After a potential deal was purportedly ruined by a coworker, a car salesman shared what he describes as “the number one golden rule” for all dealership employees: “Zip it and go on about your business” when it comes to other salespeople’s customers.
Salesman Costa (@costacreatescardeals) is clearly peeved in his TikTok. He starts the video by saying, “When someone is working a deal with a customer, do not ever, and I mean ever, go talk to that customer.”
Costa says that a receptionist essentially snatched a sale from the dealership at the last minute.
“We had a receptionist today go up to a customer—after they signed at the desk, ready to go into finance—telling the customer that she was able to lower her payment when trading out of her vehicle with $12,000 of negative equity,” he alleges.
Anyone who’s rolled a car loan with negative equity into another car loan knows that the outcome of that is usually, but not always, a higher monthly payment.
This was apparently the case with Costa’s customer. “Her payment went up,” he says. “Not down. And then the customer decided not to do the deal and left while waiting for finance.”
He notes that the new payment after trading in a car with negative equity will be determined by multiple factors.
“Every case is different,” he says. “And it also depends on credit. It depends on many factors.”
His bottom line is that if it isn’t your sale, you need to butt out.
“Don’t ever go and talk to another customer while another salesperson is working a deal with that customer,” Costa says.
His advice has people coming for him specifically and car salespersons generally.
It’s no secret that car salespeople—perhaps especially used car salesmen—are widely reviled. A list of the most hated professions describes used car salesmen as “ fast-talking liars who do it all with smiles on their faces.”
While this is just a stereotype and, as with any profession, there are good and bad actors throughout, Costa’s TikTok put the taste of scummy car salesmen in many viewers’ mouths.
“Seems like the receptionist was honest with the customer,” wrote one user. “Who in their right mind is going to roll $12k negative equity into another loan at probably 10-12%. She did them a favor.”
“Man, car sales people really do get on here and tell the world how shady they are,” wrote a second user.
“Wow, an ethical employee working at a dealership! Good for her! She is probably too good to work there,” a third user said.
In response to the commenter who claimed that the receptionist was simply being honest with his customer, Costa explained why his colleague may have led the potential buyer astray. It’s actually inflation.
As he explains in a follow-up TikTok, the increased cost of living due to inflation is making it harder for people to make ends meet on one income. This, he alleges in a text overlay on the post, is “indirectly” wrecking the car market.
Many people, he explains, are using their vehicles for a second source of income, often in the gig economy. While gigging for a rideshare or delivery service can be a flexible way to make ends meet, it also typically puts a lot of miles on your car. This often translates into negative equity.
“They’re stacking over 200,000 miles on a car that they bought in 2020,” he explains. “And now we’re in 2025, the depreciation is through the roof.”
This is why he cautions, “you should never use a personal vehicle as a commercial vehicle.”
He says that the customer the receptionist talked out of the sale was trading in their vehicle for just this reason. Their vehicle, Costa claims, had become utterly unreliable due to high mileage and the wear and tear this causes.
“It was costing them way too much money,” he says.
Costa frames the role of people in his line of work as helping people like his lost customer get a reliable vehicle, “rather than screwing them.”
“What we’re doing is actually losing money on some deals just to trade a customer out of the vehicle so we maintain a long-term relationship with them,” he says.
If the business maintains that relationship, he says dealerships realize that the customer is likely to keep coming back for maintenance and repairs. So ultimately, taking a loss on a sale can translate into a profit in the long term.
“It’s actually a very smart decision to sell them a car,” he says. “And if you can make money, hey, that’s what we’re in it for. But sometimes you’ll actually lose money and sell them a car.”
Motor1 reached out to Costa via TikTok comment and direct message for comment. We’ll be sure to update this if he responds.