Wednesday, March 24, 2004

Who wants a van?

My husband has a van that has an oil leak. His health won't allow him to do the work necessary to fix it. I don't know how and have even less interest in learning how. It would probably cost more to fix it than it's worth - especially to us.

We've been trying to donate it to a worthy cause, but no one wants it. It has to be driveable before anyone will take it. It's an older model, but it's not a pile of junk, the only thing wrong with it is the oil leak. For someone who knows what they are doing, this might be a fairly simple job - especially since my husband is willing to sign the title over if someone will just tow it away.

Explain to me, why would a charitable organization advertise that it will tow your vehicle (the catch is they get to keep it - hint hint), but they will not take it if it can't be driven? Why make a point of saying you'll tow it? Why can't they be honest and say that they want you to donate your car, but it has to be in good condition, everything working, including the dashboard clock, and it must have a full tank of gas?

This same organization used to advertise that they would take inoperable TV's to teach their clients to fix them and then re-sell. When I had a TV to donate, they didn't want it because the horizontal hold wouldn't. Hold, that is. I can understand that today's electronics, such as TV's, are more complicated than they once were. It's not a matter of simply changing a tube or two (does that really date me?). I called this organization only because I had seen their ad espousing their desire to teach their clients how to fix TV's.

I understand their need (all charitable organizations, for that matter) to receive working, good quality merchandise. After all, it's either given to the needful (I hate the term needy) or sold and the profits go to help those same needful. To take something that needs to be fixed could eat into the profits. I really do get it.

My main gripe is that billboard that says they'll tow. I admit that the billboard says nothing about the vehicle being operable or not. Still, I keep coming back to why would anyone need to tow an operable vehicle. If it were operable, the charitable organization would be able to drive it away - a tow truck wouldn't be necessary. No keys? I'll give you that one. Maybe a widow who doesn't drive giving away her late husband's car. I'll give you that one too.

Anyone got any ideas?