Clutch Culture Podcast Jan 26, 2026

#63 - How To Buy A Car In 2026, Cars Worth Too Much To Drive, The Craziest Negative Equity & More

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Car

Toyota Tacoma

The Toyota Tacoma is a tough little truck that people love for its ability to drive on rough roads and carry heavy things. It's popular because it's reliable and holds its value well over time.

Concept

direct to consumer

Direct to consumer means that companies sell their products straight to people without using stores or dealerships. Tesla is a good example of this.

Brand

Tesla

Tesla is a car company that makes electric cars and sells them directly to customers instead of through traditional dealerships.

Brand

Rivian

Rivian is a company that makes electric trucks and SUVs. They are known for their focus on outdoor and adventure features.

Brand

Lucid

Lucid is a company that makes high-end electric cars, especially known for their luxury sedan called the Lucid Air.

Term

lemon laws

Lemon laws are laws that help people who buy cars that have serious problems that can't be fixed. If a car is a 'lemon,' the buyer can often get a refund or a replacement.

Term

MSRP

MSRP is the price that the car maker suggests the dealer should sell the car for. It's a starting point for how much you might pay for a new car.

Car

Civic Type R

The Honda Civic Type R is a sporty version of the Honda Civic that is built for performance. It has a powerful engine and is designed for driving enthusiasts.

Car

BMW M3

The BMW M3 is a fast and sporty car that is part of the BMW 3 Series. It's designed for people who love driving and want a car that performs well.

Term

A manual transmission is a car system where you have to change gears yourself using a stick and a pedal. It gives you more control over how the car drives compared to cars that change gears automatically.

Term

out-the-door price

The out-the-door price is how much you will actually pay for a car after adding everything together, like taxes and fees. It's the total amount you need to hand over to buy the car.

Term

trim models

Trim models are different versions of a car that have various features and options. For example, one trim might have a sunroof while another doesn't, or one might have a more powerful engine.

Term

financing

Financing means getting a loan to buy a car, so you can pay for it over time instead of all at once. It's a common way for people to afford more expensive cars.

Term

cash deal

A cash deal means you pay for the car all at once, instead of borrowing money to pay for it. It can make buying easier, but it might not give you the best chance to negotiate a lower price.

Car

Toyota Land Cruiser

The Toyota Land Cruiser is a tough SUV that's great for off-roading. The LX is a version that usually has more luxury features than the standard model.

Company

Bring a Trailer

Bring a Trailer is a website where people can buy and sell cars through online auctions. It's known for having interesting and classic cars available for bidding.

Term

22 year old vehicle

A 22-year-old vehicle is a car that was made 22 years ago. These cars can be special because they might be considered classic, but they may also need more care and attention than newer cars.

Car

Jeep Gladiator

The Jeep Gladiator is like a Jeep but with a truck bed, so you can carry stuff while still having fun off-road. It's great for people who love adventure and need a vehicle that can do both jobs.

Term

engine

The engine is what makes the car go. It turns fuel into power so the car can move. If the engine breaks, it can be very expensive to fix.

Concept

one of one

'One of one' means there is only one car made with that exact combination of features or colors. It's special because no other car is exactly like it.

Term

rare spec

A 'rare spec' means that the car has special features or colors that are not found in most other cars of the same model. This can make it more valuable to collectors.

Concept

delivery miles

Delivery miles are the miles a car has driven before it was sold to a customer. If a car has very few delivery miles, it means it's almost like new and hasn't been driven much.

Term

supercar

A supercar is a very fast and expensive car that is designed for high performance. These cars are often rare and have special features that make them stand out.

Car

Ford F-150

The Ford F-150 is a big truck that many people use for work and everyday driving. It's known for being strong and able to carry heavy loads.

Car

Jeep Grand

Car

Jeep Grand Wagoneer

The Jeep Grand Wagoneer is a big, fancy SUV that can handle rough terrain while offering a comfortable ride. It's great for families and people who like to go on adventures.

Car

GMC Yukon

The GMC Yukon is a large SUV that can carry many passengers and their gear. It's comfortable and has a lot of features that make driving easier and safer.

Term

crossover

A crossover is a vehicle that mixes the characteristics of a car and an SUV. It usually has a higher seating position and more space, making it popular among families.

Car

Subaru Outback

The Subaru Outback is a type of vehicle that combines features of a car and an SUV. It's good for families and outdoor activities because it has more space and can handle rough roads better than regular cars.

Car

Chrysler Pacifica

The Chrysler Pacifica is a big family van that has lots of room for kids and their stuff. It's designed to be comfortable and easy to use for families on the go.

Car

Toyota Sienna

The Toyota Sienna is a family minivan that offers a lot of space and comfort. It's especially good for families because it has features that make it easy to use and drive.

Car

Volkswagen Passat

The Volkswagen Passat is a roomy car that's good for families and everyday driving. It's comfortable and has a nice feel when you drive it.

Car

American Pacers

The AMC Pacer is a quirky little car from the 70s that people remember for its unusual shape. It's not very common today, but some folks really like its retro style.

Car

When Nick just says, let's just talk, just hit record, I'm like, all right, say less

man, we got to get right to it.

You know, on the way to work today, we had an electric car fire, so it took me a little

longer to get to my shop today.

Oh, okay.

Well, that's on our topic today.

They're very affordable these days, but we'll get to that later in the show.

Welcome to the number one automotive-related podcast on planet Earth.

We talk about car news, trends, market predictions, and more importantly, offer you a good hang.

We typically don't do this at the very beginning of the show, but there's so many new listeners

as 2026 has started.

We got to remind you guys that you're here, why you're here, and why you're going to

stick around.

Dude, let's just get right into it.

We've had some fun conversations this week about people, the misconceptions, and what

I have labeled a borderline, I mean, manic mania type of anger attitude towards buying

a car at a dealership and then just the dealership infrastructure as a whole.

It's mania.

I mean, it's like, we're not even talking about our content at this point.

You sent me a couple of videos and part of what we feel like we're doing here sometimes

is to get you guys to calm down about the car-selling experience.

Whatever we have now is not a calm experience.

It's a bunch of people extremely mad, which means they've made bad decisions or they feel

they've been talked into bad deals or they've signed bad deals and all of that stuff happens.

But I think there are genuinely, not just us, there seems to be creators that are going,

hey, kind of listen up and pick up some tips and tricks and then people just go ballistic

in their comments like, what are you talking?

It's like, guys, he's just giving you a little tip.

Okay, it's okay.

It's okay.

Let's calm down.

It's that name of Cyclops rubbing.

It's like Wolverine's back.

It's okay.

Yeah, but we're down a real road and look, you got Toyota who, what, finished last year

8% up, record-breaking year for Tacoma.

So everybody's buying vehicles.

So I don't know, for all of the complaints about how to buy a vehicle, it sure doesn't

slow people down from buying them.

So to set the landscape, we had posted a video, one of many that we post, talking about another

video.

So it's like a mirror looking into a mirror, talking to a mirror.

And it was about the Kia Hyundai conversation from a couple weeks back.

And then it was also about just used cars in general and the need for, and again, we

always say, Nick and I, even on personal calls, we hate to sound like we're trying to defend

any area of the car world specifically, but we just have to make sense of why they exist

and what purpose that they serve.

Good way of putting that.

And in those videos, they were back and forth, YouTube, Instagram, all of them.

And it was really interesting because the unnecessary anger, I mean, they were vehemently

against the need for, without even considering any of the pros.

You would even have some people respond like, well, what would you say to, hey, something

needs to get repaired, a test drive, just simple things.

And they just weren't having it.

They were just completely not having the back and forth in a justifiable way.

Yeah.

And they go after other commenters and other people that are trying to talk some sense into

why.

Guys, the system is not that difficult to understand.

It just really isn't.

Now maybe everybody hasn't talked publicly enough about what the system is.

A car dealership is just a distribution hub.

That's all that it is.

That's what Home Depot is.

That's what Lowe's is.

That's what Costco is.

That's what Sam's Club is.

That's what Target is.

They're just distribution hubs that they distribute products that they don't make.

That's as simple as it gets.

You guys don't walk in and look, you bought everybody out there's purchased something

from Walmart, Sam's Club, Costco.

That wasn't a good value that you got at home and you go, I don't like this food or I don't

like this thing I bought or I don't like this.

I mean, I know people that have bought that Costco sauna that are furious because it doesn't

get hot enough.

Okay.

It's not going to be Nick.

I'll tell you that.

It's not going to be me.

Excuse me.

So one of the things that being this emotional in a negative way doesn't help you, the consumer.

That's what I think you and I have tried to get across to people, guys, I'm not an auto

dealer.

I've never been an auto dealer.

I don't have any paid partnerships with auto dealers.

I'm just like every one of you.

The only difference is I've done it about a thousand X more than most people buying

a car from a dealership for customers for myself or whoever.

Then from there, I think we get down this path where everybody's so angry that they

think they have the best idea to abolish the whole system.

And I can tell you if you've seen probably the biggest direct to consumer brand in the

car business, Tesla, we're pretty unique here in Vegas.

