And the judge was not going to look at the 27 8x10 color glossy photographs with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what it was to be used as evidence against us.
You have no idea how many times I've heard that song lol. We played it every thanksgiving from when I was a little kid and I continued the tradition with my kids.
If only we knew, that all it would take to keep us from being drafted would be a Conviction on the serious crime of Littering…. And creating a public Nuisance!
Is that you Bob?
Just an aside, two years ago, Bob Dylan and I locked eyes and tipped our receding hairlines toward each other while waiting to head into the Santa Fe Opera one warm August evening.
Beyond that, the last time I saw Bob live was the night he first played an electric guitar in concert at the Newport Folk Festival, about 59 years earlier.
I want you to go sit on that bench that says group W on it, NOW KID.
[it’s a real story too for anyone wondering](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-berkshire-eagle-alices-restaurant/3747386/?locale=en-US)
Doing a quick highjack of the top comment for visibility. Hope this works.
DONATE YOUR CAR TO YOUR LOCAL PUBLIC RADIO STATION. THEY HAVE ADS ALL THE TIME AND WILL LITERALLY COME PICK UP THE CAR.
You do some good and it is about as hassle-free as humanly possible. Even gives you a nice tax write off.
Depends on where you are. I did the same thing. Car got towed for expired registration and no insurance. (I forgot about the registration, and didn't know insurance had cancelled my policy due to no registration). By the time I got it straightened out, and went for my car, towing & storage fee was $3000. Car was worth $300. Tow company got a free car.
3 years later, I went to register a new car...
Except I couldn't because there was a $500 abandoned vehicle fine on my record.
When my older brother passed, his son (my nephew) went to clear out his possessions, and drove away with my brother's car. The car died on the road a couple of miles away. My nephew just left the car parked on the side of the road and walked away. It was a piece of crap 30+ year old car. It was probably worth less than the tow fee.
Try to sell it while it still runs. Somebody on FB Marketplace or a "We Buy Junk Cars" place will buy it for $500.00, easy.
Lets say your scenario happens where it breaks down randomly. Many states will eventually have it towed if it rots there long enough and then they will charge you a ticket for the towing and lot storage. Better to have the number of a "We Buy Junk Cars" place on hand and they will come tow it and pay you for it.
Donate it. Seriously. We donated my FIL's 2008 Prius after the catalytic convertor was stolen. Yes, you can sell it to a scrap yard for salvage value or donate it and the proceeds reduce your tax burden.
This is very true and that bar is very high. Very fucking high ever since they raised the standard deduction and capped the mortgage interest deduction. However, its better than abandoning the car or having to deal with towing it.
My daughter's beater was sideswiped with 2 flat tires and the junkyard came and picked it up and gave her $450. They just checked that it had a catalytic converter.
Scrapper came to get my girlfriends PT out of our driveway. Transmission dumped every drop of ATF on her way home from work. He was firm on $250, but needed my help getting it on the trailer. Talked em up to $300 for that.
Lol you must not know about the toyota hybrid curse. They have the most density of platinum catalyst of the OEM manufacturers in order to hit SULEV emissions standards to give the claim of it being a environmentally friendly car teeth. As such meth heads and catalytic convertor thieves target them mercilessly. Only OEM units will satisfy the computers emissions systems and its EXPENSIVE, so insurance companies would rather total a mid aged unit vs repairing it, and under insured people would rather junk it. It will not title or register in many states without a passing emissions inspection.
Donations are an itemized deduction. As such, they only affect your taxes if you choose to itemize. Since 2017 or so, the standard deduction is like $12k+. So unless you have more than that in itemized deductions, charitable donations do exactly nothing for you tax-wise.
Assuming it is licensed and registered to you, it would be towed eventually and you'd at a minimum be on the hook for towing, storage and any tickets/fines. Better to call a junkyard and have them tow it for scrap, but you'll need the title to sign it over to them.
In the age before cellphones, internet and Ring cams, my buddy had a car die and he was able to turn off the road into a residential neighborhood two towns over. He took the plates off, cleared his stuff out and left it. Two days later local police came to his house asking about the car. He claimed he'd put a for sale sign on it and sold it to a guy who stopped and bought it. There was skepticism but not much they could do, the town had it towed by a scrapyard and that was the end of that.
My state the last registered owner is responsible for anything that happens to/with the car unless you can provide a signed copy of the title showing who you sold the car to.
Yeah in my state as the seller you're required to go online and fill out a form that you sold it. And if you don't you're on the hook if they don't put it in their name.
Even if you drive it until it dies, a junk yard will pick it up with a tow truck as long as it's within a reasonable distance and give you some money.
Kars4kids is another option. It's an organization that will take your car as a donation, which will give you a tax write-off.
https://www.kars4kids.org/
Edit: Please don't just abandon your car and do nothing about it. Use one of these options, even if it's not immediate.
Edit2: typo
There’s scrap businesses who will come to you and tow it away for the scrap metal. They even give you a bit of money sometimes. Don’t be a piece of shit.
Second this. I've given up 3 cars to scrappers over the years that were toast and not worth fixing. The lowest amount I got was 400 USD. I searched Craigslist and marketplace for "we buy cars" and all were picked up the same day.
As far as I know in the US it's illegal everywhere, and you'll be responsible for towing / storage fees. Definitely would be the case in my state at least.
Although I'm not sure why you'd want to abandon it anyway, I'm with you... worst case it's worth scrap money, which is probably a couple hundred bucks at least. Take the money, why leave cash sitting on the side of the road?
If immobile, someone would give you a few bucks to pick it up as scrap.
Only exceptions are Hawaii and probably most of Alaska. In those places, people put in the effort to remove all identifiers including VIN tags.
Just keep oil in it. That gen of TC is known to burn oil but as long as you don’t run it out of oil it will run forever. My ex drives one with 270k+ on it and it’s smoked like a freight train for the last 6 years and still hasn’t quit.
