Car Pro Radio Show February 7 26 Hour 2

This is the CarPro Show, the home of straight talk and honest answers about everything automotive

with Jerry Reynolds the CarPro, a former two term chairman of the Ford National Dealer

Council, a member of the Texas Radio Hall of Fame, and sixth time winner of the Texas

Auto Writers Association Award for Best Radio Show in Texas.

Jerry's partner is Todd Chambliss, great voiceover guy, and sixth time winner of the

Darche Championship at the Golden Spur Bar and Grill.

Here they are now, on the CarPro Show.

Well we're talking cars, right here on the CarPro Show, I'm helping people try to make

a good car buying decision before they make a mistake, because mistakes when you're buying

a car are very, very expensive, and I don't want to see you do that.

Let's figure it out together.

Thechays.com CarPro Hotline number is 800-926-7777, 800-926-7777, and if you call and get a busy

signal wait until somebody hangs up or we go to a break and try it then, and hopefully

you can get through because I'd love to talk to you.

Todd Chambliss is with me.

Certainly am, and boy, it is one of those things where you go through January like you've

done and you're in February and you start to wonder, okay, you know, is this a good

time, bad time?

It really all depends upon the market and it's, like you said even last hour, it's an unpredictable

market right now, but with the incentives being here and truck month starting in certain

parts of the country, I guess right?

Is it?

Yeah.

Yeah, so you've got that going on.

For Ford and Ram.

Yeah.

Now, Chevrolet does theirs in the fall, but here's the interesting thing.

When it's Ford truck month, Chevrolet has no choice but to match their incentives.

So Ford actually sets that particular?

Yeah, Ford's already, they've already come out with their February truck month incentives

even though officially doesn't start to like the 15th, but General Motors has no, no, no

choice but to match those incentives.

That's interesting.

They would do that.

Has it always been that way?

I mean, well, truck sales are the most competitive segment of the auto industry.

Now that I did not know and it's the biggest as well.

Yeah, especially like in Texas, for example, yeah, oh, especially in certain states, certain

states.

Yeah, but General Motors can't let Ford come out with their truck month incentives and

not step up and say, okay, hey, we're here to, you know, yeah.

So that, so that pre that started, I mean, I guess the question I have is when it comes

to GM, they never thought about maybe trying to go and trump them and go before them or

wait till later or I don't know was the actual history of that.

I guess it was to, because Ford truck month has been around in Texas that I know of for

around 30 years Ram truck month came on board probably 15 years ago, Chevrolet's had their

truck month in September.

I don't know if they just don't want to go head to head where it's confusing to everybody

that, you know, starting in February and going through the end of March, it's truck month.

It's a big deal that it's truck month.

It really is.

I mean, a lot of people think it's just an advertising thing, but the dealers get extra

inventory, they get extra incentives.

It's it's really quite, quite a deal.

I always look forward to it when I was in the Ford business.

I'm sure you did.

And I mean, it's a nice source of income and the folks who are looking for a truck will

probably wait till truck month to actually start shopping around for one.

Well, I know people that wait every year for it to come because of the incentives.

And look, truth is the only thing that separates a good time to buy from a not so good time

to buy is incentives.

Yeah, that's it.

That kind of rules the whole thing, doesn't it?

It does.

Otherwise, prices are stable all year long.

Yeah.

Joanne in spring, Texas.

Joanne, how could I help you?

Yes, hi.

Thank you for taking my call.

You're welcome.

So I recently purchased or two years ago, a 2024 Highlander XSL.

It's my very first car that I purchased brand new.

I've always bought a used car.

Yeah.

But the problem is the front seat.

It's not comfortable.

Is there anything we can do to improve the comfort of that vehicle?

What what part is not comfortable?

Is it? I mean, do you have a power driver seat?

Yes.

And so the part that's not comfortable, it's just not comfortable against my back.

OK, have you have you tried a pillow?

