Has anyone failed a pre-employment credit check for a car dealership while having accounts in collections but still get the job?

Answer 1

Credit checks do not return a simple "pass" or "fail" grade. It's up to the employer to determine what constitutes "passing" and what they'd prefer not to mess with. The extent to which you'll be dealing with cash and with customer credit cards will likely be a factor in just how much irregularity they're willing to tolerate.

It's probably in your best interest, as soon as they mention the credit check, to say "look, you're going to see some negatives on there; here are the ones I'm expecting to see, and if that's going to be a show-stopper, let's just part ways now before I give notice at my old job and pay any licensing fees that I frankly can't afford if my credit report is going to make you turn me down anyway."

The fact that you're telling them up front will usually make them slightly more inclined to be lenient, and worst case is you'll have found out you had no chance before you did anything irrevocable.