A woman on TikTok is going viral after sharing how a simple clerical error by a Kia dealership nearly landed her in jail—and temporarily cost her her license.
Daj (@daj_dee) says she sold her 2023 Kia K5 back to a dealership six months ago after landing a job at a car dealership, where she now drives a company car. But despite moving on from her old Kia, the car wasn’t quite done with her.
In a recent video, which has racked up more than 21,800 views as of Wednesday, Daj explains that she was pulled over a few days ago—only to find out the dealership’s alleged mistake put her in serious legal trouble.
What happened?
When Daj noticed a cop tailing her before eventually pulling her over, she says she didn’t think much of it. She says she wasn’t speeding, breaking any laws, or doing anything remotely suspicious.
The cop, however, had other ideas, according to Daj.
At first, she says the officer took issue with what he claimed were obstructed dealer plates. But things took a turn when she says he ran her license and registration. Then, she says he started suddenly started reading her Miranda rights.
Completely confused, Daj says she waived her right to a lawyer and let the cop question her. One of his first questions, per Daj? “Whose car is this?”
Daj says she explained that the vehicle belonged to her job, but the officer allegedly wasn’t buying it. She says that he insisted it was registered in her name and accused her of dodging insurance payments. Then, she says he dropped another bombshell: Her license was suspended.
She says they eventually cleared up the registration issue. Yet another clerical error had allegedly incorrectly linked the car to her name. However, she says the cop wouldn’t let the suspended license claim go—even as Daj insisted it wasn’t true.
In the end, she says the officer refused to let her drive home. Instead, Daj says he told her she’d need someone to pick her up, leaving her stranded and furious over a mess that wasn’t even her fault.
Driver finds out selling her Kia haunted her
Stuck without a license, Daj says she was forced to miss days of work—an especially big problem since her job at the dealership requires a valid license.
Determined to get to the bottom of it, Daj says she did some digging and finally uncovered the reason behind her suspension: The Florida Department of Transportation claimed she was in a car accident two weeks ago, per Daj. There was just one problem—she says that never happened.
As it turns out, she says Florida’s system still had her old Kia registered in her name, even though she’d sold it back in September 2024. Daj says the dealership she sold it to had resold it, and the new owner? They’re allegedly the one who wrecked the car.
“And that someone else is the person who totaled the car,” Daj says. But because the paperwork was never updated, she says the system pinned the accident on her instead.
What followed was, according to Daj, an exhausting battle to prove she’d sold the car—a process Daj describes as long, tedious, and beyond frustrating. She says she spent hours at the DMV, scrambling to clear her name just so she could get back to work.
Finally, with a whole lot of patience—and, as she put it, “luck”—she says she managed to get the suspension lifted.
“All of this trouble because somebody failed to remove the vehicle that [I] sold six months ago out of [my] name,” she says.
What if this happens to you?
In some ways, Daj got off easy. The cop could have arrested her but chose not to. But not everyone in her situation is so lucky, and finding out through a traffic stop is far from ideal.
Unfortunately, she’s not alone. In 2023, a Redditor on r/legaladvice shared a similar horror story. During a routine stop, they said they discovered that the dealership never transferred the title of the used car they were financing. And that reportedly left them in legal limbo.
If you ever find yourself in this mess, act fast. Contact the dealership immediately, and if they drag their feet, reach out to your state’s DMV for guidance.
In theory, it shouldn’t get to that point. Most states require that registration and title transfers happen immediately after a sale. But as Daj’s ordeal proves, just because something is supposed to happen doesn’t mean it actually does.
@daj_dee Craziest shit ever
♬ original sound - user7369931096213
Some viewers encourage legal action against Kia
In the comments on Daj’s video, viewers weren’t exactly surprised. Some claimed that Kia has a reputation for botching paperwork, with several people saying she’s far from the first customer to run into this kind of mess.
“I tell anyone who listens I don’t fool with KIA! I had a bad experience with them, I was stuck being responsible for $5k cause they sales person took off gap coverage without telling me,” one woman shared.
“This happened to me,” another added. “I just received something from the DMV said that I got a ticket sometime this year and I haven’t driven since 2020 or 2021.”
Others urged Daj to lawyer up and take legal action against Kia.
“Kia needs to make it right!! If not SUE!!” one viewer encouraged.
“Sue them,” another echoed. “Don’t fumble your blessing.”
“I say sue the dealership,” a third woman said. “That person didn’t do what they were supposed to do. And you got in a lot of trouble and a very confusion situation.”
And some applauded Daj for keeping her cool and handling the officer with grace—despite what was clearly a stressful and unfair situation.
“When he told me to step out I would of started crying,” one viewer wrote. “My eyes still would’ve been swollen from crying like my world is falling apart,” another said.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Daj via TikTok comment and to Kia through email.
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