Exploring the Automotive Industry with Jack Nerad: New Models, Trade Shows, and Maintenance Tips

Welcome to another In Wheel Time Podcast, a 30 minute mini version of the In Wheel Time car show that airs live every Saturday morning 8 to 11am.

Central Podcast Channel Live from Studio A.

It's the In Wheel Time car talk show.

Coming up, our fellow Ottawa journalist enthusiast and Californian, jack Niret Right Conrad, will have the In Wheel Time car clinic and will have this week's auto news as well.

Howdy, along with Mike out of this world, mars King, conrad DeLong.

We always need more, jeff Zeekin.

I am Don Armstrong and I've always, I always love talking to Jack and Jack, it's good to see you and thank you so much for getting up out there extra early for us on this Saturday morning.

Well, I love talking to you more.

I've been in a lot of time zones recently, so I hope I'm coherent, but I'll do my best.

Well, you seem to be coherent, although I will tell you that there is a website called Muck Rack that has your profile and you know all the stuff about you that I think that that picture was probably taken about 25 years ago.

You do really think so?

I really, I really, I really.

I really.

Seems like yesterday.

I think it was probably taken about 15 years ago.

Well, it's you with the blue shirt on, not wearing glasses.

Oh, yeah and I, yeah, I was good looking in those days.

You're still.

yeah, I think they're long gone, but you know.

Well, you're still a handsome man and we appreciate you being with us.

Let me say something Don.

Yes, jack, my wife read your book that you sent us.

Thank you very much for that.

She thoroughly enjoyed it.

She's looking forward to reading I guess your first one, your first book that you wrote.

She wants to get into that one too.

Would that be the complete idiot's guide to gleasing a car?

That's one of them, but I think she's probably more interested in fatal photographs.

Right that's the one I wrote about a yeah, it's a two crime book that I wrote a long time ago, so thank you very much for that.

Well before that picture was taken actually.

Okay, well, we just want to keep it all straight, but when you're as old as I am, Don, there's a lot to keep straight.

Well, I'll tell you what.

You're not as old as I am, so we are in the Mutual Admirations Society.

They now have drugs for that, yeah apparently, at least on this.

Yeah, jack, it's always that time of the year, when it comes to September, october, that our generation anyway, always thinks of the new car season, and I know that you, like me and the rest of us, always had one particular night I think it was either a Friday or Saturday night.

All the dealerships around here were doing their debuts and we would go dealership to dealership to dealership collecting those nice books about all the models that they have and take them home and read them cover to cover for weeks on end.

I know that that's not the case anymore, but we still look fondly at days gone by.

But there is still that change of the season when the 20, I know that there have been 24 models that are out and have been out for a while, but let's talk about some of the new cars that you think are worth mentioning today.

Well, we're going to see the BMW 5 Series, which is always a great car.

I mean, bmw 5 Series for generation after generation is one of my favorites.

So we're going to see a new one of those and they don't come along every year and then it's going to be accompanied by an i5 electric version.

So I'm not sure whether you guys like the looks of the new electric BMWs or not, but when I see them I go wow, is that like a parody of a BMW?

Yeah, that shovel nose grill is kind of odd.

So, jack.

The question is, why did they make them look so different from the current generation of gasoline vehicles?

I think there is a mentality that electrics have to look very different and especially as you go through as a particular company does that, and I think some companies have gotten over that and have understood that maybe electric car buyers don't want to be pictured as really weird, but they want something that's a little more mainstream.

So I think second generation electric vehicles from a lot of companies are much more mainstream.

I was just driving.

One of the reasons I went through so many time zones was driving a Hyundai Kona, which I can't talk about the driving quite yet, but they have an electric version.

As a matter of fact, they designed the electric version as the primary version and then designed the internal combustion engine version off of that.

But it's a mainstream looking vehicle.

It looks a little different than but I would say in this case the internal combustion engine vehicle looks more like an electric than the electric looks like an ICE vehicle.

Well, do you?

Is there anything within the Detroit three that is new and exciting?

Well, mostly trucks.

I think we're going to see a new Ford Ranger truck and that will be pretty exciting.

New super duty is coming.

We've seen the new trucks from General Motors, the new mid-sized trucks, so there's a lot of action in the mid-sized truck realm.

A lot of times there's not new trucks, but of course, your market is a big truck market.

I think a lot of trucks are being sold across the country.

So I think there's some excitement about these mid-sized trucks and as full-sized trucks get so darn expensive, when I saw the Ranger for the first time I went well, that looks like a full-sized truck to me, and I quite rightly so.

