UPDATE: Help finding my late dad's FJ40

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csand

csand

Joined
Oct 21, 2023
Threads
4
Messages
23
Location
Columbus, OH
Hello,

I figured I should make one more post on this, since I've actually found quite a bit of info since my last couple posts. I hope for this to be the last post I make until I find the truck. I will leave any updates further updates in the replies. I apologize for the length of it, writing isn't my strongsuit.

I also just want to thank everyone on these forums who has read my posts, gave suggestions, and helped me during this. It really means a lot.

Here's the info I have on the truck, it will be kind of a mix between stuff I've stated in previous threads as well as the new info I've found:

Here's the story on the truck, from what I know and some stuff I've pieced together: My dad bought it off of his coworker in Columbus, Ohio, in May-ish 2007. My dad then moved to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, bringing the truck with him. In late 2009, he moved back to Ohio, this time to Cincinnati (West Chester suburb), where he made the hard decision to sell the truck in early 2011 on craigslist. He sold it for a variety of reasons, but he definitely regretted it almost immediately. I don't know anything about the person who bought the truck off of my dad, however I believe it has since changed hands a few times. After looking up the VIN I found not too long ago, it has only been mentioned once, in 2016. The mention was actually on IH8MUD, where in this thread (2003 Taco w/ 220k miles - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/2003-taco-w-220k-miles.947299/) a link to a FJ40 listing at Fort Wayne Toyota is brought up. You can read the thread yourself, however what I took from it was that it was being sold for way too high of a price, especially for the time and they had the year of the truck wrong in the listing (they said it was a 1979 when it was actually a 1977). One reply in this exchange was really interesting to me, where it was stated, "I have been hearing about this 40 for years. I guess they took in on trade years ago and a number of people have offered what ever his stupid asking price was at the time then the owner would jack the price another $5k-$10k. So now its up to $50k," (Gappy). Seeing this, I ended up messaging Gappy and asking if he just so happened to remember anything. Besides being a really nice guy and replying faster than I expected, I didn't really gain much more info than I already knew, besides it being mentioned that the truck may have belonged to owner of the dealership in Fort Wayne. I did reach out to Fort Wayne Toyota about a week ago as of writing this. After connecting me to a few different people, I was eventually connected with the manager. He was a nice guy, and looked up the VIN in their system and it was still in their system. He didn't seem to want to give me too much info besides it was last in their system 2,700 days ago and it was listed as a 1979. I then gave him my # and the VIN of the truck one last time and he said he'd follow up, but that hasn't happened quite yet. I don't want to push my luck with them, since it's definitely not a pressing issue or a priority for them, and they're really my only place to go off of right now. I also reached out to a private investigator in Indiana, but I'm not so sure I want to commit to that yet.

About the truck: It was a 1977, original red FJ40, VIN #FJ40-290399. It had a newer FJ Cruiser spare tire cover (my Dad bought a silver 2006 FJ Cruiser when they first came out as well, I think that's where it came from), as well as aftermarket black wheels with a red stripe. In addition to this it also had a power steering conversion, slightly cut out rear wheel wells, and maybe an aftermarket/homemade front bumper. Also some dodgy paint work. Other than that, the truck was 100% stock w/ no rust, the original 2F engine, mated to the stock 4spd manual. The person my dad bought it off of (his coworker) was I think the first or second owner (?) and it was a farm truck. I will include photos of the truck.

Any help, tips, or info is greatly appreciated.

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White Stripe said:
I would go the private investigator route.
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That’s what I’m starting to think too. The problem is, it’s hard to find a PI for a reasonable price, and most of them deal with people and catching partners cheating and stuff like that. Also, I can only trace the truck to Indiana as late as 2018. It may have moved states by then and I don’t want to waste money on an Indiana PI if it’s across the country lol. Maybe I’m overthinking it
 
Maybe you need to think of it this way: The car is an object in the possession of an individual and/or company. If you've tracked it to Indiana I assume you have the name of the person who had it there. The agency/person you hire will track him down and if he does not still have it hopefully get a lead on the next individual in the chain. You just need to decide how much this mission is worth to you. It may mean cancelling the mission and cutting your loses now.

Good luck and getting things sorted.
 
