Brake pads are the parts that create the stopping power when you press the brake pedal. If they wear down, the car can start making noise and braking won’t feel as strong.
Brake calipers are the clamp mechanism that squeezes the brake pads against the rotor. If a caliper mounting bolt backs out, the caliper can move, causing loud noises and potentially unsafe braking behavior.
Resurfacing is when a shop grinds the brake rotor’s surface to make it smooth again. Sometimes it works, but if the rotor is worn too much, replacing it is the safer long-term choice.
Power steering fluid helps your steering feel lighter. If it’s old or dirty, steering can feel off, so some owners refresh it during bigger maintenance jobs.
Brake fluid is the fluid that makes your brakes work when you press the pedal. Over time it can absorb water, which can make braking feel less consistent.
The coolant system keeps the engine from getting too hot. When you’re doing other work, some people refresh coolant too so everything stays in good shape.
Transmission fluid is what keeps the transmission lubricated and helps it shift smoothly. If it’s old or neglected, the car can start making noises or shifting weirdly.
The Volkswagen Golf is a compact car that’s meant to be practical for daily use. Some versions are more performance-focused, like the GTI. The podcast mentions it in the context of maintenance and service costs.
A purist is an enthusiast who believes a car should stay close to its original specification (often stock parts and factory-correct details). The host is questioning whether the label still makes sense or is fair in modern car culture, where modifications and different tastes are common.
“E 92” is a BMW model-generation nickname. It refers to a specific BMW 3 Series body style from that era, and car people mention it because it’s a common enthusiast car to modify and drive.
They’re talking about a social thing: some people judge what others drive because they feel unsure about their own choices. In car circles, that can turn into arguing about what you “should” buy.
The Toyota Supra is a sports car made by Toyota. It’s designed to be fast and fun to drive, especially when accelerating. People bring it up when they’re talking about cars they’d want to own for performance.
The Civic Si is a sportier version of the Honda Civic. People like it because it’s not super expensive, but it’s more fun and more enthusiast-oriented than the regular model.
The Subaru WRX is a fast, turbocharged car made by Subaru. It’s built to handle different weather conditions well and still feel sporty. People mention it when they’re comparing cars they like for driving excitement.
The Porsche Carrera GT is a very rare, very high-performance sports car. Because it’s so special and expensive, people often talk about personal experiences with it. In the podcast, it’s mentioned as an example of something that happened with that car.
The host is referencing a comedy idea about rich vs. poor. In car culture, it means people assume a wealthy buyer can’t be a “real car person,” and then get upset when they don’t act the way enthusiasts expect.
Horsepower is a number that describes how much power a car’s engine or motor can produce. The host is saying people obsess over that number even though the world has changed and lots of normal drivers now have very powerful cars.
Lucid is an electric-car brand. The host is saying that even everyday drivers (like parents) can end up in cars with enormous power numbers now, thanks to EV tech.
Horsepower can be measured at different points. “Flywheel horsepower” is measured at the engine before the power goes through the transmission and other parts, so it’s usually higher than what the wheels actually get.
In enthusiast slang, “butchered” means a car has been modified in a careless or low-quality way that damages its original condition, drivability, or value. The hosts connect this to today’s market: buyers want cars that still feel “right,” not ones ruined by cheap modifications.
This means low-budget upgrades that aren’t done well. The podcast is saying these can cause headaches over time, so buyers are starting to avoid cars that have them.
“Butcher them” is a slang way of saying someone modified a car in a rough, careless way. The host is saying those bad modifications hurt the car’s value and make it worse overall.
The host is talking about a bad kind of car modification. Instead of making the car better, it can make it unreliable or permanently damage it, especially after a few years.
“Chopping fenders” means cutting the car’s body panels. It’s often done to make room for bigger tires or other parts, but it can be irreversible and hurt the car’s value.
Resale means what the car might be worth when you sell it later. The host is saying your decisions today can change how much money you get back down the road.
A suspension rebuild is when you take apart the suspension parts and replace/refresh the worn pieces. The host is saying they’ve been waiting on parts, so the repair is delayed until those parts come back.
The Ford F-150 is a large pickup truck made for hauling and everyday driving. People talk about it a lot because it’s common and has lots of parts available. In the podcast, they’re mentioning parts that are coming back in stock for suspension work.
They mean the combo of wheels and tires you choose. If you pick the wrong sizes, it can look worse and sometimes even cause rubbing or other fitment problems.
The Lexus LX 470 is a big SUV related to the Toyota Land Cruiser. The host is using it as an example of a truck people keep for decades by repairing it and waiting for parts when needed.
“Right to repair” means car owners should be able to get their vehicles fixed without being forced to go only to the dealership. It’s about having access to parts and repair information so regular mechanics can do the work.
The Toyota Land Cruiser is a tough SUV that people often keep for a very long time. The host’s point is that once it gets to about 15 years old, it starts needing more attention and repairs—regardless of how durable it’s supposed to be.
Car
Toyota LX470
The Toyota LX470 is a big, rugged SUV built on a sturdy frame, made to last and handle rough use. The hosts are using it as an example of a “keep it forever” kind of vehicle.
The Toyota Sequoia is a big Toyota SUV. Here, the host is saying it’s the closest newer option to an older LX470, but it’s not the same kind of evolution under the hood.
“Certified pre-owned” means a used car that’s been checked by the manufacturer (or dealer) and usually includes extra protections. The host is saying the family could choose a newer CPO vehicle for safety.
They’re talking about the broader economy: prices of investments are still high. The warning is that car prices at auctions might look permanently high, but other markets haven’t really cooled off for a long time.
The BMW i3 is an electric car made for everyday driving in cities. It’s smaller and designed to be efficient. The podcast is likely mentioning it because the car being discussed has a similar look.
The BMW M3 is a performance version of BMW’s 3 Series. It’s made to be quicker and more fun to drive than a regular 3 Series. People bring it up when they’re comparing how newer versions change from older ones.
“Manual” means you shift gears yourself with the gearbox instead of letting the car do it automatically. They’re talking about whether companies will keep offering that kind of driving experience.
The Lexus GX460 is a Lexus SUV that’s built more like a truck, which usually helps it last. Here, they’re talking about what it sold for and whether that price made sense given the mileage.
The Lexus ES is a Lexus luxury sedan meant more for everyday driving than rugged use. They’re talking about buying a certified pre-owned ES with low-ish miles and what it likely cost.
A trespassing citation is a ticket for being on someone’s property without permission. If a car meetup happens on restricted land, people can get cited for it.
Impounded means the police or authorities took the car and put it in a secure lot. You usually can’t just drive it away—you have to handle the legal/fee stuff first.
A kit car is a car you build from a set of parts instead of buying one fully finished. The idea here is that the printed parts can be used like a kit so you can assemble a car with different underlying components.
The Shelby Cobra is a famous sports car associated with lightweight racing-style design. Some cars are made to look like Cobras, but not all are the same as the original Shelby cars. The podcast is discussing what counts as a real Cobra versus a look-alike build.
The Land Rover Defender is an SUV designed for off-road driving. It’s built to be tough and handle rough terrain. The podcast is likely discussing how well it’s made and how premium it feels.
The G-Class is a luxury SUV with a very distinctive boxy shape. It’s built to handle rough roads and still feel premium inside. The podcast is talking about how well it’s made—especially the feel of the materials.
The Ford Mustang is a performance car made by Ford. It’s known for its classic styling and strong engine options. People talk about it a lot when discussing affordable ways to get into a classic muscle-car feel.
The Corvette is a famous American sports car made by Chevrolet. In this story, it’s brought up because an auction listing’s authenticity and paperwork were questioned.
Bring a Trailer is a website where car enthusiasts buy and sell cars through auctions. Here it’s mentioned because a Corvette listing turned into an authenticity controversy.
Term
authenticated reel
They’re talking about proof that the car is what it claims to be—like official records that verify the car’s identity. The controversy is that the seller didn’t have the right authentication, even though the documents might have looked legitimate.
Term
L88
L88 is a special high-performance Corvette variant that collectors care about. Because it was made in limited numbers, people scrutinize whether a car is truly an L88 and whether the paperwork matches.
Shill bidding is when bids are faked to push the price higher. It makes it look like lots of real people want the car, even if the “bidders” aren’t genuine.
Wicked Motorsports is mentioned as a shop that builds custom cars and parts, specifically described here as making custom Porsches or Porsche parts. The host uses it as a reference point while discussing how some auction stories connect to real builders and authenticity.
