Bill Meyer Show Podcast - Sponsored by Clouser Drilling www.ClouserDrilling.com - 11-19-25_WEDNESDAY_6AM

Episode Date: November 19, 2025

Morning news and catchup, Wheels up Wednesday talk with Eric Peters at EP Autos, another EV manufacturer circles the drain, Nissan Armada review and much more with your calls, comments and questions.

The Bill Meyer Show podcast is sponsored by Klauser Drilling. They've been leading the way in Southern Oregon well drilling for over 50 years. Find out more about them at Klauserdrilling.com. Here's Bill Meyer. Twelve minutes after six, welcome to Wheels Up Wednesday. Start the conversation. Call me at 77056633-770KM.D. Email Bill at Billmyershow.com.

A lot going on this morning. We're going to be talking a bit about this. Rob Fields, a city manager for the city of Memphis. It ended up, well, resigning. Not a lot of details put out about this at this point, and I would imagine there's a big, fat, non-disclosure agreement going on in there. Free page resignation agreement was released, and according to, this is according to a Rogue Valley Times story on it,

although there was a news release on this one. According to the Medford City attorney, Field has been out of the office since last Thursday, and he's on paid administrative leave, which supposedly is going to end. He's going to get six months of severance, six months of severance pay, which is not bad, given that his annual salary is $233,000 a year. It's good pay.

In fact, I'm hoping that every day or at some point, though, everybody gets to be a city manager or a high-level city official or a county official or state official at some point, and then we'll all be quite wealthy, I think, as time goes on. As to why he quit, or I think more realistically, was probably pushed out. I think that's really what this is. It's like, okay, you're not a good fit. He's only been here 14 months. I never had an opportunity to talk with him. The mayor is not talking. In fact, nobody's going to talk, which means there's probably a non-disclosure agreement about this.

and the one thing that does give me pause is that he was a big, big pusher of the Creekside quarter. You know, the big half-pillion dollar development program with the ball field and everything else. Words to the effect of, hey, you know, Medford has to become somebody or someplace, and so this was a big part of it. I don't know. I'm just engaging in conjecture at this point. Why do you think someone who was part of something which ended up being, you know, successful at the ballot? I mean, you know, the other week, you know, it does appear that the voters have agreed to go along and raise some fees and make this happen.

And then all of a sudden, one of the architects of it ends up quitting. I don't know. I don't know if maybe it had something to do it, and maybe we'll be able to talk to a city counselor, they'll be able to be a bit more candid about it over time, but maybe it has to do with maybe the city council is starting to realize that it won't be quite so easy as perhaps all the people we're talking about. And maybe it doesn't look like it will, or I don't know, maybe Rob Fields realizes that in spite of it succeeding at the ballot box that actually making it something that that really

happens maybe a longer putt than maybe he thought. And so, you know, better to get out before it falls on its face. Like I said, this is pure conjecture on my part. I'm just kind of wondering, I don't know if you have an opinion on this or not, but yeah, why would someone who was a big part of this all of a sudden, when success can be tasted, all of a sudden just say, hey, I'm out of here, or the city council and the mayor saying, well, you know, you need to go away too. Or maybe he's just, well, now, if he was residing to take another job, we would have heard that he was residing to take another job. Yeah, so it must be something else, something internal. We don't really know. We don't know. And no one's probably going to talk for a while,

but if you've heard anything, just let me know, okay? 7705-633. There's no non-disclosure agreements here when you call the show. You just go ahead and call the show with Do Your Thing. By the way, I don't know that there's a non-disclosure agreement, but, you know, when it comes to personnel issues, almost everybody says, nobody says everything. Or nobody says anything. You know, it's like when you try to hire somebody

and then all the old employer will say is, yes, this person worked here from such and such to such and such. Thank you. Have a nice day. And that is about all. All right. Well, the Epstein Bill thing passed yesterday, almost unanimous in the House yesterday, 427 to 1. It's been dogging Trump since the early days, especially of this second administration.

He seems pretty eager to get it out there. And the whole maybe Trump is a pedophile storyline can finally go away. And then it ended up going over to the Senate. And the Senate says, yep, we're going to pass it. So sometime today, most likely, the bill to release the Epstein files will be signed into law. However, I was reading another story last night that says that we still may not see the Epstein files. It was in the Washington Post. And the reason for this is that recently the Trump administration opened up an investigation.

