DCT means a dual-clutch automatic transmission. It can change gears very fast because it’s readying the next gear ahead of time. The point here is that this “fake manual” idea could work on cars that use that type of gearbox.
A simulated manual is when an automatic car tries to feel like a stick-shift. It may let you “shift” with paddles and change the engine response to match. The host is saying this could be offered in more cars if the system works well.
Term
by wire
“By wire” means the car uses electronic signals and computers to control things that used to be connected by cables or fluid. Instead of direct mechanical movement, sensors and actuators do the work. The host is connecting that trend to steering-by-wire and other features.
A dual-clutch gearbox uses two clutches so it can switch gears quickly. While one gear is being used, the next one is already “ready,” so the shift feels fast.
A money shift is a bad downshift where you end up in the wrong gear and the engine revs too high. It can cause expensive engine damage, so people worry about it a lot.
Piston rings are small metal rings on the piston that help seal the engine so compression stays where it belongs. If they get damaged, the engine can start losing power and can become very expensive to fix.
Term
knocking on the engine
Knocking is when the engine’s fuel burns in a rough, uncontrolled way. It can be harmful, and it’s often linked to bad tuning or the wrong conditions for combustion.
Term
2-1 upshift
It means the car’s gearbox changes from 2nd gear to 1st gear. Normally that would be called a downshift, so the host is probably talking about a special kind of shift behavior.
Ferrari’s Tailor-Made program is their way of letting buyers customize a car. It’s more than just picking colors—it’s about ordering the car with specific options and equipment.
A transmission is the gearbox that chooses which gear the car is in. It’s what connects the engine’s power to the wheels, and it’s central to how the car shifts.
The Ferrari Luce is mentioned as something you might have to buy to be eligible for another purchase. The podcast is talking about how Ferrari could be controlling who gets access to certain cars. That’s why the Luce comes up in the conversation.
A “gated manual” is when the gear shifter feels like a normal manual car, with the lever moving into defined gear slots. Even if the car isn’t a true manual, the goal is to make it feel familiar and engaging.
The Ferrari 355 is a classic 1990s Ferrari with a V8 engine in the middle. It’s famous for a transmission that behaves like a manual, but uses electronics to do the shifting.
Concept
come full circle
They’re basically saying the industry is repeating itself. First, cars made “manual” shifting happen automatically, and now they’re trying to make automatic cars feel more like a manual again.
They’re bringing up Porsche as an example of a brand that understands what enthusiasts want. The idea is that Ferrari saw Porsche make money with driver-focused choices and followed a similar logic.
Company
CodeExec
They mention CodeExec as another company that has something similar. The hosts are saying it’s not really the same thing they’re talking about, so it doesn’t fully count in their comparison.
A “limited” car usually means only a certain number will be built. Because it’s scarce, it can hold value better and be harder to get.
Term
holds its value
“Holds its value” means the car doesn’t lose much money when you sell it later. Cars that are rare or very in-demand tend to keep their price better.
Term
non-buy wire clutch
A “by-wire” clutch means the pedal’s input is sent electronically rather than moving parts directly. A “non-by-wire” clutch would feel more mechanical and direct.
“Special allocated” means the car isn’t easy to just buy off the shelf. The brand gives limited slots to dealers, and dealers offer them to certain customers.
This means the car wouldn’t initially be allowed like a normal street car, but with a kit it can qualify for a special category of road use. That category limits how fast it’s allowed to go.
“Street legal” just means the vehicle is allowed to be driven on regular public roads. Doug is saying it won’t be street legal at first, but it can be made legal for limited-speed use.
Car
Fiat Topolino
The Fiat Topolino is a very small Fiat “microcar.” Here, they’re talking about the US version coming in 2026, and specifically that this version has real doors and a glass sunroof.
Side airbags are safety cushions that deploy in a crash from the side. They can be placed near the doors, but the door is not what’s doing the protecting.
In crash-safety talk, “structural” refers to parts of the body that carry loads and help maintain the passenger cell during a collision. If doors aren’t structural, removing them doesn’t necessarily mean the car’s main crash structure is gone—but it can still reduce protection and safety systems’ effectiveness.
The Honda Civic is a common, everyday compact car. It’s not designed for off-roading or removable doors like some SUVs are. The podcast is basically saying you could technically remove Civic doors, but it wouldn’t be the same kind of setup.
A side impact is when something hits the car from the side. It’s especially dangerous because the side of the car has to protect you, so safety features like side airbags come into play.
A limiter is an electronic “speed cap” that prevents the car from going faster than a set limit. It’s usually there for safety or rules. If someone removes it, the car can go faster than the factory setting.
The Acura RSX Type-S is a sporty Honda-based coupe that enthusiasts like for its driving feel. Here, they’re comparing it to a tiny beach-cruiser-style car to see which you’d rather own.
Hubcaps are the covers on the outside of a wheel. They help the wheel look nicer and protect it a bit. In this story, they’re part of the “base model” wheel setup.
“Steelies” just means steel wheels. They’re usually cheaper than fancy alloy wheels and can hold up well, especially in bad weather. They’re being mentioned as a fun detail about a basic RSX setup.
Car
Think Neighbor
The Think Neighbor is a very small electric car made for short trips, like getting around town. They mention it because it’s another example of a “cute” microcar people enjoy. It’s not really about being fast.
The smart crossblade is a very small, weird-looking two-seat vehicle made by smart. It’s more about being different and stylish than about being practical for daily driving.
Car
golf cart
A golf cart is a small, slow vehicle usually used on golf courses. They’re bringing it up as a cheaper option that can still carry multiple people.
The motor’s kilowatt rating tells you how much power it can make, not how many miles it can drive. How far you can go depends on the battery and how efficiently the car uses energy.
Mothers is a company that makes products for cleaning and protecting cars. They’re talking about it as a sponsor and showing how simple their coating products are to use.
This is a classic Ford pickup truck from 1973. The hosts are working on it because it’s having trouble starting, and they’re replacing the battery and alternator so the truck can run normally again.
The battery is what gives your truck the initial electrical power to start the engine. If it’s old or failing, the truck may not start or may crank very slowly.
The alternator is what keeps your battery charged while the engine is running. If it’s not working right, the battery can run out and the truck won’t keep running or won’t start reliably.
This means electric cars from the big Volkswagen company family that share the same basic “design underneath.” So parts of the car—like where the battery goes and how the drivetrain is laid out—are likely similar across different brands.
The Jaguar F-Type is a two-door sports car. The podcast is talking about an early idea for a Jaguar sports car and how the real demand didn’t turn out the way people hoped. That’s why it comes up in a discussion about what gets made.
They’re talking about how Tesla chose to introduce electric cars first in one body style (a sedan) and then later broaden the lineup. The point is that other brands might choose a different starting point, like SUVs.
The Rolls-Royce Spectre is a fully electric Rolls-Royce. They bring it up because it’s an example of an electric car that wasn’t an SUV first, and it still did well.
An EV SUV is an electric car in the SUV body style. It’s being discussed as a luxury option that may appeal to more buyers than some traditional luxury models.
The Bentley Continental GT is a luxury “grand tourer,” meaning it’s built for comfortable long drives. Here, it’s being used as an example of a traditional luxury model that an EV SUV could be compared against.