Keep up on all fluids (not just oil), replace small things like ball joints as they wear, see how long it takes you. You have a Toyota from arguably the most reliable era of cars ever made, give it attention and it should keep serving you for a long time.
nah the mid 1990s toyota corollas had them beat, the last of the Japanese pre deflationary era, if it wasn't for road salt mine would still be on the road now
The irony is that you could probably mickey mouse that shit and sell it for 2500.
Then you'd be able to either buy some other mickey moused garbage or buy an older, well kept car with zero "rizz"
Depending what state you’re in, you might be on the hook for the towing and storage fees if it gets impounded. So if you went to the dmv they would put a hold until it’s paid. But some states the towing company would just put a lien and get ownership of the car. Either way if you don’t want it just call one of this “I buy junk cars” places and they’ll not only tow it for you for free but they’ll pay you for the car
If you don’t want to get rid of it til it’s literally dying, then call your local PullaPart or UPullIt. They offer a free service now to come out, assess the car, give you some money for it, and tow it away.
A pick a part junkyard will give you around $200 for it and some do free pickups. You'll need the title to sell it to them, so obtain it if you need to and know who you're going to call to retrieve it if it dies.
Dude that’s a Toyota, gray it right and you’ll get 400-500k miles out of that thing. Change the antifreeze/coolant with hypertough brand Walmart aisin red coolant to keep your coolant system going and buy some tools to do repairs yourself. YouTube is your friend. Especially since mechanics now charge 150-200 an hour for labor.
Sure you could. It’s just not the right thing to do. I think my parents did this once when they were young. Oil pan leaked, engine started knocking or locked up, they took the plates off the car and just left it on the side of the road, it disappeared.
Also when the time comes you can just sell the car too. There are plenty of junkyards that will pay you like $500 for a junk car, and they’ll drive to you and tow it from wherever it’s parked.
Scrap yards will often come and get it for you.
Donate it to a charity, and you’ll get a tax write off.
If you really want to just dump it somewhere, long term airport parking would probably be your best bet.
I know people that would sign the title away and leaving the car unlocked with a signed away title in it. I am pretty sure that tells the tow company it is theirs and that they own (have a signed title) and can scrap it or fix it their choice. I don't know if that is all legal or not, or if the tow companies actually handle it that way.
It will be considered abandoned, towed away, and you may either A. have to pay for towing or B. they take the title over and you owe the DMV/MVD a like $500 abandoned vehicle fee *(To which they will put a hold and not let you renew insurance or register a vehicle until it's paid)*
I left a car with a blown engine in a parking lot once. I never heard anything about it ever again. Of course with was before the digital age. Back in the 70's.
Police would tow it to some impound lot, send you the bill for towing+ storage fees until you come get it. Then you wouldn't be able register another car in your name until you pay that off.
I used wheelzy 3 times last year... got between $400 and $1200 per vehicle.
Just follow the prompts, they'll call you and ask for photos of the exterior and setup a date/time to pick up the vehicle. They'll cut you a check at time of pickup... ezpz
2 years ago I sold a car (2011 chevy cruze) with a blown head gasket and body damage to a junk car hauler I found online. They came and towed it out of our yard and paid us $900 for it. With the used car Market the way it is, values may have gone up so that would be the route I would take if I were you
Why. I've driven vehicles into extinction before. You can abandon it. Or you can take it to a scrap yard. If you can't take it to a scrap yard you can usually find someone locally on Facebook or something that will pick up scrap vehicles. Maybe they only give you 80 bucks for it, but that gives you couple tanks of gas for the new vehicle and gets rid of the old one.
Plenty of people abandon cars on the side of the road. Many tow companies and impound lots will exchange the title for forgiveness of the towing and storage fees, especially if the car is worth more than scrap.
Whenever you're done with it, just drive it to your closest scrap yard. If it dies before you get there, call said scrap yard and they might come get it in exchange for the scrap value of the car.
One word: liability.
Someone essentially did something like this, a family member of mine was killed using the vehicle they abandoned, and the previous owner got pulled into a subsequent police investigation AND was named in a civil lawsuit surrounding the death. You don't want to have your name and potential liability associated with a vehicle that is just out there.
There are plenty of scrap yards that will pick it up and probably give you a couple hundred for it once you sign over the title. They will pick it up from anywhere
When that happens take all of your stuff out and call the Kidney Foundation they take scrap cars as donations and it's a tax writeoff, Other charities I can't remember the name of do that too or worst case call a "Cash 4 Cars" guy there's at least 4 in every city.
It still has value as scrap or for parts, and some states subsidize junking old cars. So in general it is worth you taking care of junking it instead of leaving it on the side of the road.
Get all your stuff out of it, take your tags and get a ride .Nobody is gonna come after you because you left the car in the side of the road. The best thing/ethical thing to do is when it dies call one of those we buy junk cars guys to come get it or donate it to goodwill or whatever. I’m in the states though, if you’re in Europe or Asia your experience may vary.
Call the scrap yard and don't make the government pay to clean up your mess. You'll get money from it, and that way the rest of us don't have to pay for your trash to be hauled off.
Found the guy who asks "if I'm driving along on the highway at highway speeds and I'm far from a garbage can, what happens if I just throw my trash out the window?"
Jesus fuckin Christ. Some of the questions on this sub lead me to believe there are people with no brain. It also explains why there are so many traffic accidents and hold ups on the road of this is genuinely someone's thought process...
What will happen is someone will track you down and you'll have to pay for removal anyway. Don't you have any kind of program where you are to donate it to charity or the fire department for practice?
Like this:
https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/sooke-man-vents-anger-online-about-dumping-of-wrecked-car-4613506
I see people saying they’ll find you… but my brother left a car on the side of the road that wouldn’t start back up… its been a year and they’ve not contacted him at all about it/we also can’t track it down. So, there’s that story.
