‘People ask me what I drive’: Woman sells cars for a living, but what’s sitting in her driveway is something else entirely

Most people assume car salespeople should drive the same brand they sell. But one Chevrolet saleswoman is openly breaking that unspoken rule, and she’s explaining exactly why. Hope, who posts on TikTok under the handle @hopedealswheels, went viral after sharing a video revealing that she drives a Dodge Durango to work at a Chevy dealership. 

According to Motor1, the clip has racked up more than 5,200 views on TikTok, with viewers surprised that a Chevrolet salesperson would choose a competing brand for her personal vehicle. In the video, Hope acknowledges that the situation looks unusual from the outside, especially in an industry where sales staff are often expected to be walking advertisements for the vehicles they sell. 

But she says the decision had nothing to do with loyalty to a brand, and everything to do with practicality. Her top priority was finding a reliable, well-maintained vehicle that fit her budget. She couldn’t afford a brand-new car, so she focused on the used market instead. That search led her to a 10-year-old Dodge Durango with just 45,000 miles on it, a combination she says was hard to pass up.

Condition matters more than the brand name

“People do ask me, ‘What do you drive?’ and I tell them I drive a Dodge Durango. It’s 10 years old with 45,000 miles on the odometer,” she said in her video. Hope believes the car’s condition is more important than whether it’s new or used.

She is the second owner of her Durango in 10 years. She stresses that buyers should check the interior cleanliness, inspect the engine, and look at service records before buying any used car. This approach mirrors what one Tampa woman discovered about rental car conditions.

Many viewers agreed with her decision. “New vehicles are cool they just depreciate so much. I got my sierra pre owned. Only 3yrs old when I got it, clean record and everything. The price from when the original owner bought it to when I bought it depreciation so much in 3yrs,” one person wrote. 

Most dealerships don’t require employees to drive the cars they sell. One Reddit user said their dealership doesn’t care what employees drive, though workers get big discounts if they buy from the dealership. However, some people think not driving the brand you sell could hurt sales. Customers might wonder why a salesperson doesn’t trust their own product enough to drive it.

Most people already distrust salespeople. Customer service interactions, like a drive-thru worker’s unusual reaction, can shape these perceptions. When a car salesperson doesn’t drive what they’re selling, it could make earning customer trust even harder. Still, Hope stands by her choice to prioritize quality and budget over brand loyalty.