This has created one giant mess for everyone involved…
One would think that buying an almost-new vehicle from a dealership would be reassurance enough you’re not getting something that’s been stolen, but according to a shocking report from Detroit Free Press, that’s not necessarily the case these days. The paper found a pipeline of Ford F-150s stolen from factory storage lots in Michigan, transported to Arizona, and stolen blank vehicle titles from Georgia helping to cover the tracks.
Read about one of the Ford factory heists here.
We’ve seen this sort of thing before, at least something like it, but this case is surprisingly systematic. We would guess an organized theft ring is behind the whole thing, because none of this is random. What’s more, the report points out that Ford is partially to blame for why these stolen trucks could be titled and sold in the first place.
The natural assumption is after some vehicles are stolen from a factory storage lot, the automaker would immediately report them as stolen. But, as we’ve highlighted before, Ford and other automakers seem to not have the best inventory controls. It appears from the report that Ford might not have even known which trucks were stolen, so those weren’t reported to authorities. We’ve seen this in high-profile thefts of Shelby GT500swhere Ford can’t say for sure how many were swiped when the media asks.
Unfortunately, this means the private citizens, dealers, and even some car auctions with what they thought were legitimate Ford trucks have been on the receiving end of law enforcement raids and other legal actions. Imagine the police showing up at your house to tell you they’re towing the truck you’ve been making payments on, all because it was never really yours.
This is how big of a problem car theft has become in America. Big names have been burned in this scheme, including AutoNation. It’s time everyone, including automakers, step up and do something about this problem before more people are hurt financially and otherwise.
Image via Ford
