Best Cars for families and keep the rodents out of you classic car
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Car
Porsche 959
The 959 is a very high-performance sports car made by Porsche. It’s known for being a special, advanced vehicle rather than a normal everyday model. The podcast mentions it as part of a program segment.
Car
Volkswagen Jetta
A Volkswagen Jetta is a regular, practical car—kind of like a common “everyday family sedan.” The host is saying that in some places, people think a smaller car like this is enough for family life.
Concept
four things
They’re saying the best family cars are judged on four main things: safety, reliability, how much space and useful features you get, and how comfortable it is to ride in.
Concept
two-row SUV
A two-row SUV usually has seating for about five people. It often gives you more space for bags and gear because there isn’t a third row taking up room.
Concept
fold those rear seats down
Folding the rear seats down is a key usability feature for family vehicles because it turns the cabin into a larger cargo area. It’s especially important for transporting bulky items like camping gear, sports equipment, or moving supplies.
Concept
testing these vehicles
They’re saying they actually test the cars themselves. The goal is to figure out which vehicles are genuinely a good fit for families in everyday use.
Concept
standard equipment
“Standard equipment” means the features you get without upgrading or paying extra. The host is saying you may pay more, but you also get more included.
Term
heated seats
Heated seats warm up the seats so you’re not freezing when you get in. In this episode they’re treated like a deal-breaker feature for at least one family member.
Term
heated steering wheel
A heated steering wheel warms the part you hold. It helps your hands feel comfortable in winter instead of getting numb.
Term
remote start
Remote start means you can start the car without being inside it. In cold weather it can warm up the cabin before you drive.
Brand
Honda
Honda is a well-known car brand. Here, the point is that Honda tends to make the car’s tech and controls feel simple and not overwhelming.
Term
Apple CarPlay
Apple CarPlay is a way to use your iPhone in the car. Instead of picking up your phone, you can use the car’s screen to access things like maps, music, and calls.
Term
Android Auto
Android Auto lets you connect your Android phone to your car. You can use the car screen to get directions, music, and messages without handling your phone.
Term
satellite radio
Satellite radio is radio that comes from satellites, so you usually get more stations and better coverage. It typically requires a paid subscription.
Term
hybrid
A hybrid uses both gas and electricity. The electric part helps the car move efficiently, especially in stop-and-go driving, so you usually spend less on gas.
Concept
fuel efficiency
Fuel efficiency is how good the car is at getting more driving out of each gallon of gas. For families, that usually means lower fuel costs and fewer trips to the gas station.
Term
minivan
A minivan is a family car built for carrying people and gear easily. The speaker is saying fewer people are choosing them than before, even though they’re still very practical.
Car
Kia Carnival
The Kia Carnival is a minivan that’s meant for families. The speaker likes it because it has a lot of room, a strong V6 engine, and plenty of places to plug in devices for kids and passengers.
Term
charging ports
Charging ports are the places you plug in devices like phones and tablets. The speaker likes that the Kia Carnival has lots of them so everyone can keep their devices charged.
Brand
Hyundai
Hyundai is a car company that’s gotten much better over the years. The point here is that Hyundai now makes cars that feel high-quality and good value compared with other mainstream brands.
Car
Ford Mustang Mach-E
The Ford Mustang Mach-E is Ford’s electric SUV. The host is using it as an example of the major EV options people consider when shopping for an electric family vehicle.
Term
turbocharged gas car
A turbocharged gas car uses a turbo to help the engine make more power. The host is just grouping it with other common ways cars are powered today.
Concept
range anxiety
Range anxiety is the stress of wondering if your EV has enough battery to get where you’re going. The host says plug-in hybrids can reduce that worry because you still have gas as backup.
Term
tubular roof rack
A roof rack is the system on top of the car that lets you carry extra stuff. “Tubular” just means the bars are round metal.
Term
CVT transmission
A CVT is an automatic-style gearbox that can smoothly “adjust” its gearing without traditional shifting. It often feels smooth and can help with gas mileage, but it may sound/feel different under hard acceleration.
Term
US farm grown corn cob
The speaker describes the product’s carrier material as actual US farm-grown corn cob that is dried and ground. This matters because it’s part of how the repellent system holds and releases scent over time.
Term
balsam fir oil
Balsam fir oil is described as an ingredient used to create the repellent scent. The speaker claims it helps the scent disseminate over a longer period, which supports the need for scheduled pouch replacement.
Company
cabin fresh
They say the product is called “cabin fresh” in Canada. That means you might see a different name for the same kind of product depending on where you shop.
Company
Ace Hardware
They say you can probably find the product at Ace Hardware locally. That means you might not need to wait for shipping.
Brand
AAA
AAA is a service that helps you if your car breaks down. They can send help and cover things like towing or roadside assistance.
Term
paintless dent removal
Paintless dent removal is a way to fix small dents without repainting. A technician reshapes the dent from the inside of the panel.
LIVE
W-A-T-D presents John Paul, the car doctor, All Things Automotive.
Have questions?
Call or text 7-8-1-837-4900.
Now, here's John Paul, the car doctor.
And good Sunday morning everyone and welcome to another edition of the car doctor program
on award winning 95-9 W-A-T-D.
Tim is filling in for Jesse today, so thank you Tim for coming in.
Oh, you're welcome.
I know it's a little bit of a challenge for you because you do everything you do
and I appreciate you coming in, getting up early and being here, so thank you for that.
Oh, you're welcome.
Family cars.
What is a family car today?
You talk to people from all over the world, family cars have kind of a different meaning,
but with us is Zach Dole, he is the editor and vehicle testing guy
for the auto team at US News and World Report.
