Nissan is a car company from Japan that makes many types of vehicles, including cars and trucks. They are known for making reliable cars and have popular models like the Nissan Altima and Nissan Rogue.
Toyota is another car company from Japan that makes many popular cars, like the Camry and Corolla. They are known for making reliable cars that hold their value well over time.
The Honda Accord is a well-known car that many people drive. It's known for being reliable and good on gas, making it a popular choice for families and commuters.
'Numbers matching' means that a classic car still has the same engine and parts it came with when it was first made. This can make the car more valuable to collectors.
Car insurance is a way to protect yourself financially if you get into an accident. If you have a sports car, your insurance might cost more because those cars are usually faster and can be more expensive to repair.
Registration fees are what you pay to officially register your car with the government so you can drive it legally. Different states have different costs for this.
Property taxes on cars are fees you pay based on how much your car is worth. Not all states charge this, but some do, and it can increase how much you spend on your vehicle each year.
A recycling program for tires helps to safely dispose of old tires so they don't harm the environment. It makes sure the tires are reused or processed properly instead of being thrown away.
The Lexus RX 450H Plus is a new type of car that uses both gas and electricity to run, making it more environmentally friendly. It has a roomy interior and comes with modern tech features.
Trim levels are different versions of the same car model that come with various features and options. Some might be more basic, while others have more luxury or technology.
A PHEV is a car that can be plugged in to charge its battery and also uses gas. It can drive on electricity alone for a while before switching to gas, making it more efficient.
A plug-in hybrid is a type of car that can run on electricity or gasoline. You can charge it by plugging it into an outlet, which helps save fuel and can let you drive short distances without using gas.
A CVT transmission is a special kind of automatic transmission that helps the car change gears smoothly without any noticeable shifts. This can make driving feel more comfortable and can save fuel.
Miles per gallon (MPG) tells you how far a car can go using one gallon of gas. Higher MPG means the car is more fuel-efficient and will cost less to drive.
The Mercedes-Benz GLE 450E is a hybrid SUV that uses both electricity and gasoline to power the vehicle, making it more efficient than traditional gas-only models.
The BMW X5 is a luxury SUV that offers a comfortable ride and lots of features, making it a popular choice among families and those who want a premium vehicle.
The Hyundai Santa Fe is a family-friendly SUV that provides a lot of space and features for a reasonable price, making it a good choice for many buyers.
LIVE
Welcome to another In-Wheel Time podcast.
Welcome to the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show. Just ahead, we talked to Chip Lupo at Wallet Hub
about the best and worst states to drive in. I mean, making plans now for vacation.
There's only 50 of them. There's only 50. Maybe 51 soon. Plus Jeff has his motor minute.
I'll review the new Lexus RX450H Plus, and then we're going to talk about life in general.
I'm just how glad we are to be here. Happy Valentine's Day, Mike and Don.
Mike, did you get your kisses this morning? Not yet.
Yeah. Well, don't expect them from us, okay? It's been a little early. Yeah, we love you anyway.
Howdy along with Mike out of this world of ours. We always need more Jeff Zeekin,
Chief Engineer David Ainslie. I'm Don Armstrong. Glad you could join us for our Valentine's Day
edition of the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show. So glad you could join us. We got some
lots of new stories about EVs and hardly any of them are any good. I've got one that's no good.
Yeah. Well, I know that we had a guest on here. Everybody got mad at me for asking him not to
get involved in the politics of it. And he went that way and Mars got mad at me for kind of cutting
them off. And so I wanted to apologize to everybody, but apparently I was pretty close to being on the
money. So as you will find out when I read the stories, in the next two hour edition of the
In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show, and speaking of money, Chipp Lupo is with a company called
Wallet Hub, and he joins us now. Chipp, good morning to you and thanks so much for joining us.
Good morning, guys. Good to be with you, as always. Yeah. It's been a while and how
a thing. Where are you? You up on the east side, east coast? I am. I'm in Columbia, South Carolina.
Oh, very nice. We love Columbia, South Carolina. We do. That's a good place to be. You from there
originally? I'm originally from North Carolina. I've lived in the Carolinas pretty much my entire
life. Oh, you went down south. Yeah, you moved south. It's warmer. Better weather. It's warmer down
there, isn't it? Yeah. Well, they call Columbia famously hot for a reason, so. No, that's it,
because you're in it. That's what I was waiting to hear. Well, there is that. I could use, yeah. I
want to take that. I want to take this marketing slogan run with it. It is Valentine's Day.
