I had a conversation with a back-street car dealer once. He told me that he found cars at bargain prices via the obituaries page in the local paper.
When he saw that an old man had died, leaving an elderly grieving widow, he would look the woman up in the telephone directory and go and knock on her door. He would say that he was in the area looking for cars to buy. Many of those old women couldn't drive but had their husband's car sitting in the garage or in front of the house. Of course, they now had no use for it ...
He would offer sympathy over a cup of tea and biscuits and after that he'd be shown the car, often the pride and joy of the late owner and in immaculate condition.
Oh dear - the thrust converter looked worn, the angle sprocket needed replacing and as for the hydraulic pressure calibration module - sharp intake of breath - it would cost hundreds of pounds to sort that out. Sorry, the car was not roadworthy. Out of the goodness of his heart, he would tow it away free of charge and because he felt sorry for her recent loss, he'd give her £100 which he would try and get back from the scrapyard.
The car would typically be advertised in the paper that very evening for £600.
Scum!