We’ve reported on multiple stories about brand new cars being stolen from holding lots in Michigan, sometimes being recovered a short distance away. But another case involving $1 million worth of stolen Ford vehicles has come to light that left a trail of misery and financial destruction as far away as Phoenix, Arizona.
The convoluted story centers on 14 Ford F-150 trucks that were swiped from from Detroit lots at the tail end of 2022, then driven to Phoenix where they entered the car market using blank vehicle titles stolen in Georgia in 2007. The cars then passed through multiple hands, and were unwittingly traded by innocent dealers who were left out of pocket when the swindle came to light.
These dealers say they’re frustrated because they did their due diligence, and all of the trucks showed as having clean titles. Even two Ford dealerships in New Mexico and Texas bought trucks they believed to be straight, but which turned out to be stolen, according to an investigation by the Detroit Free Press.
A company legally licensed to issue titles in Phoenix was also caught up in the mess, and is being sued by a dealer who bought a truck based on the clean Arizona title. But the titling company was only processing state-validated paperwork that included the clean Georgia title.
What’s annoying all of these affected parties is that the situation could have been avoided if the trucks had been reported stolen. But neither Ford or its partner businesses realized the vehicles were gone for weeks or even months, and to make life easier for the thieves, the trucks had been left parked with their keys inside the cabs.
“If Ford would have done an inventory check once a week, let’s say, and noticed cars were missing, they would’ve had to report them stolen, and those reports pop up everywhere — on a title search, on CARFAX,” Addison Brown, co-owner of Cascio Motors in Scottsdale, told Detroit Free Press.
“There’s so many notifications that prevent you from buying a stolen car. No one would have gotten scammed. What about a surveillance? What about a wall and gate? What about taking the keys out of the cars? Any of these minor adjustments. I’m out $300,000 and my trucks have been impounded,” Brown added.
A Ford spokesman told the Detroit publication that car theft was a problem facing all automakers:
“Product theft is a sad reality for all manufacturers, including every carmaker, and retailers. When we become aware of robberies, we promptly report the losses to law enforcement agencies. … In fact, along with unsuspecting people who purchase these vehicles, Ford and other companies are victims here.”