Tips on Donating a Car to a Charity or Giving Cold Cash

There were some pretty nice car sales to benefit charity in this year's Pebble Beach auctions but unlike with the least expensive car donated selling for over $50,000, they are not the run of the mill type of auction. For the rest of us who have cars that we no longer use, need or want, changes in charitable donations have been tightened up quite a bit in the last couple of years and if you are considering donating a car to benefit your favorite non-profit, there are a few things that you may want to consider.

If the car being donated is valued at more than $5000 then an appraisal needs to be done by a qualified appraiser no more than 60 days before your tax deadline (including any extensions). Whether the car is worth more than $5000 or less, the charity will provide you with the amount that the car sold for and that can be itemized on your Schedule A of your From 1040. It is important to remember that deductions cannot be more than 50% of your adjusted gross income. In the case of the Corvette Z1 that was recently sold at RM Auctions in Pebble Beach to benefit GRACE Charity, the sellers/donors would, in theory, be able to deduct the appraised fair market value (FMV), in this case the MSRP, of $118,000 while the buyer was able to deduct the amount that they bid over FMV (the high bid was $151,252.oo) minus the buyer's premium which was paid to RM Auctions except in this case the sellers had stipulated that only the amount over the MSRP would be donated to GRACE and therefore the only portion which was deductible.

If the amount if the car exceeds $500 then Section A of Form 8283 must also be completed and you must have a written acknowledgment from the charitable association on or before your taxes are due. Publication 526 on the IRS website has the qualifications for charitable organizations. Once the charity sells the car they have 2 years to notify the IRS of the sale and provide you with a copy of the form it sends to the IRS notifying them of the sale and the amount that it sold for.

Because they have 2 years however, it is often easier for you to sell your car yourself and donate cash to the charity directly. Your charity will often benefit more by making a donation this way because in most cases charities use third party services to sell the car on their behalf at wholesale auctions where the deductible amount can end up being less than FMV. Selling a car private party will bring more money and establishes a documented FMV while your charity gets more money and you get to deduct more.

For more information, always talk to your accountant before you decide to take the charitable plunge and make sure that you do all of the steps correctly. It will be worthwhile for everyone!

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Exotic Car Introductions At Pebble Beach 2008

Amidst the classics at the Monterey Weekend, manufacturers often display some new prototypes and models aimed at "lifestyle" audience of Pebble Beach. This year, visitors could take a look at some Tesla roadsters at Concorso Italiano. At Pebble Beach, could check out the new (and impressive) Hyundai Genesis sedan and coupe, the whole lineup of new Porsche models alongside the first-ever Porsche model, the Cadillac CTS wagon, and others.

Gooding and Company, which has rapidly become the premiere auction during the weekend thanks to David Gooding's apparent eye for detail, wasn't left out of the loop. At an invitation-only preview reception on Friday night, the designers at Pinninfarina introduced their new Rolls Royce Drophead-based Hyperion. Though somewhat dulled by the recent and untimely death of Andrea Pinninfarina, the introduction of this vehicle wowed the well-healed crowd.

Personally, I don't think it's Pinninfarina's best work... what with a room filled with classic Ferraris, Lancias and even a mint Nash-Healey all bodied by the famed Carrozzeri to remind us why Italian designers are held in such high regard. The ungainly Hyperion was more a tribute to unbridled conspicuous consumption than to Italian style. Even though it looked like an enormous BMW Z4 with Rolls Grille tacked on the front, it probably is as good as it gets when starting with the bones of the new Rolls Royce Phantom and Drophead which are just aweful to look at. And I'm not just saying this because I can't afford one, almost nobody can, their styling is effective at giving a big "FU" to the peons in S-Class Mercedes but not in demonstrating Rolls Royce's historic elegance. Some nice photos of the Hyperion can be found here . I couldn't get a clear shot of the car due to the crowd around the stage.

Going a step further, the folks at Bugatti joined the classics on sale at the Gooding and Company auction by offering chassis #1 of the new targa-topped Veyron 16.4 "Grand Sport." High bidder was also invited to join the folks at the factory to help build their car and, I assume, choose the details of their new supercar... perhaps paint color to match their better-half's eyes or interior upholstered in the skins of the exotic species of their choice? While accomodations near the factory were provided, transportation to the location was not... likely assuming that the buyer could provide his or her own plane anyway. Once again, the Veyron shows that money and taste aren't necessarily linked but the car does the job of grabbing attention even if one isn't attaining the reported top speed of 253 mph (with the hard top on).

The final bid on the car was $3,190,000, just slightly lower than the price realized by the fantastic 250 GT LWB California Spider that crossed the block shortly before it. Single-digit fuel economy be damned, if you can afford the car you don't need to worry about the price of fuel. It was a heady atmosphere, what with the finish of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance a few hours earlier and a bidding crowd obviously insulated from the effects of the econonomic downturn.

This was my 14th visit to Pebble Beach and I continue to believe that it's a pilgrimage every car nut must make at least once in his life. It's expensive and crowded (how about $350/night for a room at the Travelodge in Monterey over the weekend, ouch) but nowhere else can one see such an exquisite collection of classic iron... and that's just in the parking lot of Concorso Italiniano or parked on the side of Ocean Avenue in Carmel.

Steve Haas

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Brenda Priddy Charity Auction for Gearheads

Just wanted to share a link to a charity auction on eBay hosted by spy photographer of the auto industry and concept car espionage specialist Brenda Priddy (featured here in MotorTrend).

Brenda has secured a Dodge Crew badge (a brief name for a crossover SUV that is now known as the Dodge Journey) and is offering it up along with a discarded piece of camouflage from the concept car, a Dodge Rubik’s cube that was given out on press day at the recent LA Auto Show and best of all, a 12” x 18” Brenda Priddy Co. photo of the Dodge Journey test vehicle.

Are these collectible items? Heck yeh! The emblem is a limited production item and piece of short history from Dodge that will never be reproduced and the photo is something that gearheads and Jalopnik geeks will swoon over.

Without further ado, jump to the auction HERE.

Bid well and enjoy a lot!

M

PS- If you win, you can choose the charity you want or choose from the following: Make A Wish Foundation,
American Heart Association, March of Dimes, American Cancer Society, Fisher House, Shriners Hospitals for Children

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