Donating Your Car: FAQs & What to Expect

Are you one of the several people that will make the decision to donate a vehicle this year? If so, chances are you have a few questions. The simple fact is that people don't generally donate automobiles on a daily basis. With that said, when it comes time for Americans to make their vehicle donations, many of them simply don't understand the process for one reason or another. As a charity advocate, I often get questions about vehicle donations from consumers. Here are the best answers that I can give to the most common ones: Question: Should I clean my automobile before I donate it? Answer: To my surprise, this is one of the most common questions that I am asked with regards to automobile donations. Who would have thought that amongst all of the other matters involved in car donations, this would be the one of the most common questions asked. The answer...no. There is absolutely no need to clean a vehicle before it is donated. If the car is a junk car, it will be stripped of everything of value so cleaning it would have no benefit and if the car donation is a good running vehicle, it will be cleaned right before the sale in most cases no matter if the consumers decide to clean the automobile or not. Question: Can I donate a junk car? Answer: Another very common question. Although junk automobiles may have little or no value to people, they are of extremely high value to charities! Once processed, junk automobiles donated by consumers generate hundreds and even sometimes thousands of dollars for charities through the sale of the automobiles working parts and scrap metal. With that said, junk vehicles are always welcome in the vehicle donation world! Question: What are the tax benefits associated with car donations? Answer: This question although not as commonly asked as the two questions above, this is one of the most important vehicle donation questions that are asked. As with any donation, people who make the decision to donate a car will receive tax benefits as a result. However, the tax benefits from automobile donations are a bit different than most other donation kinds. When Americans donate an automobile that generates under $500 in proceeds for charities, Americans will be given a tax deduction in the amount of $500. On the other hand, when consumers donate a vehicle that generates more than $500 in proceeds to charity, they will be given tax deduction equal to the amount of proceeds that were generated. Question: Where can I donate my vehicle? Answer: Believe it or not, there are quite a few companies out there that accept and process car donations for charities. However, I would suggest Cars Helping Charities. Throughout the past 10 years, Cars Helping Charities has done everything possible to make the process of donating vehicles easier for consumers and to ensure that charities get the maximum benefit possible from automobiles that are donated. http://www.JEMCreditCards.com