Getting rid of the family car

[Nords]

Now that we have a Prius we're ready to get rid of our old car.

The challenge is that it's a '94 Ford Taurus wagon. It only has 113K miles and its engine/transmission are in good shape after a rebuild, but the rest of the car has a lot of wear. We've kept up with the mechanical maintenance and there's no rust but otherwise the car looks like a typical island surfmobile. It's a great hauler but it only gets 19 mpg.

Kelly & Edmunds claim it's worth $1150-$1495. The ideal customer would be a shade-tree mechanic who was going to run the car into the ground, but I doubt that I'd be able to attract that sort of customer through Craigslist or AutoTrader. I used to know a guy who kept Hondas alive but I don't know anyone who would bother with a Taurus. I'd feel bad if I sold it to some blissfully-ignorant teen who couldn't handle unpleasant financial surprises like a broken power window or a CV joint.

Perhaps the easiest thing to do would be to donate it to a charity for them to auction. Turbotax and I can keep up with the IRS rules but I don't know which local charities accept cars. I'd pretty much drive it to their place, hand over the keys & title, get an acknowledgment, and wait for their paperwork to catch up.

Any suggestions?

[lavagal]

Re: Getting rid of the family car

Our experience with donating a car to benefit The Movement Center:
"Thanks for the piece of isht. Here's your receipt."
Actually it was some broker down on Puuhale Road or so. I don't get it. What else can you do? Maybe people like that are just creepy. Kinda like Repo Man.

[tutusue]

Re: Getting rid of the family car

Nords, check this thread for starters!

[TATTRAT]

Re: Getting rid of the family car

craigslist for profit

donate for a good deed

[Nords]

Re: Getting rid of the family car

Nords, check this thread for starters!

Thanks, did your friend get rid of the car through one of these charities?

[tutusue]

Re: Getting rid of the family car

Thanks, did your friend get rid of the car through one of these charities?

I believe she donated it to Catholic Charities or something similar.

[TuNnL]

Re: Getting rid of the family car

I’m fairly sure that PBS Hawai‘i (public television station) accepts cars and will walk you through the tax-deductible donation paperwork. They are located directly ‘ewa of UH Mānoa’s Bachman Hall lawn, and will even pick up your vehicle for free! It’s a good option that supports a non-profit sorely in need, after the money they spent to comply with the federal mandate requiring digital conversion.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: Getting rid of the family car

craigslist for profit

donate for a good deed

Believe it or not, some charaties are quite picky about cars they will accept. Just a couple of days ago, Kidney Cars rejected my friend's '92 Ford Escort wagon. It is running okay and there's no damage on the body. The only problem is that there's no A/C, as the condenser needs to be replaced. When the Kidney Foundation folks found out the car had no A/C, they told him no thanks.

[TATTRAT]

Re: Getting rid of the family car

WOW! That seems highly ungrateful, imo. I mean, "beggars can't be choosers", but it might cost like $200 to fix that, and they have a/c...

I am curious, how did your friend react?

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Getting rid of the family car

Believe it or not, some charaties are quite picky about cars they will accept.

WOW! That seems highly ungrateful, imo. I mean, "beggars can't be choosers", but

Charities don't deal with fixing up and reselling the cars themselves; they generally consign them over to auto brokers, who then pass the sale proceeds back to the charity. If the charity has been given guidelines by the brokers as to what will sell and what will not (in their particular area) it is wise for the charity to follow them; otherwise, they are stuck with a bunch of old cars for which they need to find storage, with costs for same - an expense, not a benefit.

[Nords]

Re: Getting rid of the family car

We went through Lei Liko's recommended site and they offered "expedited processing". But we completed the paperwork for "regular processing" and mailed the title off to a Goodwill organization. They'll get back to us within a week after they get the mail. Their website made it sound like they'll tow it (whether it's running or not) but we'll see who calls.

Feels kinda strange to just drop a title in the mail. You spend over a decade caring for a piece of valuable paper, or at least something that's a hassle to replace. Then one day you have to decide that it's essentially worthless and you mail it off to a bunch of strangers you met over the Internet.

Gave the car its final cleaning yesterday-- we removed enough dirt, sand, and accumulated possessions to get its gas mileage up to at least 20 mpg.

[Nords]

Re: Getting rid of the family car

Hey, that was painless.

The national donation people (in Maine?!?) got the title over the weekend. Their automated e-mail response system misfired so we had to sort out some confusion, but Ace Towing called at 10 AM Monday and the car was outta here by 2 PM.

If you buy it at the auction I'll be happy to provide the detailed history.

Our garage looks like a handball court now. And in a few more years we'll get rid of our banged-up Nissan Altima through these guys.

Thanks again, Tutusue!

[Nords]

Re: Getting rid of the family car

Today we got the tax receipt certifying that it went for $600 at auction. SUCKERS!! Good deal. Painless. Highly recommended.

The last used car we sold (a '90 Honda Civic) was on the road until at least 2007. It'll be interesting to watch for our Taurus, but it's probably been stripped for parts... however if you're driving a light-green Taurus with license FDY-604, please PM me to discuss Ford's recall of other models with the same type of cruise control. It wasn't working on this car but they have a habit of bursting into flames, although Ford swears that the '94s aren't part of the problem.

In 750 days (when our kid goes to college) we'll probably get rid of our '97 Nissan Altima through these guys too. It's been banged up (it was attacked by a vicious guardrail) and I'd hate to try to sell a car with that type of record, too.

Thanks again for everyone's help!

[HaleiwaDiva]

Re: Getting rid of the family car

I know of a local business that works with lots of local charities handling their vehicle donations.

You can check out their website here: www.kokuainkind.com