“Lesson learned for him…”
A Chevrolet salesman says he felt guilty after selling a used 2027 Toyota 4Runner out from under a customer who planned to come back for it the next day.
Joshua Johnson (@thepsychetrader) says the first customer had been “haggling him” on price before asking whether he could take the 4Runner for a pre-purchase inspection.
Johnson agreed and asked whether the customer wanted to put down a deposit or “hold” on the vehicle so nobody else could buy it in the meantime.
The customer declined. He wanted to hear what the mechanic had to say first.
According to Johnson, the inspection went well. The customer called afterward and said he would return the next day to pick up the 4Runner.
“He still did not want to put down a deposit and hold it,” Johnson says.
Then, another buyer walked into the dealership.
That customer was also interested in the 4Runner, and with no hold on the vehicle, Johnson says it was still available.
He says he even tried to talk the second buyer out of it by pointing out some cosmetic flaws.
That backfired.
Johnson says the customer appreciated his “honesty” and decided to buy it.
“I tried not to sell it, but I still have to do my job,” Johnson says.
The first customer was angry when he learned the 4Runner had been sold. But Johnson’s position was simple: Without a deposit holding the vehicle, it was still fair game. As of this writing, his video has more than 127,600 views.
Johnson’s initial customer at least did one thing consumer advocates strongly recommend: He had the 4Runner inspected before buying it.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says buyers should get an independent mechanical inspection even if a used vehicle has already been inspected or “certified” by the dealership.
The harder question is what happens to the car while said inspection is happening.
According to GoodCar, there isn’t one nationwide rule requiring a dealership to hold a vehicle simply because a customer says they plan to buy it. Hold and deposit policies vary by dealership, which makes the actual agreement important.
The FTC’s used-car guidance repeatedly tells shoppers to get promises in writing, noting that spoken promises can be difficult to enforce.
Buyers should also ask exactly what a deposit means before handing over money. Is it refundable? How long will the dealership hold the car? Does the deposit commit you to buying it?
New York’s attorney general, for example, warns consumers not to assume they can automatically get a car deposit back if they change their minds. Other states may have different requirements.
In Johnson’s story, the buyer apparently chose not to put money down until the mechanic gave the 4Runner a clean bill of health. That avoided committing money before the inspection—but, according to Johnson, it also meant the dealership continued treating the SUV as available.
The takeaway isn’t to skip the inspection—it’s to make sure the car isn’t going while you’re getting one.
Most commenters didn’t think Johnson had much to feel guilty about.
“If he wanted it, he would have put a deposit. Lesson learned for him,” one viewer wrote.
“He ain’t wanna put a deposit down, he’ll live,” another said.
“People love honesty, and by you telling them the dent, etc they trusted you and bought it!! No deposit, no hold,” a third commenter added.
That was also the part of Johnson’s story that stood out to several viewers: He says he pointed out the 4Runner’s flaws, hoping the second customer might pass, but the disclosure only made the buyer trust him more.
“Nah. Other dude was playin around. But tbh. Stay being like that with customers, telling them everything wrong with the car upfront. That’s how you get forever customers,” one person wrote.
Another viewer took a more practical view.
“Hey man, you made more money than what you would have. And realistically, should have put the deposit down,” they wrote.
One person who said they had worked in the business for years suggested Johnson would eventually stop feeling so bad about situations like this.
“[Pretty] soon you won’t get sad… did it for years,” they wrote.
Motor1 contacted Johnson via TikTok direct message. We’ll be sure to update this if he responds.
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– The Motor1.com Team