So, it finally happened. Your car died. After more than a decade of commuting back and forth to work, carting the kids to practice, and embarking on the occasional cross-country road trip, your beloved vehicle has reached its humble end. It is okay to feel sad. A car is more than just a car. It is almost like a second home. Eventually, however, you will move on. You will buy a slick new set of wheels to fill the void, and life will resume its natural order. But what about that old car, the one sitting in the garage, collecting dust and eating space? Although it might not seem like it, that car can fetch you a pretty penny. Be it through cash, check, or a tax write-off, that old clunker could really be a pile of money in disguise.
Sell Individual Parts
When you look at your old car, it is tempting to view it as nothing more than a bunch of parts. Sure, the engine might no longer work, but the fenders, the bumpers, and the GPS system all seem perfectly intact. This is certainly a quick way to make a buck or two, but before you go selling off your car piece by piece, there are some factors you should consider.
First of all, you might be wondering “
where can I sell car parts for cash?”. If you’re like most people, your first instinct is going to be to take out an ad on Craigslist or in your local classifieds section. This can certainly get the job done, but something you should keep in mind is that pulling apart a car takes a certain degree of expertise. While certain parts can come off with no trouble, others are a bit more complicated. Diving in without full knowledge leaves you with the risk of damaging the part itself or exposing yourself to toxins therein. The local junkyard might have someone with the chops to safely gut your car, but this could often lead to you not getting your full money’s worth.
Sell it Through a Third Party
Another potential downside to selling off individual parts is that it is
virtually impossible to sell them all. Imagine you’re trying to sell a house. Naturally, your house will be comprised of many things with value. Perhaps you have some pristine wood flooring, stainless steel appliances, or a swimming pool out in the backyard. All of these things hold value and in an ideal world you could sell a home like this, piece by piece. But not everything can be sold like this. Eventually you would be left with a shell of a house. Moreover, you still need to sell it and who is in the market for a home without floors? The same logic can be applied to cars.
Finding someone to take that old car off your hands might seem like a hassle, but it can actually be quite easy. There are several services available who offer cash for old cars. Some services
even provide quotes online and will come straight to your door to pick up your broken car.
For those of us without the time and the knowhow to remove and sell each part of a car, this is a solid option,
particularly for stay at home moms. With a service that takes your old car and leaves you with cash, you will not have to deal with any of the hassle that comes from parting out your car.
Donate the Car to Charity
For those of us not so concerned with recouping our initial spendings from a car, there is always the option to donate it to a charity. Hundreds of charities, both national and local, are willing to accept donations of old, broken, beaten up, and used cars. Some require you to drop the car at a location, while others will tow it away right from your garage. Some will pass the car on to a person in need, while others will sell it and keep the money for themselves. A quick search online will show you a plethora of organizations that can take your car off your hands. What’s more, many of these services offer the ability to
write off your donation as a tax deduction.
In order to get the largest tax deduction possible, try to choose a charity that is centered around collecting used vehicles. Due to their specialization, these charities are more likely to walk you through the process of assessing the value of your car and documenting it in all of the ways required by the IRS. This part can get a little bit tricky, so you should be sure to obtain a receipt from the charity and fill out any necessary paperwork to document the value of your car. Otherwise, it is hard to think of an better way to turn trash into charity!
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