This is just a few days ago. the Trump administration opened up in investigation into Democrats that were involved with Jeffrey Epstein. And because of that, that might keep the files tucked away. So the strange thought runs through my head is that, okay, Trump says, I want this out. Johnson says, okay, we want this. We'll help you out, Mr. President. knowing at the same time that because of the investigation just opened that they might not come out. Now, I don't know if it's going to play out this way,

but the Washington Post people were pretty adamant saying that they're thinking that this is going to, that this is going to work that way, that there's a good chance we still won't see them because, well, you know, we have an open investigation and we can't really do anything about it. Stay tuned is all I can tell you. just thought that was just amazing. After all this, after all this, it still may be kept away from people because there's nothing to see there, of course. All right, we can talk about that if you want. I don't know if it's going to play out this way or not, but it's a very

reasonable legal point that the Washington Post is making up. You know, you open up a brand new investigation, then all that stuff, which could be possibly part of this needs to be kept aside. You can't taint anything. You know how that sort of stuff goes. We'll see. Story on a coin TV for Oregon counties who up to this point have refused to comply with ICE subpoenas, the subpoenas from immigration officials, are now going to have to comply. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Michael McShane granted a petition filed by the federal government,

and it is directing Multnomah, Clackamas, Marion, and Washington counties to cooperate with subpoenas, rather, for 10 recently released inmates. So they're saying, hey, no, you have to follow these. These are legitimate. That's a bit of positive news. Now, there's the other side of it from K2 in Portland. New pet-friendly homeless shelter opens in Hillsborough. Oh, yeah. A couple of big issues in Portland area. homelessness and immigration, right? But the reason this is funny, it says here.

New homeless shelter in Hillsborough opened last Friday, 75 sleeping areas, and you can take your dog and pet in there. It's low barrier, right? Low barrier means that you'll probably be taking drugs and everything else too, and it's staffed 24 hours a day all year. And the shelter operator said the goal is to get people off the streets. Now, Kim Marshall with Project Homeless Connect says, you know that our homeless friends are going to walk in here

and just be mesmerized that this is their home for however long they're here my friend Kevin Sterrett quips about this mind if we redecorate yeah that's the reality because it's a beautiful facility how long shall it remain or will it remain beautiful we don't know

that's some of what is going on here C.LBI 5 reporting, Josephine County Commissioner, Andreas Bleck, facing a formal investigation by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission. The group voted 7 to 1 to open an inquiry into Andreas Bleck. It was concerns about his role in approving funding for a runway extension project at the Grants Pass Airport. According to KOBI 5, Black cast the tie-breaking vote to approve a line of credit for the project while owning five hangers located. on the airport property and the complaint alleging that he didn't properly disclose, uh, disclosed rather this potential conflict of interest.

But, uh, Commissioner Bleck and his lawyer says that the project benefits everyone in the community and no evidence of financial gain. And that's probably why he didn't think he needed to disclose this. Uh, meanwhile, uh, the daily courier reporting that,

uh, the, uh, well, the signatures have come in. They've been submitted early to, uh, recall Commissioner Black.

and Commissioner Barnett. So chances are if it gets approved, then there's 30 days to have a special election, yet another bit of political drama in Josephine County. You've been listening to me up at this point. I am not a big fan of recall campaigns. I know when they were trying to recall the mayor. I was one of the few people. I think that was not really in favor of it,

not that I was a big fan of the former mayor, Sarah Briscoll of of Grants Pass, you know, that former Mayor Briscoll, Bristol, rather. But just that my take is unless someone's breaking the law, let them serve, and then turn them out next time. Give them a chance to, you know, if there are problems being, well, if problems are happening, let them work it out. let them work it out. And especially, that's just my opinion. But there are people in Josephine County that, okay, let me just put it this way. I think there's a big contention of people in Josephine County that no matter who is county commissioner or mayor, they will never be happy. There, I've said it. This is the Bill Meyer show at 623, KMED.

If you're looking for a new vehicle that is the epitome of driving excellence, a great place to And I'm on 106.7, KMED. Or there's some emails of the day. Emails of the day, sponsored by Dr. Steve Nelson and Central Point Family Dentistry. Central Point Family Dentistry.com. Great people there. And if you need to get a crown, they have an in-house lab now. So a crown process could be however long it takes to get your teeth prep for it, your tooth

prep for it, and then maybe another half hour. And they have the crown ready for you. It's really cool. In-house lab. Check it out. Get your appointment at Central Point Family Dentistry.com. I was talking about how the Epstein file law has been passed. It will most likely be signed by President Trump today. And then I'm reading that because of a recent investigation opened up, you know, involving Democrats in Epstein, that we may not see everything or see a lot of it.

I don't know. But anyway, Betty writes me from Joe County says, Bill, it's just going to be redacted. They ordered black ink and 55-gallon drums, don't you know? Betty, you know, it could be, it could be, I don't know. There's just a part of me that would hope this would just go away and just put it out there. Now, there was one Congress critter who ended up voting against it, I think, from Louisiana. And because he was, and I think kind of looking at this through conscience, thinking that there are a lot of people whose lives could be destroyed. because of just allegations or the fact that they are in the investigation itself,

and it could be very unfair. And he says, I don't want to do it with my vote. But that's the only person that voted that way. There's one, a congressman from Louisiana. John writes me, Bill, this is when I was talking yesterday about the science of reading. My rant about the, what was it, Christine Pitts, the educator up in the northern part of the state, saying, ooh, they know the reason that Oregon kids are number 50 in the nation is because well, we're not engaged in the science of reading, and what was the other thing?

