Letting go of your car

Congratulations on deciding to dump that old money pit. If it's your only car, get ready to join the rarified community of the car free. This page covers issues related to storing or getting rid of a car.

Parking your car

If you cannot quite part with your bundle of metallic joy, you can at least stop spending all your money on it by parking it for a long time. In my first car-free stint, right out of college, I parked my troublesome transportation for a year in order to build up some savings. I was also just really annoyed with its failings, so we agreed to a trial separation. I parked it off-street. This part is important, because you can be ticketed, towed, and generally pestered by your neighbors and police department for just leaving a vehicle indefinitely on the street. In addition, the vehicle licensing agencies may require that you park a car off-street if you plan to declare it "inoperable." If you decide not to fill out this paperwork, you will still have to pay full registration fees. Then decide when, or if, to drop your vehicle insurance (see the insurance discussion). Whatever you decide on the registration and insurance issues, you can stop worrying about two major costs of car operation, maintenance and fuel, plus all the risks and aggravations of driving.

Before putting your vehicle into hibernation, check with someone familiar with cars to find out how to prepare the car. This involves stuff like disconnecting some cables and removing some of the fluids. Disconnecting stuff not only protects the car, it makes it difficult to get stupid and drive a car without insurance, maintenance, or registration. Since I planned to park mine for only six months and I live in a mild climate, I did not do much to prepare it. When the proper time came, my sleeping coach was easily kissed awake by the princes at a local garage and I had a car again, without having to hassle with buying one.

The disadvantages of keeping a car on ice include liability or loss—it could catch fire or be stolen—and loss of value due to depreciation. Even when not used, some car parts such as brakes and hoses may deteriorate due to aging and weathering of the materials. So some minor maintenance costs are still accruing, but you do not have to cover them until later. Save your money without worrying about unexpected car expenses. There are also some insurance issues to consider, which are covered in the Car Insurance section.

Donating your car

Donating your car is the easiest way to get rid of it, whether you give it to your little brother or to a formal charity. My last car was 16 and running well when I decided to donate it to charity. It was getting too hard to find parts and mechanics for it. I found a service online that accepted cars for several charities, including smaller organizations. Some charities are large enough to solicit car donations directly. These services handle most everything for you. They may give you a copy of the relevant IRS guidelines. Some will even order a copy of your ownership certificate if you have misplaced yours. They usually tow your car, even if it runs OK, so they shouldn't care if your battery goes dead. I simply arranged a pickup date, left the car in the driveway, and told my neighbor what was going to happen. I also cleaned the car, but this was not required. It was my way of saying good bye to Mimi.

The standards for accepting donations have gone down since I donated mine. Today, your car does not have to be running OK or accident-free to be accepted by an agency. Nor does it have to look good or have much life left in it. I assume because cars are so expensive now, agencies are now auctioning some donated cars just for their parts value. However, I would expect to wait a long time for pickup of a less valuable car. Every donation agency should list its specific minimum requirements for vehicles. As a general rule, agencies will take some clunkers that a dealer would not accept as trade-ins.

The U.S. tax laws on donating vehicles have gotten strict. Car donors used to be able to deduct the estimated resale value of their vehicle. Now, deductions are usually limited to the actual sales price at the auction. So maybe you should spiffy up that car before you donate it. This also means tax deductions are not such a big incentive anymore.

Car donation has also gotten some negative press lately due to a few bad groups. In addition, it is a very high overhead way to collect donations simply because of the nature of the operation. But I personally believe not all charities can compete for limited dollars using low overhead methods. There is room for organizations like car donation services and thrift stores that provide jobs and something of value to buyers at a reasonable price.

Selling your car

The thought of selling a car through the paper or online, making appointments with strangers, and such makes me cringe. It seems inherently unsafe, unpleasant, and an invasion of privacy. It was bad enough suffering through the car-buying process. (It's a grrrl thing.) I would prefer to find a buyer through personal networking. We all have cousins or neighbor kids who could use a car but cannot afford dealer prices. The disadvantages of this approach are that you probably will not get as much money and your buyer may dislike you in six months.

One way of selling a car that I would consider is a commission lot. These places charge a certain amount per month to store your car where potential buyers can look at it. You can set it up so you meet buyers if you want. These lots are similar to low overhead car dealers. The one I looked into charged more after the first month in order to encourage sellers to get serious about selling. Unfortunately, these places seem to be disappearing in my area, falling like flies. The online car sellers that have lots are somewhat similar to a commission lot, but they handle mainly newer and nicer cars and they do not have that many lot locations. I have no direct experience with online sales, but I assume they get a huge cut of the price.