Market manipulation is cheating the system to make prices look higher (or lower) than they really are. In an auction, it can involve tricks that make other people think the car is getting more bids than it actually is.
Pebble Beach is a well-known luxury car event area in California. People use it as an example of the kind of high-end auctions where you might see serious bidding tactics.
“Fine print” means the detailed rules in the paperwork. The speaker is saying the auction paperwork may allow certain bidding tricks, and you agree to them when you sign up.
In-person auctions move fast, so it can be hard to double-check everything. If you buy the wrong thing or it wasn’t as described, getting your money back can require costly lawyers.
Litigation means suing someone and going through the court system. The point here is that lawyers and court costs add up quickly, so it’s not a simple or inexpensive fix after a bad purchase.
Auction manipulation means someone is trying to game the auction so other people overpay or buy something they shouldn’t. The concern is that the platform may leave suspicious listings up for a while.
Topic
super Saturday
“Super Saturday” is an event-day nickname used by some auction organizers to describe a high-attendance, high-energy auction session. The speaker uses it to explain how certain collections can be marketed and scheduled to maximize crowd attention and bidding momentum.
A car auction is where cars are sold to buyers who bid against each other. The point here is that the host thinks the bidding may be staged or controlled.
They’re saying the auction might not be real competition. The cars could already have a buyer lined up, so the bidding doesn’t really decide the final price.
Money laundering is when someone tries to hide where illegal money came from. The host is saying cars can be used in that kind of scheme because they can be bought and sold at confusing or inflated prices.
Ferrari is a famous Italian car brand known for high-value sports cars. The host is saying some Ferrari auction activity might not be as straightforward as it looks.
They’re saying you have to be careful and do your homework before you buy. At auctions, it’s on you to check the car closely because there may not be much help afterward.
Term
car with a fine tooth comb
They mean the inspection should be very thorough, not just a quick glance. Think of it like checking every detail so you don’t miss hidden problems.
LIVE
whatever's working. I'll tell you what's not working. Just kidding. Just start with a jab
immediately. This is for all the new listeners. If you're new to the podcast, welcome. Also,
this is the number one automotive related, car culture related podcast on planet earth. We
talk about news. We talk about markets, predictions, but more importantly offer you a good hang every
single Monday. And now for 17 straight months in a row, but who's counting, right? All right.
I hear you. Also, if you want to send us a line, drop us a line. The email is clutchculturepodcast
at gmail.com. I do have two short little emails we'll get to later. There's just fun discussions.
But I guess I was late to the party when I saw you posted the LX getting getting loaded up.
What's what's going on? Yeah, those things never break. That I mean, for all the Toyota
fanboys out there, I don't I just happen to have the toilet is that do need work when they have
mileage on them. I know there's a lot of people out there that their toilet is never having any
issues, you know, 450,000 miles. All I did was change the oil, didn't even change the brake
pads, never do anything. It looks like a bolt backed out of one of my calipers.
And boy, was it making a noise. I mean, beyond the squeaking noise, it was like,
it was like, let me tell you, it was gnarly. So headed home last night. So got to wait out in
about 105 degree heat for a tow truck on the side of the road. All right, welcome to the club.
Yeah, that wasn't that wasn't the most enjoyable hour, especially, you know, it's dinner time.
You know, you're a little hungry or a little grumpy. But get a great tow truck driver shout
out to all those guys that do that work. You know, they're there for you. You know, he was cool.
Good thing is I own a shop. So, you know, I just said, Hey, let's take it back to my shop and put
it in overnight undercover, you know, and so kept it protected. And just now, but literally,
when I hopped on here, I just got done pushing it down to to a great mechanic here. And I'm
actually going to have it under surgery for about three or four days, really going to go. I'm just
going ham, like I'm inching towards 150,000 miles. Obviously, I haven't owned it since it was brand
new. I did a lot of things that are troublesome, right when I got the vehicle. One of the mistakes
I made is I've had a little, you know, shimmy with my brakes, you know, because obviously,
somebody did, you know, a research a bad resurface job or whatever on the rotors when I should have
just replaced them. I just let it go too long. Let me go ahead and take you know, hand up. I know
you're not a big hand up guy. I'll go hand up. I should have just honestly, and I
would say this to all of you. I should have just gone through the whole thing, you know, I should
have just bought the car. I did do a lot of stuff, I should have just went full
out and said, you know, anything and everything, let's do it. So I'm going to have him go through
the coolant system, go through power steering fluid, go through all new brake fluid, all the
dips, all that stuff is going to be handled. Obviously, rotors and brakes all the way around.
I'm just going, I'm just doing it all. And you had her on the lift a couple times, right? Like
you've done maintenance, obviously. Yeah, remember, I had like a dip and upper I did I did the
transmission fluid, because that's one of the things that people really get behind the eight
ball on with Toyotas. In my experience and my ownership of buying used Toyotas, a lot of people
just don't think of transmission fluid. Yeah, you know, they just don't. And so it's like that
that specific 100 series, you can get a lot of clunks and clanks and things if you're not on top
of the transmission fluid. So I just went ahead and just said, let's let's do the whole shebang.
And that's kind of where we're at. This stuff happens, you know, it's funny when you get home
from your, you know, you're supposed to be home about two hours before you're home.
And a lot of things get said in the house, you know, you know how and I go,
I'm very chill about this stuff. Yeah. Like if you drive if you daily drive a 23 year old vehicle,
I don't care that it has is a Toyota product. You're just sort of signing up for some things.
And this is one of those things and it's no big deal. And while we're in there,
let's go ahead and do some other stuff. Yeah, let's get it done right, right? Yeah, exactly right.
Let's go ahead because I'm real big on, hey, if I'm in there, let's do ever let's do as much as
we can in this stop. You know, obviously, I should have gone a little further on the last stop.
But you know, it's no big deal. Yeah, the last time I said that, you know, I went in there like,
you know what, I'm here for service anyway, let's get it all inspected, whatever's got to get done
has got to get done. That was for the GTI about a year and a half ago, a $400 service that I went
in for turned into $4,000. So I was like, Oh, maybe I shouldn't have been so happy about making
all these. Yeah, no, it's, it's just the cost of it. Yeah. You know, and I think it's one thing
that, you know, obviously, we had another viral moment this week. You know,
boy, there's just a lot of people that I understand get very upset about this stuff. But, you know,
this is sort of the price of driving these older vehicles. Yeah, and well, that on the car side,
and then the reaction on the being a public type of person personality or person on the internet,
which is fine. Again, I welcome it. I know Nick welcomes it a lot more. I will say though,
it is still fascinates me all these years. I mean, being on the internet doing something since
probably 2011 or 12 in front of a camera or microphone, I'm completely desensitized, I think,
to people's reactions to shit that I say, or get said in something that I'm in, right? Because
I'll read it and I'm like, there's no way you got this bent out of shape about a take or some
things that weren't even takes or just actual like recollections of stories or whatever it is.
Sure. How upset are you getting like, why are you getting this upset? And I'm actually coming
around to something, you know, in the last year. There's a lot of people that get very upset that
somebody they don't know. And I'm the story wasn't about me. Yeah, yeah, right? The story was people
that have the ability to buy great examples, they own Porsches and Ferraris and Audis and Mercedes.
And, you know, if you walked into their car collection, the people I'm talking about,
you would stand and stare for hours. And then because they don't like the car you like,
they're not an enthusiast. Why, you know, he's just not an enthusiast. It's like, bud,
he just doesn't like that specific car. Let me ask you a question. When, if ever,
is the word purist applicable or acceptable to use? Is it even anymore? I don't even know if
pure is like, if you can even say that about anybody, like, I think people are probably going
speaking of getting bent out of shape. I think all this talk is corny. Yeah, I agree. I just think
it's corny. Like, because you like something, you should drive it because you like it. What I'm
finding is, it seems you lots of people, not all people, but some people are driving things because
their friends think it's cool, or they follow some people on the internet that told them it was
cool. That's great. I mean, drive your car. But if you actually like your vehicle and you bought
it because the pure reason is you like it, I don't think you get bent out of shape about
anybody's opinion, your friends, your family, guys on the internet, I don't think you would care that
much. I've said this before, there's all kinds of guys that will tell me you should have bought an
E 92. I don't get bent out of shape because they act like they don't like my E 90. It's like, well,
I like it. I don't really care what you think. Because I never bought it because somebody else
told me to buy it or somebody else told me it was cool or the world that I'm in told me it was
cool. So I think a lot of this is honestly, people that are just insecure about what they bought.
