#338 The Noise vs The Truth: 2025 Automotive Industry Breakdown
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Term
EVs
EVs are cars that run on electric power instead of gasoline. They’re cleaner and often cheaper to run.
Term
government subsidies
When the government gives money or tax breaks to help people buy electric cars, that’s a subsidy.
Concept
China leading charge
China is pushing a lot of electric cars onto the road, helping the technology grow fast.
Car
Ford F-150
The Ford F‑150 is a popular pickup truck in the U.S. It’s big, strong, and can carry heavy loads.
Part
CV axles
CV axles are the parts that let your car’s wheels turn and move up or down while still getting power from the engine. They’re a key piece in many cars, especially those that drive all four wheels.
Part
CV axle box
The CV axle box holds a special joint that lets the car’s wheels turn and move up and down while still getting power from the engine. Think of it like a flexible tube that keeps the car moving smoothly.
Part
sunroof
A sunroof is a window in the car’s roof that can open or slide to let fresh air and sunshine inside.
Car
Toyota Celicas
The Celica was a small, sporty car that Toyota made for many years. It’s popular with people who like classic cars and good handling.
Car
Toyota Rav4
The RAV4 is a small SUV that runs on both gasoline and electric power, making it good for people who want to save fuel. It has a roomy interior and is known for being dependable.
Company
AC Delco
AC Delco makes replacement parts like batteries and brakes that help keep cars running smoothly.
Company
Bosch
Bosch makes many parts that help cars run safely and efficiently, like brakes and sensors.
Company
Parts Authority.com
Parts Authority.com is a website where you can buy car parts and accessories.
Car
Ford F150 Lightning
The Lightning is a fully electric truck that can haul heavy loads like a regular pickup but uses batteries instead of gasoline. It’s new, so some parts may be hard to get at first.
Concept
government mandates
These are rules set by the government that cars must follow, like limits on pollution or safety requirements.
Term
emissions device
An emissions device is a part that cleans the car’s exhaust gases so it doesn’t pollute the air too much. It’s required by law in many places.
Term
EV
An EV is a car that runs on electric power instead of gasoline. It uses batteries and an electric motor to move.
Car
Ford Mustang
The Mustang is a classic sports car that looks fast and can be very powerful. It’s famous for its long history and cool design.
Car
Tesla Model Y
The Model Y is a small electric car that can seat five people and has a big touchscreen. It’s fast for its size and doesn’t use gasoline.
Car
Nissan Leaf
The Leaf is an electric car that’s easy to drive and doesn’t need gas. It’s a good choice if you want something simple and cheap to run.
Car
Hyundai Kona
The Kona is a small SUV that looks modern and can run on gas or electricity. The electric version is cheap for an EV.
Car
2025 Hyundai Kona Electric
The Hyundai Kona Electric is a small SUV that runs on electricity, so you can charge it instead of using gasoline.
Car
Toyota Camrys
The Camry is a regular car that’s comfortable to drive and doesn’t break down often. It can run on gas or electric power.
Concept
traditional ICE vehicles
These are the regular cars that use a gasoline engine and don’t have electric power as part of their main drive.
Car
Ford Escape
The Escape is a small SUV that can carry families and cargo. It’s been around for many years but may be replaced by newer models soon.
Term
$30,000 midsize pickup
A midsize pickup is a truck that’s not too big but still can carry loads. $30,000 means it should be a reasonably priced truck for most buyers.
Car
Ford Maverick
The Maverick is a small truck that can still pull things like a bigger truck but costs less. It’s good for people who need a truck without spending too much.
Car
Honda Prelude
The Prelude was a small, fast car made by Honda that people still like because it’s fun to drive. It’s not sold anymore, so you’d look for used ones.
Term
leaking oil
When a car leaks oil, it means some of the engine's lubricating fluid is dripping out. This can cause the engine to run low on oil, which might damage it if not fixed.
LIVE
Welcome back Wrench Nation.
Always enjoy spinning it with you right here from the East Valley Institute of Technology.
I'll see you in your hoopty on the freeway or the local streets.
You know I got to pass you on some drum boat drubbits baby.
We're living with you an automotive lifestyle on this Wrench Nation.
Working hard to bring you some automotive life coming your way.
We mentioned that automotive life if you're new to Wrench Nation 887 the pulse proudly.
Proudly since 1942 maybe it kind of feels that way around the holidays.
How many feel older do you feel older do you feel like you're aging fast because it's the holidays everybody's stress the wallet the wallet is getting thinner.
I've got eight and more a proud graduate alumni award-winning broadcast student and do you feel like your wallet is getting drained during the holiday.
Absolutely my friend.
No it's serious man.
Yeah.
I feel it like people are stressed.
My daughter comes to me she's like well I got you can't you can't you can't go with me.
I'm going shopping.
She's driving wherever she's driving.
I said honey why do that to yourself.
Just make me something.
Right.
Why have we got everybody wants something just make something for your loved one.
Make them a clock.
Yep.
You can buy parts on Amazon for less than $10.
I think people people in your heads you everybody wants something expensive.
Some of us are stressed out.
You know some of us have got an eye on that expensive thing all year.
So then I guess we got like some sort of high hope for it around Christmas we're like OK we could fit this in the budget somehow.
It's crazy.
I mean I'm like what do I get my wife after 35 years.
She put pressure on me.
How many feel all my all my dads out there with your lovely husbands and even moms moms you're pressured.
Maybe you got them a little golf thing last year and this year is pressure.
I say make them something go plant a tree.
Honor the love with a plant.
And you were life into the world.
I see you driving you laughing like this guy's nuts.
What are you talking about.
I don't know.
Hey if you're new to wrench nation man we're honored to be out here at East Valley Institute of Technology by design people were passionate about you the community the great instructors.
There's a ton of skilled trades happening and I've said it I've said it for the last three months I may get hate on it.
I welcome your hate but be kind if you can with your hate because this is what I say blue color is the new white color.
Absolutely.
AI we're going to talk about AI actually on this show.
I might as well just announce it.
There's a lot of news that was going down in 2025.
This could be the last year for humanity.