She said, oh, yeah, there's too much local control in the school districts, which is the biggest piece of nonsense. I think I've heard from an educator. But the science of reading, we're finding out. It's just phonics. Phonics. And John says, Bill, I learned to read by the phonics method, as you did. In fact, I'm not sure there was even any other method of teaching people to read when I was growing up. One thing I've wondered about the Chinese language and the lack of an alphabet, how do Chinese learn to read?

I doubt the Chinese people grew up as illiterate as many Americans seem to. It's an interesting question, John. I couldn't answer it, but still. Lori weighs in this morning. Hey, Bill, haven't heard a lot about that section in the agricultural appropriation bill passed to reopen the government that will decriminalize, or that will decimate, rather, the industrial hemp industry. I realize hemp in this area got a black eye with a lot of the, well, you know, a lot of the, well, you know, a lot of the, the dope grows, the marijuana growers hiding behind the hemp grows, but there are many legal hemp producers here and across the country. This legislation would outlaw production and sales.

All those CBD products that so many have found helpful would be removed from the market. Some regulation was necessary of the synthetically produced intoxicants, but that was poorly written. Mitch McConnell, who championed the birth of industrial hemp, has now dealt it a fatal blow. Rand Paul fought to remove the language from the appropriations bill but was not successful. That's right. It's one of the reasons he was voting against the CR, wasn't it? I'm not an expert, Lisa says, or Lori says rather, but I do have a dog in the fight. My husband and I have found CBD and CBG products helpful in dealing with aches and pains in his battle with cancer.

Our sons founded and operated the largest industrial hemp seed company in the country. and Independence, Oregon, they assure us that legislative changes will be coming, but as it currently stands, many legitimate farmers and producers will be put out of business, and many people who have come to depend on these non-intoxicating products will not be able to get them. Thanks for listening. Lori, I'm going to reach out to you because I'd like to talk to your sons with an industrial hemp farm that they have, and I get to the bottom of that, but I appreciate you emailing Bill at Billmyershow.com.

And finally, Randy weighs in here on the phonics thing we were talking about yesterday, my rant. Bill, government-run education designed to turn out uneducated morons because stupid people are easier to control, manipulate, and fool. Growing up in Ashland, I benefited from a well-funded school system run by a local school board, funding provided by O&C Timber. As soon as LBJ became president, the federal government said about tearing down local funding for schools under the guide. of saving the planet. We stopped logging to protect the spotted owl. By the way, Randy, now we're out there spending a billion and a half dollars to shoot the barred owl because it's the real competitor to the spotted owl, but I digress, all right?

They shut down the steel industry in the Northeast because it was allegedly destroying the environment. Today, it's the carbon lobby holding our economy hostage to BS climate models while academia is indoctrinating the youth with gender hysteria and porn. I've been digging into the greenhouse effect to see where carbon dioxide became the boogeyman. It goes back to the mid-800s in France, 1800s rather in France. The upside is he's becoming an expert in how the greenhouse effect works. Actually, if we didn't have a greenhouse effect, Randy says we wouldn't have civilization.

And Randy, you are absolutely correct about that. Speaking of the porn, there was one other story. I'll find him maybe later, but remember the concerned mother? Kamala, who I spoke to last week, Emily Kamala, last week, who was concerned about this, that history, that history video

from YouTube that had the rape scene, very explicit sex scene in it. Now, they ended up having a meeting at the Rogue River School District this week, and they're going to be, they're going to be reviewing the materials. So this is a work in progress. I don't know if they're going to

be happy enough with the outcome or not, who they're going to back up, but, you One question is, why are you using a lewd YouTube video for classroom instruction? There would be one big question to be asking, okay? But remember, the real problem that kids can't read is because there's too much local control. All right, we shall see. 632 at KMED. Eric Peters joins me here in just a moment.

Yep, the kickoff of wheels up Wednesday. Whether you're at your Lake Highway, just south of White City. The Bill Myers Show on 1063, K. And it's streamed on KMED.com, and we're hitting the open road. Eric Peters, Automotive journalist at E.P.O.O.S.com. Eric, welcome back. It is great to have you on. What is top of your mind this fine wheels up Wednesday?