So, we wanted to talk to you about this study that you guys did. 2026 is best and worst states
to drive in. Okay, so what was the motive behind this kind of a story? It's interesting because
when it comes to stories like these, and I always chuckle at the results because no matter what
the statistics tell you, the state that you live in or the city or county you live in is
always the worst, has the worst drivers, regardless. Yeah, right. If you're commuting
anywhere into any city, they have the worst drivers, no matter what the numbers tell you.
But we try to create a comprehensive city. It goes a little bit beyond things such basic
complaints, so to speak, like road safety or commute times or congestion. We kind of take
an overall approach and we include things. We broke it down into four dimensions and those are
cost of ownership and maintenance, which is one that people tend to overlook a lot when it comes
to safe driving, traffic infrastructure, safety, and then access to vehicles and maintenance,
another one in which people kind of overlook. Well, I know that you focused in on Texas and
we here in Texas certainly appreciate that and we're going to get to that as well.
And I am somewhat glad to report that we actually didn't hit first or last in any of the
categories. Got close, got real close. Yeah, got close, but there was no,
we didn't get the best award. And you know what, there are some things that you can say that that's
a good thing. Well, Texas is unique and it is a huge state and there's a diversity when it comes to
traffic and roads. I mean, what goes on in the middle of say like Midlands, Texas or some place
is way different than it would be in downtown Dallas. Or downtown Houston. Yeah, downtown Houston
is not too bad. The problem we have here is that the city, well, not the exact city limits, but
the overall area of Houston, which includes tons of cities and it's a big widespread sprawl,
if you will, of everything. We've got lots of freeways and all of them are jammed up now. And
I remember a day when we didn't have that many freeways and they weren't jammed up, but
that is the case now. So overall rank for Texas is 13th. And I would say that's pretty good,
really. Yeah, very good. One to 50 and Texas is 13th. And they get really high marks in the
category of access to vehicles and maintenance. Again, this is one that people tend to overlook.
And it includes things such as, for example, auto repair shops for Capita, which is key because
you have to have availability for repair shops now because if repair shops are A not accessible or
overpriced, people are going to tend to neglect those and they're going to let their cars and
they're going to keep driving and keep driving until eventually something really bad happens.
Well, I was kind of surprised that us being fifth in average gas prices, I would have thought
that we would have been probably first or second. Yeah, at 270 gallon and now Texas is right up
there and here in South Carolina, we're right up there too, despite the gas tax. Yeah, I would
have thought it would have been with no state income tax. I don't know what the gas taxes are in
Texas, but but still a top five out of 50. That's not bad at all. Yeah, yeah. We rank 35th in road
quality. Let me let me tell you something. We used to be right at the tip top. Of course,
the state is so spread out and we had in the early days, you know, brand new freeways that
went from here all the way to Alaska. Yeah, the roads were great and not so much anymore because
we've had this huge influx of people here. And with that also comes a lot of road damage. Yeah,
I think because the all the there's so much under construction, I really think people are stealing
the roads stealing, picking them up. Yeah, they're going to rebuild. Where does Detroit fall in the
road category? I'm interested. I'm from Detroit. It should be like 60th.
Well, now, now, Michigan, Michigan ranked some pretty much. Let's see. Where does
Michigan fall? They're pretty much on the low end. I know Detroit proper is like way down
on the list. I think out of like a hundred. I think they're like in the 90th. Now, Michigan
is about let's see. Let me call it the exact number for Michigan here because they were pretty
yeah, they were 37, 37. But you know, on the other hand, too, and to be fair about it,
let's face it, that the roads up there are subjected to some pretty severe winters.
Yeah, I was about to say you got these great big scrapers that go across that road quite
frequently. We don't have that here. And it's the quality of the road. And salt. Right. Salt that
are that they're pulling up on the roads. Yeah, I've driven through the infamous Michigan potholes
on a way to Lansing many, many times. Car dealerships per capita. Texas ranks second. Not a surprise.
Well, card access to car dealerships. Now, this is new and used dealerships. Now,
that's important to be able to have access to new new or used vehicles again. Now, I have a
2016 Jeep Patriot, which I will drive until the wheels fall off. Yeah. Now, of course, you want
to be able to drive, be able to drive it before then. So at some points, you're going to have to
bite the bullet and look at a newer used car. And it's ridiculously expensive now. But it's
important to be able to have at least a decent number of dealerships close by. Was that does
that depend on the city that has or the state that has assembly plants in it? Because not all
states have assembly plants we have up in the Dallas, Fort Worth area. We've got some San Antonio.
