“We’re in a true car market crash”: Expert claims dealerships are desperate—here’s the reality

[ad_1] <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==" alt="Left: Man sitting in his car under caption reading "Car lots are OVERFLOWING...the crash is here. Right: Lisbon, Portugal October 20, 2024, Stellantis dealership in sacavem, portugal, displaying various car brands including peugeot, citroen, opel, fiat, alfa romeo, abarth, and jeep." loading="eager" height="480" width="960" class="yf-1gfnohs loader"/> @the1mr_gratitude/TikTok odecam/Shutterstock A viral TikTok video has reignited hypothesis that the U.S. automobile market is heading towards a crash.

Brandon (@the1mr_gratitude), who repeatedly shares monetary and life recommendation together with his 376,000 followers, claims dealership tons are overflowing with unsold automobiles, financing charges are unusually low, and consumers may rating reductions as excessive as 40%.

However whereas his video shortly unfold throughout TikTok and X, specialists and on a regular basis commenters stay divided, elevating the query of whether or not these are actual warning indicators or simply one other case of viral monetary fearmongering.

In his current trending video, Brandon, who claims to “work with sellers nationwide”, advised 460,000 viewers what he believes are the important thing indicators {that a} automobile market crash is underway.

First, he defined that throughout the nation, automobile dealership tons have gotten overfilled as a result of automobiles aren’t promoting, signalling the most important decline in at the very least 5 years. “They’re sitting on tons a median of over 120 days and we've not seen that since pre-Covid,” he clarified.

Secondly, he went on to elucidate that producers had been providing 0 to 2% finance on automobiles proper now—once more, a file quantity since COVID. He then urged his viewers to test automobile combination websites, similar to Automotive Gurus and Automotive Edge, to see how lengthy automobiles have been sitting unsold on tons, and use this to barter reductions as excessive as 40%.

“That method once you get to the dealership you'll be able to name them out on their BS,” he concluded.

Commenters had been divided of their responses, with many expressing disbelief at Brandon’s takes.

“What crash? They’re asking 50 to 60 thousand for a Tacoma,” wrote EskimoinOhio.

“Could be overflowing however the costs are usually not taking place,” added another person.

Others expressed that prices of residing had been so excessive that even fascinated about shopping for a extra fundamental automobile was out of the query—and even those that may afford it will not do it on finance.

“Ppl can’t afford meals and electrical energy, a lot much less new automobiles,” stated reddogforge.

The discourse continued over on X, the place a repost of Brandon’s video from Sept. 24, 2025 acquired over 563K views. Right here, individuals had been equally unimpressed—calling into query the self-declared skilled’s murky credentials.

“If there are such a lot of automobiles on the lot how come they preserve begging me to promote them my used automobile?” Bobby Made Birdie requested.

“He has no information. We're supposed to simply imagine a dude ranting in his automobile in a baseball hat?,” questioned another person.

@ilpadrinopacino through X This isn’t the primary time Brandon has raised eyebrows over his automobile recommendation. In 2024, one other of his movies went viral after he advised viewers by no means to make a down cost when buying a car—recommendation that the Day by day Dot truth checked and located to be well-meaning however flawed. We additionally discovered no direct data linking him to a automobile dealership community.

We’ve achieved the identical once more concerning Brandon’s newest claims to offer correct data for anybody considering shopping for a automobile within the present market.

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Brandon’s take 1: Tons at automobile dealerships have gotten overfilled with unsold automobiles throughout the nation at charges not seen for the reason that pandemic. That is proof that the market is in decline. Brandon says the common period of time automobiles are sitting unsold is 120 days.

Truth test 1: Based on information from Black E-book, through CarandDriver, fashions from premier manufacturers like Lincoln, Volvo, and Mercedes-Benz are sitting on sellers’ tons for a median of 110 days or longer— which means there’s probability loads are exceeding Brandon’s 120-day declare.

Black E-book additionally says that gross sales are persistently down versus 2017-19 numbers. Nonetheless, correlation isn’t essentially causation. Automobiles can stay unsold for a mess of causes, from producers dumping massive inventories on dealerships to shopper behaviors.

For instance, there could also be a mismatch in demand for some automobiles in areas the place they aren’t as well-liked, or shoppers could wish to look ahead to newer fashions to drop, inflicting a lag in gross sales of older automobiles.

Brandon’s take 2: Brandon claims that producers are more and more providing automobiles on 0-2% finance, signalling declining gross sales. As soon as once more, he claims this hasn’t been since Covid.

Truth test 2: Automotive Edge does present that, as of Sept. 2025, some corporations together with GM, Jeep, and Nissan, are providing automobiles on 0% finance. Nonetheless, these offers appear to be extra frequent on electrical automobiles than common fashions.

When conducting our truth test, we discovered that basically, it was way more frequent for rates of interest to sit down at round 4-6%, although they do range by lender. That is nowhere close to as near Covid ranges, both, the place phrases had been additionally longer—usually extending as much as 84 months—whereas now most appear to sit down at round 36 to 60 months.

So, though Brandon is true to some extent, his claims appear to be barely sensationalized.

Brandon’s take 3: If you wish to learn the way lengthy a automobile has been sitting in so much, you'll be able to test a automobile combination website like Automotive Gurus or Automotive Edge. These websites present data on how lengthy automobiles have been on the dealership. You may then use this data to cut price for a greater deal.

Truth test 3: Automotive combination websites do present approximate estimates, however with a caveat. On CarEdge, every itemizing shows a “Days on Market” quantity, detailing how lengthy the automobile has been there. Nonetheless, there may be some confusion over when this quantity is calculated from, with an admin stating that typically it contains car manufacturing and transit time, earlier than it has even arrived on the lot. This might unfairly have an effect on import fashions particularly, resulting from longer transit instances.

Wealthy Barger through CarEdge So be at liberty to make use of automobile combination websites to get a tough concept of timings, with the understanding that this won't be totally exact. And as for whether or not this can be utilized to leverage, it would depend upon the dealership, however all the time come ready with as a lot data as attainable to assist your case.

As for whether or not Brandon was proper a couple of broader market crash being underway, the information isn’t 100% clear but. Whereas issues are actually slowing down, 2025 was nonetheless one of many higher years for automobile gross sales since 2019.

There are additionally different components at play that Brandon doesn’t cowl. For instance, Kelley Blue E-book factors out a slowing in EV gross sales particularly, as early adoption reaches saturation, which could possibly be impacting the general tendencies. So whereas Brandon has the correct concept, it’s price remembering that the automobile market is advanced, and may’t be lowered to simply two or three components.