Morning. Good morning, Bill. Thanks for having me on, as always. How about the next big fail? Ah, okay. So, in other words, another death watch for yet another electric vehicle manufacturer. Is that what you? Yeah, because, you know, it takes time for reality.

to catch up to previous assumptions. So people listening may be aware that Volkswagen bought the rights to the scout nameplate, meaning, you know, the old SUV that was popular back in the 60s and the 70s, and which is looked upon with great nostalgia, kind of like the old VW microbus. Sure. And Volkswagen thought it would be a fine idea to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at this project. And also, the state of South Carolina and North Carolina have made investments.

I love it when they use that word, investments with other people's money, meaning tax dollars, to subsidize the plants and facilities where these things are going to be stamped out. Well, there was an announcement the other day about the, what can we expect come 2028, which is the reveal date for the new electric powered scout, which will start, they say, start at $60,000 and you just want to take out a ballpene hammer and hit yourself in the head. Do they really think that in the first place, that two years from now, they're going to be able to meet the $60,000 target. And then in addition to that, do they really think, given the realities, everything that we see

all around us, that anybody or rather how many people are going to be able to buy a $60,000 EV? It's kind of like being on the stern of the Titanic and fueling the front end of that thing going underneath the waves. And yet they don't seem to see it or notice it or want to try to do something to get off the ship. Yeah. What has been happening with other EV manufacturers too?

I have not really been diving or. doing deep dives on this one. But, you know, what about Rivian and various other ones? How are they holding up right now? All terrible. And there's one that hit the other day that I, that I had an article about. I don't know whether you caught it. But everybody's familiar with Mercedes Benz. Well, Mercedes has an even higher end line called Maybach. Oh, I didn't know that was a Mercedes brand. I didn't know that. Yes. Yes. Ultra, ultra, ultra pricey vehicles for the ultra ultra rich. Anyway, they decided it would be a fine idea to take the Mercedes EQS, which we've talked about before, which is sort of an electric crossover SUV, and double the price and put

a Mayback badge on it and try to sell that to people. And it hasn't turned out too well to the extent that they are now in desperation offering $50,000 discounts on the Mayback to get rid of it before the end of the model year. Because once the calendar turns to 2026, the leftover or 2025s, they're probably going to have to resort to $75,000 off to get rid of these things. And you really can't, you know, call it, you couldn't just re-badge it as a 2026, right? You can't do that. No, that would be illegal, you know, and right. I mean, you're, you know, misrepresenting what you're trying to sell. All these high-end brands are having great difficulty now with their investment in EVs, including Porsche. People don't want an electric Porsche because an electric

Porsche is just a Tesla that sort of looks like a Porsche. You know, I make this point often, they're all fundamentally the same thing. When you replace the unique engine as in a Porsche, a flat six is a very specific type of engine. Oh, yeah. And also a specific type of sound, you know, it was all part of the, well, the visceral experience of driving a Porsche. Yeah, I mean, you're not just buying an appliance for transportation. You know, it's one thing to talk about, I mean, I'm not trying to disparage it, but, you know, a Toyota. Most people buy a Toyota because is they just want a car. It's going to take them from A to B. The, you know, the primary purpose of it is simply transportation. When you buy a high-end car, when you buy a Porsche, you're wanting something that's more than just transportation. You're wanting that emotional experience, that uniqueness. Well, all of that is gutted, literally gutted when you take out that flat six engine and put in batteries and motors. Yeah, it's super quick. And they keep focusing on how quick and fast, yada, yada, who cares? Yeah, but it's more than the quickness, though, when you buy a car.

It's more than the quickness. It's that experience once again. Now, I know the millennials and the Gen Zs have been talking about why you care about experiences right now. And yet at the same time, we're trying to make the experiences just absolutely lackluster, I guess. Sure. And, you know, the market, the market makes this very clear. You look at what actually is worth money. What is appreciating in value?

Look at the prices of, say, 9-11s that were made in the 60s and 70s. The prices for those things are going up. You buy a brand new electric Porsche, and within two years, it will be worth probably 30% to 40% less than what you paid for it. People don't have the connection to it. It's not the same thing. You know, it is not meaningful to use the language being used in today's language, I guess. All right. So the bottom line is you're looking for, now, I mean, the thing is, though, Volkswagen with the diesel scandal of a number of years ago, essentially is engaged in all.

of this electrification part of it as, well, part of their, well, slow suicide, Harry Carrey, okay, no, quit beating us here, quit beating us the regulatory people, right? You know, that kind of thing. And can Volkswagen survive this, though, is what I'm wondering. Financial. I don't think so. I don't see how they can. You know, they're in trouble as a company, let alone scout. You know, they're not in a position to throw the kind of money they are throwing at this scout operation. I think it's disastrous. And I don't. don't understand it, other than the short-term thinking of the management, I would think that the intelligent thing to do would be to figure out a way to extricate themselves from this,

