Suggestions for car donation programs?

April 22, 2011 10:02 AM

Suggestions for car donation programs in Washington DC?

I have a running, but pretty old and beat up car that I am finally ready to part with. The car is a 1990 Mazda sedan with pretty good mileage for its age. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with donating a car in DC or if there were any suggestions for particular organizations to look at. Any general advice on car donation is also welcome.

posted by forkisbetter to Work & Money (8 answers total)

Best answer: I donated my old car to WAMU a couple years ago. They were very friendly and did all the work. They took some basic info over the phone; license plate number, registration, mileage and pick-up location. I needed to schedule a tow truck over a holiday weekend at a specific time to be able to catch a flight. The driver showed up exactly on time and had the paperwork filled out for me to sign. The pick-up only took five minutes.
posted by chrisulonic at 10:45 AM on April 22, 2011

I donated my car in DC to the Baltimore County Humane Society and it went very smoothly. They came and got it when I wasn't even home and it was parked on a city street. They communicated well with me and sent me all appropriate tax docs; I had no issues and was pleased with the transaction.
posted by rabidsegue at 10:46 AM on April 22, 2011

I donated to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, a worthy cause. Everything handled smoothly.
posted by TheRaven at 11:44 AM on April 22, 2011

I donated a car to my local public radio station through the Car Talk rVehicle Donation Program It was handled by a company they work with. It went perfectly.
posted by R. Mutt at 1:31 PM on April 22, 2011

Whoops, let's try that again: Vehicle Donation Program .
posted by R. Mutt at 1:33 PM on April 22, 2011

I heard WAMU advertising for their vehicle donation program on the radio this morning. There is also another organization that used to advertise on WAMU for this, but I"m sorry, I can't remember the name and they haven't advertised in a while (I think it was something like Melvin - it was a group home of some sort, perhaps someone else has a better memory than me).
posted by echo0720 at 4:12 PM on April 22, 2011

(I think it was something like Melvin - it was a group home of some sort, perhaps someone else has a better memory than me).

You mean "Melwood." I donated to WAMU, and had a good experience. Also got more than the "list price" for my tax deduction on my 13 year old car.
posted by Measured Out my Life in Coffeespoons at 6:23 PM on April 22, 2011

Response by poster: Ended up using WAMU's donation program and it was great!
posted by forkisbetter at 10:11 AM on May 23, 2011