When we were jumping threw hoops to get an Ohio title for an abandoned boat on my brothers property, one of the steps was to have the State of Ohio do a title search for the last owner of record using the serial number. We found he lived in Iowa. The boat was never registered in Ohio. Idk, if they arbitrarily do that for anybody.
An attorney maybe able to do a title search also. They do it for land all the time.
 
B y r o n said:
Maybe you need to think of it this way: The car is an object in the possession of an individual and/or company. If you've tracked it to Indiana I assume you have the name of the person who had it there. The agency/person you hire will track him down and if he does not still have it hopefully get a lead on the next individual in the chain. You just need to decide how much this mission is worth to you. It may mean cancelling the mission and cutting your loses now.

Good luck and getting things sorted.
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I unfortunately don’t have the name of the owner, the only reason I know it was in Indiana in 2018 is because that’s when the dealership last had the truck in their system. I think it’s too early to call quits quite yet, I still need to follow up with the dealership and see if they’re able to give any info on who may have bought it. I appreciate the words
 
pb4ugo said:
When we were jumping threw hoops to get an Ohio title for an abandoned boat on my brothers property, one of the steps was to have the State of Ohio do a title search for the last owner of record using the serial number. We found he lived in Iowa. The boat was never registered in Ohio. Idk, if they arbitrarily do that for anybody.
An attorney maybe able to do a title search also. They do it for land all the time.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this. I’m going to try calling the DMV soon, idk whether I should call the Ohio or Indiana DMV, I’ll probably just try both. I doubt they’d tell me the name of the owner or anything, but I feel like they should at least be able to tell me if it’s still registered in any given state. Worst case scenario they just say they can’t tell me anything.
 
So, I just googled Ohio DMV title search and clicked on link for the Ohio DMV. You can enter either the tilte # or the the VIN # online. I searched my FJ40 VIN # . It came up with the title #, the purchase price and when it was purchased. It also showed it was active and what county it is in. It said I would have to call to try and get more info. The was no names referenced. It at least lets you know if its in Ohio.
 
pb4ugo said:
So, I just googled Ohio DMV title search and clicked on link for the Ohio DMV. You can enter either the tilte # or the the VIN # online. I searched my FJ40 VIN # . It came up with the title #, the purchase price and when it was purchased. It also showed it was active and what county it is in. It said I would have to call to try and get more info. The was no names referenced. It at least lets you know if it’s in Ohio.
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I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before haha. I tried searching it on like carfax but it didn’t work since it’s a 10 character VIN, I guess I just assumed it wouldn’t work on here too.

Here’s what I got from looking it up
Unless I’m reading it incorrectly, the “status date” is 2019 and it was in Van Wert county in Ohio, right on the Indiana border. It’s not a salvage title, too. I think this is a good lead. Thank you so much
 
I just searched your vin#. It shows its inactive and ref a date 5/8/2019. Originally purchased for $2800. Its location said Van Wert County.
 
by the way alot of vin seach and dmvś add zeros to the front of the number to make it to 17... so after the FJ40 add 7 zeros then the 290399

so like this
FJ400000000290399


the link i posted above shows it was for sale in Fort Wayne... maybe that dealer can help
 
JohnnyC said:
i found these for info.... think its the same truck... somethings changed


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WOW! This is 100% the same truck! Looks like it’s been restored and still mistitled as a 79 lol. Thank you so much! So happy to see it’s more than likely still on the road. I don’t know how trustworthy these websites are, but it seems like if I pay they can give me some more info. I’m definitely considering that now!
 
@csand I would call that dealer first if it was me ... they can definitely tell you when the sold it.... and maybe to who... and maybe evern.... how much it sold for :)
 
JohnnyC said:
@csand I would call that dealer first if it was me ... they can definitely tell you when the sold it.... and maybe to who... and maybe evern.... how much it sold for :)
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Looking at it again, that may be the same dealer I’ve already been calling lol. It’s awesome to see photos of it though. I’ll just follow up with them since they haven’t called me back yet. Thank you so much!
 
I bought the report on the truck, the owner stuff isn’t really accurate but the mileage stuff is interesting. And the sale dates seem to match with it being in Van Wert in 2019. It seems like it was on the showroom floor of Fort Wayne Toyota from 2014-2019. I guess the timeline now is my dad in 2011->guy he sold it to, and put about 2k miles on the truck->someone who restored it in likely 2013 and sent it to the dealership where it sat for 6 years->unknown owner, possibly in Van Wert Country

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