These are not "shady" deals, but I think that all 3 favor the dealership, and not the auto owner. 1. Extend the warranty from 5 to 7 years for $1480 and get the money back if no claims. This is a free loan of $1480 to the dealer for 7 years and it probably does not cover much, maybe just the drive train. These parts are already warranteed for 5 years. What happens if the dealership changes hand, goes out of business, or re-incorporates before the 7 years is up? These days, auto dealerships are very fluid and a long term, fixed business arrangement for 7 years is more rare than new dealerships. Do you thnik you will own this vehicle for 7 years? What happens to your money if you replace this vehicle within 5 years? 2. Rust proofig for $848 or more option at $1248. The time to add rust proofing to a vehicle is when it is new and the surfaces are clean. This one is a maybe. Some sources say it is wasted money. It all depends on what is done. If it merely duplicates the coatings already placed by the manufacturer, it is not very helpful. It may offer some protection if you live on a gravel road where the undercarraige gets pelted with stones on a regular basis. If they add coatings to the interior of the doors, be careful here. Too much in the wrong place can gum up the workings of electric door locks; It can plug door drains. If you live in the "rust belt" where road salts are used extensively, it may some added value. This one is a judgement call. 3. Accident and health insurance. This is assurance (to the dealer) that you'll have cash to pay off the loan in case of debilitating accident or sickness to you. Very likely, it will be written to the effect that in case of accident or illiness, the car loan is the first item to be satisfied. If you are employed, have adequate health and life insurance, this is not needed. For a long trerm loan, say 5 years, the dealer (and loan agency) is very anxious to make sure that the loan covered.

I'd start with craigs list too Linda. You said about 600 to get in running and then some body work. For the most part body work and paint cost more.... so if that damage is limited don't sell yourself short on the asking price. Be sure and repost your ad often too. Those lists load up fast and you will be many pages down in short order. If you decide to donate I know some community colleges and vo-tech schools will come and pic it up for you. Some even have a budget for buying cars/trucks for their classes. We had a family friend that was a instructer for this course at one of our vo-techs. I know you just outside of a major metro area so I'm thinking you will have no problem what ever you decide to do. David

Like spewey, I live in a state with no state income tax. We do have a sales tax of 8.4% to 8.6% (depending on the county). So, for us, it's a no-brainer. I saved all of our sales receipts this year because we finished out basement and bought some big ticket items. It's tedious. I clip them together and try periodically to add up groups of them. Then I put them in an envelope, rubberband it together and write the total on the outside of the envelope. So far I have about 6 envelopes and another stack to add up. But the total is way over the amount the table give us.

Definitely give your tax accountant a call. You have many more issues than this to discuss with him/her. You need to have everything set up as efficiently and properly as possible so that at the end of the tax year, you hand him/her a workable stack of information. Your tax accountant isn't just there from Feb-April--he's there all year. I give mine a call anytime I have a question that pertains to what's going to be happening to my taxes. He's happy to offer advice, many times he doesn't even charge me. AND by asking ahead of time, you often have the option of setting things up in the most favorable way for you. There are legal ways to reduce your tax liability, but you need to be getting good advice, so you don't make costly mistakes. Please call your tax accountant a call--this is what they do. And if you don't have one--with going into this investment, now's the time to get one.