Both being much more reasonable than the what the headline implies.

In a causal sense, the ending up in Syria seems to be a key actual cause, as does the fact that the decal was still present.

Both are probably key points legally, too, as one is the alleged omission, and the other the alleged mechanism of harm, both of which are important to the legal action.

edit: why the downvote?

"Oh teller of untruths, your trousers are combusting..." (Stolen from my kids, who stole it from online somewhere.)

The Ford dealership that he sold his vehicle to cannot reasonably claim innocence, and has put this man's, and his family's, life in danger.

Now, whether if the Ford dealership is legally liable, I don't know. However, they're basically screwed: they'll forever be remembered as the dealership that sold a vehicle to terrorists (no matter if that is technically true or not; they immediately unloaded it at a car auction like all dealerships do if they don't have a local buyer already lined up).

I'd like to see an investigation, however, why a perfectly working truck was shipped overseas and left the American market. I know working computers are "recycled" (ie, dumped in a hole in the ground somewhere in China, India, or Africa), but I wasn't aware we did the same to vehicles.

Sell any low-cost used 4x4 vehicle in North America and you are likely to at least be approached by somebody intending to ship it to West Africa. East Africa is serviced by huge japanese auction sites such as beforward (http://www.beforward.jp).

Ford and Toyota trucks are highly valued because they're the easiest to find spare parts for. High demand and low supply pretty quickly justifies the expense of shipping over a container and (maybe) paying import duties.

What here needs to be investigated?

  What here needs to be investigated?

I'm not an expert on military strategy, but if our aim is to bomb all their equipment, we should probably investigate the possibility of not selling them replacement equipment?

[1] http://www.wcshipping.com/hubfs/D_OfferPDFs/PDF/2015_Q3_Fina...

when i lived in sf, i knew of (friend of a friend of a friend) foreigners who were here on visas that did this, somehow. maybe exaggerated.

either way, when i lease cars i need to sign a piece of paper that says i won't ever take it out of the country, so it must be a problem.

Sure, they can; they can, for instance, deny that the oral promise to remove the decal ever occurred, and suggest that it was concocted by the plumber to place the blame elsewhere after the images of the vehicle became public.

> I'd like to see an investigation, however, why a perfectly working truck was shipped overseas and left the American market.

An investigation? Someone thought that the overseas resale value was high enough that, even with the cost of exporting it, it was worth them offering more at auction then anyone else, including domestic purchasers. This isn't exactly a mysterious or unusual event.

There is a massive amount of used cars in the US, and historically a large demand for these types of vehicles in Africa and the Middle East, where import taxes are lax and it's far easier to register a gray market vehicle than it is in the States. Trucks like this can fetch a much greater premium in those areas, and it is profitable for import/export companies to ship them there.

Why do you say that? You don't think that it's quite reasonable that the process of removing a decal happens at another point in the disposal chain (later on, not at the dealer by convention)? Further to this point do you think that the standard of care should be "remove at dealership (and take a picture to document) because maybe this truck will be one that is used by ISIS (or someone who commits a murder or other crime)? Can he sue the dealer? Of course. But by a reasonable standard this is not an anticipated event. Also there are many trucks that are around where the decals are removed but you can still see the residue and previous information. What do you expect ... that they are going to paint over every single vehicle because maybe it might fall into the wrong hands? This is not a big problem relative to the amount of trucks or cars that end up being used in crimes. And we don't need more laws to prevent this type of outlier event, we have enough already.

It might not apply in this case, but there is a legal doctrine called the "Eggshell Skull Rule"[1] which roughly means you're responsible for any outcomes of your negligent or intentional misbehaviour, even if those outcomes were comepletely unforeseeable. I'd be interested to know whether something similar applies here.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggshell_skull

That seems like fairly basic contract law to me?

Presumably because someone overseas would pay more money for it?

I'm convinced it's part of the reason Tesla is doing so well.

Actually it's quite possible that they will have a net gain from the publicity. I think a person with normal intelligence would realize that this is an unfortunate occurrence and that obviously the dealer did not "sell the car to terrorists" (seriously..) Would it prevent you from buying a car from them? (Wouldn't bother me at all).

Take a drive along the miles of used/salvage car lots on the outskirts of El Paso. USA has a giant supply of used autos, and most developing nations have large demands for same. Really it's hard to imagine the situation could be otherwise.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/12/1...

Plumber has truck. Plumber's truck ends up on TV being used by ISIS. Ergo, Plumber must be supporter of ISIS.

This is further harmed by it being surprising to people that trucks could be profitably shipped all the way to the Middle East.

This really frustrates me - because its 7100 km from TX to Syria, while Japan is 10000 km away. If you include things like convenience of shipping, it's probably easier to move things between Syria and TX than Japan and TX (because there is a direct ocean route that doesn't involve major canals or going around pesky continents).

"Plumber's brand becomes associated with ISIS."

"Better not patronize that brand out of an abundance of caution to avoid people thinking YOU support ISIS."

There's no requirement that people think that the Plumber's truck ended up being used by ISIS through anything other than an accident. But people are often very cautious and fearful and won't go out of their way to stand on principle, especially if, to them, it's something minor like which plumber they use.

1) A plumber in Texas wishes to publicly support ISIS with materiel and advertise NASCAR style, or

2) A plumber in Texas sold his truck to someone, and through a chain of sales, that truck ended up in Syria.

I really despise the population sometimes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Parcel_Service#Vehicles

When UPS ground vehicles reach the end of their useful service life and are no longer roadworthy (typically 20–25 years or more, but generally when the body's structural integrity is compromised), they are almost always stripped of reusable parts, repainted in household paint to cover up the trademark, and then sent to the scrapyard to be crushed and broken up. The only exception to this policy is when a package car is repainted white for internal use, usually at a large hub. Prior to scrapping, UPS trucks and trailers are assigned an ADA (Automotive Destruction Authorization) number and must be crushed under supervision of UPS Automotive personnel, which records the vehicle's destruction, as UPS does not re-sell any of its ground vehicles.

In the UK, Royal Mail disposes of its delivery vehicles every three years when they become due for annual roadworthiness testing.

And quite often the replacement vehicle is a different type entirely ( lowest-bid contracts ) so they have no commonality of maintenance.

Seems like an expensive way to operate a fleet but they show no sign of changing.

One other interesting thing, from the article, that seems ignored – this car was exported to Turkey.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaish_al-Muhajireen_wal-Ansar

At least the people in Idiocracy KNEW they would stupid and acted accordingly, puts them head and shoulders above a huge part of our population.