Harbor Freight is a store that sells tools for DIYers and workshops. The money in this program doesn’t have to be spent only at Harbor Freight—it can be used for the school’s tool needs.
Skilled trades are jobs you learn through training and practice, like fixing cars, welding, or working on heating and cooling systems. The speaker is talking about whether there are enough new workers to replace people who leave those jobs.
Professional development is training or learning events that help teachers get better at what they do. Here, it’s described as a full week that helps instructors improve and feel energized.
A grant writer helps you fill out and submit grant applications. They make sure your request is clear and matches what the grant program is looking for.
AAA is a membership service many drivers use for things like roadside help. Here, they’re being used as an example of why real people and real skills still matter.
Term
AI
AI (artificial intelligence) is being discussed as a tool that can assist with tasks like applications or information, but not replace human relationships and physical skilled labor. The episode’s theme is that AI should complement, not substitute, trained tradespeople and educators.
The Ford Bronco Sport is a smaller SUV made to handle dirt roads and light off-roading. The host is reviewing a 2026 version with the Badlands package.
Ground clearance is how much space the car has between the bottom and the ground. More clearance helps you avoid hitting the ground when you go over bumps or ruts.
All-wheel drive means power goes to all four tires. That can help you grip better on slippery roads like snow or rain. It’s meant to make the car feel more stable when traction is low.
Cross-traffic alert helps you when you’re backing out of a parking space. If another car is coming from the side and you can’t see it, the system will beep to warn you.
This is about how long you look away from the road to do something. At higher speeds, even a few seconds can mean you travel a long way without watching what’s ahead.
Voice command is when you talk to the car to control things like music or navigation. Even if it’s hands-free, you might still have to wait for the car to understand and act, which can distract you.
ECM is the engine computer. It tells the engine how to run, and if it’s bad (or replaced), the shop may need to program it and make sure everything is connected correctly.
Torque is how much twisting power the tool has. More torque can be great, but it can also make it easier to over-tighten or strip a screw if you’re not careful.
A cordless screwdriver is a power tool that runs on a battery. It’s useful for small jobs—like taking things apart under a dash or around the house—without dragging out a bigger tool.
Lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable battery packs used in many cordless tools. Compared with older battery chemistries, they typically hold charge better and have less “memory effect,” making them more practical for frequent use.
A seatbelt helps protect you if there’s a crash. It’s one of the most important things you can do while driving.
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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 959 W-A-T-D, your award-winning social radio station.
And we're doing something different today. We have two guests on at the same time
and Larry and Rob say this will work. I hope it does. We'll figure it out from here.
But we have Tay Kang. He is from Harbor Freight Tools for Schools
and we have David Lilly. He is the 2019 grand prize winner from Portsmouth, New Hampshire High School.
Tay and David, good morning and welcome to the car doctor program.
Well, it immediately didn't work so we lost one of them but we have one of them on. Let's see how that goes.
Alright.
Yeah, this is Tay. I'm calling in from Los Angeles. Good morning. Thank you so much for having me.
Good morning. Good morning.
Yeah, apparently you left David, lost David somewhere along the way
but we're pleased to have you on the program.
First off, let's separate Harbor Freight, the place I've spent a lot of time in the last couple of months, it seems like,
from Harbor Freight Tools for Schools. Tell us the difference between the two.
Yeah, absolutely. So Harbor Freight Tools for Schools, our mission is to increase support, understanding and investment in skilled trade education.
And we're actually part of the Smith Foundation, or SMIDT, which is founded by Harbor Freight Tools owner and founder, Eric Smith.
And so we're actually part of his philanthropic giving and not part of the company.
We're not here to sell you tools or market tools but we're here to give his money away to outstanding U.S. public high school skilled trade teachers and their program.
The program seems like it has grown pretty rapidly and I guess first off, we should talk about the prizes. The prizes are incredible.
Yeah, absolutely. So I have the great pleasure and honor of working on the annual Harbor Freight Tools for Schools prize for teaching excellence,
which awards a total of $2 million to 25 outstanding U.S. public high school skilled trade teachers and their program.
This is the 10th year of the prize and we launched this back in 2017 and we started at $500,000 with 10 winners.
And over the years, we've seen an increase from $2 million to $1.5 million and then this year, thanks to Eric's generosity and leadership,
we're awarding a total of again $2 million, which is really exciting for us.
And the grand prize is $100,000 but that's split somewhat between the instructor and the school, right?
Yeah, absolutely. Out of those 25 teachers, there will be five grand prize winners who each receive $100,000 with 70,000 going to the program and 30,000 going to themselves.
And then we have 20 prize winners who each receive $75,000 with 50K going to their program and 25K going to themselves.
And the funds for the program do not have to be spent at Harbor Freight.
The teacher can spend it however they still wish as long as it's for their program and to continue to grow and develop and improve their program.
