Lock your tailgates! Also, insurance question.

My brother had his 2008 F250 in to the Ford dealer for a mechanical repair (bad alternator) and the tailgate was stolen off the truck while it was there. He called the dealership and the parts guy let slip that they've had 17 tailgates stolen off their trucks lately and that a new tailgate for that truck is $5,000 once all the pieces parts and trim are bought. LOCK YOUR TAILGATE! It'll at least slow them down, and that's anathema to thieves.

On the insurance note: What are the chances of the dealership's insurance being responsible for this? If it was a simple smash and grab I could see it being my brother's responsibility, but while in possession of the dealership they had a part of the actual vehicle stolen, and on top of that, it was one that they've had a problem with being stolen and they said nothing to my brother about it when he took the vehicle in. Seems like it was their responsibility to lock it, and to tell my brother about their ongoing theft problem.

Anyone know a good source for a complete 2008 F250 tailgate? Maybe we should troll that dealer's lot looking for targets if they're that inept at protecting their - and their customer's - stuff.

http://car-part.com/

searches junkyards.  depending on options, could be more like $1500-$2k

My one relevant experience was a car that was on a body shop's lot while being repaired.  My car was broken into and the factory stereo was stolen along with 8 or 10 other cars on the lot.  Body shop's insurance covered replacing the window and stereo.  Ultimately the vehicle was in their possession while being repaired and it's security was their responsibility.

Mine locks with the doors.  I thought that was silly until i saw how much tailgates with cameras and power locks cost

Yes, dealer will have garage keepers insurance, which should cover whatever happens to the car while in their “care, custody, and control”.  

W.T.F. a tailgate for 5K? It is official. The end times are here.

Most dealers just put another tailgate on the truck, your brother should call and raise hell as the truck was in the dealers care. The first thing they will say is they are not responsible, but they are.

Good luck.

BTW: this site is sucking a bag of dicks tonight.

In reply to wheelsmithy :

But if the truck had an MSRP of $68k is a $5k tailgate really out of order? Manufacturers don't make a complete replacement tailgate so each individual component has to be purchased at well above actual production cost to cover excess production for parts supply that won't go to the assembly line, storage of said excess production, distribution to dealership when parts are ordered, paint and assembly of individual components at dealership...I don't necessarily like the cost, but I do see that there are reasons for the cost to be what it is.  My biggest beef is the original cost of vehicles (especially trucks & suvs) these days.

My truck is supposed to have a locking tailgate, but the bed and tailgate aren’t original to the truck, so no lock for me. 

Aftermarket power tailgate locks are around $80 and operate off the fob once tied into the door lock wiring. 2-3 hour install. 

http://popandlock.net/

Buddy of mine had a gate stolen many years ago. Got a new gate and it was gone within a week. I've locked the gates on my trucks ever since. Even gates on old trucks get targeted if they're in good shape because the ones on work trucks get hammered till they don't work very well.

Thanks for the tips; I’ll pass the info on to my bro. He’s got insurance but I don’t think it’s fair for him to have to use it and he has a $1k deductible so ouch. 

I’ll also suggest the aftermarket power lock add on!

I honestly never knew tailgate locks were a thing.

The day I bought my 2013 F150, first thing the salesman said was to keep the tailgate locked.

Used to work with a fairly upright congressional staffer from 'fly-over' country and one thing he was not proud of when younger/probably a decade ago was being with friends who stole a tailgate to replace a damaged one and he didn't stop them. 

I have a cop friend that says tail gate theft is at epidemic proportions.  On his police force they have a special unit that follows just that. Combing the different online websites like Craigslist etc.  He says some dealerships will lose 15-20 tail gates in an evening. When they can be sold for that much there is just going to be problems with theft.  

I think there was only one stolen tailgate, then the guy had the idea to just grab one from out of the dealership lot.  Then the owner of THAT truck had the same idea, and so on.

Musical tailgates.

Should be an X-Files episode.

In reply to dculberson :

https://cleveland.craigslist.org/pts/d/ford-superduty-tailgate/6445159670.html

Your model, silver. $420 in south Lorain county Oh

$100 in Lancaster. Might not fit your year but info conflicts the ad above.

Sonic said:

Yes, dealer will have garage keepers insurance, which should cover whatever happens to the car while in their “care, custody, and control”.  

Yes, this.  It's a garage keepers claim.  Easy peasy, "liability" is irrelevant, so no need to make a fuss.  See them all the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6K_fgTKn5c

Seems like an easy way to help prevent this. I never used to remove my tailgate anyway

secretariata said:

In reply to wheelsmithy :

But if the truck had an MSRP of $68k is a $5k tailgate really out of order? Manufacturers don't make a complete replacement tailgate so each individual component has to be purchased at well above actual production cost to cover excess production for parts supply that won't go to the assembly line, storage of said excess production, distribution to dealership when parts are ordered, paint and assembly of individual components at dealership...I don't necessarily like the cost, but I do see that there are reasons for the cost to be what it is.  My biggest beef is the original cost of vehicles (especially trucks & suvs) these days.

Well for one, the MSRP is highly inflated and trucks routinely sell for $8-12k less than MSRP. 

A base Ford F250XL MSRP starts at $32k. 

$5k for a tailgate sounds pretty out of line. Are the higher F250 trim levels getting Magnesium tailgates? Or is just fancy colors and maybe some chrome trim?

In reply to secretariata :

That is so they can give 9K dollar rebates/discounts at the end of the year.

I saw some web thing where they suggested a hose clamp on the side the pin comes out of.   

http://www.thecrimepreventionguy.com/tailgate-lock-theft-prevention-followup/

I remember tailgate theft was a big thing back when I bought my F150 in 2004, so I always kept it locked.  My S10 does not have a tailgate lock, so I guess I have to hope that nobody wants a 26 year old truck’s tailgate.

When i picked up my truck in 2010 that was the first thing the sales guy told me as he handed me the keys.  So I make sure its locked anytime i lock the truck.