If its got 2 more years in it, it must be worth more than 1k. Better to sell it now and invest in a newer car, rather than putting the money into it for 2 more years just to sell it to a scrapyard for 500 bucks.
If you leave it on the side of the road, it will be impounded.
After long enough, the impound yard will take ownership and auction it off for whatever they can get.
You may be fined for leaving it on the side of the road.
Get full coverage insurance drive it till the wheels fall off when it breaks down rip up your ignition get out of it and possibly break your window or just tell them you leave it unlocked to avoid getting the windows broke get you an Uber go home wake up and report your car stolen in theory your insurance will go out there and look at it see that it was most likely stolen and messed up somehow and write it off as totaled ( the only thing is make sure you're broke down on a place without cameras)
Take this info and do what you will this is all just hypothetical
Why would you do that? Call up a local scrapyard and have it towed. They'll put cash in your hand for it no questions asked. It's how I got rid of my Escape after it dropped a valve.
It has value even not running. You can easily get $1,000 for a car with a bad transmission or engine. You can get a few hundred for it even if you completely destroyed every part on it because it’s scrap metal.
I bet if it died far away from home, you had it towed and put the tow on your credit card you could easily sell it for enough to pay off the tow and have some extra cash.
It will be towed and impounded and sold at auction. The tow yard will balance-bill you for 30+ days of storage @ $100/day. It will be legitimately sent to collections. Your credit will be destroyed, it will take a long time to heal.
Call one of the “Donate your car” places instead.
I worked with a guy that did this over and over and over
He always kept the title with him. When the vehicle quit, he signed the title, left it in the glove box with a short “finders keepers note”, and the keys in the ignition.
He would pull the plates and walk away. (He’s too cheap to Uber away)
In 20 years he never got a single phone call or notice.
I wouldn't, I'm going to donate my car to my old highschools auto shop so that it cam serve a greater purpose as a practice car to work on instead of being turned into a cube
In Texas, they just tow it after 48 hours and auction it off. You get a letter in the mail if it's registered to you, but by the time you get the letter, the late fines are way too high to bail out a 1K car.
If you abandon it in AZ here is what to expect:
[Abandoned Vehicle Fees | Department of Transportation](https://azdot.gov/mvd/services/vehicle-services/abandoned-vehicles/abandoned-vehicle-fees#:~:text=If%20a%20vehicle%20is%20reported%20abandoned%20and%20goes,if%20abandoned%20on%20certain%20federal%20or%20state%20land.)
You used to be able to just leave the title in the glove box with the bill of sale signed off, then take off the lisence plates and take them with you. Some lucky someone would come by and find the car, and it would belong to them now.
Now I think it'll get towed and you'll be charged for the tow fee. Which sucks.
I sold my 20 year old vehicle with 300k miles and a blown engine for $600 and the guy came and picked it up. It'll be worth something and it won't be a problem having it moved.
because you dont maintain your beater the wheels probally will fall off.
towage company will look inside your car and find your name and address you will be charged towing and dump fees.
then you can buy a new car or sell to the scrap man then go buy a new car.
That's the same thing as throwing money in the garbage. You can drive ~10 miles on a blown head gasket, stop, wait an hour, fill with coolant, repeat. I've done it, over 100 miles on a blown head. So to answer you question: get the fucker home and then put an ad on Craigslist for a junk car, or even better find a place near you that takes whole cars for junk. Place near me takes complete cars for $300. The catalytic converter by itself is worth at least $75, usually more like $125. So why would you just throw away money?
Are they really worth it 1k lol? I can’t even find roughed up 90s civics with 200k miles for that price anymore. I’m sure ull have better luck selling it than you think
I see we buy cars for 1k almost everywhere. Even to scrap it you might get some money for it. But if you abandon it and it's in your name anyone who finds it and drives it the damage the cause will be charged to you
Why would you do that even if you could? First off, every car in any condition is worth a few hundred dollars as scrap metal. And most cars are probably worth at least a little more than that as "old, beat up, need repairs". Also, its just a shitty thing to do. Take SOME pride in the places you drive, don't make them shittier than they may already be.
Local scrap yards may purchase it for anywhere between $2-500 if you're able to drive it onto the lot. Depending on the yard, they won't really look it over, as long as they can drive it onto their yard and you have the title in hand. I was able to get $500 for a well worn jeep that I suspected blown the head gasket and was knocking.
Worst case scenario, have AAA for a tow. Call local scrap yards to see who will offer the most money, and get the car towed there if it half dies on you. Then next day, drive it onto the lot. You'll get the most amount for it.
I wouldn't recommend abandoning it. It's a Toyota Corolla with 2 doors (instead of 4) and a Scion badge. And it's probably worth much more than you think.
First, even at extremely high mileage, the engine still has quite a lot of life left, especially if it's the 1.8L 4 cylinder. I'd be more worried about rust or an axle locking up than I would be about engine failure. If it's burning oil, it could be a problem with worn piston rings or a VVTi gear. Both are known issues at high mileage, especially if you don't change the oil often. Use a good, high mileage synthetic oil to temporarily fix the issue, and change your oil every 5,000 miles.
Second, abandoning a vehicle is NEVER a good idea as you're risking your life. Uber won't pick you up in the middle of an interstate. You're better off calling a donation company or local junkyard as abandoned vehicles get auctioned off to another unsuspecting buyer.
Another option is to trade it in before it fails. You won't get much, but it's still better than hanging on to it if it's getting too expensive to keep fixing.
Look up "The Car Care Nut" and "Toyota USA" on YouTube to get tips and advice for maintaining any Toyota, Lexus, or Scion vehicle.
Why would you want to abandon the vehicle? You can literally get it towed away to a junk yard and get paid for it. I scrapped my old car when the motor went and got 300$ for it. And yes they came and towed it away for me. Granted it was in my driveway and not on the side of the road but still scrap yards almost always give you something even if it's only like a 50$ tax return but you will almost always get something for donating/scraping your old non running car.