I know that sounds stupid, but I know a lot of people who get the right size

pillow and put it at the smaller their back every, you know, then just leave it in the car.

OK, now I have not tried that.

And in fact, they make pillows just for that reason.

There's there are certain pillows that are made for cars.

So if I were you, I would go.

I'd start at Amazon and in search and search for car pillows.

And you may have to try two or three to get one that works.

There there's a more elaborate thing you can do.

It's just dog on expensive.

You can get trim a trim shop to bolster the back of your seat with more foam.

But they got to take the seat completely apart.

And it's going to be it's going to be expensive.

And frankly, it never looks just right.

So when you go to get rid of the highlander,

that that could be something that could hurt the value.

So I'd get a pillow.

Well, they're cheap. OK, try it and see what you think.

Otherwise, the only real answer is to, you know, get a different vehicle.

And this is this is my first.

Go ahead, sir.

This is my I tell people and I've written on this.

The proper test drive.

I mean, you just you can't spend 10 minutes behind the wheel of a car.

I know if it's going to hurt your back, you got to spend a half hour or 45 minutes

and drive it under different different circumstances.

And that's not going to help you now.

But maybe, Joanne, your call might help somebody in the future.

And that that's where that good test drive comes in.

OK, I think I guess because it's my first brand new car I've ever bought.

I'm older. I keep my car.

My last car kept 15 years.

Yeah. And I guess I was just a little disappointed

because the Highlander has such great reviews.

Oh, yeah. The seat is so uncomfortable.

So that was just kind of my disappointment.

What? And so I was not planning to buy another car for 15 years.

But I don't know if my back can take it, but I'll try to pillow.

Yeah, try that. And let's see if it.

What car what what car do you think has a good seat that's fairly comfortable?

That's like an SUV.

You know, we're we're all different.

And what's comfortable to me may not be comfortable to you.

But by and large, you've got to get into the luxuries

to really get extra adjustments.

And that that runs into a lot of money, and that's the problem.

The only place you should ever buy a lemon special on lemons.

I'll three produce is at the grocery store.

Call the car pro show now.

1-800-926-7777.

OK.

One of the more interesting articles that were really

one of the most clicked ones in this newsletter this past Friday that came out

is the story about the FBI switching from suburban to BMWs.

That's been sort of a longstanding thing.

You see that big, giant black suburban coming down the street.

Yeah, at least a couple of them.

You say, oh, there's some government folk there.

What's going on?

Well, apparently that's all changing.

They're going to be switching to BMWs more or more specifically the X5.

And apparently the cost of these things, this was sort of an eye opening for me.

I knew they had to spend more on these things, but didn't know is that much

to do these things, either.

Suburbans on average are when you put all of the anti ballistic glass in it,

all of the fortification for bullets and everything else

that they have to do to protect people in those vehicles.

You're talking per vehicle around half a million dollars per.

Yeah.

And you got to think General Motors has been sort of taking advantage.

Sort of like the five hundred dollar hammer that they'll spend for the government,

things like that. Yeah.

I think they thought General Motors has a.

I forget what they call it, but they've got a separate division

for government vehicles and security vehicles.

Yeah. Yeah.

And I think, you know, they've been.

Sort of pretty liberal with the price.

I think they thought that the government would never change.

Yeah.

Well, here comes a BMW with an alternative,

a vehicle that blends in a little better.

It's a little bit smaller, a little bit smaller.

That's fact.

Not as much cargo area in the back, but, you know,

it's just no secret that when

you see more than one black suburban at the same time,

it's not an Uber driver.

If they're coming for you parked in front of your house,

you may want to try to get out of there.

I'd go out the back there.

Larry Portland, Oregon.

Welcome to the car pro show.

Hey, good morning.

I can't believe I'm talking to you after listening all the years.

Well, brother, it's good to have you.

Hey, I I'm a long term planner and I fell in love with a certain vehicle

in 1987 when my company owner that I worked for at the time

parked it in the parking lot.

