Toyota Tacoma Tailgate Thefts Are Soaring… As Thousands Pop Up for Sale on Facebook Marketplace

I’ve been watching this weird trend of Toyota Tacoma tailgate thefts cropping up all over the country… and I think I’ve found where they’re going.

Thousands of Tacoma tailgates are popping up on Facebook Marketplace right now, and some of these sellers? Let’s just say they’re moving an improbable amount of product if the tailgates aren’t stolen.

Tailgate Thefts Are Spiking Nationwide

Just this morning, Alameda PD reported a rash of Tacoma tailgate thefts in the Bay Area. Just across the Bay from Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, actually.

It’s the latest in a national wave of thieves quietly unbolting pickup truck tailgates and walking off into the night.

KRON4: Toyota trucks targeted in rash of tailgate thefts, Alameda PD

Tailgates aren’t GPS-tracked. They aren’t stamped with a VIN. For thieves, a recent model year Tacoma is a favorite target. That’s a clean, fast flip for a quick profit. It’s the new catalytic converter.

The real kicker? Social selling platforms like Facebook Marketplace are fueling the trade. There’s no meaningful moderation. No title check, no ID, nothing a pawn shop would demand. No accountability. Just an old-fashioned chop-shop, brought into the 21st century with convenient delivery options and online reviews.

Let’s Talk Redlands CA: the Tailgate Capital of the Internet

There are thousands of tailgates for sale on Facebook in just one typical town that I checked: Redlands CA.

Starting Small: Four Tailgates for Sale

I found one seller in Redlands who’s basically running a bootleg AutoZone out of his apartment.

Four tailgates for sale, all recent model years, each a different make. That’s weird. Normally, you only have parts for trucks that you own, and not many folks own four different kinds.

His tagline? (He has a tagline!)

“Good business is where both parties walk away happy…”

He even takes requests if he doesn’t have your tailgate in stock. Kind of amazing, considering junkyards don’t typically have this kind of inventory on brand-new trucks.

Of course, this is only one of thousands of Toyota Tacoma tailgate listings for sale on Facebook Marketplace, let’s keep looking.

4 Tailgates for Sale? Those are Rookie Numbers. One Seller Has 73.

If you think four tailgates is an odd number to have in your apartment, just wait.

Any good business person knows that specialization is the mark of a professional. Why be a jack of all trades, or a jacker of all pickup truck tailgates, when you could really dig deep and master just one.

One Facebook Marketplace listing is a seller with one Tacoma tailgate in almost every single color Toyota makes. Sometimes photographed in her living room, sometimes in her bathroom. You know, just like a real mechanic!

All Over California, All From One Seller

We’re talking a Skittles bag of tailgates.

She’s even got the Lunar Rock color, exclusive to the high-end TRD Pro models for a brief and glorious production run. You don’t see Lunar Rock tailgates in junkyards, folks. If you’re like me, you see them only in your dreams.

If you’ve never drooled over Lunar Rock paint, let me introduce you: YouTube: Lunar Rock TRD Pro Tacoma Walkaround

This seller has 73 active listings and is slinging tailgates like it’s Black Friday. The reviews are rough, too… Only 3 out of 5 stars. She’s flaky if you look like a cop and people think the parts are stolen. No shit, really?

Okay, But Are These Tailgates Definitely Stolen?

Look, I’m not the police. I’m not a lawyer. But I am your correspondent with a Tacoma and an IQ higher than room temperature.

Used tailgates from actual junkyards sell for $500 to $1,500+, depending on model and condition. The newer the model and the better the condition, the more expensive the tailgate.

Toyota Tacoma tailgates are notoriously hard to come by, and they’re expensive if they’re not real beat up.

Facebook’s tailgate marketplace is often way under market price. And the sellers? Not auto lots. Not mechanics. Not salvage yards. Just regular folks hawking mint tailgates from apartment bathrooms and random parking lots.

If these tailgates aren’t stolen, then I’d love to know how so many people are getting pristine 2023 Tacoma tailgates without the truck they came on. If they’re running $150, I might buy one, just to have a spare for when mine gets stolen.

How Hard Are These to Steal? Turns Out, Real Easy

You might be wondering – how hard are these to steal?

I own a Tacoma, but I don’t do the sort of construction work or agricultural work where I need to remove the tailgate, so I had never done it. I watched a Youtube video, and I’m now confident I can do it, you only need to remove 1 bolt and 2 plugs, it’s brilliantly designed to be serviced in the field. With the fluff and the chitchat at the start, the video lasted all of 4 minutes.

That’s a feature, not a bug. Pickup truck designers know that construction workers and farmworkers are invaluable customers, so they built this truck to be really easy to disassemble… to amplify its utility.

Car Thefts Are Down. Part Thefts Are Booming.

For the record, car theft in the U.S. is way down from the ‘90s. We’ve got better digital tracking, better alarms, and pretty brutal punishments for folks caught stealing whole vehicles. If you haven’t heard, Grand Theft Auto isn’t just a videogame. It’s a crime that carries 3 to 7 year sentences in many states, with Colorado going as high as 12 years.

Council on Criminal Justice: Vehicle Theft Trends

The Kia Boyz were an interesting exception: a social media crime wave that seemed more for clout than profit. More on them in a separate article soon, watch the documentary if you’re hot-footed.

But when it comes to parts theft? Business is booming. Tailgates. Catalytic converters. Wheels. As the economy stutters, the second-hand auto parts market and the chop-shop game are thriving.

You know what’s pouring gasoline on that fire? Facebook Marketplace, run by Meta who is publicly traded in the Magnificent Seven, one of the most valuable companies in the world.

No effective oversight from Silicon Valley, per usual. No meaningful moderation of the marketplace. Just a massive company making money while turning a blind eye to the parted-out remains of my favorite truck.

A message to Facebook: You’re one of the biggest companies in California. Start acting like it. You’re not a neutral party when thieves are using your platform to fence thousands of truck parts every day.

And to the rest of us Tacoma owners? Maybe look into a tailgate lock and some nice cat shield screws while we’re at it. We live in a world where you now need to defend your tailgate to keep thieves from walking off with it, and I can’t believe I just typed that sentence.