FIND THE RIGHT CAR THAT WILL MAKE YOU GO “OH YEAH!” QUIZ

admin — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:56:18 +0000

Pop quiz hotshot, how do you find that right car that’s going to make you get down on your knees and go, “Oh yeah!!” Take this little quiz in order to get on the road to driving!

QUESTION #1: What kind of car should you look into?

A) One that you need.
B) One that you want.
C) One that talks to you like in the Stephan King movie Christine and eliminates your enemies.
D) Both B&C

QUESTION #2: HOW MUCH YOU SPEND ON A CAR?
A) What you can afford determined by payments at 20% of your monthly take home pay.
B) On par with what you spend each month on crack.
C) On par what you spend on crack and hookers
D) All of the above

QUESTIONS #3: WHICH ISN’T ADVANTAGES OF LEASE YOUR NEXT CAR?
A) You can drive a better car for less money
B) No trade-in hassles
C) You can drive a new car few years.
D) You are not hassled with owning commodity

QUESTION #4: WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF BUYING OVER LEASING
A) It makes financial sense when interest rates are low over leasing.
B) No miles penality
C) You don’t have to worry about anyone spray-painting “Honky Lips” on the side of your vehicle.
D) Both A & B
QUESTION #5: WHAT ARE OTHER COSTS OF OWNERSHIP TO CONSIDER?

A) The deprecation rate of specific models.
B) The amount of investment needed for the upkeep of fuzzy dice to hang from the review mirror.
C) Insurance rates for the model.
D) Costs of hydrolic jacks for your tires
E) Both A & C

QUESTIONS #6:IS IT IMPORTANT TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT VIA PHONE BEFORE YOU GO FOR A TEST DRIVE?

A) Yes. This will give you an idea of the business atmosphere.
B) Hell no. Show up in last year’s Halloween costume and scream, “It’s party time.”
C) All of the above.
D) None of the above.

QUESTION #7: Should you let the salesman’s pitch distract you while you test drive.
A) Absolutely. Show the man some respect. He’s got some stories to tell.
B) No, so turn up the radio as loud as you can on the Spanish language station.
C) No. Listen for the sound of the car and try to drive on a terrain similar to your normal driving route.
D) ALL OF THE ABOVE

QUESTIONS: #8: WHERE ARE GOOD PLACES TO RESEARCH YOUR FUTURE VEHICLE?
A) The Internet
B) Newspapers
C) Dealerships
D) A meeting of the Ron Howard fan club.
E) All but D.

ANSWERS
1) A
2) A
3) D
4) D
5) E
6) A
7) C
E

CONGRATULATIONS! AND GOOD LUCK IN FINDING THE RIGHT CAR FOR YOU!

Tips on Donating a Car to a Charity or Giving Cold Cash

admin — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:21:41 +0000

There were some pretty nice car sales to benefit charity in this year’s Pebble Beach auctions but unlike with the least expensive car donated selling for over $50,000, they are not the run of the mill type of auction. For the rest of us who have cars that we no longer use, need or want, changes in charitable donations have been tightened up quite a bit in the last couple of years and if you are considering donating a car to benefit your favorite non-profit, there are a few things that you may want to consider.

If the car being donated is valued at more than $5000 then an appraisal needs to be done by a qualified appraiser no more than 60 days before your tax deadline (including any extensions). Whether the car is worth more than $5000 or less, the charity will provide you with the amount that the car sold for and that can be itemized on your Schedule A of your From 1040. It is important to remember that deductions cannot be more than 50% of your adjusted gross income. In the case of the Corvette Z1 that was recently sold at RM Auctions in Pebble Beach to benefit GRACE Charity, the sellers/donors would, in theory, be able to deduct the appraised fair market value (FMV), in this case the MSRP, of $118,000 while the buyer was able to deduct the amount that they bid over FMV (the high bid was $151,252.oo) minus the buyer’s premium which was paid to RM Auctions except in this case the sellers had stipulated that only the amount over the MSRP would be donated to GRACE and therefore the only portion which was deductible.

If the amount if the car exceeds $500 then Section A of Form 8283 must also be completed and you must have a written acknowledgment from the charitable association on or before your taxes are due. Publication 526 on the IRS website has the qualifications for charitable organizations. Once the charity sells the car they have 2 years to notify the IRS of the sale and provide you with a copy of the form it sends to the IRS notifying them of the sale and the amount that it sold for.

Because they have 2 years however, it is often easier for you to sell your car yourself and donate cash to the charity directly. Your charity will often benefit more by making a donation this way because in most cases charities use third party services to sell the car on their behalf at wholesale auctions where the deductible amount can end up being less than FMV. Selling a car private party will bring more money and establishes a documented FMV while your charity gets more money and you get to deduct more.

For more information, always talk to your accountant before you decide to take the charitable plunge and make sure that you do all of the steps correctly. It will be worthwhile for everyone!

Miss Motor Mouth » Selling

FIND THE RIGHT CAR THAT WILL MAKE YOU GO “OH YEAH!” QUIZ

Tips on Donating a Car to a Charity or Giving Cold Cash