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Comment by bearjaws | Hacker News Reader

Not really surprising, even if you sell your car honestly it can end up in the Middle East.

> Texas Plumber suing dealership after his car was used by terrorists in Syria, with his companies logo and phone number still on it

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/us/texas-plumber-sues-car...

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I understand this is getting off the main point, but...

If you don't want your vinyl lettering on the truck to be the new owner's choice...uh, remove it yourself before selling it?

> As the paperwork was being completed, Mr. Oberholtzer’s son started peeling off the decal on the truck that showed the phone number and name of the company, but the salesman told him to stop because it would harm the paint and said it would be removed later, the lawsuit said.

Seems like they tried but were reassured that the dealership would do it.

Sort of...hand peeling while the paperwork is being signed is pretty late in the process. Doing it right requires a heat gun, or solvents, or a removal wheel, etc.

> Doing it right requires a heat gun, or solvents, or a removal wheel, etc.

Or a can of spray paint to over names, logos, and contact information. :)

I'm thinking that would decrease the sale or trade-in value :) It also doesn't help all that much with the raised nature of vinyl letters.

When should they do it? Before a deal is reached? What if no deal is reached?

Do without your advertising for a while, or risk selling it with the advertising intact. I just think it's weird to sue a buyer for not removing it when you left it there.

> I just think it's weird to sue a buyer for not removing it when you left it there.

Even when the buyer is a dealership who insisted on removing the stickers themselves?

What other parts of the deal should the plumber expect them not to fulfill? If not a lawsuit what’s the correct recourse when someone doesn’t uphold their side of a deal?

Not sure about plumbers but I know for auto transportation (and by my understanding any cargo hauling) identifying markings are required for commercial operation. If an auto transport truck is being traded in when is the appropriate time to remove those stickers?

> What other parts of the deal should the plumber expect them not to fulfill?

All the other ones that are similarly not written in the contract.

I don't find it that hard. Once you decide to sell the vehicle, you're likely going to do so. If not to the first dealership...to somebody in the near future. Removing the lettering removes whatever value the advertising has, but does not remove the ability to use the truck in the meantime. If it's a huge concern, you get a few magnetic temporary signs to tide you over and maybe to use on the new vehicle until you're ready to drop it off for lettering. You already signed up for some time without lettering on the new vehicle, so is it really that big a deal?

Yes, even then. It's a burden-and-benefit situation. The benefit is to the plumber, so the plumber should not trust the other party to take on the burden.

(Or, put more simply, "who cares the most about it"?)

Absolutely before the papers are being signed.

How does that work exactly? Negotiate time to take the truck somewhere and prepare it for sale?

Doing it at all requires those things too!

They said it would ruin the value but did it? Did the people using it as a war machine car about the decals or any paint damage?

While I agree with your general point, I don’t think anyone would reasonably expect their used vehicle to be sold for terrorist uses in another country.

If I had a business would want to remove the company info even or especially if it's sold locally (local relative to the business).

The plumber tried to remove the stickers but the dealership insisted they would do it instead.

I know someone that had a HVAC business with several trucks, and sold an old van to a handyman who had done some work for him. The business got a call a year later from someone complaining about a door or something "they'd" installed... Which of course turned out to be the handyman still having the original logo and phone number on the side. I think the deal was he was supposed to remove the logo, but of course hadn't yet. They finally got him to take it off, but the lesson definitely was don't sell a vehicle with your company logo still on it.

Lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed sum:

https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2017-01-09/plumber-whos...

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