Does that correlate to anything and where it ranks? I think so. Well, I think so, at least in
terms where it does, where it does have a have an effect is in what we call it's the average,
well, that's the average price of an automobile. Because in states, and I talked to someone from
Detroit yesterday about this, in states like Detroit, or parts of Ohio, or some of these
right to work, where they're auto plants, people are going to buy American cars just for the sense
of pride. And American cars are slightly more expensive now than imports. Because you're factoring
in these operating expenses that some of these union states might have. So people are going to
spend a little bit more for American made car just for this, whether it's the center of local
pride or the fact that hey, this car that I bought, you know, my uncle helped build these. So I'm
doing my part to keep food on his table. Sure. Now you mentioned sales with local car dealerships.
Did that include service as well? Because, you know, most new car dealerships have a service
department. Right. Now we have a separate, we have a separate category for auto maintenance costs.
Okay. Now. And so that would be different than the dealership aspect of it. So you kind of pulled
out the service department and put it in this category? Right. Dealerships is just the number
of dealerships, this physical plants or locations per capita. The auto maintenance cost is a
different thing now. Of course, as you all well know, taking your car to your favorite local
mechanic, as opposed to dealership, there's going to be a huge cost gap there. Right. And it used
to be when I was back in that day, the front end or the sales department supported the parts and
service department. Nowadays, it's flipped for the parts and service because there's so much
warehousing and things that they support the low sales volumes. Right. And my father worked at a
Nissan also built in the service department many years in North Carolina. And it was exactly as
you, as you cited it there. Now, some of the issues with when it comes to auto maintenance costs,
of course, they are skyrocketing. And one of the downsides of buying an import, whether it's some
of these have really high resale value, whether they're Toyotas or Hondas, is that when they do
start to break down, the parts are going to kill you. As opposed to an American made car, like
so break pads or something, they're going to be like twice as much for a Honda Accord as it would
be for a, maybe a Ford Escort or something. I was going to say a Chevy Impala. Oh, they don't
matter. There you go. Oopsie Daisy. Yeah. Okay. So I thought, thought this is pretty interesting.
Texas ranks 41st in car thefts. At least here in Houston, I bet in Houston alone,
it's probably at least half that. I'm thinking in the 20s or maybe even higher. I don't know.
But at the huge metropolitan area, there's millions of people. Houston, Dallas, yeah, trucks,
Houston, Dallas and parts of Austin around. Yeah, those are all very high areas of theft,
probably not so much in some of the more rural areas, but when you have that many large sprawling
metro area, yeah, the risk of auto theft is very high. Talk about fatality rates, a 32nd in Texas
for traffic fatality rates and the speed limits. If they haven't officially raised the speed limit,
nobody really cares about what it is officially anymore. It's like, okay, the speed limit says
65. We're all doing 75. Oh, of course. That's, yeah, that, yeah. Speed limits are, for the most part,
suggestions or guidelines. Especially if you're on that, that crazy, what is it?
They have like a, is it like 12 lanes now that circles around Dallas now? Yeah. If you, if you're
driving a speed limit on one of those expressways, yeah, you're going to get run over. Yeah.
I just found that that was an interesting statistic of fatality rates. Now,
it can also include pedestrians or a bike or. Oh, didn't think of that. Yeah. Motorcycle. Yeah,
there you go. Which is probably common in a college town like Austin. You know, people,
a lot of people are walking across campus and, you know, and things happen. No. Well, and you're
also on your phone when you're driving. You're distracted. You're eating. Now, this one here,
walking. This one here, I'm going to, I'm going to have to say Chip, are you out of your mind?
Share of rush hour traffic congestion. Texas is in general, Texas ranked 35th in Houston.
I think we got everybody beat. I mean, it's got to be in the top 10 at least. Well, you have lots of,
you have lots of space between the Dallas Metroplex and Lubbock, Texas to kind of make up for
that. So there's a lot of sparsely populated areas, the closer you get towards the southern border.
Yeah. I mean, if, um, if not for those, if you're counting this Houston and Dallas and Austin,
yeah, it would probably be a much lower than that. If not for some of these more
sparsely populated areas where. So Chip, you know, wallet hub doesn't do this just to entertain us.
