subject: Good Car Donation Advice [print this page] Before you just blindly hand over the title to your car, do your homework. Find how much money the charity will receive. If they use a car donation center, ask how much of the actual sale price the charity will receive. The term "net sale price" means the actual sale price minus auction fees, selling fees, or other fees charged that center. In some cases, these fees may exceed the selling price of the car. If so, the charity may have to pay the donation center the difference and they will lose money on your car donation. You won't know if you do not ask! You should make a copy of your title and wrtie down who is going to tow your car. You should either mail your title to the charity or hand it directly to the person towing your car after they give you a receipt. Never, ever just leave the title in the car! If you do, you may not get a receipt and will have no proof of your donation. Make sure you remove your license plates and any stickers on your windshield if you live in one of the several states that require you to. In those states you won't be able to cancel your car insurance until you have returned the lisence plates to the Department of Motor Vehicles or transferred them to another car. You won't be able to do either if you leave them on the car and you may receive parking tickets from someone els! Make sure you keep all the correspondence between you and the charity. If you don't, you won't have a record of your donation and it will be a problem when you try to file for your tax dedution. As with most things, the more informed you are the smoother the process will be.
