How Do They Lure You In?

A woman says that a car salesman tricked her into driving two hours away.

What was supposed to be a simple car-shopping trip quickly turned into a stressful ordeal. Would you have handled it the same way?

In a video with more than 37,000 views, family content creator Emily (@emgillyy) describes the nightmare experience she reportedly had with a car salesman.

“Story time as to why I wanted to put my hands on a car salesman’s neck this weekend,” Emily begins.

In the video, Emily explains that she was 39 weeks pregnant, but wanted to secure a specific car that was only available at a dealership two hours away.

On Saturday morning, she says she called ahead to make sure the car was available. 

“No, it was sold,” they reportedly told her.

But she’s had this happen to her before and knew that the people you call are not always actually in the dealership, so their information may not be accurate. So she called again to double-check, and they said the same thing. 

Twenty minutes later, she got a call from a salesman: the car was actually still there.

Great, she thought, and started loading her two toddlers into the car for the two-hour ride ahead of her to get to the dealership.

Then the calls started, she says. Emily recalls receiving seven calls from seven different salesmen, all trying to get her to the dealership. Emily called one of them back to confirm before she left the car would, in fact, be there. She didn’t want to make the drive in vain, she says, and he assured her it was there and ready to drive off the lot.  

Trouble at the Dealership

Two hours later, Emily and her family (including her husband) arrived at the dealership and she immediately knew something was up.

“He pulls us to the desk, first red flag. I instantly knew what was happening,” she says. 

When she asked where the car was, the salesman reportedly replied, “Are you sure you’re set on that one?”

She says he revealed the car was sold, “but we have one just like it for $25,000 more.”

“I looked at my husband and I said, ‘I’m gonna blow my top. I need to excuse myself,’” so she stepped outside to cool off. 

Her husband confronted the salesman inside, asking why they hadn’t been told the car was gone sooner. The salesman claimed they were already on their way, so it didn’t seem worth it to make another call.

While Emily and her husband were both fuming, she says they had to keep it together in front of their toddlers. And it seems they were rewarded for their restraint.

After driving two minutes down the road, Emily says they spotted the exact car they had wanted within their budget.

“It was almost like God rewarding us for not losing it at the dealership,” she says.

 The numbers worked out, and they finally drove home in the car they had come for.

Sneaky Sales Tactic

People were outraged on Emily’s behalf.

“Post a review on that dealership, believe it or not the GM cares (some of them),” a top comment suggested.

“They never had the car to begin with. They just wanted to sell you the other car,” a person said.

“It most definitely did not get sold that fast. Those people in the finance office take 8 hours,” another pointed out.

Emily’s recent car-shopping experience highlights a common problem in the auto industry: bait-and-switch tactics in which car dealerships falsely advertise a vehicle to lure buyers, then pressure them to buy a higher-priced car, LawInfo reports. 

The Federal Trade Commission’s CARS Rule, which took effect in July 2024, strengthens protections for car buyers, prohibiting misrepresentations about price, financing, or vehicle availability.

It also requires dealers to provide clear disclosure of the offering price, total payments, and any optional add-ons. 

Signs of bait and switch scams include:

• Ads with prices that seem too good to be true
• Dealers refusing to show the advertised vehicle
• Excuses for unavailability
• Pressure to buy unnecessary add-ons or warranties
• Sudden changes in financing terms

How to protect yourself:

• Read the fine print on ads and verify the car’s availability
• Get offers in writing
• Understand the total out-the-door price, including all fees
• Walk away if something feels wrong

Motor1 reached out to Emily for comment via email and TikTok direct message. We’ll update this if she responds.