flatreader

‘Broke the simulation’: Man buys a Toyota. Then the dealership opens a credit card in his name

The Main Character of the Week is the guy who didn’t read the fine print at the dealership—and alleges a Toyota salesman opened a credit card in his name.

I’ve been watching TikTok videos by paranoid creators who are convinced that they can poke a hole in the “simulation.” In these clips, they’ll try to disrupt the natural rhythm of the world and claim that it’s all artificially generated. Their point is that it’s all made up.

They are right.

The powers that be impose thought-created rules on society, and in my estimation about 40% of people are happy to have that structure. It’s why authoritarians win popular support. Most people just keep their heads down and play out their roles. The rest of us oscillate between feeling powerless and proactive, occasionally attending a protest or donating to National Public Radio.

So of course buying a car is mostly subjecting yourself to opportunists and scammers. That’s how the simulation works… until it doesn’t.

At the dealership

Car dealerships make you feel like you’re being worked from every angle. Trips there take four hours, and it’s a mountain of paperwork. We expect this.

This viral story is a twist because it’s a new fear unlocked that we didn’t realize was possible as readers. Our Main Character of the Week was effectively deceived.

He previously bought a car from a man he believed to be an honest salesman. So this time around he didn’t read the fine print for Toyota No. 2.

Next thing you know, he claims, he had to sell his guitar in order to pay the $1,500 charge on his first monthly car payment via this new dealership credit card.

The Toyota factor

This story did well because of the brand, too. Toyotas are more expensive than ever and are considered to be the gold standard for reliability in the United States. As consumers we expect that we’re going to pay $10,000 more than the competition for, say, a Camry. But that sedan will run for 300,000 miles. So it’s likely a worthwhile investment.

So why the heck is Toyota of all automobile makers misdirecting its customers at a Florida dealership? And if Toyota is finessing its prospective drivers, think of the tricks you might fall for at the Kia dealership.

The TikTok age has made us question our expectations, and accept certain conditions.

You buy a Japanese car for stability. You buy a South Korean car for the value and gamble about how long it’ll go on when it hits 100,000 miles. You buy a luxury car with the understanding that you will have to pay thousands in annual maintenance for the privilege. You buy a car on Facebook Marketplace to avoid a monthly car payment and save big. You buy an American car if you’re a glutton for punishment and still romanticize the American factory worker.

This story broke the simulation because it defied our expectations. And it’s not isolated, Toyotas have come under fire lately for a number of reasons. In the end, viewers offered helpful tips to the poor guy who got stuck with a credit card he didn’t want.

And now we have yet another reason to consider buying a Hyundai on Amazon.

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.

The post ‘Broke the simulation’: Man buys a Toyota. Then the dealership opens a credit card in his name appeared first on The Daily Dot.