A wide-body kit is extra body panels that make the car look wider. People do it for a tougher look and to fit wider tires, but not everyone likes the styling.
Bring a Trailer is a website where car enthusiasts bid on cars. If a car is listed there, the price can jump because lots of hobbyists are watching.
Term
spade-to-spade
“Spade-to-spade” basically means the whole deal, from beginning to end. Here, it means you can judge the car better when you see all of it up close.
Term
wagon V
“Wagon V” is a shorthand reference to a performance “V” model in wagon form, tying the host’s earlier mention of a CTS-V wagon to the idea of a rare performance wagon. It’s not a formal trim name, but it’s clearly used as a nickname in the conversation.
The HR-V is a small crossover SUV made by Honda. It’s meant for everyday driving and is usually easier to park than bigger SUVs. The podcast is basically calling it out as part of what’s being shown.
Term
Barrett me come
This sounds like the host meant Barrett-Jackson, a famous collector-car auction. They’re saying these kinds of behind-the-scenes issues have existed for a long time.
Sotheby’s is a famous auction company that sells high-end collectibles. Here it’s mentioned as an example of a big-name auction where the host says shady behavior has been around.
The WRX is a sporty Subaru sedan that’s built for quick, confident driving. It usually comes with all-wheel drive, which helps it grip the road. The podcast is talking about interest in buying one.
The host is saying car dealers are often involved behind the scenes. Because dealers have lots of cars to sell, they can list vehicles repeatedly, which can make the market feel more “real” than it actually is.
An auction platform is a website where people list cars and other people bid on them. It can affect how much the car sells for and who even sees the listing.
“The market” means the going prices for a certain kind of car. The host is saying that if prices are manipulated upward, it can raise costs for other buyers too.
The Corvette is a sports car made by Chevrolet that’s designed to be fast and exciting to drive. It’s usually expensive compared with most cars. The podcast is mentioning how many are sold at that price level.
The Land Cruiser is a large SUV made by Toyota that’s built for rough roads and long-distance driving. The podcast specifically mentions the “hundred series” version. It’s being used as an example of something the hosts have noticed in that model.
They mean auction websites that are more open and clear about what’s being sold. If something isn’t right, they’re saying the platform will step in to fix it or make it right.
They’re talking about buying cars through online auctions—watching the bid, seeing how close it is to the end, and trying to avoid scams. They also discuss what auction sites should do to keep the process fair.
They’re talking about scams in online car auctions. The idea is that some sites do things to make sure the listing and bidding are trustworthy, so buyers don’t get tricked.
The Ram 1500 is a full-size pickup truck. The podcast is talking about a new 2027 version and how it may be connected to other plans or partnerships. This matters to people who want to know what’s coming next.
This is a future version of the Ram 1500 pickup. The host is saying Roush is getting involved to make it more performance-focused, but it won’t have the big forced-induction setup right away.
Roush is a company that makes performance upgrades for cars and trucks. Here, they’re being described as working with the new Ram 1500 to add performance and styling changes.
“Direct connection” sounds like a program where Roush’s upgrades are offered through a direct partnership. The host is basically saying it’s not just random aftermarket stuff—it’s connected to Roush’s lineup.
A supercharger is a device that forces extra air into the engine. That extra air helps the engine make more power, which is why it’s a big deal on performance trucks.
Suspension is what connects the wheels to the body and helps the truck handle bumps and turns. It affects how smooth the ride feels and how well the tires stay planted.
The Dodge Charger is a popular American performance car. In this discussion, it’s brought up as one of the models that can come with Chrysler’s “Hemi” performance engine options.
“Hemi” is a nickname for a type of engine design that Chrysler used. The combustion chamber is shaped like a half-sphere, which helps the engine breathe and burn fuel efficiently—often making it feel more powerful.
The Durango is Dodge’s larger SUV. The hosts are talking about it in the context of “Hemi” versions, meaning it can be offered with a more powerful V8-style engine option.
The Rogue is a compact SUV made by Nissan. It’s the kind of car many people buy for everyday driving with a bit more space than a sedan. The podcast is mentioning that its sales are increasing.
The Sentra is a compact four-door car made by Nissan. The podcast is comparing sales changes between several popular models. The point is that the Sentra’s sales are moving up by a certain percentage.
The Nissan Frontier is Nissan’s mid-size pickup. In this segment, they’re using it as an example of a truck that’s selling better, likely because other options are getting too expensive.
A configurator is a website tool where you choose options for a car—like packages and features—to see what the most expensive version looks like. It can also show when you’ve hit the limit of what’s available.
Term
$7,500 tax credit
A tax credit is like a discount on your taxes. If you qualify, it can lower the real cost of an EV, but it doesn’t automatically apply to every buyer or every car.
Term
performance one
A “performance” version is the more driver-focused version of a car. It usually costs more and is set up to feel quicker or handle better than the basic version.
The Tesla Model Y is an all-electric SUV/crossover. The point being made is that Tesla offers it in a few clear versions, rather than a huge number of confusing trim choices.
The Tesla Model 3 is an all-electric car. The hosts are talking about how Tesla sells it in different versions—like a simpler “base” setup and a more expensive “performance” setup.
The XTerra is an SUV that’s built for more rugged driving than a typical city-focused vehicle. The podcast is talking about the idea of bringing it back. That means they’re discussing a possible return of a more off-road style SUV.
The Honda Pilot is a family SUV with three rows of seats. The discussion is about how Honda offers lots of different trims, which can make the price jump a lot depending on what you pick.
The Honda Element is a quirky, boxy Honda SUV that people associate with outdoor/utility use. The hosts are basically saying Honda might be better off introducing something new instead of revisiting the Element idea.
The Honda Prelude is a Honda two-door sports car. It’s the kind of car people associate with driving feel rather than just being practical. The podcast is talking about whether the Prelude is still relevant or truly discontinued.
The Toyota FJ Cruiser is a rugged-looking SUV that’s meant for off-road adventures. The hosts are using it as an example of the kind of off-road direction they think Honda should talk about.
Term
HO
“HO” usually means “high output,” which is a more powerful version of an engine. They’re using it to compare different truck setups and what they cost.
They’re talking about an engine called the “Hurricane.” “In-line six” means it has six cylinders lined up in a row, which can make the engine run smoothly.
They’re talking about warranty coverage. “Three year 36” means you’re covered for a set time and a set mileage limit, so repairs related to the covered parts should be handled within that window.
The Volkswagen Golf is a small car, usually a hatchback, meant for everyday use. The podcast mentions it in a trade-in and shopping scenario, where someone is considering a GTI. It’s being used as an example of a practical car choice in a family’s vehicle lineup.
The Bugatti Chiron is a super-expensive, ultra-fast hypercar. It’s famous for having a very powerful engine and for being the kind of car people brag about when they’re talking about big money.
Prevost is a coachbuilder famous for luxury motorcoaches used by wealthy owners for long-distance travel. The host compares how some people buy them but use them rarely, similar to how boats are used seasonally.
Airstream is a well-known brand of travel trailers—those shiny, streamlined camping trailers. The host is saying they saw a Rivian towing one for an adventure.
Term
camping
Here, “camping” means using your EV like part of your trip. The point is that you can’t fully escape charging—you still need somewhere to plug in.
Private equity is a company that invests money by buying other businesses or properties. The host is saying some racing tracks got bought and repackaged so they’re more like exclusive clubs.
This means the car is claiming it has a very advanced night-vision system. The idea is that it helps you see better when it’s dark, using special sensors or cameras instead of just normal headlights.
Drive modes are buttons or settings that change how the car drives. For example, they can make it feel more responsive for spirited driving or more relaxed for everyday cruising.
An “infotainment screen” is the main display used for media, navigation, and vehicle settings. A 15.6-inch screen indicates a large, tablet-like interface that’s meant to be the primary control hub.
This is a screen meant for the passenger, not the driver. It’s usually for entertainment or controlling certain features so the front seat isn’t just watching the driver’s screen.
This is a hidden storage space in the car. The idea is you can stash small items out of sight, usually in a compartment that’s not obvious at first glance.
Audi is a well-known luxury car brand from Germany. Here it’s mentioned because the speaker says Audi’s CEO commented publicly about something related to the topic.
Tariffs are extra taxes on imported products. Here, the idea is that if tariffs change, Chinese-made EVs could become more expensive or harder to sell in North America.
It means the systems that make electric cars work in real life. That includes charging stations and the power setup behind them. The point here is that policy changes could affect whether that whole setup grows as planned.
Concept
stand behind it as the manufacturer
The speaker is talking about whether the company will take responsibility if the product fails. If they don’t back it up with real help—like fixing the problem or refunding—customers and dealers get stuck.
A “bricked” car is basically a car that stops working properly because its computer systems fail. The speaker is saying dealers have seen this happen and that it hasn’t been fixed or handled well.
