Another “Bank Repossessed” TikTok Car Deal — And the Phone Numbers Don’t Even Match
TikTok apparently still thinks I need a ridiculously inexpensive performance car.
The latest account to appear in my feed calls itself “Bank Repossessed Cars” and uses the handle @bankrepocarsforsale1.
At the time of my screenshot, the account had:
54,300 followers.
116,300 likes.
That's substantially larger than several of the questionable car accounts I've written about before.
The profile says:
🚗 Direct from Auctions
🔎 Verified Vehicles + Clean Titles
💰 In-House Financing Available
And then there's a telephone number for direct messages:
+1 (347) 218-1605
Sounds impressive.
Then I started watching the videos.
And once again, I have questions.
🚗 Today's Deal: A 2022 Dodge Charger for $5,850
The video that caught my attention shows what is described as a 2022 Dodge Charger with the following offer:
Asking Price: $5,850
Down Payment: $700
Monthly Payments: $399
The caption describes it as a “2022 Dodge Charger spark”, although the vehicle shown appears to carry a 392 badge.
If this is actually a 2022 Charger Scat Pack/392, that $5,850 advertised price deserves a very close look.
Why?
Because the market numbers aren't even in the same neighborhood.
💰 Kelley Blue Book Says About $37,000 — Not $5,850
Kelley Blue Book currently puts the national Fair Purchase Price of a 2022 Dodge Charger Scat Pack around $37,600. KBB lists roughly $31,900 trade-in, $34,800 private-party, and $37,600 Fair Purchase Price for a good-condition example, while a Scat Pack Widebody is higher still at about $44,100 Fair Purchase Price. Exact values vary with mileage, condition, options, and location. Kbb.com
Edmunds tells a similar story: its current dealer-retail estimate for a regular 2022 Scat Pack ranges from roughly $32,300 in rough condition to $39,500 in outstanding condition. Edmunds
CARFAX's current listings put 2022 Charger Scat Packs at an average listing price of about $44,347, with its displayed range running roughly $36,747–$52,950. Carfax
TikTok?
$5,850.
That's roughly 84% below KBB's $37,600 Fair Purchase Price.
Maybe there's an explanation.
Fantastic.
I'd like to hear it.
🔨 But What About MMR and “Auction Prices”?
This account specifically promotes the vehicles as coming “Direct from Auctions.”
That's where the Manheim Market Report—or MMR—comes in.
MMR isn't the same thing as KBB retail value. Manheim describes MMR as a wholesale-market valuation based on actual vehicles sold through Manheim, with values that can be adjusted for factors such as odometer reading, selling region, condition grade and even color. Manheim
That's why I'm not going to invent an exact MMR for the Charger in this video.
I don't have its VIN.
I don't have verified mileage.
I don't have its condition report.
I don't have its auction location.
I don't have a current vehicle-specific Manheim report.
Without those things, saying, “The MMR is exactly $XX,XXX,” would be pretending to know something I don't.
But here's what we can compare.
KBB puts the Scat Pack's trade-in value around $31,900. JD Power estimates a trade-in base of around $31,250–$33,250, depending on condition. Those aren't MMR, but they're useful wholesale-side reference points. Kbb.com
So if this really is a clean-title 2022 Scat Pack being sold for $5,850, the question isn't simply:
“Is it cheaper because it came from an auction?”
The question is:
How did someone acquire a vehicle worth tens of thousands of dollars cheaply enough to retail it for $5,850?
“Auction” isn't a magic word that makes vehicle economics disappear.
📞 Then I Noticed the Phone Numbers
Here's where things became even more interesting.
The TikTok profile lists:
+1 (347) 218-1605
The 347 area code is associated with New York City, including the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island. It's commonly encountered around the broader NYC/Long Island market, although an area code obviously doesn't establish where somebody currently lives or operates a business.
But I watched several of the account's videos.
The gentleman appearing in those videos provides a different telephone number—with a 717 area code.
The 717 area code serves south-central Pennsylvania, including Harrisburg, Lancaster, and York.
Again, people keep phone numbers after moving. Businesses can have multiple telephone numbers. VOIP numbers exist. None of this, by itself, proves anything improper.
But when I'm supposedly dealing with a business selling cars online, it's another question I'd want answered:
Why does the profile give me one phone number while the person in the videos gives me another?
And, more importantly:
What's the actual dealership?
Where is it physically located?
Which number belongs to that dealership?
Those should be remarkably easy questions for a legitimate automobile dealer to answer.
👀 And Look at the Rest of the Inventory
The Charger isn't alone.
