Earl Stewart on Cars - 01.15.2022 - Your Calls, Texts, and Mystery Shop of Action Nissan of Nashville

Episode Date: January 15, 2022

Earl and his team answer various caller questions and responds to incoming text messages. Earl’s female mystery shopper, Agent Lightning visits a Nissan dealer in Nashville, TN. to see what they will charge for a new 2022 Nissan Kicks SUV. Earl Stewart is the owner of Earl Stewart Toyota in North Palm Beach, Florida, one of the largest Toyota dealerships in the southeastern U.S. He is also a consumer advocate who shares his knowledge spanning 50+ years about the car industry through a weekly newspaper column and radio show. Each week Earl provides his audience with valuable tips that prevent them from "getting ripped off by a car dealer". Earl has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, Business Week, and other major publications. He has also made numerous appearances on CNN, Fox News, CBS, and other news networks. He is frequently called upon by local and national media to comment on major trends and newsworthy events occurring in today’s rapidly changing auto industry. You can learn more by going to Earl's videos on www.youtube.com/earloncars, subscribing to his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/earloncars, his tweets at www.twitter.com/earloncars, and reading his blog posts at www.earloncars.com. Sign up to become one of Earl's Vigilantes and help others in your community to avoid getting ripped off by a car dealer. Go to www.earlsvigilantes.com for more information. “Disclosure: Earl Stewart is a Toyota dealer and directly and indirectly competes with the subjects of the Mystery Shopping Reports. He honestly and accurately reports the experiences of the shoppers and does not influence their findings. As a matter of fact, based on the results of the many Mystery Shopping Reports he has conducted, there are more dealers on the Recommended Dealer List than on the Not Recommended List he maintains on www.GoodDealerBadDealerList.com”

Good morning. I'm Earl Stewart. I welcome you to Earl Stewart on Cars, a live talk show all about how to buy, lease, maintain, or repair your car without being ripped off by a car dealer. With me in the studio is Nancy Stewart, my wife, co-host, and a strong consumer advocate, especially for our female business. We also have Rick Kearney, an expert on how to keep your car running right. I dare you to ask a question that Rick can't answer about the mechanics or electronics of your car. Also with us is my son, Stu Stewart, our LinkedIn cyber. space through Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Periscope. Stu is also the Spymaster Director of our Mystery Shopping Report. He dispatches our secret shopper weekly to an unsuspecting South Florida dealership. And now, on with the show.

Good morning, everybody. Well, believe it or not, we're back live. And we've been off for several weeks, four, I think, to be exact. And, but here we are. We're live in the studio. I've often wondered when I say I'm live, I guess that, exempts this show from ever being a rerun because that would fool everybody. So we can't, having said that, I can't use this as a rerun.

And we did four reruns. I hope some of you listened. And if you can spread the word, because we kept thinking we're coming back and this COVID thing, I don't have to explain that because everybody in the world knows all about it. We've had some exposure in the studio to COVID. We had one member actually contracted, in a mild case, thank God.

And we've had another member of contract. Actually, possibly, we don't know, exposed, I should say. And that's my son, Stu. He may have been exposed. So in an abundance of caution, he's off the show, and we appreciate that. We're wearing a mask again. And I know some of you prefer that we don't wear the mask, but protection and safety is priority

and I hope you can hear me okay I'm a take my word for it I'm a very handsome man so if you're streaming me just imagine oh I don't know all I can think of is old guys like I was going to say Tony Curtis most of you never heard of Tony Curtis anyway I think you're more Clark Gable how about Paul Newman

no Clark Gable Carragor Okay, anyway, here we are, and it's important, very important for you folks out there, to call in. We're one man short here, and that's my son, Stu. He's a voice, and he's an important part of the show. So our comments are going to be reduced by that factor. So if you could call us at 877-960-99-60. Now I think Stu's listening to the show and also my son Josh

because they're on top of the current auto business even though I've been at over half a century they know the day-to-day still far better than I do. So call us at the old-fashioned telephone number 877-960-9960. 877-960-9960. And I have a bunch of anonymous feedbacks because we, as I say, we've been off the air for a while,

and I can refer to those. I'd like to get to all your text comments, where there are anonymous feedbacks or regular text at some point. So when you text us or anonymous feedback us, and we don't get back right away, rest assured that we will get to it. And I don't censor any of the anonymous feedbacks, by the way. I will censor profanity and vulgarity,

but I'll put in a bleep so you know it was profanity. or vulgarity and that way you get the sense of the of the feedback. We don't get a lot of that actually. So our text number is area code 772-4976530. That's 772-4976530. And I've talked about anonymous feedback. That website, that URL is simply your anonymous. anonymous

feedback.com your anonymous a-n-o-N-O-N-Y-M-O-U-S Feedback.com and those are the best ways to get us. Now Facebook is also a very favorite place. Normally

stew monitors that, so we got Rick Kearney, my certified master diagnostic technician sitting to my right here and he's monitoring not only Facebook but YouTube. So, YouTube.com for slash

Erl on Cars Facebook.com ford slash Erlon Cars and that's a lot of ways to reach us. They'll telephone

because of the personality and the it's just a warmer better form of communication a little bit slower and a lot of people

don't have the time they can't call the driving and there's a lot of reasons you're not going to call us on the phone

but those who do call us we love you. Thank you. I'm going to introduce Nancy Stewart, my co-host, and she'll talk about a special offer to the lady callers out there, the females in the audience. We'd like to have a lot of ladies call. We're trying to keep it up at 50-50, 50% women, 50% men, because we always have to hear both sides. Let's face it, folks, men and women are different. I mean, I figured that out a long time ago. And you have different ideas, and a lot of them are better than us guys, and you see the world from a different perspective.

So without more women callers, we don't really have a complete show. You buy half the cars, you have half the money, you make half the decisions. Hey, you should be here on the show telling us your opinion as to how you see car dealers, service departments, and sales departments. So I think I've covered all of it. I'm going to give the numbers out one more time because they're very important. and you'll probably hear us, given the numbers more than normal, because I'm a little bit nervous after being off the show live for four weeks.

Is anybody out there? So our telephone number is 877-9-960-99-60. That's 877-9-9-696-0. Our text number is 772, 497-6530, that's 772, 497-6530. And suddenly occurred to me, I'm speaking to the people in the studio now because we didn't talk about it before we went live with the air. I don't have the phone that gets the text. So I think Stu has that.

So we'll have to work on that. Maybe I've got the Google voice text. Oh, Rick's got the text. Okay. We're covered. I'm sorry. We're covered. Nancy Stewart, the love of my life, my co-host, you're on the air.

To what you just mentioned about men and women. in and that they are definitely different. I guess the most important thing is that we want to be treated as equals. We just don't want to be treated differently just as equals. That's all I'll say about that. And ladies, $50 for the first two new lady callers, give us a call. Give me a call. And let me know how your service, possibly a car,

purchase if you had to purchase a vehicle at this crazy time we're living in. We want to hear from you. We want to really hear about your experience. $50 for the first two new lady callers. 877-960-99-60. That's 877-960. And throughout the show, I'm going to be mentioning some websites that you can go to, just to refresh your memory. As Earl said, we have been out for four weeks, and one of the ones I'll mention right now is very, very important, and it has a whole lot to do with you purchasing a vehicle. And there is a lot of people who don't know about this website, and that is www. www. Florida Law Protectingcarbuyers.com. That's a new one.

And it is a brand new one, and Earl's column that goes along with that, with all that information, how to know if a Florida car dealer is breaking the law. And believe me, they are breaking the law. It's unfortunate that the consumer, most of them, are just not aware of, again, www. Florida law, protecting carbuyers.com. I'm holding up for the Facebook and the YouTube folks, the Florida statute. And when you click on that link that Nancy just gave you, you'll see the Florida statute, which covers the Florida Unfair Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

Most people are not even aware of this. Most dealers probably aren't even aware of this. Consumers certainly are not aware of this. But it's got a lot of legalese. It's kind of hard to read. Go through it, and you can underline some parts, I think, that'll get your attention. And in my blog, I did focus on those parts that particularly should concern you. It's always nice to be educated on what the dealers are supposed to do, because most of them don't do it.

As we speak, as this show was on the air, and every day, car dealers are violating this. And unfortunately, the legislatures and the regulators ignore this. The enforcement agencies ignore this. So that's a good link. And Nancy, we'll read it one more time, please. Yes. W.W., Florida Law Protecting Carbuyers. Excuse me.com.

Florida Law Protectingcarbuyers.com. Take advantage of that. you can go to Earl and Cars and you can read Earl's four fabulous columns that he wrote and if you've picked up the hometown news you've already seen it you can also go to Florida Weekly and pick up that magazine and all the columns are written every single week in those magazines. Okay, we're going to go straight to the phones where Phil from Jupiter has been

patiently waiting. Good morning, Phil, and welcome. Hey, how are you all doing? We're well, thank you. Yes, I got a question for Rick. I've got a 2017 Prius and I've loaded the Toyota app onto my iPhone

and how can I link the functions of that Toyota app into my car. There's a couple apps on the Toyota app. One is an Alexa, and there's a couple other apps. So how do you do that? That's one you would have to check to make sure

that your car is the 17, that it has that functionality in the radio. It's probably something I'd have to actually get my hands on to play with. Trying to describe that action over the air would almost take half the show. Okay. Normally the app would actually guide you through that or if not believe it or not one of my best

resources for figuring these out is go on YouTube and just look for a video on that and you will find so many places so many people have posted videos on how to do even the greatest stuff with those things okay because I know in tune doesn't work anymore correct I mean right yeah they shut in tune down thankfully oh that was a horrible horrible system and now everything is going to the Apple CarPlay and the Google the Android CarPlay app and so that's going to be taking over for everything

but the Toyota app once you get it you're loaded the app on your phone you're going to need the subscription on it to sign up on it and then it should let you put in your car's information and let you connect into your car that way oh okay and one other thing I'm interested in looking at the Venza

or maybe even the RA4 plug-in and I understand to even get a test drive on those things I actually have to sort of order the car and then it comes in then I can look at it and test drive it and everything and then if I don't want to take it would I get my deposit back? Yes, you would

I'll answer that for Ricky. He probably knew anyway. you're absolutely right we have practically no vehicles on the ground most car dealers are the same way and 99% of the vehicles we are selling now which happens to be a fairly large amount have been pre-ordered actually Phil

I mean I'm glad you asked that question I think what we're seeing now is a preview of the very near future it used to be that when you bought a car you came into the dealership and they hustled you around, put you in a car that was close to what you want. Maybe, but maybe it wasn't,

but their job and mission on life was to put you in a car and get you over the curb and home so they could say you bought a car and they could make a commission. I think people are getting used to this way of buying. And let's stop and think about it. If you're going to spend $40 or $50,000 or $60,000 on a vehicle, you want to get the one that you.

want. You want the color, the options, the equipment. You want everything to be the way you want it. And chances are the dealership you visit won't have exactly that. There's usually always a compromise. You don't get the sunroof or you do get the sunroof even though you didn't want it. You didn't want the cruise control or you did all that. Maybe the color wasn't exactly right. Now we're ordering exactly what our customers want. The car comes in in 30 to 60 days and In our policy, you ask this question at the get-go, our policy is if it's not, if you change your mind for any reason, no problem. And there's your deposit goes back.

