adobian

On Friday I pulled my car into a space in the parking lot of a college, and I heard grind noises. Next thing I know the gears would not engage anymore. So I parked the car a went to class and when I came back, the car rolled forward and hit 2 other cars, causing scratches. Police officer had to put a rubber road block to stop the car from rolling further. Now I have to deal with insurance and all.

Anyhow, the car I paid for $5000, drove for 3 years, put on 60000 miles. I am thinking of donating to charity to claim tax. What should I remove from the car to sell as parts? I am thinking of the 4 x 18 inch AT Italia Chrome Wheels., the radio+ amplifier and speakers, and the Climate control Center. What do you think?

It's such a beautiful car.
I should have traded in as Cash for Clunkers. Stupid me.
I am in San Jose California.

I bought it from a mechanic 3 years ago at 125K miles. He put on a rebuilt tranny when it was 112K. There is that infamous clunking when downshifting to a halt and I lived with it for 3 years. Lately, every time I stop not too smoothly, the tranny goes into limping mode and I had to restart the car to reset it.

My next car is a $700 Geo Metro. Not sure how I will survive with that, but perhaps until I get out of school for good.

Et Cetera

Take a look at this:

http://www.internetautoguide.com/aut.../a8/index.html

adobian

Thanks very much. I will call Audi tomorrow to see what they say. I hope they would volunteer to tow it in.

adobian

But even if this locking cable was the problem, I should have been able to at least shift the gear to reverse and forward, correct?

Et Cetera

I would have your local Audi dealer look at it before making any assumptions, but it sounds like it would have something to do with it. See what they say and go from there, then you know for sure.

jfrahm

Sorry to hear about that, but you had a good run and the car is still worth something.

You can't really donate cars for a big writeoff anymore. You only get documentation for what the car sells for after donation, not the value you want to write off.

From one of the car donation sites FAQ:
"The IRS allows you, the taxpayer, to claim a tax deduction of (a) the value of your vehicle up to $500 or (b) if we sell the vehicle for more than $500 we will mail you a completed IRS tax form 1098-C with that value for your tax purposes. "

So if your car is worth $500 but might only sell for $150 or so you can benefit from donating it, otherwise it's just an easy and charitable way of getting rid of it.

-Joel.

adobian

Thanks for helping me.

adobian

I called Audi Customer relation today. They asked me tow the car to the dealer, but they said the recall is related to the rollaway, but not the transmission problem.

Well, both of these happened at the same time.

awdee

I sounds like the shifting locking cable was not replaced under the recall campaign started about a year ago. The dealer will replace the shifting locking cable. As for your transmission, that's another story. When was the last time your transmission was serviced?

jfrahm

I have not thought much about it, but I suppose it could just be a broken driveshaft or disconnected axle and not the transmission at all. Offhand I do not know if the center diff would hold the car if one of the axles or driveshafts broke, or axle to flange bolts backed out, or the splines stripped. I suppose not. The car would probably roll.