Savvy Seth's Donate a Car to Charity

How to Determine your Vehicle's Worth

As the donor, it is your obligation to determine the fair market value (FMV) of your donated vehicle. To do so, you can check the Kelley Blue Book for the value of your car, truck, boat, etc…

But what is fair market value? Simply, it is the price at which property would change hands with the following conditions:

• Between a willing buyer and a willing seller
• Neither having to buy or sell
• Both having reasonable knowledge of all the relevant facts

The following will help you use the Kelley Blue Book site properly and avoid any penalties.

When you use the Kelley Blue Book website you are offered several different car values.

• Retail value: only car dealers use this. It is an inflated value which covers the cost of advertising, repairs, warranty, sales person commissions, and so on.
• Trade-in value: this is a deflated value used by dealers to show a car buyer what the trade-in value is for the car.
• Private sale value: this value is what you are looking for, however, you must go through all of the steps to rate the car according to its mileage, condition, location, engine, tires, etc.

To get a fairly accurate fair market value for your vehicle, follow the directions below.

1. Go to the Kelley Blue Book site.
2. On the first page in the top left paragraph, called "What's My Blue Book Value?" click on the link called "Private Party Value".
3. On the page that comes up, click on the YEAR of your car.
4. On the next page that comes up, click on the MAKE of your vehicle.
5. On the next page that comes up, click on the exact MODEL of your vehicle.
6. On the next page, there are a series of boxes requiring information. In the top box you are asked for things like the type of engine or whether automatic or manual transmissions, etc. Check these correctly according to your car.
7. In the next box (down) you need to fill in the Mileage of your car and your Zip Code.
8. In the next box down the page, you need to check off the various options that apply to your car. These are things like Power Steering, air conditioning, cruise control, etc. etc. Check all that apply.
9. The bottom box is entitled "Select Vehicle Condition". Choose "Rate It" or "Help Me", which is the last box on the right. Kelley Blue Book has changed the name of this button a few times, but it is always the last button on the right and when selected allows you to give a very detailed "rating" of your vehicle.
10. This is important in order to accurately get the Fair Market Value for your vehicle.
11. After choosing "Rate It" or "Help Me" click on the bottom button called, "Get Pricing Report". This takes you to another page.
12. On this page you rate the following: Exterior Condition; Interior Condition, Mechanical Condition, Miscellaneous. Each of these categories has several aspects of the car's condition to rate. There are usually 3 columns for each of these aspects. Choose one rating for each. Do not skip any of these. You will thus fully rate your car.
13. When this is done click on "Get Pricing Report" at the bottom of the page.
14. This will take you to a page that gives the private sale value of your vehicle donation rated as it is, in its current condition. It is advised to print this page to keep for your tax records.

N.B. The fair market value of your vehicle cannot be determined by a charity; the IRS considers that to be a "conflict of interest". A charity's tax receipt is, however, proof that you made the donation. The vehicle's fair market value has to be determined by you, unless the vehicle has a value of $5000.00 or more, then a certified vehicle appraiser must make that determination.