Off-road parts are upgrades or replacements made for driving on rough trails, not just regular roads. They usually need to handle more bumps, dust, and stress.
In this context, “lighting” refers to aftermarket vehicle lights (like headlights or auxiliary lights) that are sold as replacement or upgrade parts. The speaker is criticizing a lack of testing/verification, which can lead to unreliable output and frequent replacements.
Quality control means checking a product before it’s shipped so it’s not defective. With car parts, it helps prevent you from getting something that breaks quickly.
Alibaba is a website where you can buy products directly from sellers, sometimes including car parts. The concern here is that you might not get the same quality checking you’d expect from a local supplier.
The Tundra is Toyota’s larger pickup truck. The podcast mentions it with the Tacoma when talking about where Toyota is focusing its efforts. This is about making sure the trucks are available to more buyers in that area.
The Tacoma is a mid-size pickup truck from Toyota. The podcast talks about it along with the Tundra when discussing Toyota’s strategy in a certain city. The point is that having these trucks there can help Toyota reach more buyers.
LIVE
What's going on everyone if you're not into sports corner, which we typically do in the middle of the show
We're gonna have to do it at the top of the show because I was heartbroken. I didn't even text you that night
I was just like so lost for words
The champ the dutch and champ the guy the the monumental figure that is Conor Gregor. He might just be done
Mike he was done for he stepped in the ring
Did you got that vibe too? I
don't
And what I mean by that is it's just convenient to go ring rust
What he did at the beginning of that fight proves what ring rust really is terrible game plan now
His coach is coming out and saying that was the plan
That he didn't just kind of do something crazy, which makes it even
infinitely more questionable
That they had been practicing this and this was the the beginning of the fight and I get it back in the day
He always wanted to do one crazy move at the beginning. Well, this isn't back in the day
And this is where ring rust shows up
That's a terrible game plan. I mean it proved to be terrible
I was waiting for the spinning back kick at least, you know start with yeah
But here's the deal when you haven't been in the fire come out touch gloves
Circle around a little bit get your feet underneath you and then try something. Yeah, you know, this isn't you and your prime
So if him and his coach came up with this
You have to question all of it because that that's insanity like you need to get in there feel your way through the fight
Look patty put on a show
You know the card was great. It was deflating. Yeah, but you know when I saw max Holloway
You know sort of next to Connor like I think he was getting mold regardless like
People don't realize I mean max looked like he carried that 70 pretty well
And he looks pretty big, you know at 70 which you wouldn't have said years ago about him
Yeah, he's sort of matured into being able to go between 55 and 70
I don't think he really wants to cut to 55 anymore. But yeah, man, it sucks that it happened
I mean, but that's a terrible game plan
Did you see did you see the video of the the mic the hot mic that somebody caught when they like hugged at the end and max
Was like dude, why the fuck did you come back?
You know and then Connor immediately turns around and that's when he puts his hands on the on the cage like god damn
That was it. It's sad man. I mean, I think anybody that's watched
You know boxing or fighting or combat sports long enough like this stuff always, you know, what's what's the old line from cocktail?
Everything ends badly or it wouldn't end
I mean, it's it sucks
Still talking like there's gonna be you know, he's gonna you know rehab and
Look man, it's it's time, you know 37 a lot of mileage on and off some cycles a lot of
You know extracurricular, you know, he's not a 37 and always in shape is a lot different than 37
Terrible broken leg, you know all this kind of stuff getting battered beat by life and decisions
I think it's a it's a wrap. Yeah, I think from here
Just go ahead and get the politics Connor go to go help the fighting Irish over there in Ireland
Having some issues. Yeah, one of the funny things listening to Connor is is he really makes you believe Ireland was like this really peaceful place all the time
It's like, I don't know
They call you the fighting Irish for a reason. Yeah. Yeah, I think there was some war
That that went on there for a long time, but look man, you gotta love I didn't really love the lead up to it
I thought, you know, hey people change and people evolve. I don't really have an issue with that
I thought he lost his spark. Something didn't seem right. I didn't think he was gonna blow his knee
I mean, don't get me wrong, but it just didn't feel like
You know, you know, you're never gonna be the old Connor at 37, right?
You're a much different person at 30 to 32 than 37 to 41 or you know, whatever. Yeah
He just didn't seem right and you know, it sucks. We didn't get to see a couple punches thrown there
Yeah, was it better or worse than Gina Carano, Ronda Rousey? I never watched that
What I saw I probably saw on Instagram or tiktok yet
But I was long enough to see it so the car the card
I'll tell you what man
If Patty doesn't run into Gagey, I
Mean he's on a run. Yeah, like this and now seems like he's got his diet
You know the right diet guys around him like he is really I mean to Darce Choka dude
Yeah, and I mean filthy. Yeah, like for those have never seen that in person
That is gnarly and he took a lot of punishment from Gagey when they fought
So I think when they run it back because I think they will inevitably run it back as long as he can just avoid a lot of those
You know plaster hands. He'll be fine
Yeah, like and Gagey was all over Vegas
You know playing golf and they said his hands were still pretty swollen
But man, he's just like
You just can't stand with him. Yeah, like that. I mean patty's got to figure out a way to get this dude down
Yeah, like if you you're in this camp you go look, I don't have all the answers, but you can't stand with we're gonna start with this one
You need to do like the jujitsu competition and just fall on your back
Just put your hands in your
All right, dude, I found your next car I found your next car
And the problem the only problem is not a problem
But the auction ends tomorrow and I know you have a big trip coming up
But I need you to make this happen and I'm gonna first pull up the article
So it doesn't give away the price, but I want to get your thoughts when you lay eyes on this what I would consider beauty
I
2012 blue I've only seen one of these blue CTSV wagons in my life in person
It's got a it's got a wide-body kit on it if you didn't that looks so good. This looks like dream good
Is that a manual it is a manual?
It's got 17,000 miles of think on it. I
Mean that's gonna be gotta be big six figures
Well, can I actually switch without it? I won't switch for you
Take a guess take a guess where where we're landing. There's one day left in this auction. This is this will be the fourth owner
85
It's on bring a trailer. It's got 19,000. I said 17
60,500 whoa
Yeah, I would assume that would I'm gonna assume this hit six figures, right?
I thought so too, but in the next 24 hours, I guess I mean, yeah, I guess we could talk about that too
But just what before we get to that one just ask in the glory that is this
Special man so special so it's always been special. I like the
Look the wide-body stuff is gonna turn off a certain segment of buyers
That's called spade-to-spade, but I think the way that it's done very like to see all the stuff up close
But that looks frickin awesome. Yeah, like that. That's just that's just
the epitome of cool
Like that that's all-time cool. That looks really good
That's well done. Yeah, and by the way, that is a proper car to put a plp on by the way
And he did it right. He did
Wagon V. I'm just gonna get to the point
HRV's on there. Yeah, if you didn't know what you're looking at wagon V, you know now
Hey, well done. Yeah, bravo those to whoever whoever made this happen
Too bad this episode won't drop because it'll all be done with but yeah
16,500 where it's at with 24 hours to go. I imagine it'll be closest to 100 if it's not over 100. Yeah
should be I mean we have some very interesting results as of recently and
We're seeing a lot of people get up in arms. I would say and
Everybody welcome to the party. You were about six or eight years late
and actually if you're really looking at your decades late to how the auction world works, but
there's a lot of stuff that
Getting on the radar and bring a trailer seems to be at the heart of it getting on the radar of people for all the wrong reasons
It it never really plays out. Well, does it? I don't know where this ends
But there there is some shady and that was an SLS, right? I believe so. I'm actually trying to pull it up
Funny enough. I cannot all of a sudden Google like quickly readily Google this car
It scrubbed it on you
Brother it's in my back pocket. I'm about to put it on right now
Under your hat if I can't pull this up
But go on because you you know, we've been talking about it on here for a long time
It's funny how many other people actively are much more vocal not just about this particular thing
But just name the topic manufacturers CEOs whatever everybody's everybody seemingly been a lot more comfortable in the last couple years
Following the trend of bringing up things that that have already been people have already taken heat for you
And we see a lot of that in the Toyota world where people are now more willing to speak out about
Pricing and and weird stock levels and inventory levels and I think when you look at bring a trailer right now
you have far too many shady auctions and and I always I
Would kind of put this out to the audience and it's something that we say a lot you and I talking on business on the other side that we
do privately
When you talk about where we're at as a society news doesn't only travel fast it travels to everybody right and so
There's a lot of things where
You look around and you go do do people think that no one's gonna say anything
Like do you think no one's gonna catch on and that seems to be how bring a trailer's handling this stuff is like well
This won't really get out. It's like no it's going to be out
And it's going to be out instantaneously and so for everybody that didn't follow this
Let's just I know you got to pull it up for the YouTube audience. Yeah, let's kind of say this as just
What made this very odd was essentially
somebody bidding very large numbers that look like they were trying to make a
No sale happen like this this wasn't actually gonna get paid for right
But they were trying to get a sold auction on record to boost the SLS market, right the comps for that car. Yeah, so
There's only I'd love to hear what everybody thinks about this, but as soon as
You have to assume that when you run an auction
And this is a big assumption by the way
But you would have to assume that let's say you have ten auctions
That are going to finish every day or 20 auctions or 30 auctions or 50 auctions that you have a staff member or team member
Watching a certain subset of auctions like hey, you got these ten auctions, you know
Rob's got these ten auctions and so on and so forth
When this popped up and it started
Nobody was bidding and this guy just kept you know
They would place a bid for like another thousand and this guy would place a bid for another 75 grand. Yeah, 100,000. Yeah
so you would look at this and you'd have a
Realistic expectation that whoever's monitoring this whoever's doing this whoever's a part of this on the team side of things
You would basically say to them
When something shady happens, we need to shut the auction down. I
Business is to sell the car
You have this thing completely at odds now where for everybody that doesn't know bring a trailer's private equity
Just like cars and bids has private equity involved in it
There's nothing wrong with that but that has to be said as the story here
And what seems to have happened in the last couple years is like screw it. Let it fly. Yeah
And it's exposed
Something that's been going on the entire time because they've done it with basically no oversight and
Barrett me come
Sotheby's name this shit's always been going on
The problem is now information not only travels fast it travels wide and
I don't think everybody
Including the people running bring a trailer or these auction sites realize it's not about how fast it travels
It's that you don't know how wide it travels
And I wonder if some of the thought processes
Well, there's only a certain type of clientele that's really in and out of these big money cars
And if they don't care and they know what's up then if it spreads wide to the people trying to buy a Subaru WRX on here
I mean, whatever like they don't care. Yeah, but it's I
Think the thing that's been hidden from the general public that's now a little bit more well known
But still not accepted is how many dealers are involved in these shady practices. That's the bigger story here, right?