And then the funds for themselves as individuals, they can use it to help pay down their mortgage or help pay their kids' college tuition or earn a much-deserved vacation.
However they just don't want to spend it, it's up to them.
So we give the teachers the freedom to spend the money however they can think of to improve their programs and their own lives.
And I think we have David back on. David, are you with us?
Doesn't seem to be going as planned.
Alright.
I'll adjust.
Okay, you adjust and I'll keep talking to Tay here.
When we look at this, it's a fair amount of work, Tay, to do the application, right?
Yes, it is.
David's gone through the application process as a winner before, but we're looking for the most outstanding and excellent skilled trade teachers across the country.
We know the application is rigorous because we want them to be able to communicate all the amazing things that are happening in their program.
And we want them to tell our judges about all the cool things that they get to do and all the cool things their students get to do by working with their hands and with tools to build and repair and homes and cars and all these cool things.
And this prize, we're looking to bring these winners together, right?
Like David and like a lot of his colleagues and friends that we bring them together to form a network of outstanding teachers to really grow and impact this sector and help uplift skilled trades classrooms across the country.
So yeah, we're looking for the best of the best, absolutely. And we know that starts with a really rigorous and thoughtful application.
Where do schools and industry really, I guess, really need each other?
And one number I always hear is for every five people that leave skilled trade, they're only being replaced with maybe two or three.
I mean, this is a fantastic relationship with industry and schools, but is there more of a partnership that can be done?
Is there more than just kind of a long term collaboration that can be done between, you know, not just Harbor Freight Tools for schools, but industry in general?
Yeah, absolutely. I'll talk about Harbor Freight Tools for schools.
You know, our investment in these teachers doesn't just end with the money, right?
We want to continue supporting them, right?
And we often think of like the prize as like the tip of the spear or like a trojan horse in many ways for all the other ways we can collaborate.
You know, we bring these teachers together for Let's Build It.
It's an annual summer convening where we show our gratitude to them for all their hard work, but also, you know, put them to work to share ideas and best practices with each other.
And it's, I think, a lot of ways that it's the best professional development that a lot of these teachers have ever experienced.
And yeah, we bring them together for conferences.
We visit their programs. We help support and their community projects.
So on our end, we definitely believe that it's important to continue investing deeply into these teachers and their programs.
But yeah, we absolutely believe and call for more industry and business partners to work together and to collaborate with their local skilled trade teachers and programs.
And that's one of the aspects of the application is like who has been an outstanding industry or business partner for you and how have you collaborated with them and how can you continue to grow the relationship as well?
What's the timetable to send in an application now? It's pretty close, right? Just a few weeks away, right?
Yeah, you're absolutely right. It's just a few weeks away.
So we launched this prize back on March 3rd and the deadline is now May 1st at 5 p.m. Pacific, 8 p.m. Eastern.
So again, it's Friday, May 1st, 5 p.m. Pacific, 8 p.m. Eastern.
So yeah, that's the deadline for the application. So there's just three weeks left to get your applications in or a little less than three weeks left to get your applications in.
So if you haven't done so, start today. If you're an automotive, construction, welding, HVAC, industrial technology, you know, carpentry, woodworking, you know, welding.
If you're, if you teach any of those subjects, go to HFTforSchoolsPrize.org or HFTforSchoolsPrize.org to begin or continue your application today.
And let's, Jesse, do we have David on with us now?
I hope so.
Okay. David, are you there?
Hi.
Hi, I am here.
Well, that's, that's great. And you won the grand prize in 2019. How did that change what you do in school with the $75,000 award that came to the school?
Yeah, that sounds like a, there should be a simple answer to that question. The reality is, winning this prize is just the beginning of the process.
So regardless of how well funded or not your program is, you know, what you're able to do instantly with that prize money for your students, for your program, it really is kind of a snowball effective once you get going.
It's exciting for everybody.
And did, I haven't, I haven't been, I used to be involved with the Votek community and up in New Hampshire back when AAA did the AAA Ford Auto Skills Contest, but that's been long gone and I haven't been up there in a while.
But did winning the $100,000 prize change the kind of recognition in your school system as you guys are pretty cool?
Oh, 100% and not only just in the district, but across the state. And I think, you know, for Kay and I to become able to come on and talk about, you know, the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools team and the prize.
It's really just a matter of, you know, what we do as educators is share opportunities for students. And here we are with an opportunity to share with instructors across not only the state of Massachusetts but the country.
Do you mind if I head to that real quick?
Yeah, so, you know, for these teachers, you know, when we know who our winners are, we start planning these surprise celebrations to all happen on the same day across the country.
We have these, you know, 25 surprise announcements, you know, Sir David can remember his and how much joy there was and excitement because we have them these celebrations in the schools and in their classrooms.
And it's for us, it's like the best day of the year, but we found that these celebrations do bring a lot of media attention, but also bring a lot of pride to the school community, to the district, and to, you know, the local area.
