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There’s a long-running debate in the car world about how much responsibility sellers have when someone who isn’t a car expert walks in to buy a vehicle. Should sellers make sure the car is in proper shape, or is it completely up to the buyer to know what to look for? A popular TikTok mechanic, known as carwerks101, believes sellers should at least sell cars with all their original manufacturer parts.
In one of his viral videos, he looked at a client’s used 2023 Volkswagen Golf R 20th Anniversary and immediately noticed something wrong. The tires didn’t match. The car had Pirelli tires that weren’t meant for that model, and the rims were the wrong size too. The post quickly gained hundreds of thousands of views and sparked a heated debate across TikTok.
According to reports from Motor1, the mechanic wasn’t being dramatic. Using the wrong tires can cause serious problems and cost thousands to repair. The Golf R 20th Anniversary is designed for 19-inch tires, specifically 235/35 R19. These aren’t just for looks, the size and type of tire play a big role in how the car drives and handles.
Because this model is an All-Wheel Drive with torque vectoring, it depends heavily on even tire size and grip to perform properly. If the tires don’t match, the car can wear down faster and even become unsafe. This is why the mechanic was so frustrated. He said cars like these often end up in his shop later on with major issues, and by that time, it’s usually too late to fix everything affordably.
Not everyone agreed with him though. Many people in the comments said dealers can’t be blamed if the buyer doesn’t know what they’re doing. They argued that sellers are there to make sales, not to teach car mechanics to customers.
Still, social media is changing how people shop for cars. Platforms like TikTok are helping buyers learn what to check before making big purchases. Tools such as Carfax now make it easier to see a car’s history and avoid being tricked.
Some people also suggested that in this case, the seller might have replaced the tires and rims on purpose because they knew the buyer only cared about how the car looked, not its performance. There’s no proof of that, but many car enthusiasts said it wouldn’t be surprising if it were true.
At the end of the day, we all want honest sellers, but not every dealership plays fair. Even if you do your research, it’s impossible to know everything if you’re not a car expert. The safest thing to do is always ask for full documentation and double-check details like the tire size, brand, and model requirements. Once you confirm those details, you can make a confident and informed decision about your purchase.