Platform sharing means different car brands build cars using the same basic “bones.” The host is saying Bentley could use Volkswagen Group’s shared EV platform to make the EV SUV more feasible.
Term
world markets
“World markets” just means different countries and regions. The point is that car makers have to make choices that work for customers in many places, not just one market.
Term
all screens
“All screens” means the car’s dashboard is mostly digital displays. The hosts are saying some buyers prefer physical buttons instead of relying on touchscreens for everything.
Global development means building a car design that can be used in many countries. The discussion here is about whether automakers should instead make different versions for different markets.
Market-specific design means adjusting a car for what people in a certain country or region want. In this case, it’s about feature choices like screens and buttons.
A learning curve is how long it takes to get used to something new. They’re saying touchscreen controls feel confusing at first, but you adapt after a few weeks.
The Porsche Panamera is a luxury Porsche you’d think of as a “grand tourer.” Here it’s just being used as a reference point for what the speaker thinks they won’t go back to.
The Mitsubishi Endeavor is an SUV model that was sold some years ago. The podcast is just reminding people that it existed and was available at the time. It’s being used as a memory reference for older SUV choices.
“US capacity” means how many cars Toyota can build for the U.S. market. They’re saying Toyota is already running close to its U.S. production limits, so it may need to add more manufacturing.
A “tariff play” means a plan to deal with taxes on imported goods. The idea is that if tariffs are likely to stick around, Toyota can save money by building more locally.
The Toyota Tacoma is a popular pickup truck. Here, they’re talking about building it in the U.S. instead of importing it, mainly because tariffs and trade agreements could change the cost.
USMCA is a trade deal between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. If it changes, it can affect how much it costs for car companies to build and ship vehicles across those countries.
Moza makes racing simulator gear, like steering wheels and pedals. Here, they’re supplying the equipment that helps the host feel prepared before going to the real track.
Polestar is an electric-car brand. The host is saying Polestar won’t be able to sell new cars in the US starting with the 2027 model year, so deals on existing inventory become the main chance to buy.
The Buick Model 27 refers to a car from the 1927 model year. The podcast is talking about a time when Buick could sell cars in the US again. That kind of history affects which cars were available to buyers back then.
Dealers are the car lots where you normally go to negotiate with a salesperson. The host is saying Polestar doesn’t use that traditional dealer setup, so the purchase process is different.
Lease terms are the details of how a lease works, like how long you lease the car and what the deal allows. The host is saying Polestar’s lease deal is comparatively favorable.
These are extra discounts: loyalty is for current Polestar owners, and conquest is for people switching from another brand. The host is saying you may be able to combine them with the main sale discount.
The Polestar 4 is an electric Polestar SUV/crossover. Here, they’re talking about how much it costs at list price (MSRP) and what kind of discount you might actually get, plus what that means for owning it later.
MSRP is the official list price on the car’s window sticker. It’s the number people use to talk about discounts, but the actual deal and what it’s like to own the car can be different.
Car
Fisker
Fisker is an electric-car brand that had a rough time staying in business, so people worry about support after you buy one. Here, they’re comparing that risk to Polestar’s situation, especially around getting repairs and parts in the U.S.
A “fire sale” means a company is selling things very cheaply, usually because they need to move inventory fast. In car terms, people worry that the brand might not be around to support the cars later.
Service availability means whether you can still get your car fixed and maintained. Here, it’s about whether Polestar owners can use Volvo/authorized locations for repairs.
Service centers are places that specialize in repairing a particular brand’s cars. The point here is whether repairs will happen at dedicated Polestar/Volvo locations or at regular dealer shops.
A test drive is when you get to drive a car before buying it. The host is saying that when the service shop is nearby, people are more likely to get pulled into buying.
The GMC Typhoon is an older SUV that was built to be faster than most SUVs of its time. The podcast is using the name in a playful way, but the car itself is known for performance. It’s the kind of vehicle people bring up when discussing surprising fast cars.
Lucid is an electric-car brand. Here they’re advertising a deal where you can borrow money with 0% interest for a while, so the car costs less to finance.
Term
0% on the gravity
“0%” means the financing has no interest for the promotional time. So you’re mainly paying back the car’s price, not extra interest charges.
“72 months” means the loan is spread out over six years. That can lower the monthly payment, but you may end up paying more overall because of interest.
0% financing means you borrow the money without paying extra interest. That can make the deal feel cheaper because you’re not paying more on top of the car’s price.
Here, “cash” means the seller is giving you a direct money incentive (like $10,000 off). It lowers what you actually pay, rather than just changing loan terms.
Depreciation means how quickly a car loses value after you buy it. If depreciation is “not horrible,” the car tends to keep its value better than expected.
A minivan is a roomy family vehicle designed for lots of seats and easy access. The host is basically saying the vehicle feels like a minivan but costs a lot.
Lucid Gravity is Lucid’s electric SUV. They’re talking about how much it costs and whether people actually want to buy it, plus how magazines are writing about it.
LIVE
Introducing Meta Glasses. You have questions, they've got answers.
Hey, Meta, what's the capital of Peru? Lima.
How do you say, where's the restroom in Spanish?
Dónde está el baño? Hey, Meta, is a hot dog a sandwich?
Technically no, spiritually, yes. Hey, Meta, what should I do with my life?
That's one of life's biggest questions. What do you think?
Ask anything with the new Meta Glasses.
Hello, and welcome to this car pod.
I'm Filippo. I'm Nick.
I'm Doug, and there's a lot to discuss. Let's start with the biggest news story of the year.
Ferrari has brought back the gated manual transmission. Filippo, pronounce it.
The Dorigicilindri Manuare, right?
Yes, the Dorigicilindri Manuare. This is a really big deal.
Excuse me? It's sort of a manual.
As far as I'm concerned, it's a manual. And from what I hear from people who have driven it or similar systems,
it operates exactly like a true manual right onto the point where you can get the car to buck and possibly even stall.
So basically, it's the regular dual clutch, except they have added a clutch pedal and they have added a shift gate.
It's like by wire, and it's not really the same thing like it was connected before, but I have a suspicion it's going to feel like it.
And I think this is awesome. And my only question is, why did it take them so long?
Nick, any thoughts?
My initial reaction is I wanted to be a hater, right? It's a fake manual and it's clutched by wire.
But literally, this is all I've thought about for the last week.
And once you get past that concept, like that it's clutched by wire, the beauty of it is so you can use it in automatic mode.
You can. So if you're in traffic or what have you, you can drive it. You can put in a manual and you want as a super car with an automatic transmission enthusiast.
That's the best of both worlds.
Two, and I think the most I talked to Ken in about this on Sunday.
In theory, this technology, if it works, they could put in any car with a DCT.
So it could open up a lot of doors to have simulated manuals and across the range from Perl song ways to what have you.
So there's a lot of optionality there.
And I do think like the fact that like everything's moving to by wire, you break have steering by wire.
There should be ways to make that work and make it work well.
And I do think Ferrari, despite some weird moves recently, probably is going to pay a lot of attention to doing this.
So if it drives well, I'm with you.
I can look past the fact that it's not a real manual.
My only complaint is that it isn't a real manual.
Aside from that, I'm like so here for it.
I'm here for the fact that they did it.
I'm here for the fact that they brought it back.
