Small Problem

Hi There,

I have a small problem, my father passed away a few years back and we now have to shift his vehicle as mum has gone into care and we are getting the house ready for sale.

Here's the problem.... We can't find the keys. They may have been thrown out in the clean up. It's a 90's model Nissan Navara.

I want get in to see if I can start it to sell it so don't want to damage it

What are my options

Rick

If you can prove ownership a locksmith could open it and make a key

If the car is a 90's it might just require a plain car key. If so contact a locksmith. At worse it may require re-keying.
What are your plans for the vehicle? If you plan to use it yourself then it would be best to have a key. If you are planing on selling, the value of the vehicle might be too low to make it worth while to even start the engine in which case try and sell for scrap. (I know this could be sad or emotional but this what I did with a 1990 car I had from new in 2014. Sold it for $200. To sell as a going concern the road worthy repairs could have cost as much as the sale price.)

There is a big chance the vehicle will need repairs to things like brakes, new tyres etc so scrapping it without spending any money might be the go. Is it still registered because if it isn't there is another big expense.

Sorry to hear of your fathers passing.
As the others have said unfortunately the effort may not be worth any monetary gain.
Being a 90 model there not hard to break into
I know because I’ve broken into a few cars (due to a career many moons ago)

Cheers Matt.

Thanks for the replies guys, what you have suggested has got me thinking and after a bit of googling, I may have come up with a solution.
As I need to get the car from its current position to the carport as a priority I will see if I can get into the car without damaging it and then see if I can disconnect the ignition/steering lock which will allow me to pull the car back onto the driveway and maneuver it into the carport. Then I can worry about getting a key if need be. Making money from its sale isn't a priority as much as removing it from the property prior to the sale of the house.
The car is unlicensed but still in good condition as it had a recon motor put in a few years prior to it being parked up

Thanks again for you suggestions

Rick

Has the car been used since your father passed away? the longer it has been sitting idle, the greater the chance that the motor may have developed internal rust due to the oil coatings on moving parts draining into the sump and similar things. If this has occurred, attempting to start the motor may be enough to render the motor not economically repairable, despite it being rebuilt not to long before being parked.

Anything with fluids would need to drained, flushed and refilled. Brake and clutch cylinders/calipers may need replacement or overhaul, quite likely to have internal rust as brake fluid absorbs a significant amount of water and lack of use leaves it in the system to promote rust. Brake lines may have rusted internally for the same reason.

Tires would have suffered from sitting on one spot for the time parked up, and most likely from UV exposure if in an open area. I got a car from a similar situation (deceased estate, solicitor took 3 years to sort estate out), rear drum brake slaves cylinders rusty and leaky, needed new rear brake shoes due to leakage, needed new tyres after 2000km after recommissioning as originals developed eggs where they had sat for 3 years, one engine cylinder had low compression due to dry bore. This was a mid 90's, 2 yo, 9000km car when parked up and nominally worth $20K or so when my uncle passed away. It was worth spending $1,500 to have it fully checked out, serviced and roadworthied to get it back on the road, and another $900 to replace the set of tyres soon after. But for a car that is approaching 30yo, I think it would need to have deep sentimental value to your family to consider it.

In the short term, I think I would opt for a car trailer with winch to shift the car off site for the house sale, and decide what it's fate would be when you have more time on your hands. Absolute worst case, someone should be able to crawl underneath and remove the drive shafts (2 if it is 4WD) and wind back the rear brake adjusters. This would allow the vehicle to roll/be pushed on reasonably level surfaces, and winched onto a trailer, just remember that you need chocks to keep the car stationary once you pull the drive shafts and wind of the brakes.

Well the first part has been done, broke into the car with the help of a piece of welding wire and my son. Took the ignition/steering lock of the steering column (youtube was very handy for this job) and moved it into the carport as far as the rest is concerned there is no hurry as the car now just looks like the owners car in the carport rather than a wreck in the garden.

Thanks for the advice Malb, I will check things out before I do the next step. The car had only been sitting out in the garden for about 12 - 18 months and prior to that was regularly started and run.

Rick

ONLY 12-18 months in the garden huh :rolleyes:

Given that on a good day you might get $3k for it, I suspect malb might be right when he suggested that it'll cost more to get running than the car's worth :no:

In 2014 I disposed of my 1990, one owner 160,000 km Toyota. I made about $1200. $ 200 for selling the unregistered car for recycling, the rest for cancelling the registration (11 months refunded) and cancelling the insurance and getting a refund. The cost and hassle of getting a roadworthy (and repairs) and finding a buyer was just not worth it. I valued the car at about $ 1200 but the cost of roadworthy could have exceeded that.