Donate a pickup truck that has done its work

Why pickups get donated rather than sold

A pickup is the easiest vehicle in America to sell and the most annoying. Everyone wants one, which means a listing brings twenty messages, half of them asking whether you will take four hundred dollars less and deliver it. People with a truck they no longer need often have a job, a farm or a business that makes spending three weekends on that exchange unappealing.

The other pattern is condition. A truck with 240,000 miles, a rusty bed and a transmission that slips is a difficult private sale and a straightforward donation, because the buyers who want it are rebuilders and work-truck buyers rather than retail.

Driven or towed, at our expense

A road-legal pickup is usually driven away by a transport driver. One that runs but is not legal to drive goes on a flatbed. A non-running truck is winched onto a rollback. Giving Center arranges and pays for whichever applies, anywhere in the country.

Clear the bed and the cab, and tell us about a dead battery, flat tires or a truck parked in a field with soft ground. If there is a toolbox, a plow, a fifth-wheel hitch or a service body you want to keep, remove it before pickup or tell us so it stays on the sale.

What decides what a pickup brings

• Four-wheel drive, which widens the range of buyers substantially in most of the country.
• Diesel engines, which sell well past 250,000 miles when maintained.
• Frame and bed rust, the first thing a buyer inspects on an older truck and the one thing that kills value.
• Cab configuration. Crew cabs sell fastest; regular cabs to trades.
• Mounted equipment. A working plow, a service body, a gooseneck hitch or a liftgate each add real money.
• Maintenance records, particularly on a diesel where a timely service history is worth hundreds.

Title, lien and business ownership

This is a titled vehicle, so you sign the title over at pickup in the seller or transferor section. If it is missing, most states issue a duplicate to the registered owner in one to four weeks; see state title rules for yours. Several states require your signature to be notarized.

If a loan was ever recorded against it, the lien has to be released before sale, including one paid off years ago that nobody cleared. Lenders issue a release letter on request. After pickup, remove the plates if your state requires it, cancel the registration and notify your insurer.

What you can deduct for a pickup

Your deduction is the gross sale proceeds once Giving Center sells it, reported on Form 1098-C. Items in this class frequently sell for under $500, in which case you may deduct the lesser of fair market value or $500, which is often the better outcome.

Above $500 you file Form 8283 Section A with the 1098-C; above $5,000 the IRS requires a qualified appraisal you obtain and pay for, so the appraiser is independent of us. We tell you before pickup which case yours is likely to be. The tax benefits page works through all of them.