Since 2020 the car market has been rocked by one problem after another. First it was a lack of stock, then parts, then supply. All of this causes prices to shoot up. Along with rising prices also came the lack of quality.
With owners complaining about transmission issues and parts being purposely made to be replaced, not fixed, lots started to fill with overpriced new models.
Now with tariffs expected to impact not only vehicles made outside the U.S., but the parts inside vehicles as well, car expert and dealer Robb the Car Guy (@robbthecarguy) shared his worry about the auto market on TikTok after visiting a Bank of America repo lot.
At the Bank of America repo lot
Robb begins his video by expressing his shock at the sheer amount of vehicles at the repo lot.
“Never seen this many repos in my life,” he said. “Come to the auction every week. I always said the car economy is doing good, but now for the first time I’m worried. I’m in Bank of America’s [repo]. Bank of America has good credit customers. This is franchise dealers making the sale.”
In the lot were a variety brand new vehicles ranging from a sports cars to sedans.
Then Robb saw the perfect example of the type of cars he found at the repo lot: A brand new Chevy Tahoe with 27,000 miles on it.
When he looked inside he couldn’t believe it. “The inside still smells new. It’s mint!” he said.
Afterwards he discovered a lot of brand new, mint condition vehicles, ranging from a 2025 Honda with 2,000 miles on it to a brand new Chevrolet Corvette with 6,000 miles on it.
“In order to qualify for these cars you got to make six-figure income,” Robb explained. “These people are getting their cars repossessed. This is people who care about their credit.”
According to Robb, the sheer amount of “high dollar earners” getting their cars repossesed signaled a serious threat to the future of the car industry.
“Cars have priced themselves out of the market,” he said.
What did the viewers think?
A lot of viewers in the comments had their own theories for the amount of new cars at a reputable credit lender’s repo lot. The video has amassed over 183,000 views since April 9.
“70% are people living above their means,” one said.
“Government employees getting fired,” another remarked.
“People we ain’t seen nothing yet the economy is slowly crashing. This has nothing to do with people living above their means. People are losing jobs left and right,” another warned.
Others agreed that the issue is the high car prices.
“Crazy part is these new cars are made cheaper and cheaper and they cost more and more,” a user said.
“People are paying $40k for Honda Accords now,” a second added.
“It’s all people that thought a $1,200 car payment was reasonable,” a third said.
“As someone who just got out of the car selling industry, I will say it’s not the time for a car payment. The numbers I have seen are astronomical!!” another warned.
“Those cars are from people that overpaid and now are worth much less due to the inflation and mark ups from 2021-2023. The owners decided to take the credit to offload a huge debt that wasn’t worth it anymore,” a user theorized.
Auto market predictions
In January, multiple experts were predicting a better auto market than 2024. Kelley Blue Book reports that 2025 predictions have the amount of Americans buying cars rising from 15.85 million in 2024 to 16.3 million in 2025. Morning Star backs up these stats and claims that the vehicle sales won’t be disrupted due to tariffs.
YouTuber Untamed Motors, an auto market expert who worked in industrial organizational psychology and owned an auto brokerage service, said that tariffs will not impact sale prices in the long term.
“I personally believe that we will not be as impacted by this added 25% tariffs by vehicle manufacturers,” he said. “I mean they don’t have the what i mean by that is “Vehicle manufacturers do not have the luxury to hike up prices 25%. They do not have a choice.”
According to Untamed Motors, automakers and dealers have not been able to sell their new cars, and at dealerships there are “lines upon lines of unsold inventory.” This has caused “inventory levels to grow by 120% in the last 2 1/2 years.”
@robbthecarguy #robbthecarguy #moneymanweems #Inflation #Cars #Value #Economy #Quitting #Giving #Hard #Struggle #Affordable #Affordable #Donald #Trump #Maga #Musk #Elon #Tesla #BankOfAmerica #Santander #Truist #Chase#Repo #Repossession #Tow ♬ original sound – RobbTheCarGuy
He predicts that there will be a surge in pricing for a few months while people panic buy and automakers attempt to pass on the cost to the customers, but they will be forced to drop their prices due to the lack of sales.
The Daily Dot reached out to Robb the Car Guy and Bank of America via email.
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