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 Car Deal: A $4,000 Scat Pack With $500 Down? Here We Go Again
Apparently TikTok has decided that one questionable car account wasn't enough for me.
After looking at an account advertising everything from inexpensive transportation to Porsches with tiny down payments, another account appeared in my feed.
This one calls itself “landmark75.”
At the time of my screenshot, the profile showed more than 1,200 followers and 4,700 likes and described itself as:
“Landmark Auto 🚗
Your Trusted Auto Dealer
DM for inquiries & bookings”
Then things get interesting.
The profile lists a Gmail address and says
“WhatsApp only”
The profile doesn't show a physical dealership address.
And the inventory?
Once again, apparently we're living in the magical land of extremely inexpensive automobiles.
🚗 Today's Special: A 2021 Dodge Charger Scat Pack for $4,000
One post advertises what it describes as a:
2021 Dodge Charger Scat Pack
45,000 miles
And across the top of the photograph:
“Asking for $4000
Down payment 500”
Wait.
$4,000?
For a 2021 Charger Scat Pack with 45,000 miles?
I thought the $500 down payment was supposed to be the unbelievable part.
This time it's the alleged asking price.
And this wasn't some obscure post nobody had seen. My screenshot showed more than 1,000 likes, along with dozens of comments and hundreds of saves.
💰 Let's Check Reality
A 2021 Dodge Charger Scat Pack wasn't inexpensive when new, and clean used examples haven't suddenly become $4,000 cars.
Current Kelley Blue Book values vary considerably by mileage, equipment, condition, and location, but a 2021 Charger Scat Pack remains worth many times the $4,000 advertised here.
Even before knowing the VIN, vehicle history, or exact condition, that's enough of a pricing discrepancy to make me stop.
Could a $4,000 Charger exist?
Sure.
Maybe it's wrecked.
Maybe it has a branded or salvage title.
Maybe it has catastrophic mechanical problems.
Maybe it's missing an engine.
Maybe there's some other legitimate explanation.
But none of those explanations appear in the TikTok post.
Instead, I'm seeing a shiny Scat Pack photographed on what appears to be a dealer or auction lot and an advertised price of:
$4,000
That's when I want documentation, not emojis.
🚩 And It's Not Just the Scat Pack
Then I looked at the rest of the profile.
One pinned post appears to advertise a BMW for:
Asking: $6,000
Down payment: $400
Another Charger:
Asking: $4,000
Down payment: $500
Another vehicle:
Asking: $6,000
Down payment: $700
Another:
Asking: $7,000
Down payment: $500
An Infiniti appears with:
Asking: $7,000
Down payment: $600
Farther down, there's another vehicle advertised at $17,999 with $999 down and $500 monthly payments.
It's the same pattern I've been seeing repeatedly.
Attractive vehicles.
Extremely attractive prices.
Tiny down payments.
And social media as the storefront.
🚩 But Look at the Charger Photo More Closely
Here's something else that caught my attention.
The Charger has multiple stickers on the windshield.
That makes the vehicle look more credible because we're clearly looking at an actual car.
But that's something I've been stressing throughout this series:
A real car doesn't automatically make the offer real.
A vehicle can exist without the person posting its photograph owning it.
A vehicle can sit on an auction lot without a TikTok account having authority to sell it.
A photograph can come from another dealership, auction, listing or social-media account.
I'm not saying that's necessarily what happened here.
I'm saying a photograph isn't proof of ownership.
Before I send someone $500, I'd want the VIN and I'd want to independently establish exactly who owns the vehicle and where it's physically located.
📱 “WhatsApp Only”
Then we get to one of the biggest things that would make me cautious.
The profile doesn't direct potential buyers to a recognizable dealership website or give a street address.
Instead:
DM for inquiries & bookings
and
WhatsApp only
WhatsApp itself isn't suspicious. Millions of legitimate businesses use it.
But if I'm supposedly purchasing a vehicle from an auto dealer, I want more than a social-media profile and messaging account.
