Many of us are probably fearful of one day being scammed when we buy a car, especially one that is second-hand. That is what TikTok user Porter (@porterehurd) felt after he went to test-drive a BMW, and he felt vindicated after running its VIN through Google Gemini as he explained in a video.
Porter had gone to a dealership looking to test-drive a car, and was expecting great things. However, after driving the BMW, he wasn’t convinced by it, despite expecting the car in question to be great to drive. This dilemma kept him awake the night after he gave it a test drive.
With the spec sheet looking perfect, Porter was confused as to why the car didn’t drive great. He eventually decided it wasn’t the car for him, but he still did some investigative work on it to try and put his mind at rest.
That is when he came to run the car’s VIN through Google Gemini. This deep dive from AI revealed a few things about the car, and it reinforced his decision not to spend the money on it. Had he not used AI, he may never have found out what was wrong with it.
Why This Particular Car Didn’t Feel Right
@porterehurd They might be hiding this from you #shady #usedcars #bmw #carshopping #creatorsearchinsights ♬ original sound – porter
Porter explained that he had gone to test drive the car at a dealership, and he had expected big things. But it didn’t take long for him to realize all wasn’t well with the car. “I went and test drove a car yesterday. It felt off,” he said. “I didn’t like how it drove. It should have been a nice car; it should have driven really well, but it didn’t,” he added in his TikTok video.
That led to him looking up the VIN. This led to a few hits from auction websites; however, these were hidden behind a paywall. Having decided he didn’t want the car already, there was no way that Porter was going to pay to access information on a car he wasn’t going to buy. That is when he decided to check out the AI tab on his Google search to see what it said about the car.
As it transpired, this threw up some interesting results. “AI gave me a full readout of how it was $30,000 bought at auction with noted front-end damage,” he said. “It was a salvage auction. And this car had then, in a couple months, been flipped, I guess, and was now being listed at almost $45,000,” added Porter. The AI summary given to him by Google Gemini gave him plenty of detail on the BMW.
Porter Urged Others to Also Use Google Gemini
The car had sold at a salvage and insurance auction in 2025 in Oregon. This led to a final bid of $30,250, and the car had 26,853 miles on the odometer. Around six months later, the car was relisted for $46,491 and with 27,343 miles on the odometer. It had been repaired, and if you just took the car at face value, you’d never think it was a salvage title, according to the TikTok user.
Porter has urged others to run the VIN through Google Gemini, or any other AI tool, to see what it throws up about a particular car. As it may reveal information hidden behind a paywall, it could help save you a lot of time, stress and money. It is important to note that AI can get things wrong, so it is always a good idea to try and check the information where possible, just to be on the safe side. You don’t want to think you’re being scammed, only to miss out on a bargain.