Like because we've said to our crowd the entire time. There's only one way to get volume
So all of these auction platforms whether you're Barrett me come cars and bids bring a trailer
The way you pump out
Invent inventory or numbers is you need dealers involved because they have all the inventory. Yeah, and you know, it's funny
I love coming across so you'll let's just say you see a car on an auction site or one of these boutique
Dealers is actually an even better example and they're trying to sell a car
It might be special special ish for crazy money and then a couple weeks later
I see it on bring a trailer or somewhere else and the comments are like so and so just had this listed for like
95 and now they're trying to sell it, you know for 60 over here at whatever
That's really interesting people are calling it out. They're putting it in the comments and well
That's what I mean by the wide thing. Yeah, right. So I think everybody understands the internet age things travel fast
I think people underestimate how wide it goes. Yeah, how many people get the information and how many people are
Now aware and it goes to integrity of your business
Now everybody can say that that that bring a trailer is not going to be hurt by this because nothing really hurts you in the moment
What ultimately hurts you as long term if people think your platform is constantly involved in a shady deal?
Yeah, and that's not going to affect you in
July of 2026
But it could affect you in July of 2028, right and I've said this to people
That that that have been involved in auctions that I talked to privately. I've shared it with all of you
There is nothing inherently wrong with however you choose to buy a car a dealer an auction whatever
But there's all these games that you and the general public
Think or stories like this SLS story. This really isn't a story to me. I go
this is part for what's been going on and
I think the finger pointing is the thing to talk about like what do you that auction should have been shut down or should
Have been no no sale. It should have been listed as no sale
They should have red flagged it or whatever system you come up with
Because what you do hurt is the entire market and who cares what level of buyer?
I don't care if it's a rich person somebody in a middle class somebody trying to buy something for 10 grand
I don't support this at any level. Yeah, right and it's easy to say what kind of how you put it
Which is like, you know who people are gonna say well, what's it matter that it's the rich buyer?
Well when it happens to them it trickles to you. Yeah, because now somebody's gonna do that
Like you said in the WRX market take a guy who corners WRX market not in a literal sense, but he's got
20 of these things that you don't know about
He's he's consolidated him. He has one of his buddies go into two or three auctions that he puts online and
Ramp the price of that car up and that's your that's your dream car at the moment
And now it goes from you can get one for 52 and now it's 97
Well, you didn't care what happened to the guy at the top of the market
But what follows is everything downstream and this has been happening and
We've seen it on lower-end sales of you know a 100000 dollar Corvette
Which again is not a low number, but you know what I mean, it's not a 750 thousand dollar result
So don't think it's not happening everywhere. I mean
You know, we've seen signs of this in the hundred series Land Cruiser when you have some people that have just
circled that market for a lot of years and
They buy up a bunch of them and and they even put some work into them
And they put a tire and suspension package on it now
They want to get an extra 20 or $30,000 and and this just happens at every corner of the market and the story right now
To me is what do we where's the responsibility fall here?
Because it's easy just to keep saying that the the the consumer should know better
But also you have parties complicit in doing this
Yeah, not only from the dealer to now to bring a trailer is complicit in these types of sales numbers
It's almost as if the gambling, you know sites or casinos didn't flag those those deals
You know, we know of a lot of instances where they put a halt to a bet because of whatever irregularities
That happens all the time FBI gets involved, you know
UFC's got a string of these things going on right now
But for it to not happen with very high dollar amount cars at all just kind of be like, yeah, it's whatever
It's that's insane. We've said this you can you can research people that are very high up and
Intelligence agencies that have talked about all these places where you can funnel money
one of the places that now looks like it's becoming a hotbed of
questionable activity is the car market
where it used to be
high-end art
high-end real estate and horses that
Used to be like the the triple crown so to speak to bring it to the horse world of
Laundering money and now there's a real conversation of there is some really
unseemly things happening inside of
The not only the luxury car market, but all parts of the aftermarket
You know from from small sales to large sales. We continue to see this and the question has to be asked
Who's gonna be held responsible because you can only throw it on the consumer for so long before a government agency gets tipped off
Yeah, and now everybody's funds over
Right everybody that's a great
Don't you actually don't you actually think like we're not that far from somebody being like a
Politician gets raked over the coals in one of these sales gets gets pissed off about it
All of a sudden people start looking into it. You start to have real problems
That's how all of this stuff plays out in and out of the car market
That's true. Yeah, if you don't know how to play the game and you're gonna be a loudmouth about it
It's gonna be ruin the fun for everybody. Well
This is irresponsible
And I don't know that I have the answer for for bring a trailer they seem to be
Really at the middle of a lot of this here recently. Yeah
But it's probably time to come up with an answer
Yeah, at least make it seem like I'm not saying don't actually solve it
But let us or those inquiring know that there's some oversight like some serious oversight stuff like this
Don't just try to brush it on the rug or erase it. Yeah, cuz I haven't looked into it. So I want to be fair
I don't think any statements been made by bring a trailer. I didn't see one
And that's not to say that there isn't one again
But no, I didn't see one and well this being so and then not just so irregular
But the number of people that caught the irregularity and then made videos about it and went into detail about how often this person had posted
This was like the first, you know, deal or whatever the increments and the timeline people really investigated this particular one
And it makes you that's gonna make people go back and look at other markets and other numbers and then start breaking those down
And that is a wormhole that's not good for bring a trailer or the auction world in general
And that's not good for any of us that want to buy cars that we love. Yeah, right?
So to think it doesn't affect you and again the general consumer buying a
Brand-new car off the lot. This doesn't affect you
But for those of you that want to add that third car
That you've been wanting to buy
There's stuff like this going on and one of the things I warned a lot of people privately about for years when these online auctions came up
at first
They were really really shady in the way that they didn't let everybody know that there was a dealer involved
That was sort of the beginning of this
That got more transparent over the years that there's a dealer involved, but let's be clear early on there was a lot of
Let's say hiding of how many dealers were involved and I don't know if that was necessarily on purpose or it was just
They weren't really all that transparent
They were new platforms and they were just kind of flying by the seat of their pants, but now
There's a lot of dealers in bed with these platforms and I got to tell you man that that doesn't leave a good feeling
For anybody. I don't think yeah, and I imagine this is how things like low miles no miles
I originally when we started the show, I don't know if even at the time they were an auction site or how they were operating their business
But I think that was after we started. Yeah, I think it was after so I think that's what brings up these other again to be
You know transparent is we've always talked about transparency
So these transparent platforms are people that want to create an experience that they know
You're getting what we're telling you're getting and if you don't we're gonna make sure that we know we correct it
So but speaking of auctions that we talked about stonecolds Toyota the other day on low miles no miles
That one ends in two days. You want to take a guess at what the high bid is right now?