What I get to witness, first of all, we got two massive Tesla distribution centers.

We also have massive Tesla repair centers that I am by at least twice a week.

And I see the same cars sitting outside that place that have no chance of getting repaired

anytime soon.

That doesn't mean Tesla is bad.

That doesn't mean don't buy a Tesla.

Don't think that going direct to consumer is going to solve all your problems.

And before anybody says it, well, my friend has a Rivian and my friend has a Lucid and

might I've had lemon laws with all of them.

And shown Rob the paperwork on that.

Literally all of them.

Yeah, literally all of them.

OK, all of your favorite brands that are direct to consumer I've dealt with lemon

law situations with.

Now, the question I would have, and I even wrote my notes, is like, where does most

of the anger come from?

Because I think and we hate to say or we hate to be like, dad, get off our lawn and

we say that all the time or Nick says it all the time.

But a lot of times it is buying over your head, buying in over your head for the

purchase. That's where it starts.

Because the inability to have delayed gratification as a car enthusiast, man,

can we relate to that?

I want it now.

I want that one.

Look at the spec.

It's all about the right price or at least in the ballpark of the right price.

It's not always the right price, but you're going to justify the price.

And then later, somebody swindled me, somebody put their hands in my pocket and

took the money out.

Yeah. So you, you sent a couple of videos yesterday that had nothing to do with

us, right? Actually creators.

I never, I've never watched.

Yeah, they did good videos.

So I start texting some people that I know that are dealer principles that

are, you know, maybe guys that were big finance manager type guys for 10, 20

years that have now moved on in their career, retired or moved on to something

else. And one of the interesting things, again, none of these people are related

to one another.

They never worked together.

They don't know each other is they all said the same thing.

They go, let's just say there are jerk salesmen that do the wrong thing.

Okay.

Let's just say we all agree on that.

That's, that's the baseline here.

I hear your pain.

We all agree on it.

The people in the business agree on it.

The funny part is they go, you know, like 90% of the deals, the customer always

opts for an expensive car that everybody in the building knows they shouldn't buy.

And I go, well, walk me through that.

I go, okay, well, let's say somebody comes in and says, I got $40,000 to spend.

So I got $40,000 to spend.

We give them the options at $40,000 because that's the logical thing to do.

They then go, why don't like those options?

They walk themselves back onto the car lot, say, how much does this cost?

You go, well, that's $60,000.

They go, okay, I want to buy it.

That's the one I want.

Can you do the numbers on it?

And then they want to get a deal on that.

So they go, okay, well, we can take two grand off that.

So it's $58,000.

And the guy's like, yeah, $58,000.

Nobody was talked into anything.

They showed them the $40,000 options were willing to sell the $40,000 options

because some things that guys that are listening may not know is that there's a

lot of instances where maybe they make more money on the $40,000 car and not as

much on the $60,000 car.

That happens all the time in the dealership world.

Okay.

I'm not saying in every instance, but it does happen.

And so I kept picking at this dealer principle and I go, come on, you guys have

to, he goes, Nick, I can show you on camera where these people just walk

themselves out to the lot, pick a car.

They know they can't afford because it's the car they want to drive around the

truck, the SUV, whatever the vehicle is, they didn't like the options that were

available to them at 40.

And now they're like, well, screw my budget.

I'm going to spend 60.

All of you guys now know where this heads that first 30 days you're driving

it around, you love that car, truck, SUV, when that first payment comes due,

you're going to say to yourself, man, they got over on me and you're going to

forget that you walked yourself back onto the lot.

Now, mind you, what have I done?

Everybody has already admitted there are some bad sea, bad apples in the bunch.

But by all accounts, they're saying that most of the bad decisions, they don't

even have to talk people into it.

They're like, it's not that hard to sell a car.

Every single one of them said that.

And I know we can all point to somebody, maybe even ourselves sometimes, where

you're like, that was me, that was in the inability to delay gratification, even

a little bit, or even just work my way up.

Like I've seen some of the videos where car salesmen are talking to a

younger individual and they're actually telling the guy, like, look, it sounds

like, you know, you're young, you need to build, if you want to basically

build yourself a ladder to the vehicle you want to get to.

And the guy's like, no, this is what I want.

I want this M3 or I want this type R.

I can sympathize with all of that for sure.

But we have this place where we want these people that sell cars, dealerships,

whoever, we want them to take 100% of the blame.

Instead of saying, we just need to also do a better job of walking into the

dealership and knowing what the heck we're doing.

And by the way, guys, it's like two or three things that everybody has the ability to do.

Lay it on, if you were to say, what could turn it around, in your opinion?

Easy.

First of all, you need to know what you can actually spend.

Okay.

What is not going to screw your life up financially?

Everybody's different.

There's people that can eat millions of dollars in the car market, not lose an ounce

of sleep because it's not a big deal to them.

There's other people, I'd say the average person, you know, you start swaying

that payment, an extra 200 to 400 bucks a month and they're in a really bad spot.

Everyone's different.

Yeah, we've all heard the house poor conversation.

Corpore gets thrown around a few.

Well, by the way, they're sounding the alarm.

JP Morgan Chase is sounding the alarm.

They think most of their auto loans are 30% underwater and negative equity.

There's all kinds of talk about this now.

We are an unprecedented territory for what consumers, now mind you, the

banks don't care who sold the car and who bought the car.

They care about the loan.

Where's the money?

Okay.

So this is what you would call an independent party that doesn't really care

about either party.

They don't care about the dealership.

They don't care about the customer.

They care about the paperwork.

They're sounding the alarm that we've basically gone through a five year

period that they've never seen before.

And that truthfully they didn't see coming or they wouldn't have loaned

these, this money out from the bank perspective, not the dealership.

The bank wouldn't have done it.

They are sounding the alarm that we are to a 30% underwater on average in

their bank portfolio on cars.

Like, so know what you can spend.

Also know what vehicle you want to buy.

When you walk on a dealership lot, like, you know, you're walking around the mall,

you're likely going to look at the nicest vehicles because that's what we all do.

Every single one of us, you're not going to think about your budget.

You're going to be like, I like that car of the best.

And then you're going to convince yourself.

Nobody else has to convince you that you want the nicest trim packages.

We talk about this all the time here.

You want to know why base cars aren't built anymore?

You guys don't buy them.

Exactly.

You don't buy them.

All of you get in the comments and say, you know what Ford should build?

You know what?

Sure, they already tried that.

You don't want them.

You want the elevated packages.

We have warned and warned and warned about these bullshit packages that people buy.

And then people get in our comments and go, or email or DM and go, you don't

know what you're talking about.

It's like, there's nothing in that package.

You just paid an extra 10 grand for nothing.

Like, you know, I mean, it's just one of these things that people have to start

understanding.

Number one, know your budget for real, stick to it.

That's a hard thing to do for the average person, because you go in there and you

go, I don't like what I can get for 40 grand, right?

So that is the basis of this.

Understand the car you're trying to buy.

Understand what they're going for nationally.

What they are being sold for, not in your local area.

We had, I had somebody DM us.

I want to say this.

He goes, it's BS.

There's no cheap sports car.

I said, we did a segment on our podcast where we showed you all these sports cars,

manual transmission under $40,000.

He goes, well, not in my area.

I go, just hit click on the internet for nationwide.

I mean, we say this stuff repeatedly and people somehow think we're

shilling for dealerships.

I'm telling you how to not get locked into that.

I don't understand it.

And all of this comes down to when we all make a bad decision, we're looking

to point the finger at somebody.

Now, let me get my, my notes at my phone notes here, because I obviously

have notes everywhere.

And I had to take some screenshots of some particular comments because around

this topic, the immediate rebuttal is, well, that's your somehow in, um, what's

a, what's the fucking word?

Like an anomaly for the situation, because maybe you know what you're doing

or what have you, that's not the common scenario.

Most regular people will run into.

And it's something we've said in the past too.

If you, if you do the legwork, you can usually get round about what you're

looking for.

If you refuse to do the legwork, you're always going to be quote, unquote,

screwed over.

Yes.

The car business takes legwork.

Just like if you renovated your house, it's going to take legwork.

You're not, you're not just going to imagine you snap your fingers and in one

day your whole house is renovated.

This is a large purchase for the majority of the economy.

So doing zero legwork makes really zero sense.

Where was this one specifically?

They were so vehemently against what was being said in exchange and it doesn't

matter specifically, but it's that because even if you try to be helpful in a

comment and, uh, and if they don't get it and they're not trying to get it,

they're just going to come back, you know, with troll, like replies.

Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah.

You know, way more guys, the things I'm telling you, this is the basics.

Know what you can spend.

Know what vehicle you're looking at and what price point that is in,

what trim packages are within your budget.

Maybe you can, you, you can swing, uh, because you get there and you see it in

person and you go, okay, I can go another two grand, five grand.

And if you get in the higher end of the market, those numbers get bigger.

Okay.

But the whole part of this is, and then you say, what's the out the door price?

I don't give me the out the door price.

Well, the out the door price I need to be at is $40,000.