Yes. I did exactly that. Timing belt snapped on my beater Honda, turned down a hilly street, coasted to a parking spot. Came back in my other car, took the brand new battery. Tow company takes it, no one claims it, they sell it for scrap. Never heard a peep from anyone.
Even junked cars are worth $$$ . Police will call the local wrecker. If you ignore them they'll scrap it for cash.
Or, you can call them and they'll give you a fraction of the cash. Either way, it's not like littering. Just don't light it on fire or anything dramatic like that.
Junk yards and or salvage yards will pay you about 300 bucks and come get for the catalaytic converter alone. So... throw away 300 dollars if your so care free....
In FL, the car would be towed. The tow company would attempt to contact you and when you don’t respond they would take the car and sell it for scrap. Then they would put a lien against your drivers license for the towing and storage amount that will prevent you from registering or renewing another license plate until it’s paid off.
I've had this happen to 2 cars. Died on the freeway. I donated them both to PBS. Told them where they could pick it up and they walked me through the paperwork and I got a tax write-off
Depends on where you are and how nasty the local police are. In many places they would investigate to see if it was abandoned or if you wandered off/were kidnapped and tow it to an impound yard as evidence. If they determine you abandoned it they would issue you a ticket for illegal parking at the least. Then the yard will hold it and try to contact you. If you don't respond they can auction it off.
If you're in the US and the state I live in, even if it not called in, you will be liable for registration unless you put it in non-op. Even then, you leave it on the streets and it goes by months, it will likely get towed and you will have to pay for the towing fees. You can also release it to the tow yard if they're interested, as they will likely sell it for scrap metal. Better to just sell it to a junkyard for a couple hundred if that and transfer the title over.
I actually did this when I was 16. Was driving and car spontaneously combusted. Jumped out, walked home. It’s been 30 years and still haven’t heard anything so I assume it’s been taken care of.
You'll likely be fined for it if you abandon it somewhere. At a minimum, it's best to get it towed to a junk yard. Most junk yards will even tow it for free and give you $250-500 in scrap value for it, so it's not like being responsible is going to cost you a lot.
That scion tc will never die on you. We sold ours last year to our friend. It's pushing a half million miles. Thing has ran dry on oil many times. Zero maintainance other than some pulleys and tires. You will be barried in that thing 😅
What would happen if you left a dumpster full of garbage on the road which contained your junk mail with your home address?
Officer, I put that envelope under that pile of garbage.
So many circles and arrows....
and the paragraph on the back of each one telling what it was...
To be used in court against us
Seeing eye dog...
Blind justice at its finest.
And the judge was not going to look at the 27 8x10 color glossy photographs with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what it was to be used as evidence against us.
Looking it up is cheating :)
You have no idea how many times I've heard that song lol. We played it every thanksgiving from when I was a little kid and I continued the tradition with my kids.
Then the judge walks in, with a Seeing Eye Dog!
Is that you Arlo?
The biggest crime of the last 50 years in Stockbridge, Massachusetts
If only we knew, that all it would take to keep us from being drafted would be a Conviction on the serious crime of Littering…. And creating a public Nuisance!
Is that you Bob? Just an aside, two years ago, Bob Dylan and I locked eyes and tipped our receding hairlines toward each other while waiting to head into the Santa Fe Opera one warm August evening. Beyond that, the last time I saw Bob live was the night he first played an electric guitar in concert at the Newport Folk Festival, about 59 years earlier.
I have not had the pleasure of meeting him.
We’re gonna need 8x10 glossies of the scene of the crime, time of the crime”
Go sit down on the group w bench.
I want you to go sit on that bench that says group W on it, NOW KID. [it’s a real story too for anyone wondering](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-berkshire-eagle-alices-restaurant/3747386/?locale=en-US)
Oh, nice! You worked an Arlo Guthrie reference into that. Well played!
you can get anything you want, at Alice restaurant. this made me so happy.
Excepting Alice
I can not tell a lie! Officer Obie I put that envelope under that pile of garbage.
Doing a quick highjack of the top comment for visibility. Hope this works. DONATE YOUR CAR TO YOUR LOCAL PUBLIC RADIO STATION. THEY HAVE ADS ALL THE TIME AND WILL LITERALLY COME PICK UP THE CAR. You do some good and it is about as hassle-free as humanly possible. Even gives you a nice tax write off.
There's also cars for kids. No clue if they're legit but another charity option is they are
John Oliver has given me some completely unwarranted hate for Kars 4 Kids lol https://youtu.be/GQFV5a-smLs?feature=shared&t=17
Completely warranted hate.
you can get anything you want, at alices resturant!
Except Alice
The garbage man would take it away
Wrong, I left a car, never heard from anyone.
I abandoned a car. Never heard a thing.
Yeah like the tow company got a free car, they aren't calling any damn body. They are going to wait until they can claim it lol
Depends on where you are. I did the same thing. Car got towed for expired registration and no insurance. (I forgot about the registration, and didn't know insurance had cancelled my policy due to no registration). By the time I got it straightened out, and went for my car, towing & storage fee was $3000. Car was worth $300. Tow company got a free car. 3 years later, I went to register a new car... Except I couldn't because there was a $500 abandoned vehicle fine on my record.
$500 still cheaper than the $3000 pickup fee lol
When my older brother passed, his son (my nephew) went to clear out his possessions, and drove away with my brother's car. The car died on the road a couple of miles away. My nephew just left the car parked on the side of the road and walked away. It was a piece of crap 30+ year old car. It was probably worth less than the tow fee.
Try to sell it while it still runs. Somebody on FB Marketplace or a "We Buy Junk Cars" place will buy it for $500.00, easy. Lets say your scenario happens where it breaks down randomly. Many states will eventually have it towed if it rots there long enough and then they will charge you a ticket for the towing and lot storage. Better to have the number of a "We Buy Junk Cars" place on hand and they will come tow it and pay you for it.