I think they want to sell those to a lot of people who would otherwise buy a full-sized truck and maybe kind of priced out of that market.

Well, let's face it.

I mean you can't get a full-sized truck in a regular garage anymore.

Not only that, but I find I understand the popularity of these full-sized trucks, but to me it's too big, it's gone way beyond what it should.

It just doesn't.

You can't fit it in a parking place, you can't even get it into a parking lot anymore.

And I think that, to me anyway, that they've hit a home run with these mid-sized.

If they could just get the capability up a little bit more.

Yeah, and I think a lot of these new ones are going to do that.

I really think the Chevy truck is good looking.

The Colorado, the GMC Canyon, is good looking.

Ford Ranger, I think, is going to have a wide variety of things that they haven't had before, and there's going to be a Raptor version, which is exciting.

So it's nice to hear a Texan say that, don, that those full-sized trucks are too big.

That's pretty cool.

Well, I mean, you know, look, let's face it.

I mean, ram has done a tremendous job of upping the entire game with the full-sized truck, with their interiors, Because really, when you get down to it as far as capability is concerned, oh well, you know, we have more horsepower, we have more torque, we have this capability, but they're all right there within each other.

And if you're talking about those kind of minuscule things, okay, you go ahead and brag about that.

But the touchy feely stuff, but the bottom line is is those interiors, my gosh, those top-line interiors.

They're better looking than any of the really big upscale cars of the past.

Which makes sense too.

I mean those vehicles often are $75,000 or so.

I mean that's a luxury kind of buy.

It really should have a luxury type interior.

And one thing that I'll add to that is the ride quality of the Ram pickup trucks is better than the leaf spring pickup trucks that you get from Chevrolet and from Ford.

In fact Ford, for some of its vehicles, is emulating that by throwing coil springs into some of its specialty.

Well, I'm a big air suspension guy and I'll tell you what.

You might as well just go ahead and buy yourself an old-school Lincoln Continental or a Buick Electra 225.

There you go yeah, yeah.

Well, the full-size pickup trucks have become kind of the full-size sedans of today.

Right, I mean, they're five passenger vehicles.

They're separate body on frame.

They're vehicles that in 1970, in a lot of ways, well share a lot with the typical full-size car of 1970.

Yeah, good luck finding a regular cab with a bench seat, because most everything they sell is four-door.

Yeah, exactly, and let's not forget that those trucks and the frame and the whole nine yards transfer over to the full-time, the big-time SUVs that are available out there, and so you get all the high-end, high-quality stuff inside the SUVs.

And now when you're talking to SUVs, you're talking about a six-figure vehicle up there.

Yeah, and all of the safety Well over $100,000 for some of these SUVs and I wonder who's willing to go there for an asset like that that's going to depreciate so rapidly.

Right.

I think that the real buy is going to be things like the Cadillac Escalade ESV.

Three years old with 35,000 miles on it.

You get you a heck of a deal off of MSRP.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, very well.

Well, and then you look at the trucks and the SUVs.

They have all of the convenience, safety and driver aid features that you've seen in the luxury cars.

Because luxury cars truly don't exist anymore?

Yeah, because there's notthere's no cars.

Well, you know I want to change gears here.

Just a minute, jack.

I had to put some gas in a car that Ford loaned me.

I had a chance to drive the Ford Broncos Sport from Chicago up to Wisconsin for a brief visit there last week and I paid $4.50

for a gallon of gasoline.

I can only imagine what it is out there in California.

You're telling me that was a great bargain.

Because I'm looking atit was great to come back or go back east, where the first number on the gasoline pump wasn't a five and a lot of places it starts with a six.

Here, I mean, we're paying well over $5 a gallon for regularyou know, oftentimes at even a discount kind of gas station.

So I mean it's kind of it gets to be pretty irritating.

To tell you the truth, when you're filling up a vehicle then it's close to $100 every time you do it.

But it's trying to push everybody into EVs.

I mean, I saw 309 this morning at a gas pump and thought to myself that's a good price.

It's really not, but that's a good price.

No, but Ilike Jack's talking about it.

Took me $89 the other day to fill up the truck G'mere.

Yesterday I saw the same 309 at Walmart.

So yeah, you gas up at Walmart.

If I get a chance yeah, okay, all right, mars.

Well, I wouldn't be admitting that to too many people, but that's okay, you can do that here.

This is kind of a confessional.

Well, you have to pull the leaves for 56, 50 to 60 cents a gallon.