They do this for a reason. And what is the reason that these numbers statistics are important in
each state? Well, it gives people just to give people an idea of the driving habits where, where
they live. And of course, joking. I said your state or your city is the worst, but it gives people
kind of an eye opening. And again, now we can, we also consider things for example, like the average,
um, auto insurance rates, which can be ridiculously high. It just gives a broader overview. So when
people think about driving, they're not just thinking about congestion or commute times,
they're thinking about things like road quality, access to car dealerships, how much their
insurances are, how much it's going to be able to cost them to maintain their cars or maintain
the insurance and be aware as prices, just an overall view. And also for people who are looking
to commute to another or to relocate to another state. So how did you, how did you pull this
information together? Is it surveys? You go through the, the DMV? It's strictly data driven. And
there's a, there's a huge number of, um, government sources that where we lie on, of course, the
Census Bureau, FBI, department transportation. And then just a number of, um, AAA and a number
of other nonprofit and insurance companies and other reputable think tanks.
Interesting. Um, you, so you, you don't, I mean, do the insurance companies use this?
I think so. And that's, and that's part of the objective is maybe that people are,
or insurance consumers also can look at this like, wow, why am I paying so much for the annual,
for my annual car insurance? Now for Texas, I've noticed that this is the annual car insurance
premium is a little over now annually. It's 2000, a little over $2,000, 36 overall,
which really in the overall scheme of things, isn't bad. I would think it's not bad.
And now in South Carolina, mine personally for, for two vehicles is about 1500. No,
for two vehicles, for two vehicles. Well, guess what? Full coverage. Um,
I guess we're going to be neighbors one day. So if I'm, if I'm in the market to move,
somebody's offered me a great job and Don, hey, you know, here's the carrot. Come on. This would
be something that I think that I would be interested in, especially when it came to my cars.
I've got an old Corvette doesn't get driven very much, but I don't want to take it to some place
that I think that it's going to get stolen. It's not worth anything to anybody else other than
it's just a car. But to me, it's worth something because it's my own personal car. And I would
imagine that most people probably think the same way, unless of course they've got some, you know,
special, you know, numbers matching 1963 split window Chevrolet Corvette coupe or something
like that. But for every, every day people that, you know, probably have a couple of teenagers
coming up and they're getting ready to get their first car. I would be interested to know how much
I'm going to have to pay for them and their car to get back and forth to school.
Right. The insurance obviously is a factor, particularly for like a sports car, even if
you're not driving it. And if you, and if you keep a strict budget and a lot of certain X amount
of dollars every month for gas, you want to take that into account. So if you're going to relocate
to a place like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, you're going to be paying way more for gas than you would
be in Texas. And, and, and for the registration from what I understand. Registrate registration
and some, some states do charge property taxes on vehicles too. So that's another thing.
Holy cow. California. Well, I'm assuming. Yeah. Yeah. California and Louisiana has a state
tax as well. I found out recently. Well, this is great information. Where can we go to get
all of the data on this? Just log on to wallet hub.com and check out best and worst states to
drive. We do have a separate study for the best and worst cities. Also, best and worst states
for teen drivers, best and worst states for summer road trips, lots of related content out there.
That's awesome. It's great to know wallet hub.com. And this is all information that I think everybody
would get a kick out of looking at if not in dollars and cents terms of thinking about moving
there or going there for vacation chip. It's always great to talk to you. Always a pleasure,
guys. Thank you. Thank you. We appreciate you, sir. That's a chip loop with wallet hub.com.
All right. Just ahead, Jeff's motor minute and a review of the new Lexus RX 450 H plus
when the in wheel time car talk show continues right after this.
The tailpipes and tacos renowned cruise in expands to Beaumont. Golden triangle cruisers will
want to experience tailpipes and tacos at the loopy tortilla. I tend south in Beaumont near
Washington Boulevard. Grab three loopy breakfast tacos with any donation to Shirley's kids.
Enjoy a coffee or an adult beverage. Every cruise in vehicle is automatically entered
to win one of the beautiful chili pepper trophies for best hot rod classic and modern classic.
Tailpipes and tacos Beaumont happened Saturday morning, March 21st, 8 to 11 a.m. If you're a
car geek like we are, this is the event you'll want to attend. The in wheel time car talk show will
be online live and you may be interviewed about your ride. Tailpipes and tacos Beaumont edition
Saturday, March 21st, 8 to 11 a.m. at the loopy tortilla 2050. I tend south in Beaumont. The
Katie tailpipes and tacos happens Easter Saturday, April 4th, 8 to 11. The free tailpipes and tacos
cruise in is a production of loopy tortilla Tex-Mex Beaumont and Katie. It's pretty good.