As a matter of fact, in my dealership, and this is unusual, I think most car dealers don't do this, even when you take the car home, you have seven days, unconditional, to decide you don't like it and bring it back. And that's regardless of mileage, condition, or anything else. We don't have fine print. So we give you seven days to change your mind even after you've taken the car home. But almost all dealers today, because of the shortage of cars, I'll let you order a car. And if it comes in and you say you don't want it, they can probably say, no problem,

because they're going to sell it to somebody else in about five minutes and maybe for more money than you pay. So, yeah, absolutely. I think ordering cars is the intelligent way to do it. and the old way of taking what they offer you and then not being able to return it, because when you have too many cars in stock and the customer buys the car and wants to bring it back, they,

first of all, they got their money, salesman's got his commission, and they got too many cars anyway, so they don't want to take the car back. Today, it's a different story. So does that answer your question, Phil? Yeah, definitely, really appreciate it a lot, because I'm thinking about the RAP-4 plug-in.

And would it work the same way on something like that? I know you'd probably backed up for a long time on that one, but could you actually order one of those cars? You can order anything that is available, and you're right. Some of these cars are in very short supply even when they do build them, and there's a waiting list a mile long. My guess is you want to get on that list,

and then when you get it, because of such a high-demand, low-supply vehicle, you'll have no problem whether you buy it for me or any Toyota dealer a car like that if the car comes in you change your mind you're going to get you to deposit back okay well listen I appreciate it thanks a lot all right Phil thanks for the call have a great day stay safe out there thank you Phil our telephone number here where you can reach us is 877 960 9960 or you can text us at 772 497 the number.

Somebody will... 6530. I'm the one of always remembers. Blah. We're live. We've been off for a month. We're all rusty.

That's okay. We're live. 772-497-6530. Send us a text and don't forget your anonymous feedback.com. And as I told you in 2021, I'll repeat it

again. Our vice president of digital operations Jonathan has provided us with a report from SoundCloud and what wonderful news

that and this is something he does at the end of each show and it's given him information as to how many listeners we have but not only that but where they are and they're all over the country. They're all over

the world and we are international. So I thought I'd share that good news with you folks. So give us a call. Ladies, $50 for the first two new lady callers. No conditions. And you can share

your service experience, your purchasing experience, or maybe just sitting at the computer at home and taking advantage of and control because the auto dealer doesn't know whether it's a male, a female,

and you can put your fingers to work, and you can purchase a vehicle right there. So, or just call and say hello, 877-960, 9960, and as I said earlier, the text is 772-497-6530. We're going to go back to the phones. I know that Rick is waiting for me to get to him, and I will in just a minute. we're going to take Bob's call. He's calling from Del Rey. Good morning, Bob. Hi, good morning.

Welcome back. Congratulations on your listeners. It's wonderful. Thank you. One of your vigilantes here. And Nancy, when you mentioned that Car buyer protection website, I jumped on

it here. And item B here in one of the sections of paragraph 15th, States, the price increase is caused by the addition of new equipment, which is required by the state. So, in other words, if I go in there and I go to purchase a car and there's more equipment on the car than I want, okay, and the government's saying I have to have it, I got to have it? Well, where are you? I've got the statute in front of me. It's what is the particular code that you said? It's paragraph 15. This is increased the price of a vehicle with, my eyesight's not quite.

Oh, yeah, I say it right here. Having accepted an order, yeah, a purchase. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It says that the dealer can only increase the price if it, if, if, If the state, this is, or federal law, either Florida or the federal law, is caused by the addition of new equipment. So it goes back to the original thing that the price represented. So what they're trying to do is they're trying to protect the consumer here. And let's say you order a car, and this is an unlikely event, by the way, you order a car

from a dealer and then you let's say it's a Honda and before your Honda is built the federal government says you can't build a Honda anymore without this type of airbag and I'm making all this up as we go along because I don't know of any instances like this and so Honda is required by law federal law to add a new type of airbag to the car which is on the model you ordered. So therefore, when the car comes in, the dealer is entitled to say to you, you have to pay that extra amount that the federal law required Honda to add to it. Now, you're not required to take the car.

You can say, well, that's not the car I bought. I don't want it. Sell it to somebody else. But the dealer cannot be faulted for raising the price, but you have the option not to accept the raise price. gotcha so it's you know Bob the problem with this statute and I I'm glad you called this because as you know laws are written by lawyers and then and the lawyers are the ones that decide if you break a law and the lawyers for the

judges the lawyers are the prosecutors the lawyers or the senators of the so it's a kind of a closed society there they write these laws so you can't understand them. And I caution you when you're going to this statute to be careful. If you have a serious issue, say with an actual real-life event with your car dealer, you can call me, you call the show, or you can call your own lawyer and pay him to interpret what another lawyer wrote. So the blog that I wrote on this article decifers and interprets the most important clauses in this particular statute. And there are a few that directly apply

to almost every car dealer in Florida. And virtually every car dealer in Florida at some time or other is breaking these laws and they're not being enforced and not being the Attorney General is sitting on our hands in Tallahassee doing nothing. And a lot of the politicians have got to be aware of it

and they're letting the dealers get away with it. So thanks very much for really. reading that for calling the show Bob well let me just add one of the things you're very welcome I have a 2016 facade and I spent several months up in New York for medical prisons but I got two phone calls from two dealers up there one of them traced my license plate okay and got my name and phone number called me and wanted to buy the car so I I being in New York, I sent a steam email to three dealers, one of them, a folk trading dealers, one of them here in Del Rey and two in New York.

And the difference between the sales pitch, if you will, between the guy here in Florida and the guys in New York is day and night. I mean, I felt like I was doing business with the shister. The New York dealers were paying a much higher price? No, they were straight. Straight on, spot on. Oh. I mean, good competitive price.

And one of them even said to me, you know, we don't have a lot of cars. If we wanted to, we can get thousands of dollars more, but we don't want to do this to our customers. I will say, as a footnote, I had purchased a couple of outies from that same deal years earlier. So they knew, they knew me. But, I mean, down, it was just really, I felt like I was doing business with, you know, Tony Sopranos, cousin. Yeah, it was really very upsetting. Very upsetting. It is.

That's what I share that with you. It is. I'm glad you did. The used car situation is unprecedented in history. I've been a car dealer since 1968. That's a lot of history. I've never seen anything like this. And actually, you can

turn this to your benefit. Unfortunately, most people need their cars and they can't sell them. But if you can't get by without a car for a while and you shop your car around. Car dealers are paying incredibly high amounts, record amounts. I think the latest stat on that is that car prices are, news car prices are about 35 or 36 percent higher today than they were one year ago. I mean, for the same you're making model. So other outside companies, like we buy any car.

There's a car, a strange name, Varum, V-A-R-O-O-M.com, CarMax, Carvana, there's got to be, and I'm only naming a few of them. There's probably, without exaggeration, a dozen companies that have just gone into business to buy used cars and sell them very quickly. And they're competing with the dealers who are trying to buy cars and sell them. and it's driving the price of used cars up unprecedented in history. The problem is if you buy a used car, you're going to pay an unprecedentedly high price too. But in my dealership, we have offered what we thought at times an extremely high price for a customer

who wants to trade the car in or wants us to buy it from him. And we give them what we think is a very high price. and then we find out that Carvana or We Buy Anycar.com or Varum is paying more in good conscience we have to tell our customer take it to Carvana in fact anybody

listening out there Carvana is the number one crazy guy out there paying way too much money for cars and they went they had an IPO about a year so ago they've got too much money and they don't know what to do with it and they're buying cars because there's always a greater fool

they pay you way too much money for your car and they find somebody else that'll pay even more. It's the way the stock market goes up before the balloon, before the bust. And that's what's happening. So you've got to play carefully, but if you're smart, you can come out on top. I have a 2016 folks man, Prasat, with 45,000 miles on it, and they offered me $15,000 for it, and they saw the car. That's ridiculous.

Yeah. That's absolutely ridiculous. It is crazy. But in any of it, I would like to get out to your next caller. Thank you. I'm glad to see you're back and everybody as well. Thanks, Bob. Stay safe.

I just got out of Delta. It's not fun. Wear a mask. Well, you're a great caller, Bob. I know you call again, and we love you. Thanks so much. Take care. Bye-bye.

Thank you, Bob. Okay, bye. Thank you for sharing your story with us. You know, that website that you can go to www. Florida Law Protectingcarbuyers.com. it's just amazing and you know

even if the car dealers know about this these unscrupulous car dealers most car dealers in Florida don't know or understand the law so what Earl did was so eloquent he broke this statute

down in his column and he provided you with knowledge that you can understand, that I can understand, that we can all understand, because that law, I'm going to tell you, we have the original, and it just goes on and on and on, and that's the Florida Statue 33. So Bob, thank you for reading. You can go to Earl on Cars, everyone, and you can pick up that recent column that he wrote, How to Know if a Florida dealer is Breaking the Law. So take

advantage of that. Ladies, I'm going to mention again, $50. $50, give me a call. Please give me a call. $50 for the first two new lady callers. Share your experience with us. Just call and say hello. 877-960 or you can text us at

772-4976530. We're going to go to Palm City where John has been holding. Good morning, John. Good morning to everyone. Welcome back. Thank you. I have a technical question to Rick. This is important because people should be aware of it. On the 2022 and some 2021, Hondas, Toyotas, and other cars,

there's a brand-new oil that's being used, and it's called OW16. It's very critical that these cars that call for it have that oil. Is that true? I'll ask Rick something to do with variable speed, valve timing, and it gets better gas mileage. but it's OW16. Can Rick explain that oil to us? Yep.

