ADVICE – Is it worth it the effort to claim/sell a deceased friend’s car?

Hi all — I’m trying to decide if it’s financially worth pursuing this, or if I should cut my losses and walk away. This situation has been giving me a lot of anxiety for a few years' now, and I don't have much support on the family side to help me out or talk through things with.

Situation:
About 3 years ago, a very close family friend (like a father figure) passed away. He didn’t have much of an estate, wasn’t married, and wasn’t close with family. I stepped in to handle funeral arrangements and his home/belongings at the time. I was also the recipient of his life insurance policy, which set me on the path of being very financially stable at this point in my life (32F and 625k net worth between investments & cash).

The only asset left unresolved is his car. His family verbally told me they wanted me to "keep it" but I have been very unsuccessful in figuring out how to transfer the title and haven't been in need of a car. The details:

• 2017 Subaru Forester (~36,000 miles)
• At the time of his death, I know he had between 1.5k-3k left on the loan as he was aggressively paying it down
• I have no idea who the lender is
• Title is not in my name
• His family (next of kin is his elderly mother, resides on other side of country) verbally said I could have the car, but they’ve been inconsistent/unresponsive since he's passed.

The car has just been sitting unused this whole time on my boyfriend's property, and I've been running it here and there to try and keep it in good shape. I've honestly been ignoring this situation as its a source of incredible anxiety for me.

New constraint:
I recently went through a breakup with my partner and he gave me a deadline to remove the car from the property by Easter, so I need to make a decision quickly.

What I’m trying to evaluate:

From a purely financial / effort standpoint:

• The car is probably worth ~$13K-$18K based on mileage/condition
• There’s potentially only between 1.5k – 3k left on the loan (assuming it hasn’t already been charged off or sent to collections)

BUT:

• I don’t have the title
• I don’t know the lienholder
• Family cooperation is unreliable
• I’m on a tight timeline

Advice I'm seeking:

1. Realistically, how difficult/expensive is it to unwind something like this?
2. At what point does this become not worth pursuing financially?
3. Are there faster “good enough” options I should consider (even if I lose some upside)?

Goal:
Make a rational decision on whether to:

• Go after the car value (and deal with the complexity), or
• Walk away / pursue the fastest exit option and move on

Appreciate any perspective, I come from a pretty financially unstable background and don't have much family I can lean on for help in this situation.