Wife's bioDad died. In his car. I have questions.

So, first off, they did not have a great relationship. He was 84 and died while returning home from getting take out. They found him and the car on the side of the road.

The car, a 2011 Dodge Journey Crew 2wd with 70000 miles on it may come to us. It's in NC. We're in VT.

The tow company did not have the key fob (it went with the body) so they towed it and stored it in their yard. With the windows open and the take out on the front seat. 

My SIL picked up the vehicle yesterday. She got the key fob from the funeral home. The key was with the personal items. It's a bit of a mess inside right now thanks to some raccoons and rain. 

Apparently it nearly overheated the three miles back to the apartment complex.

Depending on the will I might be able to get it for $10. Would it be worth shipping to Vermont, diagnose the overheat, pay to have it detailed, and sell it? A prime vehicle with no rust might sell well here.

I'm wondering if the raccoons did some damage or the rain. And, if he pulled over and died while it was running or shut it off? 

I'm the king of this kind of stuff, but (personal opinion), hard pass for me.

Figure $3000 for shipping, assume that he left it running and it overheated which means at least head work, maybe used engine, and that's a three-day detailing job which may not have the desired results.  If it has that mildew smell in it, it will never leave.

Unless you (yourself) are passionate about Dodge Journeys and you're willing to pay more than it's worth to get it back to glory, I think this one is best left to the raccoons.

What's it worth shiny and clean?  Damage?

This is a pass for me as well. There are so many read flags on this.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

All good points. I am not a Dodge guy, so there is that. I'll know more once it's determined what the trust can do with the car. 

Do you think any of this would be covered by insurance?

In reply to vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) :

How much is the tow company holding the car hostage for?  You know, highway robbery in tow and storage fees. 

The car was not running if the key was in his pocket.  This era of Chrysler didn't have proximity keys; the kind where you can drive with the key still in your pocket.  

John Welsh said:

How much is the tow company holding the car hostage for?  You know, highway robbery in tow and storage fees. 

The car was not running if the key was in his pocket.  This era of Chrysler didn't have proximity keys; the kind where you can drive with the key still in your pocket.  

And even if it had, why did it shut down?  Was it out of gas when they picked it up?  If it had overheated to the point of shutting down, would it have restarted at all?

Poking around at ads it looks like it's in the range of $6-8K ?

In reply to vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) :

Insurance value might be the way to go, collect totaled value in the name of the estate if he had full coverage and run like hell.

IDK...I kinda draw the line at people dying in a car. Hearses are the exception. I'd probably let this one go on that alone....plus it's a Dodge Journey. not a Viper. 

johndej said:

In reply to vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) :

Insurance value might be the way to go, collect totaled value in the name of the estate if he had full coverage and run like hell.

Agreed.

Use the words bio hazard when you talk to insurance, should total it quick. 

I had to Google "Dodge Journey" because I had absolutely no idea what kind of vehicle this is, which tells me that, under the best of circumstances, this thing probably wouldn't have a ton of value.
 

Considering the knowns and unknowns here, I'd run away. 

Steve_Jones said:

Use the words bio hazard when you talk to insurance, should total it quick. 

This.  You'll get market value minus the deductible, which I'm certain is more than you'd get from shipping.  Even if it was liability-only, I wouldn't take the risk.  Again, no offense, but this is an absolutely disposable Dodge.  It has very little following, so it's not like someone will think it's an investment.

I totally get it if you want to close a circle for your wife's biodad.  I'll berkeleying list it on FBM to support whatever emotional weirdness she might be going through, but (to me) this is like buying a head of lettuce in SC and having it shipped because your local grocer was out of cabbage.  It's 63 cents that gets shipped for $50, and it's lettuce instead of cabbage.

We're here.  If you need help, we have you covered.  But don't ship a Journey to turn for a profit.

Mndsm said:

IDK...I kinda draw the line at people dying in a car. Hearses are the exception. I'd probably let this one go on that alone....plus it's a Dodge Journey. not a Viper. 

