Gap insurance helps you pay off your car loan if your car is stolen or damaged beyond repair. If your regular insurance doesn't cover the full amount you owe, gap insurance pays the difference, so you don't have to worry about still owing money on a car you can't drive anymore.
An extended warranty is like extra insurance for your car that helps pay for repairs after the regular warranty runs out. It can save you money if something goes wrong later on.
Protection packages are extra services you can buy to help keep your car looking good and running well. They might include things like cleaning or special coatings to protect the paint.
Prepaid maintenance is when you pay for car services ahead of time, like oil changes and tire rotations. It helps you budget for car care and makes sure your car gets the maintenance it needs.
EVs stand for electric vehicles, which are cars that run on electricity instead of gas. They are better for the environment because they don't produce harmful emissions.
Supply and demand is a way to explain how prices are set based on how many people want something and how much of it is available. If lots of people want it but there isn't much of it, the price goes up.
The Dodge Charger is a big car that looks sporty and can go really fast. It's popular because it combines being a regular car with the excitement of a race car, and people often talk about it when discussing how far it can go on a tank of gas.
An EV, or Electric Vehicle, is a car that runs on electricity instead of gas. This means you charge it at home or at charging stations instead of filling it up at a gas station.
GM stands for General Motors, a big company that makes cars like Chevrolet and Cadillac. They are known for making both regular cars and electric vehicles.
The Dodge Challenger is a stylish car that looks like the classic muscle cars from the past and is known for being very powerful. People often mention it because it's fun to drive fast, but now there are also electric versions coming out that some people are not excited about.
LIVE
Hey, folks, this is Lenny Lawson, the car guru.
Thanks for tuning in to another edition.
I really don't know what I'm going to talk about today because I'm a little upset because
I've got some competitors that are throwing out some false advertising on the worldwide
web and it's something that I really need to respond to on my advertising, but I don't
want to because it's deceptive.
They're often trade assistants and they're offering a finance assistance.
If somebody finances a car with them, they'll give them an extra $1,000.
If somebody will trade with them, they'll give them another $1,000.
Sounds great, doesn't it?
It's not.
It's fake.
It's fake.
They don't really get it.
They basically under-allow for their trade in, they give them less for their trade than
it's worth, and then they force them to go through a bank with higher interest rates
so that they can offer to pay them $1,000.
It's just, I don't know.
So I've been going back and forth with the state of Tennessee, the Motor Vehicle Commission.
I happen to know the commissioner, the head lady, the executive director, sorry.
So that's a big advantage and, oh, I just got a message from her.
She said, Linda, you will have to file an official complaint in order to be able to
get a response to this, you know, those bureaucrats.
They always have to find some kind of loophole so that you have to jump through additional
steps to get your problem solved.
It's frustrating, but I'll do it.
I will do it because this is important.
I think that there's a lot of advertising out there that is deceptive.
And you know, I don't have a lot of reach from a standpoint of, you know, the laws in
different states.
I don't really care.
I care about this market, this business.
I care about you, that you understand what you're reading, that you, when you see
an ad that a diggler is offering $9,000 off on a, you know, a car that only has $1,500 worth
of markup, that there's a problem there.
And hopefully you can recognize that with a little help from the car guru.
So there you go.
I'm going to cut off my video.
I've been videoing this and I put it on my YouTube channel, which is new.
And so I'm going to cut the, I'm going to take a commercial break because that's
what we do.
I'll be back in just one minute.
Okay.
So I just got an email from the state of Tennessee and it says, Lenny, you will need to file
a complaint in order for our legal staff to review the advertisement from this particular
competitor in order to make a determination.
But it sounds like an advertising violation period.
I've copied them on this response.
Please file the complaint as soon as possible so that we can address it.
You can visit such as such.com to select file a complaint.
And then she highlighted areas of the rule to which she believes are applicable to this
particular thing.
So I don't care where you live, whether you live in Washington state or Southern
California, Maine, Hawaii, Hawaii, my, my grandfather, you say Hawaii.
And I said, I'm fine.
How are you?
No.
He, he really did.
He said, how are you?
Yeah.
But it doesn't matter where you live.
If you go to a dealer's website, we talked about this on the show the other day.
