Vehicles For Change in
Halethorpe (MD)

I love this place. Great people, great service. They gave a mechanic shop that won't take advantage of you. I'm a single mom, oblivious to anything vehicle related. Just thankful I found this place.

I donated my (beloved original owner) 2013 Ford Flex two months ago to this organization. The tow truck was at my house within 24 hours after making the donation request on the excellent website. I messed up the title (my bad), but the (professional and friendly) tow truck driver and donation coordinator said "no problem", took the car and gave me a receipt. I needed to get a replacement title from DMV and send it to the donation coordinator who was very responsive and helpful - big shout out to Donation Coordinator Karleigh G.! I was kept informed by email throughout the process of having their mechanics certify the vehicle and then putting it up for sale at Freedom Wheels, a retail used-car lot that is open to the public. The car sold in about four weeks (I was very happy with the purchase price) and the 1098c tax form was emailed to me immediately. All in all - a very smooth and painless process. I vetted this organization on Charity Navigator before the donation and it is a top-rated 501(c)(3) organization. They have a solid mission: Vehicles for Change (VFC) empowers families with financial challenges to achieve economic and personal independence through car ownership and technical training. I also vetted the CEO, Martin Schwartz and was impressed with his vision and leadership. I would highly recommend engaging with this organization for car donations.

CanNot sing my praises enough for vehicles for change. I had cleared out my car and was tucked into bed for the night and realized I had forgotten a medal that had been on my mother‘s casket 34 years ago was still in the car tied to the sunvisor. I reached out to Marty and he reached out to Karleigh and this morning that metal was returned to me!!! My mother‘s motto was live for others and I try and practice that. I feel this company is doing the same and my next car requiring donation will absolutely come here. Thank you for all you do at vehicles for change.

I would advise against donating a car to this organization for them to sell on their lot. It has been over 3 months and no one will return my calls to see what is going on with the car. Very disappointed.

program is okay. the staff there are very sensitive and extremely biased, you will get kicked out for having boundaries! and they give no warning or no reason for kicking anybody out. the teachers barely teach on the daily everybody is only there for a check! and they said u get paid but they are allowed to take money away with no reasonings. if ur check is short u just have to deal with it. honorable mentions: ms.janae is the worst staff member she is extremely unprofessional. she is cery rude and dosent give respect to none of the students.

This place changed my life they have a program to help people learn a trade plus a service shop for your automotive repairs come check it out at 4111 Washington Blvd 21227

Such an amazing staff here! I’d like to thank Chris, Mike, and Mr.Mohammad for taking care of my car and being so attentive, informative and kind to me and my partner. As someone who’s very cautious with people in any automotive industry it’s easy to feel overwhelmed getting anything that’s car related fixed/worked on. You guys went above and beyond with the work and even putting on a new plate for us haha. Will definitely come again, thanks so much!!

Don't donate your vehicle to this place. Super unprofessional and told me they couldn't find the title after three months from the date of donation! I donated my car back in December 2023. I followed the instructions they provided in the email and they still lost the title. I have yet to receive a resolution from them about this. It's truly not worth the hassle of donating your vehicle to this place. You would only waste a lot of time trying to get this resolved.

A few weeks ago I had tired for several days off and on to get someone to answer the phone.I left a message no one returned my call. I was looking to donate two cars to the organization. I had seen the organization spokes men on the news and on a talk show. I thought the cars would benefit them. I told the young woman who answered the phone that I had been trying off and on for several days for someone to answer the phones. She then became extremely unprofessional and very callous. I told her it not very welcoming way to treat car donors. She then made a sarcastic noise. I told her lack of enthusiasm and lack of engagement in our conversation was not professional for a receptionist. She then went on to correct me to say she is the administrative assistant to the vice president of the something department ( I did not really catch the department or her superiors name from either one). I asked to speak to her superior, and I asked for that persons name. She said it's Ms S?. I asked to put me in touch with her. She abruptly put me on hold. After a few minutes Ms ? answered. I told her I was trying to donate two cars to the organization and the other young woman was very unprofessional and because of her poor etiquette I could not converse with the person I needed to. Ms S?? then said she believed her assistants side of the story and I was the one out of line and rude to her. She then hung up on me. Neither the first woman or myself tones were out of line or implied loud) Wow if this is the way your treated people trying to donate cars. This is very unsettling. I donated the cars to another charity. It saddens me to have had this happen. Maybe we can try again in the future. Hopefully management sees this review and speaks to the two woman and have a more pleasant person who can answer the phone when someone calls. The organization has a great cause. Otherwise I would have never attempted to donate to the cars to them. Thank you hopefully for taking the time to read this review it is my first ever and hopefully my last. Winkler Automotive referred them to me. Tiana Johnston