Yeah, I'll do it, okay All right and I go to some big box stores To admit to fill up when it's $5 a gallon or $5.50

a gallon and you're saving 60, 70 cents a gallon.

I kind of get it.

Jack are you a member of any automotive journalist organizations?

I am as a matter of fact.

In fact, I'm president of the Motor Press Guild, which is the Southern California Auto Writers Organization, and I'm vice president of the North American Car of the Year jury.

So a big announcement from North American Car of the Year is coming up in Detroit we're going to announce essentially the semifinalists for car truck and utility of the year in the Detroit show.

I think it's going to happen less than a week from now, I think on the 13th.

Speaking of speaking of have you already know the answers?

I do and he's not telling Okay.

So I have to ask you this Does that include electric vehicles?

Yes.

It does so.

It's all of them, no matter how they're powered, even the French and there was some debate over whether we should have an electric class, and I was one of those who was pushing for.

Let's keep the classes as they are.

Three is probably plenty for car of the year, truck of the year and utility year makes sense, and then include electrics along with internal combustion engine vehicles and let the best vehicles win.

Exactly.

What do the manufacturers say about that, or have you heard from anybody about that?

I think they're pretty much on board with that.

I mean, their goal is to have electrics across many segments.

So naming one electric I mean it's kind of silly to name one electric when you have electrics that are $35,000 or $40,000.

And then you have some that are $120,000 or more.

I mean the ceiling for electrics is going higher and higher and higher.

Jack, what do you think about Detroit going on strike the automakers?

What's your feeling?

Well, it's a scary prospect, but it's not as big a deal as it had been, because so many auto workers in the United States are not members of the United Auto Workers Union Perhaps the majority, I'm not sure what the numbers are, but it's not what it would have been back in 1965 or 1985, for that matter, it's not as serious a problem.

Yeah, because it's really going to impact the big three, but some of the other manufacturers they're not.

Uaw yeah, I mean virtually all of the other manufacturers are not UAW, and that doesn't give the union all that much leverage, and it doesn't give the big three, who aren't as big anymore as they used to be, it's true, much leverage either.

Interesting.

Jack, I wanted to ask you you mentioned the Detroit Auto Show.

What weren't they?

They were trying to move that to the summertime and trying to make a big deal out of it.

Pre-covid.

Well, it is now in mid-September.

It is an outdoor show.

There's indoor outdoor show, I guess.

In some ways I think they saw what Texas does, or what Dallas does, I guess, or Dallas for a worth, but the Texas Auto Show at the State Fairgrounds, and thought, well, there's something to that.

What they don't have is the draw of the Texas State Fair to bring people in.

So there's kind of mixed results about what has happened with that fall show.

To me, coming in September maybe is a little too early, but they'd be bumping up against the Los Angeles show, which is in November, if they did it much later.

Right, Then you get close to really kind of mixed results.

I hear a lot of complaints, frankly about At least from journalists, about the current Detroit show journalists complain no, never.

Well, happy, happy, happy all the time if Somebody were to ask you okay, jack, if you don't like the September show, where should we put the Detroit auto show?

At what point of the year?

Well, I think mid-October is a pretty good time for an auto show.

You have, just as you, you open the segment the the start of the model year In a lot of people's minds still the start of the model year, start of the model year in Detroit in particular.

I think maybe they were worried about weather in mid-October versus mid-September, I'm not sure what led to when they put it.

They also had a pretty good spot in mid-January, I mean one In northern climbs.

When there's nothing to do in the winter.

You see things like auto shows and boat shows and garden shows At convention centers and a lot of people turn out because, like, what else am I gonna do this weekend?

Yeah right well, in the few times that I've been up there to the Detroit auto show, which it's been a while, the weather really wasn't that bad.

I mean, it was Chicago.

It was nasty, but yeah, but I agree with him.

I mean, I think that I would just stay with the Jan you, because that is that seems like such a great time to have a car Show up there.

Yeah, I think they run a foul of CES, which I don't think is a car show.

I've never attended it, you know, to look at cars.

I don't understand, just because there's a lot of people going to CES, why that is an issue.

But you know I don't run auto shows.

See, you got a show, you know, depend on consumer attendance.

So I would put my auto show when I could get the most consumer attendance.

I agree, didn't see.

Yes, used to go or was in Vegas Still is.

In Vegas right at the beginning of the year, like typically, I think, the first week of the year.

Yeah and talk about the auto shows in Detroit are many a time going to cobalt hall growing up there.

Yep, yeah.

Well, jack, it's always great to talk to you and we thank you so much again.