And I knew then one day I would have that vehicle.

And that's a guard's red 9-11.

Great choice.

I am about two years, two years away from doing this.

And I'm on all the Facebook groups and I'm just seeing so many horror

stories about, you know, the allocation time.

I'm on an allocation list now, which is still I'm still two years out, I believe.

Yep.

And and I hear about, you know, once it comes time to

actually take delivery to the car, then they make you buy a watch for

$12,000 or they do the additional dealer markup.

And, you know, I'm not rich in any way, shape or form.

But, you know, this is where I'm going to put my money.

And I just want to know if there's a dealership or a place, a way to at

least, you know, have a fair, fair price, you know, basically the MSRP.

I understand that and I'm not looking for discounts, but I'm just not

looking to add an extra $10,000 or $20,000.

And we're just talking about a base 9-11 Carrera.

Yeah, I believe I can help you with that.

I have a dealer in Los Angeles, Porsche of downtown LA.

And the general manager there is a dear friend of mine and just a prince.

When it comes to my listeners, he's been with me a long, long time.

His name is Victor Gassemi.

Victor Victor is one of the sweetest people I've ever met.

And, you know, forget he's in the car business.

He's just a good guy.

I mean, just a helpful, giving individual.

So he's at my website.

If you if you click where it says green button, find a car pro dealer nearest you,

choose Porsche and put your zip code in Portland there.

It'll pull up LA and Victor's contact information.

This is a good time to talk to him and see what he can do for you.

He's helped a lot of my listeners through the years and everybody raves about how

good he is.

And if you want him to, for not a lot of money, he can ship you the car once it

comes in in a enclosed trailer.

He's used to doing that.

So, you know, let's make your dream come true.

Nothing would make me happier.

But he's they're the biggest Porsche dealer in the country.

And he can tell you about white times and be accurate, not guess.

I appreciate the call.

OK, there's new car used, certified, pre-owned, or maybe leasing is the way to go.

There are lots of choices and Jerry Reynolds, the car pro, can help you find the right one.

Call him now at 1-800-926-7777.

Richard and Houston, welcome to the car pro show.

What can I do for you?

Well, I've been listening to you for a whole lot of years.

I have never called a radio station in my life.

Wow, I feel honored.

I have no doubt.

I have a little dilemma.

I own Toyota Tundra.

I put 200,000 miles on each one of two now, thinking about buying another one.

But what scared me off is this engine problem they had where they had to replace

the engines and and some of them I hear now had some main bearing problems.

And also I was thinking about buying the hybrid because they said they don't

have any engine problem.

I thought the hybrid I thought the hybrid engine was the same engine

that they put in the other truck.

So was it two different manufactured engines or?

Yeah, the engines are different.

They're the same.

It's confusing because the leaders are the same.

They're both 3.5 liter.

So the hybrid is gets better fuel economy, not greatly, about a mile

of gallons is what I tested it at.

But it's got about 50 extra horses.

And you are absolutely right.

There there has not been an issue with the hybrid engine.

And people confuse that too.

They think because it's a hybrid, it's more likely to give trouble.

That wasn't the case.

It was the non hybrid back in 2022.

And part of 2023, they gave problems.

But Richard, your your faith in Toyota is warranted because Toyota,

instead of doing what a lot of car companies do and fix the engines,

they're replacing the entire thing.

This is a multimillion dollar replacement of the engines.

And Toyota is doing that because it's Toyota.

That's what people expect of them.

And that's what they're doing.

They didn't have to.

Their obligation was to fix their replacing.

So bottom line here before we run out of time is I would not be concerned about that.

You can read way, way, way too much about this online.

But the bottom line is Toyota had a problem.

They discovered it.

They took care of it.

And we haven't had that problem since it.

We've never had the problem with the hybrid.

It's not an accident.

Jerry Reynolds is called the car pro for a reason.