Be reasonable here be reasonable
We are talking about an 8741 now. It's unfortunately 156 really yeah
That's pretty low. Yeah, I thought it would go for thirty. I think originally when we talked about it
I don't know man. I saw some Barrett stuff that some old trucks that I saw go for like fifties
I was assuming this would be a big number what like older like Chevy's type trucks
Chevy's there was older older Tacomas like all kinds of stuff. Yeah, there's been some big big results in that world
152 actually is where it's at right now
So there's two days left as of the recording of this episode, so we'll see what it goes for
I think it'll get pretty close to 20 this is also a platform if the low miles no miles guys
You know come across us speaking about this
I'd like to get these types of platforms on record as what they're seeing
You know what they think of things like these these fraudulent auctions and you know what they're doing to combat it
I mean, obviously, they're a smaller site, so I think that probably helps them
They're a little bit more personally involved with a lot of sales, but I think a lot of these platforms
I'd even say this about well cars and bids
You know cars and bids is probably gonna have to start speaking out, you know, I
Know that's that's a tough thing to ask and I'm not saying if you don't you're involved
I'm just saying like at some point people are gonna have to in the auction
We're gonna have to start taking some leadership on this and go hey, this is how we're avoiding that
We're avoiding what is going on at this other place by these different things in our process and how we do things because
This could just spiral and it feels like it is kind of spiraling
Yeah, and I will say since you brought up cars and bids since we're about the you know
We're crossing the half hour mark almost
Hey, if you saw that Jack Jaguar video that posted the Jaguar not Jaguar
I should have been like hey English is my second language, right? I'm sorry. I'm not very good at being an order online
Even though I've gotten compliments forever. Yeah, I've said this you had to be get beat up as a kid
Sitting there worried about how people pronounce and apparently I've been saying Audi wrong. Well, it's Audi
You know, I can't say Audi. No, no, I think I think people make fun of you if you say
Audi right at the wall. They spelt it a ww is like oh whoever says Audi. I don't know Audi
Who care speech please your dorks. I hate those people. You know, it really grinds my ears
Yeah, I think dorks is kindly putting off for sure. I'm trying to get out here still
You to be the bigger person
But somebody actually mentioned like the cars in or Doug DeMiro didn't get large or big
Whatever by by saying sort of like knee-jerk opinions. I'm like, hey guy. I need you to relax real quick
You don't know how many views we've gotten in 17 months. Okay, you don't know how big we are on this show
and I'll say another thing
our Jaguar
opinion is
an opinion shared by
Doug and
Hovey and everyone else those people so so what the hell are you talking about and and I will say this
That is the first clip. We've had tons of views on
That I'm convinced
There are bots. I knew you're gonna say the amount of people that's like that's kind of sick or it's actually sick a f
I'm like and that well
And I'm gonna tell people a little bit of behind the scenes because I'm I'm not a nerd about this stuff
Yeah, how many of those people you clicked on their profile and they had zero followers?
00 following zero any and I go this may be the first time I go. I understand this bot conversation now
You imagine though the companies you're paying to obviously have these things kind of like what do you call farmed?
Just bought farmed and there's no there's no doubt like I truly believe we saw a lot of that on on this
For people to start coming out of the woodwork
Nobody was supporting this move
Nobody would say that this is an evolution of a great design company
It's the first time I really thought to myself like oh, they're paying people
Oh go and create a different narrative on the internet and that's pretty wild to see you're a part of it
Yeah, and but I love people that replied back to those being like yeah sick as in bad sick like I need
Sick as like I'm getting sick. Yeah, exactly. Oh
Man, you gotta love the internet
But does drive me up a wall because if it's not a bot
I really feel bad for the way that some people, you know
By the way, if it's not a bot you got some serious problems serious issues
All right, we're gonna take a left turn here and talk about a brand we talk about a lot
But there is a new 2027 Ram 1500 that is now going to be partnered or another part of the Roush lineup
so there's a
Direct connection, I believe they call it. Yeah direct connection by Roush
It's basically TRX without the supercharger for now unless or until Roush releases a supercharger for it
So what would Roush do if it's not the supercharger all the other little bits like the suspension
Tires wheels even the hood I believe is like Roush so
We've been a big supporter of what it seems like they're doing which is going back to their roots
I also got to say this let's get the trucks out
Let's stop with the announcements right like I mean, it's it's time
You guys have done a lot of PR here and I celebrate it you celebrated that they're trying to explain to people were back
But I mean they got a hundred different B options. They got, you know, the R. R. H. Oh, they got the TRX
Now they got some Roush alternative. It's like guys. Let's just get some trucks out
Well, you know what's makes let's make sure they work
I don't have it pulled up but because you know, these haven't all obviously come out yet
But just since announcing and releasing more Hemi vehicles like in the charger or other variants SUVs like the Durango
Their second quarter was up 38%
Well, you're seeing the same out of Nissan. Yeah, really? Yeah, I think Nissan's actually experiencing a pretty pretty nice year as well like there's
There's a lot of getting back to basics that is
reinvigorating these
You know RAM being probably the mainstay, but all of the announcements from Nissan and what's coming
Seems to have done a pretty good job of getting people fired up
We say it to you guys all the time. I got to see the delivery of this stuff
You know, I mean, I got to see these companies really turn the corner, but you got a root for them
I don't care what the name on the the truck or the SUV or the car is, you know, we all need more options
Interesting options 10% up. Yeah
Total like 38% for the frontier 36 the centra the rogue up 30% as well
So the frontier I think is an interesting topic because the frontier being up is
In direct result of of the expensive in the rest of the market. Yes, I believe I think it's a direct result
So car and driver, I think it was maybe car scoops
They they went into the configurator for slate and they tried to max out basically all the specs
Did you see this by chance? No, no, they got it up to and and the reason they couldn't get any higher
They got it as high as it could before they ran out of options that had price tag
So there's still even more that didn't have a price to it
$46,000
I'm like, whoa
I'm sure some of those were silly add-ons, but still if you just check all the boxes you want to see what you can get it up to
That's nuts. I mean, so you're buying frontier buying around here for that because there's a rousal rangers. Yeah, I mean you're in all these
We were somebody that
And I kind of hate to go back to this but I feel like we got this is old. I just want to yes. Yes, I would agree with that
because
the reality of what slate was saying and this this is why I'm a big proponent of they have to shrink the time frames
because what happened is as
Slate stayed in development. I think they talk themselves into a lot more things
Instead of saying
Everybody just wants a 20,000-dollar truck, you know and for a duo that doesn't
Over-romanticize like with the realities of business and what it takes to make something and what it cost and understanding that hey
It is what it is you got to be able to adjust or just don't buy it
Don't sign the line when we do see things that are gonna be cheap and seem like they're gonna be exactly what the average American needs right now
I do get excited about it and we talk about it. We make clips about it whatever
But now in retrospect, I'm like, you know what they really just tugged at the heartstrings of somebody that wanted a $20,000 truck
Knowing damn well like ario speed wagon being the other brand that probably won't deliver on it
We're just far from a $21,000 anything and I think they're doing it to get buzz and that makes you feel bamboo
You said bamboozled it's like you well, you know, they told it they told everybody about the $7,500 tax credit
Well, remember this
They were telling you
27,000 get it down to 19 five
They never told you 25 and take the 7,500 off right so none of it
Transpired the way they talked about it none of it even if you take what they were talking about with the $7,500 tax credit
It was most mostly to get it down to 19 five
Yeah, then they released a price of 24 and some change and then you realize there's all these different things and I think
truthfully
Slate should have looked at how Tesla does things, right? It's sort of like you have a base one
You have a performance one you have a base one you have a performance one, you know something like that
In the Model 3 and in the Model Y that kind of mindset it goes back to what we've sent about
Bringing back things like XTERRA or whatever brand you want to talk about
Good better best has always worked
This 8910 trim models which essentially is where slate has landed which is you can add all this stuff on
It's like well, you're not unique. Yeah, that's what every I mean
I can we joke about Honda like Honda has like 11 trim models
That you can you know you buy a pilot and it starts at 45
But you can make it 68 and you go well, that's that's kind of a crazy swing, right? And I don't those aren't exact numbers
I'm just exaggerating, but it is what like ten trim models
Yeah, and that by the way that Honda element video PC people are pretty excited for a Honda element in the world
And I see what they're saying like we probably should have brought this up
I should have done a better job like I think they can do some cool off-road stuff with it
I don't know that they're gonna do that
But my point to the element was I don't know man. It's probably time to start thinking about your
Evolution and bringing out new things not going back to try to like I don't think Honda's in the position to keep going backwards
I don't think the preludes gone. Well, I just don't think that's the kind of brand
They are especially when you're missing some of these things that I think are out there in the world
I mean they'd have been better off saying here's our take on an FJ cruiser
Then going back to the element. Yeah, or honestly anything like pre-runner size and pre-runner type of truck
Like just get out there and talk about a company that has every possible ability and capability to do that kind of stuff and experiment
They just don't and you've said it a lot too. It's like it's not in their nature
But real quick before we move on I actually wanted to get to the pricing of that dodge real quick
If those of you that are interested in a mini TRX, I say mini it's a full-size, but without supercharger
The the add-on from Roush is 15 9 the truck is 64
So you're looking at about 78000 dollars. No no grand total of 80000 the RHO
Which has the hurricane in line six is 78 so for not much more you can get the the Hemi
But also it's eighty what happened what happened to the ten year 100000
I was just thinking that because yeah here. It's three year 36 I think this is for Roush though Roush specific vehicles
Again we're back into the confusion because right next to it. It's right here ten year
Hey, they got you click that add. Yeah, exactly
This is a lot get the trucks out man
This is where we're at with dodge love a lot of things we've seen love getting back to your roots
It's time to get some of these on the road. Yeah, let me just say well
It's right. It's Roush covers its parts with a three year 36
So I just want to make sure everybody knows we didn't over it's not an oversight. It's only art
It's in the article, but yeah, um, I mean ten year 100000 I'm telling you when these muscle trucks come out
I might just be like hey, let's trade in the
CX five and I'll just sell the GTI and let's just get two trucks will be that family that has two trucks for no
Three trucks and nothing to haul. It's not true. Hey, hey relax. You don't know what we do
I got a lot of trailers. I back up brother. I got at least one
One trailer and two trucks. That's so that's gonna be a silly video in the future two trucks one trailer
That's a new website. website
Okay, so let's let's take a breath here take a beat
We I think only talked about the Hamilton collection once and that was with the was a Koenig's egg drama, right?