That's a bold statement because AI is happening.
It's in our world.
AI AI.
Did you experience AI today.
Did you do anything with AI today GPS GPS GPS alone.
Already someone.
It does.
You communicate.
It communicates.
All right.
And then also.
I didn't know that.
GPT for the people.
I was looking for my chat GPT people.
Chat GPT somebody's saying chat GPT is lying.
It's lying.
You lying to me that can't be true.
My mom swears by the thing.
Anything at all.
It's like hey can you write me up a budget.
Okay cool.
I'm going strictly off of this computer alone.
Some of us are going brain dead.
We're like chat GPT.
Write an apology to my wife because I didn't throw the trash out last night.
Some of my people just quit jobs.
So now it's like here chat GPT give me a whole bunch of jobs in my area.
And half of them don't even work.
You got fired.
Some of us are you got fired and you're like.
Man I know I've known my boss for at least six months.
You worked for that job for six months.
You just got fired.
And your boss comes out and you're like wait a minute.
He just fired me.
She just fired me.
And it was like a chat GPT statement.
Did they chat GPT how to fire this fool.
You know what today I wouldn't be surprised.
Well listen 2025 was one of the loudest years for all of this stuff.
AI but specifically in the automotive industry.
There's been a lot of AI takeovers digital car buying has been around.
Some of us were led to believe Elon Musk is going to rule the world.
Well he kind of does.
He may be a trillionaire next year.
He's got an IPO coming out.
Big big big money.
Space X we're sending data centers in space.
That's what's good.
We don't have the energy here.
I mean I think it's novel.
Full time son blown on the data centers solar right vacuum of space.
You got all this stuff.
But we were led to believe back to automotive.
Oh my God the gas engine.
We were depressed in the service base how many mechanics I see you.
You were depressed you heard everybody was saying Tesla Tesla Tesla.
You need to get electric vehicles training training electric training training.
And we spent most of our lives with gas gasoline engines and there was a lot of noise on that.
A lot of noise this year on the end of the internal combustion engine.
Otherwise known as ice.
What do you think in your young career.
Aiden do you do you see gas EV where we I mean we're going to talk more about it.
But you think that electric vehicles is making a U-turn.
I could be wrong here but I think this year alone.
Tesla specifically but EVs in general were pushed tenfold more than they have in the
past two three years since Tesla really became a powerhouse.
Am I correct in that statement at all.
Of course it's called rebates when the government subsidizes anything.
China did it.
China led their led the charge.
You look at the company like BYD some of you've seen it as your doom scrolling on your phone.
You watched that video of that Chinese electric vehicle.
Now they steal a lot of stuff.
It is what it is.
Sorry.
It is what it is.
Why should I be sorry.
I'll take that back.
You people are stealing a lot of our stuff.
But you see these electric vehicles in China.
I mean I mean they have everything.
Right.
And they they steal a lot of stuff but they lead the charge.
Why is that because the government subsidized when you give rebates to people they're incentivized.
Now there's no rebates.
I'm going to get to that.
The idea on this show people is we're going to cut through some of the noise that was the
news throughout the 2025 year.
Some of that noise had to do with EV sales didn't quite collapse but they definitely hit
a wall.
We're going to cover that.
AI as it is entering your local lovely hug a mechanic his little her little service facility.
You love them.
You bring him coffee and donuts.
They fix your car.
How is AI entering the shop.
What's that mean for mechanics.
Some of you believe I don't need mechanic.
He's going out of business because AI is going to fix my car.
No.
You still need that mechanic in the bay.
You need your plumber.
You need your painter.
You need your electrician.
Electrician.
Who's going to AI going to climb on your roof and weed out that big chunk of stuff in your
toilet.
Do you think electricians are going to get to the point where people are going to call
them for their Teslas.
It's a wild crazy world that we're going to cover some of that maybe.
Why why more.
You're you're choosing to fix your ride.
Years ago you'd go to the mechanic.
You would then debate.
Mechanic said that beat that beat you need to all you heard was $2,000.
$2,000 is all you heard.
The good bit of good looking mechanic.
He was nice.
He was this and that gave me coffee, chocolate.
And then he said you need 2000.
All you heard was $2,000.
And you were like, oh daddy my hoop tea is not worth it.
I'm going to buy me another car.
Well fast forward to today and certainly into next year in the next few years.
You are not doing that.
The average year of vehicles on the road is I don't have the exact stat.
It's definitely increased.
It's a number we watch for because what do we want to do when we're fixing your car?
We want nice aged cars because they need fixing.
And some of you have said no way I'm driving an F 150.
I got quoted $2,000 for whatever I need on my F 150.
Oh heck no, I'm not spending $90,000.
So you're keeping your cars longer.
You're learning how to live with your great mechanic on the corner.
You know, we're an automotive show.
We fix things.
We interview people and we're going to promote that.
We want you to have a happy relationship with your mechanic and some of you bite your teeth.
Speaking of teeth, Aiden, I would tell you the statistics.
Would you rather go to a dentist or would you rather go see your mechanic dentist right off the bat?
How the heck do we fall apart on that?
What are we missing?
Mechanics?
All my mechanic friends, my technicians.
Why are we failing here?
You know, I think it's probably just because of the cost of everything.
It's like minimum $1,500 to fix one small part.
I just got my CV axles fixed on my car.
I was looking at $1,800 bill.
But dentist costs money and you leave with pain.
Yeah, but I'm looking at about $300 here, $200 there.
Okay, they take your money and you leave with pain.
I take your money, you leave happy because the stuff's fixed.
How do I leave with a painful wallet?
Oh jeez.
I don't know.
Anyway, on this show, we're going to cover the news people of the year.
How much of it was fake?
What's going to affect you?
I made a list.
I studied hard for this show.
Software updates is now a legitimate repair.
We're going to talk about that.
Some of you get all this stuff and you find out it wasn't too bad.
They had to update my vehicle.
Skill trades, the wake up call via Mr. Farley over at Ford.
We got news on Ford.
In fact, we're going to talk about here in a minute.
There's a wake up call for skill trades.
And how does all this matter going into 2026?
