As I mentioned in the last blog, the expertise of the car donation field lies in the handling of donated vehicles. Anyone can get a car towed to a wholesale or salvage auction and have it sold. But those of us in this field who work closely with charities know that we can make a huge difference when we do a good job processing a donated car. In fact, we can make the difference between a healthy donation to a charity – or just lunch money.

I have a video I want to share with you because I think it illustrates what I’m talking about.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGmN1TdcQqg

Should we recycle it for parts and crush the rest? Should it be sent to a wholesale auction? Or is there something about this neglected old VW Camper Van that might capture the heart of a buyer? And then, once that heart is captured, bring in more money for the charity the van was donated to? What’s your estimate of the value?

We sold it for almost $700, even though, if you’ll look closely, you’ll see it has no intact motor.  Yet, it’s a VW van restorer’s dream. We knew there would be someone who would love this old VW!

And here’s what we’ve learned. With the right vehicle, knowledge, care and effort, we can sometimes increase a vehicle donation value by 450 % (percent). We did it with this old VW. Sending it to be recycled would have brought in about $150 at most instead of almost $700, which we sold it for.

2005 Ford E-350 donated to charity

We do the same thing, too, with high-end vehicles. The Sportsmobile mentioned in a previous blog is a good example of this. Because we screened it out, we sold this 2005 Sportsmobile, which had a high bid at auction of $14,700  — which we declined, instead bringing the van into our retail program --  for $50,000. This was about a 350 % (percent) increase in sale price.

Whether an old or a new car, there’s a common thread between these two donations: both went to retail and both sold for 350 % (percent) to 450 % (percent) more money because of that.  — What do you think that meant to the charity or to the bottom line for the van donor’s tax deduction?

We receive many thousands of donated vehicles — cars, vans, trucks, boats, you name it – and from the beginning we’ve refused to take the lazy route of simply shipping them off to either salvage or wholesale auction when a vehicle deserves better.

– The only way to change an industry is by example
Tim

Junk cars – those old cars sitting in someone’s backyard – though not drivable, still have value for non-profit organizations. Charities, not being automotive professionals, sometimes turn their noses up at these low-end donations. “What’s the value of a car that can’t move?” they ask me.

Car being recycled

I have a good answer. They can be recycled. A fair percentage (though not the majority) of cars donated are not road-worthy. They get towed and usually are moved straight into recycling distribution channels. There, they offer a wealth of under-appreciated benefits to charities and communities.

About 85 percent of an automobile is recyclable. Its usable parts move through salvage yards to a second life to repaired vehicles. The leftover metals, plastics, glass and rubber find new life in everything from appliances to automobiles to bicycles. And, depending on the scrap metal commodity market at the time and region of donation (Scrap metal prices are different on the East Coast than on the West Coast), recycling a clunker can often bring as much as $400 to a charity.

Recycling these old vehicles does another good turn for the community, making sure that the old, pollution-spewing vehicles do not return to the road.

We advise our clients to accept almost all vehicles, including old junk cars, because even these old clunkers can bring in significant money for the charity if handled properly. Also, in addition to raising funds for their cause, the charities are doing their part to recycle and reuse.

– Tim Finnigan