I'm here for the fact that they perfectly timed the release of this to take the heat off of their awful electric car.
And I just think it is a fantastic thing.
And I think that anybody who's complaining, I get your complaints, but it's either it's either this or nothing.
Like wouldn't rather have this.
It's been nothing for a long time.
And like since 2010, right?
And he's 15 years and here is its back.
And it may not be the same.
It may not have that.
I've heard that it has a very similar feel.
Because Koenigsegg also has a similar situation.
And I'm curious how it'll feel obviously, but that's what I hear.
And if that's true, do we really care that it's by wire?
Steering by wire can give us a similar feel breaking by wire, etc. etc.
One other interesting thing you just touched on briefly, Nick, but I want to really emphasize is it does open up the possibility for more vehicles to do something similar.
And I think there's a regulatory play here too, which is that I suspect they do not have to homologate a second transmission.
My feeling is that likely this is just the same dual clutch, but there's like a different little lever.
And so as opposed to any sort of regulatory rules they have to go through with a manual or an automatic, whatever, for fuel economy, I bet they don't have to do that for this because it is still just the DCT.
And I think that at the very least that probably makes it a little bit easier to get on the market, even if there's still a lot of development that goes into it.
Do you know what the best part is, Lodak?
You can stall it.
You can blip the throttle.
You can do all that, but you can't money shift it.
They put in technology so you can downshift it and do a lot of fun things, but if you've ever had a problem with money shifting, no worries.
I've never.
Can I ask you a question about that?
But I've heard that that is a problem in the manual community.
Can I ask you a question about that?
You say you know what the best part is, Doug?
Why do you bring me into this?
I think that you are the enthusiast of money shifting.
You seem to bring up money shifting a lot.
I merely dispute the story.
One particular money shift.
It was the piston rings flying due to knocking on the engine and tunes and all that.
However, this is...
Yeah, the piston rings went all right.
Thanks to a high speed 2-1 upshift.
Let's change the subject to something factual and correct that actually happened, which is Ferrari is releasing this.
The other important news bits is this first one is sort of through their tailor-made program.
1,499 units are expected.
Obviously, it's Ferrari and those numbers may change.
It also has a 47.5% price bump over the base.
Basically, it's 200 grand more or less to do the opt for the main.
Which as someone who swapped a Mercy and a Mercedes now, a manual conversion swap.
I mean, like 200K is actually not that bad of a value.
It's going to be more than 200K.
You mentioned the tailor-made thing and it's hard to understand all the Ferrari games.
But basically what the tailor-made thing means is they're not just sending the transmission through tailor-made.
You have to equip the car through tailor-made.
I bet you they're going to make you tack on at least another 100, 200 options.
You're going to be a million in this.
It's going to be a million dollars.
But when you think about other crap that's a million dollars,
you know a manual V12 Ferrari, that we've all been looking for?
The running joke on the internet, especially Instagram,
is that they're going to make you buy a luce to qualify for this.
They may. I mean, it's going to be stuff like that.
However, 1499 units, which in reality is probably 2,000 units, maybe more.
And you have to assume that this means that they'll be pretty gettable by Ferrari standards.
And you have to assume that this is just the precursor to more.
You have to assume they will do a manual, a mid-engine cars 296 and maybe SF90.
The sky's the limit if this sells, which of course it will.
The hybrid gives them an opportunity to move 12 cylindries, which have not been strong sellers.
One more interesting thing is it's been 20 years since the 355 debuted with the F1 transmission.
So we've really come full circle to, okay, we had a manual that was actually an automatic,
and now we have an automatic that's actually a manual.
It's like kind of a funny how what's old is new again and what's new is old again.
The other cool thing is that this should be on sale like pretty quickly.
So it's not like we're going to have to wait three years.
Like this is something real and it's out there.
It's coming. By the way, it's been 30 years since the 355 debuted with that F1 pedal.
Thank you.
Believe it or not.
And yet, but it is interesting how it went, right?
Like that all happened.
And then that came out in 97, 98.
And within 10 years, the manual was gone completely.
And Ferrari had this sort of arrogant attitude about it, but they must have seen Porsche
sit here and make all this money and realized there are enthusiasts who will do it.
And they developed it in their own kind of special unusual Ferrari way.
And I'm fine with that.
It's here. It exists. Rejoice enthusiasts.
Here's another car you will never have the chance to own or buy.
It is interesting.
They're going to be, I suspect that they're the first, but not the only player.
I mean, CodeExec has one, but it doesn't really count.
Other people will also do this.
We've heard for a while about some manufacturers.
Toyota included.
That are thinking about how to do a manual transmission, electric sports car where it's all simulated anyway.
And here Ferrari has proven, okay, we can come out to market with one.
The interest in this car will prove out whether there's enthusiast interest in it.
And if there is, I imagine other manufacturers really following suit.
If it allows them to connect with enthusiasts in a way that doesn't require any transmission, just requires a lot of software work.
Nick, you think about get one?
Yeah, I, if I could afford one, which I absolutely cannot, and I would be in Ferrari's good graces to which be allowed the opportunity to, which I definitely am not.
You, I would consider buying one with those two very strong ifs in place, just because you got to imagine the investment opportunity as much as I hate talking about cars, but investment.
Like if you're able to buy this for anywhere near a reasonable price, like at it being a limited the first one back, like this has got to be one that holds its own.
It's got to be one that holds its value pretty darn well.
You know, there's a lot of us who would be thinking about buying it for enjoyment, but you take your investment angle.
If I were going to buy it for enjoyment, I would buy an F1 599, swap it with a non-buy wire clutch and be in it for a tenth of the price.
Do you think that would be better?
What if, but what if it's like a single?
No, it wouldn't be better, but I would be able to drive the crap out of a 599 with an exhaust and a manual swap without any fear versus a car that's one of 1,499.
That I had to be special allocated.
You would be like, I'm a little afraid to drive it other than the flex on young children at cars and coffee.
This isn't your only Ferrari.
If you're driving a car.
True.
Big news.
Okay. What's our next?
There's a lot of big news this week.
Our next big news story is the VIST.
Hopefully.
Everybody's been texting me about like,
All right.
So the things that been in Europe for years, it's all around.
It has been a year for years.
It is now coming to the US.
We for sale at select Fiat dealers in the US for 2026.
By the way, it starts out not being street legal, but they will have a kit that makes it low speed vehicle legal.
Apparently there are two versions.
There's a topolino, which by the way, little mouse that has actual doors and a glass sunroof.
And then there's a doitri vita, which is the one shown here that has the like rope fake doors.
And it's clearly meant to be for beach towns.
Can I ask you a question?
Please.
Yes.
You ever thought about replacing some of your doors in your car, your house with rope?
You think he has it?
He has.
It has.
I mean, I kind of like the boat vibe there of the rope.
Like it does look like stanchions on the outside of a sailboat.
However, I think there's some safety concerns that would probably be flagged.
I mean, the Wrangler drives around without doors.
Yeah.
I don't think the, you've at least got a little higher ride height and some protections there.
Everybody mistakenly thinks that doors are a safety feature.
It's so funny.
They're not like in some cars, the side airbags are contained within the doors, but I don't think very many.
And other than that, they're not structural.
Like you could take doors off.
