An Atlanta-based car dealer is going viral on TikTok after sharing a story about a customer who was delinquent on his Dodge Charger payments.
Yusuf (@ridewithyusuf), whose TikTok bio says that he buys and sells cars, recorded himself at work while on the phone with said customer. The man, Yusuf said, owed $26,000 on his 2019 Dodge vehicle.
“Owes $26,000 on a 2019 Dodge Charger 200k miles, up for repossession,” Yusuf wrote in the accompanying text overlay.
In the video, Yusuf gave the man advice on what he should do. However, the content creator expressed shock that the customer had gotten away with not making car payments for over a year. As of Monday, Yusuf’s video sharing details of the man’s predicament had amassed 396,000 views.
How was the customer nearly $30,000 behind on car payments?
Yusuf began his video by calling the man and identifying himself. Beyond his name, the content creator also said he worked with Legacy Motorcars.
While on the phone with the man, whose face was never featured, Yusuf confirmed the following: The man owed $26,000 on his vehicle and hadn’t been making payments for the past 18 months because he’d recently lost his job.
The customer’s bank wasn’t necessarily looking for that full amount, though. Yusuf said the bank instead wanted to settle and have the customer fork over $9,000.
But Yusuf expressed shock that the bank hadn’t repossessed his car already. After all, cars are generally repossessed once payments are 90 days in default.
“They’re still trying to pick it up? The repo man [must] hate you,” Yusuf quipped.
The customer then explained his original payment plan. He said his plan required him to pay $635 per month for 72 months. He noted, too, that he bought the car brand-new in 2019 and that he had an extraordinarily high interest rate of 18%.
Because he was currently unemployed, Yusuf recommended that the customer settle the $9,000 charge with the bank.
“You will have settled for less than what the account was originally for,” he explained.
Yusuf said the customer might be able to negotiate down that cost, especially since the man currently wasn’t working. Then he could pay the remaining sum over the course of six months to a year, potentially, Yusuf said.
“But if I were you, I’d try to negotiate it,” he reiterated.
Not all delinquent customers will get off this easy
If you take out a loan to pay for your car, as most people do, the vehicle doesn’t technically belong to you until it’s paid off in full. Until then, it belongs to the bank, credit union, or whatever financial institution loaned you the money, according to debt.org.
That means if you fall behind on payments, your lender can snatch that car away from you. In other words, it gets repossessed.
It’s unclear how the customer Yusuf serviced was able to escape payments for a year and a half, though. Debt.com said that cars are generally repossessed once payments are 90 days, or three months, behind. Often these visits from the repo man don’t come with a warning, either. The site noted that a towing service might seize your car from your house or driveway in a snap.
The story of your car won’t end there, however. After it is repossessed, the lender will sell your car at an auction—a fate that Yusuf warned the customer he might face. And if the sale price of the car is less than what you owe on your loan, you’re responsible for paying the difference.
As Yusuf noted, there are ways to negotiate the price of a repossessed car. In a 2024 forum, an estate lawyer noted that those who want to negotiate the price down should reach out to the lender or bank directly.
“It is probably a good idea to ask the loan company for an itemization of the current balance before you start negotiating so you know what the starting point is,” he said. “Also, make sure to obtain the terms [of] any settlement agreement in writing.”
@ridewithyusuf Over a year behind on payments for his 2019 Dodge charger with 18% interest with over 200k miles! I gave him some advice on what he should do! #cars #cardealer #fyp #dodge #charger #badcredit #repo #reposession #carsales #dealership #dealershiptiktok ♬ original sound – Ride With Yusuf
Viewers express disbelief at the customer’s wild story
In the comments section of Yusuf’s video, some users were similarly surprised that the customer essentially had a free car for 18 months.
“Bro is the repo man’s biggest rival,” one user quipped. “A year and a half without payments.”
“He must have a garage,” another echoed. “Cus a year and a half.”
“A YEAR AND A HALF!?!?!” a third user said, similarly perplexed by the customer’s story.
Some viewers, meanwhile, guessed that the bank wasn’t actively looking for the car since it had amassed 200,000 miles.
“Bank wants that money, not a car with 200k miles that he bought brand new,” one man said.
“How the hell do you put 40k miles a year on a car?” another questioned.
“The only thing surprising is that it lasted 200k miles,” a third user added.
And some people were most shocked with the terms of the customer’s car agreement, as 18% is fairly high, even for those with low credit.
“Jeez. Why do people agree to those terms,” one man asked.
“Another reason to have good credit,” a second commenter added. “Never had to pay more than 7% interest on a car.”
“18% in 2019 is quite an accomplishment,” a third one joked.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Yusuf via TikTok comment and to Legacy Motorcars through email.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.