{"id":429369,"date":"2026-01-24T03:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T03:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/429369\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T03:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T03:00:12","slug":"new-jersey-man-buys-a-car-from-an-ai-facebook-marketplace-advert-and-when-he-meets-the-seller-hes-left-surprised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/429369\/","title":{"rendered":"New Jersey man buys a car from an AI Facebook Marketplace advert and when he meets the seller he\u2019s left surprised"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI Facebook Marketplace ads have reached a new level, and one New Jersey man discovered that while buying a used car<\/a> that looked almost too fake to be real.<\/p>\n

YouTuber Sambucha decided to investigate whether AI-generated product listings on Facebook Marketplace were outright scams or just wildly misleading. <\/p>\n

After previously buying AI-enhanced products that actually showed up, he wondered what would happen if he took the experiment offline. <\/p>\n

That curiosity was exactly what led him to one of the strangest car listings he had ever seen.<\/p>\n

SBX CARS<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 View live supercar auctions powered by Supercar Blondie<\/p>\n

Buying a used car these days requires a lot of digital snooping<\/p>\n

The listing in question was a 2011 Mazda 3, priced at just $1,500.<\/p>\n

Now, the obvious highlight is the price: $1,500 for a used car is extremely cheap considering affordable used cars are rapidly disappearing off the market<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, what\u2019s interesting about the listing was that it came with not one, but five clearly AI-generated images. <\/p>\n

The photos featured various glaring giveaways.<\/p>\n

For example, this one came with a faceless driver.<\/p>\n

\"AI<\/a>YouTube\/Sambucha <\/p>\n

Another had a sign that said \u2018McDonal\u2019s\u2019, which you shouldn\u2019t confuse with a member of British royalty\u2019s fast food chain of choice<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AI<\/a><\/p>\n

The YouTuber ran the images through an AI detection tool, which confirmed there was a 99 percent chance the photos were fake. <\/p>\n

\"AI<\/a>YouTube\/Sambucha <\/p>\n

Digging deeper, the seller\u2019s Facebook profile was riddled with terrible reviews accusing them of being fake, misleading, or outright scammers.<\/p>\n

Despite all the red flags, Sambucha decided to do the perfectly logical thing: messaging the seller and setting up a meeting.<\/p>\n

The Facebook Marketplace ads weren\u2019t totally lying<\/p>\n

The response was short and suspiciously casual, and a meetup was quickly arranged at a local car park in New Jersey. <\/p>\n

Expecting the worst, Sambucha arrived prepared for a total disaster. <\/p>\n

\"AI<\/a>YouTube\/Sambucha <\/p>\n

Instead, he was shocked to find that there actually was a Mazda 3<\/a> waiting for him.<\/p>\n

At first glance, it wasn\u2019t terrible.<\/p>\n

\"AI<\/a>YouTube\/Sambucha <\/p>\n

However, upon closer inspection, the car was dirty, missing proper rims, and lacked a license plate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AI<\/a>YouTube\/Sambucha <\/p>\n

It also showed its age with plenty of dents and wear, but the YouTuber was able to start the car and even drive it on the highway.<\/p>\n

While driving, a check engine light glowed ominously<\/a>, but for $1,500, it technically worked.<\/p>\n

\"AI<\/a>YouTube\/Sambucha <\/p>\n

Sambucha ultimately decided to buy it, admitting that while the AI images were misleading, the listing details themselves were accurate.<\/p>\n

The real surprise came during the hour-long drive home.<\/p>\n

The steering wheel shook violently, the tires felt unsafe, and the car clearly wasn\u2019t road-ready. <\/p>\n

\"AI<\/a>YouTube\/Sambucha <\/p>\n

Still, Sambucha concluded that while the AI photos absolutely lured him in, the purchase wasn\u2019t a total scam<\/a>. <\/p>\n

He rated the experience a \u2018scam-lite\u2019, and a six out of 10 on the validity scale.<\/p>\n

So there you have it: if you ever see AI Facebook Marketplace ads, there might actually be a car waiting for you.<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s a car you actually want to drive, however, is entirely a different story.<\/p>\n

If you want to see what else Sambucha bought after seeing AI Facebook Marketplace Ads, you can watch the full video here:<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDISCOVER SBX CARS:
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AI Facebook Marketplace ads have reached a new level, and one New Jersey man discovered that while buying…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[62,276,277,49,48,61],"class_list":{"0":"post-429369","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}