Sell an Old Car or Donate

If you donate the car, be sure to check what they are going to do with it. If they are going to use it, then it's worth the Kelly Blue Book value and you can write it off for that value. If they auction it off (which most places do now) you can only write off what they get off of it. That means the car may be worth $2000 but if they auction it off for $500, that's all you'll get.

We just went through this process ourselves and sold it instead. We got a lot more money than had we donated it.

When my husband sold his own car, he met the person in public, like a bank parking lot during operating hours. THEN he met them at a bank, and the person got a cashiers check and made it out to him. They could also just withdraw the cash. I would NOT accept cash or any other payment, unless you do it from a bank.

Or, you could just sell you car to Car Max, if you have those out there. I know a few people who have and they got fair prices...without all the hassle.

kbb.com is what tells you the value. You meet people at a public place. I always meet mine at the bank. That way, they can check to make sure the CASH is real before I accept it and if anything needs to be notarized, they do that too. Then I can deposit the cash right away and don't have to leave with it on me. They also have MAJOR security both inside and outside in the parking lot. We have never had a problem doing this buying and selling cars. Good luck.

Unless you desperately need the cash I'd go for the tax write off. We are also in a high bracket and every little bit helps towards a nice refund.

I've donated several cars to the Kidney Foundation. They make it so easy to donate. But I've only donated cars I've driven until they just won't go anymore without dumping a lot of money into them, and high mileage. They will tell you what the tax deduction is worth too, so that you won't make a mistake on your taxes.

I think that you have to decide if the tax break helps you more than what you'll be paid by selling it to a dealer or person. That would be a dollars and cents decision. OR decide to donate it or sell to a car place because it's a headache trying to sell it on Craigslist.

I have never sold to a person. Only to a car place. The last car I sold, which was last year, was to CarMax. I did get two other offers from dealersips, but CarMax offered me more, and they were SO easy to deal with! Less than an hour out of my day, and it was done. (The car was in good shape and not a beater, so it wouldn't have been a donation car...)

If you don't need the money so much, I would not deal with the Craiglist issue. It's a lot of hassle, in my view.

You might check around and see if you have any car consignment places. It's kind of like a lot dealership but they handle the sale and everything, you keep your car parked there. I'm sure you pay them some kind of fee but you don't have to meet up with people. You'll get more money by selling it to an individual than to a dealership since they'll just give you trade in value. Good luck!

Um, why would you write off 4,500 if the car is only worth 2,000? It does not matter how much money you put in that car, it is only worth what you can get for it.

So do your calculations based on non-fraud figures.

If your charitable contributions jump by 4,500 dollars one year you will more than likely hit an exception report and the IRS will take a closer look. At that point you would have to prove someone paid 4,500 dollars for a car like yours in the same condition or whatever the charity would value it at.