Yeah, it's like, Hey, man, if you if you like civic SI or you like Mark for Supra or you like
WRX or you like whatever, great. Like what's it matter what anybody says. And if you have that
buddy that keeps pushing you just turn into like red form and say, I'm about to put my foot on your
ass. If you don't just drop the subject, you know what I mean? Yeah. But but we've we've we have
gotten and I think this is part of the reason we started the podcast 17 months ago. There's just
too much sensitivity, man. It is like it's just too much. All of the fun is taken out of. I get to
share stories of people that own certain levels of cars. Because you can't own them.
And they go backwards and buy something that doesn't fit where they're at in their in their life
and their lifestyle and the way they like to experience a car. All of a sudden, now they're
not an enthusiast. It's like, Well, bud, if you saw the four Ferraris and the eight Porsches,
and all of these different things in their collection that you wish you could own,
you wouldn't say this guy's not an enthusiast. He just doesn't happen to like that he bought
XYZ car, thought he would love it, thought it would bring him back to a different time in his
life. He drives it and goes, I don't want to own this anymore. I drove it three times. And by the
way, I've had this happen with Carrera GT that I've shared on here. And then the reaction is, no,
man, he's just got deep pockets. He's not an enthusiast. Like, yeah, it's like, well, he does
have deep pockets or they do have deep pockets. So if you have deep pockets, you can't be an
enthusiast. This is the perfect segue into rich man. What is it? Rich man, poor man, rich man,
poor man. One of my one of my all time favorite comedy bits. So now look, listen, we're trying
to get time for all the podcast obviously one day in the future. So anything I say from here going
forward is all positive. Nick on the other hand, I don't know, because I don't know what his reaction
was to him being on the show with the ace man. I thought it was awesome, man. And rich man,
poor man getting the love it deserves. It's always been a great bit. And Jerry said it was
one of the top five bits he ever heard. Yeah. Yeah. And it's absolutely correct and
pertains very heavily to car culture. It does. Yes. Because we seem to hate on people that can
afford things that we can't afford. And then when they buy things in our world and say,
I'm just not that into it, all of a sudden there's all of these things thrown. And I think a lot
of people and I responded to some comments saying, this isn't my opinion. I get these calls all the
time. Yeah, all of the time. Hey, I was having a few drinks, got in this auction, thought I would
love this car. Got it, drove it three times. Can you help me get rid of this thing? All the time.
I was trying to think of a way to make the comparison for the joke, the rich man, poor man.
I was like, well, you know, the rich man, you know, spends $50,000 on a civic and he's like,
I don't want the next day gets rid of it. The poor man, he's poor because he just spent his
last 50k on a Honda Civic. And that's your line. And it's okay. The other weird thing,
and I hope people that follow us understand this, this fascination with horsepower when
soccer moms are driving 900 horsepower cars now, you can't say to anybody they've missed the plot,
you've missed the world change. Yeah, you can literally have a mom driving her kids in a Lucid,
it's 1100 horsepower. And you're talking about how much horsepower you make an XYZ car, like guy,
you've missed the change of the last six years, like horsepower is just something it's everywhere
now. Listen, this is somebody who still jams new metal every day, right? So I get loving the time
with the Fred Durst, you know, being prime time Fred Durst and slip not the whole thing. But
at the time, when a car had 250 horsepower 300, if you were lucky, and that was for the flywheel,
not even to the wheel, it was a really fast car to this day, that's still a really enjoyable car,
which we said a lot. And when I get into higher horsepower cars, yeah, they're awesome. But
I'm not going to lie and say that I don't prefer like a balanced 300 ish horsepower car like I do.
That's cool. Yeah, it's cool. And I think this is, you know, why paid 9k and I make 500 real.
I actually saw that one of the hundreds actually saw that particular and I'm like,
okay. And here's what we both know. It breaks down all the time. You might have a laptop sitting
on the passenger seat. Okay, danger to men, but but but I will say this, as we've said on this
podcast for 17 months, the horsepower talk is over whether you want it to be over or not.
It's over. Yeah. And I'm not saying that's good. I'm not saying that's bad. I'm saying it's over.
It's been solved. And in your opinion, man, what do you think reshapes that
aspect of car culture? Because before it used to be, you know, there was all about power adders
like how much power could you get? How much could you put down to the wheels? How much,
you know, how fast could you go in the quarter mile? Obviously, well,
amongst people that are really trying to go buy nostalgic cars, like things that they want to
own could be a VW could be a, like I said, a WRX could be a Supra could be whatever. Right now,
it's how can I find a car that wasn't butchered? Oh, yes. Good point. Right. And so one of the
things that's interesting in my my life with cars and the car business is that
when you were valuing cars this whole 25 plus years, one of the things people don't realize
is that the people in the car business knew the problems with these cheap modifications. Yeah.
And we kept and this is universal. I wish people would stop doing this. I wish people would stop
doing this. Well, now there's a now there the bill has come do on all of that. That all of these
cars that so many of you love are not really available. You know what I mean? They're actually
just not that available. And the good examples that everybody's complaining about, they're going
for 40, 50, 60, 70,000 when they should be going for 20, they would be going for 20 if
so many people didn't butcher them in this like shitty modification way. And at the time, this
isn't this isn't hindsight 2020 either. I can show you a bunch of people that were into enthusiast
cars but worked in the car business that you'd sit down and have lunch with or you'd be around
and they'd be like, I wish this would stop. I wish this would stop. Now, did they know what was
going to happen 20 years from now? No, but they knew that those cars were going to be ruined.
They did. I mean, instinctually, you you were watching it going, Hey, that's the guy's car.
He can do it every once. But you also knew the car was ruined. I mean, just instinctually,
you just go that that is now a ruined car. Some some people really thought they were being
tasteful. They were being appropriate with what they were adding and that it would age like fine
wine. They know in five years, it was going to be a pile of shit. But the weird thing is
everybody in the know in the business what was literally saying and predicting where the position
we would be in today, not realizing we were predicting the position we would all be in today,
that all of these cars that we wish were just if they were modified at all were modified in a
real way that was valuable to the car, right? Because some of these, you know, we talked about
Mark four before that car is only great after a modification. Yeah, it's not really great out of
the box, right? But what people want is they want that little bit of a modification on the engine
that makes it a more enjoyable driving experience. But what ended up happening, people are chopping
fenders, people are doing this, that, people are putting on modifications on the
engine to cause the engine to be stressed, if not blow up. And now everybody looks around and goes,
Where's all the Mark fours? The crushed, literally, I mean, everybody can do what they
want with their car, you and I have said that like it's your car, man, do whatever you want.
But in the moment, in all of these years, the people that knew what was going on truly kept
saying, I wish this would stop, or I wish we would get this under control because this means
that these cars are not going to be available in the future. Did they know it would be to this
level? Did any of us know? But anybody in the know knew that these were taken out of commission,
basically, this particular segment, you know, this is going to be to I think it was Dave,
Dennis, don't know who it was, the comment was simply, there's going to be a guy on the internet
one day that tells you not to follow your dreams, you dude, you completely missed
the entire point of the clip of the podcast, we always say you and you just said it for sure,
buy what you want, do whatever you want with it. But let's try to frame some of that around reality
of what you're doing. And if you ever really care about resale or what it's going to be in the
future, maybe really dissect what you're doing right now. Yeah. And how much of the thought is
you want this car to live on? Yeah, we've talked about that a lot. We haven't mentioned that
specifically. But yeah, you're right. I mean, if you truly love all of these platforms, the reason
that I'm taking my 100 series and doing all of this work is because in my head, I'm thinking,
whether I own it or not, they're not building any more of these. So let's take care of it.
Let's do the best we can. Maybe we still end up in the junkyard someday. Right? Maybe that's
where we end up. But can we give an effort to go, Hey, man, if I want to roll this thing to 500,000
miles, there's a reality of how I need to treat it. Right? So if you want to call yourself, if
we're all calling it going off this idea of who's an enthusiast, a true enthusiast to me,
once these cars to live forever. Yeah. Right? And I can tell you, I was there, you were there.