Well, you know, we added this, we added that.

No, no, no, no, I'm going to pay $40,000.

Well, we can't do that.

Okay guys, see you later and you leave.

That's, that's what you do.

That, that is the secret to all of this.

Can you do that again?

Please.

I need to see that secret hand gesture was priceless.

Secret to all of this.

You've got to walk the F out the door.

That's the title.

You guys think there's some type of secret here.

You have to be able to walk into a dealership with the 100% confident that

you're willing to walk out of it without a car.

Now let's say that you find the car, right?

This is the next kind of topic we were talking about this week, uh, financing.

Since you another video that was just only related to financing, some people

might not know this.

And again, also some people might not enjoy the hunt.

I, I, I understand that too.

They don't, they don't, I like the hunt.

As you can tell, my personality probably gives it off.

I'm trying to find what I'm trying to find.

Same, right?

And then on the sales side, you, you know, probably don't appreciate that the

salesman or the dealership or whoever you're dealing with it, maybe even

outside of cars, they're also in the hunt.

Where's my lead?

Where am I, who am I going to close?

Yep.

It's a game.

We get it.

Not everybody likes it, but you can't be, what's the phrase?

What's the poker table phrase?

Yeah.

If you can't spot the sucker at the poker table, you're the sucker.

Exactly.

Even if you are the sucker, you've got to be honest with yourself.

Just don't come off as the sucker.

Cause then you're really going to get railed, right?

Yeah, a hundred percent.

So a lot of people might not know that if you go to a dealership, I've had to

experience personally, they can tell you that they don't accept your outside

financing.

Yes.

And you don't have to make a video that goes viral or semi viral about the

dealership or the group, because you did, maybe didn't know that and everybody

in the comments also didn't know that.

And everybody that said it was illegal, obviously didn't know that.

So can you enlighten some of the listeners on this stuff?

Yeah.

There's nothing illegal about a dealership saying they don't accept outside

financing.

That's number one.

It's their car.

It's their property.

It's their thing to sell.

They can sell it any way that they want, as long as it's within federal law.

Yeah.

Right.

And your outside financing, my outside financing is not a guaranteed thing that

they have to accept.

It's sort of like the no shoes, no shirt, no service thing.

You can't just walk in, you know, butt naked and they're going to let you walk

around the dealership.

Unless you're in Miami than maybe.

Yeah, maybe.

I mean, look, what dealership is that?

Can I get you a dress, please?

Yeah, are there women there?

Natalie got it.

Yeah.

What's her name?

18 is Lee.

Yeah, you have to, you have to understand that people get very angry about that.

Now let me give you both sides of the story.

Do I think they should take outside financing?

Yes.

But actually, I think consumers use outside financing improperly.

Almost 100% no, don't say that.

Don't tell the internet they're doing it wrong.

But don't have their credit union because here's what I tell you.

What you should be using outside financing for is to get a better financing deal at

whatever business you're going to.

So let's say I had financing lined up for my home, what you can do, by the way,

just go to an independent broker.

They'll give you a pre approval.

You're approved at, you know, 5%.

Well, if this place that I go buy this home for, once my loan business, I go, hey,

look, if you're not at 4.5, there's no reason for us to talk.

That's how outside financing should be used.

Instead, what people use it for is they go, already got my financing lined up.

Don't even hear anything else.

It's like, well, what if they gave you better financing terms?

Which, by the way, happens all the time.

It can happen.

Okay.

There comes a point with this, is that number one, they don't have to accept your

outside financing.

And let me tell you the story, and you know this, Rob, very, you know, as well.

The story of why some dealerships just deny it all the way around, isn't that

they're trying to screw you over.

It's because they've been screwed over by outside financing.

Impossible, Nick.

No way they're just screwed over.

I'm not saying this all, could it be a tactic at certain dealerships, but there

are dealerships that just go, look, let me tell you a story, five stories, 10

stories that have happened to us.

By the way, you guys can Google this, where people are actually sitting in

prison from running these scams across state lines and whatever, where they

walk in with all of this financing and order.

And it turns out they set up just kind of like a shadow bank, so to speak, with

receptionists and people to call.

Shadow offices and everything.

I mean, so there's a lot of dealership groups that just say, look, we got

access to 50 banks, if that's not enough for you, you know, whatever.

And that could be the reason, the other reason that many of you consumers

would say is they make all their money off financing and selling loans.

All, all of these things are true, right?

We're saying everything here is true.

What I told you on the dealership side for the good reasons that they may not

want to do it, and I understand the consumer being frustrated on the other

side, but also most consumers walk in and think, I've already locked down my financing.

Why would I use it that way?

Why wouldn't I go, they're going to give me a loan at 5%.

If you guys give me a loan at 4%, I'll go with you.

So the term I always use is anchor, right?

That's your anchor right there is whatever you're a credit union, for

instance, financed you at.

Now, let me ask you this, if you know enough at least to say, here's my

anchor of a financing that my credit union gave me.

What do you, what can you work with?

Can you beat that kind of thing?

Is it even worth the average consumer going in there and asking for the buy

rate or asking essentially what the spread is?

Should they go that deep?

I think you're now getting into a place that I don't think most people work.

I'm trying to give simple solution.

Totally.

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to aim for.

Simple solution here is if I've locked down a rate at 5%, the way to use it to

see if I can get a rate for 4%, for 3.5% for whatever.

I don't get all caught up in.

If I'm, if I'm already ready to buy a cart 5% and somebody offered me 4% and for

some reason they're making a half percent on it.

That doesn't really stick in my crawl.

I just made a 1% better deal on the rate for myself.

I'm not really in dealerships.

And I think this is, this is what people would probably be shocked to hear.

I'm not in the dealership to argue with people.

You are going to lose.

And I think that's what people walk in.

They walk in, their chest is puffed out.

They're ready to punch a hole in the wall and you go, well, Nick said that, no,

listen to what I'm saying.

Know how much you can spend.

Know the car you're going to buy and what trim models are in there.

Go in there and say you want to walk out the door with this price.

If they say no, walk out.

If they say yes, sign the paperwork.

I am not in the argument business because contrary to popular belief,

good negotiators are in the argument business.

That's how you find yourself getting their way.

That's how you find yourself in a bad deal.

Yes.

And that's why you're the sucker at the poker table, because you think you're

in there to argue with somebody.

I'm not there to argue with anybody.

I don't care what your pappy told you when you were growing up about going

into the dealership.

I'm telling you what, what the F works.

This is what works.

You leave papa out of this.

I mean, you don't, you don't have to, you know, oh, my pappy always got good

deals on his trucks.

No, he didn't.

They loved to see him coming because they knew he was going to argue and he was

going to make a mistake.

I'm not in there to argue.

And for everybody that says they're in a dealership for hours and hours and

hours to get to the end of a deal, that's how I know you got taken advantage of.

It's true because the hunt that I was talking about earlier is to find the

thing you want at the price that you want.

For a lot of people, the hunt is, can I go out, debate or argue this

person at the dealership?

Sure.

And you're not going to win.

You're, you're on, you're on their land, their territory.

Yeah.

You're on their land.

They have all the weapons.

They also have the thing you want.

Yeah.

They don't have to sell the car.

They already have the fucking thing.

Like you're the one that doesn't have it.

So we have to calm down as consumers to think about anything else other

than what can I afford?

What do I want to buy?

What rate did I get an outside financing?

If that's something that's important to you, by the way, this is the same

way I do cash deals.

So we do a lot of cash deals through my customers.

They just, they don't have to deal with financing.

I've, I've done nothing but cash deals on my own cars.

Okay.

Um, maybe once upon a time I financed a car way back when, but I've always had

a fund of buying and selling cars personally that that money's always just

reinvested quote unquote, reinvested back into cars that I want.

So when you do a cash deal, the worst thing you can do when you're paying

cash is walking to dealership and go, I'm going to be paying cash.

Don't do that.

That's not a, that's a terrible leverage point.

You still have to get to, can you meet my out the door price?

Yes.

We'll sell this vehicle to you for $40,000.

Great.

Uh, we're going to take you to the finance office.

No need.

I'm going to go ahead and cut you a check.

Dude, the way you did that.

So no need.

It's just smooth as fuck.

We're going to cut you a check.

And, and guess what?

They've already verbally agreed.

They're not going to want you to walk out the door.

They know at least they can move the car.

They're not thrilled about it, but I didn't jam it down their throat that I'm

paying cash because they look at that, whether they should or not, is not my opinion.

I don't care what my opinion is.

They look at cash as a negative thing.

They shouldn't, they should.

I'm not worried about all that.

I'm worried about getting my deal done.

I, I hope everybody learns one thing for me.

I'm not emotional about any of it.

There's not any of this I'm emotional about.

Here's the car.

Here's what I'm willing to pay.

Yes or no.

If they say, yes, we do the deal.

If they say, no, I leave that, that's, there is no argument.

There is no me getting mad.

There is no me yelling.

There is no going back and forth because guess what's going to happen nine times

out of 10 and you have experienced this in your life.

You're going to leave.