Call him now at 1 800 926 77 77.

And you're listening to the car pro show with Jerry Reynolds, the car pro.

And I'm Todd Chambliss every single week.

The newsletter comes out on Fridays and Jerry spends the entire week

putting this information together.

Sometimes it's a work in progress, as we saw with the most clicked item.

That would be the top three segment bestsellers for 2025.

In the newsletter, the news section, you see that he's still breaking

out numbers for 2025 because you have mentioned before that not everybody

gives you numbers every single quarter, every single month, whatever interval.

But we see them all at the end of the year.

So you're still getting the information now.

Yeah, it takes some of the car companies.

It takes them several weeks to.

To come out with their full set of numbers.

Yeah.

So I'm still dissecting sales numbers from 2025.

I got enough now to give you the top three in each segment.

So sedan, compact SUV, mid-sized SUV, mid-sized SUV.

Sedan, trucks, vans, you know, the whole deal.

So I give you the top three sellers in each of those segments.

And I don't know.

It always surprises me how well, how many people click on sales numbers.

The number two story was January sales numbers.

Now, those are incomplete because only.

Seven or eight car companies actually report their sales on a monthly basis.

Now, the rest do it quarterly.

Oh, OK.

OK.

So, you know, but it's still enough that I can tell what's going on as far as

how's business is business good or is it bad?

You know, that sort of thing.

So, yeah, looking up at some of these breakups to going back to the original one,

the top three segment bestsellers.

Not a lot of surprises here, really.

I mean, Ford Toyota certainly getting lots of attention like they always do.

Yeah, with the RAV4 Tacoma and and not a lot of surprises here.

I guess the Chrysler Pacific and the minivan section, which was still number

one was down just a little bit, but that's probably a pretty fluid category.

I would imagine.

Yeah, it is.

And, you know, Pacifica, it's all about price with that one.

It's just it's the least expensive minivan on the market.

And they sell a ton of them.

And they're great, too, by the way.

Yeah, they are.

You know, we drove one.

We rented one when we were on vacation last year, and it was great on purpose.

We had.

Well, we had to have a minivan because one member

of of our folks were going had trouble getting around.

So we needed to have ease of getting in and out.

So they were doing.

Yeah, it was it was for that reason.

Not the not the most not the fanciest, not the fastest, but it was comfortable.

I'll tell you that much.

Yeah, that's my choice.

Then I wouldn't want one as a daily driver.

I wouldn't either.

But that's just me.

Yeah, I've got a line open.

If you want to grab it right now, pretty rare.

Chase dot com.

Carpro hotline is eight hundred nine to six seventy seven seventy seven.

Again, eight hundred nine to six seventy seven seventy seven.

Bring me up.

Tell me what you're thinking.

Let's figure it out.

Travis in Clear Lake, Texas.

Welcome, Travis.

What can I help you with?

Jerry, I've been in the f one fifties for the last I don't know, 15 years or so.

But I'm looking at doing something different.

And I'm I'm liking the looks of those the gyms, the the AT force.

Yeah.

But during my search, I guess I've fallen into some sort of algorithm

and everything that pops up is just page after page of people complaining

that there are issues with the six point two.

And, you know, they're not liking them and they're always in the shop.

So I wanted to get your opinion on that engine.

And I'm also open to the diesels that they're putting in.

So what do you think about those?

I have concerns about the six point two.

And I don't know what happened because historically that had been

just an outstanding engine, I mean, outstanding.

And then something happened and they're having trouble with it now all of a

sudden. And, you know, it it it.

I think the most troubling thing for me is that they keep thinking

they've got the fix and then more problems arise.

I don't know what the answer is here.

And I don't think I've said this on the air before.

But if I were in the market and I had to buy a six point two,

I probably would not until this gets ironed out.

And they'll they'll they'll get it they'll get it handled.

I just don't know I don't know when and I don't know what the fix is.

