Have you ever wondered what happened to an old vehicle after you’ve sold it? Is someone taking care of your former car or truck the way you did, or is some young whipper-snapper who can’t even drive a stick throwing fast food wrappers on its floor? Well, whatever became of your old vehicle it likely isn’t as bad as what happened to Texan Mark Oberholtzer’s F-250. The story of Mr. Oberholtzer’s truck first broke about a year ago as he saw the vehicle on the evening news being used by the militants as an anti-aircraft vehicle, company logo still showing.
According to Courthouse News Service, Mr. Oberholtzer is suing the AutoNation dealership to which he sold his F-250 work truck for $1 million. What did the dealership have to do with it? According to the news service:
He traded in his Ford pickup to AutoNation Ford Gulf Freeway in October 2013 for a newer model, and as he waited for the deal to close he started peeling the “Mark-1 Plumbing” stickers off the truck, he says in a Wednesday lawsuit in Harris County Court.
A salesman told him to stop, because it “would blemish the vehicle paint” and “the dealership had something better for removal,” Oberholtzer says in the complaint.
The picture above surfaced last year showing the Mark-1 Plumbing signage on the driver’s door. Once the story went viral, Oberholtzer’s life and business was ruined. He claims he started receiving angry phone calls and death threats, so many that he and his family had to up and leave their home until things cooled off.
So how did a Texas truck end up in the hands of Islamic militants in Syria? The details of that story are a bit fuzzy. Apparently, after AutoNation took possession of the truck, it was sold at a Dallas auction. It then went to Houston, then to Turkey, and somehow finally in Syria.
Is the dealership responsible for removing the sign once they own it? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.