As always, I always love talking to you guys and I hope you have a we do?

we do have a definitely different oddball kind of car show here, don't you think?

I think it's a great car show.

Well, thank you, I look forward to you, my wife reading your next book to me.

Well, that's so nice at the home, I'll try and get you copy here.

So, jack, again, thank you, sir.

And great talking to you.

Let's check in next month.

I love it.

You got it.

Oh, we've got it.

Thanks, jack.

Thank you, jack.

Jack knee rad, noted author and Automotive expert.

All right time now for Conrad's car clinic.

Let's get that in before we run out of time this morning well, the.

The thing I wanted to talk to about today is Diagnosing your Automatic transmission fluid.

You know, and you have to understand what's transmission fluid do it do?

It cools, it cleans, and then it has the hydraulic functions of applying gears and stuff.

And, and as far as you know, how do you diagnose it?

Based on color, based on the fluid.

Color is everything.

So transmission fluid should be kind of a clear red.

Some of them, you know, gm has always been a clear red.

Some of them are like a clear amber, which is the eight speed and the, the ZF transmissions.

Mercedes-benz uses a blue transmission fluid.

It's kind of a clear blue.

So, you're always looking for that clear, where you can see through the don't you suggest that you stick with the manufacturer fluid?

Yes, yes, there are.

There are some good fluids out there, aftermarket fluids out there, but the manufacturers fluids are are basically designed for it and and if somebody tells you they have a universal fluid that works in both an automatic and a CVT Run quickly, don't believe them.

There's no such thing as that.

Because automatic transmission fluids have to slip a little bit as the gears engage.

Cv transmission fluid has to grip, so the fluid can't do the same thing.

So again, transmission fluid has to cool, clean and perform hydraulic functions.

And again, you know, as fluid ages it will always darken.

Now it darkens for a number of reasons.

One of the primary reasons it darkens is because inside all of automatic transmissions are clutch material, just like an old manual clutch.

There's a clutch, it's just applied hydraulically.

Well, as that happens over time, small particulate of that clutch releases and that's what darkens the fluid up.

So you know, if you're looking at your transmission fluid and it's not clear anymore and it's maybe a little off color, that's okay.

But once it smells burnt, then you've overheated the fluid and once it gets dark you may have waited too long to replace it.

So you want to remember to replace your transmission fluid on a regular interval.

Different manufacturers tell you that interval is different mileages.

You know, my opinion is every 30,000 miles you should change your automatic transmission fluid.

Because what you don't want to have happen is the very last picture here, where it's not only dark, it's burnt and there's metal particles.

And all automatic transmissions have a magnet inside of them to collect the ferrous material that sticks to the magnet.

So when they take the pan off and your magnet looks like it's got a fur coat on, that's a bad day and that's going to be a catastrophic transmission failure.

So again, I tell everybody every 30,000 miles is the interval to change your transmission fluid.

Gm says every 40,000 miles, 45, zf, the eight speed and the Chrysler products, they actually say every 60,.

But Mopar doesn't tell us you to never change a transmission fluid.

There is truly nothing called a sealed transmission Somebody talks about.

Oh, my transmission sealed, I can't check the fluid on it.

That's wrong.

You can always check the fluid on it.

You know, even if all you do is pop a cooler line off it and take a you know, a couple ounces of fluid out of the cooler line so you can inspect the fluid and once the fluid changes color, that's the time to replace it.

Don't wait until it's dark and syrupy, that's.

You know, the first part of transmission failure is fluid failure.

So you want to change the fluid before it fails, and that'll extend the life of your automatic transmission.

Good stuff.

Yeah, that's well.

The other thing to that is you don't wait forever to change the oil in your car.

You should treat it the same way.

Well, and you know, we started the show talking about how manufacturers are using automatic transmission fluid for power steering fluid.

Same thing goes for your power steering fluid and most cars new cars today don't have power steering fluid.

They don't have things electronic power steering.

But if you have a car that does have power steering fluid, look at it and judge it.

The same way I'm telling you to judge transmission fluid.

Once it gets dark, it's time to change it.

Put fresh, new, fortified fluid in there.

Tesla Inc has gotten approval from the city of Los Angeles to build an all night diner and drive-in theater where customers can recharge their stomachs and their cars simultaneously the supercharger, drive-in and restaurant a concept that CEO Elon Musk tweeted about more than five years ago.

He's a genius.

He's a former pizzeria on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood.

The plan submitted last November got a green light in July to build this thing.

Plan calls for a two-story building with rooftop seating, 32 supercharger stalls and two 45 foot movie screens.