I can only review what I have gone through thus far. I am a recipient of the award program, and I highly thank God that it still exist. I am leaning on faith as I was approved back in August. Due to someone leaving short notice, I am still awaiting my vehicle. But I trust the process always, and stand on my blessings. I wish there was a way that I could help them out more as they help others, but I will just lead with have faith. They are doing the best they can, and further more they are blessing thousands between two states. The process is very lengthy, so if you are using public transportation while you wait still bundle up. I first heard about this program when I first had my son, and 10 years later I now need them as my car broke down at the beginning of the year. Trust the process everyone. I will be back for an update soon!

I seen this charity on Kelly Clarkson Show, they do great work for those who are in need of a car. This is a great thing taking donations and giving them to families in need. They could really help my family out, my wife needs one for bringing kids to school when school starts.

If I could give negative stars, I would I got this car and was told it was gonna be reliable and Hondas are they last for a while yet not even a week or two after I got my car I had to replace all my brake pads then the following month, the CV joint went out and I had problems for about a year constantly buying new parts and fixing parts and finally the car broke broke a broken ball joint, the other cv joint, probably the brake line. The rack and pinion steering along with a bunch of other things that should not have broken in a little over a year I do not recommend them to anyone at least when you’re buying a car from them

To Martin and the wonderful Team, as one of your Clients for 2 years now. It's very rare to see Great mechanics with compassion and expertise. My experience started first with Mr.Yatch who is very Kind and then John my mechanic who takes care of my car! Can you believe that at my last visit they all stayed more than 30 min extra just because they had to fix my car? hence I was offered a ride home free of charge in case my car won’t be finished the same day!! Thank you for the work you and your amazing Team do!!!!!! Gas-

Took my car here to be serviced, for 4 tires and an oil change it saved me over a $100 dollars on a quote I got for the same work at Goodyear. Would highly recommend!

I referred a person who needed to have repairs to his car in order to be self sufficient & work as opposed to getting on government assistance. Vehicles For Change repaired his vehicle in under a week at an affordable price!! Other places he had tried wanted thousands of dollars he could not afford. This enabled this young man to actually go to work the very next day!! This place touches the lives of more than the person buying or repairing a car; it saves tax payers money by allowing people to go to work instead of needing to rely on welfare. It also allows inmates to obtain a skill they can use and helps lower the recidivism rates. I take my hat off to you Vehicles For Change. I encourage everyone who can to donate to this organization. If you don't have a vehicle to donate, please consider donating money to keep this GREAT program going.

I was so excited when I got blessed with a vehicle. I been having problems with it since the day I picked it up and now I'm having new issues with them over something that was the fault of a former employee but I have to suffer. 2 years of stress. I'm very disappointed. Now I have to deal with more stress and get my Attorney to help me.

We decided to donate or vehicle to Vehicles for Change because not only do they give vehicles to needy families, they teach inmates to work on the vehicles so that they have real skills when they get out of incarceration. The program has a huge success rate measured by a low recidivism rate for the inmates. We did a lot of research into how much of the money and vehicles donated go to needy families and such and we're very impressed. When we decided to donate we were given the option of having the vehicle picked up by a tow truck or we could drop it off at their location in Halethorp. We chose to drop it off since we're less than an hour away. The staff were super friendly and had us out of there in less than 10 minutes. They even offered to remove the license plates for us! We have even changed our Amazon Smiles to Vehicles for Change!