The profile shows a Mustang advertised for:
$8,500 — $900 down — $399/month
A GMC pickup:
$8,000 — $735 down — $399/month
A Mercedes-AMG GLE 53 appears to be advertised around:
$19,500 — $1,500 down
Another vehicle:
$5,500 — $500 down
Another:
$7,800 — $750 down
There's even a vehicle shown around $25,000 with $1,300 down.
The scenery changes.
The dealerships and lots visible in the videos appear to change.
The vehicles range from ordinary transportation to expensive luxury and performance models.
Yet the formula remains remarkably familiar.
🚩 “Verified Vehicles + Clean Titles”
Great.
Verified by whom?
That's not sarcasm. That's an actual question I'd ask before buying.
If I'm buying one of these cars, give me the VIN.
Then I can verify the vehicle myself.
If it has a clean title, provide the documentation I need to confirm it independently.
If it came from an auction, tell me which auction.
If you're a licensed dealer, give me the legal business name, physical address, and dealer-license information.
If you're offering in-house financing, give me the written financing terms.
I don't need a green checkmark emoji.
I need documentation.
💳 $700 Down and $399 a Month — What's the Loan?
There's another mathematical problem worth examining.
The Charger is advertised at:
$5,850 purchase price
minus
$700 down
which leaves:
$5,150
If the payments really are $399 per month, $5,150 divided by $399 is only about 12.9 payments, before interest, taxes, fees, or anything else.
So what's the actual term?
What's the APR?
What's the amount financed?
What's the total of payments?
Who's extending the credit?
Are there additional fees?
If the actual vehicle costs $5,850, those should be straightforward questions.
If $5,850 isn't actually the total cash price, then I'd like to know what that number represents.
🚩 54,000 Followers Don't Answer Any of This
This account is bigger than many I've previously documented.
54,300 followers.
That's meaningful social proof.
Someone encountering the account might reasonably think:
They have 54,000 followers. They must be legitimate.
But we've been through this before.
Followers aren't a dealer license.
Likes aren't a title.
Views aren't a VIN.
A green checkmark emoji isn't vehicle verification.
And a real person standing beside a real automobile doesn't establish that the TikTok account displaying the footage owns that automobile or is authorized to sell it under the advertised terms.
🚗 A Real Car Still Doesn't Automatically Make the Offer Real
This has become a recurring theme in this series.
Some of these videos clearly contain actual cars.
Some appear to have been filmed at actual dealerships.
There are real salespeople.
Real parking lots.
Real transporters.
Real dealership signs.
That's persuasive imagery.
But the question isn't:
“Does the car in this video exist?”
It's:
“Does this TikTok account own or have authority to sell this exact vehicle for this exact price under these exact terms?”
Those are very different questions.
I'm not claiming the footage on this account was copied from somewhere else. I haven't established that.
But before sending a $700 deposit, I'd want to establish where the footage came from and whether the seller I'm communicating with is actually connected to that vehicle.
🏡 Be Careful — and Be a Good Neighbor
This is the part that matters most.
Imagine someone who has terrible credit.
Their car just died.
They need transportation Monday morning, or they risk losing their job.
Traditional dealerships have turned them down.
Then TikTok serves them:
2022 Dodge Charger
$5,850
$700 down
$399/month
In-house financing available
That doesn't necessarily look suspicious to someone in that situation.
It looks like hope.
That's why, if somebody you know is considering one of these deals, don't ridicule them.
Help them investigate.
Before sending money, get the VIN. Verify the title. Find the dealership's legal name and physical address independently. Verify the dealer license with the appropriate state regulator. Call a publicly listed number—not simply the number supplied in a TikTok profile. Get the complete financing agreement. Have the vehicle independently inspected. And compare the asking price with retail and realistic wholesale values.
If the seller won't let you do those things before sending a deposit?
Keep your $700.
Different Account. Same Questions.
I'm seeing this pattern often enough that I can practically write the checklist before opening the profile.
Extremely inexpensive desirable car.
Small down payment.
Low monthly payment.
“Direct from auction.”
“Clean title.”
“In-house financing.”
Private messages.
Phone numbers that raise additional questions.
And prices that appear wildly disconnected from ordinary retail values.
Maybe this account has a perfectly reasonable explanation for it all.
I'd be interested in hearing it.
Because based on the screenshot, a $5,850 2022 Charger that appears to be a 392, compared with a KBB Fair Purchase Price around $37,600 for a Scat Pack, is one heck of an explanation. Kbb.com
Until then:
Be careful. Verify everything. And don't let a $700 down payment make a $30,000 question disappear.
Follow the continuing series at NielFlamm.com/blog.
