Get the Biggest Bang Donating or Selling a Car Even With New IRS Rules

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--Dec. 7, 2005--Do you have an older vehicle that costs too much to repair or just sits in your driveway? Edmunds.com (http://www.edmunds.com), the premier online resource for automotive information, has suggestions for owners looking to get rid of their car, including a way to still deduct full market value for their donated vehicle -- even under the more restrictive Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules that now apply.

Edmunds.com suggests four different options for consumers looking to dispose of their vehicle:

    1. Donate to a charity that has a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status 
       with the IRS -- For cars valued at more than $500, you can 
       deduct the actual selling price that the charity receives for
       reselling your car.

    2. Donate to a charity that uses the car as part of its specific
       mission -- A number of charity organizations will refurbish a
       car for use by the disadvantaged. Donating to one of these
       organizations will allow you to deduct the car using
       Edmunds.com's True Market Value(SM).

    3. Trade it for a new car or sell it to a dealer -- This usually
       does not generate the best price, but owners will get more
       value from their car than what they would get by donating it.

    4. Sell it privately -- Selling privately is the most 
       time-consuming of the three options, but will most often be the
       most profitable one.

"Consumers who want to make the most cash should sell their car privately," said Senior Features Editor Joanne Helperin. "But if you don't want the hassle, it's still possible to donate the car and obtain a deduction for the True Market Value. But you can only get that big of a deduction by donating to a charity that does not plan to resell your vehicle."

For more details, read "Does Charity Car Donations Still Make Sense Under Tougher IRS Rules?" HERE.

About Edmunds.com, Inc.

Edmunds.com is the premier online resource for automotive information. Its comprehensive set of data, tools and services, including Edmunds.com True Market Value(R) pricing, is generated by Edmunds.com Information Solutions and is licensed to third parties. The company supplies content for the auto sections of NYTimes.com, AOL, CNN.com and About.com; provides weekly data to Automotive News; and delivers monthly data reports to Wall Street analysts. Edmunds.com also publishes Inside Line (www.insideline.com), a free online magazine for auto enthusiasts. Edmunds.com was named "Best Car Research Site" by Forbes ASAP, has been selected by consumers as the "Most Useful Web Site" according to every J.D. Power and Associates New Autoshopper.com Study(SM), and was ranked first in the Survey of Car-Shopping Web Sites by The Wall Street Journal. The company is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and maintains a satellite office in suburban Detroit.