Zach, welcome back to the car doctor program.
Hey, thank you John, thanks for having me.
You know, what is a family car?
I mean, I talk to people from Europe sometimes and a family car to them is like a Volkswagen Jetta.
We can do everything we need to do, we can put them in a Jetta,
but you talk to people here sometimes in the US and they're like,
you know, an expedition isn't big enough.
What is a family car?
Yeah, certainly the definition changes.
It can be many things to many different people,
which is why this year we've expanded our categories in the Best Cars for Families Award.
We now span 14 different categories so that we think there's something for everyone,
whether that be a hybrid sedan, you know, a compact SUV or a full-size pickup truck.
We think there really is something for everyone and really we're just trying to key in on four things.
Is it safe? Is it reliable? Does it have a lot of space and convenience features and is it comfortable?
So if you tie all those things together, you end up with a pretty good family vehicle.
Yeah, I mean, I'm looking at, you know, sort of the winners in the SUV category and almost kind of a standout
because it's a little bit different is the Honda Passport because it's really just a two-row SUV
and sometimes you think, well, it's a pretty good size vehicle, two rows,
but two rows mean five people and plenty of room for their stuff.
Absolutely. Passports is one of my favorites on that list for that reason
because if you have a lot of luggage you're bringing with you, maybe the dog,
maybe some, you know, camping gear and stuff, just throw it back there
and you can still have all the people in the second and first rows, no problem.
It's just a great stuff hauler and, you know, fold those rear seats down
and you can pretty much move an entire studio apartment if you want.
It's a really great option on that list and especially in that mid-size two-row SUV category
that kind of keeps growing. We see a new entry every couple of years.
And, you know, you talked about, you know, moving a studio apartment.
I remember a family used to be categorized as like 2.3 kids and 1.24 dogs or something.
Do different members of the team who have families try out the different vehicles
to see which ones work the best for them?
Oh, yeah. We're always testing these vehicles and seeing which has the best combination
and what works and what doesn't.
So the winners on this list aren't there by accident.
We've either, you know, found some stuff we really, really liked on them
and the ones that are either finalists or don't make the list.
We found a few things that didn't work.
And there's actually a lot of, like, data crunching that goes on behind the scenes here.
So, you know, winners in certain categories like the Passport that you mentioned
or the Palisade Hybrid, which is another winner in the three-row hybrid SUV category,
they offer better legroom and headroom dimensions for passengers
than maybe some of the other vehicles.
So, you know, there's really a lot of number crunching.
There's a lot of feature crunching as well.
So we try to think, okay, what do families actually want?
Charge ports is a big one.
Is there a charge port in every row and how many?
How easy is it to buckle in kids' seats?
How many advanced safety features does it have and are they standard?
Like, surrounding camera systems, automatic emergency braking.
So we really kind of tried to encompass everything into these awards
to give you the best option overall.
Yeah, and, you know, I mean, you've been doing this for a bunch of years.
I mean, there was a time where when you looked at family vehicles,
it really was just cup holders. How many cup holders do they have?
And then cup holders became like juice box holders.
But you're right. Now it really is PowerPoints, you know,
because everybody seems to have a device with them.
It's important.
One of the vehicles I just recently road tested was the 2026 GMC Yukon,
and that did really well in the large SUV category.
And I think a lot of times we almost forget about GMC,
but they make some pretty well-designed vehicles.
Yeah, absolutely.
The Yukon XL was our winner in the large SUV category
and the Acadia in the midsize three row.
So two really well-rounded options.
You know, the GMC is always, they occupy that like middle ground
between like mainstream and then luxury.
So it's sort of like a premium segment.
And you do pay a little bit more for that,
but you also get a lot more, especially in standard equipment
and the creature comforts that we think a lot of families
are really looking for.
You know, I may want just a basic SUV,
but my wife, her top thing is heated seats.
Does it have heated seats?
And if not, it's off the list.
You know, so there's a lot of things that as a family,
you kind of, some things that you take for granted,
some of them might not.
But for a lot of people, that stuff is super, super important.
Yeah, I was talking to somebody they referred to as the trifecta.
Heated seats here, heated steering wheel and remote start.
And unless a vehicle had all three of those,
they weren't really interested in it because it was all about
getting into it and being comfortable.
And you know, a friend of mine once said that it's as important
to road test the tech as it is the car.
And it really is true.
The technology in cars today, you know, the old days of,
you know, the radio was pretty basic and the heater controls
were pretty basic.
Now if you get into a car and you don't,
you're not comfortable with the tech in it,
that otherwise good car can be a very frustrating experience, right?
Oh yeah, absolutely.
I'm always telling people who ask me that same thing
because if you're always kind of fighting with the system,
you're never going to feel comfortable driving the vehicle.
And the Accord and Accord Hybrid, one for our midsize
and midsize hybrid segments.
I would say Honda has done a really good job
of keeping its tech fairly basic and user friendly,
but still fresh feeling.
You know, so it doesn't feel like you're driving a vehicle
that's from 10 years ago.
You know, it still has good graphics
and all the features you're wanting,
Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, satellite radio,
but you still have physical controls.
You know, you can turn a knob and the HVAC,
you know, gets warmer or colder, imagine that.
So it's, you know, the touch screens are really cool,
but man, if you're focusing on the road,
focusing on the kids, trying to adjust the climate controls,
it gets old pretty fast.
Yeah, I think 10 years ago,
Honda did away with like volume control and station control
and then the year after they came back with volume control
and then eventually moved to more physical buttons.
And, you know, kind of away from the best cars for families.
