Monday, April 28, 2008

Car Donations To Charity

You may have owned an automobile that caused you nothing but grief. Many of us have. I actually decided that making car donations to charity is a viable option for anyone who has a dead heap of automobile lying in his driveway. Even if the car runs you might be better off donating rather than selling.

After my beater vehicle died, I decided to look into car donations for charity as an option. I hated the idea of selling the piece of junk to someone who wouldn’t know how to fix it. It would probably wind up in the hands of a young couple that couldn’t afford to update it properly. The last thing I wanted was for someone to get hurt in my old car.

I researched my options with the charities and I made some great discoveries. Most car donations to charity programs accept many different types of vehicles. This includes trucks, boats and recreational vehicles. They will even accept trailers as well. If you have any of these items you could make tax deductible car donations to charity.

I also found out that the vehicle does not have to be in working condition in order for it to be eligible for pick up. One thing to keep in mind when considering car donations to charity is the value of the vehicle. Don’t bother donating an item that isn’t worth the cost of towing. That isn’t really charitable. In fact, you would be using the charity as a towing service.

You can find out if the vehicle is suitable for car donations to charity by contacting a local representative or filling out an online form. In a matter of a few minutes you can get all of the information necessary to donate a vehicle to a charitable cause.

Moving the vehicle to its new home is really simple for the owner. After you fill out the necessary paperwork, the organizations that run car donations for charities will arrange for the vehicle, vessel or trailer to be towed. The item will be removed by a professional towing company.

The best thing about the process aside from its simplicity and convenience is that the car donations to charity are tax deductible in most cases. You can expect up to 500 dollars in tax deductions. If the vehicle sells for more then the organization will send you a receipt for the difference.

Automobile Lemon Law

automobile lemon law

If you are looking to buy a used car, you might want to know what your state has in the way of an automobile lemon law. A lemon is what some call a car that appears to be fine, but actually has many problems. This isn’t an issue if the car dealer or private seller tells you what is wrong with it, but it is a huge issue if they misrepresent the car to you when you buy it. The lemon law is there to protect the buyer in the event that they feel they have been duped.

You can probably find your state’s automobile lemon law online. The laws for each state might vary, so make sure you are looking for information that applies to where you live. If you are shopping for a car, don’t wait until after you have found a problem before you look this up. Know the automobile lemon law before you buy, and try to avoid any problems by asking as many questions as you can. You should always have a mechanic look over any car before you buy it. They may find things the dealer has neglected to mention.

Though the automobile lemon law in your state is there to protect you, you do have to prove that they indeed sold you something that was misrepresented. You might want to make sure you have the advertisement you answered, or a written description of the car or truck and what is wrong with it. This might be hard to get, but you really need that incase something where to go wrong. You should have a certain amount of time to return the car if it is not as promised. If you did not get your car to a mechanic before you bought, do so very shortly after just incase they can find something that you may want to have fixed by the dealer.

If you have a problem, make sure you let the dealer know that you know all about the automobile lemon law, and that you are not afraid to report them in an effort to get your money back. You may have a harder time when you are dealing with a private seller, but they should have to follow the rules of the automobile lemon law as well. Don’t wait around and let someone put you off if you have a problem. The quicker you are about getting help, the quicker you get your money back, or the quicker you get the car fixed to the condition they advertised.