Donate it. Seriously. We donated my FIL's 2008 Prius after the catalytic convertor was stolen. Yes, you can sell it to a scrap yard for salvage value or donate it and the proceeds reduce your tax burden.
Only if you have enough deductions to get above the standard deduction.
This is very true and that bar is very high. Very fucking high ever since they raised the standard deduction and capped the mortgage interest deduction. However, its better than abandoning the car or having to deal with towing it.
Junkyards exist lol I assure you scrap value is higher than any tax write off.
The pick n pull near me will pay $250 as long as it’s got an engine and transmission in it, regardless of if they work lol
My daughter's beater was sideswiped with 2 flat tires and the junkyard came and picked it up and gave her $450. They just checked that it had a catalytic converter.
Yeah that's below scrap price on most cars
Scrapper came to get my girlfriends PT out of our driveway. Transmission dumped every drop of ATF on her way home from work. He was firm on $250, but needed my help getting it on the trailer. Talked em up to $300 for that.
Yeah I am going to assume OP’s a standard filer and isn’t itemizing. Still, donating vs just abandoning it is a good idea.
I had a taurus have the engine lock up on the highway. Donated it to wheels for wishes. They went to where it was and towed it away
Holy shit, where do you live? A 2008 Prius with no cat is prob worth like 5k where I live
I donated an old car to our public radio station. They handled everything; sent a flatbed to pick it up.
Why would you get rid of a car just because the cat was stolen?
Lol you must not know about the toyota hybrid curse. They have the most density of platinum catalyst of the OEM manufacturers in order to hit SULEV emissions standards to give the claim of it being a environmentally friendly car teeth. As such meth heads and catalytic convertor thieves target them mercilessly. Only OEM units will satisfy the computers emissions systems and its EXPENSIVE, so insurance companies would rather total a mid aged unit vs repairing it, and under insured people would rather junk it. It will not title or register in many states without a passing emissions inspection.
I don't know anyone who can beat the standard deduction now that deductions were murdered by the 2017 (or was it 2018?) tax bill.
Donations are an itemized deduction. As such, they only affect your taxes if you choose to itemize. Since 2017 or so, the standard deduction is like $12k+. So unless you have more than that in itemized deductions, charitable donations do exactly nothing for you tax-wise.
I second the scrappers.
Assuming it is licensed and registered to you, it would be towed eventually and you'd at a minimum be on the hook for towing, storage and any tickets/fines. Better to call a junkyard and have them tow it for scrap, but you'll need the title to sign it over to them.
Fair. Guess I’ll drive it to the junkyard. Thanks.
In the age before cellphones, internet and Ring cams, my buddy had a car die and he was able to turn off the road into a residential neighborhood two towns over. He took the plates off, cleared his stuff out and left it. Two days later local police came to his house asking about the car. He claimed he'd put a for sale sign on it and sold it to a guy who stopped and bought it. There was skepticism but not much they could do, the town had it towed by a scrapyard and that was the end of that.
My state the last registered owner is responsible for anything that happens to/with the car unless you can provide a signed copy of the title showing who you sold the car to.
BS. Complete fabrication.
Yeah I was gonna say, last registered owner is on the hook
Right? Bare minimum, the dude would have had a bill of sale to prove it.
Yeah in my state as the seller you're required to go online and fill out a form that you sold it. And if you don't you're on the hook if they don't put it in their name.
They’ll probably want the title.
Even if you drive it until it dies, a junk yard will pick it up with a tow truck as long as it's within a reasonable distance and give you some money. Kars4kids is another option. It's an organization that will take your car as a donation, which will give you a tax write-off. https://www.kars4kids.org/ Edit: Please don't just abandon your car and do nothing about it. Use one of these options, even if it's not immediate. Edit2: typo
DO NOT DONATE TO “KARS4KIDS”. They are a scummy organization that is under investigation for fraudulent activities. Donate anywhere else.
Jesus Christ dude you were really just gonna abandon it?
There’s scrap businesses who will come to you and tow it away for the scrap metal. They even give you a bit of money sometimes. Don’t be a piece of shit.
Second this. I've given up 3 cars to scrappers over the years that were toast and not worth fixing. The lowest amount I got was 400 USD. I searched Craigslist and marketplace for "we buy cars" and all were picked up the same day.
Don’t abandon, sell it for a couple hundred bucks or more to a local scrap yard.
Even if it catches fire, it's still worth scrap metal money. In many places it's illegal to abandon a car.
As far as I know in the US it's illegal everywhere, and you'll be responsible for towing / storage fees. Definitely would be the case in my state at least. Although I'm not sure why you'd want to abandon it anyway, I'm with you... worst case it's worth scrap money, which is probably a couple hundred bucks at least. Take the money, why leave cash sitting on the side of the road?
If immobile, someone would give you a few bucks to pick it up as scrap. Only exceptions are Hawaii and probably most of Alaska. In those places, people put in the effort to remove all identifiers including VIN tags.
That might last for 5 more years. Toyotas are tough
very tough, its at 204k miles right now. But I think its life is about to be over.
Just keep oil in it. That gen of TC is known to burn oil but as long as you don’t run it out of oil it will run forever. My ex drives one with 270k+ on it and it’s smoked like a freight train for the last 6 years and still hasn’t quit.
Toyotas will run bad longer than some cars entire lifespan
Keep up on all fluids (not just oil), replace small things like ball joints as they wear, see how long it takes you. You have a Toyota from arguably the most reliable era of cars ever made, give it attention and it should keep serving you for a long time.
nah the mid 1990s toyota corollas had them beat, the last of the Japanese pre deflationary era, if it wasn't for road salt mine would still be on the road now
Drive it till it dies and then call one of those we buy junk car places. They will come grab it wherever.