Shouldn't they already be dead when they get in the back of the hearse?  Or is that a throwback to ambulance-hearse days?

Raining with windows down would be an insurance claim under comp. I don't know if it would qualify as biohazard without body fluids being a factor.

If insurance won't total it, just have Copart sell it for you. I would not spend any more effort than that on it.

For $10 + shipping, is it worth flipping?   (I'm not familiar with these at all).

Raccoon feces=biohazard ? 

Diseases carried by raccoons: 

https://dem.ri.gov/sites/g/files/xkgbur861/files/programs/bnatres/agricult/pdf/raccoons.pdf

Biggest concerns would be roundworm and Leptospirosis IMO. 

Insurance claim and junk it. Or just junk it. Not worth the hassle. Or, if his estate has creditors, let them take it as part of a settlement. :-) 

By for $10 and sell as-is, where-is?

jmabarone said:

Mndsm said:

IDK...I kinda draw the line at people dying in a car. Hearses are the exception. I'd probably let this one go on that alone....plus it's a Dodge Journey. not a Viper. 

Shouldn't they already be dead when they get in the back of the hearse?  Or is that a throwback to ambulance-hearse days?

I probably could have articulated better- in meaning that yes- the body inside was in fact, just a body when it got there. Dying in something is.....something I avoid. Part of the reason I sold my stake in my grandmothers home. She didn't die in it, but MY mother did. Weirds me out. 

914Driver said:

For $10 + shipping, is it worth flipping?   (I'm not familiar with these at all).

berkeley no. 

I do believe they may actually fall on the mythical "Not even GRM will defend it list" which to my knowledge only contains the Land Rover Freelander as of right now. 

ddavidv said:

Raining with windows down would be an insurance claim under comp. I don't know if it would qualify as biohazard without body fluids being a factor.

If insurance won't total it, just have Copart sell it for you. I would not spend any more effort than that on it.

I hate to bring this up as it may seem indelicate, but if he died in the car, there are body fluids.  Possibly body solids as well.  

a dodge journey is a E36 M3box.  now with the window open, it's a E36 M3 filled E36 M3box, plus the car my wife's dad died in would not be on my list of things to bring to my home. don't touch it with a 39.5 foot pole. 

my cousin's husband offed himself with firearm in his car, splattered everywhere, sat at a tow lot baking in the sun for months, and his monster of a son asked her "can i have dad's car?"  noooooooooope. 

Most of the cars I see like this in the PnP are listed as a biohazard. Personally, I'd crush it and move on. I couldn't sell or use something like this under the circumstances.

Hard pass for me too, and I normally take a free car no matter what.

My wife has no attachment to her dad. He abandoned the family when she was 6. As the resident car guy they thought I'd be interested in the vehicle. Which is why I came to you all. 

Looks like we found the GRM "hard no."

BTW, we just discovered he had a fake identity created (full documents) to try and avoid paying alimony. A check list and everything of what to do and how to do it. The social security card is well done. The Michigan driver's license less so. Her sister is trying to find out if he ever used the documents. It appears he was talked out of it. I suspect by his mother, since she paid the lump some payment to Debbie's mom. This is getting weirder by the day. 

He also resented his entire family. Says so in the documents with the will. He's giving 88 percent of his trust and assets to charities and 12 percent split up to my wife and her sister and cousins. Once again stiffing Debbie and her sister. So they each get 1.5 percent of what appears to be a rather large amount. The lawyer has told us she tried to get him not to do what he was doing. Apparently my SIL and wife were supposed to get a larger amount but he made a sudden change in 2021. He even states in the letter to the lawyer that his family is not owed anything since they didn't love him.

Debbie's uncle (her dad's brother) is taking it really hard. He mentioned he used to look up to him when they were younger, but everything soured when Biodad left Debbie's mother.

Sounds like an absolute E36 M3 pile of a human being and the world is a better place without him.