sell the brand, whatever, and focus on their core product and focus on avoiding bankruptcy. But that's just me. Is there any way that they could transfer manufacturing of, let's say, another Volkswagen that does sell right now to this, is it North Carolina or South Carolina factory? Yeah, it's both. They have facilities in both. But no, I mean, these are, they'd have to then, for more money at re-tooling, I guess, and everything else would be necessary to make a vehicle rather than a battery-powered device. You know, I think right now the market is crying out for, we've talked about this many times,

affordable, sensible vehicles. I don't know whether it's feasible, but, you know, maybe they could take the ID buzz, you know, that electric microbus that they're trying to sell. Yes. Which starts also at about $60,000, which is insane, leaving aside the electric issue, and figure out a way to put a good gas or even, heaven forbid, diesel drive train in that thing. Yeah, yeah, put a good four-cylinder. It doesn't even have to be a six-cylinder or a V-6 or anything like that. Just a good four-cylinder. Heck, I'm driving a van again

with a four-cylinder. Of course, it's doggy, but it's 40-something years old. But, you know, it could be done, right? It would be possible, I would think. I think it would be possible. And, you know, it might not even be so doggy because you get rid of 2,000 pounds of dead weight, i.e. the battery and the electric motors. And, you know, and you put in a small four-cylinder engine in that thing. And I think it would be a lot pepier than the classic microbus. I mean, yeah, it's not going to get to 60 and five seconds, but who cares? You know, if it gets there in nine or ten seconds, that's plenty for most people. And I think, you know, the thing looks cute. It's a neat looking vehicle. Oh, it is a great looking vehicle. Now, if you could get it out there

with a gas vehicle for maybe 40, 45, maybe 45, I think there'd be a market for something like that, don't you? Sure. Even better, get it down to about 35. You know, of a piece with what they've done over at Dodge, to segue a little bit, they're desperately trying to pull out of this death spiral that is of their own making by having taken the engine out of the Dodge Charger. And, you know, the electric version of that thing has been an utter disaster for them. They can't get rid of them. So now in desperation, they're trying to put their new inline Hurricane 6 in the thing. And of course, the Hurricane 6 has twin turbos. It's connected to an all-wheel drive system. And it's automatic only. And now the price is going to be well into the $50,000 range. So leaving aside,

that it's not a muscle car anymore because muscle cars have V8 engines. It's too complicated. It's too expensive. If they could figure out a way to take that good-looking body, the current charger looks good. Oh, beautiful. If they could figure out a way to just get rid of some of the fru-frou, which would include a twin-turbo-charged in-line six-cylinder engine and all-wheel drive and just put a basic version of the hemi in that thing, maybe with a six-speed manual,

figure out a way to get the price around, say, $35,000, $38,000. The thing would sell, and they'd make money. Instead, they're continuing to throw good money after bad, trying to force things onto the market for which there is no market, in my opinion. Yeah. Hey, Eric, I wanted to just ask, I'm going to abuse our relationship here for a little bit, just personally, because Linda and I have been talking about maybe getting a new car at some point, right? And because I'm still working, I'll be working for a number of years, you know, knocking on wood here,

you know, as long as I do, well, hopefully the boss doesn't decide to blow me out after this. But what we were wondering about in adding one new car paying it off before retirement time, getting it paid off there. The challenge that I found looking around at newer cars is that I'm trying to find something that doesn't have the continuously variable transmission. Because even from the transmission folks that I talk to, they're just saying that the reliability, the longevity of them has just not really made it yet. and are you getting that? And where can you get a conventional automatic at this point? Linda's not going to drive a stick. I would love a stick, but hey, there's almost none of them left.

They're almost extinct right now. Of all the newer vehicles out there, reasonably affordable, where can you go for a conventional automatic, do you know? Go to Mazda. Mazda is the only manufacturer, I think. I think I'm right about this that has not jumped onto the CVT bandwagon like everybody else. I'm pretty sure that all of the current Mazda lineup still, still uses either a six or an eight-speed automatic.

And the three hatchback and the CX30 would probably suit your needs really well. And those things, what do they go for? I think they start around $25,000-ish, something like that. So you would avoid the CBT. And also, you know, this is just, again, subjective and personal. I like Mazda. I think they look nice. I think they've got more pizzazz in terms of driving than some of the other more appliance-like models

that are out there sold under the more, you know, bread and butter nameplate. i.e. Honda and Toyota. Okay. So they still have some conventional automatic. So has everybody then pretty much gone the CVT way? Well, most of the, most of the, again, mass market bread and butter brand, Subaru certainly, even Toyota, Honda has. Who else? I think that's pretty much the bulk of them. Now, are they getting better, though, the CBT? Because here it is, if we're talking about, I'm trying to avoid what is in everything right now. Maybe I'm just, you know, whistling past the graveyard and I just get a car with a CBT. I don't know.