You could take doors off your Honda Civic and drive around like a Wrangler if you wanted to.
Driving behind Matt's GT3 RS.
I've been hit with rocks on my forehead when driving a roofless car.
Yeah.
You got to worry about projectiles.
What about a side impact?
Like anything is better than nothing or a piece of broken.
I have a suspicion in this particular case.
Yeah, it doesn't matter.
Given that the top speed is 25, first off, I have a suspicion you're not going to be behind many GT3 RSs.
Hey, the top speed is actually 19.
It has 46 miles of range.
It takes five hours to charge to those 46 miles of range.
It takes five hours to charge to 46 miles of range.
This is like, we have a power wheels here that has a similar.
Yeah, probably.
That's crazy.
By the way, I will say, 19 mile an hour top speed.
I will say from reports in Europe, you can actually go faster.
So I bet it's electronically limited to that.
If you've removed the limiter, you probably got 30 miles an hour, something there about.
Yeah.
It is about $15,000.
Would you rather have this or an RSX Type-S Filippo?
I would rather have a lot of things before I choose this to Polino personally.
But I'm giving you the choice between this and an RSX Type-S.
Don't you think though, the cross comparison is either a golf cart or like a moke or moke?
I don't know how you say that.
I'm not the market for any of those.
It's a beach cruiser for people like Doug that are just going from their house to the beach.
It's huge.
I love it.
Filippo, did you know that in Canada there was a base model RSX with hubcaps?
Fun fact, steelies.
Yes, steel wheels and hubcaps.
That's all they do in Canada.
They were going to put steel wheels on the winter tires anyways.
It is cool that it's in the US.
I love the love for it.
I love that people are like really into these kind of cute small vehicles.
I struggle to say automobile.
Yeah, like the Think Neighbor that you guys had.
Yeah, it's cute.
It's charming.
I think it helps the Fiat brand.
It's one of like two vehicles for sale on Fiat's website.
And so I'm thrilled that it's here.
I don't understand who's going to buy this instead of a golf cart, but whatever.
Somebody will because it's cuter.
It would look great on a yacht too.
Like people that have like little get-around cars on the yacht.
So you're thinking of it sort of as decoration.
Yeah, yeah, 100%.
For sure.
It's a novelty.
I mean, no one's buying this for actual transport.
On Coronado nearby or on other beach communities, there is a market for these.
There is nobody in the world who would buy one of these in the beach community in which we all live.
They have to know that though.
For the same price, you can have a six-seater golf cart.
This has two seats.
This isn't related to that.
A mini-moke that we do sell in cars a bit often is more expensive than a golf cart.
Yeah, it's way more than a style.
You make style decisions sometimes.
That is the problem.
So they press release, which I'll read directly here.
It says, it only takes five hours to charge.
By the time you're packing up your beach gear, your batteries all charged up and ready to take you to lunch,
which we talked about in our group thread.
Yeah.
One, there's no room for your beach gear.
Two, it definitely would not take five hours to put all your beach gear into it.
And then three, why are you getting lunch when your goal is to get to the beach?
I've thought about it more.
I've thought about it more.
Here's what I think they mean.
You park it at the beach.
Somehow you have a charger at the beach.
I can't speak to you, but at my beach here, we don't have a public charger.
But if you did, you'd charge.
You go to the beach, then you pack up your gear, and by the time you get back to the car,
it is done charging, and then you go off to lunch in the car.
That's what I think they're saying.
Now, why don't you bring lunch to the beach?
You're a poor planner.
And also, I hope you didn't bring more than one person because it's a two-seater.
The good thing is that it does come with a luggage rack carrier.
So, I think this thing is so cool.
Flipple, what's the Izetta looking one?
Yeah, that's even smaller.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
The Mikrolyna, yeah, yeah.
It's cool.
Weren't you really into the smart crossblade for a while?
I mean, couldn't you argue that this is effectively no different?
Yeah, but I didn't get it for exactly the reasons I'm saying no one's going to get this.
It's ultimately, it's a $40,000 two-seater, and it's not practical.
Well, this is $14,000, so you're, this is great.
Yeah, but I can get a golf cart, six seats for the same money.
And by the way, Flipple, you're like, oh, people want style, go to carsandvids.com,
which is a great website, and type in golf cart.
You want to see some stylish golf carts, baby girl?
We got them.
Put it in.
Put it in.
I will say, people do decide things for style.
I do love that.
Look at that.
Oh my gosh, that thing is so cool.
Yeah, Nick.
Okay, so you're sitting here.
Okay, Nick, how much did that sell for?
I can't see it.
Four grand.
Four grand, Nick, would you rather have that for four grand or a topolino little mouse for 14?
All right, I take back everything positive I said about the Fiat.
What's the range of this?
It doesn't even matter.
It can't be much worse than a topolino.
Three kilowatt electric motor doesn't actually say a range.
If you're driving something like this, you literally wouldn't feel safe,
nor would you choose that option if it's any more than a mile or two, right?
This is for very short distances, so effectively anything over 10 is sufficient.
That's a good point.
That's a good point.
I think, throughout, people make a lot of style decisions.
Why did you buy a G Cabriolet instead of a Wrangler?
It's four seats and goes off-road.
Or why did you buy a nitpolo with vertical stripes?
For example, yeah.
Because I'm going to double my money on the G Cabriolet and the Wrangler is going to appreciate it.
Is the Fiat topolino an appreciating asset?
Yeah.
When you're drunk at a charity auction, it might be.
Here's something I appreciate about mothers, the official car care provider of cars and bits.
They're actually car people, family owned and operated since 1973.
Everything formulated right in Huntington Beach, California.
These are products built by enthusiasts for enthusiasts, and it shows.
The one I'd point to is their California Gold Ceramic line.
Ceramic coatings always felt like this intimidating leave it to the pros thing.
Mothers makes it simple.
Spray it, wipe it, done.
Professional grade results in your own driveway without the professional grade price tag.
And because mothers is available almost anywhere,
you're not tracking down some boutique product online.
You can go grab it today just in time for the holiday.
Whether you're prepping a car for auction or you just want it looking right in the driveway,
there's no shine like mothers.
Head to mothers.com to check out the full lineup and find what's right for your car.
Give it that mother's love.
As you guys may remember, we have spent the last couple weeks working to rescue a really awesome 1973 Ford F-250
with the help of AutoZone.
This is a truck that my wife and I inherited from her stepdad,
and he was a mechanic.
He spent a bunch of time kind of starting the rescuing process on this truck,
but unfortunately passed before we had time to finish the job.
And so we've taken over the project, we've taken over the mantle to really get it in great condition.
This week, the truck's been having trouble starting,
and we think that the battery needs to be replaced.
And we're also a little worried about the alternator.
Luckily, AutoZone makes it easy by testing my battery and alternator for free.
It's actually one of AutoZone's many free services alongside battery testing and charging
and their free fixed finder service if you have a dash light on.
So it does turn out that the F-250 needed both a battery and an alternator.
No real shock.
For the replacement, we're going with the Duralesc gold battery and Duralesc alternator.
With the help of AutoZone, that project is complete.
Keep following us here at Carson Bids to see what we tackle next with the help of AutoZone.
All right, move on to the next one.
What do we got next?
Oh God, they're going to see that we have PowerPoint.