Another TikTok “Auction Car” Deal: A $60,000 Hellcat for $4,999? Here We Go Again
Apparently TikTok has decided I need another car.
Actually, based on what keeps showing up in my feed, TikTok apparently thinks I need an entire dealership.
After documenting accounts advertising $4,000 Scat Packs, $7,000 Camrys, $10,000 BMW M3S, and other remarkably inexpensive vehicles, another account landed in my “For You” feed.
This one calls itself:
Auction Cars For Sale — @auctioncars35
And we've got another Hellcat.
According to the video:
2021 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody
Price: $4,999
Down payment: $499
Monthly payment: $299
Come get it right away!
Well, hold on.
🚩 A $4,999 Hellcat Redeye?
This isn't just an inexpensive used Dodge Charger.
The post specifically identifies it as a 2021 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody.
Kelley Blue Book currently puts the Fair Purchase Price for that model around $60,500, with estimated private-party values ranging roughly from $52,000 to $60,000, depending on condition. KBB also notes that mileage, condition, location, and equipment can significantly affect an individual vehicle's value. Kelley Blue Book
The TikTok price?
$4,999
That's roughly 92% below KBB's $60,500 Fair Purchase Price.
Now, could an extraordinarily cheap Hellcat exist?
Absolutely.
It could have major damage. It could have mechanical problems. It could have a branded title. There could be circumstances we can't see from a TikTok video.
But if you're asking me to believe a vehicle worth tens of thousands of dollars is available for less than $5,000, I need an explanation.
And documentation.
Lots of documentation.
💰 $499 Down, $299 a Month... For How Long?
Then we have the financing.
Price: $4,999
Down payment: $499
Monthly payment: $299
Okay.
If $4,999 is truly the purchase price, subtracting the $499 down payment leaves $4,500.
At $299 per month, ignoring interest, taxes, and every other fee, that would pay off the remaining balance in only about 15 months.
But where are the complete financing terms?
What's the APR?
What's the loan term?
Who's the lender?
What are the taxes and fees?
What credit qualifications apply?
Is $4,999 actually the cash selling price?
Those details matter considerably more than the giant $499 DOWN floating across the TikTok video.
👀 Then I Looked at the Profile
The account had 809 followers and 12,600 likes when I took the screenshot.
Its profile says:
“Get your vehicles at auction prices”
“Clean title/paperwork ✅”
“Financing ✅”
And then:
WhatsApp: +1 (672)-285-4522
There's that familiar move to WhatsApp again.
WhatsApp itself isn't evidence of a scam. Legitimate businesses use it every day.
But if I'm buying a $60,000-class performance car, I want a little more than a TikTok profile and a WhatsApp number.
Where is the business?
What's the legal company name?
What's the physical address?
What's the dealer license number?
What auction is supplying these vehicles?
What's the VIN?
Who's providing the financing?
Can I see the title?
Can I have an independent mechanic inspect the car?
Those questions aren't unreasonable.
They're called buying a car.
😂 Apparently Hellcats Are Having a Clearance Sale
Then I looked at the rest of the profile.
This isn't a one-car phenomenon.
One pinned video appears to advertise a vehicle for:
$7,900 — $500 down
Another:
$10,000 — $600 down
And another pinned video says:
“2022 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat $7000”
Seven thousand dollars.
For another Hellcat.
Elsewhere, I can see vehicles advertised at:
$6,000 with $600 down
$9,800 with $700 down
$9,000 with $1,000 down
$5,000 with $500 down
Once again, we're seeing the same basic formula I've been documenting across multiple TikTok accounts:
Desirable vehicle.
Extraordinarily low advertised price.
Small down payment.
Financing.
WhatsApp.
Act now.
Different account.
Same questions.
📊 For Perspective: Even Ordinary Chargers Cost More
KBB's current national averages illustrate just how unusual these numbers are.
A regular 2021 Charger SXT has a Fair Purchase Price around $18,500. A Scat Pack is around $32,300, a Scat Pack Widebody around $38,000, and a Hellcat Redeye Widebody around $62,300 on KBB's broader 2021 Charger pricing page. Kelley Blue Book
So the $4,999 TikTok asking price isn't merely inexpensive compared with another Redeye.
It's dramatically below KBB's current Fair Purchase Price for even the least expensive 2021 Charger trim.
That doesn't independently prove anything about this particular vehicle.
It does give me an excellent reason to investigate before reaching for my wallet.
🏷️ But They're “Auction Cars”
That's presumably supposed to explain the prices.
Auctions absolutely can produce vehicles below retail value.
I've discussed the Manheim Market Report (MMR) in previous posts because wholesale value and retail value aren't the same thing.