And they want to continue to uplift these winners as well. So yeah, it does bring all these people together for so much, you know, communal pride. Absolutely.
Yeah, it really sounds like it. David, do you have like one student success story? And I think the one that jumps out at me is the All Girls Garage led by one of your students, right?
So that's another colleague of mine to give him credit. That would be Scott Mayot.
You can take full credit for it too, if you want. Yeah.
Yeah, no. And, you know, I think that's honestly the best part about this experience is just being able to collaborate with other fantastic structures, not only just in the Northeast, but across the country.
It's really, it's an impressive culmination of people that the Harbor Freight Schools for Children has put together.
Yeah, I can imagine it really is. And, you know, one of the things, and I considered at some point becoming a teacher and it just wasn't a good fit for me.
Is it things like this that on days that maybe aren't going perfectly, you kind of, you kind of look back and go, yeah, this kind of thing keeps me motivated?
Yeah. And, and it's certainly nobody gets into teaching the expectation of, you know, being nationally recognized.
But it's, you know, if you stay focused on what you're doing for the students and, you know, something of this, just motivate you to continue to do better things and kind of push the envelope and see what else you can pull off, then I guess that's what it's all about, right?
Yeah, absolutely. And, and I'm guessing, and you guys sound like you, you work together pretty regularly almost, but, you know, how can partnerships, whether it's Harbor Freight Tools for Schools, or other partnerships you maybe have with car dealerships or, you know, auto parts stores or whatever.
How can you build those long term collaborations where you guys are, you know, it's not just a, oh, here's your check, here's a big party, have a nice day, and we'll never see you again.
How do you stay in touch and continue to work with each other?
Yeah, and that is the single best part of this prize is that literally the day that you're awarded that prize, you know, and I didn't know it at the time, but that is literally just the beginning is, you know, all of a sudden you're in this network of amazing instructors across the country.
They do a great job of getting us together once a year for a full week, and it's, you know, again, as an educator, it's one of the most motivating professional development experiences that I've been a part of, and just to be able to start the networking with this great group of people.
There's nothing like spending a week with like minded trade speakers that are just kind of the best of the best.
Yeah, and David, David and I have had a lot of meals and laughs over, you know, at let's build it, you know, talking about his program, but talking about life, also talking about the Red Sox, you know, or the Patriots.
So, you know, we've had a lot of fun talking about, you know, just a whole spectrum of things.
And I think it's just having those personal communal relations, like those community based relationships that are absolutely essential.
But, you know, one thing we do talk about in our prize, right, is like how to continuously improve.
And one aspect of it is like, we do these like learning module videos on applications and how to build these partnerships is a key aspect of, you know, these learning modules to continue to grow and improve your teaching.
But yeah, I definitely want to say that bringing the teachers together for a let's build it is just an absolute treat and exciting to see all the cool things they come up with.
Oh, I bet. And with only three weeks left to complete this year's application, either David or Tay, you know, where do people start?
Somebody once said to me, it's almost like doing a doctoral thesis. I don't know if it's quite that, but it can take anywhere from, according to your website, it looks like it can take anywhere from several hours to several weeks to complete the application and talk about what you do.
For somebody, maybe, you know, where our radio station, our podcast is, you know, around the world, but our radio stations in the South Shore and if, you know, one of the, you know, auto auto tech teachers from South Shore Votech and Hanover wants to fill out the application.
The first part is just getting started. But is there any tips that you can give somebody who's listening to this program, you know, what to do to get started and maybe hopefully win?
Yeah, yeah, that's a great question. David, you want to go first and then I can go from there?
Yeah, and so I can remember, you know, sitting back and I was actually approached from my director and one of the New Hampshire auto dealers reps at the time to pursue this.
And the interesting part about I think many skilled trades teachers is we typically let our work do our talking for us.
So this was one of the real opportunities where I had to sit down and actually talk about myself and it wasn't something I was super comfortable doing.
So to really sit down and start to break down what I've accomplished, what my students have accomplished, what we're trying to create from the program perspective.
It just, it does take time. You do have to kind of pour your heart out and just kind of wear it on your sleeve and talk about what you're trying to accomplish as an educator.
And then, you know, just continue to kind of brainstorm where you're trying to take things and whether it's cash or what you're driven by or the student examples.
But I will tell you, as you know, time consuming may appear to begin with, it is so worth the effort and so worth even the recognition to just apply.
It only helped you. Let's just say you didn't, you know, weren't recognized with one of the prizes this year. It's only going to help you as just, you know, look a little bit.
Yeah, it really sounds it. And what's your what's your thought on that same the same sort of idea kind of really have to kind of look into yourself to like like David said, you know, most vocational teachers that I know, you're absolutely right.
It's, it's about the, the, you know, success of the students. It's about the success of the repair. It's about the house they built for a charity. It's not really about them.