You're going to get a call within an hour.

You're going to get another call within 24 hours.

And within 48 hours, you're probably going to get the deal you want.

Only things that matter are the car, the cost and the conclusion.

That is it.

I look at you, put that on a t-shirt, put that on a t-shirt, blue band,

put it on a t-shirt right now, clutch culture, cars, costs and conclusion

addition.

All right, but that's all that matters.

It really all the matters.

I couldn't say it better.

Thank you.

And I don't care who I buy my car from.

There's the last thing guys.

I don't care if it's a guy's backyard.

I don't care if it's a dealership.

I don't care if it's an auction site.

I don't, none of it matters to me.

None of it matters to me.

It's the car I want.

It's the car I'm on the hunt for.

It fits my price point.

I do not care where I have to buy the car.

I purchased cars out of Canada.

We brought cars in for customers from overseas.

I don't care where I buy a vehicle.

My, my whole thing is the same.

What am I willing to pay?

What are you willing to sell it for?

Yes or no?

Yeah, I agree with you, but leave those cars in Canada.

We don't want those Canadian cars down here.

Oh, zing, shots fired.

I had to think of a, of something I could shorten.

Clinical to podcast because I couldn't use CCP on clothing

because that wouldn't be cool.

So CCC, we're going to do CCC, right?

Cars cost conclusion.

That's going to be a winner right there.

Ding, ding, ding.

Dude, that was, that's an incredible segment on the car buying experience.

And, you know, guys, we're going to revisit this over and over again

because a cool thing about the show is that for as much of car enthusiasts

that we are, we've talked about old cars and what we will continue to talk

about old cars, new cars and everything between EVVs from time to time.

The average person that listens to the show is also an average like dad,

wife, you know, person who's looking to buy a commuter, a daily, not just

the manual fun car they're taking out to rip around on the weekend.

So we get a lot of, not praise, but we get a lot of appreciation for

thanks for talking about the regular consumers kind of instances or scenarios.

Yeah, and it is interesting stuff, guys.

It is, it really is.

If you don't really live in this world, I understand being intimidated.

Yeah, I do.

I'm not a pro dealer guy.

I just told you, I don't care where I've, I have literally bought vehicles

from all the places I just said, a guy's backyard, an auction site,

a dealer site, a police auction.

Doesn't matter to me.

I don't care.

All right, look, listen, look, we had, we had a big DEA raid that took

place here years and years and years ago.

I may have bought for one of my collectors a couple of cars in the DEA.

I was just about to say, go ahead.

No, I don't care.

Okay.

Well, what you can, you say on camera, be careful now.

What can you say on a microphone and camera is the weirdest place you have

found a car that you liked, that you actually bought?

Careful now.

The answer's got to be applicable for camera use.

I want to edit this later.

Blue band, careful now.

You might have to edit this.

So some of the weirdest things you get into in the collection world is

when somebody's being forced to sell their collection, i.e.

a government agency has stepped in, but divorces.

So I kind of told you this, one of the most famous collections that was

liquidated in the last three years was really strange because I had the

wife's phone number who was causing the liquidation.

It was actually near where you were.

I don't want to give too much away.

So other than the people that were shooting content, like for their

YouTube channel at this collection going up for sale, nobody had talked to the

wife except for you, except for me and I got her cell phone number and we

were able to pull a couple of things out of that collection.

I want to say secretly, but obviously she was in control of the collection.

It's not like we went in there in the dark at night, but before that

collection went up for sale, we had plucked two cars out of there and it

was a weird vibe.

It was a weird vibe on the phone.

The transporters got a weird vibe.

It kind of felt like we were doing something illegal, even though we had

the titles, that was probably the weirdest experience I've had.

But look, I mean, government auctions, when somebody's been busted for

drugs and that kind of stuff, it's pretty streamlined.

It's pretty basic how I handle.

But look, man, you go into some people's backyards, into their garages.

They're a weird person.

I mean, that's not the most comfortable place to buy a car.

I don't know.

I just don't give a shit.

Like, you know, hey, man, you're a weirdo.

You might have something going on in your basement that we don't know about,

but can I just get this car out of here?

Cause this is creeping me out.

I've had, I've had a lot of those.

That's, that's about, that's the size of the purchase where I'd be willing

to do that because the funny memes are like, when your wife tells you to put

something on marketplace and you're going to get like potentially murdered

for selling a pillow, you know, on Facebook marketplace and you're just

like in an alley waiting for this to be bought now.

But if it's a car, it's a little different, right?

Like it's worth the risk.

And to be fair, I really haven't bought a bunch of cars off marketplace.

It's probably a little bit of a weak spot for me.

I could probably do a little bit more on there.

Cause I think it's getting, it's already normalized, but I think also people

are becoming more savvy about how to make the transactions a little smoother and

stuff.

I mean, it's kind of like Craigslist at the beginning, not the most smooth

place to buy a car, got very much, very smooth after everybody understood

what was going on.

But yeah, man, I mean, some of these backyard buys, it's, it's, it's a weird

vibe, man.

It's weird people.

It's, it's, it's sketchy areas.

I have sold so many things on Craigslist.

Okay.

Um, from dump trucks, 18.

I've sold so many things on Craigslist.

I'm not going to tell you under which category.

The first thing I thought was like, not, not, not the, uh, what is it?

The, uh, classified under in the night kind of section.

Miss connections.

No, no, no, no, no, no, we didn't go down that route.

We thought about it.

Thought about it a couple of times.

Like how much money can we make down here?

How much could we do that?

Yeah.

Uh, no, but that was early only fans.

That's the original only fans as a matter of fact, not just early.

It's the first.

It's to the OG.

Um, but it's, it's, uh, dude.

Yeah.

I'm just now I'm having a rush of memories.

Those characters and I like, I liked Craigslist.

We even talked about it early on in the show.

Like the old school Craigslist, that wasn't just a bunch of ads, essentially

that people are putting up now was a very different, very different and

very fun place to, to find stuff.

It was a little gold.

Well, eBay was like that too.

It was.

Yeah.

eBay, eBay.

Look, I got my LX off eBay.

So there's another, there's another thing in, oh yeah, that's right.

Um, found it on eBay.

It was a dealer that had tons of Land Cruiser LX experience.

If I don't search eBay, again, I miss out on the deal.

This is one of the things we keep reiterating to people when they're like,

well, I'm not going to stop it and ask a price.

Well, I will.

Yeah, I mean, I'm not going to somebody's door.

If I see a for sale sign on a car, like how much you want for that doesn't say

on the for sale, wherever I have to get the car that I'm looking for, I'm

perfectly okay.

And is there some risks to all that?

Sure.

But I mean, common sense kind of protects you and you just got to slow

down and not get emotional and, and deal with it.

You know, when my LX arrived, uh, I got news for everybody.

There were some things undisclosed.

I didn't know the sound system was completely blown.

Wasn't told to me.

I had to handle it.

Right.

That's the other thing.

When you buy cars like I buy cars and you have this realistic expectation

of cars and I get news for you, AI is going to make this even more difficult

because people are going to be able to remove dents and they're going to be

able to make things appear a certain way.

It's going to be hard to pick up and them, you know, doing these things to

their car, bring a trailer, had some weird AI thing on a car, I believe this week.

No way.

Um, that, that, you know, again, I've told you guys, these auction sites

aren't your friend, make sure you do your due diligence, just like you do

it a dealer because they are a dealer, essentially.

Uh, so yeah, man, you have these things where I am not going to be

limited like most buyers, I will buy the car wherever it sits.

And I'll also be understanding of what I'm buying.

I was buying a 22 year old vehicle at the time.

They're probably not going to disclose everything to me.

I'm not going to sit there and lose my mind.

I had budgeted for it and I went ahead and got things fixed.

So that's the other part of the car market that people that are enthusiasts

that have bought a lot of cars, you probably learned, Hey, I'm going to be

okay fixing things.

The average consumer gets really bent out of shape because they don't know

when you're in the used market, you need to have some realistic expectations

that things are going to need to be fixed probably right when it gets off

the truck or right when you get it.

Like this is part of the game of buying a car.

It's a mechanical item, right?

There's nothing's going to be flawless when you get to a used vehicle.

That's a certain amount of years old and going back to that last phrase you

used where, uh, like, you know, you pick it up or you rather you want to

pick it up and you're calling or stopping what's the price inquiring,

essentially one of the, the ones that stuck out the most was a guy that

put in quotes, consumers aren't interested in anybody's strategy.

And I'm like, look, man, I didn't say anything, but I just like, you're

overthinking the term strategy when it comes to a salesman at a dealership.

You know, of course I want to sit down and have a chat with you.

Like they want to, all right, like, can I get you in the thing you're

looking for?

Like that's their strategy.

Can I be of service for what it is you're looking to buy?

Honestly, I've never looked at salespeople negatively in any aspect.

I mean, we just went through an, uh, we talked about this before.

I went through this appliance thing at my house.

We dealt with a salesperson.

She was great.

I hope she earns a commission.

The shit doesn't rub me the wrong way.

Okay.

