I Accidentally Bought the Stolen Tacoma From This Post — Recovered in Mexico, Sold on Copart, It's worse than I thought.
I bought it hoping to turn it into a family overland rig. I’m a high school auto shop teacher, and I figured a stolen/recovered Tacoma with a wild backstory could make a cool project if the bones were still good.
When it showed up, reality hit pretty hard.
It had missing parts, a sketchy history, a bunch of little surprises, and when I tried to start it, it wouldn’t run and started leaking fuel everywhere. At that point I was pretty sure I had made a terrible decision.
I made the first video of the build series showing the Copart bidding, delivery, walkaround, missing parts, and first attempt to start it.
If you'd like to check it out I posted a that on Youtube just search, "I bought a stolen Tacoma in Mexico" and it should be the first one to pop up. (I got banned twice from Tacoma World here and on the forums but the admin said it might have just been because of the video link)
I’m planning to turn it into a family overland rig, but after seeing it in person, I’m curious what TW thinks:
Did I save a cool truck with a crazy story, or did I buy a complete nightmare?