There's a lot of cars that didn't live forever. And they didn't live forever because the platform
sucked. They didn't live forever because somebody didn't know what they were doing modifying the
car. Yeah, aka the owner sucked. Yeah, we said it. I said it. Just kidding. So I got word the other
day, actually, Tuesday of this week that the parts that we were waiting on that were on
backwater for the Raptor suspension rebuild are coming back in stock early mid July. So that project
is finally going to start in the next month or so. And then I'm in one of the big, if not the biggest
genuine Raptor group on Facebook, which I'm never there. Nick Knows this. I don't live on Facebook
unless it is work, a client related where I'm in there for somebody's page or ads account or whatever.
I don't go on Facebook for my personal stuff ever, but I might start living in there a little bit
because it is an interesting page. And I'm going to turn into the aristocrat all of a sudden because
people are starting to like, Hey, what's my genuine worth? A lot of people are asking what it's worth
and they're putting their specs or miles or whatever. Sure. Anytime I see a 14 ruby red
scab single cab or a super cab, they're like, Oh, you're sitting on a gold mine. Don't do anything
to it. Don't, you know, do whatever. And I'm like, my mind, I'm like, Oh my God, do I stop driving it
now? Like just jokingly. But I mean, it's interesting what can happen to a platform like that. Like
if you just take care of it, you could still tastefully do stuff to it and it'll still be worth
what you paid for. And you can make the driving experience better than factory. You can do a lot
of things. You also have been in this world long enough to know that takes a little extra money.
Yeah, that lots of people don't want to spend to do it right. And it's also being restrained
enough to go. This is now I've done these modification. This is a great truck. And I'm
going to leave it as a great truck. Yeah, I think stopping is the hardest part. Hard. Oh, no, no,
no question. No question. I mean, the weirdest part is, and you and I have seen this where
people choose like a wheel and tire make up. And it's the wrong one. I think I start and a
you know, chop offender and you go, Well, this all looks worse. Yeah, like it's your your truck,
your car, whatever. But like, this is now worse. This this wasn't better. And we have a lot of
that out here, you know, I mean, and we have a lot of that in every city. I mean, Houston,
obviously, if you drive around there, you can see that in space. I applaud it because I'm like,
you would know the way you committed. I like it. Yeah. And I think people take these types of
conversations as judgment. It's not judgment. It's just reality. You know, there's a lot of
things that have taken place a lot of great cars off the road. Yeah, that I think
all of us wish we were able to buy. And you see it in the M three world, you see it. I mean,
you see it in every world. It's not it's not just certain platforms. Taking these cars off the road
now has a real effect because these aren't we're not even getting evolutions of these. Yeah. Right.
Like the evolution has stopped. And now those vehicles and people that complain, if you're a
person that complains about the value of some of these cars that shouldn't really be valued this
way, you got to really think about what did all the owners do of those platforms that you're
complaining about the price. And I guarantee you a lot of it's going to come back to mistreatment,
not taste not not great modification, etc. You could you could put a laundry list
and you go if everybody would have just done what we all know we should have done. And again,
this is not hindsight 2020. I can I can there's one guy in my head right now who was it was a was
a wholesaler, but was an ultimate car guy. This used to bend him out of shape. Like if you got him
on this rant, it was like an hour and a half. Okay, because he saw the churn of cars. So he knew
like, I remember one time, a really nice prelude guy blew an engine on it.
And this been him, I was standing there, this bent him a prelude. It really meant nothing in the
scheme. This guy was moving 1000 cars, you know, at a time, you know, something though, he knew
he just he just goes. No. And it wasn't because he said, Don't modify it. Yeah, he's like,
all you had to do was this and this. And you were good. And then you did the next four things.
And now the engine's blown up. He could just go on for hours. And to his credit, he was right.
Because look at the position we're in now. Well, this is actually a perfect segue into one of
those emails that we got. Shout out to listener Christian. It was basically an email I'm going
to sum it up because it was from the Wall Street Journal. And I found somewhere else. It was like
an American Institute of dealership association. You know, if that's real, I don't know. But they
had a very similar write up about how Americans are keeping their cars longer, right? And this is
also in the midst of all the things going on with the right to repair acts and whatnot, those
conversations and debates are going on, which Jim Farley's in the news saying saying what Jim
Farley says, right? Which we'll get into that. But essentially, Americans are keeping their cars,
I think it's on average 13 years, which is about 10% higher or longer than about a decade ago.
And everything that we just talked about, you have to take in consideration, like,
if you do want these cars to live on like Nick said, what you do now is going to determine like,
if is it fixable? Is it worth it? Like, where does that kind of get out of whack with? It's just
really not worth putting money into it anymore. For some people, it'll always be worth it because
you want that ability to repair even if it takes time. Like one of our listeners even said,
actually, it might have been Christian, who has a, yeah, he has a 25 year old LX470. He's cool
with keeping it in the shop longer. He knows sometimes he's going to be looking for parts.
He knows it'll be out of commission from time to time. But it's worth it to him. A lot of people
don't really look at it that way. And when cars are gone, we're going to be inevitably hitting
that road, I think, where the right to repair won't even be a conversation really, because
there's not going to be anything left to repair. Old wise. Yeah, I mean, basically, I mean,
I mean, we're probably what a decade, a decade at most, before you start to see the majority
of systems are either hybrid or full electric. I mean, the path we're on today. We see still
incredible investment, even though EVs aren't, you know, don't a lot of the EVs that get built
end up getting canceled or not, you know, don't sell well or whatever. But we can see the,
if you stop, you can see the future. Doesn't mean you know exactly the years or exactly
the months that everything's going to take place. You can get a good sense of it though.
But you can get a sense. And, you know, like he said, I got, he's got an LX470. I'll leave it
in the shop a little longer. I'll deal with it. This and that. But you know, you're not that far
away from the 200 series. You know, you get 10 years down the road on the 200 series, you know,
you're going to be, you know what, 12 to 15 years since they made it.
I mean, that's, that's a 15 year old car is 15 years old. Right. It doesn't matter that's a
Land Cruiser. It's just the reality of, Hey, now that's 15 years old and all by the way,
they never evolved and replaced it. So they're, you know, if you look at the 100 series, they went
to the 200 series. The 200 series did not go to the 300 series. There is no next thing.
So in 10 years, you're going to be 15 plus years away from the last 200 series being built.
So that's just the reality. What's the closest current model or configuration of what you have
or of anybody's LX470? Well, look, the closest, I mean, it would be, it would be the Sequoia,
but it's not, it's not anywhere near, you know, it's not anywhere near the evolution for real,
right? They didn't evolve the V8 into the Sequoia. They, they, they kind of, you know, went to the,
to the hybrid six cylinder, right? And so you have my tow truck driver, big, big Toyota guy
does go off road. We had a good conversation. And, you know, some of the things that he's
saying, he's got a, one of his toys has 249,000 miles on it. Again, things he has to address,
he's walking me through, I got to do this, I got to do that, you know, but I'm going to keep it.
And then I have this and this needs this. And you know, you're getting to the point
with a lot of this stuff that it is not coming back. And it's not evolving into something that
most of you want to own from an enthusiast perspective. So the past 20 years of everybody
do whatever they want, I mean, that's going to be how the world goes, right? Because we all do
what we want with our cars. But there's a real price that's being paid not only currently,
but especially in the next decade, it's going to be a hefty price. Yeah. And he goes on to say
that for the family, and we've talked about this too, he'll get a certified pre-owned,
something newer with safety features and all that, but he doesn't mind the older stuff, which is
what you and I say all the time too, the family can have in the newer stuff, all the dings and
chimes, as we said, and we'll stick to the older stuff. Yeah, no, it's really wild. And I went
through some auction results and some different things this week. And there's just some cars that
I go, I just can't believe what they're selling for. Also, I want to say asset prices across the
board are still elevated. Be very careful thinking this is the new normal when you haven't had asset
prices, whether that's the stock market, housing, you had none of that reset in basically 15 years
on any real level. Yeah. By the way, Nick and I talked about some of this stuff off podcast,
obviously. We're seeing some property tax relief here in Texas. I'll leave it at that. And finally,
things are moving in the right direction. If you're out there and you're suffering from
property taxes, boy, do we fill you down here. But you know what, also, the Toyota guys are lucky
because I see so many Toyota specialist shops, even just in Central Texas, their shops that are
just like Yoda Central, Yoda's RS, basically, like it's all Toyota stuff. So in that regard,
I'm sure that's the same throughout the country. You've got a lot of good long, long, long time,
like long 10 year Yoda fans that are just there to fix your shit, which is great. Yeah.