They've tried several different things and none of them have been successful.

They keep continually having problems.

Now there's class action lawsuits popping up all over the place.

And again, it's a shame because I recommended that engine for a lot of years,

especially people towing and hauling things.

It's just a beast and that engine is across so many different vehicles.

That that alarms me, too.

I mean, we're talking Escalade, Yukon, Sierra, Silverado, Tahoe, Suburban.

I mean, Yukon, the list goes on.

So there's a gazillion of them out there.

I I would be I would be concerned right now.

I'll be honest.

Well, I appreciate that.

And, you know, I saw something come up this morning where, you know,

it really sounds like they're grasping here because, you know,

they're they're they're coming out and recommending a heavier weight oil,

you know, out of out of nowhere.

And so, you know, I thought I wanted to try something other than the F-150.

But now you you mentioned the diesel and I will tell you, I love that engine.

I've reviewed the half ton diesel Silverado.

I've had the diesel in both the Yukon and the Escalade.

And I'm going to tell you, I like diesel engines any way because of the longevity.

Typically, a diesel engine well past 300,000 miles.

But what I love about this one is not just the fuel economy that you get,

but the power.

Holy cow.

This thing, the torque will just pin you to the seat when you step on this thing.

And so if you really like the GMC and I do, I'm I'm reviewing.

I'm reviewing right now, 2026 Sierra 84, but it's the all electric version.

So it's we're not talking we're talking apples and oranges here.

But right, I wouldn't be interested in that.

No, but the but the I've had the 84 Sierra and it it's it's fantastic.

I've got a couple of good GMC dealers there.

I don't think you'd regret it with the diesel.

I do worry if you were if you were to go with the six point two.

That's what I wanted to hear.

I appreciate that.

At any time, my friend, you take care and look at my dealers.

They'll save you some money.

And it is, I don't know.

I don't think it's.

I think GMC truck month is the same time as Chevrolet, which is in the fall.

September. OK. So I don't know.

I it's hard to keep them straight.

There's a lot going on there.

Well, yeah. And I don't.

Unless it's changed, Tundra doesn't have a truck month.

I don't think Toyota does.

They probably don't need it, though, do they sell so well?

Well, they do. They do pretty well.

I don't mind telling you.

Yeah, that's for sure.

What are your rights?

If you're in a wreck, what by law?

Are you assured?

If you're in a wreck, hmm, that was my advice column this week

in the free car pro weekly newsletter.

And I wrote it for both Texas and

California. Oh, interesting. So.

There's a limit how much you can learn about a car online.

Call the car pro show to learn more one 800 926 7777.

We were talking just a few minutes ago about an advice column

that Jerry wrote that was in that is in this week's newsletter

about knowing your repair rights.

If you're in a wreck and there's a lot of great information,

especially comparing Texas and California

and the different ways that those states and the folks there

are protected in different ways they are.

My question to you is are you working?

What's your next advice column going to be?

Have you finished it yet?

I haven't finished it, but I've started it.

OK, can you give us a little glimpse into it?

It's titled Bad Advice, Good Intentions.

Bad advice, good intentions. All right.

Yeah. And I started saying

when if you want to hear me stop dead in my tracks.

It's always when I get a call that starts out, I heard.

Yeah, that's a button for you when you hear that,

because typically it's Internet driven and not qualified.

Correct. Yeah.

And then I go on equally as alarming as when a caller says,

well, my brother said or my neighbor said. Right.

OK, which means everything or nothing.

Sometimes it is your brother.

Sometimes it's somebody on the Internet.

Bad advice, good intentions.

Look forward to reading that.

There you go. Yeah.

And my closing message, which I've really been concentrating on.

Yeah, making those interesting and kind of cool.

This week, I write about the little things that make a car a good one.

Oh, OK. I can see that being interesting.

Let's go to San Diego and talk to Dina.

Dina, welcome. How can I help you?

