The Car Donation Controversy and the Right Way to Donate Your Car
Why is there a slightly sleazy vibe around car donations? Could it be the tacky, misleading-sounding billboards posted around town? As one example to the left, the "Outreach Center" (see news report) is reportedly a for-profit car liquidation firm (registered as a church) that receives thousands of cars a month, sells them (often for scrap), and gives a fraction of what it earns to nonprofits. Five years ago, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) set forth helpful new regulations to guide car donations after Congress grew concerned about abuses of this practice. Let's take a quick look at car donation wrongdoing and at the new regulations, with some tips on how you can donate your old car, and how to solicit and make use of a few great car donations a year. Why regulators are watching Right now my 1998 Honda sits in front of my house with 167,000 miles on it and about that many nicks, still running great. The dealership where I was shopping for a new car offered an insulting...