Auto loan debt is at an all time high. While some of the blame for that can be put on things like stubbornly high interest rates and ever increasing car prices, some folks just never learned the kind of financial skills required to make a smart car-buying decision. Take TikToker Blaisey Arnold, who recently revealed she had to get rid of one of her dream cars because of a wild auto loan that left her paying $50,000 in interest.
Arnold is already a bit notorious online. In early April, she made waves with her TikToks detailing just how expensive her and her family’s payments were for their Chevy Tahoe and GMC Sierra. The last time we covered her, she was considering getting rid of her husband’s trucks because “a $1,400 Tahoe payment is a whole lot better than a $1,600 truck payment.” Her words exactly.
That $1,600 truck payment was on a loan with a 14 percent interest rate. Now it seems the reality of those purchases has caught up to the Arnolds.
In a recent TikTok and in an interview with The Daily Mail, Arnold revealed that she got rid of the Tahoe. The reason? The $84,000 Tahoe’s ridiculous loan terms.
That $1,400 monthly payment was on a loan with an APR of 10.2 percent with GM Financial. Worst yet, Arnold said she put no money down and traded in a vehicle with negative equity. In the three years she had the Tahoe, her payments barely touched the balance.
“Honestly, it blows my mind that I have paid $50,000 into this car and only paid off $10,000,” she told The Daily Mail. She said she still owes a balance of $74,000.
Her lack of personal responsibility is also almost as shocking as these loan terms. Rather than own up to taking the shovel and digging herself into this financial hole, she claims she was taken advantage of by the dealer.
“I did not go with my husband and as a female I feel they took advantage of me. They knew I really wanted the car and that I was by myself,’ she said. ‘The dealer pretty much told me they can get me out the door with the car within an hour. He didn’t act like it was something I should be concerned about,’ she said.
This isn’t to say that dealers don’t take advantage of women car buyers — but I mean, come on. No gender identity was going to fix the fact that Arnold lacked basic financial literacy when it came to the family’s car purchases. It’s disturbing to think that there are probably plenty of folks out there just like her, who have ended up in devastating financial situations because they didn’t understand the terms of their auto loan.