Okay, Bentley released the NorCal.
Nick, you see this?
The TorCal with a T, yes.
Oh yeah.
TorCal?
Well, there's not much to see.
The teaser shot basically shows that it...
This is a Bentayga replacement, I believe, right?
That is actually...
I believe it's not necessarily replacing.
It's going to be an all EV, their first only electric vehicle.
It will be a two row, five-seater SUV.
So their first full EV is going to be an SUV.
That's what we know and not much else.
Yep, pretty much.
Yeah.
They're going to release it in September.
They've invited me to the launch and I can't come.
Nick, would you like to go on my behalf?
I think Nick should go.
Where is it?
The UK.
It's a bit far.
My TorCal can only make it to about a third of the way to the airport.
Nick, don't you want to see the TorCal named after the great places of Toronto and Calabasas,
north of Los Angeles?
I'm sure that's what they were going for.
Toronto and Calgary.
This is a Canada play.
Yeah, it's actually the El Torcal de Antequera,
a spectacular collection of limestone rock formations in Spain, if you're curious.
Nope.
TorCal, Toronto and Calgary.
This is a Canada play and their next one is going to be the Van Mon
for Vancouver and Montreal.
Same basic architecture as the other Volkswagen Group EVs, the Cayenne especially.
It's going to be an SUV, hard to tell from the spy shot,
but it's kind of like the Bintega, a little bit like a notch.
Yep.
We'll find out more in two months.
I think it's smart and that they didn't do, they initially had a concept that was like a two door Jaguar Type 00-ish thing.
I don't think that the demand is there for these stylish coupes or sedans.
They didn't do the Tesla strategy of going like a Model S or Lucid, like a sedan first.
Like SUV, I think is the right platform.
Rolls did the Spectre.
And I think all of us were surprised at how well the Spectre did,
but I think they smartly said, all right, it needs to be luxury.
It needs to be like, I think the EV SUV makes a lot more sense than the Continental GT or anything else in their lineup
in terms of what buyers might actually want to appreciate.
So it doesn't seem like a bad idea compared to say the Luce or many of the other luxury EV concepts we've seen.
By the way, one quick question.
This just makes more sense for luxury brands.
Yeah, one quick question.
It does not replace the Vintego, at least initially.
And remember too, Lamborghini was going to have an EV SUV.
They canceled it, Bentley stayed the course.
So they already do have to our point, it's like the VW platform sharing and all that technology.
You might as well do the Bentley version.
Yep.
Yeah.
Yeah.
All right.
Let's keep it rolling with a globe with some cars.
All right.
This is going to be a quick story.
Howdy's chief technical officer, Roven Moore, had a budget interviews where he basically said,
we can't keep designing cars, especially interiors, for world markets.
The Chinese market is so focused on technology and going all screens and having the latest, greatest technology in their cars.
But what we're hearing from our European and North American consumers is we want buttons.
We want less screens.
We want it to be a little bit more simple.
We want to be able to click things physically.
And so they have spun off and created a side project, Audi in all caps, different than Audi.
Interesting.
Just at Cap-A-A and without the four circles in China, alongside a local partner there,
where they can develop cars just for the Chinese market.
Nick, you know what the cool thing about this is?
There's now another Audi brand where you can money ship their cars.
You were really excited for that joke, weren't you?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Don't worry.
They're all EVs pretty much.
Holy-Po, this is an interesting story. It makes sense to me.
Yeah.
For a long time, we've been going towards a world car and global development.
And now I think some automakers, Audi specifically right now, have realized people around the world want slightly different things.
There's different markets.
They need to make different design and functionality decisions.
And this is probably a good split to actually do that.
My concern is people's stated preferences, like I want less screens, don't always correlate with their actual behavior.
So one, will they be willing to pay extra for this?
Because the cars would be cheaper if they only had one globally versus having to design two.
Two, they say they want more buttons, but as we've learned in some of Doug's reviews, it can quickly become too many buttons.
Screens actually make sense.
You just have to get over that initial like 30-day learning curve of finding where things are.
Like they say they want the buttons, but will the average buyer, not the enthusiast, but the average buyer,
when they're faced with a airplane-like cockpit of buttons, actually prefer that versus just getting used to the screens.
I don't think they're suggesting going back to the Panamera, which is all both.
Sure.
But to be clear, what they make clear is that they will use the same platforms, engine designs, everything.
They're going to do make some kind of final market decisions.
I do think that there has been, especially in Europe, a pushback to a lot of screens and everything being function on screens, as there has been in the US.
And if you separate out even some audio or basic climate control, that's a big win, but not what the Chinese market wants.
The Chinese market wants the opposite.
They want screens.
They want all the latest technology that some automakers, especially European and American automakers, have been left behind in that market
because they're not willing to do that innovation or take that risk for the rest of their global markets.
And now maybe they can actually win in each of the markets instead of losing in both.
It looks like an Azuzu Axiom.
Well, it's weird because the headlights are also red.
So I think this is just like a bad AI image.
This is not real.
I was thinking it was a what's that's done.
Azuzu Axiom?
Yes.
I think about it often.
I saw one recently.
It's beautiful.
The later ones had big power.
Yeah.
Unfortunately, the interior looks atrocious.
Well, it could have been better, but it also could have been worse relative to what was on sale at the time.
Do you remember the Mitsubishi Endeavour?
Of course.
You think I don't know all these cars?
The Axiom is a beautiful car.
It looks like a regular SUV that had been working out.
They're kind of the Axiom interior, by the way.
It's funny because the Axiom looks so futuristic when it came out and now you look at it and it just looks like an old car.
Yep.
Any SUV.
Give us our next new story, please.
Immediately.
All right.
The Tacoma.
Okay.
Here's a fun fact.
Up until like, I don't know, 10 years ago.
Tacoma production was, excuse me, up until 2021, Tacoma production was split between San Antonio and two different factories in Mexico.
But the current generation Tacoma has been only built in Mexico.
Toyota's investing about $3.6 billion to double the size of their San Antonio plant and move all most of the Tacoma production back to Texas.
All the way.
Not all.
I was wrong.
They're still going to make some in Mexico.
Sounds like one factory in Mexico doesn't have a product, which makes you wonder what's coming.
It does.
Toyota is near US capacity.
Toyota used the highest factory capacity of any automaker that builds the United States.
And so it makes sense for them to add capacity.
I love the idea of the trucks coming to San Antonio.
There's a tariff play here.
Toyota got smashed on tariffs last year, like almost more than any other automaker from a revenue standpoint.
Obviously, they're thinking that if the tariffs are here to stay and it seems now increasingly like maybe they will be at least for a while,
they can get the Tacoma built here.
There's probably a bit of a pride thing there too.
Americans want a car that's not necessarily built in Mexico.
They might be seeing that.
But I just love that San Antonio factory.
It makes the finest automobiles in the entire world.
The Sequoia and Tundra.
The engines only blow up sometimes.
By the way, also for us, beyond tariffs, we're at the point, the renegotiation for the USMCA,
which is the agreement between the US, Mexico, and Canada, restarted last week, two weeks ago,
when the US basically said, we're not going to renew it as is.
And so I bet there's also some calculation there of what will we need to deal with?
