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‘She ended up writing a check’: Honda dealership worker shares what really happens after customer wrecks 2019 Kia Forte during a test drive

‘If I don’t sign anything, not on me.’

Photo of Alexandra Samuels

Alexandra Samuels

Honda Dealer logo(l) MAn shares car wreck experience(c) Woman standing next to car crash(r)

When purchasing a car, it’s important to take it for a test drive before pulling the trigger. But what happens if the vehicle gets damaged or if you’re in an accident while it’s in your possession? 

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Tyler Weaver (@cole_honda_tyler), a former choir director turned Honda salesman, said a customer recently found herself in this predicament. 

“That was an interesting experience and an interesting story,” he said. 

In the end, he said, the customer ended up cutting a check to the dealership. But Weaver’s storytime didn’t end there. As of this writing, his video explaining what happened to the unlucky driver has amassed more than 62,600 views.

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What happened at the Honda dealership? 

In a video posted to TikTok on Jan. 25, Weaver said he recently helped a woman who wrecked a Kia Forte she took home.

Here’s how it played out. Weaver said most dealerships have policies mandating that employees drive with customers during test drives. At his dealership, however, he said no such policy was in place. 

So, when a woman requested to take home a 2019 Kia Forte, Weaver said he let her go willingly. He explained that she lived only 10 minutes away and wanted to take the car home so she could see if it fit in her driveway. 

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“It was a pretty new pre-owned vehicle,” Weaver said of the Kia, noting it had roughly 5,000 to 6,000 miles on it. 

When she brought it back, however, Weaver said the “whole back end was scraped all to pieces.” He said she had run the car down her fenceline. 

Since she was at fault, Weaver said the dealership gave the woman an estimate, and she paid for the damages. It ended up costing her roughly $1,000.

“She ended up writing a check for the damage and not purchasing the vehicle,” he said. He suggested, too, that he wasn’t mad at the woman.

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Weaver’s story didn’t end there, though. 

He said he ran into her days later at a gas station. What’s more, he said she was driving a brand-new Fiat.

“I was a little petty, but I asked how the vehicle was doing for her,” Weaver said. He said he noticed that the Fiat was similarly scraped. It turns out she had messed up the Fiat during a test drive with that car, too.

“At least she purchased it this time,” Weaver said.

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Who is responsible for a car accident during a test drive? 

Firstly, if you wreck a car during a test drive, you must take the same steps you would during any other accident. First, contact the dealership and report the accident to the police. If another person was involved, it’s important to exchange insurance information and to take pictures of any damage. 

If you’re responsible for the accident, then your insurance policy will kick in and pay for damages per the limits of your liability, collision, and other coverage, according to Lawyers.com.

Similarly, your health insurance policy would cover medical expenses incurred during an accident.

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“Just like when you cause an accident while driving a rental car, your personal car insurance transfers to the vehicle you are test driving, so whatever coverage you have in place with respect to your own vehicle will apply to the car you are test driving,” it read.

If your insurance coverage isn’t enough, it noted, you may need to contact a lawyer. 

Meanwhile, if the dealership is at fault, their insurance will kick in and cover the damages to other parties. Cellino Law said car dealerships are required to carry fleet insurance on the vehicles in their lots, which generally covers test drivers in the case of an accident.

While a dealership might encourage you to buy a car you’ve test-driven, you should never feel obligated to. It’s important to use the test drive time to ask questions about the car’s features, pricing, and any other concerns you may have.

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@cole_honda_tyler Customer wrecks one of our cars #fyp #dealership #support #funny #mistake #honda #cars #salesman ♬ original sound – Tyler Weaver

Viewers express disappointment with the salesman’s story

In the comments section of Weaver’s video, several viewers said they couldn’t believe the customer had to cough up $1,000.

“If I don’t sign anything, not on me,” one viewer wrote. 

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“Y’all got lucky she paid for it,” another added. 

“Dealership insurance covers it,” a third viewer said matter-of-factly.

To this comment, Weaver responded, “Sometimes.”

Others shared similar dealership accident-related stories. 

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“I was a customer and I watched a customer drive into one of the dealership’s other cars,” another said. “Idk what happened, but it was bad.”

“My cousin had to fire a salesman cuz he wrecked a brand new Hellcat AFTER it sold,” a second viewer added.

Some viewers said they couldn’t believe the woman didn’t buy the Kia after wrecking it. 

“I would say, ‘you break it, you buy it,’” one person commented. 

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“They break it, they buy it,” another quipped. 

“You should be forced to buy the car if you damage it,” a third viewer said. 

Weaver responded to this comment, too. “It’s hard to force it,” he said. “But either that or pay for the damage.”

The Daily Dot has reached out to Weaver via TikTok comment and to Honda through email.

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