A young Nigerian man, whose name has not yet been released, reportedly drove off with a Mercedes-Benz during a test drive at an Abuja dealership, leaving the dealer without the car for three days.
He reportedly presented himself as a serious buyer before taking the vehicle out and failing to return. A Twitter post by Somto Okonkwo shared that he was later tracked down and arrested 3 days later.
The case adds to a growing list of incidents where people pose as buyers, use test drives or fake payments to gain access to cars, then disappear before the dealer realises what has happened.
Thieves Keep Using Test Drives to Steal Cars
The Abuja case follows a pattern that dealers face across the world, similar to the ‘dine and dash’ tactics employed by dubious individuals; only, in this case, it’s a ‘drive and dash’.
In January 2025, two men visited a car stand in Zuba, Abuja and claimed they wanted to buy a Toyota Corolla. During the test drive, police said they brought out a pistol, threatened the dealer and escaped with the car. They also took the vehicle documents and two keys. Police later recovered the car through the Electronic Central Motor Registry platform.
Similar cases have also happened outside Nigeria.
In Houston, Texas, in 2013, a man took an Audi RS 5 for a test drive, returned to the dealership and acted as though he wanted to complete the purchase. When the salesperson became distracted, he reportedly grabbed the keys from the desk and drove away. Police later recovered the car.
What looked like a one-off trick has also appeared in more organised theft operations. Between 2024 and 2026, police linked a suspected group operating across Connecticut, New York and New Jersey to at least 20 stolen or targeted vehicles worth more than $2.4 million. Investigators said members posed as customers and used test drives to get close to the vehicles.
A similar case happened in Miami, Florida, in April 2026. Deputies arrested a woman after she allegedly took a Ram truck out for a test drive and never returned it. Police later handled the incident as vehicle theft.
From stealing keys to using fake identities or simply refusing to return, these cases show how quickly a normal test drive can become a costly loss for a dealer.
