Briana, a content creator from Atlanta, Georgia, has 1.3 million followers on TikTok (@justbeingbriana), is going viral. However, it’s not because of her usual fun and creative content. Instead, it’s about her deciding to return her 2021 BMW X5 after she realized that a year of her making monthly payments of $1,998.62 barely made a dent in her loan.

After she checked her Ally Auto account, she saw that those payments only paid off $5,827.16 of the BMW loan, leaving her with an outstanding balance of $100,412.28.

“I checked the account for my BMW, and I saw that I only paid $5,000,” she said on her TikTok. “And I thought, ‘Nah, I’m definitely being scammed…’ There’s no way paying that much for so long only paid off $5,000. So I was in chat like, ‘Y’all can have this car back, I’m sick of being scammed.’ It’s not going toward anything but interest.”

She admitted that she has a lot to learn about financial literacy, and described signing on to make payments that high as the “dumbest mistake ever,” but continued to say she’d bring the BMW back.

“I’m serious, you can have this car back,” she continued. “I will willingly drive this car back to the parking lot so y’all can take it back. On my momma, on my soul, I’m not playing. It’s been a year, and you’re telling me I only paid $5,000? I’m on the app right now telling them to take it back.”

Yusuf Benallal stepped in to explain the BMW’s cost

Benallal is a founder of CarLay, a consumer-driven automotive tech company in the Atlanta, Georgia area. He built strong automotive advice platforms on social YouTube and TikTok (@ridewithyusuf), where he answers viewer questions, shares informed reactions, and offers free tips to help people avoid these exact situations.

He reacted to Briana’s video, using it to educate his viewers on what to look for when buying a car—especially luxury SUVs like a BMW X5.

The first thing he said was he didn’t blame Briana for posting the video—but he did say it’s important for people in her situation to realize it isn’t the bank’s fault.

“This is where we take accountability and ask ourselves, ‘How did I get into this situation? How can I learn and improve myself so it doesn’t happen again?” he said in his video. “Most interest-heavy products are going to be front and heavy, meaning the interest you pay will be towards the front of the loan, so all or most of your payments you’re paying—especially when it comes to high-interest auto loans—is going towards the interest.”

He explains that the same principle applies to mortgages, credit cards, and other loans. Luckily, he says, people don’t have to be as financially literate as he is to see if they can afford the front-end interest payments. Instead, there’s a free tool he suggested.

There are free online calculators to help explain it

Benallal urges people to use a car payment calculator that factors in the final cost, down payment, and interest rate. It also requires the duration of the payment schedule. From there, the calculator will break down how much of your payment is going toward the interest versus the loan.

“For instance, a $40,000 loan with a 60-month term at 6% interest will typically cost about $830 per month,” he said. “If you look at the amortization schedule, it’ll tell you how much you pay towards the principal interest. In this case, $300 will go towards the interest, and $530 will go towards the loan.”

He said Briana paid $24,000 toward the car after a year of making $2,000 monthly payments. However, $18,000 went towards interest and only $6,000 went towards the principal. To make matters worse, having the car voluntarily repossessed will mark her credit, and she’ll still have to pay towards the BMW’s loan. She won’t be able to refinance it, either.

“This woman is upside down on that car by $30,000 to $50,000 and likely can’t refinance it because refinance companies still look at the loan-to-value, so she’d have to put a significant amount of money down to refinance it.”