We got about 40 minutes.
It's not a long.
It's not Joe Rogan.
People, I don't have four hours to talk to you.
So we're going to try to cover this.
That would be cool.
My goal is to highlight these news and maybe you get some value.
You drive it right now.
You had a rough day.
You can't afford to listen to some guy.
Yippity-yappity.
So I'm going to try to give you some value.
Let's get to some news.
First eyes.
I always do.
I like to check the temperature of Mr. Aiden, Aiden Moore.
How are you feeling these days around the holidays?
As we talked about, you know, I'm feeling great, feeling great.
I got a bad cough.
By the way, I'm getting over a cold.
So forgive me if I'm coughing.
I'm trying to hit the cough button.
So you're feeling great.
That doesn't mean any anybody listening is saying, oh, this guy feeling great.
Give me the knee deep.
How's your relationships in life?
You know, so far they're going really well.
We've hit some roadblocks.
I want to hear.
Listen, people want drama.
Come up.
What kind of drama you got in your relationship right now?
I hope your girl's not listening, but people want to hear drama.
Come on.
This is, this is talk about it.
You know, like I said, I got my CV axle fixed $1,800.
And with my job right now, I work at, I work at a Walmart on the side.
And, you know, it is very hard.
It's taking a toll on me emotionally and mentally.
The CV axle job.
I mean, it has a whole the job, the CV axle.
Okay.
Pretty much everything was kind of going there for a minute.
All right.
And it got to a, it got so bad to the point where I told, I sat down with my girlfriend
and I said, look, I want to leave Walmart.
It's that bad.
No, you can't do that.
No.
And I won't, but it was, it was a worst case scenario for me that day because I was,
everything felt like it was collapsing down.
I got a, I got a hold of firestone or, you know, whoever.
Okay.
You mentioned trials and tribulations.
What I'm hearing, cause we got to wrap it up.
It's an automotive show.
It's not a personal life show.
I'm just teasing you a little bit.
Do not quit on anything.
It took a little Christmas money to do that.
I hear you.
It did.
But the worst you can do is now carry that cloud and then now I'm going to quit this.
I'm going to quit that.
I'm going to, cause then you're back to scratch.
I tell you listening right now.
One thing you have going for you is that you show up every day, regardless of what yesterday
did.
And by the way, I, everything I tell you, I tell my kids, I try to be sincere with you.
Okay.
You don't quit.
You don't quit.
You don't quit.
Life's going to come at you.
So Christmas, Christmas tree may have a, you got that CV axle box, put that bow it up,
put it underneath the tree.
You just gifted yourself.
Well, I hear you.
We'll, we'll have to talk more off air about that.
But I think the big message with you, and I appreciate you putting it out there is to
not quit, you know, continue, continue with what you're doing.
Because a lot of you will quit.
And the fact is you quit for all the wrong reasons and you start over and over and over.
Cause why?
Cause why?
Cause you quit.
Cause you get tired.
Cause you quit.
You quit.
Some of you listening right now, you said, Frank, I got to quit.
The people I work for, they're just, they're not nice to me.
The one piece of advice I can give anybody out there right now is never quit.
There's always some form of good ahead.
No matter what you might be going through, there's always good ahead eventually.
Yeah.
All right.
Well, we talked about electric EVs.
I do have a favorite.
I get, I get asked this question a lot doing channel three.
I'm honored.
I'm just so honored to work with them doing automotive tips and we cover topics.
In fact, we just loaded up on our wrench nation YouTube and on our wrench nation dot TV website.
We talked about it.
I said, let me, let me, let me highlight it a little bit, but your, your glass can shatter.
Your sunroof can shatter just like on its own on a Hyundai.
You'll know more about it when you go up to wrench nation dot TV.
And point is what I'm saying to you is that I get asked to offer Frank, what kind of car should I buy?
What do I buy?
You're not sure.
First thing I ask you is, well, what, what's your lifestyle?
You know, if you're a young mama and you're going to have more children.
That little soy to Celica's work out.
And if you were looking to buy, you know, something like it, you're going to be looking.
So listen, and this is on automobile blog.com.
They have more details and they do these car reviews and it aligns with what I see in the service space.
I'm a big fan of Toyota RAV4 hybrid hybrid.
You're going to hear a lot about hybrids.
Why not go with a company that has proven success centered around hybrid?
Toyota does a good job.
They're not perfect. None of these manufacturers are perfect.
Automoblog.com highlights the 26 RAV4 gives a nice overview.
And, you know, some of you are not ready for an electric vehicle full on lifestyle.
We've talked about that over the years on the show.
It's not a big deal.
Get over yourself.
You can probably segue into that lifestyle.
My Tesla Mafia people saying you over thinking it Frank, buy an electric vehicle.
You'll get a plug in and you'll you'll deal with that lifestyle.
Something not ready for that to be respected.
So you may look at a hybrid.
I love the RAV4.
So that's my take on as a recommendation.
We're going to take a break.
We're going to come back.
We've got a lot to cover.
We'd like to pay homage to some of the supporters of the show.
We're pushing you a memory.
A memory Christmas and a happy Hanukkah.
We're going to talk more about that.
Your holidays right here on Wrench Nation.
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Parts Authority is a supplier of automotive parts serving both professional mechanics
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In addition to providing automotive components, Parts Authority supports community engagement
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and operate locations across the country.
More information is available at Parts Authority.com.
Welcome back Wrench Nation, Wrench Nation.tv.
Thank you very much. If you don't know, we put in a little work.
I'm not doing daily or sometimes I don't even do weekly.
Wrench Nation YouTube, you can do me a favor.
I would be honored to have you as a subscriber.
We're going to kick that one up in gear and we're probably going to go to like supplement
for the show. We're going to do video.
I'll use more Zoom calls with folks that you may have interest in.
Always looking to just like not waste your time.
Wrench Nation YouTube, you can get on over there and subscribe.
I try my best to get that information.
As I said, 2025 was a pretty loud year, a lot of dramatic news.
How much of it is just to keep you watching borderline fake news?
Or, hey, let's face it, division.
How many of you feel like politics makes us so divided?