Which is crazy how they can, since they never need fixed, I don't know how they stay in business.
He couldn't let it go, could he? He couldn't let it go, guys. Hey, hand up. Couldn't let it go.
Yeah. I mean, just couldn't let it go. I mean, you know, they never break. So I don't know how
you can have a Toyota specific shop, but, you know, good on you. What are you going to be cruising
in while the, where the Lexus is? BMW. Okay. Put some miles on it. Are you going to put about
seven miles on it total? I'm going to put, no. Hey, I drive it. So it'll be, it'll
be a good weekend. And, you know, I bet that I'll have it in the shop until like Wednesday, probably.
I'll probably have, you know, I'm just, let's just go through everything, dude. You know,
let's just go through everything. It's already there again. I say again, but it's already down.
Yeah. There you go. It's already down. Well, this is actually the best time then. This was
going to be later in the show, but we've talked about it a couple of times, but this keeps coming
in the news. And that is the new M, new Glasse, Glasse is basically what it's going to look like.
So our platform here, guys, changed. So I got to find where the buttons are. Don't say it.
Don't say it, Nick. Jamie Wayne, at the end. There we go. Yeah, it wouldn't happen to Jamie.
So this is kind of what we're landing on. It's kind of looks like the i3 we've referenced a
couple of times, but that's kind of the next generation of M3. Well, in fairness,
they got rid of the, it looks like they're going to go away from the pig nose. Yeah.
Does look a lot better. This is the M world for most of us is going to come down to how
long are they going to be committed to engines? This is kind of where we're at, right? I mean,
I'm sure there's a bunch of platforms like this, but we're specifically talking about the M3
in this one. How long are they going to be committed to the engines? How long are they
going to stay committed to manual? All of these types of things is just, we don't really know
at this point. It seems like they always say this could be the last one. I get the, do you get the
suspicion companies like this are just going to one day tell you it's over? They're not going to like,
they're just going to say it's done because they don't want to hear, you know, six months a year,
three years of complaining. They're just going to like pop up and go, no more engine. I wouldn't
be surprised. That might be the smartest thing they've done. Like that would be the best reveal
that they've done, like just very timely, very quick, like it's, hey guys, it's over. All right,
it's over. And by the way, this one will be available next week and we're done. Yeah. You know,
something like that. It seems like that's where some of this could go. As a matter of fact, though,
what they really just need to do is just take this, this image that we're seeing here and then
just slap a big ole flaming bird on the hood and then we'd be good to go. That's all it needs.
Tell me that doesn't look like a Trans Am. It's got a little bit of it. Yeah, it's got a little bit
of, maybe not long enough. Definitely You know, front end for that. But yeah,
I see what you're saying. You'd have to spread the wings a little outside to side, not so much
vertical. Listen, whoever buys these will be spreading the wings on this car. It'll be
lying no matter where it is. It looks better. I'm not really, I don't like the light configuration,
but you're not going to really get away from that. You know, this, this is, and we go back to it
because we get a lot of questions of, are you going to buy new stuff? This still, you know,
for everybody that follows us because I have an M car or we talk about it from time to time,
this still just really doesn't speak to me. No, no, unfortunately, it's not going to be
something I'm all that, that worried about. So I've got a story for you, quick story. Actually,
this might be a good segment for the future. And if you guys want to send them in in the Discord,
clutch.club, if you guys want to join or through email to maybe get Nick and I, mostly Nick,
to rant on if it was a good deal or not. Okay, I don't want to say who. So in case it turns into
a clip, it's somebody in my circle, got rid of there. I believe it was a 10 year old. What is
it? What do you have? GX460? Yeah, I have a GX460 for a family. Yes, same family member,
somewhere down the line, doesn't matter. They got rid of that. It had 126,000 miles.
How much do you think they got for it? It was black. 43. 43. I wish they had 43. It must have
been in bad condition. They got 17 for it. Yeah. All right. But keep in mind, they didn't,
they didn't, well, it was a little bit older too. So obviously, you know, what did I say? It was
about 10 years, 89 or 10 years old, regardless. Didn't ask me any question. They
got a Lexus ES, a 23 ES certified pre-owned with like 30,000 miles on it. What do you think they
paid for the Lexus ES? Was that like the 45,000? It was around 40. Yeah.
This, this is not good. I was like, I just encouraged it. I was like, oh, hybrid or V6,
went with V6, not the hype. All the new ones are hybrids. They canceled the V6. I think this
year, as a matter of fact, to go all hybrid on that. You don't want to make people feel bad
about their purchases. I'm just like, could have probably been a better deal. I didn't say that,
obviously, but I thought it. So this is more for the listeners. I haven't looked at a 10 year old
GX, but somebody, you know, if you'd have bought that private party at 17, you'd have been thrilled,
125,000 miles on it, basically. I know. Like I have more. That's unbelievable. I mean,
that's like one of those ones you would have bought. I know. Why didn't you just call me for
the 17? They had been talking about selling it, but they were like probably won't be anytime soon,
probably a while. I mean, it's just, you know, so pretty low. And it sounded like they knew what
they were talking about because they're like, still pretty low miles. This thing will go forever.
And then all of a sudden, Hey, look what I got. Like, why? Why did you do that?
That does feel like a downgrade, though. I think so. And I don't personally even like the,
the, on the offense, the 460s compared to some of the other Lexus options, but
it's still a great vehicle. Like, you know, it's going to 126,000 miles. So you wonder
when, like you said, was it really kept up to date? Right. You know, was the interior,
the exterior, was the mechanics? Did they get underneath there and go, they haven't done anything?
It's quite possible. So we got to, we got to do everything to this car. We got to go through
the suspension. We got to drain every fluid. I mean, they haven't done anything to this car.
That feels like that's going to be on the lot for $30,000. I was going to say, imagine you,
you swing by or you find out someone selling it for $17,000, you're like, hold on, I'll be right
back. Yeah, I, I think that would have been sold the next, the same day. Yeah. So wouldn't it?
I think so. But I wanted to get Nick's opinion. So if you want to hear Nick react this way or give
you some input on what a deal could or should maybe look like, send them in, let us know. Good
deal, bad deal. Might be a segment on the show. I mean, dude, what are we giving that one? We're
giving that a, eh, given a, yeah, that's, that's, Julio Rodriguez, bad deal. Yeah, that, that could
be, uh, that could be one of the worst ones I've heard for a long time. Yeah, that's that.
Hey, blue band, don't make this into a clip. I don't need this going.
Yeah. 25 feels like no brainer. Yeah, that's, I mean, I was, I was thinking 40.
I know. I can't imagine if I'd have been like, Hey, no, you probably could have got closer to
like mid thirties for that realistically and be like, well, I just again, don't diligence,
do diligence. Yeah. Don't, don't tell me the dealers are all the bad guys, man. If they would
have said, Hey, seven grand and you take it, that's, that's not on someone else. Well, some
people will hear that and say, well, that is a bad dealership because they know they got it at a
quarter of the price. Like, well, that's not, I'm not trying to defend the dealership, but we're
just, I'm not either. I'm just going, if, if, I mean, dude, Facebook marketplace, which is a
complete catastrophe at times trying to sell a car, you could have got 25 probably within three days.
A complete catastrophe marketplaces. You're not wrong.
Is it still available?
Those are some of the funniest videos where a guy's like, he's trying to risk his life to sell
like a $50 item. I'll give you 12 for it. All right. We're segwaying into one of the most
ridiculous stories that will probably put people up in arms. Did you see the video of that LA car
meet in the river? Oh, dude, I, somebody sent me a video. What, what, what was going on there?
Was this like, was this like a huge event or is this just like a spontaneous meetup?
It seems like it was, well, all the comments were whoever organized this must have been working
with the tow truck drivers. Right. I can't play it because it's playing, it's copyrighted music
and YouTube immediately strikes the channel. But yeah, this was like a 70, 72 vehicles issue
trespassing citations. Ton of them, if not all of them were impounded, tickets written galore.
But I mean, there's only one way in and one way out. So what did you think was going to happen?
Well, we have to say, by the way, you weren't going to be able to do a whole lot with your car
in there. No, you were going to go on that sidewalk where everybody is. So this was,
this was actually like the worst takeover of all time. There was not even any foolishness.
Well, most people would have been like, let's just everybody keep them down there. If that's
where they want to go take over, just let them be down there with the sewer people.
