Woman goes to Mercedes dealerships to sell her car. They make her an offer. She says yes. Then they try to “scam” her

A woman says a Mercedes-Benz dealership offered her $4,200 for her car — then dropped the offer to $2,300 the next day, claiming the market had changed overnight.

Isabelle (@notyourrrainbow), an Austin-based content creator, says she ultimately sold her car without getting “scammed.” But she believes a Mercedes-Benz dealership in north-central Austin, Texas needs to be “held accountable” for how it treated her.

What happened at the dealership

She had initially listed the car privately and found a potential buyer through Facebook Marketplace, while also requesting offers from dealerships.

After dealers began “spamming” her phone, she agreed to bring the car to Mercedes-Benz for an appraisal. She says she called ahead and had already spoken with one employee, but another salesman helped her once she arrived.

The two initially hit it off, she says. He took her keys and brought her into a “back room” to discuss numbers — something she considered a “red flag.”

According to Isabelle, Kelley Blue Book valued the car at around $4,100 because it was in “great condition.” The dealership initially offered $2,300, then raised the number to $2,800 after she refused, she says.

“I know you guys want to make business and have your best deal, but so do I,” Isabelle says.

She says the salesman repeatedly emphasized that she could “get her money today,” but she wasn’t in a rush. A Facebook Marketplace buyer was considering paying $6,400, she says, giving her little reason to accept the lower offer.

Eventually, she says the dealership reached $4,200. Because it was near closing time, Isabelle asked that the offer remain valid for 24 hours and says she was verbally assured it would.

When she returned the next day, however, she says the dealership told her “the market changed overnight” and would only offer $2,300.

She says in another clip the dealership refused to honor the previous offer despite her maintenance records showing the car was up to date and in good condition.

“Why are you wasting my time?” she asks. As of this writing, her initial video describing the experience had more than 6,100 views.

Can an offer change that quickly? 

Kelley Blue Book (KBB) says it offers a trade-in range, or a reasonable expectation of what a consumer can expect to receive from a dealer, assuming the vehicle’s condition has been accurately assessed. KBB also says that figure is usually lower than its private party value because a dealer must account for inspections, reconditioning, and other incurred costs.

KBB says its trade-in value is updated weekly and reflects what consumers can generally expect to negotiate based on the car’s “style, condition, mileage, and options of the vehicle when they trade it in to a dealer.” It notes, though, that every dealer is different and explicitly says those values are not guaranteed.

That suggests Isabelle seeing a KBB figure around $4,100 did not require the dealership to pay her that amount.

A KBB instant cash offer is different.

KBB describes it as a fixed offer that can be used to sell a car to a “participating dealer.” The offer is valid for seven days and is based on the vehicle’s specific condition and local market demand. It remains subject to a dealer inspection.

Of course, nothing in Isabelle’s TikToks establishes that the dealership’s $4,200 figure was a KBB instant cash offer. She instead describes it as a dealership offer that she says an employee verbally promised would remain valid for 24 hours.

What’s more, the Texas Attorney General’s office advises consumers to get dealership promises in writing.

So the dealer could value her car differently from KBB and potentially revise its own appraisal, even if the practice feels slimy. The unanswered question is why, after allegedly promising $4,200 for 24 hours, the dealership says the value fell to $2,300 by the following day.

Dealership responds

The comments eventually drew a response from someone who appeared to be the dealership employee Isabelle name-dropped in her videos.

“It’s all love out here, nothing personal in the end. We can only focus on what we can control. I hope everything works out for you, Isabelle,” the worker, named Jake, wrote.

Isabelle replied that she wasn’t taking the experience personally.

“Hi Jake, yea, nothing personal, and I’m just sharing my experience selling my car. Thanks, hope the same for you,” she responded.

At least one viewer said her account sounded familiar.

“This sounds exactly [like] what just happened to my fiancé yesterday, same dealership, same sales guys,” they commented.

Isabelle encouraged them to explain what happened.

“Ok, share the tea pls!” she replied.

Another commenter also alleged having a bad experience with Mercedes-Benz of Austin.

“They really tried [expletive] me over with a car I bought there,” they wrote.

Isabelle responded: “Agh, nooo, share your story!!!!”

Others were impatient for the next installment.

“Yeah, I’m not watching another part,” one person said, while another complained, “Don’t waste your time; she hasn’t posted pt 3” — the video that recounted the end of Isabelle’s saga and the point where she actually walked out.

Isabelle responded that the next part was already up: “It’s posted.”

Motoring Chronicle has reached out to Isabelle via TikTok direct message and to Mercedes-Benz of Austin via online contact form for additional comment.

This story is republished with permission. It first appeared at Subplot News.