You know, in your job,
I'm sure a lot of people come up to you and say,
Hey, Zach, you know, what do you think?
What should I do this?
And do people ever really take your advice?
I know they don't with me.
Yeah, that's, you know, I get so much joy out of that
when people come up to me and ask me those questions.
I love it.
I could talk for hours on that stuff.
I would say it's like a third of the time somebody does
and that's fine with me.
You know, like I may say something and it might not resonate with you
or, you know, it's your money.
You don't do what you want with it.
You do what you want, exactly.
A friend of ours actually bought a Honda Civic Hybrid
because I said, Hey, this is a really great car.
It's super efficient.
And after they had told them their previous car
and they weren't even looking at the Civic Hybrid,
but I said, you know, it's just the two of you.
Check this out.
And they went with it.
And I get text messages from him every so often.
He's like, thank you.
You know, this is a great suggestion.
So I'm sure you probably say the same thing.
When people listen to you, it's just like, you know,
it's a great feeling.
Yeah, it really is.
You know, we talked earlier about trucks
and the press association I belong to out here in New England,
the New England Press Association.
I remember years and years and years ago,
and we still do it today.
We do something called the official winter vehicle of New England.
And one year we picked the F-150 as the official winter vehicle.
And some people said, how can you possibly pick that
as an official winter vehicle?
And I said, well, it happens to have not just four-wheel drive,
but it has selectable all-wheel drive.
And it's a four-door, so you can put families in it
and carry a bunch of stuff in it.
And you really can have pickup trucks that are family vehicles,
and you picked, in my opinion, two of the best,
the Tundra and the Ridgeline.
Yeah, yeah, so that was actually a new addition this year.
We've previously stuck to more of the SUV car categories,
but, you know, buying trends have shifted quite a lot,
and, you know, vehicles are so expensive now.
A pickup truck is kind of a do-it-all machine for a lot of families.
You get the big cab nowadays.
Everything seems to be a double cab.
And then you get the bed on the back for weekend projects and all that.
So, yeah, we feel really strongly that, you know,
we want to put people into family-friendly vehicles.
Pickup trucks are just the logical option for a lot of families out there now.
So the Ridgeline is our best mid-size pickup,
and the Tundra is our best full-size pickup.
And Tundra scores really well in crash safety
and has a lot of standard features that some of the domestics,
mainly because they're more focused on work trucks in their lower trims,
they just don't offer a lot of those standard advanced safety features
that the Tundra does.
And there was a time when you talked family vehicles,
it was minivan.
So, you know, it was a caravan or, you know, a Pacifica or, you know, Sienna or, you know,
any one of those.
That category is getting a little bit smaller.
And the Kia Carnival was the winner in that category.
And some people think it's an SUV, some people think it's a minivan.
It's awfully universal and super handy.
Yeah, absolutely.
I just had one a couple of weeks ago in the, you know, press fleet.
And it's fantastic.
I loved it and I'm pleased that we can give it an award this year.
It's a great all-arounder, tons and tons of space.
The driving experience is nice.
That V6 has plenty of power and there's just charging ports galore in there.
If you, you know, can't find a port or they're all taken up,
you got too many devices because it's just loaded.
Yeah, Kia Carnival is a great, great option.
Did, did you ever think that you would see so many
Hyundai's and Kia's in, you know, these award categories as winners?
I mean, I, I've been around for a long time and I remember when Hyundai first came out with their,
you know, $5,000 car and everybody thought it was a throwaway and it wasn't even worth buying.
And then Hyundai and both Kia have become really serious players
and really pretty easy suggestions for people looking for new vehicles.
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, totally like 15 years ago, I'm sure a lot of people thought,
oh, I don't know about that.
Hyundai, Kia, you know, maybe not the greatest reputation.
They're making some of the most compelling vehicles on the market right now
and easily, you know, quality levels that are up there with the best mainstream vehicle brands.
And so I, yeah, they just had this meteoric rise in what they're producing.
And so that's why we, we feel really strongly about vehicles like the Tucson and the Palisade,
the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 EVs.
They're just really well-rounded vehicles that are, in the past, you know,
Hyundai has put a ton of standard features into vehicles and they're still doing that
at usually prices lower than their competition.
So, yeah, they've absolutely, their place on this list doesn't surprise me anymore
just because the quality keeps getting better and better and the value proposition stays very strong.
It really does.
And you mentioned the Ioniq 9 and Ioniq 5 and, you know, finalists in there,
I guess was probably a Ford Mustang Mach-E and a Kia EV9.
Electric vehicles, you know, love them or hate them, they're truly part of the fabric of, you know,
the automobile today and, you know, I'll say this until my last breath probably.
I think we now live in now the second golden age of the automobile where you can go out and you can buy
a gas car or a turbocharged gas car, you know, a diesel truck, a plug-in hybrid, a regular hybrid,
a fully electric vehicle.
There seems to be more choice than ever and in the electric category, these are really good cars.
The Ioniq 5, great little car, the Ioniq 9, you know, you called it the best midsize electric SUV.
Plenty of room, decent range.
If you can find a high-speed charging station, quick to recharge.
And for a lot of people, truly a replacement for gasoline cars, right?
Yeah, I mean these, it's kind of crazy how quickly EVs have become more of a mainstream choice.
You know, you just see so many of them on the road now.
And, you know, the federal incentives have kind of made it a tougher sell and a lot of manufacturers are pushing them right now.
But as gas prices are rising up, I think a lot of people are going to be looking back at EVs and think, hey, maybe this is the future going forward.
But yeah, Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 are great vehicles.
I'm always impressed with the driving experience, smooth acceleration, comfortable ride, you know, all the weight in those vehicles is low.