While you're shopping on Amazon through Amazon music in wheel time.com has a list and we know
you love lists. We invite you to join us for the live in wheel time car talk show every Saturday.
10 to 9 central time here on in wheel time.com YouTube and Facebook. Check us out. It's free
and don't forget 30 minute podcasts of our shows can be head from your favorite podcast store. We
can be head and Mr. Mars. How are things going over there promoting the tailpipes and tacos Beaumont?
Well, they seem to be going pretty good. It's been a few people asked some questions and
we're running. We're fixing the way we are running the spot. Chase is putting some things out as well.
And in fact, he's got a couple of pretty nice little videos out there. Yeah, very nice. We'll
check it out. Did you get the one I sent you? Let's check out the motor minute. The motor has that.
You bet. There's a lot of things going on about disposing of tires. We talk about tires a lot,
winter tires, summer tires. The best way, maybe the easiest way to get rid of your tires is to
return them to the retail store where you buy them. Well, most of the stores will accept your old
tires. If you do buy from them, they can handle it for the recycling for you. It's like taking
things back to the recycle areas. You can expect to pay a small fee for this service, but it's
most convenient way to ensure that they're properly disposed of. You don't want to lay them out in
the front yard by the curb or the garbage guy. It's important to dispose of these tires right
away through a recycling program and not in a way that can be dangerous to your health or the
environment. This means never throwing them in a regular trash since they're often burned
from the landfills. Tires are also one of the common items that should be put in a recycling bin
since they require a separate specialized recycling process. If you haven't bought tires recently and
you don't live near a tire retailer or a center that sells tires, they do have convenient ways
to dispose of them. Call your city, call the recycling department, call your trash people.
Many local dumps and transfer stations can accept used tires for a fee. It's best to call a head
and see if they can accept that tire. If you're more on the artistic side and you don't want to
be bothered with that and you might want to use them in the backyard for a flower bed or maybe
a planter or things like that, if you're more artistic. There's the 15-inch tire that you
took off the car 30 years ago. Let's put some daisies in there. Let's go get some 22s because
we want to make it a little bit bigger. I like daisies and I like 22s, but the repurpose you
tire the backyard in the garden will help the environment. If you only have a few tires and
you want to bring them new life by turning them into a planter or a garden, a swing for a tree,
which I did when my kids were growing up, and an innovative dog bed or outdoor furniture,
so there's other ways to do it. Or hippie sandals. That's right. So just be responsible. Don't just
throw them away or roll them down the street. I hope somebody else can deal with it, but I've
seen a lot of things on the news lately about illegal dumping and you see tires all over the
place, so just do the right thing. Do they call them hippies anymore? They call you a hippie.
There was that. I was thinking along the lines of some bums.
Bums, bum shoes, hobos, hobos. Yeah, bum shoes. Oh, you're talking about sandals. You know,
I did have a pair of sandals that were actually made for that. They just took the tire tread.
I got you now. Yeah. And the swing brand on it. Brand markings. Yep. Yep. Well, of course,
Jeff's would be, you know, some Nitto or some sort of, you know, Michelin racing or something sticky
compound. All right, time now for this hour's car review. Had a chance to drive the Lexus
RX 450H Plus. I've told the story a bit jillion times. I really had no experience with Lexus until,
well, this has probably the 1980s, early 2000s. The only one I did. It was an RX 350 and it was the
original RX and absolutely loved that thing. Anyway, this is not that. This is the brand
new 2026 Lexus RX 450H Plus. So here, here are the trim levels. 350, 350H hybrid, 350F Sport,
350H F Sport, 350 luxury, 350H luxury, 450H premium, 500H F Sport and the 450H Plus,
which is what I had. So I had the top of the line. Nanny, nanny boo boo.
This is a PHEV. That's a hybrid. Five seats, exterior changes from last model year. Well,
it was completely redesigned in 2023. So it's really this design is only three years old.
Um, exterior features include the oversized Lexus grill with squinty, high-mounted headlights,
arrow windshield, really laid back, upswept and side-sculpting on it. Really looks good.
With some very nice wheels, it doesn't make any difference. Which trim level that you choose,
there's going to be a wheel for that car specifically. Bustle butt rear, all right,
with a built-in sunshade over the glass back there. This is a very unique looking vehicle,
and that's part of the reason that I like it. It doesn't look like all the other SUVs out there.
Overall design gets high marks. What could use improvement? Nothing. Keep it coming.