That oil has actually been out now for about two to three years. I think the 2019 Camry was the first Toyota that I know of to go to this new. It's a super lightweight 0W16 synthetic motor oil and you have to follow

what your manufacturer says for the motor oil weight because otherwise it will void your warranty but also running too heavy weight of an oil can mess with the internal workings of the engine. The variable valve timing is one of the first things that would be affected by that and it could cause a very serious engine damage

if you're not running the correct oil in your car. Well, I wanted to point that out to the people because we usually discuss synthetic oil and 10W30, but people have to be aware and mainly not only in the manual but on the oil filler cap they have this number right on it and if you see that it must be only that oil

is it true Rick that that's that valve timing is controlled by a computer is that possible? Oh yes the computer simply controls a little solenoid that lets oil pressure up to the valve when it wants it to actually change the timing of the camshaft it actually will either retard it back

or advance it forwards to change the valve timing in the engine. Now, that oil, is it true that it actually gets better gas mileage and a car can heat up faster in the mornings when it's cold? Is that possible? Yep, because it's such a thin, thin, lightweight oil that it circulates much easier, and it doesn't take as much extra force to pump it through the engine. Well, that could be the reason why cars like the Toyota Avalon

get as high as 34 miles per gallon. using this oil. That's one of them. Well, I just wanted to point that out to you. And the second thing that I mentioned today, and I'm all for it, I mean, you look at Tesla's figures, they've doubled the sales from 2020 to 2021. Matter of fact, just yesterday, it was a PGA. There's one Tesla in stock.

He sold it already. He had to take it out at night. It's a red one. It's faster than they can make them the sales. It's unbelievable. a new plant in Berlin, a new plant in Texas. I mean, it's hot, hot, hot. But I want to point out something to people that they have to know.

According to the Kelly Blue Book, the average electric vehicle is 55,000, 676. And a compact car equal to that usually is 25,240. Wow. So that's basically less than half a half. the cost of an electric vehicle and then AAA also estimates that the cost of to run an electric vehicle is 600 more dollars a year than it is to run a gas powered car so I just want to point out some statistics to people as great as they are which I'm all for them there are cost factors involved and just keep in mind January 1st of this year we people here in Florida and probably the

rest of the company, we had a Florida Power of Mike bill that was raised on an average. The average, I believe it's going to cost people 70, well, let me see, I put it down, oh, okay, per month

it's going to cost them more money. I forget the figure that I saw somewhere, but it could be as much as $7 on an average on your electric bills. John, let me ask your question. Something you said to just a couple minutes ago.

You said that it cost twice as much to operate an electrical vehicle as a gasoline vehicle. Did you say that? This is according to Kelly Blue Book. You can look it on the computer. Well, I'm not going to have to Google that. How can that be true? I challenge Kelly Blue Book. I can't.

Well, I would agree with you. I mean, you just read figures sometime, and you have to question. But AAA, the very reliable automobile association, says it costs $600 more for a year to run an electric vehicle than it does on a gas power cost. So, those are things that you can verify

and use people say it, but AAA especially, I would, you know, trust them. Well, I trust Kelly Blue Book, too, but I'm just amazed. Well, you can probably go, and this is the figures that I read, and it can be verified. Thanks, yeah.

One other thing I want to say, too, for people, it's unbelievable. You know, I'm like a kid in the candy store, and I'm sure Earl would like to watch it. All this week long, there's a collector car auction. It's on the speed channel. It's on the Motor Trend Channel. And it's going to be on today from 12, I think, to 3 o'clock. And there's a car that Earl probably knows it's my era in Earls.

It's probably the most famous customized car that's ever been built in the world. It's a 51 Mercury. Oh, yeah. Customized, unbelievable, has a 53 car. Cadillac engine in it, customized to the hill. It was done by a famous custom maker in California and his brother, and it's going to be auctioned today. They estimate about $1,500,000.

It's enjoyable for the people watching. By the way, Earl's favorite car that he owned way back in 57. I think it was auctioned off yesterday, or maybe is today a 57 Bonneville convertible with fuel injection. Oh, no. What are they to bring it? It's entertainment, and it's on today. It's the speed channel, velocity, and then it goes to motor trend after that.

So is it being altered today, or it was already off? Yes, today. Oh, maybe I'll bid on it. How do I bid on it? It might be too late. I don't know. It's done by Goody and Company, and it's in custody. It's right here in Florida.

Wow. It's just interesting entertainment to watch, but it's on a, National Historical Vehicle Register, this vehicle. I'm going to try to find out. I love to watch it, yeah. Yes, yes. So I just want to point it out because it's an iconic vehicle

and it's fully restored. Wow. And it's been sitting in storage for a long time, but it's beautiful. I can still see myself sitting in that car when I was 16 years old. Well. Had a posit traction around.

That little thing on the deck. And a car, you remember, the padded Carson tops? The what? Carson, C-A-R-S-A-W-N, it was a famous company in California that put it as padded roofs.

By the way, some deal is in Florida, I understand, I saw one the other day. They're taking a standard like a Honda or, especially a Cala, not a Honda so much,

but a high-end cars. And they're adding these roofs on it, which is the worst thing they could do with the dampness and moisture in Florida. Earl knows he went through this era. They put these chrome moldings

between that and the paint you know underneath. Oh, yeah. And they make it like a Palm Beach edition. And they put special Vogue bike wool tires on it. And bingo, they sock that price to you. So Earl's gone through that era. That was famous

for dealers on adorns. And people get impressed because the car looks different. It's called a different edition. You know, and they put a little sign on the roof on it and it's custom. I used to do the same thing myself. back when I was evil. Well, it's the worst thing, because in Florida,

the dampness sets underneath that, you know, under that roof. Oh, yeah, tell me about it, yeah, absolutely. But I had to point out this auction. It's very interesting. I'm going to watch it if I can, if I can. Auxion Company, and it's been going on all week. It started Wednesday.

Wonderful. I think they have over 800 cars. All right, thanks, thanks, John. You're a great source of information. Thank you very much. Glad to hear your voice again. Okay, welcome back again. Thanks so much.

Thanks, Joe, and we missed you. 877-960-960 and 772-497-6-5-30. That's where you can text us. Also, we have a fabulous mystery shopper report coming up. You don't want to miss that. And our mystery shopper, our female mystery shopper, Agent Lightning, did a fabulous job. And, of course, Stu did a fabulous, fabulous write-up.

and you don't want to miss it. Can I ask for a question? A mystery shop from Action Nissan of Nashville, Tennessee. Yes. Rick, back on John's call, we're talking about heavy weight and lightweight oil, and, you know,

you said if it's too heavy in oil, it can create a problem. If you've got to go with what the manufacturer recommends, is there such thing as putting too lightweight of oil in a car? Yes, that can also affect it, too. Okay, that's what. Now, is the lighter oil typically more expensive than the heavier oil? Generally, it is now because the lighterweight oils are all made synthetic.

You can't find a dinosaur conventional oil in the lightweight oils. But now you force me to say that synthetic oil is dinosaur oil. So is lightweight oil light because it's refined more? Yes, it is. So I'm probably overthinking this, but. So when you refine oil more, the process is time-consuming and expensive, and that's the reason it costs more. But they're actually taking things out of the oil, aren't they? And you're getting something purer.

So lightweight oil is really a pure, pure oil? Yes, somewhat. Yeah, interesting. My last question. I hope the rest of you are interested in this, because I have a strange mind. The code for the oil, John from Palm said, he said, O-W-16, what does that code mean? What does the O, the W, and the 16 mean?

Well, oil weight used to be just a single number. Okay. You had like 50, 60, 70, and then they started coming out with these multi-weight oils that were thinner, but had the same capabilities as the heavier-weight oils. So that was where you wound up getting the 10. 10w30, the 10w40, and as they started refining it more and more and basically getting the process down,

now you went down to the 5W30, and then the 0W20, which is used in the most common. What's the 0 man and the 5 man? Zero is zero weight oil is the lowest, the thinnest oil you can get right now. Oh, okay. And now that they've reached zero, I don't know what they're going to do if they make it a minus 1. It could be, yeah. And it simply means the W simply stands for weight, zero-weight oil that goes as high as a 20-weight oil, and now it's 0-W-16. So the higher the number, the lower the...

The thicker the oil. Oh, the higher the number, the thicker the oil. Yes. And the lower the number, the thinner the oil. Okay, so right now the lowest number is 16? Nope. Right now, the lowest number is being used on only a few models of cars, especially, the Yaris GR model that's available only in Japan right now,

0W8 motor oil. I'm assuming it's about the consistency of extra virgin olive oil. I mean, it's amazing. Well, I'm sorry I beat that to death, but I just, that's the way my brain works. I apologize to all the listeners that fell asleep out there. No, not at all. But I can tell you that everybody that's listening is very impressed, and they're very impressed with our certified master technician.

I think that he should have a title that's more elaborate, but I digress. To John's mention of what it costs to keep a car on the road and what it costs, that's one of my pet peeves that I'm always looking up, because most consumers will go in to purchase a vehicle, and they're looking at the bottom price. I'm looking at what it's going to cost me to keep that car on the road so it's very important

but I'd be interested in your findings as far as the electric car and the gas car and what he told you I believe he said that was from Kelly Blue Book and also the AAA said that it costs more to operate an electrical car than a gasoline car

and I just don't believe that I may excuse me for challenging two very reputable sources, but I'm driving a telephone right now. I can't think what I could possibly do to spend money on the car except for plugging it in.