And it's just, it does wonders for the handling and ride quality.
And, you know, for EVs, it's always going to be, you know, does it fit your lifestyle?
Like, every time I get an EV, I'm generally pretty pleased with the driving experience.
But if you don't have convenient home charging, it's probably not going to fit your lifestyle.
You know, relying on that DC fast charging, the public chargers is going to get old kind of quickly.
Certainly people do it, but I would caution against, you know, relying on somebody else's power station for your charging.
But if it works for you, great. I know it does for many people.
Yeah, and if, you know, a full electric isn't going to work, plug-in hybrid, and like you said, the, I think it was a Hyundai Tucson plug-in hybrid and the Mazda CX90 plug-in hybrid.
Those, depending on your driving habits, you can charge up with the 120 volt outlet that might be on the side of your house.
And in most cases, you know, as long as you don't run it down to zero, you can, you know, put that 30 or 40 or, you know, maybe even 50 miles back in it on an overnight charge just with 120 volts.
And that might be, that might be the, you know, the mix for you that's going to work.
Yeah, it's that best of both worlds scenario, you know, you drive to work on all electric range and then coming home, the gas engine kicks on or whatever, and you plug it in at night.
And then the same thing in the morning, you can go back on EV range and visit the gas station like every other month.
Yeah, it almost seems like. But yeah, super, super convenient. And it's, you never have that range anxiety that you may have with an electric vehicle like, oh my gosh, am I going to get home in time?
You're always going to have the gas engine to fall back on and take you there.
Yeah, no great, great choices. And on the site too, if you're, if you know, go to usnews.com and the cars section, you look at best cars and trucks and best cars for families and all kinds of stuff.
But it's also a shopping site where you can, you know, if you decided, hey, that Hyundai Palisade hybrid is exactly what I'm looking for. Click on the box.
This is find the best price. And I believe your site is powered by true car, right?
Yep, it is.
Yep. Yeah, so you can get, you can look at multiple offers, you can, you can do, you know, you can kind of shop shop around each other and, you know, do a little bit of online negotiation to find the best price and, and has we've been reminded in the past
sometimes don't be shy about going a little outside of your, your zip code maybe. And sometimes you can get even a little bit better price and your website allows you to do all that.
You guys come up with a lot of lists over time. Can you give us a preview of what the next list is? Do you know yet?
We have best cars for teens coming up in, I think, two months. We did best cars for the money earlier this year.
But yeah, and we're working to expand it. So stay tuned. We'll have more for you.
Well, Zach, I want to take you, I want to thank you for taking a little time out of your Sunday morning and joining us on the car doctor program always informative and, you know, go check out the website usnews.com cars and trucks and all kinds of stuff there.
If I know all kinds of information and great stuff to see.
Thanks so much for having me.
All right, thanks Zach. Take care. We need to take a break. Pay some bills. My name is John Paul. This is a car doctor program. When we come back, we're going to talk about the Nissan Rogue that I've been driving around this week.
A great little SUV. Didn't make the family car of the year with US News, but we'll talk about it anyway. My name is John Paul. This is a car doctor program you'll see on 959 WATD. We'll be right back.
Hi, this is David Boyle, Chairman of the Pembroke School Committee, and I'm putting on a charity event in honor of my wife to raise money for the Karen Boyle Memorial Scholarship Foundation.
It is going to be held at Tiny and Sons, Route 53 in Pembroke, April 2nd from 6 to 8. It'll be a beer and wine tasting at $10 ticket. There'll be raffles. There'll be prizes. Reach out if you have any questions, 617-312-0636. Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you there.
Abigail Adams once famously said, remember the ladies, and that's what we'll do this Sunday evening at 8 o'clock here at WATD. I'm Joan Orr, and I'll be featuring fabulous females this Sunday between 8 and 9 here at 959 WATD.
Honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, he's John Paul, the car doctor on 959 WATD.
And welcome back to the car doctor program. Again, I wanted to thank Zach Dole from US News for joining us. Always good to hear from the folks over there. The car that I've been driving around the last few days and seems like I've been taking a lot of runs to the airport.
But I should become an Uber driver. No, I don't think I should. It's a 2026 and a half, so 2026 and a half Nissan Rogue Rock Creek Edition, which is essentially a dressed up Rogue.
This is for buyers who like the rugged look but don't actually need hardcore off road vehicle. It's not a full redesign. It's more of a refresh. But it does look substantial. We'll put it that way.
But it really sharpens the Rock Creek's image without changing what made the Rogue popular. Rogue's a real popular vehicle. Tim and I were talking during the break about he had a Rogue once. He said, does it still have the CVT transmission?
And it's kind of funny with that transmission. Either people think it's the worst thing in the world or my old boss called me the other day. He's thinking of changing cars. His Rogue has, I don't know, 200,000 miles on it and no transmission problems.
So it really depends on how you take care of them and what you do with them. But styling is where this model earns its name. You get the tougher grille, black trim, lava red accents, so bright red. You had to use their term.
You get this real tubular roof rack that looks like you could put a pallet of concrete blocks on top of it. All terrain 17 inch wheels, which is kind of funny. 17 inch wheels are good sized wheels. But the last few cars that I've driven have had 22s, 24s.
I remember when 17s were big. Maybe that's because I've been around forever. Nissan made a few small updates for this mid-year model, but the overall theme is the same. It looks adventurous even though it's more built for pavement than backwoods, dirt roads, that kind of thing.
You're not going to drive the Rubicon trail with it, or at least I don't think you would want to. Under the hood is a 1.5 liter variable compression turbo engine. It's a three cylinder engine. And it's like, really? Three cylinder engine?
