Last week, we all got to experience the beauty that was, in fact, just an ad for a used Honda Accord. Filmmaker Max Lanman made the commercial to help sell his fiancée’s 1996 Accord, which is worth about $1,500, and it worked: The bids got up to $150,000 before eBay canceled the auction for “illegitimate bidding.”
Here’s the ad, which is currently at more than 4.4 million views on YouTube. It features a cat, a car nicknamed “Greenie” with more than 141,000 miles on it, scenic waterfront views and an actress instead of Lanman’s fiancée:
ABC News reports that Lanman listed the car for $499, and bids were up to an absurd $20,600 when we wrote about the car last week. But they got a lot higher than that, Lanman told ABC News—so high eBay had to cancel all of the fun:
“I mean we had the eBay bid up to $150,000,” said Lanman, who posted the commercial on YouTube on Nov. 2.
EBay canceled Lanman’s listing “due to concerns around illegitimate bidding,” the company told ABC News.
“We’ve since worked with Mr. Lanman to re-list the item and we’ve put additional measures in place to ensure a successful auction,” eBay said in a statement. “Mr. Lanman is a talented filmmaker and we’re pleased that the eBay platform brought us together. We’re hoping to work on some creative video projects with him in the future.”
The new listing is at $4,300 with four days left in the auction, which is still far above market value for the car. Kelley Blue Book lists the car as worth $1,516 in excellent condition, meaning Lanman and his fiancée—whom he got engaged to after making the ad—will still make a decent amount of money on it.
But, damn, could you imagine starting married life out with $150,000 for an old Accord? That, everyone, is what dreams (and kitchen renovations) are made of.