So I'll have to research that part of it to see how much my electric bill goes up. I plug it in about every month and I don't have to go by gas stations anymore. Rick? Well, it's an interesting note to this. I just read that Italy has built a

one-kilometer test track that has inducted coils built into the road to where just like your cell phone now can charge wirelessly your car by driving on this road will charge wirelessly as you're going down the road so this is this is the way of the future where all the major roads basically will charge your car as you're driving and when you go off onto the smaller side streets where they don't have that you would run just on your well that'll be expensive that'll be expensive too because you're talking

about, probably literally billions of dollars, and the government doesn't take their own money, they take our money, and then they call it their money, and then they build things that we don't need, and some things we do need, but yeah, everything costs money. I just, intuitively, I just got to believe that when electric cars are perfected, and of course nothing has ever perfected, but when they get much better, I think they're going to be one heck of a lot of cheaper to operate that, I guess. Oh, absolutely.

Yeah, definitely. Before we go to Rick, I wanted to mention I was talking about the mystery shopping report earlier, but I did not mention that you can go to good dealer, bad dealer list. That's plural.com. And you can take a look at your options. 877-960-9960, and we are. are going to go to Rick because I know he is probably really backed up. We've got

a little bit of a stack right now. Let's see. First one is from Kyle in Pennsylvania. He says, good morning. Happy New Year. Earl, do you think Toyota will be raising MSRPs soon? I know they'll bump them about $100 every year, but with today's inflation, why aren't they going up

thousands? Well, it's interesting, Kyle. It's a great question and I think the answer is they've already raised the price of the car, although maybe it doesn't reflect in the MSRP. Unfortunately, the MSRP has become, I don't know what the word is, ineffective in a lot of ways. The only good thing about an MSRP doesn't really tell you what the car should cost. It tells you what the manufacturer suggests the price is. Remember, the manufacturer gets paid by the dealer, and the way the manufacturer gets paid,

paid by the dealer. Toyota, in my Toyota dealership, they send me a bill and I pay them. Now the bill they send me, you have to interpret because the amount I actually owe them is not in the invoice. The invoice is a number that is made up and created in a collaboration. I call it a mutual conspiracy between the car dealers and the manufacturers to seem like what the car costs. The dealer invoice actually includes a large amount of profit. Now, before the pandemic, before the microchip shortage, most dealers' car sales were actually below invoice and they were still making pretty good money on the car. Invoice packs in thousands of dollars. Now, question, did Toyota raise the price of the MSRP? What Toyota did

do is they lessened the incentives and the kickbacks to the dealers. So Toyota normally, when they have cars who are trying to sell to dealers, they normally rebate dealers extra money. They call it dealer cash. Dealer cash. And they have a particular model. Let's say they got too many cameras. They've got production capability. They don't want to close the factory, the manufacturing factory down and they want to keep building Camrys because it costs them a whole lot of money to shut a plant down and then start it back up

again. Millions and millions of dollars. So they just keep the plant going and the dealer said, hey, hey, I don't want any more Camrys, I'm up to my you know what in Camry's. And they say, wait a minute, I'm going to kick back to you $1,000 or $2,000 or $5,000

and dealer cash can be $10,000 or more. So, the kickback to the dealers has nothing to do with the MSRP. So when you buy a car, there's a certain price to the dealer that you don't have a clue about. Now you can go to Kelly Blue Book at Edmonds.com and get a general idea. But even Kelly Blue Book and Edmonds.com, don't stay on top of it because every manufacturer is changing this all the time.

It's a process. It's a daily thing. Honestly, as a car dealer, when I sell a car, I have to get a calculator out to figure out what the car cost me. I'm serious. My accounting department does not know until they go into the computer and figure it out what a particular car costs, because the incentives and the rebates, etc. So it's a morass, it's an enigma, and the only people that can figure it out to the professional. professional. So when you go in and try to figure out the cost of a car, you've got the odds

are way against figuring out. So the answer, Kyle, is that there haven't been any significant increases in MSRP by Toyota or I believe in the other manufacturer, but there has been a significant increase in the true price to the dealer. And the dealer, of course, passes along that true price to you. and then he has way over an SRP and gets it back in spades. The car dealers made more money in 2021 than ever in history. I've been in business since 1968. At one time I had a half a dozen or more dealerships, and if you take all the profit I made back in those days

with all the dealerships, I made more money in 2021 than I did in any of those years. and I made less money than the other dealers because I drew the line at MSRP. I do not charge, call it an ethical and moral thing with me, maybe I'm mentally ill, maybe I shouldn't do this, I just can't charge my customers more than MSRP. And the other dealers are charging thousands and thousands of dollars more.

Great information. And also, excuse me, Rick, you can read Earl's column, Only suckers pay MSRP for new vehicles. Today, only smart people buy MSRP. That's his column, Erlon Cars. You can go there and read all of his columns. Back to Rick. And we will start off the text now with Stu's favorite, Ann Marie.

Good morning. Welcome back and happy new year to one and all. I'm hoping you might be able to answer this. why do navigation systems still give wrong directions? My sister and I have been led astray in the past, so we used three different systems on our latest road trip. We faced a 10-hour drive to visit family, so we were not in a mood to be sidetracked.

We used her not-updated navigation system in her 2015 Lexus, weighs on her Android phone, and Apple Maps on my iPhone. We did not have any problems northbound. A paper map would indicate that we should stay on the interstate. Yet southbound, all navigation systems indicated that we should exit I-69-purchased parkway and drive into Mayfield, Kentucky, the town that was smashed by that terrible tornado. We ignored those directions and continued southbound. Do you have any ideas on why three different systems would make the same mistake?

Thank you, Anne Marie. Good morning, Ann Marie, and thank you for the text. Do we have time to share our volatile situation in the car for getting from A to B and exactly what Anne Marie just shared? It's unbelievable. Let me answer the question first, and then we can talk about our personal experience. I think everyone has had this personal experience. The answer to the question, Anne-Marie, is that it's called human error, fallibility.

the manufacturers flat aren't doing it right. Your best source is Google Maps. Waze, by the way, is owned by Google. Not to say that Google Maps is always right, but they're far more accurate than any other navigation system I know of. And Nancy and I, as she said, we've experienced the same thing. Typically the manufacturers' navigation systems are the worst. And you hit on it, Anne Marie, because they don't

get updated. You have to, in matter of fact, some manufacturers are still charging to update. In my Tesla, for example, I get automatic updates. You should get free automatic wireless updates, but a lot of manufacturers don't do that. And they simply don't know that you mentioned the town that had been ravaged by the hurricane. It didn't register because they hadn't changed it yet. But I use, in my Tesla, I use Tesla's navigation, and I use Google Waze, and I take the one that sounds the best. The reason I love Google Ways and just Google, because they incorporate the Ways phenomena,

Ways gives you the current traffic situation, and Google does too. Google has got so many iPhones out there in the world that they know where all cars are. So if you're on the Florida turnpike or the Pennsylvania turnpike or I-95, Google Maps, real-time knows do you have a traffic jam two miles ahead? Is it a medium traffic jam or severe?

Severe traffic jam, it's red, medium is yellow, and if it's blue, free sailing. So you will actually be redirected, and I, let's put it this way, I believe Google Maps over myself. I've come back from a drive, and I've said, why is Google Maps telling me to get off here? They're crazy. I need to go this way because it's a lot longer. Well, when I ignore Google Maps, I hit a massive traffic jam, and then I feel stupid because Google was trying to help me. Now, Nancy, go ahead and tell them about our experience we had with the loop-to-loop. I really don't think we have time.

We don't want to put that information out there. It's followed, just remember that adjective. Before I figured all this out, I got into an endless loop where the navigation kept on me, make it a legal U-turn. Then I would go in the other direction and would say, make it illegal you turn. And after I started to get dizzy, and I'd done several illegal returns on the same street. And I was afraid I was going to be arrested for being driving or intoxicated. Let me set the stage here. I said, there's something wrong.

I was in the vehicle with them. I was a passenger. And in the Tesla, there's really nothing to hold on to. Well, this wasn't the Tesla. This was a Toyota, yeah. It was a Toyota? Yeah. What Toyota was that?

His name was Ernie. his name was Ernie Okay Now we're hitting into the weeds Okay ladies and gentlemen 877-960 Or you can text us at 772-49760 Don't forget Earl's Vigilantes

We look for volunteers Every week To join us with Earl's vigilantes And Earl has a great-looking hat That was my cue That's why I was tapping on your shoulder He has a great hat And Earl's Vigilantes

You can sign up And go to Earl on cars Or go to Earlsvigilantes Dot com And there you can sign up And you can help people You know you can help people in your neighborhood There's a lot you can do

in becoming a volunteer For Earl's Vigilantees Also, we're looking for volunteers for, well, maneuvering consumers through the Internet. Not all of us are completely savvy, and we need help there, too. So take advantage of that. Earlsifigilantes.com. Now back to Rick. Okay, this one's coming in from Anonymous.

It says, I paid $30K and financed the remaining $18K last week at Clearwater Toyota. I needed a car desperately due to my car being totaled. I was in pain and emotional, and after the woman was talking about her family and Christmas, and I wasn't so lucky. Not only did I get overcharged, but I didn't drive it on the highway. I wasn't thinking straight. Now they won't take it back after asking several times without losing $7,000 to $10,000. I haven't even used half the first tank of gas.

What should I do, please help? You know, sadly, there are situations that where nothing can be done, and one of the reasons this show exists, is to warn you about certain things. And one of those is to be sure that you know exactly what kind of a vehicle you have in terms of how it drives,

how the equipment on it, inspect it carefully because most car dealers will not let you take a car back now. We just had a call earlier in the show that asked a question about an ordered car. It's a unique

situation now with cars being short that if you order a car and it comes in, his question, will they give me a deposit back if I change my mind? The answer is yes. But that only happens in this pandemic

high demand, low supply situation. In your case here, I hate to add more bad news. My guess is that they made a very large profit on you. And they know, as you probably know, as you listen to the show, when you go into any car dealership and buy a car, the price you pay is a different one than your next-door neighbor paid when they went into the same dealership and bought the same car. car is sold at a price, which is the highest they can get from the customer. So if they can deceive you into paying way too high by either getting you on a payment that sounds good but actually increases the price of the car, or by flipping you from a purchase to a lease, or by high finance interest rate, there are almost an unlimited number of ways

to increase the profit without you being realized. So the profit variation at the end of the month, at the average car dealership, would probably vary by at least 5,000, typically maybe closer to $10,000, depending on the NSRP of the car. So my guess is you're at the higher end of the curve, and they said if we take that car back,

we'll never be able to sell it again for such a high price. So I hate to give you bad news on top of bad news, but that's the way car dealers do. They take advantage of people who aren't prepared, and that's the reason Erlon Cars exist, the radio show, the blog, and the rest of we're trying to help people from having you, your experience. Okay, and this one is from Carol. She says, I have a Tesla, or you have a Tesla, and I'm thinking of purchasing one as well. Are you happy with the Tesla? What, in your opinion, is the downside and the upside? Carl, I'm insanely happy with a Tesla, but probably for different reasons that you want a car.