It's 201 horsepower, 225 foot pounds of torque. It's a neat little engine. Technology behind it is interesting. It adjusts the compression for either power or efficiency. So there's a lot of magic that goes in place of this.
For most drivers, it's simple. It's good low end torque when you step on the gas, decent solid fuel economy. It's paired with, like we said, the CVT transmission. And like all CVTs, it's smooth in everyday driving, push it hard. And the noise ramps up a little bit, but it's not bad.
I had to accelerate fast to get out of a merging lane. And a little noise, but nothing bad. Again, good low end torque. Feels good when you're driving it. They did a good job. It feels weird.
Over the years, from the day automatic transmission first started, in fact, one of the first, I think it was GM transmissions, described as seamless shifting. Well, come to find out it was really just a one speed transmission and a big, big engine. So it really didn't ever shift.
And then, you know, they tried to disguise the shifts and make them shift smoother and smoother. And now, with the CVT, it never shifts. It's a variable transmission ratio.
But they added in these artificial shift points that make it feel more natural than some of the earlier versions. And Nissan's embraced the CVT like Subaru has and now like Honda has. A lot of vehicles now have CVT transmissions.
They're fairly simple by design. If you've ever been on a snowmobile, they have basically CVT transmissions. I think Subaru had one of the first ones in the little Subaru Justi when it first came out. And, you know, they tried it for a while, but then they came back and they did more stuff with it.
So, all-wheel drive is standard. You get drive modes for snow off-road and, you know, in between that. Again, I don't see this as a serious off-road machine, but certainly something that can make it all work.
Fuel economy remains a strong point, even with the beefier tires and all-wheel drive. You still see fuel economy.
Around town, high 20s, low 30s on the highway, better than competitors. So, on the road, the Rock Creek's comfortable. It's quiet. And just like the regular road, the ride's pretty soft. It soaks up the pavement. Easy to live with. If you want sporty handling, this isn't it.
It's practical. It's straightforward. It has comfortable seats, simple controls, plenty of storage. The infotainment system works good. I like it because it feels more comfortable, maybe because I've seen it for a while.
I mean, other people might say, oh, it feels dated. No, I don't think so. I like it. So, bottom line, the Rock Creek edition of the Nissan Rogue knows exactly what it is. It offers adventurous styling, good fuel economy, everyday comfort. It's not an off-road monster.
It doesn't pretend to be. Well, maybe it does a little bit. But for buyers who want a tough look without sacrificing practicality, it's a solid choice. So, Nissan Rogue. There you go. Rock Creek edition. 20, 26 and a half.
You know, right now, for people who know the little bit of a story about me, I'm in Florida for the winter. Florida's got a lot of critters. Besides, you know, everybody knows about alligators and all that, but there's a lot of other stuff. There's all kinds of rodents and spiders and all kinds of stuff.
And the typical way to get rid of all this stuff is to poison them. And poison is not always a good idea. You know, you kill something and it becomes bait for something else. And you hate to think you poisoned a rat in a bald eagle ate it and died, you know, or something.
And so there are more environmentally friendly ways to keep rodents out of your boats and campers and cars and all kinds of stuff. We have Scott DeMullen with us from EarthKind. Scott, welcome back to the car doctor program.
Hi, John. Well, great to be back. Thanks for having us.
Well, first off, remind us about EarthKind, kind of how it came about and how natural ingredients can keep things we don't want in our houses, out of our houses.
Well, I appreciate the question. I think you said it best at the top here just a minute ago. And as you know, why are poisons not a good idea?
And you don't necessarily need poisons. Our founder, Kerry Wilbur Block, lived on a farm and wanted to find ways to keep her tractors, her equipment, her children and her pets, you know, safe from the toxins and poisons, but also keep a protective barrier that prevented mice rodents and other pests, you know, ants and spiders.
And, you know, mosquitoes, et cetera, outside of, you know, the area that they participated in. So that's where it actually all started. She looked on the shelf and found that 95% of all the products were poisons, chemicals and traps that, you know, had side effects.
And sometimes you're replacing one problem with another and sometimes that solution is worse than the cause.
Yeah, and one of the things and you brought it up is the idea that these are plant based products to keep stuff away or botanicals to keep stuff away.
I have a relative who I guess sort of inherited a vehicle, Honda CRV, where I'm not sure where it was for a few years, but it sat for a few years. And it sort of looked like it was a relatively low mileage, pretty good looking Honda CRV that I think was used as a storage locker, because it hadn't been driven.
And it was, it had a lot of spiders in it. And who knows what else. And I gave her the spider deterrent. And she had to replace the pouches a couple of times. But, you know, first she tried, you know, going in there with, you know, aerosol sprays.
And then, you know, she, every time she got in the car, she was coughing because she was inhaling the air, you know, what was left over the aerosol spray. But the spider deterrent did a pretty good job of chasing the spiders away.
Well, you bring up a couple of things to unpack there, John. The one is that when you have, you know, foggers or aerosol sprays, they have side effects. And oftentimes you've got to be very careful not to breathe those things, especially with if you have children or family members with asthma or other breathing conditions.
So it's a very dangerous product to have around. It's interestingly enough, I mean, spiders do serve a purpose in nature. But one of the challenges is they usually inhabit areas that have insects already because that's what they eat.
So they, you know, if you have a restoration vehicle, an RV that's parked for any period of time, they like places that don't have vibration because obviously they sense the vibration in the nest or the web that they weave, and that's how they catch bugs.