Was that him? Yeah, it was Steve Hamilton and CVK. Yeah, I think that was I think it was I might be wrong
But I think it was regardless so there was a story that he apparently got fined by his condo communities HOA
$25,000, right? They did a stunt they jumped
They think they jumped something one of his
Koenig's eggs actually funny enough with a skateboard or a snowboard or something anyway
Made him angry. He decided to sell his lake house sell his Bugatti Chiron
And then is it in the middle of developing a 70 million dollar condo community of his own in Florida?
How did I mean, how's that?
You're not gonna tell me what to do
Hamilton collection. That's what it was. sounds like. Yeah. Hey wild
I do I do applaud that kind of behavior. I know you're not gonna tell me what to do exactly
I thought you would so how do you what do you thoughts on these condo communities?
Cuz they're a huge one here in Austin as you know by the track
I've been to some really cool ones I
I've been to some some cool places that you know
You got a lot of you got two or three storage places that are really nice in Scottsdale
And you know probably more than that, but I've only been to two or three. Yeah, I
Would say
And I'm not speaking about the investment of owning one of these things or not
I think they can be really cool
You know, I think they can be you know, sort of think of it like country club for car guys
You know, which is sort of the model everybody's going for I think there's there's some some validity to it
I'm not sure
When you start getting to the numbers that some of this stuff that to buy one of these things
I'm not sure the hanging out happens as much as everybody things
I know and so that that kind of you know, because when you have that kind of money you don't I mean
You're not really at these places very often. Is it safe to say you're not really hanging out all that much?
Now you sort of have your circle
Yeah, right like you're not and you know if you go into a community like this and let's say let's just use a hundred units or
200 units however many there are
You know, you're not friends with all those people
Maybe two of your buddies has one and you guys decide when you're gonna go down there
And it happens to be when nobody else is down there and you're just hanging out with your friends
But I'm not I'm not against any of these types of developments. I think they could be cool
But I don't I don't think they I think a lot of people think about what they are
It's very different in reality what they are. Yeah, it's one of those obviously you just look at it
Like oh, it's a very wealthy person who's got like a hideaway getaway kind of place and and probably has about ten of them
Yeah, it's one of a few. Yeah, like you know Jackson Hole and you know Lake Austin and then they have you know place in South Beach
and then yeah, I mean like
You get to a certain level and you realize like, you know
There's only so many places you can be in a year. Yeah. Yeah, true
Right like and and so a lot of these end up being like I went down there for three days in
2026 exactly I was about to say if you even do get away, which is funny
I know if you are getting away here shortly soon
But do you really want to get away that many times even if you have the time are you really trying to go out and do shit?
You know, yeah a lot a lot of it, you know, you get to some of these levels like I tell people I
Know a lot of people with really nice from yacht
Down to really nice boats. Yeah, and it doesn't get used all that often, right now
There's other people to go. I have a boat. We do it every weekend and it's like you're pretty rare. Yeah, like you're
You I think it's great for you that do like you're like this is our hobby like that's great
It's kind of like what we said about the RV thing like if you're you are
If that's what you do then the expense makes all the sense in the world
But there's a lot of people that own
Prevost and big and they use it once a year or don't use it at all and it just sits parked
I mean so it's just it's all levels of wealth and levels of what people do
But boats are like the easiest comparison because you know a lot of people with boats. Yeah that I mean maybe use it at
4th of July and then don't use it the rest of the year
Exactly that's a real reality too yesterday with the wife and I were going somewhere and we were talking about the podcast for some reason
I don't know what automobile came up, but all of a sudden your wife was like hey Nick's right
No, she's more like you and Nick sure do sound a lot because I think I said something like you just listen to me
If we'd be in a bet, you know, it'd be all good and she's like I wonder where I've heard that before
Yeah, which we both have said but I then see a Rivian pulling an airstream like the one we talked about
And I'm like there's no fucking way that I just saw that
As we're having the conversation in the car
So it made me obviously think of the last episode the airstream
Maybe it just obviously there's different levels of the sizes, but it was like
Two times the size of the Rivian of the whatever think about this if you have the the barbecue option in the bed of the Rivian
You really have the perfect
Fake camping setup because it's like you got this outdoor grill
You got this airstream that you got some things you can do on the end
I mean like that would be a pretty in my mind
I'm like they're going to go do a photo shoot because I
Didn't I couldn't believe they're actually gonna go you were looking for like corporate plates on the back
I'm a hundred percent
I just couldn't believe that they're actually going out on an adventure somewhere in the hill country in the Rivian and this airstream
I just I don't know why so is is is where you live like big camping like there are definitely places to camp
Yes, but again, you don't see too many Rivians with air streams at these camps. Yeah, you don't you don't like none
Like literally I'll drive by someone and I'm not saying it's a bad setup. No, no, it's a great setup
It just seems like odd odd
You know where you where you gonna?
I think you kind of do a disservice to the word camping because where you gonna plug this thing in because you got it
You got a plug in that Rivian. That's what I'm thinking, you know
Like it becomes a pretty big nuisance like people are gonna be going out of their way
Is it try to make your experience better because you brought a big-ass EV with a big
Cool setup
It's
There and getting back to like these condo communities with cars and stuff like I'm all for it
I just think the the people that aren't sort of in there
You probably have an idea that doesn't happen like I just don't I just you know
We've kind of talked about how a lot of these tracks got purchased by private equity and kind of turned into
Track country clubs and look man. They're going down there a couple days a year
I mean if that you know and that that's the reality of most of people that own stuff in these places
So if this turns into a clip obviously they're jokes guys, so don't get offended. I just think it's odd
You see in the Rivian pull an air stream look at Rob
You see he's gonna leave that part in when he edits his clip because he's gonna want to be the good guy now
No, I'm gonna actually I'm gonna put the hook in the front from earlier
I said you bunch of dorks and then cut to
I saw this Rivian pull in an air stream. I don't care. I'll take the hate. I've been doing this for 15 years
I'll take the hate. I don't care. I've gotten death threats before over stupid shit
People are wild. All right, I get that. I mean, I know you I'd probably I probably see where they're coming from
Let's go ahead and threaten us. Wow
Wowzers I got a really obscure vehicle. I'm gonna see I'm just gonna play the video
It's a it's nice fetching lady doing the video
But I want to get your thoughts on this vehicle because it's coming from a country that some might say I'm all set
At this when I push this button you get access to military grade night vision
By the way, do you have that night vision? Our Santa console is inspired by aviation and this is our drive modes
We've got a 15.6 inch infotainment screen and 12.2 inch passenger screen
This is how I open my door
And our handle is a desert eagle and listen
That's a bullet in the chamber under here
We've got a secret compartment for our cup holders at the back in the armrest
You've got your control panel. Wait till we get to the outside. Holders storage
Sunroof and
Trace it costs around a 100000 dollars
This is the Chinese car called M hero and it can make up to
1,088 horsepower, we've got a
And it looks pretty badass if you ask me
Well, yeah, you're being paid
Of course it looks bad. I love that. It looks pretty good. Yeah, we know. Yeah, I didn't think you're gonna say it looks like a hunk of shit
Another country reviewing this car. Yeah, it actually looks good. It just like a defender slash like Lexus
Slash like FJ cruiser. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you know, so you have a lot of as we know
There's gonna be a lot of elements from somebody else
And and these manufacturing designs from a certain country. Yes, not known for innovation. Oh, you know
Yeah, so I
Don't want to say the name because people get weird but
Audi
Their CEO I believe came out and said
Directly we need to start
Thinking about all of these countries differently because he was talking specifically about having universal platforms and how that's kind of coming to
Oh, yeah, we talked about that a couple weeks ago
Yeah, and I think what he's showing is what you kind of see in this reveal is like, you know, the Chinese market
They want tech. They want screens. They want more tech
They're not seeing that in every market. And so they're having to really think about market to market what you know
and it's
Was basically admitting like we can't just lazily
Look at the world and say
This is good for the world. Yeah, everyone gets this one thing. Yeah
And I think this kind of proves that like two very big screens right in your face a lot of tech
There'll be a lot of useless tech. There'll be some useful tech
but I
Think it's just gonna be interesting to see
How this adoption and how the legacy
German brands US brands Japanese brands start to deal with all of this because it's it's now on the doorstep
It's not this isn't coming. This is literally in your crib
You're right. This is this is in your house now some Canadians
So this brings me to a couple of articles I read about Canada and they're you know rushed to easy Chinese EVs
So some Canadian dealers are expressing second thoughts about selling Chinese cars
And I went through this article and there was another one that was behind a paywall
So only a red half of it
But essentially dealers are they have concerns about how much commitment do these manufacturers have if we start selling here in Canada
It's a large investment
What does it do? You know to compete with the current EVs and how do certain trade agreements?