Selling cars directly to strangers usually gets the highest return. First, check out this easy to follow advice from AAA. But AAA warns that selling a car on your own is difficult and time-consuming. In addition to issues of personal safety, you also need to watch out for scammers posing as buyers and to protect your personal information.

Car crushing programs

These limited programs may offer cash for your older running car. The government then crushes the vehicles to ensure they can never be driven again. Getting the most high-polluting vehicles off the roads is an inexpensive way to improve air quality. I think some of my fellow citizens might find it fun to watch cars being squished, even paying admission. Are you listening, Mr. Governator? In California, these programs are offered in very limited circumstances. In order to qualify for buyback from California Air Resources Board, a car has to be safe and running well but over a certain age. These requirements are designed to keep the government from paying someone for a car that would have soon been off the roads even without the government incentive. On the other hand, California's Bureau of Automotive Repair will pay for a car of any age that repeatedly fails smog checks. The only complaints I have heard about these car removal programs is that they destroy car parts needed now or in the future by collectors. I doubt many 70s and 80s vehicles are going to be collectible, but I also didn't think much of beanie babies.

Car insurance

If you plan on going on a car-reduction diet, that is, renting cars frequently for work or pleasure, or are only parking your car for an unknown period, you might be better off keeping your insurance active. I kept mine active for two months past the time of my car donation because it covered my liability while renting a car on vacation for less than the cost of buying insurance from the rental agency. Technically, insurance companies need to know which car you are driving in order to calculate your rates. They do not want to insure unknowns, so if you ask them if you can keep up an inexpensive policy just for renting or borrowing cars, they will say no. However, you may be able to figure something out if you share a family car. Of course, if you are only storing your car, your insurance agency might be OK with continuing your policy.

In California at least, if you own a car, you must have auto insurance. It does not matter that you drive the thing rarely. Although the insurance requirements were less strict during my first car-free experience, I was shocked to find that it was hard to reinstate auto insurance when I revived my vehicle. Although I had a good driving record and had not let my insurance lapse until well after I stored my car, the insurance agencies all assumed I had driven without insurance because I had not declared the car inoperable. This made me a moderate risk, which meant the affordable agencies would not insure me. Through some calling around and dumb luck (something about heavy partying at an insurance convention), a sympathetic independent agent was able to bluff me into a new policy with normal rates. At the end of my second car-free phase, I also had some minor problems getting insured because I could not list a recent policy. But this was just a problem with rigid Web-based application forms. With more time and patience, I may have gotten in with an affordable firm. I ended up insuring my car at rather high rates for a while. After I acquired that recent insurance history, it was easy to switch to a cheaper agency. The lesson here is plan ahead before storing or giving up a car. Talk to a good insurance agent first and fill out any paperwork he/she suggests.

Another insurance issue for the car-free comes up when renting a car. Car rental fees do not usually include liability insurance. Although car-sharing (discussed on the Busgrrrl Hauling Page) fees usually include car insurance, any car-sharing insurance coverage you have will not cover outside rentals. Count on at least $9 extra per day for liability coverage when renting a car. You have to request this at most places; in some states, they cannot legally suggest it to you. There seem to be state-by-state variations in what they can sell. In New York, I found that only locally owned franchises could sell me liability coverage. Some firms in Florida do not offer liability to state residents. Before you reserve a car with an agency, make sure they can sell you liability insurance. They should also quote what they charge per day. "Collision damage waiver" coverage is a different issue from liability coverage. CDW may be covered by your credit card company, but you have to confirm this. I never buy this. By the way, even as a car owner, my auto insurance does not cover rental cars, so my car-free experience will be helpful when I need to rent a vehicle.

Travel clubs

Travel clubs such as AAA cover the member, not a particular car. You may want to keep your membership, especially if you're in a vanpool/carpool or plan to rent cars frequently. You can call for service for your driver's car, which might make you the most popular one in the pool for awhile. I used my travel club membership to get a rental car with a dead battery jumpstarted because I was far from the rental agency. Who remembers to put jumper cables in a rental car? Of course, you may also want to keep getting those free maps and travel discounts.