So you won't see spiders, for example, behind your washer and dryer because of the vibration there, but you will see them in parked cars, you will see them in your RVs, your boats, you know, when you take them out of storage for the winter, you know, from the winter storage.
Yeah, and your products are, like you said, they're repellent, so they're deterrents, they're not poison.
Really important point. I'll give you an analogy, you know, if you go to the dentist and you have a cavity, you go, well, I'm glad that cavity is done with, now I can go back to my old ways.
But you wouldn't stop brushing your teeth, you wouldn't stop getting your teeth clean. And, you know, traps and poisons, you know, people want proof that it works, so they go, hey, I caught a mouse, so I know it works.
The challenge sometimes with products like ours, they tend to work, but people don't see the results because they don't see a dead mouse in a trap somewhere. And so the point is it's preventive, it's not a kill product.
It's the number one, you don't have anything to clean up after, and I think the safest cleanup is the one you never have to do.
Good point.
And the products, the products aren't, they're meant to be exchanged. In other words, you put a pouch of the rodent repellent in your RV or boat or classic car or whatever it is, but you need to swap it out every 30 or 60 days, right?
Very smart. You know, oftentimes you'll have a technician or a pest control company who'll come out and spray the exterior of your home, and why did they come back every 30 days?
Because eventually that product will deteriorate or disseminate or, you know, evaporate and won't be as strong so they come back and do it every 30 days.
The same is true with our products, and we're an indoor product, so you will place it throughout your RV, you'll place it in the front and back of your car and your cab or in your glove compartment.
And the purpose for changing it out every 30 days, our vehicle for distribution is a really powerful solution. It's made up of actual US farm grown corn cob that is dried and then ground up.
It's almost like a potpourri bag, John, and then what happens is we infuse it and absorb oil into it for, you know, like 72 hours.
And that oil then, along with the balsam fur oil, which is exclusive to our product and the only EPA registered product on the market, what happens is that it disseminates that scent over a longer period of time.
But after about 30 days, 45 days, especially the more open air, the more often you want to replace it.
But if you replace it every 30 days, you're going to have a stronger scent, and that way the mice and rats won't get used to it.
We were at the Hershey RV show last spring and it was the last fall in September.
And normally it wouldn't be worth my while to go to these shows, but I really enjoyed meeting with the customers, people who were collecting cars, people who were driving RVs, people in the automobile industry.
And what I found was there was only two complaints about our product.
And I said, well, I'm curious, how are you using it?
And they go, well, we put it in the RV or the collector car and then we stored it all winter and we never went back to it until spring.
And of course, you know, your point is that if you don't change them out every 30 days, that scent and the power of that scent will eventually dissipate and won't be strong enough to keep mice at bay.
So you want to make sure they're used properly and you're exactly right.
Every 30 days is the timeline for switching them out.
And it's probably, you know, for somebody that's got their, you know, 65 Mustang convertible and storage, you know, going to check it out every 30 days probably is a good idea anyway.
So go do that.
You know, it's, I know I, a neighbor of mine had a small Ram based SUV and he was going to leave it up in Maine.
He goes, well, the only problem with leaving up in Maine is every time I leave it up there, you know, everything I've ever left up there ends up with mice in it, you know, wherever it is.
And I said, here, try some of this and see how it works.
And I reminded him, I said, you need to go and check it periodically.
And he did, but he also said to me, I like the scent of it better than, you know, some of the other products that he's seen because it actually does smell natural and smells good.
It smells like, you know, you have a Christmas tree in your house.
It's funny that you bring that up, John, because when I was in Hershey, we had a people come by who thought that our product was actually an air freshener and didn't realize that it served the purpose for preventing danger and damage to their, you know, their house or their car and all of these.
So it does have a very pleasant smell.
We actually sell the product in Canada under the product is called cabin fresh and that cabin fresh is used as an air freshener in Canada.
Wow.
And one of your other products is a mosquito repellent insect repellents spray.
And, you know, whether you, no matter where you live, at least in New England, you know, there's no seems and there's mosquitoes and horse flies and all kinds of stuff that wants to bite you.
And this stuff, this stuff works and it doesn't harm you.
Well, and that's really what's important.
And then we said, do no harm.
We want to make sure that the solution isn't doing more damage than the mosquito bite as a tick bite.
And there's been a rapid growth in ticks.
There's been people may not realize it, but you know, sharks only account.
I think I mentioned this last time we talked only about five to 10 deaths a year associated to shark bites.
The chance of getting hit by lightning are 1.2 million.
The chance of getting killed by a shark is 1.4.3 million.
But the chance of dying from this mosquito bite is one in 4,000.
And the danger of that is, you know, they carry haunted virus, excuse me, they carry West Nile virus and some of these in, in, in among, in Bengay fever and so forth.
There's so many diseases that, that mice carry.
And then you've got, you know, ticks, which have tripled in emergency room visits because we're imposing on their natural habitat.
And so we're getting more tick bites and there's some neurological diseases.
But if you do protect yourself, you know, the common way for protection when we talk about a toxic product is deep.
And deep is, it can cause some neurological damage.
And also, I look at it this way.
I was standing next to a woman in a trade show booth and she goes, yeah, I used deep last week when I was out on my boat.
And I didn't wash my hands and I held my phone and it literally melted the plastic off my phone.
Yeah, it, it, yeah, I'm somebody who seems to get, I must give off the right carbon monoxide or something because it never fails.
I go outside and they get bit by something.
And I think I was up to like, you know, the deep you use if you're, you know, going into the jungle with the, you know, 95%.
And, you know, I sprayed it on, you know, my arms and legs and literally my lips went numb.
And I'm like, well, that can't be good.