Let me tell you the bad thing about Tesla first. Everybody thinks I'm Elon Musk's brother-in-law or something. I don't even know the guy. I respect him because he's a genius. I like geniuses. But in terms of the car, it leads a lot to be desired in terms of quality. The passenger door Every time Nancy is riding with me as a passenger

Not every time, but she has to close the door twice or three times One of the rear doors doesn't close well There's some paint issues on the car The accessories, the glove box, some of the design interior is a bit cumbersome. And, you know, I'm a car dealer, and I've driven a lot of Toyotas and Lexuses. And Tesla does not hold a candle to Lexus

in terms of quality or Toyota, for that matter. So, now why do I love my Tesla? I love my Tesla because it's the fastest car on the road. It has to be a Tesla plaid. It'll go zero-60 and under two seconds. Which we do often. True. And the quarter mile in under 10 seconds, which is just under 9 seconds, I think, I think it's under 10. It handles extremely well. It's got a yoke instead of a steering wheel. So I'm kind of a kid. I'm like a big kid. And I remember when I was 16 and 17 and 18 years old. I just love the three two barrel carburetors, the dual quads and the four on the floor. And I just love speed. and power. Now I'm in the most powerful car in the world. And I love it.

I'll be honest with you, I love it too, because I don't have to put any gas in it. And I hate going into gas stations. I go down there. I'm 6'3. He does. And I have to get, I have to stoop down. They got these LCD things. I can't read. It says to push the button, and I can't see the button to push. And to me, it's an ordeal. I'm telling you, folks, a reality show. Especially when it's in a new gas station. I got to carry a camera. So my old gas station, I do. If I get there in time, I'm okay. So I feel so good every time I go buy a gas station now. And I say, you'll never see me again. And I put it in my garage and then about once a month I plug it in. Next morning

I got a full tank of electricity. Wow. And that's what I love. So but you are not going to, if you're going to buy a Tesla, which is going to be hard to do because they're sold out. But you want to inspect it carefully and think about it and measure the quality. against a regular car. Great information. I'm going to interrupt. Rick, do you have a lot of texts and what about YouTube? Let's see.

YouTube got a couple questions, and text-wise, we've got about a half a dozen here. Okay, we're going to put that on hold for a minute. We have a caller. But first I'm going to mention that $50 again to the ladies, $50 for the first two new lady callers. And if you're looking for something maybe to discuss, I have a question for you. Does gender affect your car insurance? Give us a call, ladies, $50, $877960, and don't forget you can text us at 772-497-60. Don't forget your anonymous feedback. That's also a way to get in touch with us and remain anonymous. Say whatever you want. Just let it all fly out there. We're going to go to Frank, who's a regular caller in Jupiter.

Welcome, Frank. Welcome. Well, good morning. Good morning. Happy New Year. You guys spake me out a couple times when I was listening to your show, not realizing it was a recorded show. Earl said, happy 2020 and I go, oh. Anyway, I'll be quick about a few things.

First, let me give some accolades to a couple of employees I had to speak with at your dealership. I believe the lady was Cheyenne that does in the service department. Well, thank you. And then Travis. It's nice to see that, you know, everyone is up there like you guys. You've got a very good staff out there. Thank you. So that's always that.

And I thought about you guys about two nights ago. It was over near Alton, and it was around 9 o'clock, and I saw this older gentleman and a woman coming out. He opens a car door for his wife. It reminds me that time. Years ago, I saw you opening your door. on Indian Tim for Nancy. But what I've gotten to is what color is your plaid Tesla?

It's about the red as red you can ever see. It's a special red which costs like an extra couple thousand dollars, and it's just bright red. I figured, you know, what the heck. I'm just a kid again, and I just want to be crazy. So I love a bright red. And I shouldn't have got the bright red because cops love to pull over bright red cars.

so here I got a bright red sports car that's the fastest car on earth and every cop in town is looking at me all the time I was behind my first plaid Tesla the other day near your dealership and I go I wonder if that was Earl but there was a little large decal it made me think of like the old days

it looks like the Tesla on hormones the body size of the theater kind of like you talk about a Porsche being a VW on hormones anyway Yeah. Well, I'll keep you sure because it's nice to hear you got his back, and I've got to take a call.

Thank you very much. Thanks, Frank. That's our regular caller from Jupiter Farms. Back to Rick. Let's see. We'll get caught back in. There we go. Let's see.

This one is from Jonathan in Wellington. He says, on New Year's Day, best of your show, you mystery shop Raymond Minnie. What would happen if you agreed to the price, of the vehicle, but refuse to pay the added fees like tint, nitrogen, dealer fees, dock fees, etc. Would the dealership laugh you out of the showroom, or might they try to work with you to sell the vehicle? Well, they definitely are not going to laugh you. I understand your implication there. The question was, what happens if I asked them to take off those added

features. Right. Yeah. The best way to do it is to address the added features before you say you're going to buy the car. And some of the dealers and many of the dealers, the salespeople especially, don't have the authority to take off added features. And what he's referring to here are pre-installed dealer accessories, and they can be nitrogen,

they can be stripes, they could be window tent, they can be a paint sealant, you name it. They come up with a lot of low cost and overpriced them just to jack up the profit on the car. So you need to address that at the get-go. Because if they can't take it off, meaning the salesperson is being told by the owner, the manager, listen, this stays on the car, sell it for as much as you can, but don't take off the paint sealant, don't take off the nitrogen. Sometimes it can be taken off, but usually not by the salesperson. So you should raise the issue up front. And the way you do that best is you say, I see you have nitrogen in the tires, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, at $1,700 on top of the MSRP.

And I want you to know that this is my top offer on the car, and you give them your number. You've done your research. You've done your homework. You check with Edmunds. You've checked with Kelly Blue Book. You've gone to True Car. Maybe you've even gone to. Costco if you're really smart and you've gotten what you know is a fair out the door price three most important words out the door that means you have to write a check for that give it to the salesperson or the manager getting the car and go home so you give them you're out the door price now they may accept it they may not if they don't at least you've begun the negotiation from a real number that way

it precludes them from saying, oh, I forgot to tell you, we've got nitrogen, we got page saline, we got stripes, we got undercoding, we got restproofing. You've already said, this is my bottom line out-the-door price. They say, no, I can't sell it to you for that price, but I'll sell it to you for that price plus a thousand dollars. Now you're negotiating, but at least you're negotiating from a real number, so when you finally end the negotiation, when lose or draw, no one's going to sneak something in on you, or they might try, but you say, hey, we had a deal.

You're not being honest with me. You knew that this was my price, and we agreed on this price, and you knew it was out the door. There it is. Okay, another anonymous one here. Imagine, okay, this is hurricane season with electric vehicles. A little long, but I'm going to go through this one. imagine Florida with a hurricane coming toward Miami. The governor orders an evacuation.

All cars head north. They all need to be charged up in Jacksonville. How does that work? Has anyone thought about this? If all cars were all electric and were caught in a three-hour traffic jam with dead batteries, then what? Not to mention that there's virtually no heating or air conditioning in an all-electric vehicle because of the high battery consumption. If you get stuck on the road all night, no battery, no heat, no wipers radio GPS all you can do is try to call 9-1-1 to take women and children to safety

but help help cannot reach you because all the roads are blocked and they'll probably require all police cars to be electric as well let's see we'll just pass through a little bit of this basically the question being today's grid barely handles user needs on demand where is the electricity going to come through come from for emergency demand to try to charge up all these vehicles in one mass use. I can't use nuclear generation, natural gas is off the table, oil fired or coal burning are out of the question, then what and where? What will be done with... How much longer is this? I just couple of questions. I think I get the buses. Yeah, it's a, uh, they're also asking about

what about all the batteries then that would have to be disposed of. Yeah, I'll be some anti-electric car YouTube. And there's nothing wrong with it. I mean, you're entitled to your opinion. What came to mind with this issue of the problem you described, which is very real. As a matter of fact, we recently had an incident on if you saw in the news. It was terrible. It was a huge, almost freezing a storm where semis were hitting each other. cars were trapped on a turnpike in the middle of nowhere and there were hundreds of people who were caught in their cars.

It was way below freezing, like around zero. People were on the, they had to keep their engine running and the heater going to be alive. They were afraid to get out of their cars and he should never get out of a car in a blizzard to try to walk somewhere. So they were trapped. And a lot of people were,

never got out. They had to actually bring them gasoline, till them, and so on and so forth. There was another incident overseas. This was in a foreign country where 22 people died of the coal because of the traffic jam. Now, maybe 1% of those cars were electric. Most of them were gasoline. So the dilemma you described is equally bad for gasoline cars. I mean, how many times have you said you're going home from work and you, you're, you're going home from work, and you got a eighth of a tank of gas and you get on the 95, if you got trapped,

how long would your eighth of a tank of gas last? So the same thing can happen to anybody. When I get in my Tesla with a full charge, I have 350 miles, which are usually getting pretty much where I want to go. So I think it's unfair to say that electric cars are the reason for the problem. What I thought you were going to say

when you start, what happens if you have power failures and you can't charge your car from your garage? And I thought about that. What I would do, if I say a hurricane were coming, I would be sure that I had a full charge on my car probably every day, I mean, until the hurricane passed. And if I've got 350 miles on my car, I'm not too worried. That's as much as anybody with a full tank of gas. And if you have a full tank of gas and there are lines at the gas station, It's even the worst issue because sometimes they run out of the gas. Well, having been in Florida through quite a few hurricanes myself, seeing when the gas stations can't pump fuel and you're weaks with no power,

but if you have your own generator, you'd still be able to charge your car. It may take a long time, but you'd be able to charge an electric car from your home system. So, I mean, there's ways to make it work. And there's a truck, you mentioned it the other day. As a truck coming out shortly that has a generator building, do it. Is it the F-150? The Ford's, yes. Yeah, F-150.

