Car dealer handed over a $14,000 Dodge Durango for a test drive and got a clunker worth less than $100 in return. The Durango still hasn’t come back

Codie Bell (@5starmotorco), the owner of 5 Star Motor Co., lost a $14,000 Dodge Durango after a customer took it for an extended test drive and never brought it back. Bell shared the story in a TikTok video, explaining how the situation unfolded and warning other dealers about what can go wrong when proper checks are skipped.

The customer had a 480 credit score and had visited the dealership multiple times to look at the car. He never wanted to go through the financing process until he had a co-signer lined up. Bell’s brother had a similar experience with a different customer just the day before, which should have been an early warning sign.

According to Motor1.com, the customer asked to take the car and promised to bring it back before closing time, saying he needed to go to the bank to sort out financing with his co-signer. “I did not know any of this,” Bell said in the video. “But he asked us if he could take the car, bring it back right before we close ’cause he needed to go to the bank and get financing for this co-signer. And he didn’t want us pulling his co-signer’s credit.”

Bell openly admitted the mistake was his, but that doesn’t make the loss any easier to swallow

As it turned out, the customer’s bank rejected him for financing. Despite that, he never returned the Durango. Bell did not verify the customer’s financial situation before handing over the car, and he has since owned up to that mistake. “This is 100% my fault,” he said. “Because I did not know any of this. I knew none of this, and I should have.” 

The customer left behind a blue Ford Focus with over 200,000 miles on it. The car had lost power steering and had a failing Anti-Lock Braking System, among other problems. Bell estimated the car was worth less than $100, but the customer had actually asked for $500 for it before the trade. That gap alone says a lot about the situation Bell walked into.

The incident started a conversation online about extended test drives. Some people argued that longer test drives are sometimes a personal safety concern, especially for female customers. Others said the practice is fairly common in the car sales industry and that dealers take on that risk regularly. The debate also ties into broader discussions about whether buying from dealerships is worth it at all.

Bell said he still hopes the Durango will turn up. The car has not been returned, and it is unclear when or if it will come back. The dealership is now out a $14,000 vehicle with little to show for it except a near-worthless trade-in that barely runs. Car dealerships are no strangers to disputes gone wrong, as seen in cases where dealers lose vehicles to police seizures over stolen car claims.

For smaller, independent dealerships like 5 Star Motor Co., a loss like this is not easy to absorb. A $14,000 vehicle walking off the lot with no financing in place and no guarantee of return is a serious financial hit. Bell’s situation highlights how quickly things can go wrong when the proper steps are skipped, even once.

The story is a reminder that car dealers need to be careful before releasing vehicles to customers, especially those with poor credit histories. Verifying a buyer’s financial situation before a test drive, particularly an overnight one, is something dealers may want to make a standard practice going forward.