I know she's there to sell me something.

I don't walk in and go, boom, I didn't know she was there to sell me something.

It's like, it was pretty obvious.

And matter of fact, I ask if they, if they answer my questions and do a good

job, I always make sure to ask, Hey, we're not buying right now, but

do you earn a commission if I buy this always?

Yeah.

And if they go, yes, I'll be like, okay, give me your card.

We're going to buy this at X, Y, Z date.

I'll make sure that we use you.

I am okay.

People earning a living.

Yeah.

It doesn't, but it doesn't bother me that salespeople exist in the world.

Again, when you are so angry about a system, you are the target because

anger causes you to make mistakes, especially when you're negotiating heavy

price things.

Yes.

And I'll do that even on the small stuff.

Like I'll give you an example.

Black Friday, I was going to upgrade my phone and we read Costco, favorite again,

favorite, favorite place.

And there's always, no matter where you are, there's always the AT&T rep right

there in Costco, always, every day of the week, AT&T has that, that kiosk on

lock 100% and they're like, sometimes there's two of them.

So they'll swarm and they'll create like a half moon.

So you can't escape them unless you completely go around, right?

So, and go back to where we're talking about.

I just hit him with my car.

Actually, I've done it before.

I'm like, excuse me, sorry, looking over here.

But I said, you guys running a Black Friday promotion, probably, right?

Cause they couldn't say it was like, yeah, it was like the day before or two

days before, but we can't say what it is until that day.

I said, cool.

She was very nice.

I said, I'm going to get a phone regardless.

I just wanted to see what you guys, if you had something pre already kind of

advertised, no, you got to wait a second.

Cool.

She was very nice.

I said, are you going to be here or what's your name?

Do you work on commission?

She goes, we do, but I'll be at another one, maybe, but I might be here.

So you just have to check.

I was like, all right, I'm planning on coming back anyway.

I'll make sure you get the commission.

And then she told me her name and I didn't like her name.

So I didn't go back to her.

Yeah.

She reminded me of somebody I grew up with that I didn't like.

And I was like, sorry, lady.

Wow.

That's real petty.

I know.

Hey, I know you're not talking.

Oh yeah.

Yeah.

I'm Mr.

Petty.

Okay.

And I don't judge pettiness.

Thank you.

But I do want people, guys, we understand where you're coming from.

A healthy respect and understanding of how it all works.

You'll be all right.

Let's take a deep breath.

And again, I want people to hear this.

I buy the cars wherever they are.

That gets me the car I'm looking for for the price I want to pay.

I'm not loyal to any of this.

I'm not loyal to a dealer to any of it.

I just buy the car where I can get the car and I handle it the exact same way.

No matter who's selling me the car, there's actually the thing that we would

write on the top of our website.

That if we had a website to help people buy cars, it'd be like, that's what I

would tell you.

You've got to be willing to buy the shit wherever it's at.

CarCostConclusion.com.

That's what we're going to do.

As long as you're not driving right now, let's just do like in bad boys one

and two where the chief would be like, you know, who saw or maybe it was

Martin Lawrence where he was just rubbing his earlobes, right?

Everybody calm down, calm down, calm down.

Yeah, that dude, that was a, that was a funny dude.

Oh, it was so good.

I didn't watch the newer ones because I didn't want to ruin the older ones,

but I didn't hear the best things about them anyway.

I didn't watch Gladiator 2 for that reason.

I didn't either.

There's a lot of twos I didn't watch.

Yeah, I'm not doing that.

Yeah.

I'm not watching Gladiator 2.

Unless it's superhero movies, I'll watch them all.

I don't care how bad they are.

Yeah.

If I had a son, I was going to name him Maximus.

Were you really?

Yeah, yeah.

I actually really liked that name.

Yeah, it's a great name.

Dude, one day, one day, my wife will testify to this.

That's literally the name that I've always said as well.

Yeah, it's a great name.

And by the way, just straight from that movie.

I mean, I wasn't going to watch Gladiator 2.

Let's say that wasn't going to happen.

Well, just to go ahead to add to my nerd alert that some people might get.

Mine was from a Yu-Gi-Oh cartoon when I was young.

I liked the name.

I was like, definitely not as cool.

Definitely not as cool, definitely not as cool.

But I had to say it because some people will DM you like, dude,

I grew up watching Yu-Gi-Oh 2.

They will not.

Yes, they will.

Wow.

Now I need you two seconds screenshot and show Nick because if you don't,

you're really leaving me out to dry, everybody.

Let's get riled up again.

I know we just who sought ourselves, but as we're getting to the final quarter

of the show here, our boy Vin, not really our boy, but we like his content,

made a big announcement, big announcement.

And I'm actually going to just pull up a screenshot from the video without playing

it because there might be some music I'm not sure we can play.

But this is my favorite screenshot from the whole video.

Cars are not an investment.

Exactly.

Nick has a lot of experience with these cars, right?

What did he do?

Tell everybody what he did and what you think the outcome might be of what he did.

Well, he basically told a story that's actually becoming fairly common is that,

you know, he probably has a certain amount of personal wealth, whatever that number is.

His Porsche is getting to a level that he's actually uncomfortable with how valuable it is.

And I'm going to take him at face value that that's he actually means that, right?

I don't know if it's for a video or not.

You never know, but seems like an honest creator.

Guys, I love his content.

Don't know him.

We'd love to hang out with him, but I think he probably has some of the best

content I've seen in the last year or two.

But essentially he started to tell people, like, you know, this car got so valuable.

I thought it was a forever car for me.

But the insurance and if the engine blows up, it's going to cost me 70 grand

and they tend to blow up or they have the propensity that that could happen.

If this and this and this happens and I've had to put this in and I've had to work

on the transmission and whatever the things he said is that the cost was getting

to a point personally he was uncomfortable with, but also the value was getting to a

point where he actually was getting nervous driving the car.

You have no idea how many people this happens to because they never bought these

vehicles for everybody that wants to play hindsight of like, look at the investment

that this guy made in this car.

Here's the perfect.

This is 99% of the market.

He bought a car he loved.

He wanted to go to the track.

He wanted to do this.

It got so valuable.

He basically got nervous about all of that.

And when that much money is tied up in a car and your wealth isn't to a certain level,

it's it's usually time to sell and that's what he did.

I'm trying as you're talking, I'm trying to find another screenshot from the video

where he shows the chart of how widely inflated the prices have gotten over

like the last 10 years, right?

Like, I think he even showed an orange spec, like a one of one kind of spec.

One of one, by the way, that nobody wanted.

Nobody wanted.

It sat on the dealer a lot and went for like, what, 1.2?

1.2 and they couldn't sell it for whatever it was, 200 grand, you know.

So again, all these hindsight people that weren't there or that weren't paying

attention, this was the reality.

So now it sells for 1.2 because it's considered a rare spec.

It's ugly as sin.

Nobody wanted it back then because it wasn't the right spec and it didn't look

good, but now it becomes valuable because it's a one of one.

And everybody goes, well, that's obvious.

It's not obvious though.

There was all kinds of people that could have bought that for $200,000 for

$150,000 back in the day.

They didn't do it because they didn't like the car.

And that's a good testament to why cars are not an investment, right?

You're kind of just gambling and I'll actually pull it up.

We won't play any of the audio, but as we're talking here, he shows, you know,

and we know this, the average depreciation of a vehicle, how the curve is supposed

to naturally kind of go.

And then he brings up, you know, the GT3, his was a 997 GT3 and it, he even says

like it doesn't make sense where it was just kind of flat and then goes up.

Like there's no explanation for any of this stuff.

No, the car, the car didn't magically get any better.

The specs didn't magically get any better of things that were already built.

And in some cases, the worst specs are now going because they're one of one

are going for 1.2 million.

None of it makes sense.

We would just watch this.

So we told you guys when Pebble Beach went off and we saw this run on Ferrari's,

I believe, and I hope I said this directly, you're now going to see a run

on certain modern Ferrari's.

Mika Mato auction, just liquidated a collection of Ferrari's horribly

spec, by the way, okay?

I mean, things that nobody would spec and they brought huge money because

they were basically delivery miles or under 600 miles on all of them.

Things nobody would have wanted back then.

This guy bought them, stored them, and they sell off this collection

of horribly spec Ferrari's and they go for big money.

And I'm going to play again, as we're talking, I'm just going to play this.

Yeah, dammit, I don't need the audio, but this was the title is great.

Ferrari beats S&P once again.

It's like, that's a great title.

It's a great way to get you to watch it.

It's great to even talk about in the information, but to think that

that's just always going to be the case when you're talking about the yellow

collection or this red collection sells for seven, 16 million.

I mean, this is really.

Look, and the thing that was odd about this liquidation, so norm, I mean,

I would say almost every time it was really weird that this was put through Mekum.

You know, Mekum really doesn't deal with, I mean, a bunch of Ferrari collections.

Sotheby's, Gooding, you know, I mean, I would even say Barrett would have been,

I mean, here you go.

You got the GTO that went for what?

It ended up going for 38.5 million.