And then, and then I was, I was, you know, something down some rabbit hole of, you know, pest deterrence.
And someone took, you know, the very common off the shelf product with deed in it and they used it to kill weeds.
And the idea that you can spray it on a pretty robust weed and 15 minutes later is turning brown and falling over.
Is that what you really want to spray on your skin?
Yeah, and especially when you think about your family and your children or pregnant moms.
The main ingredients in our product is a 20% the carrot and ingredient and the carrot and is a much, much safer product.
It is an EPA registered product as well as our rodent propel, which is the only one of its kind.
But you, it's more of a lotion, John, and you don't have to worry about that greasy, you know, stinky feeling when you put it on your children's arms.
It's actually a lotion and actually it has no scent to it.
So it's not going to be, you know, something that smells funnier or is greasy on your motor.
No, I think I have, in fact, I'm staring out the window now at your stay away mosquito product and something else I got from like the hardware store.
Or a camping store or something. And it's this combination of a lemon oil and something else or something else.
And my wife will say to me, don't use that. That stuff smells horrible.
And, you know, your product doesn't smell like anything.
Yeah, it's meant to be sent free, even though we do have some essential oils in there.
And you mentioned that it is under our stay away brand where all the other products are under our earth kind of fresh cab brand.
So stay away and you asked about other insects.
It does work for mosquito and primarily ticks, but it also biting flies, which are tough in the spring sometimes,
especially if you live by a lake or deer flies or chiggers or noceums.
All of those insects are kept at bay by using the lotion and it's safe for pregnant women and children.
And, you know, for people that have never really seen what a noceum looks close up.
If you've ever seen the movie Predator, if you magnify them a million times, it sort of looks like that.
You know, it's they have for they have teeth seems like they have teeth the size of the little tiny bug they are and they just kill me.
So I, you know, I have a bottle of your stuff on, you know, each side of the house, it seems like.
So when I'm outside from tinkering with the car or tinkering with my little boat or whatever the case is,
whether it's in the middle of the day or in the evening as the sun starts to go down, I give it a couple of sprays.
And like you said, it's more of a lotion than a spray.
So you spray it on and kind of rub it in and doesn't smell like anything.
And so far, so far, I've been pretty happy with not getting bit by stuff.
So yeah, and if you're a caring parent, the last thing you want to do is put something that might be talking to you on your children's skin.
And also, also if you have pets, it could affect that as well.
I know a statistic is that over 1200 pets a day are sent to the vet because of some poison they've ingested and exposed to.
And the other statistic, if you have children, every 12 minutes a child is sent to the emergency room for toxicity.
And, you know, we don't realize sometimes, I know the EPA came out and said that the indoor air quality is five times more toxic than outdoor air quality.
So the last thing you want to do is bring in something, as you mentioned, a poison or a toxic chemical that's just going to add to that sort of products like candles and scents and cleaners and products that are polluting your home.
And eventually, when you mix a lot of scents together, you come up with one scent that smells awful.
So yeah, so the idea of keeping stuff kind of scent free is a good idea.
So if you have, you're putting away your SUV that you drive in the wintertime and you're putting it either in the garage, in the barn, maybe even a storage unit or just leaving it outside,
you have products that will help keep the rodents away from that.
Just go back and swap them out every four to six weeks.
If you're going to be outside working on your car at, you know, at dusk, especially, you have the Stayaway Mosquito product or, you know, spray on yourself to, you know, take care of that.
And just around the house, I remember we had, after we had you on last time, a woman called in and said, she used your product because she had some moths in her pantry and she put it in there and the moths didn't come back anymore.
So all kinds of, all kinds of good products that are safe to be used around the house.
And where can people buy them these days?
I notice the packaging seems a little bit different now.
Yeah, thanks for the shout out on that, John.
We did do a package refresh with a brand new agency primarily to update.
It's been around for quite a while.
So if you're looking at the old fresh cab, road repellent or one of the other products, you'll now see a much more colorful packaging.
And you can go, they can go on earthkine.com.
And here's one of the fun things that you'll, your listeners will appreciate, John.
And that is that we're going to be in a wily auto park here pretty soon.
The buyer is a big fan, just like you.
And they reached out to us and said, listen, we have a lot of car collectors and mice and rodents are chewing through their fuel hoses and their wiring harnesses.
And they're doing a lot of damage to their cars, especially when they're stored over $3 billion a year actually is caused by mice and rats chewing through that.
So in June, as of June, our products will be in a wily auto park.
So when they're there picking up air filters or other products for their cars, they can pick up some of the fresh cab rodent repellent as well.
But if your listeners are looking for, you know, an ant road, spider, moth or rodent, or even the mosquito repellent.
If they go to earthtime.com, which is our website, if they enter the code fresh cab, all one word, F-R-E-S-H-T-A-B,
we'll give them a discount and an incentive for preferred pricing to get them started on their journey to protect their family and their property.
And if you want to run out to get it today, you can go to what, your local Ace Hardware probably, right?
Ace Hardware, true value, doing best, tractors supply, we're under the stay away brand and Lowe's, so Menard.
A lot of the local hardware stores do carry it and obviously Amazon.com as well if you want to buy it online.
Perfect. Scott, I want to thank you for taking a little time out of your Sunday morning and helping us educate our way away from bugs and rodents and other things that can ruin our cars and ruin our lives.
Well, we appreciate you being a rating fan. John, thanks so much for the invite. We appreciate you being here.
All right. Take care. Bye-bye. We need to take another break. Pay some bills. My name's John Paul. This is a car doctor program.
If you would like to join us, we have a few minutes left. 7818374900. 7818374900. Call in, say hello to Tim and Tim will put you on the air with me. We'll be right back.
