.

A fleet of five super duty ford diesel trucks quit running and warranty void now due to the use of red fuel….. How do I fix these trucks and get them back into service???

? Analyzing the Actual Net Benefit of an Auto Donation

When making an auto donation, whether a car, truck or RV, may not actually be in your best financial interest when straight economics are concerned. Of course, charitable giving is it’s own reward for many, but if you actually consult your accountant, you may not enjoy any additional incentive in the form of tax deduction, as is typically offered for most auto donations. Especially if your auto donation is worth more than $5,000, you should consider your actual benefit to accurately judge whether it’s wise to donate your vehicle.

For starters, when you file your return for that year, you’ll need to file with itemized deductions, rather than taking the standard deduction. This can work against you if you’ve not rolled much of your money back into living and working expenses. Typically, itemized benefits are most often used for the self-employed since so much of their income is reinvested back into their livelihoods in the form of expenses. A young person just entering the workforce as a low wage employee may find it difficult to account for enough expenses when figuring their taxes.

Also, you should consider the cost of hiring a tax accountant if you don’t want to bother with all the receipts and calculations. Though many people could save money from itemized deduction, often they are not interested in fussing with their returns. The price of some tax preparers is low enough that a large percentage of those in the US use them each year, with widely varying results.

Auto donation is also a type of charity giving that is motivated by your desire to see the charity in question, one with whom you presumably have a particular belief in, get as much of that donation as possible. Of course, the amount you are able to deduct from your taxes also differs. Both figures are dependent upon whether you want to give your auto donation to an online or third party organization.

By taking the time and effort to find a charity that can benefit from your auto donation, you can increase the percentage of your auto donation that will be given to the charity and your deduction. The downside is that this requires time and effort on your part. This is especially true of higher value auto donations.

Third-party donation organizations are able to offer services such as towing and a quick sale, though sometimes this sale is at a lower price than you could have gotten if you’d managed the sale yourself. The price one pays for this convenience is overhead for the third-party organization.

Some states, such as California, regulate how a third-party donation service operates, stipulating that certain amounts of the proceeds are given to specific purpose. Other states have similar laws and statues. Find out if any auto donation service is registered to practice in your state. Any complaints against an auto donation service should be on file with the state Attorney General’s office.

It is always wise to consider selling the car yourself rather than relying upon an auto donation service. Such services can consume nearly 70% of the sale price of the car in overhead costs. Even if you sell it quickly yourself, without repairing it for the sale, you can still expect far more of your donation to go to the charity you’re chosen. Often, one will contact the charity themselves with a cash donation after doing some research into the non-profit organization they’re interested in supporting.

In short, one should consider their motivations for any auto donation and balance that with their time constraints and personal financial gain in the form of a large charitable deduction on their taxes. Remember that deductions are taken off your taxable income, not the tax due. The relative worth of such a donation does depend upon your tax bracket.

All auto donations are appreciated and raise money for worthy causes, but there are great differences in the amount of relative value to you depending upon whether you conduct the donation yourself or use a third-party auto donation agency.
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Auto Diesel/02_Auto Donation.txt

Kerosene at the local big box store is around /gal while diesel fuel is under /gal.
I know that diesel and kero are very close to each other but do not know if diesel is safe to use.
Please site sources and/or experience.
mckindle26:
I know it will burn diesel, but is it safe?
Only thing manual says is "Do not use gasoline", for reasons obvious to me.

I’m looking for 5-10 yr old cars and truck that run on diesel that hold their value. I found a 05 Mercedes e320 CDI that is worth 250% of original value and a VW Jetta that is 164% original value. My husband asked me to do this search so I’m not sure what he is planning but he asked me to find out so here i am finding out, thank you for you help.

Does this sound awesome or what?

the awesome farm truck comes to life for 2009.

? Using a Facilitating Service to Manage Auto Donations

There are many reasons people choose to use a facilitating or third-party service organization to manage their auto donations. Indeed, they are often very similar to the reason a given charity might use such a third-party agent for auto donations. When you’ve already got too much on your plate, it’s good to let a professional help out.

For consumers, it’s often a simple matter of wanting the vehicle gone because a new one has been purchased. Sometimes it is the inherent bother and expense of hauling it away that makes people turn to professionals to handle their auto donations.

Of course, there are financial and charitable benefits to conducting such transactions yourself, but all auto donations are good ones as far as receiving charities are concerned. Also, if using a service to manage your auto donations makes donation that much more likely, then such services serve a valid purpose. As of 2004, nearly 70% of legitimate charities (determined to be non-profit by the IRS) used third-party agencies to manage their auto donations, though a similar amount did take their own inquiry calls.

As common as the practice is, there are some things you want to take into consideration when choosing a service to manage your auto donations for you. For starters, you want to make sure the third-party management of auto donations actually benefits real charities. This is often accomplished by calling the state Attorney General’s office or the state Secretary of State.