But at the end of the day, it is about them. But what what what advice could you give a potential applicant?
Yeah, I think David really hit the nail on the head there. Right. I think in terms of the application, we're looking for people to share their stories.
So we start off by asking them about to tell us about themselves and what they've, you know, experienced in their teaching, but also, you know, in their lives.
Right. But we're, we encourage them to brag about themselves in their program as much as possible. Again, we know skilled trade teachers often times are very humble and have, you know, don't want to brag about themselves.
So what we want to do is encourage people to maybe collaborate with someone and talk, bounce, I have someone to talk and bounce ideas off of to remind them about all the amazing things that they do.
Right. And to help bring out some of the things, whether that's an administrator or that's your, you know, your partner or spouse or your even your own students, maybe they can talk about what they love and have this kind of be a still be in your authentic voice.
But have it be a collaborative process as well where you have other people help help you remember and help you brag about yourselves. Right. But ultimately, we're, we want to hear about the all the unique and specific and authentic things that you're doing in your program.
And again, we know that the application is rigorous, but the amount of money we're giving and the amount of money we're investing is also, we think worth it. And, and the application process will help you think about how ways to improve your program, improve your teaching.
But also, you know, you could use this application for other things in terms of recruiting, you know, students in terms of talking to your district to leverage more funds.
You know, so we think this application is a worthwhile process overall. But yeah, definitely, maybe if you're, if you have trouble bringing up ideas for yourself, ask someone for help and help them, you know, lift up your application to help you.
David, David, do you have a grant writer at your school that helped you with this? Or was this all, was this all you?
No, I did not. I don't have anyone that's in that role that would help with applications.
And, but I would think that once you completed this application, if there was grants that your school or, or the district could apply for, it's already kind of already written then, right?
I think a lot of key elements would already be there for sure. So I mean, if people were looking at it with that perspective, you know, again, anything worthwhile is worth putting the time into for sure.
Yeah, absolutely. And David, was there, was there, you know, the $75,000 on any day is a lot of money.
Was there one thing at the school that you said, we're definitely going to spend it on this? Was there something out of that money that you were allowed to take that money and go buy, you know, whether it was the latest scan tool or a plasma cutter?
I don't know, something.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so basically, most of the education, you know, systems I know of is that if I wanted a big, a big ticket item, need to kind of put it on next year's wish list, right?
And so this, this gave me the opportunity to spend right now in that moment as myself and the students who are able to see fit. And, you know, one of the things that we did, which really boosted the efficiency of the program and accessibility for my students is instead of having a traditional
tool room, which most automotive classes have, we were actually able to outfit individual toolbox at each that we have.
We ended up buying seven toolboxes, outfitting them exactly the same drawer to drawer. And that was, that was really something where the students could walk in the shop, grab it, get right to work.
And I mentioned before that I was involved with the, it was called the Plymouth Troubleshoot when I first started a bunch of years ago and became the Ford AAA auto skills.
And one of the things that I always got, and I don't want to say grief from instructors, but, you know, kind of, you know, lighthearted, you know, was, well, how about something for us? And there was something for you on this side too, which didn't hurt, right?
Yeah, and I can specifically remember still waking up, and I believe it was a Tuesday. We knew the day they were going to announce the winners.
And I remember waking up and thinking, this could be a normal Tuesday, or this could be an absolute game changer of a day.
And, you know, the Harbor Freight Tools for School team had already reached out to a bunch of people in my circle, my own family, and literally nobody gave me a heads up.
So I was as surprised as could be when, you know, about 70 people walked into my classroom during my second block class. And again, the prize is one thing, but the recognition and the pride that your work is being noticed is almost just as equal.
Yeah, I would think it really, really is. What can, you know, we look at this and, you know, when I was a kid and I was in high school, I wanted to actually go to trade school and the guidance council has kept talking me out of it.
What can parents and communities do better to support students that are interested in going into whether it's auto repair or construction or electrical or whatever? What can they do better to support students that are going into the trades, do you think?
Well, I think that's something that all of the trades are currently been fighting for a while, right? Is what we need people to see is what today's industry looks like, right? We're decades past sort of the gas station mentality and our dealerships
take our, you know, state of the art and our classrooms are closely reflecting that. And so we try to do a good job in Portsmouth of getting parents to my classroom, getting students, eighth graders into my classroom so that they can see what today's educational environment looks like.
Yeah, no, it really, it really sounds interesting. And Tay, just before we let you go, and it's been about six, almost seven years since David won, what does success look like for a school like David's after winning, winning the, the, this award?
That's a really great question. For, we want our teachers and our programs and schools to feel a great deal of pride for having a prize winning teacher and being able to, you know, say and announce that.
But we also definitely want these schools and communities to realize and recognize the value and impact of skilled trades and skilled trades education to think that, you know, that this is of great worth.