They can power your house from the truck. Yeah, so you can only have a charged truck, you've got a generator. I guess you can charge your truck with it. Yeah. Okay. Earl Stewart on Cars. Hey, Nancy, Hope all is well.

My name is Al. I had Earl's cell number and spoke to him recently about pricing a 2022 Lexus in January. His advice was to wait a month or so, and I could save around $1,000 or so. Well, the dealer called me this past Friday,

and we settled on a price $250 over my willing to pay price. Good. The car is in transit to dealer, and will not be in for another two weeks. I'm trying to put together some financing and would like to ask Earl some questions slash help. Could he give me a call? And you got your number down here.

I'll get that to you. Okay. But basically just saying, enjoy your programs on YouTube, very educational and helpful. Thank you. Blessings from Al. Well, that's great. I'll tell you something interesting about Lexus, of all the manufacturers and the car dealers, the ones that are adhering to MSRP, the closest is Lexus.

And I've talked to a number of people at different locations. I had one person call me, I think it was from Orlando, and he was trying to get a price reduced. below MSRP. I said, let me tell you something. If you can buy a car at MSRP, grab it, because it might not be there tomorrow, and almost all of their dealers are going thousands over. If they don't price it at thousands over, they'll hit you with a lot of hidden fees. I recommend people that want to buy a Lexus in South Florida to go to J.M. Lexus. They're the most honest, forthright and they have the lowest dealer fee. It's only like a hundred bucks or something like that. And so, yeah, Lexus, I salute Lexus for adhering to MSRP and Lexus dealers,

most of them, not all of them, adhering MSRP, toilet dealers, they're still going crazy, charging thousands of dollars over. Absolutely. That was a great text. And from Kyle in Pennsylvania, thanks for the great in-depth answer about MSSR. I find these crazy times fascinating, and as always, thank you for your integrity. Next one we have here. Oh, again from Kyle, the greatest generation loves those fake soft tops, the Landau padded tops on the cars that we're doing, and boomers love pinstriping. That's for sure. From E-Train, a question.

Are there deals below MSRP to be made by shopping a factory? direct order amongst three to five dealers. Will they give a discount to get that extra unit sold? You know, I hate to say absolutely not. I'm tempted to say absolutely not, but I never like to say never. It's certainly not going to hurt to try. And if you are going to get any kind of a break below MSRP, you're going to have to find a deal that's not only honest and ethical and moral, but one that has a car of a less popular design or whatever that he has to cut the price. You know, there's nothing wrong with capitalism, and there's nothing wrong with charging a high price for a low supply, high-demand item. I look at myself sometimes, and I've cost myself

in my company millions of dollars by adhering MSRP. If I had wanted to, I could have made a lot more money in 2021 and 2020, a latter part of 2020 and in 2020. And in 2020. So I kind of rationalize it in my own, because I'm a businessman too. And sometimes I wake up and I have access to other toilet dealer's financial information. And I see that this dealer, that smaller than I am, selling fewer cars than I am, making a whole lot more money than I am. And I'm a very competitive guy.

And it kind of goals me. And I say, God, here I am being Mr. Good guy has cost me all this money. And then I rationalize and I say, you know, I've been in business for a toilet dealer for 47 years. My sons are in the business. I have a couple of grandsons. I'd like them to be in the business.

And so in the long term, maybe I'm actually doing economically the smart thing because when this blows over, a whole lot of people are going to remember. I didn't take advantage of them. And even though I'm way behind now in profit, maybe I'll catch up and maybe even pass some of these guys, five years from now, ten years from now. And that's the way I rationalize. So, UD was out there to say, I'm crazy.

Maybe I am crazy. And I know I could be making a lot more money. And you're probably laughing at me. But laugh. You know, I got to do what I got to do. That's right. The wheels are always turning. Ladies and gentlemen, 877-960, or you can text us at 772-49-30-3-0.

I have an interesting consumer report in front of me, and it talks about staying safe in the back seat. And it breaks down the different makes and models and which one to look for. I had a girl worry about that when I was 17. Yeah, well, that's another show. Yeah. Anyway.

Family show. Folks, family show. The Toyota Sienna is at the top of the list with a rear seat safety score of 6. 69. Nissan Pathfinder, 66. So that's just some of them. They have a long list here. You folks out there with small children, you're going to put them in the back seat. Maybe your doggy, you're going to put them in the back seat. The backseat can be an dangerous place. People think it's safer, but I think the facts show that in crash test, you're better off in the front seat. It's kind of counterintuitive. So if you want to have a safe back seat, because that's where you're going to put your kids, take a look at a look.

Consumer Reports. What is this the February issue? It is February. February issue and they rank the very best to the very worst. At least you probably don't want to buy the worst. You don't have to buy the best, but don't buy something that has got a dangerous backseat.

And you'll find out those cars and the February Consumer Reports. And you can go to consumer report.org and you can also get that information from there. And we're going to go back to Rick. I've got one last comment on YouTube here from Tom Stokel, who says, good morning.

Lexus of Orlando slash Winter Park, no dealer fees. Hey, impressive on that one. Well, I believe I may have spoken to him before, and that is what I said, I salute Lexus. I think Lexus is leading the charge for all car manufacturers and dealers. The manufacturers historically either were afraid or don't want to, or a combination of both, control their dealers, and they blame it on the franchise agreements, and they blame it on, you know, the federal law. If you want to do something differently, you can come up with 25 reasons why.

But Lexus somehow, rather, has controlled their dealers pretty well. And there was nothing more coveted than Alexis dealership. about making money. I mean, Lexus was selling cars at MSRP before the pandemic. And it was almost like you go into a Lexus dealer, you're not going to get a big discount. They build a high quality car, it has limited supply and high demand, and they just make a ton of money. They don't have very many dealers. I think there's only like three or four hundred Lexus dealers in the whole country, maybe 500. And Toyota's got three times that many. Chevrolet's got ten times that many.

So, Alexis Steelers is like a license to steal. And you've got to know somebody in Toyota to be able to get an Alexis dealership. I'd give my, I'd give Nancy away if I could get a Lexus Steelership. There you go. I'm only kidding. Yeah, there you go. But I would give.

We've been talking about that for a while. I'd give Stu away. I would get Stu away. Oh, no. For Alexis Steelers. You're first born. But you, you're, you're, you, you're. So I think the dealers know that, and they say, listen, I've already got a license to steal.

I'm not going to gouge my customers, and that's what happened. So, you know, if you can't, if you're looking at another car, whether it's a Honda or a General Motors product or Chrysler product or whatever it is, and it's a higher-priced car, and they're trying to charge your $3,000 or $4,000 over a sticker, buy a Lexus. You can get it for a sticker. you're probably buy a lot of Lexus for less than you'd pay for a Toyota at a Toyota dealer

that was price gauggered you and I know I sound like a Lexus commercial but I don't have a Lexus dealership but I want one We've been talking about Lexus for years If you're listening, anybody at Lexus Why? Please, can I have a Lexus dealership? Honestly, honestly

We've been taught, like I said I'll say it again, we've been talking about it for years Why? Get that Lexus dealership Okay, Rick, you said that was the last one? Yeah, is that Kyle coming in says the cream rises to the top of all. Those sleeves ball Toyota dealers will get what's coming to them.

And one new one here from Alva Thompson. Any news on the GR Corolla, which is the Gazoo Racing? And I haven't seen anything just lately on when that is coming, but it will be. And be advised when you see them, you're going to be seeing a. a blur and then the tail lights receding away from you because from what I've heard, the Toyota in Japan built the GR Yaris and those little bitty cars are flying, literally flying. That GR Corolla might almost be able to keep up with Earle's Tesla for a little bit. Isn't it an amazing looking car also?

They're working that style. Yeah, aesthetically, they have changed so much. You can't recognize it. That is a hot little car. Toyota's trying to own the younger market. They want to get the younger drivers that like that style. They're going to get it. They'll get it with this one, I think.

Maybe targeting the Gen Z, the Zezers. They're trying. They're trying hard. 877-960. Ladies and gentlemen, we have time for one or two more calls, and then we're going to be getting back. to the mystery shopping report. I've got anonymous feedback here for Rick.

I don't know the answer myself. It says, well, your video on how to free a locked steering wheel does not work for a push button start. So how do you unlock the steering wheel of a push button start when you don't have your key fob? Do you understand the question?

Yep. And what they're referring to is you ever had those times when you pull into a parking spot and you've got the wheel turned too far? Yes. And when you turn the key off, then your steering wheel locked. I've done it. I've done it. And you're trying to get the key to turn and it won't turn

because of that interlock solenoid. And basically what you've got to do is find which way the wheel will move, although it can be very hard, and shift the wheel that direction, your steering wheel just a little bit while you turn the key and it will release that binding so that you can turn the key. I've encountered that. Yeah.

A lot of people have, and it can be very frustrated. Well, they said a push button to start. But with the push button now, that solenoid is no longer a mechanical link to the key. Now it's an electric solenoid. So that thing engages normally, and it will simply disengage by the push button, regardless of how much bind is on that steering wheel. So you don't have to worry about that issue anymore. Sorry, but what they're concerned about...

Yep, your steering wheel will still lock. Okay. What they're concerned about, I think, is if you don't have your remote fob with you, and say you're trying to move the car, you've got to push it somewhere to get a towed or something. I got you cannot unlock that steering wheel. It cannot be done. As a matter of fact, we've got a car in our shop right now that a rat got up under the front fender and chewed up a bunch of the wiring. So the ignition cannot be turned on. we have the fob, but you cannot turn the ignition on because the wiring is totally destroyed,

and you cannot turn the steering wheel at all. In order to move this car to get it in the shop, once we get the wiring harness in for it, we're actually going to have to jack it up and put special dollies underneath the tires on the front to be able to roll this car around. Interesting. It's one of the drawbacks where the push-button start is, without having the key to unlock that steering wheel, it ain't going to happen. Well, see, now, there's a, this is the reason I hope, I wish that more manufacturers were listening, because that's a real problem. Yep.