Because even if tariffs go away under a future administration, renegotiating something like the UMCA may take some additional time.
And if some of their free trade benefits go away, that also becomes a problem.
Nick, you want your Toyota truck built in Japan?
Well, so, okay, two things here.
One, I do think the most interesting thing about this story is the question, did our tariffs working?
Like this was arguably the point of the tariffs was to push more manufacturing into the US.
Obviously, with the timeline they were rolled out, that was not feasible in the short run.
But in the long run, the hope was manufacturers would make decisions like this.
So one could argue is bad of an idea is the tariffs initially sounded.
Does this soften the blows somewhat?
I'm not saying the tariffs were good.
It's a lot more complicated.
Yeah, they brought Tacoma production to San Antonio, the greatest truck plant in America.
And I'm dead serious about that.
But that doesn't just leave me, the tariffs worked.
It was the intended effect of the tariffs.
And this is negative effects too.
Yes, quite a few.
I'm not entirely sure this is a positive effect.
We'll see what happens to the price of the trucks.
Right. Well, I just mean for like American workers, the American economy.
But what about for you and me, baby girl?
What are the ones buying the trucks?
So I need to explain something and maybe apologize.
So I have been teasing you that Toyota trucks aren't real American trucks.
Oh, and I was doing so simply because I didn't want to give you the bragging point that you drive an American truck.
Like it was a tongue-in-cheek comment.
However, someone made the comment that it came off a little xenophobic because it's like saying, oh,
an immigrant that wasn't born in America but lives here isn't a real American or what have you.
I never thought of it that way in terms of like the cars are humans or that like basically they called me a racist.
Yeah. And I don't think that was that was never my intent.
And I feel awful that it could even be misconstrued that way.
I can't believe you're doing this.
This is ridiculous.
All the crap you said.
Can I ask a question?
It will be a privately.
I agree. I say some off-color stuff.
I would just say, look, it is so confusing now.
What is an American truck?
What is a non-American truck?
It's not confusing at all.
Is it built in America?
Well, then it's American.
Not really.
Most people think of it as Ford Chevy GM or the American brands.
Toyota is an import, right?
Like if you go and service your car, you find a domestic vehicle service center and they support those three or you go to an import.
This is a common not-conception there.
If the VIN starts with 14 or five, it's American.
Am I right, Filippo?
That's what the license plate collector crowd thinks for normal Americans who aren't obsessed with cars.
You know what it's interesting when you say that, it's interesting that Nick, because the federal government has something called the Buy American Act,
which implores them to purchase American goods.
And in that act, what American goods are is defined.
And the way they define it is the way that I'm defining it, which is that it's manufactured in America.
Even if the company itself is not technically headquartered.
It gets even more complicated, right?
So what percentage of the parts come from the U.S. is a secondary question?
It is not complicated.
My truck is built in Texas by non-union labor and then it comes out and roars down the street.
What's complicated about that?
I am officially conceding that the Tundra and Sequoia are American made as confusing as that is to my simple brain to wrap my head around that Toyota is an American brand.
I can get past that and I apologize if my comments were mis-contred.
These trucks were designed in America.
They were designed by Americans.
So it was like energy tea.
They are only sold.
They are more or less only sold in America and the Gulf.
And like yesterday, two of them were sold in Japan.
They're only sold in America.
By America, I'm including Canada, which is part of North America.
And Canada is our brethren, except that Trump doesn't think so, but I do.
They are as American as me.
And I don't know about you, Nick.
You got that French-sounding last name, but the rest of them...
Rolchon.
Nicolas Rolchon.
Can I ask a question?
Yes, I am an immigrant.
Yeah, but now I'm in America.
You're like a Toyota truck.
Am I American?
You are...
So I thought about this the other day.
You are both the most Italian person I know and the most American.
Because like you go to Italy for like a month and you speak to people in little Italy in Italian and make fun of my multiple.
But you then come back and the first thing you do is go to NASCAR.
The second thing you do is drive around to 70s F-250.
You do some like crazy stereotypical American.
The answer to your question is yes.
I also did it in many miles and I have 350 super duty.
The answer to your question is yes, you are American.
Yes.
Obviously.
Now I don't know how Nick feels about that, but he is after all...
I can see that both Toyota and Filippo are American.
Growth.
Growth for Nick.
As a convertible driver, I wear sunglasses pretty much year-round.
And for the longest time, I've accepted a certain amount of annoyance with them.
You start moving, a run, a bike, a spirited drive, and they slide down your nose.
You've adjusted them constantly or they just come off entirely or maybe they even fog up.
I figured that was just the trade-off.
Then I started wearing Warby Parker Sport.
And what I appreciate is they don't look like performance eyewear.
They're not that competing in the Olympics look.
They look like normal, well-designed sunglasses.
But the upgrades are where it counts.
A no-slip nose pad so they stay put when you're sweating.
A wrap-around design that widens your field of vision.
And contrast enhancing lenses that keep things sharp when you're moving.
They black 100% of UV, they're polarized, scratch resistant, and more.
I've worn mine hiking on long walks and they just stay where they're supposed to be.
And Warby does more than sport.
Prescription glasses, contacts, online eye exams, and over 300 stores if you'd still rather go in person.
It's all in one place.
Eyewear that's made to move with you.
Right now, buy one pair of glasses and get 20% off any additional pairs at warbyparker.com.
Cars that's 20% off any additional pairs when you purchase one pair at warbyparker.com.
Can driving on a track on the fin actually help your real-life track performance?
Let's find out.
It is impressive.
My knowledge of this track is much higher than when I was just looking at maps.
This is a much, much more in-depth understanding of how this track is laid out,
how the corners kind of flow together.
And that is immeasurably helpful.
Alright, 205 is the last time I sat there.
But we're going to pause there.
We're going to see tomorrow at Chukwala and realize whether I can deliver a similar time.
Needless to prepare on a sim so that you don't... nothing but the track? Huge.
Way lower risk, way lower cost.
Highly, highly, highly, highly recommend.
I have to say, the sim experience really was incredibly helpful.
Many thanks to Moza for providing those parts.
They were instrumental to helping make this track day safe, first of all, and fun,
and feel like I knew what I was doing.
Sims, recommend it.
Here's our next news story, please.
Alright, Polestar.
Polestar, as we talked about last week, no longer allowed to sell cars in the US,
starting in 27, 27 model year.
That means we're not getting any new Polestar, including a Polestar 4 with a rear window,
which just was released in Europe.
But if you want a Polestar, now is your chance.
Polestar 4s are about 25 grand off MSRP, advertised.
So Polestar doesn't have dealers.
So this isn't you go to a dealer and you negotiate.
They're advertising 23 grand off of 1, 20 grand off the Polestar 3,
an additional loyalty or conquest bonus, and pretty generous lease terms.
So if you want a Polestar 4, go get it now.
I guess 25 grand off a cash purchase, plus an additional more if you have owned one
or if you have a competing car.
Crazy percentage of MSRP.
You gotta imagine the sales reps there are ready to make some deals.
This picture, if you're watching this, is me.
This was Thursday.
I think the news was announced on like a Monday.
You can get deals allegedly, but I will tell you, there was not an employee there.
The doors were locked.
The short-term strategy for Polestar was like, take a couple of days off
and figure out from corporate what to do.
