Question on cars for "charity"

[Bob B.]

I hear a lot of ads and see a lot of bill boards for two or three "charities" pushing people to "donate" their used cars rather than trade them in, or sell privately. These are very aggressive ad campaigns. The morning show I listen to on the way in to work seems to play an ad every commercial break. What gives? I know that the charitable contribution can work as a tax deduction. But why the aggressive push? I guess these companies make a lot of money on the transaction? Is this a scam? The idea sounds nice. Donate your used car. The company cleans it, and tunes it up, and a poor person has something to get themselves to work with. But, with the aggressive ad campaigns, it comes across as something to avoid. Can anyone enlighten me?

[bjl584]

This is like anything else. Stick to names that you know that have been around a long time and have a good reputation. Names like the Salvation Army or Goodwill are good choices to donate a car to. Stey away from anything that seems shady or just not quite right.

The aggressive ads you hear may be because the government gives some sort of credit or funding to the organization based on how many cars they take in. It may be some form of a welfare program. I'm only guessing, but if you follow the money you will usually get your answer.

[GrimJack]

I bet that there are only one or two companies that do this for all the different charities; their ads all look the same with only the charity names being different. I hate my car so much I can't wait to replace it - I expect to use one of these charities to haul the thing away.