Things you’ve found in a used vehicle

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So i started my carpet kit. Removed the old carpet and found a random key. Does not fit the jeep.

What have you guys found.

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Ha, I think I started a thread like this years ago.

I found a butter knife, a Journey CD, and more change than you can imagine.
 
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I bought a 2000 dodge ram several years ago and found a wedding band set in the ash tray along with a bunch of change. I returned them to the owner. Weeks later I was replacing the missing spare tire and when I opened the pouch for the handle to crank the tire up I found $100 bill. I kept that.
When I bought the Jeep I found a little baggy of white powder in the bottom of the glove box. There was a bunch of change under the console and front carpet areas.
 
My LJ had all the parking brake components on the wheel removed, does that count?

Also one of the keys on the keychain was to something unknown.
 
Found a magnetic lock box with a spare key attached to the spare tire carrier on my current TJR several months after buying the Jeep. Nice to have, and didn't know it was there previously.
 
An ancient bag of peanuts behind the steering column. Lots of deer corn in the rear of the drivers side hardtop where the windshield wiper hook up is. A whole crap ton of it kept falling out in the Jeep and I finally found the source.
 
Good friend of mine owned a salvage yard where they processed wrecked vehicles for the insurance companies that totaled the vehicles. They provided towing, storage, title and auction services. Every so often they'd get a theft recovery vehicle that wasn't wrecked or trashed and was still suitable for regular use. In those situations the stolen vehicle would be recovered/found after the insurance company had already paid the claim to the vehicle's owner. My buddy could often work a deal with the insurance company to sell the vehicle to a friend for a nominal discounted amount rather than run it through the auction. On one such occasion, I was the beneficiary of a very nice Chevy pickup that was still in great shape, no damage, etc. Oftentimes stolen vehicles are joy-ridden and trashed as you might imagine.

Anyway, I bought this very late-model, low mileage pickup directly from the insurance company for a mere $5,000.00. When I got it home and cleaned it up I found: multiple various IDs, drivers licenses and passports, several small gram baggies of white powder, slim jims for unlocking doors, tons of CDs, a box of laundry detergent, a set of RV anti-swaybars, a scoop shovel (still have this), various other tools and implements of criminal intent, several wallets and miscellaneous weird stuff. Clearly the thieves used the rig for a base of operations for some time.

The most interesting thing, however, was that from time to time the speedometer and odometer would just completely stop working. So you wouldn't know how fast you were going and the odometer wouldn't accrue any miles. Then randomly it would work again for a while. Then it wouldn't. I never thought much about it and just kind of got used to it. One day I was under the dash, for some reason I don't remember, and I discovered a simple hidden toggle switch mounted under the driver-side dash. The switch was connected to a red wire that disappeared into the bowels behind the dash. I took a drive and flipped the switch. Speedometer/odometer on and off! I was blown away. Then I realized that my crazy bird dog in his ever-spazzed excitement would bolt in and out of the truck from the driver's side squirming under the steering wheel/dash area. He was flipping the switch with his back from time to time as he got in and out of the truck! When I finally traded that truck in, I made the dealer sign an acknowledgement that the odometer wasn't actual mileage and showed them the switch. I don't think they cared and I'm sure they removed the switch before selling it on.

I've always wondered about the adventures and history of that truck before I got it.
 
About 20 years ago I was the Business Manager for a Honda dealership. We took a trade in, that we had to have towed in, there were dead kittens in the trunk. Took the detail department forever to get that smell out. True story.....
 
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Found a taser or stun gun thing in a truck, under the seat. Hard to understand how the "clean-up" crew missed that. Now imagine a bunch of drunk infantry guys hanging around a taser. Mistakes/good times were had.
Against all that is telling me not to tell this; in my high school days, my dad sold this old Chevette we had to a guy, well my playboy stash was still under the seat. For the articles of course.
Rented a jeep for vacation and a Limp Bizkit cd was in the cd player.
 
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Bought a ford escort in the early 90s from a very old man (mid to late 70s). He was the original owner of the car which was about 2 years old. In the trunk, in the compartment under the floor where the donut spare was was a half used box of condoms. Needless to say I had the seats professionally cleaned after that...

In other cars I have found a fake Rolex, small bag of weed, picture of a naked girl, some very expensive pens, pocket knives, bullets, snake skin, credit card, drivers license, and several other things I cannot remember now. I’ve owned over 60 vehicles. Many of which were used when I got them.
 
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I found my jeeps original window sticker in the glove box.
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I've never personally discovered anything of real interest, but I have two buddies who have scored big-time. First one was my friend Ray (RIP, Ray...) who bought a mid-70s Thunderbird at auction. Paid $2,200 for the car. In cleaning out the trunk of the car, he found 25 $100 bills rolled up with a rubber band. Can you say free car?

The next was a friend who shall remain nameless. He bought a vintage travel trailer that an old fella used to live in. He bought it from the adult kids after the gent had passed. Now, this was a larger trailer, and had been set-up in a rundown trailer park for something like fifteen years. The kids were not involved in the old guy's life, and wanted nothing to do with the trailer, or its contents. My friend paid $1,500 for everything. He started cleaning it up, getting ready to resell the thing, when he found a $100 bill under a table lamp. Cool! Then he found a couple hundred under some books. Now it's getting interesting. Over the course of the night, he found...and I kid you not...just over $25,000 in cash spread throughout the trailer! Not $2,500, but $25,000! It would appear the old man had a distrust of banks, or something. My buddy struggled for a couple weeks with what to do with the money. The trailer and its contents were sold to him, and he had a clean title to it. The guy's kids had shown no regard to the old man's stuff, and just wanted to be rid of it. So, he paid off his mom's credit card, and put money down on a piece of property in Oregon.

Now how's that for a cool find?!?
 
I've never personally discovered anything of real interest, but I have two buddies who have scored big-time. First one was my friend Ray (RIP, Ray...) who bought a mid-70s Thunderbird at auction. Paid $2,200 for the car. In cleaning out the trunk of the car, he found 25 $100 bills rolled up with a rubber band. Can you say free car?

The next was a friend who shall remain nameless. He bought a vintage travel trailer that an old fella used to live in. He bought it from the adult kids after the gent had passed. Now, this was a larger trailer, and had been set-up in a rundown trailer park for something like fifteen years. The kids were not involved in the old guy's life, and wanted nothing to do with the trailer, or its contents. My friend paid $1,500 for everything. He started cleaning it up, getting ready to resell the thing, when he found a $100 bill under a table lamp. Cool! Then he found a couple hundred under some books. Now it's getting interesting. Over the course of the night, he found...and I kid you not...just over $25,000 in cash spread throughout the trailer! Not $2,500, but $25,000! It would appear the old man had a distrust of banks, or something. My buddy struggled for a couple weeks with what to do with the money. The trailer and its contents were sold to him, and he had a clean title to it. The guy's kids had shown no regard to the old man's stuff, and just wanted to be rid of it. So, he paid off his mom's credit card, and put money down on a piece of property in Oregon.

Now how's that for a cool find?!?
Agree on what he did, If kids have that little regard for a parent they deserve nothing.
 
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