A large majority (39 of 50 states in 2004) of states require third-party agencies that handle auto donations to register with the state. If the company you’re inquiring about isn’t on the rolls but is advertising their services in the state, an investigation will likely continue. Feel free to ask for a copy of the legitimate list if you’re confused. Many states carry this information online.

There are many types of charities that can benefit from auto donations. In addition to the typical non-profit organizations as recognized by the IRS, schools, local or state governments, childcare organizations and veterans groups, in addition to the federal government itself are all eligible. Not included as valid targets of auto donations are for-profit support groups, political groups or candidates, social clubs, co-ops, labour or agricultural groups, as well as just about any social group that isn’t covered by non-profit exemption.

Once you’ve chosen a charity and third-party agent for auto donations, you can get down to the business of actually sending the car off. When inquiring about your vehicle a determination will be made as to whether it’s worth the effort of picking it up. Though some charities will accept any vehicle, others are pickier about what they will or wont’ take, as some donations actually cost them money. Those who do take all auto donations usually do so in an effort to generally encourage their donation base.

Even if your auto donation does run under its own power, it will almost always be picked up by a tow truck for liability reasons. Whether the charity in question will be using the car as is, will repair it for sale or sell it directly on the wholesale market depends upon their needs and how quickly the turnaround on auto donations are expected.

Vehicles sold at wholesale auction, as many third-party auto donation agencies prefer, will usually generate a far lower value than you could have achieved if you sold it yourself. This is generally important only if you believe the vehicle should be worth over $5,000. In this case, you’ll have to get a receipt for the actual value of the car. If it’s worth less, the “fair market value” of the vehicle may be estimated.

That said, if your car is worth less than what you paid for it, a third party group to handle auto donations may be a good choice as far as your allowable charitable deduction is concerned. In the case of higher-end auto donations, you (and the charity in question) may be better served selling in some other manner and donating the resultant money to the charity directly.
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Auto Diesel/03_Auto Donations.txt

I was driving my diesel truck and when i hit the gas the truck feels like it looses power and blows out white smoke and black smoke. It takes a while to get power to the truck. What causes this.

I have been hearing diesel trucks that have a whistle noise when they rev.

What is this?

I have an old car that doesn’t run that has about 10 gallons of 3 or 4 year old diesel fuel. I understand that diesel fuel has a lower shelf life than regular gasoline fuel and I am thinking that my car isn’t working because the diesel fuel has expired. How do I dispose of that fuel without having to pay anything?
Since the car is dead I have no means by transporting this fuel to some sort of collection site.

? Using Your Boat, RV or Auto for Tax Deduction Purposes

Much is made every April about tax deductions, despite the fact that very few people use itemized deductions to account for donations of physical goods such as clothing, furniture or autos. Tax deduction is further complicated by being discounted from your net income rather than the net tax owed. In essence, this means that an average taxpayer receives about 30% of a given donation in actual tax relief, depending upon their tax bracket.

Though it still represented less than a single percent of actual charitable giving in the United States, boat and auto tax deductions were a growing and very visible component of charitable giving when the General Accounting Office (GAO) issued a report on this topic to the US Senate Committee on Finance in November of 2003. At that time, fewer than 1% of the nearly 200 million tax returns filed in 2002 used an auto for tax deduction purposes.

Despite this relatively small amount of claiming, the GAO theorized that perhaps twice the number (about 700,000) of autos were actually donated. This suggests that after the sale of said autos, tax deduction rules made many of the donations worth reporting.

Often this is the case when people are better served by taking the standard deduction or they simply don’t know how to go about with itemized deductions and don’t have the extra money to hire a professional tax preparation specialist. Even when donating a fairly expensive auto, tax deduction limits that require signed forms (essentially affidavits of fair sale and donation) from the receiving agency may show a far smaller value than you thought the donated vehicle would be worth.

This is especially true of vehicles worth more than $5,000, though even those that net over $250 at auction require an acknowledgement of the donation from the charity in question. Even when as little as $500 is received for an auto, tax deduction requirements require a form (IRS Form 8283, section A) to be filled out, though only the most expensive ones require a signed form from the donation agency.

The disparity between the price listed in such publications as the Kelly Blue Book and the actual sales value of a car is largely dependent upon how the vehicle is sold and by whom. For instance, in 2002, a majority of charitable that accepted donations of vehicles were handled by third-party organization, even if the charity itself handled the initial contact calls. Despite the high value of the auto, tax deductions are limited to the actual value received by the charity, and that can represent a small fraction of the original gift.

That certainly doesn’t mean you can’t make a significant donation with your old auto. Tax deductions are certainly available, and for those who are accustomed to itemizing their deductions, such as small business owners and the self-employed, choosing this route can be both rewarding and profitable.