And that's a great, a great anonymous feedback, and that's a great answer. And I just, does anyone out there know anything about that? I can't imagine that all the manufacturers know that because of driving habits of a lot of people, including me, sometimes you just jam that wheel up against the curb and your wheel locks. How many complaints have we heard, Rick, recently about that? Not very many anymore. Maybe they've improved. The key lock, the ignition key cylinder cars are starting to go away.

And like I say, that condition doesn't happen with the push button start. Because when you hit that push button to start the car, that solenoid releases. It can't bind. So you're saying the problem has been eliminated. By push-button start. Okay. Great advantage. If anybody out there disagrees with that, if you had the problem with a push-button-start, we'd like to hear from you.

Yeah, absolutely. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a great mystery shopping report to get to, and it is from Action Nissan of Nashville, Tennessee. And we're no longer taking any calls. We are taking text, though. And we would love for you to vote. we would love to hear from you at 772-497-6530 Action Nissan of Nashville, Tennessee. Earl, back to you.

Yeah, here's an anonymous feedback. It's interesting to me, maybe not to you. But have you heard about the Florida state senator who wants to get a bill passed to change the word in the law that mandates a dealer must have a vehicle title change on the vehicle to the new owner name and the new owner's name in 30 days. He wants the word change from must to should, which would give the dealer no time limit on having the title change to the new vehicle owner,

if ever, if ever, which would keep the liability on the old vehicle owner. Yeah, that's a real problem. Let me restate that because it wasn't even. clear to me as I read it, my fault. I didn't read it right. But one of the common comets of car dealers get, including myself, is I bought a car from you, you put a temp tag on the car, and I haven't got my regular license plate, my temp tags about ready to expire. This is a real problem. What we usually do, I mean, paperwork gets lost, paperwork is incorrect. A lot of dealers are using tag agencies and things like that that do this paperwork

for them. A lot of them are computerized. Some people deal directly with the state on this. And the state, Department of Motor Vehicles, can make mistakes. Tidling a car, especially if it's an out-of-state issue, I mean, a lot of, especially in Florida, people buy cars and take it back to Massachusetts. So you have to have, you buy the car of Florida, but you have to have the paperwork process of Massachusetts. It gets complicated, so it's impossible, I'll use that word impossible, to process the title work in all cases within 30 days. The law, when it was made years ago in Florida, anticipated that that was plenty of time, and maybe 50 years ago it was plenty of time. Today you think things would get more efficient, but actually because of the titling in multiple states and a lot of other things, it's actually

as complicated or more. So, technically, the law says that a dealer can be fined heavily for not getting a title to a customer within 30 days. And the dealers don't like that. I'm a dealer. I don't like that. The fact of the matter is they don't enforce the law, which they shouldn't. It's kind of like the speed limit on I-95.

If they ever started enforcing the speed limit, there'd be nobody on I-95. That's true. And if they were, you couldn't drive because the cops have them all stopped. So that's the dealer licensing processing registration law now. It's not enforced because it's totally impractical. So it's a long way of saying it really, they really should change the law. Now, I'm going to repeat that because all the courtiers are going to say out there, hey, I'm not going to believe this.

Earl Stewart actually said something that he agrees with us on. Earl Stewart actually agreed with the dealer against the caller. or a texture, or in this case, anonymous feedback. So, this Florida law should say that it said it must be within 30 days, as it should be in 30 days, because in reality, many title issues are such they are impossible to process in 30 days. And I'm sorry, I went on and on, probably bored everybody to death, but I like the questions.

I did too. I got to mention Earl's book, Confessions. of a recovering car dealer. Great purchase. What an investment. I recommend picking this book up. Go to Amazon. All proceeds go to Big Dog Ranch.

And that dog is growing. You know, I don't think, I don't think I mentioned this before, but I'm writing another book, and I'm almost all the way through with it. I'm getting ready for the first draft. And it's just, it's called redemption of a recovering car dealer. And it kind of talks about the radio show and the blog and the newspaper columns and the public speaking and things like that.

And I've talked to a lot of people. I'm having, Nancy is going to be interviewed with the book. My son will be interviewed. I'll have some of my competitors in the business. I decided to do the book where it said, the good, the bad, and the ugly, because a good chunk of my life was pretty ugly and pretty bad. And so I talk about that. I talk with, as I say, people who I've had an adversarial relationship with over the years and to get their unexplicated opinion. So I just mention that.

Hopefully it'll be out this year, maybe by the middle of the year, I hope. It'll be redemption of a recovering car dealer. So I'm having fun. Yeah, we're looking forward to that. I'm having fun doing it. I really am. Yeah, you are. You pause and you think about your life,

and it's kind of fun. I'm actually using a ghost writer, a guy by the name of John Van Zile, and he does books. So he interviews me, and he interviews the people that are being interviewed, and then we talk back and forth, and it's all done,

pretty much online or verbally or, you know, video or whatever. And, and, and, uh, and, uh, but it's all me. I know, it's just, he's, he's just putting it in the correct English and the pros and the, making it look good, but it's all, all coming out of my perverted noodle. Yeah. And it's, uh, it's amazing, you know, that hour, is it an hour that you spend, uh, on the phone from time to time with him? It's, uh, almost like therapeutic, you know, and it just, uh,

The word you use, pause. I tell John, I says, I ought to pay you for this. I should be lying down on the couch. Yeah, exactly. But, you know, I'm going to mention Earl's book again, Confessions of a Recovering Car Dealer. And what a great book to put on the bookshelf. And there's so much research in buying information in here and leasing and everything. And you can always refer to it, a great investment.

There you go. the front cover. How do you like that? And all proceeds go to Big Dog Ranch. Woof-woof! There you go. All the money. We don't keep a nickel. Everything you pay for this book, I get nothing, zero. And you're saving a dog. You're saving a dog. It's actually big and little dog. Oh, that's okay. I got it now. Big and little. Okay. You know, one of the things that I like in here is in Section 1 and buy a car. you can afford.

And there's so many others in here that I love. Kind of hard to do today, right? And I don't know. You've got to put some thought into it. And also, one of my pet peeves, what a car costs and what it costs to keep it on the road. Ladies and gentlemen, I think it's time for us to get to the mystery shopping report

from Agent Lightning. And it is from Nashville, Tennessee. She was there recently. and took advantage of being in the area. Yeah, since we've got Agent Lightning going, and she's, of course, our first steady female shopper, mystery shopper, she travels around a lot. And it really gives us that exposure to allow ourselves to be an international,

or at least a national show. And she's hit several states, and as Nancy just said, this is Nashville, Tennessee. In the four weeks, and this is composed by myself, son Stu, who is home because he had exposure to COVID and he's want to be ultra safe and be sure he doesn't spread it. So he'll be tested and I'm sure he's okay. What a great job he does writing this weekend and week out. Fabulous. Thank you, Stu. The Omicron surge has reminded us that we aren't out of this pandemic yet. Despite causing less severe disease, Omicron is

having a massive impact on the country. High rates of transmission, driving up hospitalizations, stressing the health care system. Our workers are under incredible stress, working longer hours to cover for sick coworkers. So, hey, cut everybody some slack out there, folks. Everybody's uptight, including the people in the studio, including the people at our dealership, friends' family. I don't need to tell you.

It's a tough time. Cut everybody a little slack because nobody always says what they mean anymore. they feel and sometimes they can get you in trouble. Got me in trouble lots of times. And of course the car business continues to navigate its way through this apocalyptic, apocalyptic hellscape all the way to the bank. 2021 ended up as the most profitable year for car dealers in history.

And I say that, can you underline that three times in your mind and put six exclamation points? The money that car dealers are making today is embarrassing. I mean, truly, millions and millions of dollars. The inventory shortages of 2021, which have continued in the 2022, set off an explosion in car prices with dealers charging tens of thousands of dollars over MSRP. If you've been listening to the show, you know that's true. $40,000, $50,000 over sticker. Why do people pay it?

I don't know. They do. We chronicled all of this for you week after week identifying those car dealers who greedily exploited the crisis and those who self-regulated it shows not to price cash. For you Facebook folks out there, I digress a little bit here. One of the things I like to do is I like to join groups of interesting groups. I tend to go probably more with automotive groups and things, but I joined not too long ago a car salesman group. Pretty big. And just a bunch of car salesmen in the United States.

And I didn't go in undercover. I told them who I was. And a lot of, you know, I chit-chat back and forth with them. But what it gives me insight into is to what's going around and around the country and how car salesmen think. And the dialogue between the honest dealers and the non-price gouging dealers and the others, which are the majority, unfortunately, is just entertaining as hell. I just love reading this stuff. And it gives me hope, too, because I sometimes think I'm the only guy, I'm not. There are more and more car dealers out there that are coming down to MSRP.

So search them out, if you can, search them out. This car dealer Facebook group I'm in is around the whole country. And a lot of these dealers that don't go over MSRP are in smaller cities, you know, rural sometimes. And you know, it makes sense. If you know most of your customers and they're going to be back the same ones over and over again, you better treat them right or they won't come back. In big cities, you'll have three or four dealers with the same make within driving business of your house and you go wherever you want and the dealers have a much bigger pool to sell from them.

So anyway, entertainment, and some dealers are regulating it and have shown not the price couch and more and more are doing that. So the prices are coming down, but only is the MSRP. We found no one. I think we did find someone said a Lexus dealer earlier that show that actually sold a car for 300 under MSRP. That's the first I've heard. So if you have any reports out there, by the way, buying a car below MSRP, we'd love to hear

it because we'd like to give accolades to the dealer of recognition and direct people to you. If you're selling a car at MSRP or, you know, hopefully, maybe even under MSRP, let us know and we'll do an advertisement for you. Guess what, folks, this price thing is not over while we see modest easing of prices as we move in 2022. We're far from normal. You need to expect to see high car prices for a long time. wait to buy a car, do wait. I was overly optimistic myself, and I thought my prices would

come down faster. They have come down, but not nearly as fast as I thought. So, we mystery shopped, action Nissan in Nashville, Tennessee. Agent Lightning spent some time in the volunteer state over the holidays, volunteered to do a little investigating while she was away. She suggested a Nissan dealership, given their sorted track record in our mystery shopping reports. Kia and Nissan are among the worst dealers for whatever reason. They take advantage of their customers exponentially more than a lot of the other manufacturers. The higher up the price, you know, like the Lexus, the less jerked around you get. The lower the price of the cars, the more jerks around you get.

