We get a lot of calls from people who don't know what to do with their car and are exhausted from the back and forth with their current mechanic. After 6 months of dealing with a persistent dead battery, the owner of this car called me to see if we had something else.

He had already replaced the starter, the alternator (twice) and was just swapping out batteries every other day to get by. The issue had progressed to stalling out while idling and he was ready to get rid of it.

We offered to have one of our trusted shops look over it and cover the diagnostic fee. The shop found that the relearn procedure was never done correctly after the first dead battery and was causing most of his issues.

They completed a thorough assessment to cover any other remaining maintenance items which the owner covered. From there, we worked with him to help complete a few of the smaller items in order to save them a couple bucks after all their troubles with shops the last few months. Now they have a car that runs fantastic and a local shop they can trust in the future!

Placing some cars is hard. With a 35 year old manual transmission, it gets hard to find people in need of a vehicle that can take care of some of the unique challenges that a car this age can present. Especially with Volvos being one of the more difficult cars to work on.

Thankfully, we actually new a younger mechanic in need of a more reliable car for his family and this fit the bill. No more needle nose pliers to open the car door!

Mikey was thrilled with his new vehicle and was able to address some of the minor maintenance items it needed to make it reliable for him and his family. 

Another unique situation but one we were glad to be a part of. We fixed this vehicle up for the current owner who had plans to give this to a Neighbor in Need. They got a significant quote to do one repair on the vehicle. For one third of the price we were able to do the repair as well as all of the following: 

• Replaced all engine mounts, harmonic balancer, front main seal, belt tensioner, serpentine belt, spark plugs, battery, air intake hose, center console lid, vtec solenoid, and floor mats

• Soldered broken radio board to repair radio screen and display

• Polished headlights

• Fixed broken door lock actuator on front passenger door (would only lock/unlock manually)

• Detailed interior of vehicle and acid washed rims

Original Quote: $900
Total parts cost: $327.87

Thanks to volunteers with knowledge to do repairs like these, we are able to provide massive cost savings on projects like this in order to continue to provide reliable transportation to those in need.

This 2013 Dodge Charger was donated to us by a customer of a third party shop that had been referred to us by a friend. It was in need of some work and the customer opted to donate it, rather than fix it up for themselves.

Work Completed:

Replaced all struts and front end suspension
AC Recharge and hose replacement
Replaced cooling hoses
Replaced Engine and Transmission Mounts

Back to back minivans is nothing short of amazing. We've had a lot of requests for family transportation and it's so awesome to start having donations that can fill those needs. This 2009 Sienna was well maintained by its previous owner and is not in need of much. There are a few small codes to address and then some detail work, but otherwise road ready in it's current shape.

This went to an awesome family with twins on the way who had their car AC stop working and were already considering shopping for a new vehicle but didn't have the funds. We were able to work out an arrangement to get them into the a van that suited their needs.

Work Performed:

-AC Recharge
-New Coil Packs and Spark Plugs + any necessary gaskets
-Interior Detail
-Headlight restoration
-New Rear hatch struts

This vehicle showed significant promise when we receved it. The A/C was cold and it started up reliably. Unfortunately, after further investigation it became evident that more work was needed than we were able to put in without becoming upside down in value for the car. A decision was made to sell it as a mechanic special in order to provide additional funding for other projects down the line. We are eternally grateful for all donations, even when we're not able to pass them on as it still provides additional funding to continue our mission of providing reliable transportation to those in need.

I kinda chuckled when I got the call for this car, seems the majority of our donations are from 2007, this is our 5th car out of 14 that we've had be a 2007 model. Something about cars from those years seems to keep them running. This car had a timing belt ticking and let me tell you, it was a time bomb ready to go off. Thankfully it was caught with just enough time and we were able to get it fixed up for the next owner. As a tall guy, I'm happy to have a full size sedan that's a little easier to fit in during test drives.

This car went to a  young lady who was heading off to college and needed something reliable to get around in.

Work done:

-Replaced timing belt
-Rear brake caliper replaced, new fluid, and new rear brakes
-New radiator cap
-New battery
-New battery cables to correct no start condition
-Replaced worn driver's door lock cyliner and programmed x2 new keys for the new owner.

This car was donated by someone who found out about us by word of mouth. Despite being 25 years old, this car is one of the cleanest cars out there. It's all done and ready to go to it's new owner who's saving up for a major repair on his current vehicle. Once he's able to save up to repair his car, he's going to pass it on to someone else on our list of people in need!

Work done:

-Replaced Alternator
-Fixed multiple  oil and vacuum leaks due to age of vehicle
-New Suspension
-Fixed driver's door  latch
-Replaced knock sensors
-New spark plugs and valve cover gaskets

This car was donated to us by a member of our church who was having a hard time selling it so they decided to donate instead. The car went to a single mother from another church who's van was in disrepair. Pictured is the pastor who picked it up to be delivered to the new owner.

Work done:

-4 New tires
-New Timing Belt
-Valve Cover Gasket, Valve Cover, Spark Plugs, Coil Packs
-Addressed Cooling system issues
-Fixed A/C fan speed motor
-New Clearcoat
-Repainted hood and roof

Another car we had donated to the cause. Our first car with a leather interior and honestly, cause for most of the concern in fixing this up to the level of quality we want for our vehicles. It's a work in progress but it's slowly coming together. It's our final vehicle for the 2023 (as far as we know) and it's on par to have the biggest transformation in quality

Work done:

-4 New tires
-Completely new A/C system
-Valve Cover Gasket, Valve Cover, Spark Plugs, Coil Packs
-New pads and rotors
-New front hubs, lower ball joins, lower control arms, upper control arms, tie rod ends

We had high hopes for this car when it was donated. This was one of the newest vehicles we've ever received and the exterior and interior were in great shape. Unfortunately there were a few too many concerns we had about the long term benefit to our clients if we fixed up what was already needed and gave it away. We instead opted to sell it to help fund some of the other vehicles we did later on down the line.

Another church find was this 2005 corolla. It's a no nonsense car that was well maintained inside and out. We were offered below market price as the seller told us he wanted to help out but also needed some cash to help pay down some of his new car debt.

Thankfully this car only needed new brake pads and a valve cover gasket. We did spark plugs and coil packs to be sure it was in tip top shape, gave it a quick vacuum and then dropped it off at it's new home. Because of the quick turnaround we don't have many pictures of it other than what you see here.

Fall 2023 Update:

The recipient of this vehicle was able to save up for a different vehicle and passed this on to her sister who also needed a vehicle for an affordable price.

This car sat for over a year before we were contacted. It definitely needed a lot of work and was probably the fastest we've decided to not fix up a vehicle. There was a known issue with the head gasket and when we started it up there was a severe engine knock. 

We were able to get $500 for the vehicle which was put into future vehicle repairs.

The recipient of the 2011 Honda Civic gave us this van as part of the exchange. Unfortunately this vehicle was too much work for us to accomplish with the resources we had at the time. 

We were able to get $1,000 for this vehicle which went into repairs on other vehicles we were working on.

In April of 2022, someone offered us this car at a cheaper than market rate so we could try out our plan to offer affordable cars to people in need.

We took big hit on this car but learned a lot of lessons about handling costs in a more effective way by creating a rubric for how we approach future cars.

This car was purchased by a college student with limited funds for a price below market rate and is still going strong. While it had the most time and money invested in it of all our cars since, it unfortunately continued to have issues even after the student purchased it. After 2 years, they decided to sell it and get a different vehicle.

In the summer of 2024, this car was totaled by a red light runner and the owner contacted us about sourcing a replacement. We did not have a vehicle at that time to help place them with.