Dealers buy at wholesale and try to sell at retail. Condition, mileage, title history, location, demand, and vehicle configuration all matter.
But “auction price” isn't a magic phrase that makes market economics disappear.
If a supposedly clean-title Hellcat has a retail value around $60,000 and someone is selling it for $4,999, I'd still like to know:
What did the seller pay for it?
Which auction did it come from?
What's the VIN?
What's the title status?
What's wrong with it?
Why is it being sold for a fraction of its market value?
A legitimate explanation can be checked.
🚗 And Yes, That's a Real Car in the Video
We've encountered this issue repeatedly in this series.
A man sits inside a Charger.
We can see the interior.
There's another vehicle outside.
It looks like a real dealership or automotive environment.
That's visually persuasive.
But here's the line I'm going to keep repeating:
A real car doesn't automatically make the offer real.
A TikTok account showing footage of an actual automobile doesn't, by itself, establish that the account owns the vehicle, has authority to sell it, or can deliver it under the advertised terms.
Videos can be reposted.
Dealer footage can be reused.
Auction footage can be copied.
Customer-delivery videos can be repurposed.
I'm not saying that's necessarily what happened here. I haven't established where this particular footage originated.
I'm saying the video itself isn't proof of ownership.
🚩 Followers and Views Aren't Verification Either
One of this account's pinned videos shows more than 300,000 views.
Another has more than 100,000.
That creates powerful social proof.
If 300,000 people watched it, it may feel legitimate.
If hundreds of people liked it, it may feel legitimate.
If other people are commenting that they're interested, maybe it feels legitimate.
But we've learned this lesson already:
Followers aren't a dealer license.
Likes aren't a vehicle title.
Views aren't a VIN.
And 300,000 views don't transform a $60,000 vehicle into a $4,999 vehicle.
🧮 Show Me the Economics
This remains one of my favorite tests.
Forget TikTok for a moment.
Forget the music.
Forget the guy sitting inside the car.
Forget the giant $499 DOWN text.
Explain the transaction economically.
If a dealer can legitimately acquire a clean-title 2021 Hellcat Redeye Widebody cheaply enough to sell it for $4,999 and make money, I want to understand how.
Maybe there's an explanation.
Great.
Show me.
Give me the VIN.
Show me the title.
Tell me the auction.
Give me the physical location.
Show me the purchase agreement.
Let me independently verify the dealership.
Let me arrange an independent inspection.
Give me the financing disclosures.
Those things interest me far more than a TikTok follower count.
🚨 Don't Let the Deposit Become the Decision
This is where these advertisements concern me most.
The headline isn't:
“Please conduct a comprehensive examination of this vehicle's ownership, title history, and financing.”
It's:
$499 DOWN
That's a psychologically manageable number.
Someone who can't afford a $60,000 Hellcat might be able to find $499.
And once someone sends that first $499, the psychology changes.
They've committed.
That's why verification needs to happen before money changes hands.
The FTC has repeatedly warned consumers about online vehicle-related scams and emphasizes caution when someone online asks you to send money in transactions that can't be independently verified. Consumer Advice
🏡 Be a Good Neighbor
This is also why I keep posting these.
Someone looking at this advertisement might not see what I see.
They might see:
2021 Hellcat Redeye.
$4,999.
$499 down.
$299 a month.
And think:
“I can actually afford my dream car.”
Don't make fun of that person.
Help them.
Before they send $499, ask for 15 minutes.
Check the VIN.
Check KBB.
Check the title.
Find the business independently.
Verify the dealer license.
Call a telephone number obtained independently.
Ask for the physical address.
Arrange an inspection.
Read the financing agreement.
And if the seller starts creating urgency because somebody else is supposedly about to buy the car?
Let the other imaginary customer have it.
Different Account. Same Playbook?
That's what I'm trying to document.
I've now encountered multiple social-media accounts advertising remarkably inexpensive cars with tiny down payments.
The names change.
The cars change.
The phone numbers change.
The prices change.
But I keep seeing familiar ingredients.
Unusually cheap vehicles.
Tiny deposits.
Social-media storefronts.
Private messaging.
WhatsApp.
Financing claims.
Shipping or delivery.
And vehicles priced far below ordinary retail values.
Does that automatically prove this particular TikTok account is fraudulent?
No.
But $4,999 for a vehicle KBB values at around $60,000 is more than enough reason for me to start asking questions. Kelley Blue Book
And judging by my recent experiences, I seem to be getting pretty good at making TikTok car sellers uncomfortable with one particularly difficult question:
What's the address?
Follow the continuing investigation at NielFlamm.com/blog.