And by the way, there's another conversation to be having about the GTO

market is I think people thought it would go for a little bit more money,

but you got to realize it went for 38.5 million.

I don't even think it has the original engine in it.

Oh, I didn't know that.

And I think it's also been repainted.

It's right hand drive, I believe.

I didn't really look much into the sale, but I did have some Ferrari guys

that, you know, for everybody doesn't know, I've lived in that world

a little bit for a long time.

And one of the things that the collectors independently are starting

to talk about is that, you know, there's a lot of secret wealth around the world.

OK, there's also things that kind of get suspicious very quickly

and always have in the car market.

And there's some people saying there's some fishy stuff.

Now, there's always been.

I'm not, I'm not naive.

OK, they've always been suspicious.

There's always things so people need to understand something.

There's three avenues of really suspicious transactions in the marketplace.

Real estate, collectible art and cars.

That art, geez, that art boy.

I mean, you guys can read up on that yourself with with things

that may have been government plots and government plants and government money.

Car market has been the same on certain vehicles.

I'm not saying all.

There is starting to believe as we've seen the economies

and around the world start to deflate a little bit.

We've started to see money tighten.

Yeah, we've still seen all of these big numbers.

Guys that truly have the money, even they are starting to ask questions

and go, well, where did that guy get that kind of money?

Like, I know that guy. Where did he get that money?

Because you have some of these people that, you know, by everything

everybody knows they have 10, 20, 30, 40 percent of their net worth

very quickly wrapped up in the cars.

That that doesn't make a lot of sense to people that have been in this world.

And I'm not saying anything about any of the buyer.

I don't know all the buyers.

I'm just saying there's a run on modern Ferraris now.

But the GTO may be a light signal that some of those really vintage Ferraris.

And I'm not talking about the ultra, ultra special ones

that there might be a move towards more modern Ferraris making a run.

And maybe some of those vintage ones that always sell

I've always sold for certain dollar amounts that maybe we're going to see that soften.

But let me be clear.

The special Ferraris, the ones that sell for a lot of money

that don't transact very often, those are always going to go.

But the vintage Ferrari market, there's probably a case that could soften here.

There was another video we did on the how people are kind of bored

of the exotic supercar YouTube world, right?

And they like more relatable type of cars.

The best comment was that's only true for those that can attain one

or aren't true enthusiasts.

Like, oh, you're a real man right there.

I mean, he's got to be a guy that drives a truck with a light bar that's on all the time.

Got to be.

And that was a great video.

A lot of people, dude, the headlight video.

Oh, yeah, people are real furious about headlights.

I feel their pain.

It's ludicrous.

Yeah, they they they came out and and drove and agreed.

And most of them.

I mean, there was also a couple of shitheads in that

where it's like, you just don't know how to adjust your lights.

I'm like, all right, man. Yes, that's exactly.

I don't know, man. Somebody buys an F 150.

They don't think they have to adjust their fricking headlights.

Yeah, we haven't had to do it for generations.

Yeah, they're auto.

I mean, they move what I move.

Like, you think I'm going to go in with screwdriver and like, I didn't have to.

Like, they're perfectly fine.

They're just really bright.

This was last night to I was driving in it.

Hardo of the week.

Literally, we haven't done hardo in a couple of months.

That guy takes the cake because he was going back and forth with everybody.

Anybody that would reply to him.

And sometimes what we'll do, if you're not familiar, is we'll pin it.

And it's funny when people are like, ah, the pin of shame.

People know when like, just to be a dick, I love doing that.

Freaking weird.

As you can see, Rob might be a little bit more petty than me.

Sometimes, sometimes.

Some might say the most petty.

I want to buy Greenland.

We love our audience.

They get it.

Let's circle back around to the car buying real quick.

I had this video that might not have to break down completely,

but there is a negative equity epidemic, pandemic at this point.

Oh, yeah, it's just hitting real hard and real fast.

Let's just say that you didn't get yourself into a situation in 2025,

but you're looking to buy a vehicle in 2026.

Dude, how simply can we put it?

Figure down payment, stay within your budget.

Like, what do we do?

Because I have a Jeep Grand Wagoneer that was 101.

The lady wanted to change it in for a time for maybe some catalogue,

I believe it was, or a Yukon, and she still owed 99 on it after having it.

Yeah, about it.

I want to say a year.

She rolled so much negative equity in it that she still owed 99 on the original

101 and it was worth 64.

It's common, man.

There you go.

There's the 30%.

Yeah.

I mean, there's the 30%.

Best thing I can tell people is if you're in a bad situation,

you're going to have to pay on that car.

There's no way around it.

You either need to have it voluntarily repossessed because I don't really think

there's a lot of things that can happen at the top end of the market

with negative equity and things like that, that they can get you into stuff

because the numbers are bigger.

It's easier if they know you have this big income and whatever.

I think you're talking about these sub $125,000 cars.

You know, if you're 30% underwater, what bank is going to let you roll that negative?

And by the way, why would you want to roll the negative?

Yeah, that's the bigger question.

And I get what everybody is saying is like, I want to get a new car.

But guys, if you're in a bad car situation, but the car works, you're not

having massive trouble with it.

You just don't like it anymore is really the reason, but you got 30% negative

equity, you got to pay the car down.

Like there is not another move that isn't a horrific financial decision.

Like I'm sure you could wiggle and find stuff where maybe you put more cash

into it, but I'm going, dude, you're 30% underwater.

You got to get this thing.

You're just going to have to pay it down.

And most likely you're going to have to pay it off.

You're going to have to ride it out till it's paid off.

Unless you know some people like Joey Diaz's friends from Jersey that can

maybe help you out, which I don't recommend.

Well, here's the deal.

Or just, you know, leave the keys in it down by the border, you know, which

we're not condoning you and you and I are not that far.

Absolutely.

So, you know, take a trip to San Diego on a weekend and just park it down

and, you know, national city and let it get across the border.

I mean, I feel for people.

Okay.

This market turned so rapidly that the average person didn't know what was

happening.

Yeah.

And you know what, man, forever, way before I knew you, we did this podcast.

I mean, since I was young, what I didn't appreciate, and this is to our listeners

genuinely, if you like cars, you like unreasonably sized cars, unreasonably

loud, powerful cars, fast cars, whatever, don't let other people make you feel

bad, especially people from other countries.

If you're listening to us from other country, we appreciate you.

But hey, I like small Euro cars too, but oh, we have small roads and we

like walkable cities and all these things.

And Americans like these big V8s and these big trucks and stuff.

Yeah.

You know why?

Cause I put a boot in your ass.

We have 17 lane highways.

Exactly.

We're not, we're not space dependent in most cities.

So.

I think it's awesome that we have so many people around a world listening,

which you and I, I never even thought about for five seconds when we started

this, because I'm not bright enough, but it's cool to hear what you guys

have and what, what the rules are where you live.

A lot of that stuff doesn't exist here.

You know, they've tried the small hatchbacks and they've tried, you know,

small hatchbacks didn't really take off till they called them an SUV.

A crossover, really?

A crossover, right?

Like they tried.

Uh, we think people, more people should have bought wagons.

It didn't happen.

Now I have a belief of why that hasn't happened is that it's always craze,

crazily priced.

Okay.

Cause Subaru has killed it by having the Outback, which was essentially a wagon.

It was just a little taller, but not always.

I mean, if you go back to the original, uh, Subaru Outbacks, they weren't

like they are now.

Um, by the way, did you see the Pacifica Grizzly?

No, keep talking.

I'm pulling this up.

Okay.

So I, somebody did a video.

I apologize, uh, that I didn't save it.

Uh, so I would want to give you credit and I hope that's the first video

you bring up, but essentially they're doing like a lifted.

Let's go.

I'm on a new search now.

Hey, they're safari and everything.

Yep.

There she is.

Little, little few inches taller.

I like the color too.

I like those off white grays.

Is it, it's Matt, right?

Oh, it is Matt.

Yeah.

I don't care for Matt as much, but that is nice.

Hey, get you a Pacifica Grizzly.

I came across this, I think last night I was like, uh, Rob's probably asleep.

It's four 30 his time.

Um, so he had dinner at three 30 at the early bird special and then he's in bed.

Look, sometimes I'll force feed myself steak and potatoes at four o'clock to

be asleep by seven 30.

Yes, it's true.

Oh yeah.

Um, I've got a tent and everything.

Look at this.

I know.

That's what I'm telling you.

I, so if everybody was following us on Instagram, when I was at SEMA Toyota has

this huge booth with all these cool, you know, they had the, the old school land

and cruiser there, the most disappointing thing is they basically did nothing with

the Sienna that was there.

And I actually stopped and said that I go, this feels like a missed opportunity.

This is just a Sienna.

Like people already liked regular Sienna.

Yeah, but this is, this is unbelievable.

Like, look, it might blow up three minutes after you buy it.

I don't know, but it looks cool.

It looks really cool.

This orange stitching is going to throw me for a loop, but I like it.

Look at this.

I'm telling you, there's more attention to detail in this and every card they've

ever put out any Stalantis vehicle has less detail than this.

