Donating a Car? Ok--but where to?

Time to look at the car donation programs. I haven't done my homework yet but this gal seems to have. She prefers Kars4Kids. As in that silly jingle 1-877-Kars-4-Kids...donate your car today." Got me thinking about the jingle. It is annoying. But this rock band doesn't seem to think so.

Milwaukee Bans Selling Cars on the Street

Ever see those orange-and-black placards that they sell at Home Depot to stick on your old car when it’s time to get rid of her? I've got six of 'em in the basement. Won't do me any good in Milwaukee, though. Bad enough the Brewers are an embarassment to the city--they also banned selling cars on public streets. Display one of those For Sale signs in your window and you'll catch a fine. As George Harrison sang, "If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet." That's right, bubba: Milwaukians are now forced to pay $40 for a permit to sell their junk car--even if the damn thing is only worth a sawbuck. You're better off donating your car to a worthy cause like Kars4Kids and taking the tax receipt. Give me a few days and I'll take a look at which ones are legit.

Fix It or Junk It!

People constantly make excuses about not restoring their cars: can't afford it, it's impractical, it's just a car... But then they don't sell it either. It just rots in their backyard. And when I see this, it sort of enrages me. I want to call the ASPCA but those looney tunes only care about things that meow or knock over my garbage cans at night. WHO DO YOU CALL? I suppose Obama will get around to appointing a commission on it eventually--what's another $10 million to study the over-population of decaying automobiles when our deficit interest alone will be in the trillions? But I digress...

Some folks see their cars like ex-wives: It's useless to them, but they'd still rather nobody else enjoy it... Guess I can understand that; they shoot horses. But I'm sick of the eye sores in my neighborhood: the ex-wives and the rotting cars.

It's not always worth fixing your clunker. Like I said yesterday, sometimes a planter is just a planter. But it reaches a certain point where you're better off getting the tax deduction.

Me? I buy cars from people, not dealerships. I do the research and find what I'm looking for and, believe me, I'm not the only guy who does this sort of thing. But often I'll run into someone's "classic" that's just rotting in the front yard. They can't fix it (it ain't worth it) and they want a small fortune for it (20x it's value as junk) else they can't stand the thought of parting with it. Maybe that's thinking Green: Let the rust take it. But it's really just dumb hick thinking.

Last night I had two dreams: The first was that all the classic cars were gone, like the dinosaurs that once walked the earth. No more '65 Mustangs or split-window coupes; just rice-burning hybrid boxey tincans from Seoul. It broke my heart. I won't tell you about the other dream but it ended with me burying the ex-wife up to her neck in the backyard and then taking out the lawn mower.

Some Great Ways NOT to Sell a Car

I was tooling around the web for blogs on cars and came across this good article at Man vs. Debt. The guy doesn't know much about cars (says he doesn't even like them! go figure!) but he does show you some of the common mistakes make when trying to sell one. Unless you go for the Bigger Fool theory, which is how some guys make their money.

Used Cars versus New Cars

By the time President Obama is done carving up America, the only new cars available will be rice burners. But in the mean time, there's still the Great Depression Part II to deal with. Recessionary budgets will lead more people to used cars...but which ones are budget-friendliest?
Here's some tips from an old car buff:

DON'T BUY an automobile without a service history. That's worse than a blind date: It's buying a horse without checking its teeth. You have no clue what has happened to the car, how it was treated, or wasn't treated. My ex-wife might've owned it and run it into the ground... INSIST on a service history, and if they don't have a good file, walk away.

DON'T BUY a badly damaged car. Heed your insurance expert's eval: If they say the clunker is money down the drain, they ain't lying. I don't care how good of a grease monkey you are--you won't repair it cost-effectively, if at all. Fahgetaboutit.

DON'T BUY a bad paint job. Sure sign of a retarded owner. If he painted it at home, this car has no future.

DON'T BUY automobiles chock full of acorns and grass. And don't get me wrong--I have nothing against acorns. Or grass. But when a car is parked all day long, it's no longer a car. It is a planter. Buy it and you'll be sorry. So sorry, you may start your own blog.

BUY A CAR that someone took care of. The same way you'd buy a dog. Or a house. Or a woman, if you were in Saudi Arabia. Or... well, you get the picture.