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We have a car (late 90's VW) that I got for free a few months ago since it wasn't running. Since that time, life has been quite busy so I haven't been able to spend the time needed to diagnose and fix the problem.

{{fast forward to now}}

I'm trying to decide what the most financially-sound solution might be. Any ideas? I didn't pay anything for the car in the first place, so donating it to a local charity (many of which pay for towing) might be an option. Otherwise, I'm concerned that even taking it to a shop to have it checked out might cost more than the vehicle is worth (~$1-1.5k according to KBB).

Any ideas??

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Random Thoughts: Donate to a local high school or technical school with auto shop classes- many of which have foundations that will allow you to deduct the value. That may be more emotionally rewarding than donating to one of the national charities that take cars. Just make sure the valuation is accurate. I understand the IRS is cracking down on artificially inflated values on donated vehicles.

Call local repair shops, and get quotes for repairs-they should do this on an hourly labor charge-so you should be able to find out if it is financially feasible to repair and resell-for a hundred bucks or so, if that is your preference-unless you want a new hobby to do it yourself.

The only other idea is to have a "Tom Sawyer" Saturday, and bribe any friends with mechanic backgrounds to work on your project for beer and pizza.....

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There should be people around who will pay you $50 to $100 to tow it away. Non-working cars have scrap and parts value to junkyards. If you can tow it yourself, you can see if you can sell it to them directly.

Dr. Dean is right about the IRS. There are new rules in place for what you can write off. One of the biggies is that under many circumstances you can deduct only the smaller of (a) the fair market value at the time of donation or (b) the proceeds the charity gets from the sale of the vehicle. See IRS Publication 526 for more.

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