They were truly very confused, understandably so,
by all of this, and did not know what they wanted to do.
I will say, by the way, Polestar 4 MSRP for a base one is something like 55 grand.
So you're taking 45% off the MSRP, except that you may not have any service saying
you'll never be able to trade into a different one if you've done it.
And it's still too expensive.
That's what used ones already you're selling for that are like six days old.
That's what the transaction price always was.
Unfortunately not, but that was why they weren't.
Well, I mean, everyone's comparing it to Fisker and being like,
oh, it's the same as getting the fire sale in the Fisker.
I think it's different in that Polestar's will still be made internationally.
Like the parts are theoretically available.
Getting them to the U.S. might be tricky.
Volvo dealer will service them.
You can service your Fisker in Manhattan.
It's trickier though.
Like this won't be as tricky as the Fisker,
and I don't think it needs to be as much of a fire sale.
Like it's just going to stop being sold, but it's not.
It's not going up in flames.
They announced if Volvo is willing to service orphan Polestar.
They've committed to maintaining service availability.
And I don't know whether they're going to do that through their own service centers,
which I think there are a few Polestar service centers or through Volvo dealers.
But I imagine it'll be something in that realm.
They have committed to it just like something.
They have to be hoping that they can still get a waiver, right?
Like or change some code.
I don't think they're hoping for that at all.
Are they truly not even going to try to appeal?
You know what's wild is all these brands that went into the malls
made the mistake of not putting service and sales together.
So like you're in for service.
You're Nick who's like impulsive and crazy.
Right. You're in for service and say, hey, I money shifted my TT.
They got a new TT sitting right there.
And you're like, yeah, that looks pretty nice.
Let me take a test drive.
Next thing you know, you're buying.
Whereas with these brands that are at the mall,
the service center is in some industrial area that is ugly.
And you can't have this experience where you're like, oh, and,
and you know what I mean?
Like, and so Nick drops off the car and he's like not looking at the new TTS.
They did try that actually at Audi of San Diego.
But I think the trade in value of a blown motor TTRS was a little below my liking.
Yeah. So I ended up passing.
But you know, what's crazy too is the UTC mall, super nice posh mall where they're in a lovely double date.
I mean, there's a Lucid.
There's a Tesla.
There's a star.
It's all the E.B. brands.
Like every good 15 year olds.
What is this?
What are you going into your junior year?
You and I are a little different.
All right.
I like convenience and amenities.
There's multiple ice cream places.
There's Boba.
Like it doesn't matter what you're, you don't have to make a decision.
You go to the mall.
Yeah.
Everything from the food court to true food kitchen to din typhoon.
You got it all.
Okay.
Good advertising.
This is brought to you by the UTC mall, ladies and gentlemen.
Well, you can buy an E.B. while you're there.
You're like, Oh, I just wanted to get like an H and M t-shirt, but the pull star four is $25,000 off.
He's parking as many brands as he can.
And UTC mall, do you're shopping and then there's a Chipotle in the parking lot.
Oh, that would be nice.
It would be nice.
Moving on from an automaker that has great deals because they legally can't sell cars starting next year to one that has great deals because.
Yeah.
It's not desirable.
You want me to do it?
Lucid is offering 0% on the gravity for some long amount of time too.
Yep.
And it's interesting because I've been trying to buy a car here.
I don't know.
It's very difficult for me to try to buy a car.
I don't know if you're around here, Nick, but I've been going to the new car dealerships and you go to the new car dealerships like the Chrysler dealer where I spend a lot of time these days.
And their advertised deals are 5.99%.
Yeah.
Yep.
And they were over at the Toyota 4Runner place and they were like, oh, we can get you 5.99 for 72 months.
And I'm like, what a bargain.
What an absolute bargain.
So for Lucid to eat that because they're eating the finance charge, the whole interest basically, you know, the thing.
That's an unbelievable amount of money on a car that ostensibly costs $105,000, but in reality costs a lot less.
Now we sold, speaking of a lot less, we sold this week a Lucid gravity.
Did you see that, Felipe?
Of course.
By the way, it's 0% financing and $10,000 in cash.
Yeah.
I mean, we sold a 26 gravity with only 316 miles on it for $81,500 United States dollars.
I wonder if there's a window sticker.
I wonder if that must be there's not this.
Well, it was it was a grand touring.
So what's that cost?
$95.
But so currently on their website, it's 95.
It starts at 9650.
Yeah, for 20 to 27, it was $90.
But they are offering on their website straight up 10 grand and Lucid credit.
10 grand and Lucid credit.
So 85.
We're there.
Yeah, what is that?
I assume it just money it off.
But so we're there.
Assume this one, the one that we sold had a couple options and all that.
You probably it's probably a 100 sticker, 105 car sold for 20 grand off with only 316 miles driven.
But I think that's what the market rate is.
Yep.
It's actually not horrible depreciation given what actual sale prices are.
It's an expensive minivan.
Nick, you thought about getting in gravity?
For the right price, yes.
But it the styling.
What do you think the right price is?
The styling is tough, man.
I like it.
What do you think the right price is?
Compared to, so the Tesla Model YL just came out, which is 63.
And I think that neither of which are great looking.
I would have attempted it all day.
If they were the same price, maybe, but for 20 grand more, I don't want that thing.
Yes, you do.
My favorite part of this story is car and driver, a very reputable, longstanding publication known for kind of like playing it safe,
being friendly to their advertisers and OEMs.
Their headline was 2026 Lucid Gravity Available with No Interest Due to No Interest.
And they just slammed the Lucid that no one wants to buy it, which like it's, I'm a hater on this pod and I say some mean things.
Even I wouldn't go that far to be that mean about it.
Like it's pretty wild that car and driver is taking low blows at Lucid Gravity.
Which by the way was one of their 10 bests last year.
Was it?
Yeah, that is freaking nuts.
It's a good car.
I drove it.
It's a good car.
When it's reliable.
I had someone, I had a neighbor of mine had there so many problems with theirs that got bought back.
We've already heard about all the problems that Jason has had over at Engineering Explained.
He's had a ton of issues.
Those are his air to be precise, but yeah.
They seem to be, they were both airs that I'm talking about.
They seem to be problematic.
Then you have the issue of this looks like a van.
It's incredibly expensive.
It's got this bulb of styling in a world where we want sharp edges and off roadiness.
It's a tough thing.
What about Doug if they offered clutch by wire and that would change things.
Would that change things for you?
Yeah.
If they offered clutch by wire, here's the two things that we can mean to buy with these cars.
If they offered clutch by wire and they cut the price by 75%.
I'd buy it at that price.
If I could get into a lucid gravity for $27,000 and it had simulated manual transmission,
I would be a buyer.
I think it's a compelling product.
I wish that there was interest in it.
I don't think we've seen really strong interest in any three-row electric car.
The Model Y, maybe it's the key EV9 has the best lease seals of any vehicle you could imagine right now.
That's true of all EVs.
That's true of all EVs.
Why?
Because there isn't that much natural demand at their MSRP.
I think there isn't natural demand anymore for EVs period now that the inside of the car.
Don't you think you could fix the styling by just raising the right height?
I don't think it looks that bad.
No.
You can do that.
There's a setting in the car.
Just lift it and it's fine.
Then it looks truckier.