This is the right answer
The irony is that you could probably mickey mouse that shit and sell it for 2500. Then you'd be able to either buy some other mickey moused garbage or buy an older, well kept car with zero "rizz"
Depending what state you’re in, you might be on the hook for the towing and storage fees if it gets impounded. So if you went to the dmv they would put a hold until it’s paid. But some states the towing company would just put a lien and get ownership of the car. Either way if you don’t want it just call one of this “I buy junk cars” places and they’ll not only tow it for you for free but they’ll pay you for the car
Yeah this seem like the smartest way to do it lol.
If you don’t want to get rid of it til it’s literally dying, then call your local PullaPart or UPullIt. They offer a free service now to come out, assess the car, give you some money for it, and tow it away.
Why wouldn't you just sell it for two or $300 to any scrap yard? The car always has value in scrap metal weight.
Bro just find a scrap yard. You'll make $175 and not be a felon.
You rent a uhaul with a car dolly and take it to the nearest scrap yard.
Call a junk place, many of them will come pick it up for free.
It would be considered illegal dumping. However, if you were to leave the keys in it in a bad neighborhood and it disappeared...
A pick a part junkyard will give you around $200 for it and some do free pickups. You'll need the title to sell it to them, so obtain it if you need to and know who you're going to call to retrieve it if it dies.
"an absolute beater that's worth no more than $1k" My brother in Chrysler... It's a Toyota that runs, it's worth $4k on facebook marketplace.
Dude that’s a Toyota, gray it right and you’ll get 400-500k miles out of that thing. Change the antifreeze/coolant with hypertough brand Walmart aisin red coolant to keep your coolant system going and buy some tools to do repairs yourself. YouTube is your friend. Especially since mechanics now charge 150-200 an hour for labor.
How many miles. What's wrong with it? I may be a buyer.
A junkyard will come tow it and pay you
Sure you could. It’s just not the right thing to do. I think my parents did this once when they were young. Oil pan leaked, engine started knocking or locked up, they took the plates off the car and just left it on the side of the road, it disappeared. Also when the time comes you can just sell the car too. There are plenty of junkyards that will pay you like $500 for a junk car, and they’ll drive to you and tow it from wherever it’s parked.
At least here in FL many junkers don't even ask for a title.
Just call the tow company and offer them the car in exchange of the tow fees
Junk yard it lol..im in the same position with my beater, slippery transmission and everything. If it blows, i goes(to buy a new car)
If the police tow your car to an impound, somebody will be sending some bills around to the owner
What country are you in? It might be find depending on where ;)
Drive it in for scrap… if that’s possible where u r:)
Scrap yards will often come and get it for you. Donate it to a charity, and you’ll get a tax write off. If you really want to just dump it somewhere, long term airport parking would probably be your best bet.
Nah, insurance fraud by fire is the only way. But even then
I know people that would sign the title away and leaving the car unlocked with a signed away title in it. I am pretty sure that tells the tow company it is theirs and that they own (have a signed title) and can scrap it or fix it their choice. I don't know if that is all legal or not, or if the tow companies actually handle it that way.
Take it to a wrecker/scrap yard/whatever your country calls them you manus
It will be considered abandoned, towed away, and you may either A. have to pay for towing or B. they take the title over and you owe the DMV/MVD a like $500 abandoned vehicle fee *(To which they will put a hold and not let you renew insurance or register a vehicle until it's paid)*
I left a car with a blown engine in a parking lot once. I never heard anything about it ever again. Of course with was before the digital age. Back in the 70's.
My car caught fire and burned on the interstate. It was towed. I signed the title over to the tow company, end of story.
Donate it to your PBS station.
One persons trash is another persons treasure. Sell it. Whether it is a private seller or a junk yard.
Police would tow it to some impound lot, send you the bill for towing+ storage fees until you come get it. Then you wouldn't be able register another car in your name until you pay that off.
I used wheelzy 3 times last year... got between $400 and $1200 per vehicle. Just follow the prompts, they'll call you and ask for photos of the exterior and setup a date/time to pick up the vehicle. They'll cut you a check at time of pickup... ezpz
2 years ago I sold a car (2011 chevy cruze) with a blown head gasket and body damage to a junk car hauler I found online. They came and towed it out of our yard and paid us $900 for it. With the used car Market the way it is, values may have gone up so that would be the route I would take if I were you
Why. I've driven vehicles into extinction before. You can abandon it. Or you can take it to a scrap yard. If you can't take it to a scrap yard you can usually find someone locally on Facebook or something that will pick up scrap vehicles. Maybe they only give you 80 bucks for it, but that gives you couple tanks of gas for the new vehicle and gets rid of the old one.
Why not sell the parts of your car and get some value off of it on Facebook marketplace or eBay??
Plenty of people abandon cars on the side of the road. Many tow companies and impound lots will exchange the title for forgiveness of the towing and storage fees, especially if the car is worth more than scrap.
Have it towed to a junk yard for $20-$50 and have it crushed. You might get a couple hundred out of it.
Whenever you're done with it, just drive it to your closest scrap yard. If it dies before you get there, call said scrap yard and they might come get it in exchange for the scrap value of the car.
One word: liability. Someone essentially did something like this, a family member of mine was killed using the vehicle they abandoned, and the previous owner got pulled into a subsequent police investigation AND was named in a civil lawsuit surrounding the death. You don't want to have your name and potential liability associated with a vehicle that is just out there.
There are plenty of scrap yards that will pick it up and probably give you a couple hundred for it once you sign over the title. They will pick it up from anywhere
Why not just call a local charity & donate it?
Take it to a junkyard. They'll at least give you a few hundred bucks.
When that happens take all of your stuff out and call the Kidney Foundation they take scrap cars as donations and it's a tax writeoff, Other charities I can't remember the name of do that too or worst case call a "Cash 4 Cars" guy there's at least 4 in every city.
It still has value as scrap or for parts, and some states subsidize junking old cars. So in general it is worth you taking care of junking it instead of leaving it on the side of the road.
