A man has gone viral for sharing a story that sounds almost too surreal to have actually happened. Nissan, he says, asked to borrow his truck for a few weeks for “testing.”
In a TikTok about the experience, Matthew Rutledge (@thatsmrdad) says that back in August, Nissan reached out with the unexpected request.
“Nissan wants to borrow my truck??” he writes in the text overlay of his video.
In the clip, Rutledge breaks it down. He says he got a letter in the mail explaining that since Nissan issued a recall on the emission system in his truck, the company wanted to “borrow” it for a few weeks to run tests.
“They said they would pay me for the inconvenience,” he says, pointing out at least one upside. Nissan also offered to give him a loaner car with unlimited miles.
Even so, the whole thing left him stunned.
“Has anyone ever heard of this?” he asks in the video. As of this writing, his post has pulled in more than 26,000 views.
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Can Car Manufacturers Really Do This?
There are a few reasons a car company might want to get its hands on your vehicle for testing, and most of them come down to data and compliance. Automakers participate in programs like the Environmental Protection Agency’s In-Use Verification Program, which tests a select number of random cars to help make sure vehicles still meet government emissions standards long after they roll off the lot.
These tests are also beneficial for capturing how cars behave outside of a lab. A controlled track can only reveal so much, but a vehicle with some wear-and-tear tells them what’s really happening under the hood. By testing systems like emissions controls and potentially other parts of your car—such as the brakes, cameras, and sensors—they get a clearer picture of how the car performs and how its parts hold up over time.
There’s also a practical side to all this. Real-world testing can flag potential defects before they explode into bigger, more expensive problems. And everything they learn can shape how future models are built and improved.
What If This Happens To Me?
If an automaker wants to test your car, chances are they’ll keep it for a couple of weeks, run up the mileage, and give it a pretty thorough once-over. After all, modern cars store more data than most people realize. That includes driving patterns, locations, and other details tied to your car’s systems.
But before saying yes, it’s smart to know exactly what you’re agreeing to. One Toyota driver recommends asking your preferred automaker specific questions, such as how long they’ll have your car, what kind of testing they plan to do, and what happens in the meantime (such as if you’ll get paid for your troubles).
Viewers Are Torn On Whether To Accept Offer
Commenters who watched Rutledge’s video were split on whether he should take Nissan up on the offer. Some said they wouldn’t trust an automaker to borrow their car for weeks, while others argued the payout and perks might make it worth it.
“Why are you complaining? They pay you and you get a free used car for a couple of weeks,” one person wrote. “I see no downside.”
“Definitely,” another added. “Make sure that you track the location of the vehicle, and you get a legal contract that they won’t alter the vehicle or destroy it in any way. You also get to call the shots on how much you’re compensated. I’d say the bidding starts at ten thousand a day.”
Others said no amount of money would convince them to hand over their car.
“Definitely don’t do it,” one viewer warned. “Whenever a manufacturer reaches out to somebody to do this, they beat the [expletive] out of your car in testing.”
Another echoed that sentiment, writing simply, “Don’t do it. It’s your truck.”
However, many commenters confirmed that Nissan’s request sounded legitimate—and actually quite common.
“It is common practice across the OEMs,” one person said. “I work in the emissions lab for one of them, and we are constantly bringing in the public’s vehicles for testing.”
“When I ran Uprev (Nissan tuning software), we would do this for customers,” another wrote. “Often, the benefit would be a custom tune for customers. And generally oil change, car detail, etc.”
“Kia paid me to test my car for a couple of weeks,” a third added. “Got a loaner. Was fun.”
Motor1 has reached out to Rutledge via a TikTok comment. We'll update this if he responds.
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