benz mechanic) it's worth 500. That's literally all I want for it, and to top it off, it's just really the throttle body that needs replaced and the fluids dropped and refilled. I'm in the midst of being so frustrated, and honestly I don't care to get the amount of money I've put into it, just get it out of my hair as I own 4 other vehicles and tagging each one around Christmas (my birthday is near that date) gets costly. What do I do, because the car has so many new parts, no body damage, all the options still work, no cracked glass AND no leaks either. The leather isn't even cracked but for some reason (it has a squeaky clean title as well) I can't get this darn thing sold.
I'm not opposed to ANY option that gets the car out of my hair. I'd hate to see her hit the boneyard with so many goodies on it, I don't have the space to part it out myself or I would, and honestly I just want to get 500 out of it and not let the Wagon go to waste.
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I don't know your scenario, but I'd try to sell it whole. I'd think that $500 should be reasonable in the rust belt if the the body is in good shape. I wouldn't dump the money on a throttle body at it- they're not cheap! If I couldn't fins anybody interested in it, I'd probably send it to the boneyard.... after plucking the smaller pieces that can bring money. Things like the radio, mirrors, and other small components that could go on eBay and maybe bring a few dollars. That is, unless car donation places offer more than the junkyard. If I wanted a car gone quickly, I'd take whatever offer is the highest on it. What they do with the car isn't my problem then ;)
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Funkyjunkmonkey: its too bad your so far from me. Ive always been partial to MBZ wagons.
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Well ****, lol. I'm just looking to get SOME return on my investment with this car. She treated me as well as a car could, and I kept her up the same. If I wasn't in a pinch for space I could sit on it, but I HAVE to get rid of it this coming Tuesday come hell or high water.
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If you do end up junking it - assuming the interior is in good shape, take as many interior parts off as you can and sell them on ebay. If you can try to get certain parts off the engine as well. They're easy to ship and they'd be hard to come by so you might make money. Then just junk the carcass & unwanted parts.
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That's pretty much what I'm paying for a run of the mill scrap car. I can come out on it after yanking converter radiator and other core stuff.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
hobo finds
got $100 for the van!
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Hobo - Good to hear you got something for it. The price you received is a good reflection of the scrap steel market. About a year ago (about) I got $230 for the same van also with a shot transmission (reverse worked good). Who could have seen these prices in such a short time!
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Not bad for a scrap vehicle!