Highly qualified and outright the best I haved ever dealed with very good at what they do and efficient. Will always recommend them to everyone. Just to add they are quick too.

Horrible experience and would never go there again. I never do reviews, but need to make sure they have no opportunity to do this to anyone else. The vehicle we purchased was sold from under us after we had already rendered payment. When we arrived to pick it up we were informed of internal incompetence, given our payment back and offered no more than an oil service or auto detail. Unprofessional and poor customer service integrity.

Damon demonstrated a high level of customer service. He provided the knowledge needed to resolve the concerns with my vehicle. Thank you!

My 1st experience was a great one I will return in the future I loved the fact that I could make an appointment online and correspond thrue email and text I'm very busy and dont have time to pick up most calls when they come in thanks for the great service and attention to the details

This was my first time here and I’m very happy with the service. Damon (I believe that’s his name) was very nice. I only wish they would have put one of those stickers on my windshield with the date of my next oil change so I remember.

I just donated my vehicle to Vehicles for Change. My mother (who is now deceased) received her vehicle from this organization after recovery from drugs. She talked highly of this program and often referred people to it. I decided to "pay it forward" and donate my vehicle, and I'm glad I did. Ms. Carolyn was always pleasant via email, helping to make tow arrangements for me. My experience with the tow person, Mr. Jesse, was very pleasant as well. He went above and beyond for me and was flexible with my circumstances. When he arrived to my home to tow my vehicle, he was polite and very willing to help. He answered my questions and explained the donation process to me. The customer service was great and I'm glad I made the choice to bless someone else with my donation through this organization!

While I admire this organization and did in fact donate my car to them, I cannot recommend them to my family or friends simply because I have been plagued for months by erroneous communications regarding pickups and titles for vehicles that do not belong to me. I have spent untold phone calls and emails trying to help them rectify these situations. I don't exaggerate when I say I must have had contact with at least 10 different people, most of whom had no record of any off my previous contacts. As someone who could have simply ignored these communications, but instead was trying to help, I was treated poorly, as if they expected me to figure out their errors. I also had a bad experience with the pickup of my vehicle. Two different companies called me to schedule a pickup, and neither arrived at the time scheduled, but days ahead, with no call in advance. Extremely unprofessional! A good cause--but be prepared to spend way more time dealing with VFC than you should.

These guys and gals do a great job getting your less than perfect vehicle back in operation and on the road for hard working folks who lack transportation to some of our harder to get to jobs. In the process, good people learn new skills and a highly marketable mechanics certification! Or they sell your old wheels and get YOU a get a tax deduction. (At least for now....). VFC is easy to work, dependable and efficient in the process.

I started the day in the rain on 95 when a truck ran into me and knocked off my driver side mirror. I never noticed how much I used that mirror and could not drive my car. I somehow found my way to Washington Avenue and knew that is where Vehicles for Change was. Little did I know after hearing Marty Schwartz, the president of this great company that gives so much back to the community and gives people second chances at life such as ex-offenders, on WTOP radio over the years that I'd ask AAA to one day tow me there. My experience was outstanding. Everyone was so nice and courteous. The work done on my car took a half hour at that. I loved the place and I LOVE their mission. Please consider getting your car fixed at Vehicles for Change, making a financial donation of donating your car if you don't need it anymore. It will make a huge difference in a lot of people's lives!! Thanks VFC! Every good wish, Chris Falkenhagen

I would have rated VFC higher, but I am disappointed by their total lack of follow-up to a request I had. We donated our car, and it ended up in the hands of an eligible recipient. However, after donating our car, we remembered that our EZ Pass transponder had been left in the car. We followed up with two phone calls and were promised each time that someone would get back to us about the transponder. Unfortunately, no one followed up with us. Then I sent VFC an e-mail, but once again there was no follow-up by them. I just got a new transponder.