Okay, I'm speaking of the first person as if I were Agent Lightning. I pulled up to the front door of Action Nissan in the late afternoon and parked. The showroom was elevated. That's weird. I've got a picture of it here. You know, it's like a raised showroom. I don't be interested to know why they did that. Elevated by the parking

and you go up the stairs to get into the front door. The salesman opened the door at the top of the flight of stairs and waved to me. I waved back and climbed the stairs to greet him. We walked inside. He told me his name was Matt. He led me to a desk. We sat down and had a

familiar conversations. Matt talked to me about the global chip shortage and how it's led to vehicle inventory shortages across the nation. You hear that every time, every Mr. Shopping report, and I guess that may be people that don't read the news, watch the news, listen to the news, maybe they don't know about it. I can't imagine not anyone, anyone not knowing about it, but you have to be sure. So every car dealer will tell you that when you walk at the door now. He said he had less than 20 new cars in stock.

And I certainly believe that. In fact, you can almost consider that a lot in some dealerships. I told him I was interested in the Nissan Kick, and I said I hope he had one in stock. I said that four had recently come in, two orange ones, a black one, and a white one. I said, I'd like to see the white one. That's the most popular color. I'm sure most people would prefer to buy the white one. Matt asked for my driver's license, gathered all the usual information,

and he pulled up the kicks. A strange name of the kicks. I get a kick out of shant-down on the inventory screen. It was an SR model. Matt briefly went over and distinguished the SR model from the other trim levels. He said he'd meet me outside of the door, came in, and left to get the key.

He left to get the key. Pulled around the kicks, I walked up to the car. The MSRP was $26,035 with no addendum. Every time I hear no addendum, get a warm, fuzzy feeling because usually there is an addendum. We call them the Phony Monroney, a counterfeit sticker that makes you believe this is really what the sticker price is, and sticker price doesn't mean anything.

MSRP is a legal document, and there was no change. It was a legal document. Good. The only thing the MSRP does, doesn't tell you it's a good price or a bad price, but it tells you that that is your current apples and apples. Because if you want to buy another kick and go to another Nissan dealer and it has the same amount on the MSRP, you're comparing the sack same equipment, same price. Price is up to you to negotiate, but you know from where you negotiate.

We went on a long test drive with Matt talking most of the way. He explained just about everything there was to know about the car. When we got there, I was surprised here we'd gone nearly 45 minutes. Wow. He must have been a real chatter. 45 minutes. I don't think I could have dealt with that. Anyway, Matt asked me

what I thought, and I said I'd really liked it, and hope we could make it work today. We went back to the desk, sat down, and asked what monthly payment I wanted. That's almost always the question. And Agent Winding almost always say, I told him I wasn't worried about payment. I just wanted the bottom line with everything included.

Now, in case you're wondering, Why do they ask about payment? There's something called a four-square system. I've written about it in the blog. Car dealers always try to get you off the price of the car. Because if they can get you on a monthly payment, they can increase the price. And you might get the monthly payment you want,

but if you're making 300 payments instead of 36 payments, you're paying a lot more with the car. They'll also try to get you on the trading allowance. If you're hung up on your trade-end allowance, you'll want a lot of money for your trade-in. They can give you a lot of money for the trade-in if they charge you even more money for the car. And then some people, you know,

particularly people with credit problems or maybe they don't make a lot of money, they want to find a car with very low-down payment. Now, I got a car, I can sell you a sticker or $10,000 over-sticker, and if I get you to buy the car, 10,000 over sticker because a pair down payment is lower, you're still paying $10,000 over sticker.

So you don't want to get diverted. You want to focus on the price of the car. And that's got to be the alpha door price. Anyway, I said, I just, I want to have the bottom line price with everything included. He said, I go speak with the sales manager, and that's the game, played in every dealership, who also happened to be his brother. That's interesting. Matt, my brother was in my Pontiac dealership back of the 60s, and we worked together.

I met return in a few minutes for the worksheet. They were selling me the Nissan for MSRP plus $899 acquisition fee. That's a hidden fee, dealer fee. In this case, they didn't hide it because I asked for the price. It would have been hidden if I said, I'll buy the car, and then I would have found out about it after the fact. We spent a few minutes going over the grid of payments on the worksheet, but I kept bringing Matt back to the price. I said I wanted to ask his brother, if it could get me below MSRP. Matt said he'd go speak with him.

I love it, brothers. Matt wasn't gone long. He came back with another worksheet, this time with a discount, and Matt made it clear it would be the only discount. Got a discount. He'll be the only one. His brother, the sales manager, had lower the price. 610 bucks. Wow, that's not bad. MSRP, 899 extra fee and 600 bucks off of that. With the dealer fee, the price is still $300 over MSRT, but these days that seemed pretty good

to me and it was. So here we are buying a new Nissan in Nashville, Tennessee, for $300 over MSRP. And I never thought I'd say that's a good deal, but it is. Today, in 2022 in January, if you could buy a car for $300 over MSRP, you got yourself a good deal. So you Nashvilleians, anybody near Nashville, Tennessee, that want to buy a Nissan, that's where you want to go. What was the name of that again? Action, Nissan of Nashville.

Yeah. Action Nissan of Nashville. I told him my husband was getting back on the town tonight. I wanted to show him these numbers before making a final call. Matt said he understood. I thanked him. Then he walked me into the car. That was a nice touch.

There we are. And we have a Mr. Shopping Report. And we need to get some votes on this. And we can have a discussion on that. And I will say this about that. I don't know of any Nissan dealer in this area that could touch that price. which is why I always encourage you wherever you are get online even if you have to find a low price

miles and miles away it gives you a little bit of a lever when you're negotiating the question if you're in a car dealership in South Florida and you say I could buy that Honda Accord in Orlando for $500 less. Do they believe you'll drive 250 miles to Orlando?

I don't think they know. I mean, I drive 250 miles. I think a lot of people would drive 250 miles if they could save $500. So find a price, even if it's hundreds of miles away and have that ready for you. He said, well, I've got an outdoor price.

You say you won't meet the price. Will you meet the price? It's a good negotiating tool. Now, with that said, in today's market with 20 cars in stock and people wind up waiting for those cars, maybe it won't work, but it's worth a try. Absolutely. You know, before we take the votes, we shop Napleton, North Lake, Kia, and that sign that they had in the window, please remember the car you're looking for, the car you're looking at today and want to think about it. until tomorrow is the same car someone else looked at yesterday and we'll buy today that was interesting yeah it's well you know even though it's kind of arrogant in today's market it's true

and uh well it was very telling yeah they're being smart and uh i think i mean it'll offend some people but some people say it's true and it is true i mean if you got to have a car and you find the car you want um Either you're prepared to pay the high price or you're not. And if you don't pay the high price, somebody else is going to buy it at that price. Or maybe more. Any votes? I've got Anne-Marie says, for a Nissan dealer, I'd give them an A.

Wow. And Tom Stokel, I'll give them a B, no addendums, and straightforward process. Mark Ryan, a B-plus. Wayne, a B-plus. Mark Smith, a B-plus. and that's all I've got so far here for me the $899 dealer fee

kind of is a little sticking butt hey you know they were right up front about it I'm going to give them the A minus I'm going to say if they'd handed her a bottle of water did he got the A plus I I wish it was a local dealer

I will I'll give them an A It isn't going to do I guess we have the majority of our listeners in this market It's a shame It's a long way to drive in Nashville, Tennessee But if you have a business in Nashville

And you want a Nissan And you've got to go up there anyway And you want to buy I'd go to action Nissan in Nashville Well, my sister-in-law just moved up to Tennessee So if she were looking for an Nissan I'd be pointing her that way Yeah, yeah, exactly

You know, that's another thing I think it's going to change the buying habits of people. I think we're all kind of waking up now to realize that cars are extremely expensive. I'm not sure what the average price is. It's pushing $50,000. I think back when I was first of the business, and I can remember I was a Pontiac dealer, and I got a Bonneville in one year, the new model came in,

and I looked at the MSRP, and it was over $10,000. dollars. And I said, I said, Pontiac, General Motors, you're out of your mind. Nobody's going to pay over $10,000 for a car. And now we're talking $60,000. So I think people are waking up to that fact and they will travel further. Dealers will deliver cars further. You might even find that action Nissan. You might be able have a car delivered to you by a dealer out of state at a lower price, including the extra transportation cost. then you buy here. In a matter of fact, I'll bet you could.

This is going to be interesting. Here's what I'm going to do. And remind me, because my memory is short, I want to do a mystery shop. I want to first establish the price of a Honda or Nissan or a Ford in this crazy South Florida market I refer to as Sodom and Gamora. I mean, just sinfully high prices. And then we'll go to maybe Tennessee or Georgia.

and we'll go around online, and we'll find out what the car cost out of state. And then we'll check the transportation costs and add that in. And we might even be able to advertise for the good guys that are out of state, and you would be able to buy the car, add the extra transportation costs, and still save a couple thousand dollars over a South Florida car dealer. Great idea. I'm a genius. You definitely are.

You know, to what you said, I'm going to say knowledge is power, ladies and gentlemen. And, you know, it's amazing that, you know, you can do so much research right there in your home. And you can come up with, you can, is this the report you're looking for? Or that? Go ahead. Okay. but at any rate the knowledge that you can accumulate in purchasing a car and combining a trip if the knowledge that you received was really a cheap I think you get what I'm saying you know the best price

at any rate there are more and more people that are that are doing just that combining maybe a little trip I am going to give Action Nissan an A and I think it was a great report I just didn't like it when he said what do you want to pay a month I loved being asked that question in the past I remember I was a real comedian $100.

Earl, do we have time for one more quick text? Yes. From Honorek it says Hi guys, my son bought his first card on our nations the tag was provided when he left the place with the actual real metal tag. Why can't all dealers do the same thing?

Well, that's interesting. Which? It just says auto nations. I don't know what dealer it was or where. I would have to look into that. That's unusual. I know in New York, it's a law that you do that. But I promise to get you an answer next week on that.

Rick, remind me, and I'll see how that is done and why it can't be done more widely. Excellent. Yes, definitely. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us this Saturday morning. We'll be right back here next Saturday. Have a wonderful weekend and stay safe.