Maybe or tariffs a change over the future impact, you know, this kind of a commitment to Chinese EV infrastructure
So all of a sudden like you get all these people that are hyped about it. Oh, yeah, I can't wait to sell it
It's gonna outsell so many things here in North America, whatever
And then when it really comes down to it, they're like a lot of that was kind of hype because we wanted to see
You know what was gonna happen, but we were never really committed to doing this. So I
Think there's something at the bottom of this pit that that
Really, we haven't talked about and most people probably aren't that interested in but I maybe some of you are
What I think they're probably saying in a politically correct way is not the worry about tariffs or any of that they're worried about
Who's gonna stand behind this?
Which is kind of what we said from the beginning about the Chinese automakers is
I'm not gonna get in on this conversation to is it a great cars and not a great cars. It got all the tech does not have all the tech
In manufacturing bad stuff happens. I don't care what product you manufacture bad stuff happens
When bad stuff happens
You can't you can't not stand behind it as the manufacturer
When you are in the North American market and you have the Fords and the Chevy's and the Toyotas and
The Hondas with generations of dealing with all of the things that come with being an automaker
I think what these people in Canada the dealers are saying is
Hey, we're kind of cool with doing this
But what happens because we've already seen some delivery issues or we've seen some cars brick themselves
Or we've seen and we haven't really been able to get them handled. I think this is sort of a political correct
Statement more than it is telling the entire truth or just just call it sugarcoating
But they've definitely seen bricked cars and SUVs. It's probably not getting handled
So when they keep going back to there's a huge investment
Well, the investment is I have one of these or five ten of these cars brick themselves
And I can't get anybody to give me my money back
That's what it feels like to me is they're sort of at the the foundation
Questioning more than it's upstream questioning for sure and some of the other things noted from like Canadian automotive
Experts obviously maybe using that term a little too loosely
But the after-sale support which is what you're just talking about and then just the overall long-term plan of like are we just rushing to
They're cheaper and the technology seems really good
Or is it actually going to serve the customer and also is the customer gonna is are they really bought in are they actually going to come
and buy these cars
Yeah, I think everybody
Everybody's jumped to a lot of conclusions, especially and we see this on our content
But you can see it all across car content is when EVs get discussed
People want to tell you something about BYD or this manufacturer in China and they don't really know the whole story
There's a lot more to manufacturing a car than just making the car
there is all of this lineage of
Not only serving the dealer, but then you got to serve the customer and the customer then has to be served by the dealer and the
Dealer has to be able to call up the manufacturer and say hey
We've run into an issue and for anybody that's ever dealt with this specific market of China
Communication after the fact really is not a thing
That's really dangerous in the car market because the numbers are so big
It's one thing if you're importing a widget that costs 15 cents or a dollar or $5
You're now importing things that you've cut a check for and
We've told you this before there's a lot of dealers that are just hanging on yeah, right?
They just barely
EECA profit or their their underwater some months and other months are above water
Doesn't matter what you believe these are the facts. It's a very thin margin business. It's thin margin on the manufacturing side
It's a thin margin on the distribution side. It's always been that way
That's just a fact of the business when you're dealing on thin margins and you can't get a hold of the manufacturer
You can't get them to give support and I would venture to say good luck ever getting any money
Well speaking of thin margins and that's that's most of the automotive world by the way from the car to the aftermarket is just very thin
Mechanics to body shots to everything in the car business is thin margin 5% 15% 21%
That's then exactly so let me ask you this and your thoughts might change in the future
But as of today and we've talked about it a couple of times these these content creators and accounts that really push the order from Alibaba
Here's the here's the manufacturer that you can just get whatever your carbon fiber parts or whatever, you know parts
You need for your car
Just overall
How do you feel like is the sentiment that you would go and find all of the upgrades for the LX for the BMW through Alibaba and
Go that route or is it still?
You know, we got to try to understand that there is a
Part of that that goes into who sells stuff here in the US meaning where they're getting it from how they're pricing
Look, I I've said, you know for those of you don't know I you know
I'm part of an of an ownership in a manufacturing facility
Manufacturing is hard it's not I'm not saying it's the hardest thing in the world, but it's a hard business no matter what you manufacture I
think
We are going to see immense pressure on middlemen and middlewomen in the United States market
because there's been so many that don't provide value, yeah and
There's a real reason to get rid of them like I always explain it like this
Home Depot is a middleman
They are extremely valuable because if your drill breaks you can go buy a new drill right down the street
Yeah, that is a valuable middleman, you know Walmart's a middleman Costco's a middleman Sam's Club's a middleman
There's value in those middlemen
You have a lot of things that have come out of the Chinese market now
You have a bunch of stuff coming out of India
Philippines Vietnam
Where there's been companies in the US for some of them five years ten years twenty years thirty years that provide no value
They just take their profit off the top like you you can get a Chinese good in America, and we've done this
Several things on our side in the manufacturing business
You can get a widget out of China and you could have eight to ten middlemen in
That one widget by the time it gets placed on Amazon or sold on a website or whatever like that
That's not valuable like that that is going to change in the next five to ten years
Those people are going to be erased like they're just it's going to be
China to somebody in the US no middlemen and that's going to be
But the other thing is it's also going to be China directly to China in the US directly to the consumer
I think the wheel market is where we've seen this pop off the most you guys have heard us talk about this I
Think if you have a middle person
Who's doing quality control when stuff lands in the US?
There's an immense amount of value in that because they're going to see that you know ten percent of these wheels are cracked
You know or have a manufacturing defect
But if that middle man is taking the shipment off the boat and immediately putting it on their website and not checking the wheels
That person has to be eliminated
Because it's not providing any value to me as the consumer that you are at least checking the quality and what's going on
I think I sort of fall on the fence right now because
There are so many worthless middlemen that haven't been doing that right right which sucks because again
I'm not mad you have something manufactured somewhere else like I think there's real reasons to stop that and
To understand that you know by the time you put all this cost in you could have just built it in the US
And you would have been right around the same cost
We we know that directly from from our manufacturing facility
So I think people overblown how cheap everything is I
Would say that I'm of the the mindset right now that everybody better get real frickin valuable
Otherwise, yeah, I'm gonna all of us are gonna be the type of people that go hey, man if you're not providing value
I'm just gonna go direct to the source
I'm gonna take my chance and I don't think we all want to be there
And I don't think we need to be there, but we also need to say out loud. There's a lot of people off-road parts wheels
Lighting is is like a number one you look at you go you provide no value
Because the light gets manufactured
You don't really quality test it because you it would take you forever to do it
You sell it to me and when it breaks you just send me another one
Then you send me another one then you send me another one and you go well wait a minute man
This lights a piece of crap. Just give me the one that's not the piece of crap
Right like just tell me not to buy this one and you need to send it back
But that doesn't happen and so I think this is a more a much more broad
Conversation than most people think yeah, no it is and your point to and this is where I go to
Automatically who like where's the quality control being tested when it gets here?