When in the end, you got to feed your kid.
You got to go to work.
That's what counts.
Some of this other stuff you can't.
So one of the big news factors Aiden that came across the wire.
Oh, doom and gloom, electric vehicles going away.
Elon Musk is going out of business.
He's going to lose the rebate that happened end of September.
Right.
The fact is this, it's not all doom and gloom.
Okay.
Tesla is definitely going to survive into 20 and 26.
So it was more of a sort of reset.
You know, some analysts lamented, oh, it's going to collapse.
The real story is, as I said, it's really more of a reset.
E-sales were still very high Aiden.
People were buying online.
These electric vehicles, primarily Tesla, right?
Speaking of which, Ford, they're going to take a bloodbath in my opinion.
They wrote down, they took a loss, all the billions of dollars that they put in
and now stop making the F-150 Lightning, which you got to really feel for a company.
You really, government mandates come out.
They come out during that era.
We need more EVs.
Manufacturers have to struggle.
And you're saying, why is all this technology going fast?
I have this conversation in the garage.
It's because these mandated emissions laws.
How many drive, you're driving right now.
You've got to check engine light on.
Car runs perfect.
Now you've got to take it to the mechanic because he's got to tell you
you need to spend $800 on an emissions device.
I'm not saying we need to be rogue and pollute,
but some of it's extreme for you paying to sustain that car and that check engine light off.
And it puts pressure on everybody.
So a lot of that's been slowed down, i.e. a couple of, well, a lot of,
maybe 12 to 14 states, coastally, California's in there,
north, northeast, northwest, coastally, California's still on a mission.
2030, 35, I think the number is where you can't sell any new ice vehicles.
I have not seen any or heard anything lately that changes that.
California's on its own.
So EV sales is not going to disappear.
You are going to see as a consumer, you're going to see a lot of hybrid action in coming months.
I did mention the Toyota RAV4, of course, AutoBlog.com.
You can get more information.
They did a wonderful review.
You're going to see more hybrids.
That's a science that exists.
And in my opinion, as a lowly mechanic, that's probably one of your best options.
You want best of both worlds.
Okay.
If you're a die hard Tesla fan, I love you.
Tesla Mafia, you're into your Tesla.
EV all the way.
Got it at home.
My daughter wants an EV, but her apartment complex doesn't offer.
How shall I say again, this is lifestyle in quantity.
They may have three or four little plugins.
And I know it varies, but her lifestyle and where she's living doesn't dictate that she may have a problem charging that EV.
So hybrid is an option.
You are going to see manufacturers go to town on offering.
Because look, let's face it.
How many of you tired at these?
This is expensive.
These cars are expensive.
All my truck people, you're driving your old trucks.
I see you coming to the garage.
We fix it.
You love it.
You fix it.
You love it.
You fix it.
But then once in a while, you're like, I'm tired of seeing this guy.
I want to buy a new one.
What are we going to do with price?
There's a big conversation right now.
We're not what we did.
The price is not going to turn around.
However, watch out, you know, outside of the truck market.
Okay.
Passenger vehicles.
You got kids.
You want to load up in a nice little crossover hybrids.
You're going to see that come down the pipe way.
Tesla's there.
They're going to sell stuff.
You're going to see Tesla play.
They have a lot of margin to play with.
So don't believe the hype.
Some of you feel like, oh God, what happened?
I was going to plan on electric vehicle and what's going to happen.
It's not doom and gloom.
EV is here.
However, watch the trend.
And when I say trend, I'm not trying to be cool with you.
Trend, trending.
The trend will be to offer some really good price points for hybrids.
I think the manufacturers have went through the Wild West.
Aden.
They got tones from the federal government.
EV EV EV.
Look at Ford.
That's tragic.
It's tragic.
The money they spent to get that F 150 lightning.
I get it.
It wasn't a top seller.
Emok Mustang violated the whole Mustang legacy came out with that.
I think they're selling those now, but imagine that all the money put into that.
We want to follow the feds and the guardrails and all that.
We want to abide by what the feds are saying.
But we also want to be inventive as a company.
And some of you were not buying it.
You were not buying the Emok Mustang.
They had to almost give it away.
So watch for hybrids.
Now, if you're just not an Elon Musk fan personally, some of you like that.
You just extreme.
You know, I don't like Elon.
You crazy maniacs where some of you were scorned.
You just got so political.
All right, let's just call it.
You didn't get political, but you don't care for the model Y S three.
And you want another?
I have recommendations.
Go ahead.
And can I say that I think part of the reason why Elon was so hated was because he was so
popular and they don't really have an actual opinion on Elon and what he has done.
It's extremism in my point is extremism on both sides.
Okay.
And people are looking to voice hardcore.
It is.
I don't want to get into that.
I don't.
It's not.
We're not that type of, you know, three hour show, but some of you just didn't want to be
involved.
Your ideology said, I don't want anything to do with that guy.
Doge government.
He's this.
Did you just thought everything was corrupt?
Nothing to do with them.
And those that drive Tesla will defend that.
They believe in that Tesla.
They love the technology is brilliant.
Like this autonomous is real.
I mean, it's a beautiful is real, but I want to give you options.
Some of you are not paying attention.
I got two vehicles for next year.
If you said, Frank, I'm not, I can get to charging stations.
My house.
I can get one.
My work has one plenty.
I can, I'm into it.
2026 Nissan leaf.
Get it on your radar.
Now check this out.
These two cars that I'm mentioning.
I'm not too familiar with them, Frank.
Well, I'll tell you, go to the rental place.
Enterprise hurts.
Get in there.
See if you can find one to rent.
Do me a favor and get on an enterprise.
Type in enterprise or even hurts.
I'll give you a few seconds.
This radio type in rent rental car.
Nissan leaf and then rental car.
Here's, here's two more.
I said two, but I'll give you three total.
Hyundai Kona Electric, the 25.
That's another strong value for an electric, small SUV.
Carl Gruz says that one's priced at about 35, 34, 35.
You get a range of 261 miles.
Hyundai Kona Electric.
I like Hyundai.
I didn't like them when they first came out.
