Plumber Sues Dealership For $1 Million After Trade In Truck Ends Up In Syrian Jahadi's Hands

Damn...I feel bad for the guy. He's being harassed through no fault of his own. The dealership should probably settle to avoid the negative press. I'm sure they won't though. Their lawyer will ring up $200k in billable hours in an attempt to save them $100k. Smh.
T

I hope the dealer is driven from business. This is irresponsibility on their part.

Where's the personal accountability? And I mean the guy from Mark-1 Plumbing!

If my name is painted on the side of a vehicle I'm trading or selling, and I don't want that being paraded around by someone else, regardless of who they might be -- terrorist, bank robber, child molester, competing business who will do a crappy job to besmirch my name, a reckless driver who gets press coverage after he causes an accident, or anybody else -- then it's *MY* responsibility to depersonalize my vehicle, or make sure that my contract with the dealer says he'll do it before he lets it off the lot. Without that written agreement, let the lawyers duke it out and line their pockets.

I understand your point, but he was removing them before the dealer stopped him. Based on the information provided, I believe the seller was reasonable in expecting the dealer to follow through with removing the decals.

I agree completely that personal accountability is lacking in today's world. If the information is accurate in the story, then I don't think Mark-1 is in the wrong. However, people harassing him is wrong as well.

atc98092: I understand your point of view as well. I also believe that unless we "have it in writing", people's good intentions might not translate into their stated actions, and should I decide to take it court, it's my word against theirs. Blindly trusting a car salesman doesn't always work out in the customer's favor.

I feel it's best to document our common understanding in writing, and agree to it with signatures and witnesses, to make it legally binding. Caveat emptor.

FYI, I also believe the media has not done any good by running the story without obscuring the personally identifiable information printed on the vehicle.

Lastly, it would be nice (though perhaps too wishful) if the FBI, NSA, etc. can forensically follow the paper and money trail back to the terrorists, and then prosecute with the utmost prejudice.

There are probably a few people accountable "in the line of responsibility" as to why this truck ended up on the other side of the globe - being used by people for unsavory reasons.

Typically, auto dealerships are expected to recondition trade-ins - i.e. they clean-up dirt/stains, replace worn equipment, remove business decals - to offer fresh pre-owned vehicles. I'm guessing that a dealer manager decided to save $50 in labor/material costs to just leave the decal on for the next buyer. And this is AutoNation - a big US auto dealer...disappointing.

Being able to positively identify a vehicle made in the US - being used in such a way - definitely shows that there's a defined line of open transactions being completed that transfers materials from the US to battlegrounds in the Middle East. For missions, movements we dont support. Scary.

And it's not the US govt selling old surplus equipment...it's everyday online retailers selling products to whoever puts in an order & pays the listed price.

I really feel bad for the Texas plumber that's been threatened by people who assumed he was apart of some anti-US terrorist gang.

...and to be clear: I don't blame AutoNation for the truck ending up in Syrian battle. The system of used car sales/auctions is widely known - and have been clearly taken advantage of.

It's clear the original Twitter pic was posted to show a US manuf/owned truck being used for "terrorist" reasons...most-likely to upset Americans.