Interior highlights, high-zoot design that leans toward the minimalist look. In other words,
you're not going to find a lot of buttons and switches in this. Stand-alone instrument cluster
and a great big infotainment screen. Non-cluttered center console, read minimalist. Awesome upholstery
and comfortable seating. Cargo, well, that area back there behind the second row of seats,
bigger than you think. But I like, again, high marks for design and materials with that Mark
Levinson sound system. It is top-notch. What could use improvement? Like to see some instrument
controls like a volume knob. That would have been nice because what you wind up having to do is look
at the screen, which takes your eyes off the road, which most people have their eyes off the road
and into their phones. I think that a few more buttons would have been nice for some of the
functions, but that's just me. Engine, 2.5-liter four-cylinder plug-in hybrid of 304 combined
horsepower, CVT transmission, tow rating, believe it or not, 3,500 pounds, which is a lot.
A miles per gallon city. Well, it's 85 miles per gallon electric, 35 for the gas only.
Did I plug it in? I did not. So in my gasoline heyday that I had this car for the week,
I got 31.3 miles per gallon over 405.4 miles. What I liked about it,
it has enough power that leaves you satisfied. That sounds almost kind of like an old cigarette
commercial, doesn't it? Satisfaction. What could use improvement? Get the full hybrid version
unless you only travel 35 miles per charge a day. That would be my suggestion. Good looking car.
It is. And they also have the gasoline, strictly gasoline version of it as well.
What I liked about it, I liked all of it. What could use improvement? Nothing on this
top of the line trim. So how much? Base trim price, $73,310. This is top of the line now.
Price is tested $78,569. If you just want to get in one, it starts at $50,525. Competitors,
Mercedes-Benz GLE 450E, $72,525. BMW X5, $76,375. Or how about this? The Acura MDX Type S non-hybrid
is $77,3. Wow. Expensive. Next week I'm going to review the Hyundai Santa Fe and I think that
you'll really enjoy that. So tune in for that. Hey, if you'd like to get in touch with us,
send us an email. He addresses info at InwheelTime.com. We are back after this quick break.
The award-winning Inwheel Time car talk show now reaches millions of folks around the globe each
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Catch our live show every Saturday, 10 to noon Central Time. The Inwheel Time car talk show has
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InwheelTime.com. Join us. That's it for this podcast episode of the Inwheel Time car show.
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About this episode
Chip Lupo from Wallet Hub joins the hosts to discuss the findings of a study ranking the best and worst states for driving in 2026. The conversation covers various factors influencing these rankings, such as cost of ownership, road safety, and access to maintenance. Texas ranks 13th overall, with notable discussions on gas prices, road quality, and car theft rates. The hosts share personal anecdotes and insights about driving conditions in their respective states, making for an engaging and informative dialogue about regional driving experiences.
Think your state has the worst drivers? We put that assumption to the test with WalletHub’s 2026 rankings, breaking down where it’s cheapest, safest, and most convenient to own and drive a car—and why it rarely matches what your daily commute feels like. With WalletHub’s Chip Lupo, we unpack a clear four-part framework: cost of ownership and maintenance, traffic and infrastructure, safety, and access to vehicles and repair. We go beyond headlines to the practical questions drivers actually face: How do gas prices and insurance premiums stack up? Does dealership and shop density change how well people maintain their cars? Where do theft and fatality risks really live, and how do sprawling metros skew statewide averages?
Texas becomes our on-the-road case study. Ranked 13th overall, it benefits from strong access to dealerships and service and competitive fuel prices, even as fast growth and weather nudge road quality down the list. We contrast urban congestion in Houston and Dallas with the relief found on rural stretches, then look at how fatality rates include pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcycles—an essential nuance when speed limits function more like guidelines than rules. For anyone planning a move, budgeting for a teen driver, or weighing a new car purchase, the data offers a map to smarter decisions: fuel, insurance, registration fees, property taxes on vehicles, and maintenance costs all add up differently by state.
We keep it useful with two hands-on segments. First, a Motor Minute on tire disposal that shows the cleanest, legal ways to recycle or repurpose old rubber—retailer returns, city transfer stations, and safe DIY options. Then we take the Lexus RX 450h+ for a deep spin: standout design, refined cabin, satisfying power, and real-world efficiency, with a few ergonomic wishes for more physical controls. If you’re curious where your state lands, how the numbers are built, and what choices actually lower your total cost of ownership, this episode connects the dots from policy to pavement.
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