‘There’s nothing wrong with the car’: Utah driver buys electric vehicle for $23K. Then he gets buyer’s remorse when his wife sees it
A car salesman is going viral on TikTok after sharing an extremely uncomfortable call he had with a regretful EV buyer whose wife nixed the deal after the car was already in the driveway.
Alex (@evautoalex), who owns EV Auto, said a man in Utah bought an electric vehicle just a few days ago—but things took a turn once he got home. According to Alex, the buyer’s wife saw the car and immediately disapproved, not because there was anything wrong with it, but because of its price tag.
The man called Alex, hoping to undo the purchase. One problem: The bill of sale and financing had already been finalized. While Alex said the buyer could sell the car back, it wouldn’t be cheap.
Alex shared the whole saga on TikTok, complete with clips from their phone conversation, and viewers are eating it up. As of Monday, the video has racked up more than 208,000 views, with plenty of users cringing on behalf of both the buyer.
EV buyer tries to return car—to no avail
Before hopping on the phone with the unnamed customer, Alex gave viewers the backstory: The man he was about to call had bought the EV just four days earlier. Then, he hit record—and warned he was about to deliver “the bad news.”
Once they connected, the buyer admitted he’d been “very excited” at first, but after bringing the car home, his wife started asking if they could actually afford it. (Spoiler: she wasn’t thrilled.)
Alex broke it down gently but firmly: this wasn’t a return-it-like-it’s-Amazon situation. The sale was finalized. Financing? Already processed. And while the customer could sell the car back, it would cost him.
“I’m not going to take a loss on the car,” Alex told him. “I’m not going to rip back commissions from people that have earned them and done their job.”
Still, Alex tried to meet him halfway. He floated the idea of swapping the EV for a cheaper model, but even that wasn’t a slam dunk. The switch would only shave about $100 off the customer’s monthly payments.
“I want to help, but I also don’t want to be penalized,” Alex said. “There’s nothing wrong with the car. We didn’t push you to buy it.”
It’s unclear how the transaction ended. The customer said he’d talk things over with his wife—who, Alex noted, he was happy to speak with directly.
Very few avenues for those experiencing ‘buyer’s remorse’
Alex didn’t share which electric vehicle the customer purchased, but it’s unclear that the specific model played much of a role in the conversation. As he explained in the comments of his video, the customer lives in Utah—where buyer’s remorse isn’t a legal reason to return a car (even one as problematic as a Tesla).
“Once you purchase a vehicle, you assume responsibility for it,” the Utah Department of Commerce states on its website. “Some sellers may have policies allowing for the return of a vehicle within a determined time period, but this is decided by the seller and is NOT required by law.”
The site also notes that dealerships that do allow returns typically offer credit toward a different purchase, not a refund.
That seems to be the compromise Alex was aiming for: a trade-in that would respect the work his employees had already put in while also giving the customer an off-ramp—and maybe a way to smooth things over with his wife, who was worried about the cost.
But even that isn’t a simple solution. The electric vehicles listed on EV Auto’s website range from around $20,000 to $80,000, so depending on what the customer originally bought and what kind of replacement he’d accept, a trade-in might not lead to a massive reduction in his payments.
Still, as Alex made clear in his video, the issue wasn’t with the car itself. And according to him, these situations are pretty rare.
“We actually get very, very few” of these incidents, he wrote in the comments. In another reply, he pointed out that EVs tend to be more reliable than traditional cars.
“They very, very rarely fail,” he said, adding that “electricity is much cheaper than gas and oil changes.”
@evautoalex Our customer wants to return a tax credit car just four days after purchase. Unwinding the deal is pricey with lost credits and commissions! #carreturn #carfinance #taxcredit #cartradein #carpurchase #fy #fyp #CarTok #TikTokAutoCampaign ♬ original sound - EV Auto Alex
Viewers applaud the content creator’s customer service
In the comment section of Alex’s video, many TikTokers gave him props for keeping his cool—even though his frustration with the situation was obvious.
“Could not have been handled any better!!!” one viewer said.
“I liked the way you explained to [the] customer how it would affect everyone involved and stood your ground,” another added.
“Another masterclass in dealing with challenges in business,” a third commenter said.
Others, however, said they couldn’t believe the man apparently bought a car without consulting his wife.
“People think buying a car is like buying at Walmart,” one TikToker quipped. “Nope, not how it works, people.”
“When I was in the car business, I told every customer to be sure this is what you want, we’re not like Walmart. You can’t return it tomorrow, so be sure before you drive it off the lot,” another echoed.
“Prolly didn’t tell his wife about the car purchase,” a third viewer guessed. “I just don’t understand these people,” a fourth user wrote. “They signed a contract, they stuck with it lmfao.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Alex via TikTok comment.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.
The post ‘There’s nothing wrong with the car’: Utah driver buys electric vehicle for $23K. Then he gets buyer’s remorse when his wife sees it appeared first on The Daily Dot.