Weird that NOBODY would have removed the decals. Must have traded it to a shady dealer.
I never heard about AutoNation until this story, but their reputation just went kablooey now.
Possibly it was stolen or purchased by a terrorist sympathizer and shipped to the region, or bought in west Africa after being stolen. There has been some news coverage in Canada recently about this practice of both stealing and purchasing fraudulently (down payment only then the vehicle is shipped) of vehicles that were then shipped in containers from Canadian east coast ports to west Africa where they went on the black market.
Quite possibly this is how Oberholzer’s truck ended up in Syria, somebody from Boko Al Haram bought (or maybe stole) the vehicle in west Africa and traded it to ISIS, or some group of them drove it there and joined in the fight.
Here’s what I came away with; F250’s are tough trucks.
Remember cash for clunkers? Where did the clunkers go?
I have a window into the exporting of used vehicles. It is fairly big business.
A dealer can go on the internet and find whatever he is looking for. In this case a Ford 250. While perhaps worn out and unfit for normal duty in a busy American city, there is lots of good use possible in the third world where mechanics are cheap and driving distances not great.
Of special value are old Toyota trucks. They are shipped to Africa where they are either used or disassembled for parts. A truck more than 10 years old can be bought for almost nothing and recycled.