Kia and Hyundai, they were sloppy.
They really refined it.
They respected brand, knew the business in the landscape at that time.
And today, in fact, today they're challenging the Europeans.
But back when they came out, they knew Toyota was out there.
They knew Honda was out there.
They knew some of our domestics were out there.
They knew that.
And they have come a long way, both Hyundai and Kia.
But in specifically, if you're interested in electric vehicle,
that Nissan Leaf price is expected to be right around that 31,000, 32,000.
Right?
So you can't have hope to buy an EV.
Teslas are affordable, but again, I'm speaking to you that don't want a Tesla.
Nissan Leaf, some of you laughed.
Yeah, that's an ugly looking car.
Give it a chance, people.
Real entry level EV for everyday drivers, especially if you're that city person.
You commute.
You bang in 60, 70, 80, 100 miles a day.
Think about it.
Look into the registration.
Look into the insurance as a whole package.
2026 Nissan Leaf, 2025 Hyundai Kona Electric.
You find anything?
Is Enterprise rent any of this?
I know they went through, Hertz went through a huge change.
So I'm not finding anything on Enterprise.
Okay.
But I had to just Google and I'm finding one on the Larry H. Miller Nissan.
To rent.
What I'm doing is I want to give people an opportunity because a lot of them are saying,
Frank, I don't know too much about this car.
Will it fit my lifestyle?
I've been an advocate for before you buy what you buy, rent it for three, four, five days.
Take it on a trip.
Yeah, it's worthy of the investment.
Factor that into the cost of the vehicle.
You may rate one or two.
Is that a better option than to go buy cold?
Because you go to the dealership and you done your research, but then all of a sudden it's a cold environment.
It's like going to a car auction.
You are super prepared, but the dynamic, the lights, the sizzle of an auction gets you off your game a little bit,
unless you're a professional, right?
You do this for a living.
Same when you buy a car.
How many of you guys are you a professional buyer of cars?
No, you're not.
So you got to be prepared for that emotional side.
So try and rent before you buy.
So that's the story.
Hybrids, you're going to see a lot.
Pay attention to the deals.
In fact, I may do a whole hybrid show and I may even call in some of my dealership friends to come into the studio.
No elevator talk, no elevator pitch, none of that.
The real skinny because these manufacturers need to move cars.
If those manufacturers are on top of their game and they want to strategize,
they've got to come off the heels of EV and go in for the kill.
And in my opinion, that kill is going to be hybrids.
Now they're going to still sell the traditional, the Camrys and, you know, all the ice vehicles that sell.
Speaking of which, here's breaking news on what has sold Ford is getting rid of the escape.
Can you believe this?
Really?
Yeah, I just read this for Ford.
Let me get to the story.
I'm worried about Ford, man.
I really am worried about them as the escape ends.
Ford dealers fret over shrinking affordable options.
I'm telling you, they have to go in for the play.
Ford will discontinue the escape, which is built right here.
Louis Louisville, assembly plant in Louisville, Kentucky, across the street.
They probably got the baseball bats for nailer a quarter century.
I can't believe the escape 25 years.
Ford sold a lot of those escapes.
That's insane.
Ford says they have a logical explanation as to why, but they should certainly reconsider.
They need, I don't get it.
What is happening there?
It's their bread and butter.
It's a big seller for Ford and it's a big part of their affordable segment.
Next year is if you make widgets and you make what you make, it's about affordable segment.
These folks are upset right now.
They're upset.
They just come out of college and they got to look at something that's 60, 70,000 to buy.
Watch the segment, but I don't know what Ford's going to do.
Aiden, I don't have the data in front of me as to what's the like high quality for this price point.
Why get rid of a Ford?
I don't understand it.
I don't get it either.
They just wrote down billions of dollars in laws for electric vehicle.
All right, companies make mistakes.
I wouldn't call it a mistake actually.
That would be a shame on me.
That would belittle the powers that be, but that was a hard swallow.
I'm with you there.
Why would you start the EV stuff, lose a lot of money and then get rid of one of the more popular Fords?
Here it is, people.
This is Ford's statement.
I owe you listening.
I don't want to leave you hanging.
That latest, the last escape is going to leave off the Louisville assembly, December 17th, which is what today?
Little fanfare, not even a celebration.
Just a wham, wham, wham.
Goodbye.
Why is this?
Well, plant officials are saying that Ford is retooling that Louisville plant for the next generation platform.
They want to come out with that $30,000 midsize pickup.
They're tooling up.
Here's some insight, people.
Look, manufacturing cars is a gamble.
It's a gamble.
We make it sound simple here in this little show that we do, but there's a lot that goes into it.
Elon Musk proved there's so many that came before Elon Musk that failed miserably in producing a vehicle.
It's not easy.
Ford's banking on the $30,000 midsize pickup.
Midsize pickup.
Go ahead and type in Ford midsize pickup.
I forget the name of it, but by 2027, so we're going to take all of next year.
We're going to retool that factory and we're going to answer your call.
Working man and woman, you guys want an affordable pickup.
Smaller, $30,000.
2026 Ford Maverick.
That's it.
The Maverick.
Type in how many sales Maverick sold, how many Ford Maverick, how many sales.
Let's find out how much they sold this year.
They're putting their investment and they're studying the marketplace.
You have said you can't afford the big daddy trucks.
So let's see how many they sold.
So that is the future.
Your dealerships are paying attention.
They're getting how many?
2030, 40, 50, 60.
According to AI, mind you.
Be careful.
It lies.
I know.
I know.
Ford Maverick sales in 2025 shows strong performance year to date.
141,873 units by November, an increase of over 10% from 2024, including record quarters
from quarters two and three.
All right.
So the truck is moving.
You're interested in the truck.
It's moving.
You know, the escape to give perspective, let's take a look.
We'd want to know.
Okay.
Well, how many escapes were sold?
Let's take a look and see what.
Well, yeah.
I think I have it here.
Let's see here.
Okay.
Well, the, yeah.
It gives the oldest of three wood.
How many escapes were sold in its entirety?
Uh, in entire.
Well, give me a year and we can do the rough math.
