The government’s cash for clunkers program may be bolstering new car sales, but it also depleting the number of vehicle available for charitable organizations. A number of charities depend on donated vehicles to keep operations running, but many of the vehicles that would typically be donated are being destroyed under the CARS program.
Several U.S. charities – such as Volunteers of America – rely on donated vehicles for funding, but vehicle donations have been slipping since the start of the CARS program. Overall vehicle donations have fallen about 12 percent since July 1, and could fall as far as 25 percent. About 175,000 vehicle donations are expected to be lost to the CARS program.
“It varies by market, but there’s been an 11 to 12 percent drop compared with last year,” Jim Hartman, vice president of vehicle donations at Volunteers of America, told Automotive News.
“The cars I’m seeing cashed in as clunkers, like older SUVs, are absolutely the typical donation to us.”
Vehicles like the Ford Explorer and Jeep Cherokee typically top Volunteers of America’s most donated list, but those vehicles now sit atop the list of most traded under the CARS program. Any vehicle traded in under the clunkers program is required to be destroyed.
Most donated cars are sold at auction – netting millions in funding per year – with the remaining vehicles sold at deep discounts to less fortunate families.
Money talks
Under current tax laws, donated vehicles are worth up to $500 in tax deductions. Under the CARS program, that same clunker could be worth up to $4,500. Not surprisingly, most consumers are opting to take the extra $4,000.
However, changes may be underway in Washington with many charities lobbying for a $2,500 ceiling on vehicle donations. A bill with the revised tax law is currently in front of the House, but isn’t expected to be passed anytime soon.
08/17, 6:28 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
Why am I not surprised?
08/17, 6:48 PM
posted by:
JakeK66
As the saying goes: “Charity begins at home”
08/17, 6:55 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
^ Not the Charity I knew. She began in the back seat of a VW Bus. ^
08/17, 7:08 PM
posted by:
AutoCritical
everyone has become a charity case….
08/17, 7:12 PM
posted by:
reedfast
thats too bad, but is it really a good thing to be putting poor people in cars that 1) aren’t reliable 2) have tires that explode, or 3) are completely trashed?
08/17, 7:13 PM
posted by:
elmdodge
charity went to jim press and fritz henderson , both con men who should soon be in orange jumpsuits hopefully the kind with hatchs on the back
08/17, 7:43 PM
posted by:
arena
Thank you reedfast for having an observation other than the same old same old.
08/17, 7:46 PM
posted by:
Borat
elmdodge, why sidestep Lutz? He is good also.
08/17, 8:32 PM
posted by:
mayer_ray_nagin
Well as they say in both politics and the car biz …..
……………………. “a friend in need is a friend who can go fukk himself.”
08/17, 9:20 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
You are wise mayer_ray. Might I add “you can pick your friends, you can pick your nose but you can’t pick your friend’s nose”.
Feel free to trot that one out at your next charity social.
08/17, 9:46 PM
posted by:
carstuff
I thought Obama got rid of charity write offs? Perhaps this is the first step, get the old cars off the street so they are not donated?
08/17, 10:41 PM
posted by:
DB9
The Baztards!
DB9;-)
08/18, 1:53 AM
posted by:
leftwingagenda
not a huge shock, but also not a huge drawback to C4C in general…i’m sure there’s a principle of economics to explain it, but to me it just seems like physics…you only have so many clunkers…they used to go down path A, but then new path B opens up…by default cars that go down the B path take away from what used to go down A…basic stuff…don’t act righteously shocked, beatus, it’s common sense and predictable!
08/18, 9:23 AM
posted by:
arena
^Correct. Also the statistic that everyone seems to forget when talking about the so called “downsides” of the C4C program, is that even if all 750,000 vouchers are used to scrap old cars, it will still only represent less than 2% of the of the used cars sold this year. Harldy enough to make ANY lasting effect.
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=146894
08/18, 9:35 AM
posted by:
beatusmongous
I know, Leftwing. That’s why I’m not surprised.
My comment was more of a sarcastic “Duh!” than anything else.
08/18, 10:07 AM
posted by:
mayer_ray_nagin
Johnny, maybe you can’t pick your friend’s nose, but you can pick your friend’s wallet, and it seems POSident Obolshevik considers us all (and our future generations) his friends.
08/18, 12:41 PM
posted by:
JakeK66
That was actually pretty funny comment about the Charity and VW Bus thing Beatus.
08/18, 12:49 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
Thanks, Jake.
08/18, 3:05 PM
posted by:
jackjimturkey
No surprise.
Y’all realize that you can’t clunker that ‘76 Vega, right?