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That's the Wealth and Well-Being Show every Tuesday night at 6.15 on 959WATD and 959WATD.com.
Make an appointment Sunday morning at 11 for John Paul, the car doctor on 959WATD. Now, back to the car doctor.
And welcome back to the car doctor program on 959WATD. My name is John Paul. This is the car doctor program and it's unusual for us to have two guests on the same hour, but it just happened to work out that way.
I think it was pretty informative. I know Scott mentioned something about how many thousands and thousands of dollars people spend on repairing vehicles that have been ravaged by rodents and it really is true.
We see a lot of damage and a lot of people think it has to do with a lot of the wiring today is soy based, so the insulation instead of being petroleum based vinyl is a soy based product.
Well, the rodents are eating the soy because it's a food product. Well, that's not really true. It's not a food product, but it is a recyclable product and I guess I have chewed on wire before.
You know, sometimes when you're lazy and you try to strip a wire, when I had better teeth, maybe. Anyway, you know, but you know, does the soy based insulation taste better to a rodent than the vinyl based?
Maybe it does. I don't know. But you know, you want to keep away and Honda even Honda had such a problem with it. They even came out with this with this tape that was encapsulated with like a hot pepper.
And so the idea is the rodents would go to eat that. The problem is it was a little kind of after the fact where you did you put the tape on and the problem was it didn't.
You put it on after the wires get eaten. So it was like, Oh, okay, we'll do that. So we came out with a study this week that said the headlights seem brighter. You're not alone. Six and 10 drivers said glare is a problem in the dark.
And, you know, there's new style headlights are now permitting in the United States. And that will help. But it's going to take a while.
So we'll, you know, we'll see what happens. But, you know, don't don't spend the money on the night driving glasses. Most people say they don't work. And optometrists, ophthalmologists even say that they don't work. Let's talk to Mike and Bridgewater. Michael.
Morning, John. Morning. Morning, sir. I know time is of the essence. First of all, I'd like to acknowledge I remember in one of your shows that I was listening to this. I think it's this Thursday is an anniversary for you when you started with AAA.
I think it was back in 84. But you know, I could have missed on that.
You're a little you're a little off. It was actually April 2 1985.
85. So April, say that again. April, April 2 1985. So 41 years this April 2.
Well, happy anniversary to you. I won't say I won't sing it.
All right.
John, I got a friend who has a brand new car, just purchased it. And I said, Oh, why don't you look at the AAA wheel package, that kind of thing. Key thing that you've talked about.
Not available in Massachusetts, John.
Huh.
Not that I know.
Well,
Well, the websites messed up. But when I went for the wheel and tire package to look it up, it said not available. Maybe that's something we can look at.
We're running it.
It never, it never used to be, but
Okay.
Well, that was the latest and you know, I because I was great. It wasn't the price is about half the dealership and you know,
$550 as I recall is wheel tire key fob and paintless dent removal.
Yes.
And you know, I'll set to give her that.
Well, I'm going to send Ted Lyons, who's the guy in charge of that department, an email as soon as I get off the air and say, Hey, what's going on here? Find out what the
Yeah. And John, I, basically, I could, you know, I could be wrong here, but that's what I started the website. And finally, if you celebrate, I wish you a happy Easter.
Well, thank you very much. Same to you.
All right. Thanks, Mike.
All right. Take care.
Let's see if the discount code for Earthkind was for Earthkind, as I recall.
So there you go. If not, listen to the podcast when it comes up. But I think it was Earthkind all one word.
And you should get a discount. But you can also pick up the product that like you said, Ace Hardware.
Let's see if we can get real quick to our buddy Rick from West Palm.
Rick.
Good morning, JP. I'm going to make this quick because I know this time is the essence.
It's simple.
What brought my 23 CRV hybrid into Honda for oil change?
Does it?
One question.
No, one question.
Does it go straight now?
Sometimes.
Sometimes. All right.
All right.
All right.
All right.
So you took it in.
Okay.
You took it in for an oil change.
Right.
Okay.
And then they said to me, fluid exchange service, brake fluid exchange, climate control.
Okay.
Have a good weekend.
All right.
Thanks, Rick.
Take care.
Bye-bye.
Well, we are out of time.
So I want to thank Tim for filling in.
Great job as always.
And until next week, make sure you wear your seatbelt, drive safely, be good to your car.
And if you do see an emergency vehicle by the side of the road, slow down or move over.
It's not just a law.
It saves lives.
Talk to you all next week.
Bye-bye.
About this episode
Zach Dole from US News breaks down how “best cars for families” is chosen, focusing on safety, reliability, space/convenience, and comfort—plus the importance of real-world usability like charge ports and kid-seat friendliness. Winners highlighted include the Honda Passport, GMC Yukon XL, Kia Carnival, Hyundai/Kia standouts, and EV picks like the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9, with practical advice on charging and plug-in hybrids. John Paul then reviews a 2026.5 Nissan Rogue Rock Creek (CVT, 3-cylinder variable compression, comfy but not hardcore off-road) and talks with EarthKind about rodent/insect deterrents using plant-based, non-poison barriers for stored vehicles.
Original notes
In this episode we talk with US News Auto editor Zach Doell about their pick for best family vehicles. https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/advice/best-cars-for-families-slideshow. Then we review the 2026.5 Nissan Rogue Rock Creek edition and then talk with Scott deMoulin CEO of EarthKind a non-toxic pest repellant. A very good product to keep the critters out of your collector vehicles, RVs, boats and any other possible home for homeless critters.
The Car Doctor Podcast
John Paul
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