Selling a disabled vehicle..

My guess is you are looking at less than $1,000. Probably significantly less.

Dominate to a shop class at school. They will appreciate it.

Donate. Not dominate

Option 1 is pay to tow it to a scrapyard for scrap value. Say $500.

Option 2 is wait for some dealer to do a "push-pull-tow" trade-in special.

I recently checked into the value of a running vehicle for a junkyard to come tow away, $300.

I have been looking for a vehicle and have been watching craigslist. I've seen vehicles with bad engines for $1000 and less.
You could ask $1000 and negotiate.

I believe if you have AAA then you're not paying for the tow. I could be wrong.

Several organizations will accept vehicles like this, fix them up and then auction them off. You get a tax deduction based upon the sale value less the parts they put in, I believe. I think Salvation Army?

1. AAA is free for the first three miles to members, then they tack on a mileage charge.
2. When I donated a car to one of those charitable organizations, the tow truck driver gave me a form I could fill in. Theoretically one could put any amount as the value, but I suppose the IRS is fairly wise to this. The tax benefits will vary depending on income, of course, but the donated vehicle would be reducing your gross income, so it would be at the highest marginal rate you pay. The highest marginal rate for 2012 is 35%, so a figure of $2000 as the donation value could represent up to $700 off your tax bill. You might roll the dice and argue that your Ranger is a very special vehicle and thus deserving of a higher donation value, but I probably would not put more than a few grand as the price unless you want an audit. I took the high moral ground and put in a reasonably accurate figure for an old Honda I donated; I mostly just wanted it out of the driveway.
3. If you put it on Craigslist, expect to be bombarded with all sorts of hucksters. This will range from 5-10 calls from people who want to give you $50 for the vehicle to the occasional scam artist to people who have no clue what they are doing and probably just want to talk because they are lonely. I have had some success selling cars on Craigslist, but I sometimes wonder if the free listing is worth the tsunami of weirdness that comes across the telephone.

If it was well maintained, it probably wouldn't have a blown engine. Anyway, best advice: Cherry auto parts and never look back. You could try to find somebody who would accept it as a donation, but when you do the math on the potentially deductible amount after they sell it as a very used, repowered vehicle, you are looking at less benefit in tax savings than $300. Let's say that they pay $1,000 to repower the vehicle, including short block and in-house labor. Then they sell it for $1,500. You deduct $500 as an itemized deduction. The cash value of a $500 deduction? Depends on tax rate. A high guess would be $125.
The bottom line: it is worth less after you repower it than it will cost to repower it. Take the best junk yard offer you can get.

If you donate to a charity who then sells it, you are entitled to a deduction equal to the amount realized by the charity. No more. If you donate it to a charity who uses it in accordance to their stated charitable purpose, you can deduct the fair market value. In no case can you state your own value.

As always, consult your tax advisor. Individual circumstances vary.

I am just recounting my experience, justread, not claiming to be a tax advisor. At no point did the charity to which I donated a vehicle discuss FMV versus the charity's gain. The tow truck showed up, they handed me a piece of paper, and I was free to do with the form what I saw fit.

Also: I plainly stated that anyone who tries to play games with the IRS runs the risk of an audit and any assessed penalties. Caveat donator.

Anyway, this IRS link explains the rules by which FMV can be claimed by the donor.

@justread..I guess that should have said "well maintained until it was given to the 18 yr old". lol

historymike..you may have scared me off of craigs list with the description of phone calls!
Thanks for the advice everyone!

I'm not a tax advisor either. Nor was I trying to screw with you.

I'm the charity, So I deal with it from time to time. :)

I strongly recommend that people don't take a chance with this particular deduction. (No matter what blank form a tow truck driver hands you.)

Understood, justread. I may be on the cranky side this morning.

<leaves to see if some damned kids threw a ball on his lawn>

BTW - a little Craigslist humor from Ed Bassmaster:

You're not. I read his comment and reacted the same way.

I totally underestimated the power of my comment to cause a reaction. Wanted to prevent folks from getting the impression that a guess of FMV (even with good intent) was a safe way to go. I suppose that I shouldn't care either way. Love your blog btw.

1-If you are savy with your taxes and figure it could save you some tax money, then go the donation route.

2-If you aren't tax savy, or figure that it won't help that much anyway, post it on craigslist for about 2 weeks to a month. Use the email only feature. That way you won't get any weird calls. They respond by email, if it looks legit, you send them your number to call. If you get no bites in that time period, call a junkyard and get some cash while getting it towed for free.

3-If you just want it to be gone, junkyards will usually do it same day. I'm not sure about donations, but you'll find out when you call them.

You have some options. I guess the final decision will be how much work do you want to do to get rid of it versus what will you gain.

BTW, what size engine is in it? Have checked to get prices on getting it replaced?

Run a series of commercials saying "It's so easy to buy a car" and that the sale is "Through Monday Only" and let it run for several months. Seems to work for a local car dealer.

I think it's v8. He doesn't want to put the money into replacing it.

Thanks for all the advice! I'll pass it along to the man in charge of the truck!

I have never had trouble getting rid of junk cars. I usually drive my used ones until they drop. First of all, be honest about the condition. Usually it will be obvious. Second, don't expect too much. Look online or call around at the junk yards and see what they might give you for it. I usually put an add in the auto trader. If you can get fifty bucks or enough to cover a tow to the junkyard, then it is worth your while