It's an opportunity for them to use their brains and their hearts to really make a tangible impact and in their community. So I think there's that kind of qualitative, you know, source of pride, but also that, you know, that impact that is tangible and that you can see with the funds and the continued investment in the trades for sure.
And my boss at AAA just sent out an email this morning, and he wanted to reassure us that, you know, as phenomenal as AI is, it's not going to replace our member focused customer driven relationships.
And as good as AI is, it's not going to replace fixing a car, installing plumbing, all of those kind of things. So this really is a critical time to invest in workforce and trade education, right?
Yeah, absolutely. Right. And, and we think that, you know, yeah, you're right. I can't fix your car or, you know, do those things. Right. And that AI, in terms of like the application, right, like, can't replace your own human authentic voice.
And that's what we're looking for is that human passion and compassion that's showcasing your application and that you, and that teachers utilize each day, right, those authentic, in depth, personal relationships that AI can't replace.
Yeah. And just the physical aspect of doing the job, you know, which is, which is the other, which is the other part of it. Well, for people that want more information and get this application in, again, where did, where did they go?
All right. So to begin or continue your application, go to hft4schoolsprize.org, or, or you could follow us on social media, especially on Instagram at hft4schools.
Or you could just, you know, try Googling or searching for Harbor Freight tools for schools. And you'll see our websites and our social media and then you can follow us there to learn more. But again, the deadline to the application is Friday, May 1st at 8pm Eastern.
Well, I want to thank you both for taking your time out of Sunday morning, whether it's 11 o'clock on East Coast or 8 o'clock on the West Coast. Again, thank you very much.
I think this is a phenomenal program and I want to thank the Harbor Freight tools for schools program for putting it together and continually it. I think it's a great program.
And as somebody who repaired cars and tries to help people with car repairs, the idea of skill trades is so important in this country and it needs to be continued. We have to do this.
Or we're going to have a completely throwaway society where nobody, nobody fixes anything. And it's really important to be able to do that.
Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for having us. Really, really appreciate it.
All right, thank you guys. Have a great weekend and again, thanks for taking time on your Sunday. We need to take a break, pay some bills. My name's John Paul. This is the car doctor program. You're listening on 959WATD. We'll be right back.
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And welcome back to the car doctor program on 959WATD. And again, if you're a Votek teacher, if you're a student, if you're an if you're a if you're an administrator, if you're a parent, and you just heard this and said,
My school can get $75,000. They do five grand awards and what they say another 10 $75,000 awards. So 50,000 goes to the school 25,000 goes to the instructor.
You only have till May 1. Again, it is something where you need to put a lot of thought into it. But you have three weeks to put thought into it.
Just it seems like a fantastic program. And the idea that in Portsmouth, they replaced the tool crib, which never really to me worked out that well and replaced it with individual boxes where tools could be inventoried easily and kept track of but also you don't have to go wait in line for another 10 millimeter socket that got lost somewhere.
You're responsible for it just sounds like a great program. I know Blue Hills regional kind of did the same thing they they they did individual boxes which worked out good. But again, go to the, you know, Google Harbor freight tools for schools program.
Just, you know, I can only hope that the little bit of money I spent this week on two different things at Harbor freight helps support part of this through the charity.
But I know it's completely separate. It's Harbor freight tools for schools is completely separate than from Harbor freight. It's all done through the Eric Schmidt Foundation.
But fantastic program. And again, if you were the grand prize award winner, and you said, Well, do I have to buy Harbor freight tools? No, you don't have to buy whatever you want. Take the money and do whatever you want with it, which is fantastic.
And the idea that the instructor who put all the time into doing the application can buy something he wants for the school can buy something he wants for his house can buy something, you know, for, you know, to go on vacation.
What a fantastic program. And, you know, let's face it, $2 million in total prize money. Pretty fantastic.
Well, let's talk about the car that got me around this week. And it is a Ford Bronco Sport. And the Ford Bronco Sport is a smaller Bronco, not to be confused with the full size Bronco.
And this happened to be the Badlands edition. So the 2026 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands kind of stands out because it's not pretending to be something it's not.
The Bronco Sport, when it first came out in its kind of regular version, you know, I looked at it and I said, you know, it's a Ford escaped with a cowboy hat and cowboy boots.
It's not really, you know, is it really an off road vehicle? Well, yeah, the Badlands stands out because it's, again, not pretending to be anything it isn't.
You know, if you want to leave the pavement behind, you want to go off road, you want to go camping, you want to go do things, the capability there is a real deal.
Under the hood, you'll find Ford's two liter EcoBoost four cylinder engine. It makes about 250 horsepower, which is pretty good and a solid amount of torque.
It's made it to an eight speed automatic transmission with a twin clutch four by four system gives you kind of more ability to do more things.
It has something called goat, which is not greatest of all time. It goes over any terrain.
