‘You gotta know when to stop a deal’: Kia dealership worker reveals how customers may use this ‘sketchy’ tactic to avoid payments

During the car buying process, it’s usually the buyer who feels like they’re getting scammed. 

Dealerships employ all kinds of tricks to try to get shoppers to purchase a vehicle, often with an unfavorable loan agreement. These tricks can include everything from latching onto something a shopper said to using a pen and paper to attempt to confuse a buyer.

However, for all of the “scams” that a dealership can pull on a buyer, there are a few that a buyer can try on a dealership, as TikTok user @costacreatescardeals recently learned.

In a series of several videos, the TikToker and Kia dealership worker recounts how he paused “one of the most suspicious deals ever” until he could get more information.

According to the TikToker, a customer came into the dealership in the morning with a strange request.

“She’s like, ‘Hey, I got a low 400 credit score. I got a few repos. I got zero down. But if you can get me approved on the highest-end…SUV you guys got, I’ll take any payment, even if it’s 1500 to 2000 a month,’” the TikToker recalls. “I was like, ‘You sure about that?’ She was like, ‘Yeah, I just need to get done.’”

At this point, the TikToker asked for information for a co-signer. Surprisingly, the customer produced information for a co-signer with an 880 credit score from all three bureaus. This, along with other details in her story, roused more suspicion in the TikToker.

“Long story short, I’m like, ‘When can the cosigner come to the dealership and sign her part?’ She tells me that the co-signer is in Italy, in Venice right now, so she can’t even come,” the TikToker details. “But the co-signer actually did the app online from Venice in her hotel. So it’s not like she did it for the cosigner—the co-signer actually did the application.”

Further interrogation of the customer showed she was able to offer additional details about the co-signer. Still, the TikToker remained suspicious, and in a follow-up video, he suspected that the customer was using someone’s stolen information.

Not wanting to continue the deal, the TikToker decided to reach out to the co-signer in Italy, recording the call and posting it to TikTok. Immediately, things on the call are suspicious; the person who answers seems uncertain of the local time, cannot name the company she works for, does not seem to know the name of the town she is allegedly in, and cannot correctly identify the last vehicle she financed.

All of these details further proved to the TikToker that he needed to not move forward with the deal.

In a final update, the TikToker says he was not pursuing the deal and was making efforts to reach out to the alleged co-signer to inform her that he suspected her identity had been stolen.

Commenters applauded the decision, though some questioned why the TikToker let the alleged con go on so long in the first place.

“Sounds like identity fraud and they thought they covered all their bases. I think you’ve made the right decision,” wrote a user.

“This was the most obvious fraud like come on,” offered another. “Did it take that much thought to decline the deal??”

Others simply advised the TikToker on additional ways they could prevent this from happening to others.

“You could also reach out to the HR department of the company she works for too,” detailed a user.

“You should notify the surrounding dealerships. My husband worked in car sales for a few years, so I know all the dealerships managers in town know each other,” suggested a second.

The Daily Dot reached out to @costacreatescardeals via TikTok direct message.

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