2025 showed a 10.8% increase over 2024.
Give me the volume.
How many?
82,589 units.
It's not a good number.
No, it's not.
I bet you, look, we're not belittling this.
We're not trying to act like we're CPAs.
It does make sense why they would get rid of it to a degree.
I don't.
Well, sales with its low, right?
Low volume.
Uh, you look, these franchise dealers, they're not there whistling Dixie.
No, they've seen it.
They probably seen a decline.
So we're, we're, look, the Ford escape has had its problems, but I, I guess if it doesn't
sell, you got to perform people.
But take a look at this.
Carvana.
This is just straight off of Carvana.
21,990 and you can have yourself a 2025 Ford escape.
What's the price again?
21,990.
What year?
2025.
What's the mileage used?
Uh, it is used about 18,000 miles.
Wait, which is a sweet as a sweet spot.
Yeah.
You still get the 18,000 for, sorry, 20,000 for an 18,000 mile car.
From this year.
I'd go for it.
Well, they're putting their money.
They're putting their money on that.
They're putting their money on the Maverick.
They got them.
They got them.
They got to make up for Google Ford stock.
It's been floundering for years.
Then you got a 4,000 mile car for Ford escape 2025 for 2,500 or for 25 grand.
Yeah.
I don't know.
I, uh, Ford escape.
You guys, please, if you're having a bottle of whiskey tonight,
just pour some out for Ford escape.
True.
Some of you loved your little Ford escape.
Some of you abused it.
I will tell you, Ford escapes come in the garage.
They're typically abused.
A lot of Ford run to failure.
You guys, a lot of Ford's are run to failure.
Well, not a lot of Ford's.
Be careful.
Ford escapes.
I'm sorry.
I'm being real.
Well, I'm also talking about like the older ones, 2010.
You guys didn't, you didn't teeth.
You didn't brush your teeth.
You just came in with cavities, man.
And you laughed at the mechanic and said, Hey, you need to maintain it.
You said, No, it's going to be $5,000 for this repair.
Fine.
All right.
So that's EV sales.
Pay attention.
I plan on next year.
I want to bring you more.
I want to help you.
Some of you are tired.
You don't want to see me anymore in the garage.
You drive an old, old vehicle.
And, uh, you know, it's, uh, you want to buy new, you can't afford it.
We're going to pay attention.
That's going to be a big topic.
AI.
Let's switch gears.
Artificial intelligence.
How many are you experiencing that at work?
I mean, you in the restaurant, you working at the hotel.
You get a corporate letter.
AI is going to handle phones in a different way.
AI is going to receive things in a different way.
They didn't, they didn't say you got six months.
They said be prepared.
We're working with AI in this function and capacity.
Do you know that AI is also taking over the music industry right now?
Well, yeah, that's another story.
But what I'm saying is folks are getting notification.
Corporate said, uh, we got this, uh, AI, they even named it, uh, Betsy.
AI is going to work with our front counter staff concierge.
Walmart.
Sorry.
I'm saying that, that, that, that's the prelude that you're going to be fired.
They want you to work with it.
You're going to be fired.
You better start looking for a job.
Why can't people just be real?
Uh, we got AI.
Betsy's coming on board.
You got six months to get another job.
Give people time.
Nope.
We want you to train, work with, document the problems, figure out solutions.
And then we're going to fire you.
Yeah.
We're going to hear this.
Unfortunately, 26 is going to be full of that, but AI is informational.
I'm going to speak for the service base because some of us are testing.
You call, you call AI said, Frank, this was wrong with my car.
And I look at you whether you're in person or I talk to you on the phone.
I got to be respectful.
I'm trying to figure out what direction you're coming from.
I'm the professional, but I respect what you're saying.
AI is informational.
It's not interventional.
Think about this is information.
It's not intervention specifically with your car.
AI can read the symptoms, codes, scan data, patterns.
We're testing it in the garage.
And I will tell you we're finding, I'm going to put it at 60% incorrect.
Now it's going to machine learn.
It's going to, it's going to get better.
It's going to get scary better.
Will you see cardiologists get rid of the need to decipher the EKG?
Do we still need a cardiologist?
I mean, he's got to do the surgery, put a mechanic with a cardiologist.
Mechanics have to decipher data.
Fixing cars is easy.
Arriving to what's broken, deciphering data to come up with a solution.
And did you fix it?
Some of that could AI come in and, and handle some of that could help a cardiologist.
But, but I don't foresee a robot cracking your chest.
I mean, they robots can do, they've got a lot of cool robot stuff going on in the medical industry.
And I could be wrong.
I got doctors now.
No, Frank, you don't know three years, four years.
Robots will crack your chest and do a little bypass.
Could be my point is that this state in the automotive world, if you are online and you're using AI,
it is informational, not an intervention.
The intervention comes from a seasoned technician at this point.
So I mean, like, Frank, I'm going to check you out in three years, you're going to be wrong, wrong.
My AI is going to fix everything.
AI can read these symptoms.
A fix still requires verifying a bunch of stuff.
Hello, how about the basics of power and ground integrity of a circuit?
Same with electricians.
AI said that you did, did I seen this circuit break up?
Boom.
AI didn't tell you to verify power, ground and integrity.
They may have.
It's informational, but you need an electrician to do that.
You need a technician to verify loading circuits, measuring voltage drop, smoke testing leaks.
I've seen this.
I've actually tested in the garage.
2020 RAV4 leaking oil.
Boy, oh boy.
AI, chat, GPT will spit out, spit it out.
All the common areas.
It's informational.
You still got to verify and test it.
Will we see an abundance?
Parts people are happy right now.
Oh, that's going to kick up their business.
I don't need the mechanic anymore.
AI told me I'm going to go to the parts store.
That'd be an interesting metric to see.
No one's measuring it.
How does AI attribute part sales?
Have you looked at AutoZone stock lately people?
A lot of my retired folks, you got, you got AZO in your, in your little basket of retirement stocks.
AZO, type it in AutoZone stock.
It'll give you a year.
Will AutoZone stock go through the roof?
