A Chevrolet salesman says that a customer somehow still owes $23,000 on a 2012 Chevy Cruze.
Art Moehn (@artmoehnchevrolet), a Chevrolet and Honda dealer based in Jackson, Michigan, is known for funny and informative posts about buying and selling cars. In a recent post, Moehn laid out a scenario involving a used Chevrolet Cruze.
Moehn said that the owner of the 2012 Chevy Cruze recently came into his dealership.
He claims they asked, “I owe $23,000 on [the car] … What should I do?”
The dealer lip syncs to the famous Usher song “Burn:” “I think that you should let it burn.”
“Just bein’ honest,” Moehn writes in the caption.
How Is This Possible?
According to Kelley Blue Book, a range-topping 2012 Cruze LTZ Sedan 4D has a market value of about $4,661 today. It was originally priced at $23,860.
Owing $23,000 on a 2012 Chevy Cruze sounds extreme, but financial experts warn that it’s not unprecedented.
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Car shopping experts at Edmunds report that an increasing number of Americans owe more than their cars are worth. But with some research and awareness, car buyers can avoid falling into such traps.
One of the first mistakes many make is choosing to roll over negative equity from a previous auto loan. If a buyer trading in a car with $8,000 in negative equity rolls that amount into a loan for a 2012 Cruze originally priced at a conservative $15,000, the new loan could total $23,000.
“The ramifications for trading in a vehicle well below sea level for a brand-new vehicle can be drastic and lead to a cycle of poor auto financing decisions,” Ivan Drury, Edmunds‘ director of insights, reportedly said.
Buyers with poor credit may also find themselves paying interest rates as high as 20-29%. This is particularly true for those who obtain loans through subprime lenders, or “buy here, pay here” dealerships.
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, subprime borrowers often receive inaccurate disclosures, pay erroneous fees, and are in danger of having their vehicles wrongfully repossessed. These charges can quickly increase the balance owed and trap them in a cycle of debt.
Borrowers have also been known to take out title loans against their vehicles. Title loans are short-term, high-interest loans that use the vehicle as collateral.
According to the Pew Research Center, the average title loan borrower often ends up repaying far more than they’ve borrowed. This is especially true if they secure a title loan, default, and then repeatedly refinance it.
No Surprise in the Comments
Moehn’s post went viral. As of this writing, it has over 1.4 million views. Several viewers expressed confusion over how someone could end up owing more on a car than its current market value.
“What were the payments? A dollar a month?” one person asked.
“I don’t even owe 23k on my 2021 Camry,” said another.
Several pointed out that this problem seems common among buyers who do not read the fine print of their loan contracts. Some even admitted they’ve fallen victim to predatory loan practices.
“Yeah I owe 19k on my ‘18 Fusion because I had roll over from a trade before. I learned a valuable lesson now the hard way unfortunately,” said one.
“I owe 13k on a 2012 Chevy Cruze,” another admitted.
“These comments make me think people just walked in and said I want low payments and didn’t read anything else,” someone else said, adding, “Interest eating y’all up.”
Motor1 reached out to Moehn via TikTok direct message. We’ll update this if he responds.
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