Orlando Car Salesman Gets Fired After Being ‘Honest,’ Calling The Nissan Leaf An ‘Unsellable Car’
"Companies just don’t understand social media."
A Nissan dealer employee went viral after delineating the difficulty he’s had selling Leaf EVs.
Car salesman and TikTok user Keys & Approvals (@keys.approvals) regularly posts videos about his work putting customers behind the wheels of cars. In this clip, he says regardless of the type of customer he presents an electric Nissan Leaf to, they just don’t seem to be interested in purchasing the vehicle.
This may come as a shock to some, considering that despite Nissan’s financial woes, the EV has been a top-selling model for the Japanese automaker.
“There’s one car, no matter how low the credit is, no matter how desperate someone is for a car, any time this car is presented as an option, they will always say no,” the salesman says. “They will never agree to taking this car home. Something about this car is just so ugly to every single genre of audience. No matter which person: a girl, a man, an old lady, a young girl. There’s not one genre of audience that are attracted to this car,” he tells viewers.
He further drives the point home about the lack of desirability for the vehicle in a text overlay: “We have an unsellable car.”
His Nissan Leaf Rant Got Him Fired
Almost certainly, this user is talking about the previous-generation Nissan Leaf. While it was America's cheapest new EV for a long time, the last one had outdated charging technology, a range of only up to 212 miles and an unappealing hatchback body.
Things have clearly changed with the 2026 Nissan Leaf, which just went on sale. That's a completely different EV now boasting up to 300 miles of range, a Tesla-style plug and an array of modern tech features. Reviews, including here at InsideEVs, have been quite positive so far—but versions of the older Leaf remain on dealer lots and are probably tough sells these days.
2026 Nissan Leaf
In a follow-up video, the salesperson stitches his previous video along with a new clip. He’s seen speaking directly into the camera. “So, I got fired. First of all, I would like to say to the company thank you so much for taking me in as an 18-year-old,” he said “When I first started sales they, really made my whole career for me. They taught me everything I know how to sell. I learned the ins and outs of pretty much every single rope of the car business. So I’m very thankful and grateful for the opportunity I was given.”
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However, he undercut that thanks with a critique of the way the company handled his departure, saying it was unwise for the dealership to let him go just because of his honest take. “But you guys are stupid. A million people see the name of your dealership, and they see a salesman who’s being honest with the whole audience,” he said.
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He added that his clip actually ended up garnering interest in the Leaf he showed. “You see so many saying, ‘Oh I would take this car, I would take this car, take my car, take my trade.’ Like, so many possible deals. All I had to do is put the website link right there of the company and a million people would have the chance to click on the website. Companies just don’t understand social media,” he says towards the end of his clip.
Limits of Traditional Marketing
There’s no shortage of think pieces and arguments online as to why legacy marketing models ultimately fall flat. According to one report, the influencer/brand ambassador industry was valued between $24 billion and $35.1 billion in 2024. So it’s not difficult to understand the point that the former salesman was attempting to make.
A study by KPA found that 76% of surveyed car buyers do not trust car sales workers to be honest about pricing. So the TikToker does make a compelling argument: If a potential customer sees a dealer employee being transparent about the lack of demand for a vehicle, they may view them as being more trustworthy.
Judging from the comments section to Keys & Approvals’ video, it seems that his point regarding messaging was at least partially correct. One person replied, “You’re the only reason I know what a Nissan Leaf is.”
Another said: “Companies don’t understand social media! Facts!” And a third said, “Ridiculous cause the video made me look up the car.”
In his initial video criticizing the aesthetics, and consumer response to the Leaf, some people said they were fans of the vehicle, primarily for the value it presented. “I leased a Leaf last year: zero down, 2 years, 10k miles a year FOR $10 A MONTH. I don’t care how ugly it is, it was a steal,” they said.
“It doesn’t even look bad,” another said.
InsideEVs has reached out to Keys & Approvals via TikTok comment for further information.
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