NEW YORK (WABC) — A woman in Queens was bequeathed the entire estate of her late aunt, including a 30-year-old mint-condition Mercedes.<\/p>\n
But she was never able to drive the car because of a roadblock with the DMV. So, she put the pedal to the metal and called 7 On Your Side.<\/p>\n
When Yolanda Williams’ aunt Gloria died in 2015, she left everything she owned to Williams.<\/p>\n
She was the last of Williams’ aunts alive, her mother’s youngest sister.<\/p>\n
“She was like a second mom. Especially when I lost my mom, she meant the world to me,” Williams said.<\/p>\n
Part of the estate was a 1995 Mercedes-Benz E320.<\/p>\n
“She basically used the Mercedes to go back and forth to church, and she just wanted me to have this car,” Williams said.<\/p>\n
But that final wish was denied for a decade. The car was never driven because the title transfer kept running into roadblocks.<\/p>\n
“Each time I went to the DMV in New York and New Jersey, they said there was a lien,” Williams said.<\/p>\n
Since 2016, Williams says she made more than a dozen trips from her home in Queens to several DMV offices, carrying proof that the Mercedes was paid off, including a notarized lien release termination statement.<\/p>\n
“They finally told me to go to Albany,” she said.<\/p>\n
When that still didn’t resolve the issue, she turned to Mercedes-Benz to try to grease the wheels.<\/p>\n
“I contacted Mercedes-Benz corporate in New York. I went there in person. They gave me a letter saying I had no lien. I went to Mercedes-Benz in Texas, they said no lien on the car,” Williams said.<\/p>\n
That letter, along with her aunt’s will and death certificate, power of attorney, and the original, tattered title, still didn’t move the speedometer.<\/p>\n
“Everything you need is right here. I don’t understand why it’s not going through,” Nina Pineda said.<\/p>\n
The vintage Mercedes, complete with its ashtray and single wiper blade, sat idle for years.<\/p>\n
“I felt helpless,” Williams said.<\/p>\n
After five or six years of frustration, she finally reached out to 7 On Your Side.<\/p>\n
“It was really a fear that I would end up at a hopeless dead end and that no one would help me,” she said.<\/p>\n
But it wasn’t too late. 7 On Your Side immediately contacted our sources at the state DMV in Albany and shared Williams’ documentation.<\/p>\n
“I got a phone call from Albany. They said it will be in the mail,” Williams said.<\/p>\n
The Mercedes was finally cleared, granting her aunt’s dying wish.<\/p>\n
“She would be so ecstatic. And she would say, ‘I told you to take care of your business,'” Williams said.<\/p>\n
After 10 years of trying, it took just two weeks with help from 7 On Your Side.<\/p>\n
———-
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