GILROY
– Look out Gilroy auto dealers. You’ve got new competition.
Well, not exactly. But it might be difficult for any car dealer
to match the offers from Gilroy Presbyterian Church, which is
selling donated cars at bargain-basement prices to help fund its
outreach programs.
GILROY – Look out Gilroy auto dealers. You’ve got new competition.
Well, not exactly. But it might be difficult for any car dealer to match the offers from Gilroy Presbyterian Church, which is selling donated cars at bargain-basement prices to help fund its outreach programs.
Cars are donated to the church by its members, who can claim the donation for a tax break. The church sells the car to raise money, and people looking for a car, boat or RV get a great deal.
“It’s almost a win-win-win, because the person who buys it gets a great car a low price,” said Robert Benich, director of car donations for the church for the past year.
The church has been accepting donated vehicles for several years with the help of volunteers Brian Kjellesvig and Lee Kalpin, but the church has picked up its efforts recently.
“Probably about a year in earnest,” Benich said. “We’ve probably sold 10 in the last year.”
The vehicles the church has sold isn’t just limited to cars, either.
“One of them was a forklift,” Benich said. “Somebody had a small manufacturing company … and I guess they didn’t need it anymore. We said, ‘Fine, we’ll give it a shot.’ ”
The forklift, an electric-powered unit with an extra high lift, didn’t last long. It sold for $1,500.
“The second or third person who looked at it bought it,” he said.
Because the church doesn’t give people money for the cars, it passes the savings on to consumers. Hoping to move the vehicles quickly, the church prices them below the going rate.
“We go below Blue Book,” Benich said. “The idea is to move them out.”
The church offers the vehicles through local newspapers and car magazines.
“We use The Dispatch, the Mercury News, Auto Trader.com,” he said.
Right now, the church is offering a deal on a 1995 Mercedes C220 – at less than $10,000.
“That is a beauty,” Benich said. “This car has everything.”
The shiny silver car has a four-cylinder engine, climate control, a sunroof, CD player and power windows and seats.
“The driver’s seat does everything but massage you,” said Benich, who has proudly kept the car parked at his Morgan Hill home while it is being sold by the church.
“We’re already getting offers,” he said.
If Benich doesn’t finalize a deal on the car in the next two weeks – about the time that the pink slip is due to be processed – he said he plans to advertise the car at $8,900.
“I doubt it will take that long,” he said.
The Mercedes was actually acquired by the church through a trade for a recreational vehicle that had been donated by a church member. While Benich was thrilled by the donation of the 24-foot 1984 RV with just 60,000 miles on it, it was a tough sale and the church didn’t have a place to store it long-term.
“It’s harder to sell an RV than a car, just like it’s harder to sell a boat than a car,” Benich said. “There’s less people looking.”
After receiving a handful of offers that were “discouraging,” Benich got a call from a person with an strange offer.
“Finally, I get a call from a man who says, ‘I am really interested in the RV, but I don’t want to pay any money,’ ” Benich recalled.
While the man didn’t want to pay any money, he did more cars at his house than he needed, and he offered to trade his Mercedes straight across for the 20 year-old RV.
“He drove up in this beautiful silver car,” Benich said
Benich looked over the Mercedes and did some research, finding that the vehicles were similarly valued.
“I said, ‘Let’s do it,’ ” he said. “It’s a vehicle that is going to sell better than the RV.
The money from the sale of the vehicles goes to fund programs like the church’s annual youth missionary work in Mexicali, Mexico, senior group events, church upgrade projects and parish nurse and health ministries, including monthly blood-pressure checks, health information seminars, blood drives and an annual health fair.
“The money that we obtain from the sale of these cars is used to supplement out regular operating budget,” said Bruce Rowlison, pastor of the church for the last 30 years.
For more information about the church’s car donation program, call 842-3000.