Because that's the biggest like I would pay
Premium to know that that actually took place because you can't always just trust a stamp that was put on prior to it getting here
You just can't well. It's like people that trust the organic stamp. Oh god
I mean I always ask people who you realize how many agents you'd have to have to test and go look at strawberries
Yeah, we're understanding what qualifies as organic and what qualifies as grass-fed
So so we are you know again, I'm not saying it's getting some political
We are having this conversation
For people to understand like I
Understand why people to go to Alibaba. I understand why people buy directly from the distributors in the US
I sort of understand all of it. I think the system is gonna break. Yeah
That the the dam is pouring over so to speak like this isn't working anymore
It's something we talk about. I love
valuable middle companies
Provide value locally or they provide value regionally. I can tell you this
There's a lot of businesses in the US that have been leaching money off the system
thinking that they're high value and
When you deal in our business and raw materials and things like that plastics all this kind of stuff
They provide no value when you dig into it and you go well, that's got to go like this can't continue
Go ahead go ahead. Well, we need a visual value ladder
I think because there's a lot of things I was actually about to ask you like where does the the
The dealership group or the dealership itself fall on the value ladder because I would think
Ironically, maybe contrary to most people it falls pretty high in the average person's experience and buying it only a car
Because it makes it easy right right so
Even if
Ford went direct you would still be dealing with a Ford dealership
Right, it's not gonna
Magically overnight now could this happen long term. I think there's an argument for what I'm about to say
If Tesla could just ship the car to your house and you didn't have to go to their
Distribution hub or their dealership hub or whatever then you could say we've totally upset the dealership model
The problem is you're always gonna have to go somewhere to serve as a problem
So you don't really get rid of it
Yeah, now for what people think happens in the dealership model to how it really works
We'd have to go down a rabbit hole
Everybody would misunderstand because there's just gonna be people that are pissed off at the model
But if people don't know this Ford has tried to go direct. I
Don't know what the years were and you can maybe find this on
Online but Ford had a direct dealership at one point in time if not multiple and I forget what state it was in
But it failed miserably
And I believe it was Ford
this was an experiment the experiment went horrifically and
So the the positive of a dealership for the consumer is it's an incredibly fast distribution network
meaning
Right now, there's not a manufacturer basically that matters that I can't go down the street and buy a car from here in Las Vegas
Same for you in Austin. You want to buy a Ford truck? You could go get one today
You wanted to buy a Chevy truck you could get one today
You could buy any German brand in Austin right now. You could now is it the spec you want?
Is it the exact car you want? I'm not saying that you can go buy a vehicle
Just like you can go to home depot and go buy a drill refrigerator go buy, you know chemicals to clean your house whatever
There is it's a highly efficient for the modern market. Can it be changed? Sure
But I think we have this really weird
Position and I know a lot of people going direct and buying little stuff for their car off Alibaba and whatever and they're saying
This is made by this person and that I will tell you something that's happening. That's coming on our radar
You're gonna see a lot of people
Start to enforce copyright
on products out of China out of India out of Vietnam out of the Philippines that maybe five years ago
They just allowed to be copied
We have had an incident that's taken place here in the last week that we've been made aware of that five years ago
What had never happened really so what's happening is?
the valuable middlemen
Copyright something in the US a design of a widget it gets manufactured in China
All these other companies start selling the widget and they just start hitting them
You're not take it down. We're gonna sue you when we sue you you're gonna lose. We have money
You don't have money
You're going to see a lot of this stuff that
Silliness that has been allowed to go on for a couple decades
It feels like it's gonna start heating up and people are gonna be like yeah
You're not doing this under my watch anymore
Well, this is a this is actually have a new segment that I haven't really launched it with you
But it's like off topic but interesting because it's still kind of relate related to what we're talking about and actually what you just
Mentioned is exactly it so I just want to test it real quick that that you just said is happening with AI across the board
Because you're feeding all of your intellectual property into these
LLMs and then it's refining what it's doing. It was a great story
There's this design platform called Figma and Figma and there was somebody from anthropic that was on the board and long story short
That's when later cloud is released cloud design. It basically tanked Figma's stock. Well, every company now is understanding
Better than it did just a year ago even that you're giving all of your IP into these LLMs
And you need a moat now because it's no longer beneficial to you. That's sort of Palantir's whole sales point, right?
Yes. Yeah, we were talking about that
Palantir's whole thing is
Since we're involved in high-level stuff
government high corporate espionage type stuff that we build this moat
around your AI and
That information is only shared with your AI. It's not shared across all AI, right? And
You're going to see a big sea change here and how that relates to all of you
I couldn't really tell you right now because you're in the infancy of all of this and I'm not gonna act like a know-it-all
But I can tell you for me
To see a copyright issue on the products. I saw a copyright issue in the last 24 hours
That would have never happened 24 months 36 months ago
And I'll take you one further from the Figma and anthropic example
This happens with Amazon and has been happening for a long time and a lot most people know this but with Amazon specifically here as of late
There was two things one thing that went viral was a guy that made an extension a chrome extension
Where it just blocks out all these companies that are just like no names. It's like XYZ, WTT, whatever, right? Smart
Very smart and what super viral a bunch of users and then the other side of that is understanding
The one of the other reasons that that benefits you or benefits the consumer is that what Amazon will do to small
Companies in case you don't know this and you want to put your stuff on Amazon and it's a real big bummer
But if you're a new provider of something that sells really well, they'll then suspend your account and in order to reactivate it
They'll say it will give us all of the how it's made where it's made all of the IP
Essentially in order to reinstate your account, but then they go and they just make their own version of it
They're Amazon basics or whatever it is undercut the person and then you're out of the picture. That's a real big problem, too
Yeah, and and I think
So people can get into my head as a manufacturer
Right now if you look at and car companies
I've been saying this as long as we're on the podcast the fact that they don't control more of
The manufacturing of things has always been surprising to me that they have all these parts suppliers that they could have basically bought up and
Then there's real reasons when you talk to people that are in that business
They go well, we don't really want to make this module and we don't really want to be in that business
It's just easier to order it and that stuff all makes sense, but they still make some stuff, right?
so
If everybody wants to get in into my head forever valuable you think that is
there's two things you have to own and
Very few companies own both and I think the future is going to be back to owning both
Owning intellectual property, but you also need to own the means of production
Largely
That has not been the way business has operated to past 30 plus years. It's been we'll design something and
We'll send it to have it manufactured somewhere or this person manufacturers something will work with them to make a spin on it
That's ours
They now own the IP as the manufacturer because all you did is really put a spin on something that they have already developed and
You get the product and now that product is available to everyone else and
I think what
what people used to and especially as private equity as
Venture capital as all of these people that really don't understand physical goods have started to get into physical goods spaces
They don't realize how valuable the means of production are
I don't think they've valued it at all because they just go we'll just have this person make it right ask Tesla
How going into China basically signing your life away has worked out?
