Tips for donating your car to charity
Find the charity, don’t let them find you
As with many charities there is a lot of money spent on acquiring donations. In fact, some charities spend the majority of their funds on acquiring more donations – leaving a lot less for the actual charity recipients themselves. This is why some people choose not to give to charities that solicit donations.
With the car donations, it is even worse. There are many For-Profit companies that advertise as a means of donating your car to charity and they leave very little left for the charity. They typically leave the charity 50% to as little as 10% of the value of the car – and keep the rest as their revenue.
The better way to find a place to donate your car
Since the charity car donation thing has gained so much interest, quite a few charities now have this as an option – even though you may never see them advertise it. So, next time I donate a car, I am going to call charities that I am already familiar with and trust and ask them if they accept car donations. Not every charity will accept them, but you might be surprised how many do.
Buying a Car? Check Out These Resources
The resources below are just some of the professional resources for car shopping and research. If you’re going to spend thousands of dollars on a car, though, you need to find all the information you can on both the car you’re interested in as well as the competitors. Don’t go into the dealership unprepared, or else you may make a rash, uninformed decision.
Edmunds.com, purportedly “where smart car buyers start,” has a giant database of cars, including reviews, pricing, and specs. The site provides information on new and used cars, as well as advice on how to shop for and how to finance cars. Best of all, it can offer your searches tailored to your location!
Consumer Reports is pretty much the gold standard when it comes to rating consumer goods. Its website has a solid section on cars. Unfortunately, the most helpful offering – expert ratings – is available to subscribers only. But this site is still worth a look; there are many informative articles freely available.
Buying a Car based on Perception versus Reality
Consumer Reports recently issued a report about car brand perception versus reality with some very intriguing results. People had to rank based on seven crucial areas: safety, quality, value, performance, environmental friendliness, design, and technological innovation. Here’s what they had to say were the tops in those areas, along with their scores:
Brand perception – Top 5
1. Toyota – 193
2. Honda – 149
3. Ford – 109
4. Cadillac – 102
5. Mercedes-Benz – 100
Brand Perception – Bottom 5
5. Jeep – 21
4. Hummer – 19
3. Saab – 18
2. Mazda – 17
1. Suzuki – 7
Ok, I won’t disagree that I perceive most of those brands as high or low quality, but let’s see what their real reliability scores indicate as the best brands:
Real Brand Reliability – Top 10
As a note, these are results based on Consumer Report’s annual reader surveys and are not based on data directly from the service divisions of the automakers. That means these results are still a bit skewed, but at least are based on real data:
Which automakers provide free car maintenance?
Cars are not cheap (duh), but some automakers make the ownership experience less painful for the first few years. Automakers like BMW and Land Rover provide free car maintenance for up to 4 years, and that could be the deciding factor for a number of shoppers choosing from the luxury brands on the market.
Car Brands Offering Free Maintenance
BMW
BMW calls its maintenance plan “BMW Ultimate Service” which goes for the first 4 years of ownership, or the first 50,000 miles. Here is some info about the plan (from the BMW website):
- BMW Maintenance Program: One of the most comprehensive maintenance programs in its class covering all factory-recommended maintenance, oil service and fluid service, as well as items that need replacement due to normal wear and tear – such as brake pads, brake rotors and wiper blade inserts.
- Four years of the BMW Assist™ Safety Plan: Many 2007 and later models include a four-year, unlimited mileage subscription to the BMW Assist™ Safety Plan including TeleService, an exclusive BMW benefit which allows your vehicle to contact your BMW center directly when it needs service or maintenance.
Ford canceling Taurus X and Mercury Sable
Although recently named one of the safest cars in the U.S., the Mercury Sable is on the chopping block at Ford, along with its stablemate, the Taurus X crossover. Both are pinned to the Ford Taurus (previously called the Ford FiveHundred), which is being redesigned.
Neither the X nor the Sable have had much success in the marketplace, even though the Sable has received pretty high accolades (for safety, pricing and comfort). However, the public just didn’t like the Sable’s bland styling, and Ford is introducing the next generation of the Taurus in the spring.
The Taurus X is being phased out in place of the new Ford Flex, which is admittedly a much better vehicle, even if its boxy styling is a bit controversial.
Personally, in my opinion the Sable was a slightly better-looking vehicle than the Taurus, but both are pretty boring to look at and drive. Ford didn’t advertise the Taurus/Sable/Taurus X nearly as much as the Fusion, and thus sales suffered.
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