I just took my 86 Bronco to the mechanic for a second opinion, but it sounds like it's on it's last legs, very rattly, smoking, no power.  It has fairly major rust on the body, and the engine was really the only good part about it.  If the motor is shot, I don't think putting another one in is worth the money.

I'm considering donating it to Goodwill, etc.  Has anybody done this, and if so, what was the process?  Was it worth it, or should I just try to part it out?  I'm sure I'd make more money that way, but I hate to have the carcass sitting around for a long time.

Thanks,

Michael

I donated a car a few years back BUT it was in great mechanical condition. No dents/rust/body damage. Just bad (really bad) factory paint. The wife (now ex) didn't like the way it looked, the blue book was way low, so donation was okay with me. Nice tax break.

I was looking at doing that but ended up selling it to my mechanic before we moved.  Got more money out of it that way.  If you have the time to sell it and are wanting to maximize your profits, that is the best way to go.

The IRS changed the law about car donations last year or the year before. I believe you can only get a write off for what the charity sells the car for, not the book value. Best to sell it or part it out yourself.  or use it for target practice  

Correct....No more BlueBook write-offs. If the charity sold the car for $50, your write-off is $50. I work in the auto salvage business, and would say that you'd be hard pressed to get enough out of parting out an 86 Bronco to make it worth your time. You may be better off trying to sell it to a salvage yard for scrap or parts, and let them worry about parting it out, storing it, fluids, etc. Somethings just aren't worth messing with without the right setup to do it.

My .02....

I donated my rustbucket 1988 S10 to the National Kidney Foundation between 2 and 3 years ago.  Their web site had all the paperwork needed and they even scheduled a towing company to come pick it up.  The S10 was dead in the eyes of VA, as it had severe frame rust and could no longer pass VA inspection without a lot of costly repair.  So, in effect, it was worthless.  I wondered why there was no prohibition on donating junk to the Kidney Foundation, whereas many other charaties require a car in at least reasonable condition.  This could be complete crap, but the answer was that the Kidney Foundation apparently batches cars in lots of 100 of various condition, and then sells the whole lot to someone willing to take the good with the bad.

They then gave me a reciept WITHOUT a value attached, and I wrote in the estimated value.  Do not play games here, as you should be prepared to justify your estimate to an auditor should it happen.

I'm probably going to do it again with my motorcycle (little value anyhoo) shortly, as I no longer use it much and I don't want to go through the hassle of selling it myself.

TTT for the day crew

Quoted: I just took my 86 Bronco to the mechanic for a second opinion, but it sounds like it's on it's last legs, very rattly, smoking, no power.  It has fairly major rust on the body, and the engine was really the only good part about it.  If the motor is shot, I don't think putting another one in is worth the money. I'm considering donating it to Goodwill, etc.  Has anybody done this, and if so, what was the process?  Was it worth it, or should I just try to part it out?  I'm sure I'd make more money that way, but I hate to have the carcass sitting around for a long time. Thanks, Michael

I got rid of a 1992 Olds 98 that had a good engine and recently rebuilt supercharger as well as new brakes and some suspension components.  Unfortunately the body was dented up from a Texas hailstorm (before I got it), and there were multiple other things in need of fixing both cosmetic and mechanical.  The organization that I gave it to would only value it at $500 for tax deduction purposes, and I did not want to try to part it out - out of my garage, so off it went.

If you can drive the thing in, see what they will value it at, sign the title over and you get a letter stating that you donated a vehicle valued at XX dollars then you can claim this as a deduction on taxes.  The IRS rules changed from blue book to sale value and then changed again, winding up somewhere in between, with $500 (IIRC) being the cutoff for claiming your own value vs their sale value.

www.cars4charities.org/faqs.php.  

That should make it easy for you.  You should be able to get someone to come get it and do the DMV and IRS paperwork.  You just need a copy of the title.