Will they sell more parts because AI, AI is sending you to the parts store because you
felt confident that AI told you screw that mechanic.
You don't need, he doesn't need nothing.
Nothing.
Don't, don't mess with the mechanic.
Go part store.
What's their stock?
Uh, as of today, $3,300.
It's got a split.
I mean, it's 33, almost 34.
What, you got the, you got the 10 year chart?
Let's see what we're talking about.
Do you look to look for that?
But so again, AI, we're talking automotive people and yeah, I'm biased.
I'm a technician.
We work hard.
Work hard.
We train so hard.
Many mechanics train.
They want to get it right, but it still requires who's going to tighten up the nuts and bolts.
Right?
Is AI going to be able to replace the guy who's working hard at discount tire, just
busting tires?
You can see that letter from discount tire corporate.
As of January 1st, the torque specifications on a half inch gun will be handled by AI.
Not going to happen.
What is their stock over the 10 years?
16 to 20% annually is the average.
Which is scary.
Wow.
High price.
It should split.
I don't know why they don't split.
So people can afford it.
Coming in at 3300.
AI will never turn a wrench is the way I see it.
Never, never turn a wrench.
Now, some of you say, well, Frank, that's impossible because I work on an assembly line.
We make microchips and there's a bunch of robots.
Great.
Or the microchips.
I get it.
I just, I don't see turning a wrench happening on individual cases with cars.
I will defend that.
Bring it on.
Bring me some heat.
Get into wrench nation dot TV comments.
You listening from, I don't know, Germany, Florida, Dakota podcast.
Tell me.
Tell me.
I'm crazy.
I don't see it turning a wrench, but maybe helping with some circuit boards.
Absolutely.
They're already doing the microchips, but the big stuff should be left to the people.
Remember, I'm going to leave you with a takeaway for this portion of this segment.
Cause AI is going to be huge next year.
Before you get fancy and use AI to try to manhandle, manhandle your mechanic.
Cause that's what you're doing.
You're playing mechanic.
Before you manhandle your mechanic, a common fix is not the same as the fix that's actually
required for your vehicle.
Think about it.
Just think about it.
Just think about it.
Before you manhandle your mechanic, before you manhandle any working blue collar professional
electrician plumber, some of you belittle plumbers, you think they're idiots.
You think, Oh, he's just going to snake it.
He's going to snake it.
He's going to plunger it.
He's going to know.
Allow him or her to do their job and get it on.
If that makes sense.
You wouldn't WebMD doctors.
So why are you WebMDing?
This is the problem.
These electricians.
Well, this is the, these are directories that exist.
You know, there's on the frontline consumers like it.
And on the back end, it's a referral, you know, people, you know, professionals pay for that referral directory.
I know I said that statement and a lot of you're, you're thinking, Frank, boy, you're being pretty brash.
No, I'm not.
No.
Trust you service professional.
Prove the trust.
They'll work for your trust.
A common fix is not the fix on that just because your toilet plugged up the way it did six months ago.
And it did in it.
The outcome was they did this could be something different.
Now it's up to the working professional.
I will defend the consumer to come up with transparent ways to give peace of mind as to why somebody should trust your solution.
That's on you.
And if you're a hack, you'll be out of business.
You can't lie.
Back in the 80s, 90s, just anytime before the internet, there were a lot of hacks.
People got ripped off and they had no clue.
People too smart for that.
So if you're the working professional mechanic, if you're the plumber, you had a busy day, you've done eight roof crawls doing whatever you had that one call.
They may ask respectfully or they didn't know how to ask and you feel like they're insulting you.
Think about that.
That's your grandmother.
Think about that.
That's your mother.
Explain it a different way, show transparency and backup why you're giving that solution.
And don't treat that as a four o'clock call.
I've had a long day.
Lady, this is what it needs.
It's $400 screw you if you're doing that.
It works both ways.
I will defend both.
And I know you've been in situations like that.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And if there's anything I've learned from this show, it's always try and give them a second chance to make it right.
If they don't, then you know what's going on.
It's a little deeper.
I like that.
Give them that second chance.
Have a little grace.
Have a little grace.
Some of you are upset because you broke down.
In my world, you spent $1,200.
I fixed your car.
Following morning, car doesn't start.
Your kids are late.
You're upset.
That's it.
I got to live with that.
I got to own that.
You're upset.
What am I going to do?
Calm down, lady.
We'll get to it.
No.
People have been interrupted for whatever reason.
We don't know.
It seems suspect.
And a lot of mechanics will eat it because the perception says it's related.
It's another story.
We've talked about that over the years.
But yeah, take a deep breath, grace and style, grace and style.
No matter what generation, you have to be accountable as a consumer too.
Even in your worst, I hate this.
I just spent this money and it's still failing.
You don't need to be ghetto.
We lost that humanity in ourselves.
Somebody does something for you.
You got to charge.
And it's something's not right.
It didn't work out immediately.
You want to attack people.
For what?
They ain't a soap opera.
Grace and style.
Whoever the working professional is on the other then they'll cover it.
Otherwise, you could get heightened if they're not professional about it.
There's all kinds of scary stories on that side.
That's why you have attorney generals and all these agencies to protect the consumer.
I want to get to one more, maybe two more.
I got about eight, nine minutes.
Skill trades.
We mentioned that early on.
Back to Ford.
Sorry, Ford.
You're in the news heavily on ranch nation.
I did a podcast.
I was a guest on another podcast.
That is a Robert stage.
Dynamist pod.
I'm going to get it on the website.
We had a great conversation about Jim Farley came out recently.
Sounded the alarm.
The company can't fill about 5000 of these mechanic jobs.
He's wages.
He said we're around 120,000 a year.
And they just can't figure out when he can't fill these jobs out.
And I was upset when he did that.
I was upset.
He's a, I'm sorry.
The CEO of a company was a water boy on the sideline, not even taking action.
He should have said, this is what we're going to do to change this.
Now he did throw out, he teased out 120,000 a year, but many just said, well,
that that's a number.
You know, we don't want to address the root cause.
And in this case, I'll tell you what the root cause is.
If you're driving your car, you listening, I'm going to tell you what the root cause
is because you can't connect.