You cannot trust any pricing on the website.
You're going to see, well, for example, on this dealer's website, it shows, let's
say, a $9,660 discount on an F-150.
Now you have to really look for it, but you can find the actual window sticker on that
vehicle and click on it and you can see the factory MSRP.
You have to see that in order to know whether the discounts are real.
And then you go and look at all of the different things that he says or this dealer says
that you can get, but you have to find the disclaimer and see what it says.
Now this particular dealer did not make it easy to find.
You had to click on it, make a couple of clicks and scroll all the way down the bottom
and there it was.
And it, it's basically a dealer rebate, which is illegal in the state of Tennessee.
It may not be the case in Wyoming or Texas or wherever else, where you live or Brussels,
Paris, South Africa.
I mean, do you even have rebates in those countries?
I don't know.
I wish the laws were stricter here, advertising laws.
I've got another competitor.
He has to abide by a lot of the advertising rules because he's had his hand slapped a
couple of times by the state and by the manufacturer.
I started to say what it was.
And then he said, okay, then I'll do it right on the website.
I'll do it right on my TV advertising and radio, but I'm going to send out direct mail
pieces that the manufacturer won't see and the Motor Vehicle Commission won't see.
So that's where he lies now.
You know, it's those mailers that you get that says you've won $25,000 or
you know, some gold coins, a brand new Sylvania black and white TV, no, probably a flat screen.
Yeah, you've won one of those.
Not.
You haven't.
You've won probably a lottery ticket.
They might give you a $5 bill, something like that, or let you stand in the money machine
and grab some money.
Would you do that?
Would you walk into a business and stand in the money machine and grab for money?
There are a lot of people who say, heck yeah, I'll do it.
You know, I just, I couldn't do it.
I'd be too embarrassed because basically all you're grabbing is $1 bills.
That's okay.
I mean, you know, you can buy some pals tea or whatever.
I keep saying that.
I talk about pals a lot, but since this is a worldwide broadcast, I probably should
say something like McDonald's.
I think more people will be able to relate to that or Wendy's.
Of course, I think Kentucky Fried Chicken is one of the hottest American franchises in the world.
It's not so big here in America anymore, but it's really big.
I mean, you go to China and look around the corner and hey, there's a KFC.
Anyway, I've given you all the instructions on what to look for to nail down the price,
but you still can't trust it because what you're going to do is you're going to call
the dealership.
You're going to call their business development center and you're going to talk to a nice
person who basically their job is to make an appointment.
They don't know anything about cars for the most part.
Now my girl, she's sharp as a tack.
She knows.
Katie knows more than most of my salespeople do.
She knows the inventory.
She knows what, what the offers are from the manufacturer.
She's just sharp.
I mean, she stays on top of it.
We require that.
And she does what, what is required plus some, but most of the people that you talk to
aren't going to know that their job is, they have one job, get you in the dealership,
convert you from a phone up or an internet lead to a phone up and then from a phone
up to a real up walking in the dealership with your trade in outside.
And then that's when, when the house of cards starts to fall because, you know, you, you,
for example, the 1000 trade assist, you get your car appraised.
You've called me, I've given you the real value of your vehicle and they offer you
two or $3,000 less than what you should have been offered.
That's how they make up that $1,000 trade assistance money, which is like fictitious
and they also enhance their profit on the deal because if they're able to convince
you to trade for, and basically get $3,000 less for your trade than it's worth,
they've made an additional $3,000 in addition to the markup that they have on the vehicle.
Doesn't that sound awful?
That's why you need a car guru and that's also why you need the car guru guidebook.
That is essential reading for any car owner.
And that's pretty much everybody or car user and that's pretty much everybody.
Send me your email address to 423-552-2020 and I'll send you the book.
How much does it cost?
Nothing.
It's free.
It's my contribution to society.
And if you don't have an email address call 423-639-5151.
That is Gateway Ford and Gateway Nissan in Greenville, Tennessee.
Victoria will take your name and your address.
She'll put a little sticky note on my desk.
I'll print one out for you, staple it, custom staple it,
and I will send it to you in the mail for free.
And you will be equipped to deal with this bunch of crooks that are out there.
And as I normally say, that's not the majority of car dealers.
