‘I’ve never heard of that before’: Woman says dealership asked her to return her car a week after she bought it. Here’s why
Recent car buyer and TikTok user Brooke (@brookebohannan_) is having an interesting issue. After buying her used 2023 Kia Telluride about a week ago, she received a phone call from the car dealership. In short, they want the car back.
“My husband gets a call last night that the lady who owned this car previously…wants the car back and I'm sorry, but I've never heard of that before,” Brooke says in her first video on the topic, which currently has over 8.1 million views as of Saturday.
According to Brooke, her husband insisted that that was not their problem and that they owned the car. The salesman countered by saying he could provide them with a similar vehicle, an offer Brooke’s husband did not accept.
“I called my dad, I called my uncle who has his own dealer and no one's heard of this,” Brooke states.
Brooke then offers her own theories about what happened.
"We seem to think that maybe they gave us too good of a deal on this car and they're looking at like their end of the month, whatever, at the dealership, and somebody's getting in trouble because they sold this car for less than what they were supposed to,” she theorizes.
Regardless of why it happened, Brooke was not a fan of the dealership’s attempted solution.
“You don't call the new owners of the vehicle and say, ‘We have a problem,’” she explains. “‘We’ don't have a problem. It sounds like ‘you’ have a problem.”
From here, the story gets even more unbelievable.
@brookebohannan_ This has to be a prank right??? #cardealership #buyingacar #carbuying #carbuyingtips ♬ original sound - B R O O K E
According to Brooke, she received another call from the dealership saying they would give them the same car they already bought for the same price. The dealership also offered an interesting story about why they want their car back in the first place.
“He claims that this older woman bought a car at the dealership to trade in for the car that we have. So she got this electric, newer, super technical, technologically advanced car and she doesn't like it and doesn't know how to use it and is having issues with it, whatever, and wants her old car back,” she recalls.
“I'm over here like, ‘That's weird,’” Brooke continues. “If she wanted her old car back, you would just say, ‘We can't, we already sold it. Here, you can buy a new car and trade your one you have now that you don't like and get a new one.’ Right? Like that just makes sense.”
Brooke then offers an updated theory about what happened.
“What I'm thinking what happened is that they sold this car prematurely. They weren't supposed to, and this woman is threatening to sue them, and instead of hiring a lawyer, they'd rather just get in contact with us and try to do a deal that way—and it would cost them less money than if they were to hire an attorney for the lawsuit that they're possibly facing,” she speculates.
No matter the reason, commenters encouraged her to be suspicious of any proposed deal.
“I did liquidation financing for dealerships. DO NOT HAND OVER KEYS UNTIL YOU HAVE NEW CAR KEYS IN HAND,” said a commenter.
“Do not give them that car back until you have the other one,” echoed another. “Once you give it back, you lose your leverage.”
“Call a lawyer, do not sign or give them anything,” advised a third. “Tell them they can send over all documents for your lawyer to sign.”
As it turns out, these commenters and Brooke herself were right to be suspicious of the dealership.
@brookebohannan_ @B R O O K E Something sketchy is going on for sureeee #cardealership #buyingacar #carbuying #carbuyingtips ♬ original sound - B R O O K E
Brooke says, using the car’s VIN, she was able to find the car’s previous owner—who she quickly discovered was not an elderly person who did not know how to use modern car technology.
While she considered meeting the previous owner in person, she ultimately decided against it. However, the previous owner ended up finding Brooke’s TikTok and managed to track her down to give her what she says is the whole story about the car.
“She starts knocking on the door and she immediately goes, ‘This is my car. The dealership has committed fraud and I don't want you to get stuck in this…I have an attorney, I'm going to file a lawsuit against them,’” Brooke recounts.
Through further conversation, Brooke discovered that the previous owner lived nearby and that “she is technically still paying for this car because the car dealership never paid off her car.”
“So she kind of still owns the car while we still own the car, which I can't understand. I don't get it,” Brooke summarizes. “She made a payment on Wednesday on this car this week, when we bought the car last Friday. Please make it make sense.”
Brooke concludes the video by again speculating that these are maneuvers on the part of the dealership to avoid a lawsuit while saying that she plans on confronting the dealership about what exactly happened that allowed her to purchase the car given these issues.
@brookebohannan_ I can confirm, she is in fact NOT an old lady who doesn’t know how to use car technology lol #carbuyingtips #cardealership #kia ♬ original sound - B R O O K E
Even though Brooke appears to be on the path to resolving this issue, viewers encouraged her to be cautious.
“Extreme opinion: Please park your car inside your garage. My over-anxious mind says that the crooked dealership might tow your car somehow,” said a commenter.
“Don’t trust her or the dealership. Retain your own counsel and protect your assets,” stated a second.
The Daily Dot reached out to Brooke via email.
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