While you might think of one or another car as seminal to your life, as if you’d lived a whole era of your life, most people get a new car every six years. This means that many people have to learn what it means to sell, trade in, or recycle cars because the car is your responsibility to deal with until you get rid of it. You can earn money, get tax write-offs, and even help to lower your carbon footprint depending on where you donate the car too.
Here are five things you need to do to get rid of your car.
1. Find a Recycling Service In Your Region
One of the best ways to get started in disposing your car is to find a recycling service in your region. It’s likely there are several great options depending on where you live. Start your search online and check business reviews to see who has people saying a lot of positive things about them.
You’ll find that some recycling facilities are more convenient and professional than others.
Also, ask whether or not they’ll take your whole vehicle. Some companies will only take your vehicle piece by piece and require you to break things down. If you’re unable to sell or recycle your entire car as is, it could be more trouble than it’s worth.
You can go through different buyers or recyclers if you want but this isn’t an efficient way to do things. It can also be unsafe if you’re not experienced at dealing with taking a car apart piece by piece.
2. Look Into Charities
Because the process of unloading a car can be complicated and challenging, some charities are willing to handle the whole process for you. They will take cars that work and fix them up or sell them. In other cases, they’ll sell the car piece by piece and use the money to fund their non-profit.
In exchange, you get a tax-deductible credit for contributing to the non-profit. You can get a document to claim on your taxes that your accountant will be able to easily understand.
When you do this, you’re able to keep all of the information about your recycling in one place. This makes things much easier when doing your taxes or adding the transaction to your overall financial documents.
Every state or city has its own tax laws regarding how much you can deduct when you donate. Make sure you investigate the laws regarding taxes before you start the process.
3. Ask About Other Services
Every car recycling service is going to offer you different benefits. Ultimately, the easier they make the process, the better. They should be aiming to make things easy so that you’ll work with them and spread the word about the positive benefits they offer.
You can get a free quote from most recycling service providers to ensure that you get the most that you can. When you’re looking to get the most out of the rewards, you should have a service that can help you by transferring the title or helping you deal with paperwork. When the registration can be moved quickly and easily, that saves you some time and energy.
See if there are cash or check differences and whether or not they’ll be able to pick up the vehicle. This can make a difference when you’re trying to get the most money back. It can also maximize the donation if you’re trying to provide a benefit to a non-profit.
4. Check That They’re Accredited
When you’re looking for recycling services that have good environmental practices, you can ask about certification. The Automotive Recyclers Association is international and can give certifications to any recycler that abides by the best practices and standards.
There’s a Certified Automotive Recycler certification that businesses can get from that association. It helps to show people working with them that they abide by safety and environmental standards with everything they do. If you want to look for at least one certification, this can help guide your search.
Reach out to the services you’re interested in and see if they might have other certifications. States and municipalities offer some of their own certifications to show that the car you’re giving them is going to be recycled in the best way.
5. Prepare Your Car
When it’s time to recycle your car, you need to take out all of your belongings. You don’t want to leave valuables in your car when you hand it over to a recycling center. Either your belongings will be destroyed, destroyed, or they will be taken by someone else tasked to clean the car.
Make sure you also cancel your insurance. You don’t need to pay for insurance on a car that you no longer drive. Transfer the registration and title as well so that it’s clear the recycling center is now in possession of the car. If they take it, fix it, and it hits the road, you don’t want to be liable for anything that happens.
You can also get a proof of destruction certificate. This shows that your car has been recycled and can help you with your tax deduction. Just make sure you remove the license plates first, so you’ll likely have to send them back to the state before the car is completely destroyed.
Now you can enjoy these benefits of having recycled your car and potentially donated it to someone else.
Recycle Cars for Yourself, the Planet, and Others
When you choose to recycle cars rather than just letting them sit on your lawn, you lower the number of new cars and parts that need to be manufactured. When you do this, you make a serious impact on the planet and on the people around you. You can even keep a little extra money in your pocket.
When it’s time for a new car, check out our guide to the process of getting yourself a loan.