What do you think? Well, their operating characteristics have certainly gotten better, particularly. Toyota, for example, uses a planetary gear set for the first gear. And, you know, the way they operate and feel and sound is now very much similar to what you get with an automatic. Okay. They've even programmed in simulated shifting, you know, so you have the sense of the thing going through gears up and down. Rather than it just winds up to 3,800 RPM and stays there, right? Right.

They generally don't do that anymore. But the problem is that fundamentally the CVT transmission is an inferior product relative to a conventional automatic, hydraulically driven valve body and planetary gear set. That's just the bottom line. And the only reason that the CVT is in general use now, the only reason, really, is compliance. You know, it delivers a little bit of a gain relative to an automatic in fuel economy, and that helps each manufacturer deal with CAFE. That's it.

That's the only reason it's out there. Just like the only reason that vehicles have direct injection now is for the same reason. It's not because people are clamoring for two fuel injection systems on their engine, right? Yep. Okay. All right. Hey, I appreciate the tip. And by the way, if you wanted to ask Eric a question, please join in 7705633.

We'll continue the Wheels Up Wednesday talk on KMED and KBXG next. Two Dogs Fabricating as your exclusive North Matters. You're hearing the Bill Myers Show on 1063 KMED. Eric Peters, Epiottos, taking your calls, talking cars. Matt, you're on with Eric. It's on your mind this morning, huh? Hey, Eric. My son, when he split and went to Florida,

I just gave him a Mazda 3 that we had that I bought. I bought it used to like 20,000 miles and had about 180 when he left. That has been an unbelievable. believable and fantastic vehicle. So I was glad to hear you mention Mazda. He's actually soon here. He's going to be in the market to buying a car. I told him not to buy new that he should find something used.

He's in the Tampa area. What do you use to adjust, like, you know, for a car that's a few years older that's a reliable. He's looking for something with four-wheel drive. is he looking for like an SUV type thing or just a car car before eric answers yeah he was he was originally looking at these jeep whatever they are their half truck half jeep i told him i said forget it they got too many issues um but i love the mazahs and then he sent me something on a newer moths and i told him i said hey you know hold your piggy bank which i i figured you know when you called in i would call an ass but i'd like him to get them a few years old and i'm wondering

if there's like a mod or some car out there that you think is super reliable. Well, first let me ask you, does he want four-wheel drive as in a truck-type system, you know, with a two-speed transfer case, low-range gearing, or is he looking for all-wheel drive? You know, a four-wheel drive. Four-wheel drive. Okay, so we're talking about an SUV then or a truck. Yes. Okay, well, I would not recommend anything that's new for all the reasons that we talk about on this show. Let's see. The good thing about going back with an older truck is that they're

fundamentally heavier duty to begin with, trucks and SUVs. I don't know. You know, it really depends on what he's wanting, but I own and have owned other examples of this model. I have an older Nissan frontier, which I love to death. Simple little truck, incredibly tough and durable. You can get it with the manual transmission with the V6. that's available in it. It'll pull 5,000 pounds. Of course, it has a six-foot bed. Very useful. I'm talking about the models they made up to when did they transition to the current one. I think it was 2004 when they went to the new one. I know that's going back 20-something years. But nonetheless, if you want something that's just rugged, reliable, and that you can still pick up a nice one for

well under $10,000. You might also look at a Toyota Tacoma from the same era. Those are also great little trucks. Is the coma, if I'm not mistaken, that's like they're mid-sized truck? Now it is. They all are. All of those models are now mid-sized. And effectively, they're about the same dimensionally in every way except with, as believe it or not, half-ton full-sized trucks were in the 90s and early 2000s. I'm talking about the ones that were made roughly before about 2004, which are compact in size. You can get them, you know, a two-door extended cab. You can get them four-doors if you need the back seats. But they're still compact size. They're not. yet mid-sized trucks. So, okay. So they were actually smaller on the smaller side. Yeah.

Yeah. Now, there's no reason you could go up a little newer, you know, like the Tacoma, until recently, until Toyota decided to turn that thing into a hybrid for compliance reasons or put a turbo in it. What's the year cut off on something like that, Eric? I think 24, right? 24 is when they went to the new drive train. You know, go for if you're wanting a larger truck,

that Tacoma is one of the best trucks ever made in my opinion, particularly with the V6, but the standard four in the older models, not the turbo one, great truck, superlative truck. I can't say enough good things about it. Everybody who's ever owned one loves those trucks. So what year are we talking? What's the cutoff? I'm sorry, I didn't hear that. Well, with the Tacoma, you know, anything that was made before, I guess, 24.

So, you know, it goes recently as 23, but, you know, they're highly desirable. So, you know, it's a very competitive market. And in many cases, you're going to be startled by how expensive they are. They're really holding their price high right now. You could go back. And another option, here's something to consider the Tundra, which is Toyota's full-sized truck that was the model that was made up through, I can't remember again the exact year when they upsized it, but up through the early 2000s, that truck is also a magnificent truck. And it has the brilliant Toyota V8 in it that's unkillable if you change the oil. It'll last essentially forever.