The Daily Mail dubbed the project Musk Donalds.

That's pretty cool.

It's a must have.

And when the movie starts and everybody plugs in, the whole city dims down.

It's a dark day.

Jeep says the dents and scratches in a vehicle can tell a story.

The brand's new commercial for the Grand Cherokee shows how these blemishes can bring back memories.

It's being launched alongside a global campaign for the Wrangler as Jeep strives to avoid a fifth consecutive year of declining US sales.

Jeep's 12% drop in the first half of 2023 is the largest decrease among the top 33 brands and contrasts with a 13% gain for the industry overall.

There is a 30-second TV spot, while a 60-second version is on the brand's YouTube channel.

Us sales for the Grand Cherokee, the brand's top seller, were down 7% of the first half of this year to 124,956.

You know what?

Maybe they should start advertising with us again, maybe, so that's probably why they've not done so well.

That's what I'm thinking, because they dropped us.

Hey Jeep, you're hearing us?

And the 710 horsepower Durango is coming back to the 2024 model year, even as the brand phases out the rest of the Hellcat line.

Durango Hellcat was introduced for the 2021 model year and was supposed to have a one-year run, but after a hiatus, dodge revived the Hellcat variant of the 2023 model in response to enthusiast demand.

The company did not say how many it plans to produce.

The 2023 Durango Hellcat starts at $95,200 including shipping.

It is a nice vehicle.

It's a good-looking car.

Yeah, it is that it is, and the off-road-focused Mustang Mach-E rally will produce at least 480 horsepower and 650-pound-feet of torque from a special two-motor layout.

It'll be priced from around $65,000, not including shipping.

That's according to Ford Motor Company.

The 2024 crossover revealed in July will go on sale early next year.

In real time, we'll be back right after a brief break.

I'm going to wrap things up.

Then the original group of Lupe Tortilla restaurants will have you telling your family and friends just what the original recipes mean when it comes to the best fajitas in Southeast Texas.

Founder Stan Holt invited you to visit the original Lupe Tortilla near I-10 at Highway 6.

Here's the original house that inspired the design of all the rest and the original charm that helped make Lupe Tortilla the go-to destination for Houston Tex-Mex.

Speaking of original, nothing can compete with the original lime pepper marinade.

That everyone will agree makes Lupe Tortilla award-winning beef fajitas the best anywhere.

Lupe Tortilla Katie is another location that gives you the same quality and service historians have come to expect at Lupe's.

It's located just off I-10 of the Grand Parkway.

At Kingsland Boulevard in Katie, find yourself an ackee land.

Head to the Lupe Tortilla College Station, located just around the corner from Kyle Field.

It's a great place to enjoy those famous frozen margaritas before or after the game.

Head to East Louisiana.

Stop in at the Lupe Tortilla in Beaumont.

It twos on I-10, but can't miss it.

The original group of Lupe Tortilla restaurants invites you in for the best Tex-Mex anywhere you own a car you love.

But why not let Gulf Coast Auto Shield protect it?

Houstonian John Gray invites you to his state-of-the-art facility to introduce you to his specialist team of auto enthusiasts.

We promise you'll be impressed.

Whether you're looking to massage your original paint to a like new appearance, apply a ceramic coating, install a paint protection, nanosuramic window tint or new windshield protection called ExoShield, gulf Coast Auto Shield is where Houston's car people go.

Curbed your wheels Instead of buying new one.

I'd have them repaired.

How about a professionally installed radar detector?

Gulf Coast Auto Shield does that too.

Get a peek inside the shop and look at the services offered by getting online and heading to GCAutoShieldcom.

Better yet, stop by their facility at 11275 South Sam Houston Tullway, just south of the Southwest Freeway, and get a personal tour.

Gulf Coast Auto Shield is your place to go for all things exterior.

Call them today, 832-930-5655, or GCAutoShieldcom.

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InWheelTime chief engineer is David Ainsley, our marketing advertising advisor and video technical director, as we need more.

Jeff Seekin, the booking agent, and Zoomey professor Mike Mars, just to know it all, his royalty King Conrad DeLong.

I'm Don Armstrong.

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Exploring the Automotive Industry with Jack Nerad: New Models, Trade Shows, and Maintenance Tips

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Bmw 5

Hyundai Kona

Ford Ranger

Gmc Canyon

F-150 Raptor

Dodge Ram

Ford Broncos Sport

Jeep Grand Cherokee

Jeep Wrangler

Challenger Hellcat

Ford Mustang

Honda Stream

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