I want:
The legal business name.
Physical dealership address.
Dealer license information.
VIN.
Title status.
Vehicle history.
Actual cash selling price.
Financing terms.
APR.
Length of loan.
Total of payments.
And I want to verify those things independently, not solely through information sent to me by the person asking for my money.
💵 $500 Down Doesn't Tell Me What the Car Costs
This is another distinction consumers need to understand.
A legitimate dealer absolutely can sell a $30,000 vehicle with only $500 down.
That doesn't mean the vehicle costs $500.
The remaining balance gets financed.
That's why a post screaming “ONLY $500 DOWN!” tells me very little without the rest of the transaction.
But this Charger post goes further.
It appears to say the asking price itself is $4,000.
If that's genuinely the total purchase price for a running, roadworthy 2021 Charger Scat Pack with 45,000 miles and a transferable title, I would want to understand exactly why it is being offered so dramatically below normal market value.
🚩 Followers Still Aren't Verified
We've seen this before.
This account has more than a thousand followers.
One of its videos has tens of thousands of views.
That creates social proof.
People think:
“Other people are following them.”
“The video has 36,000 views.”
“There are hundreds of likes.”
“The cars are real.”
Therefore:
“The seller must be legitimate.”
Those aren't the same thing.
A follower isn't a dealer license.
A like isn't a title.
A view isn't a VIN.
And 36,000 views don't turn a $4,000 Scat Pack into a normal market transaction.
🧮 The Numbers Have to Make Sense
This is where I keep returning to KBB and wholesale-market values.
A legitimate business generally needs to acquire inventory for less than it sells that inventory for.
That's the business model.
If the normal wholesale value of a vehicle is dramatically higher than the advertised retail price, I want to know how that transaction works economically.
Maybe there's a legitimate explanation.
Great.
Show me.
That's what due diligence is for.
I don't have the VIN or enough vehicle-specific information from this TikTok post to produce an exact Manheim Market Report value, and I'm not going to invent one.
MMR depends on factors including mileage, condition, trim, region and recent auction transactions.
But that's actually part of the problem.
The information necessary to properly evaluate these deals isn't prominently provided.
The extraordinary price is.
🏡 Don't Be Passive. Be a Good Neighbor.
Here's why I continue writing about these.
Imagine someone who needs a car desperately.
Their credit is damaged.
Their current car just died.
They have to get to work.
Traditional financing hasn't gone well.
Then TikTok serves them:
2021 CHARGER SCAT PACK
$4,000
$500 DOWN
That doesn't just look like a deal.
It can look like a solution to a serious problem.
Before someone you know sends $500 through an app because they're afraid another buyer will grab the car first, help them investigate.
Ask for the VIN.
Verify the VIN independently.
Find the physical dealership.
Verify its dealer license.
Call the dealership using a phone number you find independently.
Check the title.
Compare KBB retail value.
Compare wholesale value.
Ask for complete financing terms in writing.
And if somebody says you need to send money right now before you can do those things?
That answer tells you something too.
The Cars Keep Changing. The Formula Doesn't.
Over the past several posts, I've seen Toyotas, Hondas, BMWs, Audis, Camaros, Porsches and now Dodge Scat Packs advertised on social media with extraordinarily low prices or down payments.
Different accounts.
Different cars.
Different backgrounds.
But some remarkably familiar marketing:
Low price.
Tiny down payment.
DM me.
Quick approval.
Shipping available.
Send money.
I'm not sending $500 to find out what happens next.
I'll keep doing the free part:
Asking questions.
Because whether this particular offer has some explanation I can't see from the TikTok post or not, $4,000 for a 2021 Charger Scat Pack with 45,000 miles deserves a lot more than a swipe and a DM.
Follow along at NielFlamm.com/blog as I continue looking at questionable vehicle offers, suspicious emails, recruiting scams, and whatever the algorithm decides to throw at me next.