That's another option to consider. And you might get a better deal on one of those. All right. Hey, I really appreciate the call, and thanks for that, Matt, and good luck on this. We'll talk more, okay? 7705633. Let me grab another call. Hi, you're on with Eric Peters.

It's wheels up. Who's this? Good morning, gentlemen, Jeff and Selma. Hey, Jeff. Question, comment. Go ahead. Well, first off, I absolutely concur with what Eric says about what to buy. But, you know, back in 78, when I first started into this journey, they were teaching us that the Turbo 350 is

and 400s had the overlap on the ship so that you wouldn't feel the transmission shift. So it's kind of interesting that the CVTs that Eric mentioned earlier have programmed shift patterns into them. So it feels like it's actually shifting gears. But I think, Bill, if you wanted something that you can't feel shift, what you need is a 48 Buick with a dinah flow. Oh, geez. Yeah, but the slipomatic, right? the slip-O-matic. Isn't that right? Yeah, that was just the veins pitched in the torque converter, and that's how it basically changed

gear ratios. You had a low and a high. I don't know if I necessarily want to go that for a daily driver, but I appreciate your sentiment here, okay? All right. You guys, thank you. With regard to the CVT, you know, it's a simulated shift, because obviously continuously variable transmissions don't shift. So what you see, you look at the tachometer as you're accelerating, and you'll see the tack drop and then rise, drop and then rise at what would be shift points if you had an actual automatic transmission. But there's no sensation, no physical feel of the gear changing of that overlap that the caller's talking about. All right, very good, thanks, Jeff. Let me grab another call here on EP Autos. Hi, good morning.

Who's this, Ron, here in Medford. Hey, Ron, what are you wanting to know with Eric? Go ahead. I was going to ask, Eric, I have a one-owner vehicle to 1987 Chevy shortbed, four-wheel drive. Had it since 1987. It just sits, though, I have to, you know, start it and run it every couple of days. And lately, I've been thinking about possibly selling it. Just kind of curious to know what he thinks about it. I think you're going to get a lot of money for it is what I think, especially if it's not rusty. That is a highly desirable truck, and you'll find that out when you put it.

it up for sale. Okay. Yeah. I have, I've got the club on it out there about. I want to get a hold of it. It's kind of special because I did buy it brand new and it is in nice shape. Why are you selling it, Ron? Well, I've got four vehicles.

I'm retired. Oh. It's, and that's the only vehicle I actually have full coverage on, but because I do get people looking at it quite a bit. Oh, yeah. I'm surprised. You probably get offers on that thing a lot. I mean, a one-owner truck, that particular type of truck. And I'm betting you probably took wonderful care of it over the years. You're going to get a good price for that thing. I wish I were on the other side of the country. Yeah. Well, just bring a trailer, Eric. It's okay. Talk to Ron. All right. All right, Ron, best on you. Good to hear. Boy, yeah, that's quite a fine. Shee before seven. And hi, good morning. You're on with Eric Peters. Who's this? Welcome. Yeah, this is Brian Weldon.

Hey, Brian. Yeah, I wanted to ask, Eric, I graduated in high school about 1972, and I bought my very first brand new car, a Mazda Wankle, RX1, I think it is. Oh, my gosh. That's the rotary motor, and I learned all about it from my high school auto shop teacher. Oh, it's a wonderful car. doesn't have pistons. It revolves in one motion. It's a great car, blah, blah, blah. It'll do 12,000 RPMs. Anyway, then they had a huge problem, and when it was about a year old, all the wankles where it was like a cracked block between the two cylinders, and all the water went into the

chamber, the oil chamber, smoke billowed out the back. Oh, yeah. And they had to replace them all. Do you remember this car? Oh, absolutely. And there's a reason why Mazda had to walk away from the rotary engine, which they actually put into the RX7 and RX8 until relatively recently. When did they stop making that? I think around 2003-ish, something like that. Because the rotary engine, while it does have a lot of virtues, including high RPM and it doesn't have a reciprocating assembly like a piston engine does, they are gas hogs. For the size of the engine, like a 1.3-liter wankle rotary will typically get like 22 miles per gallon, which is just atrocious. But the real problem, is that, you know, inside the rotary engine, what you've got is something that kind of looks like a rounded pyramid, and that's the thing that rotates inside the engine, and it's got seals on the tips of the thing, and those seals inevitably don't seal very well. So you get a lot of oil burning. Yeah, all sorts of trouble. Yep, and that's a huge big deal now. It wasn't in the early 70s, but it is now. Oh, okay. Hey, right. The other big mistake I made was I had all

cash. This car was $3,850 brand new in 1973, I believe. And I went down there and pulled out all my money. And the lady at the Mosa dealership said, oh, no, keep your money, young man. Go up to the finance office here and get a loan. I pay 23.5% interest on this car and kept my money. I think it was $200 down payment cash. And when I got home, my mother said, you stupid idiot, she realized in four years the money you paid an interest, you could buy another one. Okay, well, just look at it, Brian.