You just know it takes three days now, four days, two weeks, a month through,
I get in the dealership.
We've burned out these technicians and it's not all about money.
We've treated them with robots like robots.
We didn't give them the respect.
How are you doing kind of thing?
It's all about, is that car ready?
Is that car ready?
Is it done?
Why is it back in your bay?
Is it done?
We've lost a sense of culture.
And for that matter, it's any field.
So the skill trades problem, yeah, it's there.
But how we handle it as leaders, garbage, garbage.
You have instructors on this campus right here, award winning, internationally renowned,
nationally renowned East values to the technology.
You listen to the music all day behind the scenes.
These are students on the radio.
There are instructors here in the automotive department and they will tell you these students
are excited.
And then they get out to the fleet, whether it's my place, I mean, I try to be an exception.
I'm not perfect, but I've mentored a lot of students, but they get out to the aftermarket
or the OE dealerships.
And what do these instructors tell you?
Dang, Johnny, Johnny left and now he's working for Intel.
Wake up, man.
Leadership, wake up.
Wake up.
Most of you are using the excuse.
These kids are entitled.
They are different.
Piss poor excuse.
You are a low, weak manager.
Become a leader.
Identify with what matters to them.
Mentor them in a way where they're not behind a broom.
Stop sniveling about the young generation.
I'm going on a rant.
I was very upset to see the CEO, Jim Farley.
That's your best shot is to say we need mechanics.
Offer solution.
They make a lot of money.
Throw 50, a hundred million dollars.
Big money.
Invest there.
Frank, you're getting me excited.
No, man.
I'm tired of it because it seems like my generation boomers.
I'm just tired.
I'm tired of hearing it.
Too many young people cannot identify with this world right now.
Absolutely.
So what do we do?
Well, Sonny, you need to do a better job is what they were told.
You need to do a better job.
It doesn't work like that around here.
You cannot do this these days.
No different with CEO Jim Farley.
Waterboy.
Waterboy CEO.
Give me the hate.
I respect Ford.
I respect what the C-suite does.
But dang it.
This is bad.
It's a coach that went to the bathroom and started calling plays from the bathroom.
Make a difference.
You know the problem exists.
You do your little SWAT analysis.
I talk about this deeper in a podcast.
I'm sorry.
I got passionate.
I'm glad I don't have like, like people firing me right now.
We'll see the best reason.
Everything you just said has been what every single time you asked me about my
opinion for certain things in the workforce.
And this is exactly what I've been saying.
It's hard, but I still tell you.
I still tell you every bone in my body still tells you there's still a rudiment.
And I'm going to confuse a lot of you.
There's still a rudiment about being young and getting started of not quitting despite
the garbage that these half baked managers are telling you.
And that's true because you will bounce.
You will continue to bounce.
You will continue to bounce.
You may, you're arguing.
Frank, that's not true.
I'll find something that everything will be pleasant.
No.
I'm saying it both ways.
And I know it's confusing a lot of you, but quitting is hard.
It's not the, it's not the way it's a messed up landscape right now.
When we have, when we have kids go out into the workforce and people are just like,
well, they don't want to work.
Is it wrong for us to be like, well, we do want to work.
It's just, we want to work in conditions where if we ask certain questions and then
we get punished for it, is it wrong that we don't want to work in that environment?
I don't have an answer.
I'm going to leave it at that.
I may dedicate, I got to bring in some professionals.
I don't have the answer.
I've had a business since 95.
I've been in this industry 90.
I've worked since I was seven.
I feel like, I feel like I will be so disconnected because I'm not prepared for a legitimate
answer.
I hope you understand that.
I hope you listening understand that.
I believe you don't quit, but I also believe there's a ton of poor management trying just
in the wrong way.
We're so disconnected.
You know, we're going to explore this deeper.
I'm actually going to book some therapists on this show.
Legitimates like blue collar.
Why color?
Forget it.
Maybe we'll do a separate show like engineers, doctors, lawyers.
They're probably laughing at me.
All these low level mechanics.
We don't have these problems.
Just get the work done.
I'm speaking to the vast majority of youngsters that are trying to carve out a trade and they
may have a couple jobs, restaurants, big restaurant.
Oh, absolutely.
Right.
Walmart's big.
I don't knock Walmart.
They provide an outlet.
Walmart's huge that way.
And I get it.
You're dealing with it now.
And I tell you, no matter what my gut says, don't quit.
Oh, no, don't quit.
Absolutely.
Don't quit unless it's abusive.
Right.
I mean, we all know those cases were no, no, no, Frank, I'm going to quit.
Okay.
But that's what I got to say.
I plus I only have a minute and a half or so, but I promise you, I will pick up this conversation
because I think it's important going into 2026.
I mean, like the last couple of years was called quiet quitting.
Well, Frank, I'm not going to quit.
I'm just going to do only what I need to do.
That shouldn't exist, but we got to be responsible on both sides.
Anything else to add before we head on out of here?
Not really.
You pretty much covered everything.
Everything.
No, I didn't.
I mean, all of my major questions.
I will tell you, I want to remind you the holidays are a wonderful time.
Please, all of you blue color proud.
This is the time of year.
It reminds us how many people keep the world moving while everyone else is celebrating.
Thank a truck driver.
Forget the fake news, all this illegal driving and all that.
There are a lot of truck drivers doing the thing behind the scene.
Amazon drivers to the technicians, tow truck drivers, service advisers,
trades people, churning wrenches, give them a big hug and hug a mechanic.
Because every week be safe, hug each other and never forget to hug a mechanic.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
About this episode
A lively discussion on the automotive industry's future as we approach 2025, focusing on the impact of AI and electric vehicles. The hosts debate the evolving landscape of car ownership, the challenges facing mechanics, and the shift towards hybrid vehicles. They also touch on the struggles of the Ford Escape's discontinuation and the need for skilled tradespeople in the industry. With humor and personal anecdotes, the episode emphasizes the importance of maintaining relationships with local mechanics and the changing dynamics of car repairs in an AI-driven world.
Wrench Nation
Frank Leutz
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