The majority are good folks.
They run their businesses right.
They value where they understand the value of a good reputation.
They treat people who come from a long distance away from their stores
just as good as the people that live two blocks down the street.
It's because that's the way they were raised, probably.
That's the value system that they have.
But there's a bunch of them out there folks that just break all the rules.
And somehow they're able to live with that.
So you just have to warn your loved ones and your non-loved ones,
maybe your neighbors and people,
that this is something that if they're in the market for a car,
this is something that they need so that they can easily negotiate with people
and not be intimidated because it can be intimidating, the pressure,
and all of a sudden you succumb.
I was talking to another person yesterday
and they were sitting in that blue chair right there
and they were telling me about a deal that they had done
with a dealer in this region
and that they wanted to cancel their gap insurance that they had in another dealership.
So they had purchased gap insurance, which is guaranteed asset protection.
It pays off the vehicle.
If it's towed older or stolen and the insurance, the regular car insurance,
doesn't pay off the payoff, doesn't take care of the whole balance owed on the vehicle.
So gap insurance steps in and pays the difference between the payoff
and what the insurance company is willing to pay.
Does that make sense? Hopefully.
But anyway, they were wanting to cancel it.
And so they went to the dealership.
They had been informed that the gap insurance cancellation would be in the thousands.
That's what she said.
In the thousands of dollars.
Well, she goes in and the cancellation amount was $300, approximately.
So she was upset about that.
But she came in here and wanted to talk to me and I said,
okay, let's talk.
And she said, you know, was telling me about the whole situation
and I said, well, let me see the paperwork.
Now, she didn't buy this vehicle for me.
She bought a Ford from another Ford dealer.
And of course that bothers me because they live locally, hurts my feelings.
And so I said, well, let me see your paperwork.
And I was looking at it and this happened about two years ago
to a guy that had purchased a Nissan Altima from another dealer.
I said, do you normally buy extended service contracts,
warranties and gap insurance and all these protection packs?
No, I never buy those.
I don't like them.
I don't think they're worth it.
Of course I would take issue with that statement.
Totally.
I said, well, it's interesting you did buy it.
As a matter of fact, you've got about $5,000 worth of ads on that.
What?
Yes, you've got $5,000 worth of extended warranty,
gap insurance, did it again, and multiple different protection packs.
There's two different types of protection packages.
Oh, and prepaid maintenance as well.
She had no idea.
She said, let me see that.
And so I showed it to her, turned it around, said I'm going to see them tomorrow.
You know, she was angry.
The problem is she bought the car like a couple of weeks ago.
They're not going to do anything.
She can go in and raise cane, but they're not going to do anything.
And if they don't, that's when you nail them on social media and on their Google ratings
and just make sure that you're right.
People will question you, why did you sign it?
Why didn't you read the paperwork?
That's really a hard one to defend.
If you have to go to court and the judge says, did you read the paperwork, ma'am?
No, your honor.
Then why did you sign it?
I don't know.
They pressured me.
You know, that's something that lawyers and judges, they don't have a lot of sympathy for.
People who sign maybe a contract or something that's in the thousands and thousands of dollars
and they don't read it.
They don't even review it.
Somebody slides it across the desk, says, sign here.
And so they grab the pen.
What are they thinking about?
They want to get out of there, right?
They've been there for several hours.
It could have been several days worth of negotiating and the transaction.
They finally are at the finish line.
Just give me a pen.
Let me sign it.
Those are the people that get surprised if they happen to review their paperwork later on.
A lot of people don't.
I always recommend that you go home the next day or a couple of days.
Really the next day makes more sense so that you can go in and take action if you did get taken advantage of.
Okay, let's see what else I want to talk about.
Oh, yeah.
The government shut down.
So they've done it again.
They're going back and forth up there in Washington.
I didn't know anything about this because I have been on a news blackout since a week ago Monday.
It's been wonderful.
I've done more reading and reflection and just not worrying about what's going on in the world that I can't control.
Stick your head in the sand, Lee.
Well, okay.
I don't, I understand that thought.
Stick in your head in the sand.
It's a comfortable place.
Or at least it has been for the last few days.
But anyway, the government shutdown will affect the auto industry according to experts.