It was just a lesson well learned, okay? Appreciate the call. Yeah, that's a hard lesson. Boy, 23%. Of course, I remember first house I ever bought, Eric, 10 and a half percent FHA, and I was damn glad to get it in the mid-1980s, right? in. Of course, I wonder if we're going to have to go back at that point. I know that President Trump wants really, really cheap money. That's the whole thing, but then he has to watch out for

the inflation issue, too. Hey, before we take off, what is the latest review that you had up there? I think was the Nissan, right? The Armada? I think you were driving. Yeah, it's a wonderful SUV, but the thing that just sort of, it makes me fall down on the floor sometimes and flop like a fish is how expensive these things have gotten. Again, it's a wonderful vehicle. But the base price is around $60,000 now. Wow. And if you go back as recently, I mean, literally go back about just three years. And vehicles in this class, you know, Tahos and the Armada, all those, this big SUVs that lots of people used to drive around are now as expensive as the luxury versions of those

things used to be. And yeah, they're luxurious. You know, the thing comes with really great stereo. It has a big dual touch screen thing, all of that. But again, they are, they have kind of pushed them now to the point where they are in the luxury class and the ones that are in the luxury class technically are now kind of like ultra luxury. Those things are like almost $100,000. I've got, by the way, a new Bronco outside, you know, with all the four by four off-road stuff, it's $75,000. I used to think of the Bronco as a reasonably price kind of, well, kind of a modest vehicle back in the day. Yeah, it's like we all get to window shop now. We get to look at all these cool things that almost none of us can afford anymore. May I have one, please?

All right. So The Bronco is going to be for next week, though, right? Yes. All right. Looking forward to it. Great conversation you have over there on EPATOs. Hey, before we take off, though, what's the reaction been to your article about where's Dan Bongino? Because Bongino has been strangely quiet for quite some time ever since the early part of the Trump administration. Do you know anything about that? Have you heard? Oh, yeah. Well, the reaction that I've gotten is that pretty much says the same thing that I do. Like what happened to this guy? You know, he was before he became a member. of the Trump administration. He was a big personality. He was on the internet, constantly talking about this, that, and the other thing. And then he became deputy director of the FBI. And then a couple of months ago, do you remember that really awkward interview that he had along with Cash Patel where the subject of the Epstein business came up? And they both looked like they had a gun held to their heads. You know, they both look really nervous and edgy. And then after that, there was this public kerfuffle where he threatened to walk out and apparently disappeared for a few days. And he's been kind of

disappeared ever since then, just very faded into the background. Yeah. And I, why? Well, I mean, I don't have any inside dope other than it just seems to me that he was told to be quiet. And of course, that begs the question. Why was he told to be quiet? Yeah. I'll be curious to see where this goes, because like I had mentioned, I don't know if we mentioned at the beginning of this, that, yeah, the Epstein law was passed. The president will likely sign this later today. But Washington Post and others reporting that because of President Trump opening up an investigation of Democrats and the Epstein file

that it may keep the release at bay for a while. We don't know yet. This is still a work in progress. We don't really know. So it's like, we'll see. I think that's exactly what's going to happen. And I think ultimately, whatever they end up releasing, you remember the big anticipation when the JFK files were going to be released?

Yeah. After 60 years, we were finally going to find out what went on back then. And you got these pages that were essentially just full of redacted blacked out portions with maybe half a sentence here and a word there. And I imagine that ultimately whenever the quote unquote files are released, that's exactly what's going to happen. And that's just going to make things worse for Trump. Trump and the Republicans,

but specifically Trump, I think, has painted himself into a corner by making it a huge campaign issue in 24. We're going to get to the bottom of this. We're going to release it. And then to come around and say, no, well, you know, it's a hoax. And we're not going to do anything about it. And now in desperation, he's had to change on that because his base is an open revolt, having had to, you know, have this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this food sandwich thrown in their lap. They're not going to eat it. And, and, and they're not going to be satisfied with any, anything less than full disclosure, which I don't foresee happening, which is, we'll see what we see. And maybe we'll talk about it next week, Eric, all right? You'd be well. Sounds good, Bill. Thank you.

E.P.ottos.com. A lot of great journalism going on there. By the way, one of my favorite articles here, we didn't get a chance to talk about, but just go read The Beauty of Low Performance V8. And that was something that I just really enjoyed. You'll find great reading there. It's 707. This is KMED, KMED, H.D. H.D. H.E.O.P.M.E.S.G. Grants Pass.