A New York car salesman noticed a particular difference between Buffalo customers and those in San Jose, California. 
In a video with over 2,000 views, Sam Fuster (@sfuster58), a car salesman working at Stevens Creek’s Chevrolet dealership in San Jose, reveals his biggest culture shock as a car salesman since moving out west from New York.
The car salesman working at Stevens Creek’s Chevrolet dealership in San Jose shares his recent discovery.
New York car buyers tend to trade in their old vehicles. Californians do not do trade ins.
“One thing that’s a culture shock from selling cars in Buffalo, New York vs selling cars out here in San Jose, California; 90% off my deals back in Buffalo there was a trade involved. Here, that’s the other way around,” Fuster shares.
Fuster implied that he may have figured it out but asked the viewers why there’s such a cultural difference in how the East Coast and the West Coast approach car purchases.
There’s a variety of reasons why West Coast car shoppers might purchase their vehicle without trading in their old one. For one, shoppers in San Jose have higher median salaries than those in Buffalo, New York. The average median salary in San Jose is $113,100 compared to Buffalo which is at $46,458.
That generally means that customers will have more flexible income to purchase their vehicles without needing a trade-in. 
There also might be different leasing cultures between states. In some places, it’s more normalized to return a car to the dealership rather than privately sell it or return it to a manufacturer. This is apparently quite noticeable between California and New York. 
“Private sale market,” one TikTok commenter added.
“That’s one reason. There’s other reasons,” Fuster replied back.
Another commenter had another plausible explanation mentioning weather plays a role.
“Cars in California are always worth more due to NO snow. Our cars last twice as long as cars from the Midwest to East Coast. I’ve dealt with many cars and no one with an education will take a vehicle from the East over to the West,” one commenter shared.
That would make sense, as cars burdened by snow travel are less likely to sell well privately unless they’re specifically built for it. Some cars are better at handling extreme weather conditions and therefore don’t necessarily have noticeable sales drops. Others, however, struggle to acclimate.
Some commenters, however, argued that California car buyers can’t trade in their vehicles due to getting into accidents before they can. 
One commenter wrote, “Horrible drivers wreck their cars before they can trade it in.” 
Massachusetts actually had the highest amount of at-fault accidents in 2025 according to CarEdge, with 8.1-percent. The Northeast also had multiple states with high at-fault accident rates. But, these states notably do have the lowest car accident fatality rates due to strict DUI laws. 
California reportedly has the fifth highest fatal car crash rate by population in 2024, with New York placing significantly lower on the list. That, however, can be explained more by legal restrictions than poor drivers. 
So, what’s the answer? If drivers tend to have higher at-fault rates in the Northeast but more people die due to fatal car crashes in California, how do you determine which state has worse drivers? 
Another study from Munley Law conducted in 2024 could be the answer, as they compiled data from multiple sources to determine which states had the “wildest” and most unruly cruisers. According to that study, drivers in California are worse than drivers in New York. The study used statistics on insured drivers within the state, DUI arrests per every thousand drivers, and fatalities per every 100,000 miles driven. 
Ultimately, evidence to conclude that California drivers are worse than New York ones are unlikely to account for all of the differences Fuster noticed when moving states.
We’ve reached out to Fuster to learn more about his reasoning for the differences in sale trade-ins. We’ll let you know if he responds. 
Rachel Joy Thomas is a journalist, freelance writer, and hopeful author who resides in Los Angeles, CA. You can email her at the.rachel.thomas2002@gmail.com.

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