Wow.

Hey, you can lay down in the back.

Yeah.

I was going to say that they saw our Aztec videos and like, let's add some

Aztec elements to this Pacifica.

Yeah.

There you go.

There's my fun fact of the day of car.

None of us would buy.

Thank you for bringing that up.

I like this grizzly logo.

It might be the reason I get this.

Yeah.

That badge dope.

Leave that at badges, though, that's a badge worth having.

Look at that on the side.

Look at that.

Hey, rolling into the school pickup line.

Oh, dude.

Tire on top.

I'll shit on that grenadier that's next to me.

I don't care.

This is way cooler.

You'd be like, hey, how much you pay for that grenadier?

I might get one of those.

Dude, that is so cool.

Shout out to Nick for, you know, useless knowledge that only applies to the

podcast, which is great.

Always great.

Has no useful knowledge to anybody.

Only on the show, which is why it's worth it.

That is so cool.

You know, earlier when I was talking about, you know, don't let other people make

you feel bad for your decisions on automobiles.

I was going to say, whenever I pick up, whether it's a single cab lightning or

a whatever size truck, the first thing I'm doing is I'm blaring Toby Keith

because I put a boot in your ass.

It's the American way.

First thing I'm going to do, because that's me.

That's okay.

That's unbelievable.

That's the first thing we do.

Do not put that on stories.

100% I will.

I'll fucking karaoke the whole song from the dealership to my house.

You're being some sketchy backyard buying your lightning just like, Hey,

does this thing have a CD player?

You know what I wanted to do to somebody sent me?

I miss car audio was the was just like the message.

And I was just thinking how I used to love when you had a pickup truck,

whether it was extended calf or it didn't matter.

Having that fold up the seats, got the box underneath.

Bro, that feeling of just having a nice box that's underneath your seat that

just folds, nothing better.

Hey, I didn't know where you were going.

You said box underneath you.

We were, you know, YouTube don't demonetize.

Please don't.

Uh, so yeah, I agree.

100%.

I mean, there's not, there was nothing.

I had a 16, 17 year old kid's Passat in my shop because his dad's a great

customer of mine.

Uh, we were doing some stuff to it and I opened up his trunk and there was a

speaker box and I got a little teary eyed.

I'm like, I love seeing it.

By the way, just kind of like you could see all the wires.

I was like, yep, I remember these days.

Good for you, bud.

Like this is, this is what you should be doing at 17 and I applaud it.

Hell yeah.

Obviously, if you're 30 years old, tuck the wires, make sure it's done right.

But nothing was like, and I know a lot of you guys feel this way.

There was nothing like taking a stereo that sucked and making it suck less.

Dude, that was the best thing in the world.

Yeah.

Even if it, even by sucking it, you know, it's sucking less, you were blowing

fuses and stuff didn't matter because it was still better than what you had.

And you could easily fix it.

Easy fix.

Be driving to school, blow a fuse and be like, what the?

Always, every day.

Yeah.

You know, then you'd sit in class and just think to yourself, like, why

did I blow that fuse?

Yeah.

What?

Maybe that's my canterra over again, over and over again.

Yeah, yeah.

How many times do I pay cemetery gates every day?

So if it's twice, it doesn't blow, but the third time it does.

So what do I got to play the third time?

Yeah, I'm running late.

Don't do it if you're running late.

Hey, I got a crazy thing that's off topic because we'll just call this entertainment corner.

Let's do it.

Did you see the country artist at a fair that did a cover of tool at the end of their set?

No.

Buddy, female country singer that does tool at the end of her set.

I got to tell you, pretty impressive.

I don't think you can say that a lot in your life.

No, I need to Google it so I can look it up later.

Who was it?

I don't know.

I don't, I didn't know her, but I can tell you this.

And she said that was the first time the thing that's actually posted on the internet was

the first time they ever did it and they're way better now, but she doesn't have video of now.

I got to find it.

That's really cool.

Yeah, really cool.

You were watching a country music award.

No, I just on it just popped up on it.

Oh, okay.

We're about to have a separate conversation here.

Which is fine.

I like I watch the CMA's, you know, it's all good, you know.

Wow, that again, we're getting real close at times to be like, what's going on at your crib,

dude, a lot of stuff, a lot of options, a lot of sports on season, basketball season.

I watched Miami, Indiana.

Hey, so I got a question for you.

Yeah, are you in a winter Olympics guy?

No, lame.

Wow, really?

I thought you're blaring Toby Keith and you're not going to root for them for America and the Olympics.

I will, because again, last week we said tribalism.

Of course I will, but I don't I don't know, man, summer and winter Olympics for me.

I'm in.

I'm in in what you're describing right now of like USA, USA.

I'm all about it.

I love the ads I'm seeing from these different athletes doing these kind of ads.

I think it's great, but I don't have something that I have to watch.

I'll put it on because I think it's cool.

I mean, you've got to watch Skeleton or Bobsled, right?

Bobsled is kind of cool.

Yeah.

But again, I don't you think to put it on to watch a specific event?

I don't mean it like that.

Okay.

I just mean like when it's on, if I'm at home and I'm going to watch regular TV or look

for sports in the Olympics or Olympics are going on, of course, because yeah,

I'm not going to watch reruns of fucking, you know, yeah, I'm not going to watch

like, you know, Nuggets Pacers.

I'm going to go ahead and just, you know, I will watch Nuggets Pacers, by the way.

But, you know, it is what it is, but if you have the choice, you're putting

the Olympics on, if it's on, yes, are you putting soccer on?

Hell no, just, I just had this conversation with somebody, you know,

putting World Cup on he, he likes the World Cup more than he likes and I

realize the rest of the world.

If you're into soccer, like I just, I don't think I really understand the

nuance of the game.

You know, I don't really understand.

I understand kicking the ball around, trying to put it in the net.

Like let me be clear.

It's kind of what I tell people, like most people don't understand hockey.

Yeah.

Like they just don't, they just don't understand what's happening.

Right.

And most people can't follow it.

So for soccer, for me, it's just like, I think I'll probably have the World Cup on,

but I won't like sit there and watch the World Cup.

But if somebody's on the bobsled, I'm watching it.

Like I'm, I'm, I'm locked in.

And by the way, there is, there are sports in the winter Olympics where

they ski and then shoot guns.

Huh.

I don't even know what it's called.

Americans have to win that one.

I think it's mostly like the Norwegians or whatever that won that, but I'm

fascinated with all of it, the ski jumping, the downhill, the slalom.

I'm in on all of it.

It's not boarding stuff.

I can take your leave.

There's no reasons there soon to be Americans too.

So let's just be real here.

Hey, don't say that.

People are going to flip out.

I know for a fact, listener of the podcast, Blaine, huge soccer fan.

We were just talking about World Cup and these ticket prices and stuff.

So if you're going to the World Cup and you happen to be listening to the show,

let us know your experience because they're, that's how it's, they're doing

a bunch of crazy games all over the world for this.

You know, I know Houston's hosting one or a couple of them.

Oh, I didn't know that.

Yeah.

A world baseball.

Where's it based out of though?

Like where is it all?

And it's somewhere in the U.S., right?

Oh, I thought it was going to be, because I know they're doing a Qatar and these

other places.

I don't know.

Oh, okay.

I didn't know that.

Yeah.

I thought, I thought the World Cup was here.

It might, the World Cup itself might actually be here, but like these pool

games are going to be all over the world.

And then you got the World Baseball Classic doing the same thing.

There's going to a couple of games in Houston and other parts that's going to

start in March, I believe, March or April.

I do like the World Baseball Classic is cool.

It's super cool.

Yeah.

It's just like the, what is it called the Super Four and hockey or whatever it's

called when I had the, that was awesome.

You're a hockey guy though, right?

Like that's actually a sport you followed before?

Yeah.

I like hockey.

Yeah.

I like hockey.

Yeah.

I think Texas might be getting a team again.

I never followed it, but I feel like I have more of an appreciation now.

Yeah.

No, it's actually no, some guys that have gotten to the NHL, you know, um, yeah.

When I was in college, I knew, uh, had some guys in my house that, that played

hockey, uh, collegiately, I just, I think it's the best sport live.

Like if you just go to a, if you just go to hockey, it's just the most fun

sport cause it's like, it's constant action.

You know, you gotta, you gotta be very cognizant of the seat.

You're in, I got a weird, uh, fun fact for you.

That's not so fun.

The reason that they have the nets up at the NHL games now, I was at the game

that caused that that happened.

Uh, a girl was there with her dad and got hit with a puck and passed away.

That's why it's up.

I was at that game.

Wow.

Yeah.

It was crazy.

And by the way, I was in seats that we would catch pucks all the time cause we

were just above the glass.

And so guys would like shoot pucks and prac, you know, pre game, whatever.

You had to have your head on a swivel back in the day.

Like you would have to actually like miss putt.

People don't, if people weren't there, that net wasn't always there.

How long, it's been a while, right?

Like one of the, I forget what year that was, but yeah, that was like a

real tragedy that caused that net to go.

I don't know what happened in baseball, right?