Yeah. Wow. Yeah. I guess I didn't, I had seen the videos of them down there. I didn't realize
this all happened. It's the one we're seeing right now. You guys got to watch on YouTube.
I didn't actually know everything got impounded. A rest, brother. Yeah. People were getting arrested.
They were getting loud and rowdy. Let's just say this. If you have warrants, I probably wouldn't
have done this. I probably wouldn't organize the event if you're the ones with the warrants.
You got warrants. I mean, if you got warrants, I don't think, I mean,
can you imagine getting in handcuffs and you actually didn't even do anything crazy?
Now you're just like single file line at kindergarten. Everybody out to the impound lot
now single file. Yeah. This is, I actually didn't see all this part. I just saw, this is the thing
I saw. Okay. Yeah. It was well beyond this. That's unbelievable. I definitely didn't think
I'd see people in handcuffs. That might be the most LA thing. That's the most LA thing along
with what the most New York thing was, which was people beating up Spurs fans on the sidewalk
after the game. What a choke job though, huh? Oh my God. What a choke job. You can't,
I was watching. So I have a few friends of mine that I text during a game. And I was just like,
I can't believe what I'm watching. I have it on record, like
11, 10 minutes, nine minutes up to go into fourth quarter. I'm like, I don't even, this coach needs
to be suspended by the organization. Like what is happening here? Like how do you have Dylan Harper
on the bench? I saw Dylan Harper on the bench. Yeah, I saw some crazy stat where with him and
Wimby on the court, like that points that they averaged together with something. Hey, how about
the Aaron Fox? That dude just, it looks like he was just out for an LA fitness pickup game. He
didn't realize it was the finals. It's like, this is like real. You got a chance for a ring. Yeah,
they don't tune in to it. They're just like, oh, we're just here. Who was it?
Was it RJ Smith? Well, the guy that shot the, he was on the block. Oh, JR Smith? That moment is
always going to be one of the funniest moments. Yeah, man. I looked at that. It was fun to watch.
I mean, I'm not a fan of either team, but if I was a Spurs fan, I wouldn't, I wouldn't even
have known what I was watching. I'd have been like, this, this looks like nothing I'd ever seen.
And I've watched a lot of basketball in my life. I still don't know what the hell I was watching.
First of all, you have a guy that can touch the rim standing on the ground. Yeah.
And you guys can't score. It's pretty well. It was like, I can't believe what's happening.
And the tip in, that guy will make so much money off New York City,
OG Ananobi. He'll, I mean, he'll just make my private equity guys, that's fun guys.
What do you want? That dude will never have to worry. He's made a ton of money anyway, but
he's going to be minted. Him and, him and Brunson are just minted. All these guys on this next team,
they're going to be minted for life. Well, it's not over. As Kobe said, it's not over.
That's, that's, that's all be honest. When you blow that kind of lead, it's over.
Not over. It's over. Yeah. Yeah. That was, that was embarrassing. What can I say? I mean,
not the Rockets. Hey, as a Texan, not a good look, but you know what wasn't
the worst forms of the night. The Astros got blown up by the Angels, the worst team in the MLB
that night too. So I'm like, Oh my God, what is going on? Take those Apple watches off. Game gets hard.
Wow. Wow. The least of the concerns in the MLB, but sure, whatever.
Yeah. I saw some highlights from a Reds game where they got bunted on three straight times
and botched every single fielding. In a row too. In a row. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was, look, look,
there's a lot of little leaguers that could have made those plays, bud. Do you know what,
it's a fascinating thing about sports. I don't know if it's not all teams, but the feeders
for some of these teams and then development doesn't seem like it was 15 years ago or so.
No, actually, what actually happens, I think this is actually true. They just move people up
faster now. That's very true. They want to get people into the major leagues. They want to see
what they have. And so it's created sort of like in football, they just don't have the practice
schedule anymore. Absolutely. So like offensive line plays just way worse. Yeah. And it's like
everybody, all the coaches go, Yeah, we don't get to practice it. So I don't know what you want us
to do. Like this is just kind of what it is. But I mean, we got to talk about it. White house time.
There you go. This weekend. Dude, the video of him putting all that stuff together was pretty
awesome, honestly. Yeah. Really, a Sunday card. Yeah. Is it Sunday? I think it's Sunday. If I'm
not mistaken, I don't think it's Saturday. That would make sense. I could be wrong. I'm going to
even. Wow. Not a lot. You got your property taxes down, but the internet still sucks.
Hey, I know you're not talking. Internet does suck sometimes. In today's world, how's that possible?
Yeah, you're right. Sunday at, yeah, seven day, June 14th. What time is it?
7pm. That's what I got here. Doesn't say that would be your time though, I think. Because what I do
like is these cards start earlier. Like everything on Paramount. Yeah, yeah, no, it's I'm excited
to watch it. I'm actually excited for that. Gachie fight. You want to make a call? Yeah, I don't
think I want to see Gachie win because it feels like he's at the end of the road, but I think
it's probably time to say that I mean, he's a four to one underdog last time I look. Yeah, he was.
I think, I think that's probably generous. But you know, as you hear Joe Rogan and those guys say
all the time, MMA is so unpredictable. Yeah, you know, one temple shot and it's engage. You can
give you that one. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And he's a guy that likes wars. Yeah, he can hit you like
Josh Emmett hit Bryce Mitchell when he started seizing Thug Nasty. Hey, Gachie's one of those
dudes very rare in the UFC all these years. There's not a lot of guys that love war like he does.
That is a very, that's like Vanderlei before he had his lights turned out too many times. He was
kind of like that. You have certain guys that they want to go into deep water and he's one of them.
So if he can get this dude into deep water, then he could turn the lights out quick.
All right, now the comane and then we'll move on to car stuff because this one's basically
a pick them. Cyril Gon versus Alex Pereira. Yeah. You know, gone gone really his weaknesses if you
take him down. Yeah, if he's going to be able to stand there and trade blows.
Think so? I mean, I don't think he's a guy when you're when you're moving up
like this that you want to trade blows with. So my guess is there's going to be a little
wrestling to try to get him off his feet because like he no matter his career and how it's gone,
him on his feet, that's that's a different animal. Right. I mean, he really struggles if people take
him down. If Alex Pereira knew English the way that Conor McGregor knows English electrifying
that guy would have been three divisions just running through people. Yeah, if he if he starts
running through this division, John Jones, where you at? Yeah, well, John Jones, but he's not he's
not running through John Jones. He's not. He's not. But John Jones is just also not coming back
probably. Let's be real. Wow. Well, I mean, look, you never know somebody's bank account, Rob.
You never know. You're right. Some people have made some bad decisions. I mean, Conor McGregor
has to come back. Well, maybe he's not doing that for his health. He's doing for the love of the
sport. Yeah, sure. He's the fans. He's a man of the people. Yeah. Don't be surprised when you see
a lot of Floyd Mayweather fights coming up. Yikes. Can be seen. Speaking of Angela, he got knocked
out recently. Didn't he wasn't he on that Gina Crono fight? I didn't. I told you I kind of yeah,
he didn't watch it. I think it was now that I come to think of it. He got knocked out in the first
round. Pretty sure. Don't quote me on it listeners. Well,
for all of you that aren't fight fans, when you have that button turned on, sometimes it's turned
on permanently and any kind of shot can take you down and it can be the end of the night.
Yeah. All right, we'll shift back to cars here. Somebody appreciate you guys that send DMs,
by the way, like, hey, this will make an interesting topic or those of you that send emails. Have you
seen the stories of these manufacturing facilities that are basically scanning and reprinting body
panels and full cars of old stuff? No, sounds cool, though. It does sound cool. You're interested
to see your thoughts. Obviously, it's in China. I'm going to just play the video. This guy's
channel is pretty good. He always reports on stuff, but look at these cars in the background. These
are all like American classics. They're scanning and welding together essentially like a kit car
that you can just drop whatever chassis and engine you want into it. That's not a real Cobra,
right? That wouldn't be a real Corvette. It would be something printed in these facilities.
G-Wagon, buses, Voltswagens, Defenders. The question you have to ask is,
how nice is this steel? Right, right. The first thing in the comments were like,
those welds are terrible. This isn't going to hold up. But just the attempt of doing this,
though, makes you wonder like a classic Mustang like that. So did you see...
Under 10 grand, by the way, too, just so you know. Yeah, that's well. That tells you that
steel might not be up to code. Did you see why you were saying?