So it's you have trail control and goat and a decent amount of ground clearance and good approach angles.
They have the wheels kind of spread out so you don't have to worry about banging in the stuff if you're going up and down hills.
I don't generally go off road with anything unless I've been told I can because I don't want to damage a vehicle.
This is one that I kind of would have wanted to see how it would go.
I have the impression driving over some soft sand and places where you could probably take a regular car without getting stuck.
But the all wheel drive system, the four wheel drive system seems to work.
On pavement, the rides firm, it's kind of what you'd expect.
You know, this this badlands edition is meant to go off road.
It looks like it's meant to go off road.
It's got a push bar in the front.
It's got places where you can tie things down on the roof.
It's pretty aggressive looking.
It feels it's probably one of the more solid compact SUVs or whatever you want to call it.
I mean, I guess you could call it an SUV crossover, maybe in certain trim crossover, but it's got to be one of the most solid feeling ones.
Again, with the flip of a switch, it makes you a whole lot smarter driver.
There's settings for dirt, sand, moderate trails.
So in New England, snowy weather shouldn't be a problem.
You want to go down to the beach, get that beach sticker and go down.
You should be able to do that.
The rides a little on the firm side, tires are pretty aggressive.
So they're a little bit noisy.
But for daily driving and commuting, it's a kind of real upright boxy design.
It gives you really good visibility all the way around something that's, you know, getting harder and harder to find on modern SUVs that tend to want to round everything out.
This one's pretty easy.
Even when it has a lot of electronics in it.
So I think I pulled it into a parking lot the other day and I was between like a Ford excursion and a suburban.
So I was jammed, you know, kind of jam between two big vehicles.
And the idea that I could sort of back out and all of a sudden the cross traffic alert started to beep to let me know there was something I couldn't see because I was blocked by bigger vehicles.
It was kind of nice.
I took it to another store, farmers market sort of store.
And it's always jam full of people.
The size made it nice to build a pole into a parking space and more importantly to pull out of a parking space without having to make 15 point turns with somebody with a big SUV was doing.
This was just in and out nice and easy.
It's practical.
It's a little badlands practical on the inside.
It has rubberized flooring.
So if you're out camping, fishing, hunting, whatever the case is, and it's a muddy day, easy to clean up afterwards.
There's a lot of neat storage, including behind the rear seat.
There's a zippered storage pouch where you can put stuff in zippered away so you don't see it.
There's a bin under the seat, more storage.
What's not good about it?
The infotainment system.
It's big.
I mean, it's a 13 inch touchscreen.
It looks nice.
The cameras are crystal clear.
It does have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
But in real world driving, it asks the driver for too much.
You're driving down the road and your climate control is set on automatic.
But you're like, I don't really need it that much.
I just want to turn the fan down.
You have to go into the climate control, find the fan button, hit it to turn it down.
It's not a button.
It's just a spot on the screen.
There's a lot of tapping and hunting through menus when maybe something like a knob would be better.
I think the only knob, besides shifter knobs and things like that, the only real knob in this is the radio volume.
So I don't know.
I throw some old fashioned knobs in.
I think it would be better.
But I am critical of that.
And maybe it has something to do with my traffic safety background because when you take your eyes off the road just for a second at 60 miles an hour,
you're traveling 87 feet without looking ahead of you.
So if you look over and you're like, oh, I want to change from satellite radio to WATD.
So I need to go over, find the radio control, find the source, hit the source button, go to FM and then find WATD.
So it takes, you know, that was probably three seconds.
So almost 300 feet at 60 miles an hour.
It's a long time not to be paying attention.
So, you know, that's, and that can, you know, some of these things, even when they have voice command, you tell it to do something.
You tell a car to do something and it has voice command.
Your brain might shut off for 10, 12 seconds waiting for the thing to actually happen.
So put some knobs in.
It's easier. It's better. I like it better. It's safer to me.
The 2026 Broncos Sport Badlands I think is one of the most capable and I think it has the most character of any compact SUV you can buy.
I think it would give, you know, any of the Jeeps kind of a run for the money character-wise and everybody loves Jeeps.
Yesterday, a woman who drives a Subaru Outback who loves her Outback, but she was looking for something a little bit different, a little more kind of trucky kind of, but more of a squared off design.
She was looking at it and said, oh, I love that.
That's, you know, I think that's something that, you know, is really, really something to look at.
So if, I think if Ford simplified the infotainment system in the future and brought back some actual controls, this would be easily a class leader.
Until then, it's still a strong choice for people who want to get off the beaten path and just ready to spend a little extra time learning how to use all of the electronics in it.
Remember, you know, you got to try all the tech, you got to play with everything, road test the tech, it's important.
And remember, the best vehicle is the one that matches how you actually drive and the places you want to go.
So if you're somebody who wants to go off-road, this could be a good choice.