And didn't somebody get, get very injured by a bat.

It happens.

It still happens.

I mean, even with the net, I've seen some bats go through the, the net.

Yeah.

It's wild, man.

It's wild.

All right.

We got, I got two more things.

Uh, it'd be a slightly longer episode.

So everybody you're welcome.

All right.

I got you're welcome that we're able.

We're acting like we're roofing in the summer.

Yeah, right.

Um, I got two.

I got an email to get to from listener Ben.

And then I have what I'm calling, um, awesome install foolishness edition.

All right.

I know you're going to really appreciate this.

I can't believe this is real.

I checked.

It's not AI.

So let's play this real quick.

There's a clunking noise coming from somewhere in the car.

We start from the front always.

Nice.

That's one.

What the hell?

Oh, shit.

Nice.

That's the second thing.

Another clunk.

Okay.

And that's a bad just to hang her for the exhaust there.

What else we got?

That one's not jiggling.

But why is it not jiggling?

Because they riveted it.

Oh my God.

So those are the lights that you have.

You see in the wheel wells.

You got to be kidding me.

Bro.

I mean,

they're driving next to you everywhere.

Here's the thing.

Be careful in the aftermarket.

Be careful on the road.

If this is driving next to you.

Well, I live in Vegas.

You drive Houston.

Be careful.

That is unbelievable.

What we just saw.

And on a swivel.

You guys got to go to YouTube.

Please.

I mean,

I can't believe that's real.

I'm telling you, I had a double check.

It wasn't a shout out to this channel.

It's on the YouTube video.

If you guys want to watch it.

Yeah.

Foolishness is right up next alley.

I was like, I got to show him this, even if we just real quick.

That's crazy.

Last one we have a listener, Ben here is basically just saying,

Hey, thanks for talking about the interview.

The terrible journalism to quote him of the Stellantis interview

that Tim and the gentleman from that channel were talking about.

And also for calling up Ford and the dark horse SC and all the

nonsense of not doing anything with the Mustang.

You and I've actually talked about how and I've said that if

they brought back something like a Fox body with 50, it just

kept it light, kept it, you know, cheap, it's a lot of them.

You've made great points.

Again, that people just don't buy it, hadn't bought it.

They've moved away from it for very several reasons.

But that was kind of the summary.

And then also he pointed out that in 2026,

Ford's bringing back more analog gauges moving away from the

12 inch digital cluster, which I think is cool because I do like

regular analog.

And I wonder if they're doing it to reduce semiconductor, you

know, expenditure.

I'd like to know why they're doing it internally.

Maybe it is a customer facing thing.

Maybe it's something else internally.

I would like to know that.

I appreciate his thoughts on, you know, quote unquote, the

journalism part, because I think that's kind of, you know,

something that you and I wish didn't happen.

You know, I do wish that didn't happen.

It's like, you have a person in front of you and Tim

Kineskis that everybody respects.

You are aware that they do have quality issues.

It may not be the engine and the drivetrain, but they got huge

electrical concerns.

He throws up three electrical systems that they deployed and

said that was problematic in the interview.

And you just go, Oh, so you don't have quality.

There was no talk of that could be your quality issue.

So I do appreciate that.

And I want to say this about my feelings on Mustang today.

I'm all for if they build a cheaper one, a more, you know,

analog one, they're not going to do that because they're going

to make less money.

Let's say it outright.

That's why they're not going to do it.

That's why Toyota is not building a smaller truck.

That's why all these companies are running.

I mean, that's why the Dakota is going to be a certain size

and not smaller.

They don't want smaller things making less profit.

That just doesn't seem the route anybody's going.

So let's throw that out there.

The concerning thing with Mustang to me is not this weird thing

that just kind of went by the wayside with Shelby, that I

don't even think really has been addressed.

I haven't seen it addressed.

If you guys have articles or whatever where they've spoken

about it, send them to me.

I just haven't researched it.

I think the concerning thing to me is it's a failing platform.

And it seems like it's sort of like a fall.

It's like a falling knife and they keep trying to catch it

before it hits the ground.

Instead of just letting the thing hit it, hit the ground and

getting a new knife.

Yeah, it's definitely a thousand cuts with this thing,

unfortunately.

And the price just gets key.

They do seem to be trying to cash in at the very end of its

life off of the customers who are always going to buy it.

I just don't know why anybody would buy most of this stuff.

I mean, unless money's no object for you and you go, I just,

I've always had them.

I'm going to get them.

Money's no object.

I understand those buyers.

But Mustangs to a point, I just don't understand it.

I don't understand why it exists the way it exists.

Sales prove me correct that many of you don't understand why it

exists.

I just don't want to see this thing go away.

I don't want to think, I don't want to see something, whether

I'm a Mustang guy or not.

I'm a guy that goes, this is a heritage to your brand.

Why are you letting this happen?

And I think that's the question I would like answered.

Like, you can tell me how fantastic GTD is.

And we said, looks cool, great.

But, you know, that's for the point one percent buyers.

You have a failing platform.

The platform needs something, a shot in the arm, something to

get it, you know, back to where it was.

And I'm going to even talk about sales numbers.

I'm just talking about sort of being part of your brand and

this heritage of you guys were kind of always proud of it.

And it seems like now they're just throwing wet paper towels

against the wall and see what sticks.

Yeah.

And I will also say Ben here mentioned he's a three-time

Mustang owner, 97 Cobra, 0-1 GT, 21 GT and a semi-fan boy.

Although now he switched to a 20 year old Cayman S for his hot rod.

Pretty cool.

That's got to be a way better drive.

No, it probably is.

It probably is.

Let's see.

Take off the badges of the S650 and tell your friends you bought a

Camaro, there won't be none the wiser.

There's no distinctiveness to the Mustang anymore.

And he's right.

I hope it doesn't go away.

If you would have said this just, you know, a decade ago,

people would have laughed.

You're like, their cars aren't going anywhere.

It's like, it's the car.

I mean, even Farley himself was like, no matter where you are,

like in the world, like buying something about buying a V8,

an America Mustang, like it means something like he's right.

It did way more than it does now.

Yeah.

And you have presided over as the CEO, the downfall of this thing.

I know it's going to be hard to escape that one.

A guy that we like.

Yeah.

You know, this is the thing about him and Caniscus.

It's like, we actually think you probably do a better job than

most people think you do.

Like we're on your side, but guys, you got to start understanding

that we're all watching this in public.

This is no longer like pre-internet.

Okay.

We're watching the downfall.

We're watching your electrical issues at Ram and Dodge as a whole.

We know.

Yeah.

Stop trying to run from it.

It's okay to, it's okay to have problems.

It's okay to say, hey, look, we're in a position with Mustang that we need

to go into redesign, but you have to understand that those redesigns are

going to take years.

So we're doing the best we can to make things the way they are.

So you guys can still have fun with the platform.

Totally acceptable answer.

Never say it.

They just keep doubling and tripling down and raising and raising the price.

Doesn't seem to be endearing people back to the Mustang.

I can't disagree with you because I can't disagree with you.

I'm going to let you know that I've been singing Toby Keith in my head

since I mentioned it.

I can't get that song out of my head.

I'll put a boot in your ass.

It's the, okay.

So fantastic episode.

Tuesday, it's Tuesday.

Going to be our regular hyper clean channel upload dates like it, like it was in

2025. Yeah, I think so.

Okay.

So if you guys want some Alex content, it'll start going up this Tuesday, a

little series on Nick winterizing his, his car.

I was going to ask you, did you polish that paint or is that still just

cleaning?

It's in, it's, it's, it's in real bad shape.

Are you going to tackle that this year?

We're going to, we're going to go all in.

We have some, some plans to maybe change the color.

Oh.

Oh, okay.

See, you know, cause we had some things we've done to it.

I think I could, I think I could get away with that, that, that, that racing green.

You know, that racing green.

It could look like a Lexus or something like that.

Lexus green, like, yeah, that could be our British racing green directly.

What about the wheels at that point?

You might need to change the wheel color at the very least, right?

I might be, I might be powder coating those wheels a certain color.

Might be getting after markets.

Yeah, we're, we're, we're going to have a lot of fun this year.

So guys, follow both channels, hyper clean store and clutch culture.

We're going to be sharing content across.

We got some exciting things with some big shops to do some incredible work

that are coming online as well that we'll be sharing, you know,

throughout all of our platforms.

So I'm looking forward to, but yeah, I got to, I got to sit down

and really write my list of the projects I need to get done on the LX.

So I got, I got to get a little bit more organized.

The wish list for the LX.

Okay.

All right.

Now I will say I just got a notification.

My hoodie, clutch culture hoodies are back in stock.

If you didn't get one, you can go to hypercleanstore.com.

I'll put the link in the description so you can pick one up.

I wish I could have worn it during the show, but it'll be here

and I'll have it on next week.

Yeah, thanks for sending that out.

We'll see you next week.

Peace out.

See you guys.

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#63 - How To Buy A Car In 2026, Cars Worth Too Much To Drive, The Craziest Negative Equity & More

American Pacers

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