The problem isn’t that the car isn’t worth the book value. As the article stated, you can only deduct the price that the car gets at auction. The problem is that you deduct the gross auction price rather than the net amount that the charity can use. It comes back to the question of how much overhead a charity should have (see also Dan Pallotta’s talks that have been making the rounds).
What I don’t understand is what prevents a for-profit service that provides hauling, and returns to you the auction proceeds minus hauling fees and zero value insurance. Then car owners would have a real choice between pocketing ~50% of the car value and giving it to charity and getting only ~30% as a tax deduction, and they would be less likely to give the car to an unsavory profiteer.
Assuming your car has to be towed away (for whatever reason), financially, your best bet is to probably sell it to a junk yard. They will tow it for you, and throw you a couple hundred bucks.
My impression was that towing is more about convenience for the donor rather than operability of the car. This way, people donating cars don't have to coordinate dropping off the vehicle at a location and then getting home.
What I don’t understand is what prevents a for-profit service that provides hauling, and returns to you the auction proceeds minus hauling fees and zero value insurance. Then car owners would have a real choice between pocketing ~50% of the car value and giving it to charity and getting only ~30% as a tax deduction, and they would be less likely to give the car to an unsavory profiteer.