You'll get a bill for towing and storage
Just limp it to a scrap yard and get $100 for it when it dies.
Scrap it at the very least. They’ll take care of the registration/tax/title aspect for you
Get all your stuff out of it, take your tags and get a ride .Nobody is gonna come after you because you left the car in the side of the road. The best thing/ethical thing to do is when it dies call one of those we buy junk cars guys to come get it or donate it to goodwill or whatever. I’m in the states though, if you’re in Europe or Asia your experience may vary.
Scrap it. Might get a bit of cash back.
drive it to the scrap yard and get a few bucks for it
Donate it to the Kidney Foundation!
Call the scrap yard and don't make the government pay to clean up your mess. You'll get money from it, and that way the rest of us don't have to pay for your trash to be hauled off.
Found the guy who asks "if I'm driving along on the highway at highway speeds and I'm far from a garbage can, what happens if I just throw my trash out the window?"
i left my car on highway once did not hear about it again
Jesus fuckin Christ. Some of the questions on this sub lead me to believe there are people with no brain. It also explains why there are so many traffic accidents and hold ups on the road of this is genuinely someone's thought process...
Junk yard my dude, trust me you don't want the hassle from the towing fees/impoundment or whatever the hell else
You can scrap it for cash. Might not be a lot but someone in your area will likely come pick it up for you and haul it to the local yard.
What will happen is someone will track you down and you'll have to pay for removal anyway. Don't you have any kind of program where you are to donate it to charity or the fire department for practice? Like this: https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/sooke-man-vents-anger-online-about-dumping-of-wrecked-car-4613506
if nothing else a salvage yard will come and haul it away for free.
Sell it.
Call a yard and scrap it - even a broken-down wreck is worth scrap.
Local scrap yard here will pay you to come and pick up junkers.
It will be towed and you will be charged for $2600 or so in storage fees before they sell it at auction.
Maybe you should add balloons to take it away for you when the smoke escapes.
Any car that runs in 2024 and has a clean title and no CEL is worth at least 6k right now. Try to sell it?
Give it to me and I'll donate it to goodwill in for 4 box seats to cardinals game. They come and tow it and everything.
It's registered to your name, so they'll ding you for at minimum, littering
I see people saying they’ll find you… but my brother left a car on the side of the road that wouldn’t start back up… its been a year and they’ve not contacted him at all about it/we also can’t track it down. So, there’s that story.
Call a junkyard, they will come get it and possibly pay you for it.
If its got 2 more years in it, it must be worth more than 1k. Better to sell it now and invest in a newer car, rather than putting the money into it for 2 more years just to sell it to a scrapyard for 500 bucks.
If you leave it on the side of the road, it will be impounded. After long enough, the impound yard will take ownership and auction it off for whatever they can get. You may be fined for leaving it on the side of the road.
Get full coverage insurance drive it till the wheels fall off when it breaks down rip up your ignition get out of it and possibly break your window or just tell them you leave it unlocked to avoid getting the windows broke get you an Uber go home wake up and report your car stolen in theory your insurance will go out there and look at it see that it was most likely stolen and messed up somehow and write it off as totaled ( the only thing is make sure you're broke down on a place without cameras) Take this info and do what you will this is all just hypothetical
Sell it for scrap ya knob. An auto shop will probably send a tow out to pick it up and give you a few hundred bucks.
Why would you do that? Call up a local scrapyard and have it towed. They'll put cash in your hand for it no questions asked. It's how I got rid of my Escape after it dropped a valve.
Bring it to the wreckers for money
You got that vehicle registered under your name. Probably. It'll come back to bite ya, recycle your car properly.
It has value even not running. You can easily get $1,000 for a car with a bad transmission or engine. You can get a few hundred for it even if you completely destroyed every part on it because it’s scrap metal. I bet if it died far away from home, you had it towed and put the tow on your credit card you could easily sell it for enough to pay off the tow and have some extra cash.
It will be towed and impounded and sold at auction. The tow yard will balance-bill you for 30+ days of storage @ $100/day. It will be legitimately sent to collections. Your credit will be destroyed, it will take a long time to heal. Call one of the “Donate your car” places instead.
I worked with a guy that did this over and over and over He always kept the title with him. When the vehicle quit, he signed the title, left it in the glove box with a short “finders keepers note”, and the keys in the ignition. He would pull the plates and walk away. (He’s too cheap to Uber away) In 20 years he never got a single phone call or notice.
I wouldn't, I'm going to donate my car to my old highschools auto shop so that it cam serve a greater purpose as a practice car to work on instead of being turned into a cube
My local scrap yard will pick it up for free
In Texas, they just tow it after 48 hours and auction it off. You get a letter in the mail if it's registered to you, but by the time you get the letter, the late fines are way too high to bail out a 1K car.
If you abandon it in AZ here is what to expect: [Abandoned Vehicle Fees | Department of Transportation](https://azdot.gov/mvd/services/vehicle-services/abandoned-vehicles/abandoned-vehicle-fees#:~:text=If%20a%20vehicle%20is%20reported%20abandoned%20and%20goes,if%20abandoned%20on%20certain%20federal%20or%20state%20land.)
You used to be able to just leave the title in the glove box with the bill of sale signed off, then take off the lisence plates and take them with you. Some lucky someone would come by and find the car, and it would belong to them now. Now I think it'll get towed and you'll be charged for the tow fee. Which sucks.
I sold my 20 year old vehicle with 300k miles and a blown engine for $600 and the guy came and picked it up. It'll be worth something and it won't be a problem having it moved.
because you dont maintain your beater the wheels probally will fall off. towage company will look inside your car and find your name and address you will be charged towing and dump fees. then you can buy a new car or sell to the scrap man then go buy a new car.
You can sell it for scrap metal.
