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Some car dealers are pulling a fast one on potential car buyers. Is it a scam or a shady business practice?
Imagine going into a car dealer to buy a larger vehicle for your family. You are a young mom with a new baby and you’ve grown out of your 2018 Ford Focus. It’s been a reliable and fuel-efficient car, but it’s now too small.
So, on a Saturday, you drive your Focus to the nearest Ford dealer to check out a new Ford Explorer. As you drive to the grocery store, you’ve seen the SUVs on the lot and heard they are good vehicles for families.
As she recounts in her TikTok clip, Kaelyn (@kaelyng23) did that. However, her test drive of a Ford Explorer turns into a nightmare.
She says, “I test-drove the 2022 Ford Explorer, took it home for the weekend, and the A/C stopped working. Now, the Ford dealer says I must pay $1,300 to get the A/C unit fixed on a vehicle I don’t own.”
Image her dilemma.
When she gets to the dealer, they show her the new 2025 Ford Explorer and of course she loves it. However, when they tell her the price, ($42,000) she realized it’s out of her reach. So, the nice salesperson shows her a 2022 Explorer with 39,000 miles on it. The price is $29,000 and this is in Kaelyn’s price range and fits her budget.
Next, she takes the SUV out on a short test drive, and likes the vehicle. It has three rows for her growing family, drives well, and she wants to buy it. However, Kaelyn wants her husband to check it out first and he’s working today.
The salesperson says, “No problem. You can take the vehicle home over the weekend and bring it back on Tuesday after you and your husband have driven it and looked it over.”
Kaelyn thinks it’s a great idea.
The salesperson says, “OK, first we need you to fill out a “pre-approval” application, so we can see if you qualify for a loan on the Explorer. She doesn’t think this is a problem so Kaelyn fills out he paperwork.
The salesperson says, ‘If she and her husband decide to keep the car, the financing app has already been approved and will be available when you return. It will save you time if you do decide to buy it.
You can return the vehicle if you don’t want the Explorer.
The salesperson says leave your Ford Focus keys, we will lock it up and we will keep it safe here for you. If you decide to keep the Explorer, we will take it in on trade.
Satisfied with the Ford salesperson’s explanation, Kaelyn leaves her Ford Focus with the dealership, gets in the Explore, and drives home.
It’s a warm day, so as she’s driving home, she turns on the A/C to keep her and her baby cool. While she’s driving, she hears a sound from the front of the car, and notices that the cold air turn blowing out the vents turns warm and the air conditioner stops working.
Thankfully, she’s almost home, and her baby needs to be fed. Kaelyn pulls into the driveway and turns off the car. When her husband gets home, he looks at the Explorer, and sure enough, there is a problem with the vehicle’s A/C. It’s not working.
Here is what Kaelyn says,
“So I emailed them, I texted them, everything, telling them the A/C just quit working,” she recounts. “They’re like, ‘OK, bring it on Monday when we’re open.'”
The salesperson then tells her she must pay to get the A/C fixed because she owns the Explorer now.
“I said ‘No,'” Kaelyn recalls. “I said, ‘Give me my old car back because I am not paying for a car that I haven’t even bought.'”
“And he’s like, ‘Well, you have a loan on it,'” Kaelyn continues. “I’m like, ‘No, you’ve made me get pre-approved so I could take it home this weekend, and you said you are not going to submit it to the bank unless I don’t bring the car back.'”
In her TikTok video, she says that when she insisted that she get her Ford Focus back, she was told, “That’s not how it works.”
What Happened To Kaelyn is called a “Spot Delivery.”
Capital One says when a car dealership allows you to take a car home for a test drive and then asks for a pre-approval for a loan, it’s often referred to as “spot delivery” or sometimes “yo-yo financing”. This practice is common in car dealerships where they aim to expedite the sales process, especially if you aren’t able to purchase the car and need to have someone else look at the vehicle like Kaelyn.
RCB Bank mentions mentions “yo-yo financing” as a term used to describe spot delivery, where the dealer may initially offer favorable loan terms that are later changed after the customer drives the car off the lot.
Potential Issues:
While spot delivery is not always a scam, however, what happened to Kaelyn sounds like they were trying to pull a fast one on her. They did not tell her that she had actually purchased the 2022 Ford Explorer as soon as the approval for the financing came through.
While we don’t know what “deal” she signed with the Food dealer, she was clearly not aware of the details of the paperwork and “pre-approval agreements signed.
Bankrate says, “Here’s where you need to watch out for common car-buying mistakes. Some dealers may sneak in a clause that says your purchase is “pending approval” — and may still be up for change.”
“While this practice is common and not automatically a red flag, it can set you up for yo-yo financing. In this situation, the dealer may approve you for a low rate and then change the terms of your auto loan once you drive off the lot. If you run into any auto buying scam, your best bet is to walk away and find a better dealership to buy from.”
Conclusion
Unfortunately, Kaelyn did not carefully review the “pre-approval” contract and was not aware of the clause that made the sale final as soon as the loan was approved with the bank.
“They’re just holding my car hostage, I guess,” she concludes. She states, “I don’t even want the car now, and I’m wondering how to get my old car back.”
Have you had a similar experience at a car dealer? If so, click the red Add New Comment link below and let us know.
Check out my 2025 Ford Explorer story: My 2025 Ford Explorer Won’t Start 3,000 Miles In, After Two Weeks the Dealer Still Doesn’t Know What’s Wrong, Should I Keep It Until They Lemon Law It?
I am Denis Flierl, a Senior Torque News Reporter since 2012. My 30+ year tenure in the automotive industry, initially in a consulting role with every major car brand and later as a freelance journalist test-driving new vehicles, has equipped me with a wealth of knowledge. I specialize in reporting the latest automotive news and providing expert analysis on Subaru, which you’ll find here, ensuring that you, as a reader, are always well-informed and up-to-date. Follow me on my X SubaruReport, All Subaru, WRXSTI, @DenisFlierl, Facebook, and Instagram.
Photo credit: Denis Flierl via Kaelyn
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Source: torquenews.com