For instance, you don’t need to rely upon a third-party donation service, such as those who continually advertise in just about every type of media. Indeed, when donating an auto, tax deductions are the same whether you give away the actual car or the money that you receive from its sale. Selling the car yourself may be a bother, but you will reap as much as 20% greater deductions from such a cash gift.

There may also be charitable organizations in your area that have use of a running car. Though a large number of cars donated to charity don’t run well or at all, many do run and can assist low-income families in spread out metropolitan areas that aren’t adequately served by public transit. Such an auto, tax deduction aside, can really make a big difference for a family on the brink of making a living. Your deduction will be higher, and you’ve made a real, tangible difference in someone’s life, assuming you didn’t donate a lemon.

One may also consider donating a car or truck to the local high school (or technical college) shop class, especially if it’s a fine car in need of a lot of work. Even after the cost of materials for the auto, the tax deduction will be far higher when the car is eventually sold since the cost of labour need not be accounted for.
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Auto Diesel/04_auto tax deduction.txt

Everywhere i looked i couldn’t find the gas mileage for diesel trucks, and i’d like to know what they are especially for Dodge Ram 1500/2500, Chevy Silverado 1/2 ton/2500HD and Ford F-150/F-250.

Krazy Bains Suspensions Dodge Ram! Truck is running a Krazy Bains 12″ Long Arm Suspension lift with 37×13.50×22 Kumho road venture mud terrains on 22×11 Driv Blitz wheels.

gmc 2500hd duramax diesel with afe cold air intake magnaflow exhaust edge hot juice power programmer and a zex nos kit

? Changing Tax Laws Combat Fraudulent Automobile Donation Deductions

When giving its report on the rise of automobile donation to the Senate Committee on Finance in 2003, the US General Accounting Office (GAO) found quite a bit of discrepancy between the amount of monies claimed as deductions on individual and business returns and the monies reported from actual automobile donation sales by non-profit organizations (NPO). As a result, certain changes were made to the existing tax laws that govern how deductions are claimed from automobile donation.

Though California was the only state that kept track of automobile donation proceeds at the time, it was found that third party organizations handling automobile donation usually took up as much as 70% of the amount received from the original sale of such a vehicle on the wholesale market. The exact amount depending upon the arrangement between the automobile donation organization and the NPO.

In California, third-party agencies that handle automobile donation are beholden to take only a given percentage of the sale, wholesale or not, as overhead expenses, no matter what those expenses actually are. As such, higher prices for vehicles are often achieved in private sales in that state, though such sales often take longer than automobile donation auctions in other states.

When the Finance Committee heard these figures and many more that proved the federal government was bearing the brunt of these donations in the form of donation discrepancy, the process to clear this problem with auto donation deductions was initiated. There’s nothing to get a sub-committee going like an estimated $600 million shortfall in tax revenues.

This is not to say that someone using the blue book value of their car to describe a barely running rust bucket given as a charitable auto donation is setting out to defraud the government, but it certainly has the same effect. In that 2003 GAO report, the majority of tax returns investigated from 2002 showed an average actual donation to the charities of 1-5% of that reported as the original donation on the resultant tax forms largely due to the use of third party auto donation agencies and the use of wholesale and wrecking yard sales.

To this day, a large number of NPOs continue using third-party agents to facilitate auto donation. The lack of communication as to where the actual overhead expenses of the third-party auto donation agents were almost entirely lacking in detail – instead, lumping all expenses under categories such as “towing” or “other.” Indeed, bookkeeping has been a real problem with many of these setups.

In an effort to combat this discrepancy with auto donation, new rules were instated by the IRS that require a statement of monies received from the sale of the car, rather than the “fair market value” of the vehicle for vehicles netting over $5,000. Because of this, many who consider auto donation as a viable source of deduction have grown suspicious of letting third-party agencies handle the auto donation process for them.

For instance, if you have a vehicle with a fair market value of $10,000 and sell it yourself, you’ll net about $10,000. After you pay capital gains and income taxes on that amount, you should still have over $7,000 to donate to the charity of your choice, whether they take auto donations or not. This does depend upon your tax bracket, but that full amount will go to the charity and be legally deductible. A third party may be lucky to get $4,000 at auction and give less than $1,000 to your charity and giving a lower reported value to you.

On the other hand, since rules were tightened in the early ‘aughts by the IRS, vehicle donations of over $500 are officially valued for deduction purposes by their sale amount (usually at wholesale) or by an independent appraisal. In fact, you must provide a copy of such an appraisal if your net auto donation is greater than $5,000. Auto donations with a value of less than $250 are still allowed under the “honor system.”

Regardless of the value of your auto donation, the title must be free and clear. You are also responsible for providing the name and address of the charity, where the actual auto donation occurred (very often your home, if towed), a description of the car or truck and the date when the auto donation took place. If the auto donation is valued there or after the fact at less than $250, you must also have a receipt.

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Auto Diesel/05_automobile donation.txt