If you're somebody who only looks like they want to go off-road, maybe not the best choice.
Maybe just a regular Bronco Sport is maybe something you want to look at.
Our phone number is 71837-4900, 71837-4900.
Let's talk to Mary in Kingston. Mary, good morning.
Hi, John. Good morning. I have a question about my 2007 Toyota Corolla. It only has 142,000 miles on it.
Okay.
And just a week ago, it started to run poorly. It brought it to our mechanic, and they pulled it up on their machine,
and they were not able to repair it because they do not have the specialized Toyota equipment.
What came up in the computer was P0606, and then it was engine control module and power control module.
My question is, I am bringing it to the Toyota dealership. I'm wondering how much this might cost, and is it worth it?
Is it worth it? I think so. I think it's worth it. It depends what they're really going to find, though.
That's kind of where the problem is. The idea that you said it was P0606.
It's unusual, and usually that indicates some sort of failure in the engine control module.
Modules can go bad. Absolutely they can go bad. But a lot of times what happens is, more times than not, it's a wiring problem.
So something, some poor connection, something that's not working quite right, that's more of what you see than you don't sometimes.
That's kind of the direction I would try to look in for this, because it's an older car. What's it really worth?
It's only worth $1,790, but it's the perfect car for me to just run around Kingston and Plymouth. It's perfect.
I guess the other thing is, I'm guessing it's not running well, it's got poor power, maybe hard to start?
No, it started fine. It's funny, I was just driving along, and all of a sudden it kind of, to me, coughed, and I was like, oh, that's weird.
It always runs smoothly. I had no problem with it. It has no major accident, and we always have all the tires and exhaust and spark plugs, all that stuff done.
So it's been well taken care of, and I'd like it to last another five years.
I think at the Toyota dealer, and your mechanic probably says I can't program a module, can't program a computer, is probably what he means, doesn't have the programming for it.
I would guess, even at the dealer, maybe maximum $1,600?
Okay, okay. I was hoping it wouldn't be like $6,000.
No, because if it is an ECM, if it is a computer, probably in the $1,000 range, another hour or so to program it, and then an hour or so to install it, and maybe even add in some diagnostic time.
So I would guess something like that, but I would be, before I automatically condemn the computer, I would want to just make sure all the wiring is intact the way it should be.
There isn't any crusty looking wiring that, you know, you've got a little nick in it, and things rusted out, and the wiring's not making a good connection.
Even the plug that goes to the computer can be a problem, so those kind of things is what makes things add up and get expensive.
John, wouldn't I trust that the dealership would do those things?
You would hope so.
Okay.
Yeah, and the one kind of, I don't want to say weird thing is, this is almost an old car for them to work on.
Oh, I know.
Yeah, so they may look at this and go, well, you know.
But I would give it a shot, and you know, if the car is, and I'm sure your regular mechanic would tell you this, but if the car is structurally sound, in other words, they looked under it and said, you know, it doesn't look like you're going to need any major things in the next couple of years,
well, then it would make sense to fix it.
I just looked up the actual computer for this, and according to Toyota's website, there's two different possible computers for this.
If it's a USA built car, it's about $724.
If it's a Japanese built Corolla, it's $648.
So parts-wise, it's not that expensive to take care of it.
And labor-wise, you know, a couple hours labor to replace it would be about all of this.
So I got to think, you know, under, you know, in that $1,500 range, you could fix it.
And even though putting $1,500 into, how much did you say the car was worth when you looked at it?
Almost $1,800.
Yeah.
And normally we would say that's crazy to put the cost of repair into a car that's only worth the cost of repair.
But for a car that meets all your needs, has 150,000 miles on it, does the job the way it's supposed to, and you're comfortable with it,
and you could get another couple of years out of it, I would put the money into it.
Yeah, and one of the mechanics had said, if his shop could have repaired it, he would have taken it for his grandson.
So he knows that structurally, you know, I mean, that's the wrong word, but it's in good shape.
No, that's a good sign.
I would go there and I would bring as much of your mechanics information with you just to give it to the dealership,
so they know what's been tested ahead of time just so they have it.
Okay, okay.
Oh, John, thank you so much.
All right, thanks, Mary.
Okay, take care.
Bye-bye.
We need to take another break.
You'll listen to the Car Doctor program on 959WATD.
We'll be right back.
Tune in to 959WATD Monday nights at 9 p.m. to hear Massesoya today.
An hour dedicated to introducing you to the students, staff, and faculty of Massesoya Community College.
Each show, you'll hear uplifting stories, discover the latest news,
and learn more about the community that makes up Massesoya Community College.
Monday nights at 9 p.m. on 959WATD.
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.
We have about six minutes left to the program, if you want to join us and talk about whatever's on your mind about cars and car problems.
You know, sometimes people send me things.
Sometimes I buy things.
I was at, of all places, Marshalls the other day.
