BBC2 last week showed two very different used car dealers swapping workplaces. The show Super Cars v Used Cars: The Trade Off took a used car salesman from Bridgend in Wales to a dealership in South London, while his counterpart traveled the other way down the M4.

While the two men had the same job title, their workplaces were very, very different. Welshman Darren was used to selling cars in the £2,000-6,000 range whereas Londoner Louis was from an environment where there were far more zeroes on every price tag. In fact, there were no price tags; his dealership gave the impression that if you have to ask how much it costs, you can’t afford it.

Real used car salesmen, nice…

Despite the two men’s differences, reviewers and social media were almost unanimously positive about both Darren and Louis themselves. Both gave the impression of being honest, trustworthy, helpful salesmen who were dedicated to helping people find the used car they wanted.

Fictional used car salesmen, not so much…

So why should it be that the image of used car salesmen remains that of the dodgy geezer? Well, reality struggles against the long tradition of used car dealers being portrayed  as less-than salubrious salesmen by the media. We’ve collected a few examples of the worst offenders you may recognise…may contain spoilers.

1. National Lampoons Vacation – Lou Glutz Having failed to deliver the car they ordered, Lou makes an elegant attempt to upsell the hapless Griswold family a very difficult vehicle and succeeds – largely because he has crushed their trade-in.

2. The Fast Show – Swiss Toni Smooth, sophisticated, worldy and wise, used car dealer Swiss Toni is not only a master on the forecourt, but also experienced in the theory (if not practice) of making love to a beautiful woman…

3. Fargo – Jerry Lundergaard A character with little of the comedy of the previous salesmen. As well as kidnapping, fraud and murder, Fargo’s Jerry Lundergaard isn’t above a little dubious behaviour when it comes to his day job of selling cars.

4. Minder – Arthur Daley A measure of Mr Daley as a reputable business man must surely be the fact that he required a minder at all. Wonderful television, but surely a terrible injustice to used car dealers everywhere.

5. Eastenders – Frank Butcher Sharing many of Arthur Daley’s characteristics, but with a little less pretension toward sophistication. Also, rather than “‘er indoors”, Frank had Pat Butche

Honorable mentions: Excluded from this list largely because it is impossible to find clips without profanity, other noted used car dealers should include:

“Scarface” – car salesman. When you jokingly suggest machine-gun turrets as an optional extra on a vehicle, you know your clientele are probably paying cash.

“Suckers” – everybody. This 2001 movie didn’t make a huge amount at the box office, but perhaps that’s no surprise given that it contains a hugely hateable cast.

Transformers – Bobby Bolivia. The late Bernie Mac puts in a short but noteable turn as the man that unknowingly sells a Transformer to a similarly unwitting hero.

Eastbound and Down - Ashley Schaeffer. You may have missed this US comedy series, and Ashley Schaeffer is not a central character, but Will Ferrell makes the most of what he has.

The nasty used car salesman may be a cliche, but as the most recent entries above show, it isn’t one that scriptwriters are tiring of. Perhaps the BBC showed this week that sometimes reality TV is better than fantasy, at least for the reputation of this particular business.

Did you watch the show?

Did it help portray dealers in a better light?