They Bought a $76K Car From Junk Mail

21 Oct 2026 · 1 min

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In this YouTube clip, Ramit Sethi interrogates a consumer who responded to a junk‑mail flyer and ended up purchasing a $76,000 vehicle. The conversation reveals how the flyer promised a "better car" without a higher price, yet the buyer’s monthly payment rose by about $300. Speaker C points out that the lure of financing approval for a nicer car is a classic upsell tactic. Ramit critiques the predatory marketing and financing strategy, highlighting the risk of junk‑mail offers and offering a brief consumer‑finance warning.

How much did the car cost?
$76,000.
$76,000? Who decided on that one?
We got the little flyer, hey, uh, we can get you in a better car. And we would, you know, not pay more than what we were paying when we left. Our payments went up. It was like $300 extra a month.
I will also add that part of it, I think, was also the fact, oh, you're going to approve us for financing on a nicer car. That's a classic.
That's exactly who they target. First of all, you should not be responding to things coming in the mail. Any mail you get is by definition a bad deal. They're literally buying high-risk addresses and sending out and giving you the worst deal, and you bought it. Again, I'm not saying this to berate you or beat you down. I'm actually trying to show you the game being played around you, and you were susceptible to it, but you also willingly participated in it.