I don't see it as hurting as much.
Did you know that the EPA is going to be shut down?
Is that breaking your heart?
Do you have any employees they have in the EPA?
Most people, I don't think most people would guess maybe, you know, three, four, five thousand?
Eight thousand maybe?
Fifteen thousand one hundred and sixty-six employees at the EPA.
You know how many they say are essential that are going to stick around during the shutdown?
One thousand seven hundred and thirty-four.
What the heck do the rest of those people do?
I mean, it's the EPA.
I don't want to see one of those people, but I never have in forty-seven years of being in the car business.
And I've never seen anybody from the EPA and I sell a polluting item, an automobile.
So what are they not going to be doing?
Conducting research and publication of research results.
Civil enforcement inspections.
Let's see what else.
Issuance of permits, guidance, regulations, and policies.
So that's not going to happen.
It's breaking my heart.
Okay, I feel sorry for individuals, you know, who aren't going to be able to work and get paid,
but they'll get back pay.
I'm not worried about it.
They're going to solve this.
But I really don't care.
There's my head in the sand.
Okay, and I don't care about this either.
The $7,500 federal tax credit that enabled a tsunami of sales in the EV land that ended on September 30th.
You know, they're just all automotive news.
This is an actual publication.
It's published by the Crane family, C-R-A-I-N, I think.
And they are very, let's call them progressive.
They really like EVs.
That's all they want to talk about in their news.
And so the federal tax credit is gone.
And so what's going to happen?
Hyundai just announced that they are reducing prices on their EVs by $9,000 across the board.
So they're more than making up for what the government was paying.
You know, this is what happens when you allow the free market to control pricing, the law of supply and demand.
You know, if people want them, they're willing to pay for them.
If they don't want them, you're going to have to reduce the prices to get them to where they do want them.
And you cannot artificially inflate demand over a long period of time because it will come back to bite you.
And that's what's happening right now.
So the EV buyers have gotten drunk on this $7,500 tax credit and now it's gone.
And a lot of the manufacturers saying, uh-oh, what do we do now?
Well, we'll see in this fourth quarter what happens to EV sales.
And if they tank, then is that a bad thing?
I don't think so. I'll be back in just one minute.
So I knew this was coming, you know, because they stood on the media like crazy.
And I sold all of my EVs that I had except one.
I have one left.
And I wish I didn't, but it's here.
And hopefully they will come up with some type of incentive to help me clear this thing out.
I should have just bought it myself or leased it.
Let me rephrase. I would never, ever buy an EV.
I might lease one if my circumstances were different, but I have to drive along distances.
You know, my F-150, when I fill it up with gas, it'll go, well,
my estimated range on the last tank was close to 700 miles.
I like that. And when I get low on fuel, then I don't have to look for a charger.
I don't have to wonder whether it's going to be working or not
or what they're going to charge to plug in.
All I do is look for a gas station at 279 gallon.
And it's easy to travel.
And until they get an EV that will charge in like 10 minutes or less to a full charge
and give you, you know, four to 500 miles of range,
it's always going to be a niche vehicle.
And right now what's going on is a response.
People are getting laid off.
GM laid off 900 workers at one assembly plant.
Let's see.
Chrysler completely decided to eliminate their EV plans with particular vehicles.
They are getting rid of the EV Dodge Charger, the EV Dodge Challenger.
Nobody wants them.
At least they don't now.
But if things change, I'll let you know.
Just tune in.
Call me if you need me.
Call 423-552-2020.
If you want a guidebook, just text me your email address and I'll turn it right around.
And if you need a mail to you, you know what to do.
Call 423-639-5151.
Talk to Victoria.
She'll write down your name and address and put it on my desk.
Then it's just up to the post office.
Okay, I'll see you next time on The Next, my car guru.
About this episode
Lenny Lawson dives into the murky waters of deceptive automotive advertising, highlighting how some dealers lure customers with enticing offers that often lead to worse deals. He shares his frustrations with false claims, particularly regarding trade-in values and financing incentives. Lenny emphasizes the importance of understanding the fine print in ads and offers practical advice for consumers to navigate the car-buying process. He also touches on the impact of recent changes in EV tax credits and how they are affecting the market.