Did you see the Corvette auction on Bring a Trailer where they found out that the guy
didn't have a authenticated reel? Guys, I'm not an expert. I think it was called an L88.
And there's only a certain number of those. And so it had all of this documentation. And the
documentation was technically real. But then the guy who basically ran the authentication,
or was the head of the authentication, goes in the comments and goes, just so we're clear,
this car that's now red used to be silver. It was rebuilt by this guy to copy that Corvette.
This is not real. Oh, dang. So they had to end the auction. There's some shadiness of
whether Bring a Trailer ended the auction fast enough, or if they were trying to kind of,
you know, CYA, so to speak. But then there's auctions of K-trucks that they found that
guys are pulling off, shill bidding, running accounts where it makes it looks like it's
not coming from a dealer, but it was actually a dealer. Then you have this other situation.
And I forget the car. I apologize. Oh, it was a Nissan, I think 240. Okay. Where
the dealer was running the auction, had another account was driving up the bidding.
You can call it a couple of things. You know, in a live, in an in-person auction,
they call it, you know, chandelier bidding or, or, or shill bidding or whatever.
But here's the deal. Bring a trailer, writes an email to them and says,
hey, we know you're doing this. You better not let this get ugly publicly.
And you're not going to blame us public. There it is. LADA. I was right. Yeah. Yep.
Dude, I've tried to tell you guys for 17 months, we've had this podcast.
You have zero idea, the shadiness of auctions. And I'm not just talking about online ones,
the things that go on in the in-person auction, if you were never really privy to that information,
it is now just online. And so the main issue to me is I've been telling all you guys,
you're really buying from a ton of dealers on these sites.
This isn't even so again, we've said it before guys, we don't prep like this. It's all genuine
stories and interactions from the week. So another thing that was sent to me was about
auctions and you completely brought this Corvette up auctions out of no reason. You do
follow Wicked Motorsports. They basically make custom, they make custom Porsches or
custom Porsche parts for the most part. Let me, let me play this because this piggyback is exactly
off what you're saying. I actually even wanted to ask you about this because I know you've got
so much experience with it. Let's see if the audio doesn't blow your drums here.
A percent of the cars that are running through the actual auction are doing 50% less than what
they're worth. And Bottoms is trying to pick up this ship bag by, you know,
having these fake bidders on the phone, fake bidders in the corners. I don't know if you
guys are familiar with market manipulation and shill bidding, but I've been to really high end
auctions at Pebble Beach and I'm talking like major auction houses and I've sold cars in these
auction houses and I remember the first time I was kind of blown away. I was selling a 75
Mercedes, there's a 300 convertible. The price in the auction was getting close to my reserve.
So I motioned to the auctioneer to lift the reserve and let the car go. And he kept ignoring
my motion. I went closer and I said, you know, cut it loose, let it go. And he said,
it's my guys. Meaning they were his own guys in the audience bidding on the car.
Let's stop it. And so this happens a lot. Okay.
This is in the fine print of the paperwork you sign when you're a bidder in these auctions.
They are allowed to do this. They got to get into the fine print of when you become a bidder
and all the things that they deem we're going to do, we're allowed to do, you can't get mad if
we're doing they, if you know what you're looking at, which clearly this guy learned a very hard
lesson, if you know what you're looking at, you can tell a real auction going and you can tell
a trumped up, which is what he's talking about. There was no real action on the car. So what do
they do? They want to make the crowd who's had a few drinks believe there's fire in this auction.
Yeah. Guys, I have, and I don't want to say the word warned.
This is happening everywhere. And by the way, it's been happening for decades. This is not 2026
and 2025. And because of the pandemic, this is that's not the case here. Okay. This has been the
rules of the game for as long as the game has been around to the point they put it in the paperwork.
Wow. They're allowed to do it. They, you know, I'm guessing they have attorneys talking to
attorney generals or whoever they meet. And they said, you just got to let them know you're doing
that. So what did they do? They put it in the paperwork. They're not, they're not hiding that
they do this. They're hiding it in the fine print. But they're not hiding it for real.
Hiding it for real means you don't alert anybody that this stuff goes on.
They do alert you. You just have to be able to read the fine print.
That's pretty wild, huh? Well, if you don't know, and then you're hit with that
realization in the middle of the auction, think about this, this is a guy that has some experience
talking. Yeah. And he's like, I'm in this room. I think, you know, let's lift the reserve. It's
like you didn't catch on that nobody was bidding. You know, I mean, you weren't really paying attention
or you didn't know that this stuff was happening, which is both possible. By the way, this is not
a judgment. The things, were you really around when Internet poker took off? Oh, yeah. I had a
buddy that was heavy and back in like 2010, 11. Okay. You remember when they busted all those
insiders that were like, you know, on like five computers, and they had access to what every
card was and all those people made all that money. And they, you know, obviously they're in
Antigua. So there's no, you know, there's no, there's no recourse all the time in a far off land,
so to speak. And I always thought that was going on. Didn't you? It seemed, I mean, but I question
everything. So yeah, I'm gonna obviously assume that something's off foot. So this is not singling
out any online auction. And this is not saying I have any insider information that that there's
this nefarious stuff going on. But when there's people that can see things that you can't,
that's a recipe for things not always being on the up and up. And some of these emails that have
come out on some of these auctions now that's being reported on, guys, this was always going on.
And I think the real problem with a lot of this is how many dealers are selling cars through these
sites. That's the question I have. So more so right now is because maybe that's a newer thing,
obviously, I don't think it was way back in the day where more dealers were in auctions than you
would say. Well, no, no. But in live in person auctions, there was always dealer to dealer
transactions. What I think we're seeing now is you had these platforms that started out kind of,
you know, smaller grassroots, right? Bring a trailer, cars and bids, P car market, whatever.
You got to realize, man, I believe bring a trailer last year processed $1.7 billion in sales.
Dang, it ain't mom and pop anymore. That's that's that's and you got private equity involved and
you got finance guys involved and you got all these investors involved on the back end. Let me tell
you what they want to see. We did $1.7 billion. We want to see $2.1 billion this year. That's
just the name of the game. And what may have happened on bring a trailer 567 years ago,
and what is happening today and the evolution of it becoming a big business,
it's just becoming another auction house. All of these are. So, you know, we don't usually
reference other shows and other hosts, but we've said how much we like Doug and his crew and how
fun this car podcast is. Did you see that Ken is leaving the show? He's not leaving the show,
I thought. I thought he's just leaving. He'll be back on the show. He's leaving cars and bids to do
his own thing where he's got customers or clients, you know, basically like get their cars ready
for auction and all that. And it was one of those things. I want to go watch the full video on his
channel of what he's trying to do exactly. But in the clip, I saw that he's just basically trying
to curate that that that experience for his clients that want to do the same thing. I don't
know if it's. Yeah, so he has experience. If I remember correctly, he worked at a dealership
that's in northern Ohio, which I was familiar with. And they presented cars and he learned how to
present cars. And he's always kind of been in this this this part of the world. You know,
he got that experience on a real level, not through cars and bits. Right. He got it on a
real level. So I think that's great. The presentation of cars brings more money. But when
the presentation of cars is done correctly, it's actually a benefit to the buyer. And so I support
if that's the rowdies going, that's fantastic. What I've seen and I took some time
this week actually when I had some downtime and went through bring a trailer specifically some
recent auction exhaust results. Guys, I'd be very leery about how willy nilly some of these
auctions have been thrown up lack of information I saw lack of documentation lack of thoroughness,
you know, the commenters basically having to play police, which I think is a great part of
the platform. But I also think it's kind of sad that that that, you know, the l 88 was only found
out through the comment section. That's pretty what that's crazy, considering the holy grail car.
Yeah. So if you think about it, if this guy doesn't get word that this car is for sale,
log in and say, Hey, this is what I did for a living. This isn't a real one.
Somebody's going to pay up or six figures. They were even saying if the thing got hot could
gone into seven. And a guy has no idea that it's not a real one. Think about no and there's no
recourse for that if you're the buyer of that. No, I mean, you know, I've had some situations
where lawyers had to get involved with in person auctions. And let me tell you, you better have
deep pockets. And by the time you spend what you're going to have to spend to get what you think
you should get, you just paid for 2345 or other cars you could have bought.
Because if you think litigation is cheap, you haven't really ever hired anybody on your behalf
because it's expensive. Oh, that's crazy. That humans man, look at us just trying to try to like
well, I was really kind of shocked because now 17 months ago, nobody was talking about this.
