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Florida Tow Truck Tries To Take Buick Parked Outside Old Navy. Then The Driver Takes Matters Into His Own Hands

'He's arguing with the tow truck driver right now.'

Florida Driver Tries To Reverse Car To Avoid Tow Truck Repossessing It. Onlookers Can’t Believe What Happens Next

Photo by: Haberdoedas & J Z

Stacy Fernandez

By: Stacy Fernandez

Mar 22, at 8:00am ET

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It sucks to watch your car get hooked up to a tow truck and taken away, especially if it’s being permanently repossessed. The panic, the embarrassment, the math of how much it's going to cost to get it back and how it’ll impact your credit score will all be running through your mind.

In these situations, sometimes people make rash decisions to avoid the repo man. While they think it’ll play out like in the movies where they cleverly get away, that’s far from what happened with one man.

Car Escape Gone Wrong

In a TikTok with more than 8.2 million views, content creator Amanda Hood (@mandah88) films a man's chaotic attempt to stop his Buick from being repossessed outside an Old Navy in Panama City Beach, Florida.

According to Hood's caption, the driver claimed he was just trying to reverse the car while the tow truck was attaching it.

The video tells a different story.

“Poor guy just didn't want his car repossessed. He said he was just trying to reverse his car while they were attaching it to the tow truck. I'm sorry sir that looks like you were in drive and trying to escape via the sidewalk. Today was not his day,” the caption reads.

Rather than backing up, the man appears to have thrown the car—a red Buick sedan—into drive and tried to escape through the parking lot. The only problem: he was in a parking spot. The only exit available was the sidewalk, so he took it. But then a light pole got in the way.

The car wedged itself between the pole and a building, hitting the side of the structure in the process.

“Somebody call the cops,” Hood is heard saying.

The driver reversed, tried to push through a second time, made it worse, and then the car came to a stop and he sheepishly climbed out.

He appeared to be with his wife and a young child, though neither seemed to be in the vehicle during the incident. After the crash, he was seen arguing with the tow truck driver.

In the background of the video, someone can be heard on the phone with the police.

"There's a gentleman that, well, I guess he was about to get towed and he drove over the parking lot. He smashed into a pole. He is now on the sidewalk. I don't know if he hit anybody,” the man on the phone says.

“He's arguing with the tow truck driver right now, we just need to get police over here as quick as possible…I don't know if he hit anybody,” he continues.

It is unknown what happened if and when the police arrived. Hood has not posted a follow up video.

Why Are Car Repossessions Surging?

According to CBS News, more than 2.2 million vehicles had already been repossessed through the first part of 2025, with projections pointing toward 3 million by year's end, a pace on par with the Great Recession.

An economics professor told CBS News the repossessions are likely concentrated among lower-income borrowers, squeezed by a combination of record-high vehicle prices (the average new car crossed $50,000 for the first time in September), elevated loan rates, rising insurance costs, and car repair inflation running 11% to 12%.

Repossession can happen faster than most people realize: the typical timeline is 60 to 120 days after missed payments, but subprime or buy-here-pay-here loans can trigger a repo in as little as 30 days.

What Rights Do You Have During A Repossession?

When you finance a car, the lender holds a security interest in it, which means if you default, they have the legal right to take it back. According to the Federal Trade Commission, in most states this can happen without a court order and without advance notice. The repo company can show up at your home, your workplace, or a parking lot at an Old Navy in Panama City Beach and hook it up while you're standing right there.

What repo agents can't do is breach the peace. According to Debt.org, that means they cannot use physical force, make threats, or take a vehicle over the owner's verbal objections.

If you tell them to stop, they're legally required to leave and come back another time, which is why repos so often happen in the middle of the night.

Anyone facing the same situation should call their lender before it gets this far.

"They lose money if the car has to get repossessed because they have to pay the people that are repossessing the car," an expert told CBS News.

That creates more room to negotiate than most people realize. And once a vehicle is repossessed and sold, borrowers can still owe the difference between the sale price and the remaining loan balance, called a deficiency balance, on top of the credit hit, which stays on your record for up to seven years.

People were sympathetic to the man’s plight, but also questioned his judgment.

“Would have been cheaper to just pay the tow bill,” one person commented on Hood’s post.

“He just 10X'd his problems...Now he has to pay bail, court cost, lawsuit, damages and the car,” a second speculated.

“Not only do you have to still pay for the car, now you have to pay for damages to a building, towing on top of the towing you owe for the repossession, court cost and fines, and court and any charges the police bring against you! Smh!” another said similarly.

What do you think?

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“I would’ve been so embarrassed to get out of the car lmao,” a fourth added.

Motor1 reached out to Hood for comment via TikTok direct message and comment. We’ll update this article if she replies.

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