Donate Car in San Jose, California

If you live in the city of San Jose, California and have an old car you don't want anymore, you can always donate it to charity.  You could always sell your car, but if it is really old and is pretty beat up, you probably won't get much money for it.  Instead of selling it, you might want to donate it to the charity of your choice.  The donation of your old vehicle is easy and it can be a big help to charities that rely on public funds to cover their operating costs.  Not only are you helping others with your donated car, you can also get a tax incentive.

Charities that take donated cars will take just about any vehicle imaginable.  It does not matter if the car is in good working order or if it has been sitting on your lawn for 20 years.  Even if it doesn't run, you can still donate it.  Vehicles that can be donated include cars, boats, RVs, motorcycles, planes and many others.  If it has an engine, it can be donated.  Before donating a vehicle, you should check with your local car donation processor to make sure your selected charity can take the donation. 

Charities that take donated vehicles work with towing services and car donation processors to get donations in.  When you want to donate a car, the charity will have the towing service come to your home to tow the car away.  The only thing they will need it the keys and the title to the car.  These things can be left in the car if you are unable to be there when the tow truck comes to get your old vehicle.  You are no longer responsible for the car after the towing company picks it up.  It becomes all theirs.  Also, there is no fee to have your car picked up for donation.  Everything is covered by the donation process.  Speaking of which, after the car is taken to the processing service, it is prepared so that it can be sold to the public, usually at auction.  The cars are sold for minimal amounts since they are usually not in the best condition.  The a car is in such bad shape that it is deemed too dangerous to drive, then it will be taken apart for parts and the parts will be sold off.  Donation centers will usually try to sell the car as a whole since scrapping out a car is more expensive and time consuming than simply selling it.  When the car is sold at auction, the highest bidder gets ownership of the car as is.  The money made from the sale of the car is then given to the charity that the previous owner has designated. 

In order to donate your car to charity, check local listings for charities that have donation processors that will take your car from you.  Charities like Goodwill take a large number of car donations with the money being put back into the service to pay for operating costs. 

Get Money on Your Taxes

Donating a car allows you to write off the donation on your tax return.  In order to do so, the car must first be processed and sold by the car donation service.  After they sell the car, they will send you a written notice detailing the amount the car was sold for.  The previous owner can then write off that amount on their taxes. Any donated car that is valued at less than $100 can be written off for the amount that the previous owner estimates the car to be worth, even if the car sold for less than the estimate at auction.  If a car is worth more than $500, then the owner has to write off the actual amount that the car sold for. 

Donating a car to charity it a great way to help others and get a little money back for yourself in the process.  So, if you have an old clunker sitting around that you know you will never use, it might be worth your while to donate it to your favorite charity, especially when it won't cost you a dime.