Look, Nick, I'm telling you, man, you won't say but I'm going to say it for you. A lot of the
stuff that you've brought up for conversations have not been talked about in years up until the
last 17 months ago, nobody was talking about this. Everybody thought these platforms were on
the up and up. And I'm not saying they aren't. I'm saying they're saying very, very suspicious
results and auctions being taken down and emails being shared and guys going on record like that,
that Nissan that I'm referencing. I think that guy spoke to the drive. I think the, I think the
drive story on it. And the guys like, here's the emails they sent me. Wow. I mean, the people at
the drive had to be thinking themselves and I'm not saying they're the ones, the first ones. I
think that's just what I saw. Maybe they interviewed him. Maybe somebody else did and they clipped it.
Maybe AI did. I don't know. But the fact that this guy went on record and goes,
like, they didn't really have an issue with it. They left it up for a few days. Like,
they knew what was happening. They just didn't want it to splatter back on them.
But when you put it in the context of it's a $1.7 billion business. Bro. And you want to sit here
and say that you think this stuff's on the up and up. That doesn't mean don't buy.
Right. I've bought off that platform. Yeah, you did. Yeah. Okay. I also tell you that I have
absolute witnesses that the auction I was bidding in, I looked over and said,
there's something fishy about this auction. So I'm going to stay in it and I'm going to see
where the price ends, but I guarantee you this car won't actually sell. The hammer comes down.
It's way above where it should have been. A week, 78 days later, I get a call
from bring a trailer that says, Hey, we want to connect you with the seller. There was no deal.
That's how I bought my M three. I have a witness that I said the two things that would happen.
I said that that will not go through and I guarantee you I get a call or an email asking
if I still want to buy that car. Both things happened because it was obvious when you're
that good. You're just that good. Well, I don't think it's good. I think it's, but again, it's
when you have an experience that goes from, I've been to some of the biggest dealer auctions.
I mean, look, we got one at the top of North Vegas here. We got another one, you know,
sort of in central Vegas. I've been to auto auctions in the Midwest. I've been to Barrett.
I've been to Meekam. Pebble. Amelia. You just, you just pick up on
things. It's not because you, you're not trying to pick up on them, right? You're not trying to say,
excuse me, this is going on or that's going on. You go, this doesn't add up. And one of the most
popular things that most people don't realize, and I remember I saw a certain collection probably
out a decade ago that came up for auction, decent cars, nothing special. And it ramped up the crowd
on Saturday, which is sort of, they call it super Saturday. And, you know, it's kind of like the
night everybody has, right? Cause you can drink. You didn't have to go to work. You don't have to
work on Sunday. So they're pumping these, these, these, this collection up. And I remember looking
at the guy I was with, cause we were waiting for that to be over. There was a couple of cars he
was looking at. I remember saying, these cars are already sold. And he's like, what are you talking
about? I said, there's no bidders. I said, all this is fake. And he's like, what do you mean?
I said, they, they predestined the deal. So let's say the whole collection was worth 20 million.
They already got somebody to say, I'll pay 20 million for all that, but go through the auction.
So it didn't matter what the bids were, the cars were already sold. We have a representative,
because the guy I was with has a lot of money. They want to keep him happy. He's one of those.
We go into this room that they have for guys like him. And I remember we're, we did buy a
couple of cars. And so, you know, we're kind of finalizing it and how we're going to get on
transport and all that. And the guys, the host, the VIP guy there was really nice. And I said,
hey, that collection auction was a little strange. And he kind of looked at me and I go,
those cars were pre sold. He goes, no comment. Look, if you've learned anything from the show,
just about everything is pretty WWE-ish. All right. Oh, that's a good way. That's a good way
of putting it. Like, you know, I mean, everything's like a money in the bank match. Exactly. Great
reference. Yes. I don't know, good for better, for worse. I mean, we enjoyed WWE growing up,
right? If you know what's going on, you can enjoy it. If you are in a purchasing situation and
you know what's going on, you just got to be careful. And I've actually kind of said this on
this podcast. So you can listen to a lot of people that deal in the various parts of the economy,
whether they're a law enforcement agent, whether they are somebody that has that in their backstory,
horses, fine art, luxury real estate, that used to be the holy trinity of laundering money.
Nobody ever really saw the car business in that way. But I can tell you those inside go
nice way to park some money if it's illegal. If I finished that video from earlier, which I
didn't because I already got out of it, some of the cars, I think one of them might have been
like High Mileage Carrera, we'll say, or High Mileage, just so that still going for stupid money.
Let me tell you what it has. It has the look of fine art. Cars have gotten to this place,
and I'm talking about certain cars here. You talk about it. It really used to be hard to have
enough million dollar transactions to really launder serious money. When you can walk to
an auction now and drop 30 mil on a collection that's coming across the block. If you're not
laundered, I told you on this podcast and all you that listen, there was some recent Ferrari
big results. And I had five real Ferrari collectors independently message me and go,
these people don't have the kind of money to buy that car. Something's fishy.
Yeah. And we talked about that. We covered that. I remember you can go back. I'm telling you when
you look at it and when you go down these rabbit holes, it is not, I'm not saying any of this to
discourage any of you. If there's a car on a platform and it's the one you want and that's
what you want, you just better understand diligence is the name of the game and you better know what
you're doing. And you also just better be good with whatever happens because nobody's there to
protect you. And I don't think that's right. I've never thought that was right. I never thought
the Barrett's and the Meekums and the Sotheby's and I never thought they should be able to
really have a very low amount of skin in the game, not protecting people. I'm not saying that
they don't at some level, but they don't nearly high enough. Have you thought enough because
you've been in so long of guardrails that did make sense? Talking about evolution. I'm going to
tell you the simplest thing that should happen. Okay. You should be able to choose between four
five PPI companies. Okay. Meaning, here's what should happen in my book.
They should have five PP, let's say you're bringing a trailer or cars and bids.
They should have five PPI companies that they have a relationship with that's completely independent
from them, that they make the seller say, okay, you can only call one of these five PPI companies
and they need to go through your car with a fine tooth comb. Here's what they should do.
You would solve 95% of the everyday auction would be solved with that PPI being done prior to it
being listed. There's a reason they don't do that by the way. I was just about to say because they
would list about half the cars. Yeah, crazy. That's the truth. They would lift and by the way,
I think that's being generous. Do you think it changes honestly or is it no push to really,
because the people playing in a game are different level of people? Well,
so when you run an auction and I've talked to people that do run auction houses
in different states or different levels, one of the things that becomes very, very, very, very
cars, if they don't get the dealers to post their cars, they're never going to have enough cars to
sell, right? So that's where all the volume comes from. If they don't do that, they can't sell enough
cars. Dang, and that's it. So you can't PPI cars from dealerships. It just is what it is.
They're not going to do that. They're going to lose 50% of their listings overnight. I feel
like we're going to have a lot more of these conversations just because if what we've already
talked about and seen in 17 months is what this much of a hub hub in the industry or in that world,
just wait, dude. People are going to start posting more of these videos and stories and what not,
but we'll end the plane with that. We have, what do we got coming up? We got
some videos on hyperclean store coming up. We have UFC 250. We have 4th of July coming up soon.
Maybe something we'll whip up for the listeners of this podcast as a special happy 250 to everybody,
but go follow hyperclean store at hyperclean store on Instagram and all across the socials,
hypercleanstore.com for some of the best detailing products. We had an email real quick. It was
just how to clean up bird poop. I was going to suggest the newest product juice. If you just
clean the car and you got bird poop, clean it off, wipe it off, eco one, eco one, whatever works.
All right, everybody. Enjoy the rest of your days and we'll see you next week. See you guys.
About this episode
A Toyota brake noise turns into a tow-and-repair story, then the hosts get into how small service choices snowball—like rotor resurfacing missteps and neglected transmission fluid. The conversation widens to car culture: “purist” labels, insecurity-driven criticism, and why modern buyers chase unmodified classics while bad mods inflate prices. They also dig into auction manipulation (shill bidding, fine print, and documentation gaps), and connect longer U.S. vehicle ownership to right-to-repair debates and the coming hybrid/EV shift.
If you're a parts manufacturer or supplier that want's to be apart of either the 2003 LX470 or 2014 Gen 1 SVT Raptor, get in touch with us via email at [email protected]
Follow the show on social @ClutchCulturePod on Instagram & TikTok