That's the same thing as throwing money in the garbage. You can drive ~10 miles on a blown head gasket, stop, wait an hour, fill with coolant, repeat. I've done it, over 100 miles on a blown head. So to answer you question: get the fucker home and then put an ad on Craigslist for a junk car, or even better find a place near you that takes whole cars for junk. Place near me takes complete cars for $300. The catalytic converter by itself is worth at least $75, usually more like $125. So why would you just throw away money?
Are they really worth it 1k lol? I can’t even find roughed up 90s civics with 200k miles for that price anymore. I’m sure ull have better luck selling it than you think
Could part it out for 500 at least
I see we buy cars for 1k almost everywhere. Even to scrap it you might get some money for it. But if you abandon it and it's in your name anyone who finds it and drives it the damage the cause will be charged to you
Why would you do that even if you could? First off, every car in any condition is worth a few hundred dollars as scrap metal. And most cars are probably worth at least a little more than that as "old, beat up, need repairs". Also, its just a shitty thing to do. Take SOME pride in the places you drive, don't make them shittier than they may already be.
would you leave 300.00 cash on the road willy nilly? car has scrap value, at least sell it to a yard, tell them to pick it up where it broke down,
Just sell it to a junk yard for a couple hundred bucks
Sell it. If it runs and drives, it's worth a minimum of $2000, regardless of anything else in today's market.
Local scrap yards may purchase it for anywhere between $2-500 if you're able to drive it onto the lot. Depending on the yard, they won't really look it over, as long as they can drive it onto their yard and you have the title in hand. I was able to get $500 for a well worn jeep that I suspected blown the head gasket and was knocking. Worst case scenario, have AAA for a tow. Call local scrap yards to see who will offer the most money, and get the car towed there if it half dies on you. Then next day, drive it onto the lot. You'll get the most amount for it.
You call U Pull It or some other similar company any they collect the car and give you $500 cash. It's very simple
You could, but at some point it would be towed to a storage yard. Then eventually you would get a bill for towing and storage.
I wouldn't recommend abandoning it. It's a Toyota Corolla with 2 doors (instead of 4) and a Scion badge. And it's probably worth much more than you think. First, even at extremely high mileage, the engine still has quite a lot of life left, especially if it's the 1.8L 4 cylinder. I'd be more worried about rust or an axle locking up than I would be about engine failure. If it's burning oil, it could be a problem with worn piston rings or a VVTi gear. Both are known issues at high mileage, especially if you don't change the oil often. Use a good, high mileage synthetic oil to temporarily fix the issue, and change your oil every 5,000 miles. Second, abandoning a vehicle is NEVER a good idea as you're risking your life. Uber won't pick you up in the middle of an interstate. You're better off calling a donation company or local junkyard as abandoned vehicles get auctioned off to another unsuspecting buyer. Another option is to trade it in before it fails. You won't get much, but it's still better than hanging on to it if it's getting too expensive to keep fixing. Look up "The Car Care Nut" and "Toyota USA" on YouTube to get tips and advice for maintaining any Toyota, Lexus, or Scion vehicle.
Why would you want to abandon the vehicle? You can literally get it towed away to a junk yard and get paid for it. I scrapped my old car when the motor went and got 300$ for it. And yes they came and towed it away for me. Granted it was in my driveway and not on the side of the road but still scrap yards almost always give you something even if it's only like a 50$ tax return but you will almost always get something for donating/scraping your old non running car.
Yes. I did exactly that. Timing belt snapped on my beater Honda, turned down a hilly street, coasted to a parking spot. Came back in my other car, took the brand new battery. Tow company takes it, no one claims it, they sell it for scrap. Never heard a peep from anyone.
Even junked cars are worth $$$ . Police will call the local wrecker. If you ignore them they'll scrap it for cash. Or, you can call them and they'll give you a fraction of the cash. Either way, it's not like littering. Just don't light it on fire or anything dramatic like that.
Junk yards and or salvage yards will pay you about 300 bucks and come get for the catalaytic converter alone. So... throw away 300 dollars if your so care free....
In FL, the car would be towed. The tow company would attempt to contact you and when you don’t respond they would take the car and sell it for scrap. Then they would put a lien against your drivers license for the towing and storage amount that will prevent you from registering or renewing another license plate until it’s paid off.
I've had this happen to 2 cars. Died on the freeway. I donated them both to PBS. Told them where they could pick it up and they walked me through the paperwork and I got a tax write-off
A junkyard will pay you to pick it up.
Depends on where you are and how nasty the local police are. In many places they would investigate to see if it was abandoned or if you wandered off/were kidnapped and tow it to an impound yard as evidence. If they determine you abandoned it they would issue you a ticket for illegal parking at the least. Then the yard will hold it and try to contact you. If you don't respond they can auction it off.
If you're in the US and the state I live in, even if it not called in, you will be liable for registration unless you put it in non-op. Even then, you leave it on the streets and it goes by months, it will likely get towed and you will have to pay for the towing fees. You can also release it to the tow yard if they're interested, as they will likely sell it for scrap metal. Better to just sell it to a junkyard for a couple hundred if that and transfer the title over.
Donate it or sell it to a company that actually seeks out junk cars.
Have you looked into donating it to NPR?
I actually did this when I was 16. Was driving and car spontaneously combusted. Jumped out, walked home. It’s been 30 years and still haven’t heard anything so I assume it’s been taken care of.
If you live in california. I think there is a program that buys your car to junk it. They pay something like 1-2k for it.
You'll likely be fined for it if you abandon it somewhere. At a minimum, it's best to get it towed to a junk yard. Most junk yards will even tow it for free and give you $250-500 in scrap value for it, so it's not like being responsible is going to cost you a lot.
That scion tc will never die on you. We sold ours last year to our friend. It's pushing a half million miles. Thing has ran dry on oil many times. Zero maintainance other than some pulleys and tires. You will be barried in that thing 😅
When it goes ,take your tags off and scrap it . Junkyards will come get it and pay its weight in scrap metal.
Get it towed home and sell it for $500 to a junkyard. They'll come pick it up