Look at BYD look at all that kind of stuff
Look at Apple and then all the phones that were made out of China because Foxconn had all of the and let's make something clear
When you take manufacturing into China, it's made clear to you. We now own this. Yeah
In order to do business there, that's just you have to yeah, we're gonna we're gonna own this like we may not own your company
But whatever you do inside these walls if you think it's a secret it ain't a secret in the third try nobody
No, by the way, nobody got ripped off. Let me explain that to these companies ago
I went to China. They ripped me off. No, they didn't they told everybody you know
They told everybody they they have never hid this
Which is one of the things that car companies have made a huge mistake on by not protecting
Intellectual property and the means of production and I think you kind of see Toyota saying
Hey, if we can put tundra and Tacoma in San Antonio, we're a little bit protected. Absolutely fully protected
But again, it gets something into a more protectionism type of marketplace
So some of these things about building stuff in the US
The things that people didn't value was protecting of IP and it's it's been a huge backfire on a lot of companies big and small
Yeah, and I would say the what what finishes that trifecta of means of
Manufacturing and then your IP is the means of distribution in the world of AI and social media
If you are making something if you've gone to the extent of making something and having IP to it
You have to have that third arm of distribution because things are only gonna get more expensive to try to do
You know anything that's traditional radio TV even internet ads for that matter is
Infinitely more expensive than it was it's only gonna get more expensive and it's not giving the return that it once did having been in it for
So fucking long so having that independent organic distribution reach is gonna be critical if you're gonna go through the trouble
Well, there there was a deal
What's the what's the wing show the wing show? Oh hot ones hot ones they sold. Oh, yeah
They sold for a decent number. I think it was like China like 30 40 50 million
Damn
They sold because on they have distribution. Oh, yeah
Meaning like they got what 15 million subscribers and they got this content that works
They got the distribution figured out nobody was buying that for the hot sauce IP or for his name Chris Evans or whatever
Yeah, like and I think that shit's great. Yeah, they do an awesome. They do an awesome job
but
Right now and I would love to talk to car manufacturers because and I get to talk to people that have been in that world
You know, you know some people that I know and I'm like, I'm always fascinated why huge
Manufacturing companies outsource some of the things they do and it's always the same answer
It's like, yeah, we just don't want to do that. I know like that's actually the answer
Just and by the way, they're not even like hiding it. They're just like, yeah, I don't want to do it
Like we don't we don't want to make this fuse or these fuses. We don't want to make this fuse box
We don't want to do that like it's easier to bring it in you can make your life easier
You're gonna choose to make your life easier sure and and and by the way for a lot of years. It's all been understandable
Yeah, I think going back to the ordering parts of Alibaba doing this doing that finding ways to get it
I think what where I'm falling out on this is I think we are in the very infancy of seeing this all turned upside down
And I don't think anybody
Truly knows where this is going to end but I can tell you this middlemen
They're going away
In one way or another you better provide an exceptional amount of value again a home depot a Costco
And I'm not saying like you have to be of that size. I don't want people to misunderstand me, but all of us know
When you go to Amazon and you see some funky name on this product you're gonna buy
You're like this person sitting in a basement somewhere taking their percentage to do nothing
They don't ship anything all they did was have the manufacturer ship it to Amazon
Amazon puts it on Amazon Prime and they earned another 15%
Arbitrage was the word of course, right? I just don't think that's gonna exist anymore. Okay
I got to end on one more story
We have a doubleheader this week cuz Nick is going out of town as we've said
But we don't want to miss a Monday and we never have and we haven't yet and we won't but since we're talking about parts
You know LKQ, right? Yeah
So they have the segment of the the pick-apart world of their business
They sold they were started selling that last year I think towards the end beginning of this year
They sold it off to private equity and the conspiracies have been running wild
So if you remember or if you've ever gone on a scavenger hunt to go find some junkyard with a part or a car that you
Need to either build your car that you're working on or fix your car that you're daily driving
It's gonna seem like it's gonna get harder to have that be an option
I guess in the future because we've seen all these crazy fires at drunkyards here lately
We've seen all kinds of things just become all of a sudden inaccessible to the public
So LKQ now they're basically just focusing on their specialty parts and their wholesaling parts and that they're a big
They're a big organization, right? So it makes you wonder as you were just saying like okay do manufacturers now
You know in a way work with the private equity that's making these parts in the US to try to streamline some of that
I think that's you also have what a Napa and O'Reilly's deal that's being discussed. Oh, I don't know about that one
I think all of this consolidation
Number one a lot of consolidation doesn't work
What happens is a lot of companies get purchased. It's a complete disaster
They can't integrate the companies and then they end up selling it off, you know, 57 years later for
You know pennies on the dollar because it's a complete disaster
I'd be interested to see like so what's the conspiracy theory like that?
They're just gonna shut everybody out pretty much because
Have you seen any of the videos were like big big big junkyards just up in blaze just all
I've seen a lot of that but also in my lifetime. That's always been happening
I know which is also true same thing for like chicken factories and all these other big factories
We like guys this has been happening for decades like it does happen
It's just like when an ammo factory goes up and they're like, can you believe this blow up?
It's like, yeah, I can believe you believe this fireworks factory just blew up. Yeah
California, absolutely. Yeah, there's some things that I believe. Yes. I mean not everything is odd though
You got some of these very is very odd. Yeah
So, yeah, there's that I actually just pull up. Oh, Riley's 10000000000 dollar bid for Napa sent Wall Street
Sent Wall Street the wrong message. I don't know. I didn't read the article. I just brought it up
I didn't know about this. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know all the particulars, but I I
Also understand why people are getting leery. I think
Private equity
Is such an interesting business because it's it's all been done so publicly and so in people's faces
I don't think that really works out. Well, I think people just end up hating it. Yeah
No, I mean Warren Buffett made it seem really cool back in the day, but now
Wait a minute again
Yeah, and there's these funny dudes on the internet
I know guys some of you guys have seen him where the guy's just the biggest private equity douche
And he just does skits all the time. The boy does that shit makes me laugh
He's like, you know my house in Montauk, you know, and you know, my kid goes to this school like that dude is fanta
What I forget his name. I apologize. He is fantastic. Is it with him and the girl always? No, no
This is a guy that just talks about how his wife's, you know
Working with the tennis pro and then everybody in the comments is like, we know it goes on with it
If you haven't seen this guy my fault, I don't know your name, bud
But you deserve like I don't know how like that's a guy that really understands
Yeah, like how to do skits and that shit's hard. It is and I know who you're talking about and there's another one
There's like a couple where it's like a guy and the girl and it's very similar
They're like in New York. They're these big. It's like that one guy. What's his name? Jordan the stallion or whatever that does all
That dude's fucking hilarious. I know right. I got it. I'm gonna try it. Let's go. Yeah, I found it. It's in France
I'm here. Yeah, I saw the other day with like the croissant. It was like that size of his torso. Did you see the one with like
Rita's, you know frozen ice or whatever and everybody in the comments is like bud
Rita's is like a chain
And he's like I had to fly to get some Rita's, you know frozen ice and dude
I love that I those are the kind of people that I celebrate in content because it just seems like
They're there to make you laugh and it's like there's I'm sure they're getting paid. I'm sure there's some sponsorships
I get all that but I'm I'm cool with all that like the people that make me laugh
I'm good with it
I can't wait for retired Nick in the future where you're just doing that
You're gonna have a shop wherever you're going to disappear to and it's just like you got all these like cool
I say trinkets in a good way like all the cool useful trinkets all the things you eat all the things you use to cook with and you're
Just having fun because that's what Jordan does right like I know Nick from a pretty good perspective
If you find like a pan that you love you would love to just make a fucking video on this pan like guys
100% watch me make the steak because you eat it seven days a week. Yeah, I have a
I won't give the company out, but I have a
A very very special to me pan like it made by hand out of this Ford shop
Yeah, and buddy I nerded out on that for like two months. Really? I was like this all buddy. It's it's like all
Ants carbon steel. I'm like, yeah, I didn't even care if I knew how to cook on the fucking thing
I was just like, yeah, this is badass, dude
I'm like that with all kinds of things like actually just got these two like
Handmade knives from this like artisan at this shop, right? I'm like, oh dude like look at this blade
Look at this handle like I just think stuff like that is just super cool
But again, you know, we're not quite to the point where we can just be funny. Ha ha creative
I'm just talking about pans and knives and shit
I'm not I'm not sure that I'll ever be talented enough to do because some of these dudes are so talented man
I'm like, I don't think people realize it's like what we say about automotive guys
Yeah guys these guys that can drive a car and talk and like do it while they're doing like I don't think you got to
Give props where it's due because that's harder than you think. Yeah, like the gas from top gear. Yeah, like that's hard
But I wouldn't watch it. Somebody commented something about top gear and I just wrote that's how I stopped listening
That's all I didn't know and by the way people love it all good with that
It's just not that the way I consume the automotive content like I've never been into that but
I
Do enjoy like Chris Harris like he does some like driving around videos and has cars for a week or something
You know guys like Harry's garage. There's just guys
That are super talented on camera and I think a lot of times people and I don't ever want to say
That that stuff doesn't take talent because that shit. It's hard. Yeah, and that's why I see skip people like Druski or whatever. Yeah, dude
There's shit. He does. I'm like, I don't even know how
There's always old old clips from old like sketches that people reuse in like their bureau
I might have even used some before but there's one where it's like somebody does something stupid
They're getting locked up and he's like they cut to that clip is like hey, buddy got good news and bad news
Good news your payment cleared bad news. They gave you life
Sayonara
It's just so funny. Did you ever see the did you ever see the skit where the dude fake?
Fake that he hit his girlfriend and the guy was in a backseat. He goes you're going to jail. I love you, brother
But I'm getting out of here. You're going to jail
Got to I got good news bad news good news your payment clear bad news
Yeah, I love those people that are great at skits. All right. This is a great episode
We have a doubleheader this week
But don't worry. I got fresh news because a lot of this stuff
I mean is just there's so much going on right now from Porsche a Volkswagen
Things you know dying things not coming back a lot of things to talk about so if you like if you enjoyed the episode
Leave us a comment on YouTube. Give us a review. It's been a while since we've had we've get five stars
But people don't take the time to write a review. Can you take the time to write?
Tell Rob you like him please Rob needs some praise. Yes, my head already can't fit through the door
But I mean help me out some more anyway making a hot air balloon, please. We'll see you guys next week. See you guys
About this episode
Auction talk turns into a bigger rant about integrity: bids that look like they’re meant to prevent a real sale, dealer involvement, and how scandals can ripple through the used-car market. The hosts also cover a Roush-connected 2027 Ram 1500 described as “TRX without the supercharger,” plus EV “camping” that depends on charging access. Later, they debate whether to buy from Alibaba/Chinese EV brands, citing bricking, thin margins, and shaky after-sale communication.
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