Hi. Hi there.

So I'm I just bought a new car,

but I'm already thinking about a different one.

So my last, the fourth car ago was

BMW 535 I that was a manual six speed.

And I had a lot of fun with that car.

But I see and I really got sick of dealing with chains.

Yeah. So I bought an outback.

So I bought an outback and I love that outback.

It worked. It was great.

Then I after that got older.

I bought BMW X3 and I love that car.

I kept it forever and it was so old that my console,

my screen was my phone, you know,

with the gadget that you put in your air conditioning.

And so I I just traded in or just got rid of that car.

Yes, I did trade it in for a forester

because I was determined to get a hybrid.

So I got the two thousand and twenty five hybrid.

That's the only one.

I'm just a little, I guess, either spoiled or whatever.

But I missed how heavy when I went up to the snow.

Back when I had the outback,

I like the performance with having a heavier car.

It just, you know, I just had to be way more careful with the

sous vide in the snow, maybe because it's lighter.

I don't know. Yeah.

But I have looked like I've looked everywhere for like all the hybrids.

I love how my gas gauge barely moves.

I'm in love with that.

And I I don't know.

Is there something because I kind of looked at what's out there

and is there like something new coming that wasn't in a hybrid

that is coming in a hybrid that can be I don't need a bigger size.

All these sizes, you know, cars, the X3, the outback, the forester,

the perfect size for me.

I don't have a family to tow it around.

You know, it would be just a little heavier, a little better,

but it's not out yet, but coming out soon.

I don't know of anything, Dina, but car companies have kind of started

keeping things close to the vest before they they make announcements

on what's coming out.

Have you ever looked at a Lexus RX?

You know, I drove the Lexus RX and I don't know if it was the wide

wheel or something, but like on the freeway, it was catching

in all the at least out here for the rain.

They make the grids in the freeway.

And yeah, it just was driving.

You know, we're we're out of time, unfortunately.

Drive that again.

I really got to think that's your answer.

No website knows what the car pro knows because he specifically

addresses your needs.

Call now 1-800-926-7777.

For great stories, more folks that have followed Jerry's advice and we feature

them now in the happy listeners segment here this hour, the car pro show.

Christie in Los Angeles went to Honda World of Westminster and talked to Ray

Egan's, but in fact, he called her shortly after she went online to the car

pro website, filled out the information that Jerry recommends you do.

Ray called her back shortly thereafter, diligent in communication with her.

She's looking for a Honda Odyssey Elite 2026.

Now, the one she wanted wasn't on the lot, but he brought it into the dealership

for her to see and drive and she bought it from him.

How about that? That's good.

Where'd it go, Ray? Good job. He's doing a good job.

Yep. Team Gilman Honda North in Houston is where James was interested in going,

checking out the 2025 CRV hybrid.

Said he had a great experience with the sales and customer service team from

the moment he walked in, appreciated the level of communication and transparency

from the very moment he informed them he was interested in one of their vehicles.

Good experience all around.

Same goes for a Sewell Infinity North Houston, where Jane went for an

Infinity QX60 Turbo.

The stories just roll in one after the other.

Well, I love it too.

That makes me that that's why I do what I do to get those, you know,

to hear back from people, you know, we're now on because I've been doing this for

24 years. Now I'm hearing from second and third generations.

That is cool, actually.

It is fun. I tell you what, I get a kick out of helping people and I love it.

You know, I still get some skeptics that say, you make any money when if I buy

a car from one of your dealers answers. No, not a penny.

Nope. I would never I would never accept a penny or even a gift for that matter.

All right, we're going to lose some of you at the top of the hour here coming up

in about a minute and a half.

But you can go to carpro.com and click this and live and you can get the podcast

at carpro.com this afternoon.

There's only one way to be sure you're getting the right deal for how you drive.

Call the car pro at 1-800-926-7777.

Car Pro Radio Show February 7 26 Hour 2

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