And I was kind of wandering through the store.
I was actually wandering through the store looking for my wife, who I guess were in different departments and we didn't see each other.
And there was a compact electric screwdriver called, from a company called Pantik, I think, F-A-N-T-T-I-K.
And it was, and it's just this little compact screwdriver.
It is one of the neatest little tools I've seen, and it was probably more expensive than I would normally pay for something like this.
And what I try to do sometimes is, if someone sends me a tool to test out, I try to test it out so I can tell you if it's good or bad, so you can either buy it or not buy it.
This thing was called, I think it's called the Pantik S1 Pro.
What's kind of neat is, it's relatively small. It's got pretty good torque in it.
I wish it had, the one I had, I wish it had torque settings.
It also has another tube that comes with it, and this thing's only about an inch around and probably six or seven inches long.
It comes with another tube with a bunch of different bits in it. They're longer bits for easy use of things.
The cover that comes on the tool has six or so double-sided bits in it.
It's also kind of the same five-sided drive, I guess, hex drive.
So you can use other quarter-inch hex drives, so you can use other things in there like sockets and stuff like that.
It's pretty powerful for the size. I was surprised how powerful it really is.
So you have to be a little bit careful when you're running, I took a little electronic thing apart with it this morning, and you have to be a little bit cautious with it.
I just looked it up on Amazon, and it's selling for $59, I guess.
It was $30 at Marshall's, and I came out of the store, and my wife came out, and she said,
What did you buy at Marshall's? And I said, I bought a cordless screwdriver.
She said, What? Why? Why did you buy a cordless screwdriver?
I'm like, I think it was a good deal, and I'm not sure it was a great deal, but I can tell you, it's pretty neat.
It doesn't take up any room. It's something, if you were doing some work around the house or under a dash or needed to take something apart,
and you kind of only had holding something with one hand, and you can only hold it with the other hand,
and kind of makes it easy to spin something on and off with it.
Again, you could stick it in your pocket or tool belt or anything, it's not going to take up any room.
It charges with a USB, USC port. I don't know, it was probably a dumb thing to buy,
but it seemed like a good deal, and like I said, I've only used it, I've only bought it just the other day.
They sell all kinds of different stuff, but this one, this one seemed pretty neat.
They also have one that's almost the size of a pen, I think, but pretty amazing how good it worked for how small it is.
I haven't kind of run it out of electricity yet, so I don't know how long it would last,
but as a kind of, not quite precision screwdriver, because I don't think this one's pretending to be that,
but it's a pretty neat little tool, and again, they didn't send it to me, it's just something that I saw,
and I said, you know, I used to have, I've had cordless screwdrivers over the years,
and probably the same thing's going to happen with this someday is the battery's going to go dead,
but now they all have lithium-ion batteries in them, so the battery's going to last a lot longer,
but I always found a cordless screwdriver handy if you're disassembling a bunch of little tiny screws,
or medium-sized screws, that isn't anything you'd use to, you know, run a screw into a 2x10,
although I did try it, but don't do that, it's not made for that.
Well, that music from Jesse Wilkins means it's time for us to go,
and for all of you celebrating Orthodox Easter, happy Easter,
and Jesse, happy Easter, good luck with the red eggs.
Thank you, sir.
All right, 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 saves lives.
Talk to you all next week, bye-bye.
you
About this episode
Harbor Freight Tools for Schools takes center stage as John Paul talks with Tay Kang and David Lilly about a nationwide $2 million prize program backing skilled-trades teachers. The discussion breaks down the application, deadlines (May 1), prize structure ($100k grand prizes and $75k awards), and why the money can be used beyond Harbor Freight. David shares how winning in 2019 boosted his automotive program, including new tool access for students. The show also includes a Bronco Sport Badlands review, a Corolla ECM code cost discussion, and a quick tool spotlight.
In this episode I chat with Tae Kang of Harbor Freight Tools for Schools and Portsmouth, New Hampshire teacher David Lilly, the $100,000 Tools for Schools Grand Prize winner in 2019, for an inspiring conversation about the power of skilled trades education.
Tae Kang explains the mission behind Harbor Freight’s Tools for Schools initiative—supporting dedicated educators who are preparing the next generation of skilled trades professionals with hands‑on learning and real‑world tools. David Lilly shares his firsthand experience applying for and winning the grand prize, how the award transformed his classroom, and the lasting impact it’s had on student engagement, confidence, and career readiness. Together, they offer insight and encouragement for teachers considering applying for the award. Find more info here https://hftforschools.org/
The episode also features John Paul’s review of the Ford Bronco Sport Badlands, highlighting its off‑road capability, rugged design, and practical everyday drivability. From advanced AWD systems to trail‑ready features, John Paul breaks down why the Badlands trim stands out for drivers who want adventure without sacrificing comfort and reliability.
Education, opportunity, and automotive insight—all in one episode.
