A car dealer shared the instant regret he felt after learning a customer with a 480 credit score took one of his vehicles for an extended test drive.
Codie Bell (@5starmotorco), the owner of 5 Star Motor Co., divulged the situation on TikTok. In the video, he says that the customer rode off with a $14,000 Dodge Durango after leaving his clunker on the lot. What’s more is that as of this writing, Belle hasn’t verified if the driver brought his ride back.
Client Trades In Clanker For Dodge Durango
“There’s some people in this business that you just cannot help," Bell begins. He says his brother had a customer the previous day who traded in a car "that barely drove," looking to get a "cheap" Durango instead.
"Well, if you know anything about the clientele on cheap Durangos, [they're] awful. It’s horrible," he says. "And this guy had been to the dealership several times to look at the car, but he never wanted to go through with the financing process until he had a co-signer. Well, he got a co-signer.”
The dealership owner says that the buyer’s prospects at securing financing for himself were slim.
“And this guy particularly had a 480 credit score," he says. "I did not know this. But he asked us if he could take the car, bring it back right before we close 'cause he needed to go to the bank and get financing for this co-signer. And he didn’t want us pulling his co-signer’s credit,” Bell explained.
$14,000 Dodge Durango Goes Missing
The TikToker further details why the potential buyer should’ve never been entrusted with the keys to the car in the first place.
“Again, I did not know any of this. So, we release the car to him, and he leaves his turd trade—this blue Focus right here,” the TikToker says, pointing to the sedan in question. He then continues, “Texts us at 5:30 and says, 'I thought you guys close at 7:00. I won’t be able to bring the car back today.'”
Unfortunately for Bell and his business, he has no idea where his Dodge Durango is.
“We instantly told him, 'No problem, we will wait until 7:00 for you to get here.' He texts us back and says, 'I’m sorry, I won’t even be able to bring the car until tomorrow until 11:00.' Well, it is now 11:00; I still don’t have the car,” he remarks.
The story gets worse: even with the co-signer, it didn’t look like the buyer was going to get approved for a loan anyway. At this point in the clip, it becomes evident why the potential buyer didn’t want the co-signer’s credit checked.
“Come to find out, his bank turned him down. He wanted us to try to look at the finances. So we look at the financing—480 credit score, 520 credit score," Bell says.
The car dealer then admits he is at fault for the fact that he lost track of a truck.
"This is 100% my fault," he says, "because I did not know any of this. I knew none of this, and I should have. Ultimately, this is a valuable lesson for my brother: that you never release a car all day to somebody with a 480 credit score. You never do that."
“So I am sitting here with a car that will not make it out of the parking lot, and I have a $14,000 car out on the street that I can’t account for right now,” the car owner states before his video comes to a close.
Commenters Sound Off
Several folks who replied to the video echoed the car seller’s concerns. One person wrote: “In Washington state they ride with you on a test drive for that very reason.”
While others speculated as to what the person who went driving around in the Durango was probably doing while the car was in their possession. “Meanwhile he’s probably put tons of miles on your car,” one said.
Someone else wrote: “He’s out running errands … I bet you $50 billion.”
Whereas others were concerned with whether or not the man ever returned the Dodge Durango he took off the 5 Star Motor Co. lot.
While Bell didn’t confirm if the vehicle was returned, he did post another video on the 2015 Ford Focus the customer brought in. In the clip, he can be seen checking out the vehicle, claiming that it’s not even worth $100. He notes that the vehicle’s lost its power steering and has a slew of warning lights on its dash, including one for its Anti-Lock Braking System. Furthermore, he highlights the exterior damage the ride’s sustained over its 200,000 miles of commuting. The client, who is the same person that took off with the Durango, purportedly wanted $500 for the Ford Focus.
Dealership Extended Test Drives
There’s plenty of debate online as to whether or not dealerships should offer extended test drives to customers. One blog, A Girl’s Guide to Cars, argued that it’s a matter of personal safety for female customers and that some drivers may not feel comfortable being seated in a vehicle with a stranger while determining whether or not the ride in question is for them.
As for overnight test drives, folks on this Quora discussion post also discussed their personal experiences test-driving vehicles. Many users stated that while the practice isn’t exactly common, there are some dealerships that do indeed offer this option to buyers. One person on the site shared that car sellers will often allow buyers to take a vehicle home only if they’re certain the client will indeed buy it.
Other users on this Bogleheads discussion thread echoed these aforementioned sentiments. One new car buyer wrote that while shopping for a new vehicle, they experienced vastly disparate responses from different dealerships. Ultimately, they decided to buy their car from the business that allowed them to keep the ride overnight. Additionally, they were the same company that offered a better deal on the car. It’s worth noting, however, that these posts date back to 2013.
Are Overnight Test Drives a Thing of the Past?
In Reddit’s r/askcarsales sub, car sales reps discussed this test drive practice. One stated that it’s a dealership-by-dealership basis.
“Depends on the dealer and how serious you are about buying. At the Ford store I worked at, we did it frequently, but only when we were 99% sure it would be a deal … at the Toyota store I worked at, it was a firm 100% rule of no overnight drives. No exceptions,” the Redditor penned.
Another person stated that their dealership stopped the practice entirely, and it was due to instances similar to the one expressed by Bell in his TikTok video.
“We stopped doing it 10 years ago … after one too many incidents or someone wanting to overnight test drive a vehicle … to use it to drive to the casino or haul stuff before returning it.”
Motor1 has reached out to Bell via TikTok direct message for further comment. We will update this story if he responds.
@5starmotorco My fault for even letting it get to this point #fyp #sales #carsales #cardealership #dealershiptok ♬ original sound - Codie Bell