It doesn't look as truckier as you want.
Not as much as I'd like to, but fine.
I don't think it looks bad either, but I am in tuned based on my peer group with what people who have this kind of money to spend on a luxury SUV want their car to look like.
It's on this.
I agree.
They want Range Rovers.
They want the car to look like rugged luxury, like capable luxury.
That's why the Range Rovers sell all those vehicles.
The R1S, which is honestly a pretty similar vehicle, just styled better, does sell pretty well.
This just wasn't it.
Lucid really wanted to come at this with a windswept, simple, more overly look.
It's not what people want.
I could have told them day one.
If they had called me up, I could have told them day one that this thing wasn't going to sell at 100 grand looking like that.
Yep.
A couple more quick news stories.
There's a new Model Y L. It is seven inches longer than the Model Y.
The Model Y is offered with a third road regardless, but now it actually has some headroom maybe and some space behind it maybe.
It's really hard not to make a comment about seven inches longer, but we're going to move on.
63 K.
It replaces the Model X.
Model X went away.
If you want a three-row EV, Tesla now has an option for that.
Actually, they had an option to be clear.
A decent, like they should do, why not do this for the Model 3 too?
Like get rid of all the different models and just make like a shorty and a long, long boy of each.
Based on what they're doing now.
The YL, just based on how it looks, I haven't read anything about it.
It looks like the stretch is on the back.
Correct.
Yep.
It's all, I think all behind the second row.
It's been for sale in China for a while as a vehicle.
It's now brought to the US to fill the Model X because is gone.
Thankfully, it doesn't look as bad as the Defender 130 in terms of like them adding length in a way that ruins the design.
Like this looks, it looks fine.
Like most people will notice.
The Defender 130 and the Chevy Trailblazer EXT live in the same world of like unbelievably insane.
Do you remember back when they would, in order to elongate church vans,
they would literally just graft on an extra panel on the back?
What's the thing they did with like Dodge Ram vans in the 80s?
That's what the Defender 130 looks like.
I know.
It's so awful.
I want a 130 so bad in the sense that it meets all of my needs and I just like them.
I can't.
It's just so poorly executed that I just, all I can see is this like diaper on the rear end effectively.
Have you thought about it?
Have you thought about a Sequoia?
No, I have not.
But I'm glad that you're happy.
Right?
Frogs, dude, and I'll tell you something.
It does have about 56 inches more, a third row leg room, a little bit less,
second row leg room, a little bit more third row head room than the regular one,
regular three row Model Y because there probably is a market for this.
Let me ask you a question.
Do you ever have this Model YL or a used Sequoia?
Thankfully for me, we are in a market with other options.
Good answer.
All right.
Speaking of three row SUVs, this is the Vistik interior.
The Cadillac Vistik is a three row SUV.
This is not a news story next.
Quick news story.
No, this is a legitimate true PSA.
We talked a few months ago.
The news story is that it's adding a fourth row.
This is not a news story.
We talked a few months ago about a Hyundai Palisade recall because the power folding seats were
not going back up and did track and unfortunately kill a child.
The Vistik third row can do the same thing.
There's a stop sale and a full recall.
If you have a Vistik, get that taken care of.
I'll tell you something.
Vistik owners out there, all six of you, five of whom are employed by General Motors, five
of whom are the wife of a dealer principal at Cadillac of Bloomington, Indiana.
You better get the thing back to the dealership.
We care about a lot of show consumer safety here.
I don't think the Vistik owner segment and the car pod listener segment have a lot of
overlap.
The Vistik is a good vehicle.
All right.
It is a good vehicle shockingly, but no one's buying it.
Last story is about Jiffy Lube.
Yeah.
A couple of interesting things here.
So they were bought by Private Equity in a $1.3 billion deal.
It was formerly owned by Shell, which I know.
Shell owned it and Quigger Lube.
No idea.
So Jiffy Lube is so interesting and enthusiasts generally don't go there and it's got a reputation,
but a lot of people do.
A lot, a lot.
So the Vistik owner and wife is actually a huge fan of this.
It's just like it's in and out.
It's convenient.
It's cheap.
But one point is...
Make these businesses let you get an oil change while you sit in the car that they're
changing the oil up.
I know.
I tried to get them to do my multiple oil change because the oil pan drain was stripped.
And they were like, look, this isn't in our computer.
It's like there's so many issues here.
We refuse to do it, but like they've been delightful.
They've done every oil change on our focus.
Like private equity buying it off of Shell.
It'll be interesting to see where this goes in terms of like how they turn that into either
better or different.
But Jiffy Lube is now under new ownership owned by Monomoy partners.
Nick, let me tell you where it's going to go.
Nowhere.
It's going to be exactly the same as always.
I don't know, dude.
Did you see what they did to Red Lobster and they took or they took away all the, you can
eat shrimp, but then they brought it back.
I mean, like what's going to happen here?
I'll tell you this, Nick, if you, if you, you want to, you, the way that Monomoy partners
will change Jiffy Lube is that they will, they will tell their people to take multiple
if they come in, don't turn it.
I don't care if it's not in the computer.
You got to do it or tell them you did it.
Well, that, that, that would be interesting.
I have been thinking seriously about launching my own Jiffy Lube competitor.
So, you know, now, now I got to think about the competitive environment.
A couple of interesting things.
Most Jiffy Lube, all Jiffy Lube's are the franchise model.
So they're not only owned as part of this deal, Monomoy partner also purchased the second
largest Jiffy Lube owner.
So they purchased a bunch of stores as a result, which will be interesting to see what they
try to do at those stores to optimize profit.
Shell said that they sold because they are just trying to get a little bit more clarity
and like a little bit more focus on their core brands and selling off some of the other properties.
Nick, I know what you could name it.
Nicky Lube.
Oh, Money Chef.
All right.
Now I like Nicky Lube better or I don't.
All right.
I think that actually is this real that you're talking about this kind of so.
So my hypothesis here, I know you think I should share publicly.
Yeah.
Well, if anyone wants to invest or back this idea or validate it,
please cash.
Tell me, tell me what your business plan is.
So there's Jiffy Lube and other similar brands that service the bottom of the market.
People just want a quick, cheap oil change.
Anyone that has like a European car, which is as fellow European car snobs, all of us,
we have to go to the dealer or we go to a high end indie where an oil change is like 500 bucks.
And every time I talk about how much they paid for an oil change, everyone's like,
oh, I changed my own oil and it costs 37 cents.
Like I've done that too.
It's a pain.
It's messy.
The leftover oil sits in my garage for literally years until I get around it, like disposing of it properly.
So there needs to be something in between a $30 oil change at Jiffy Lube and a $600 oil change at Land Rover of Carlsbad.
My hypothesis is Nikki Lube will service that meaty middle where you want like a $300 oil change.
I'm going to have like massage chairs and like Pac-Man and stuff to do it while you wait,
but you don't need an appointment or maybe you do need appointment.
I'm not sure, but like it's in and out, like in an hour, you don't need a loaner car.
You're not leaving the car overnight.
They're not going to try to upsell you on blinker fluid and stuff like that.
Like it's going to be, be for enthusiasts that want an oil change and nothing else.
I like my high-end Indy.
That's the problem.
I like that.
Maybe, but it takes time.
You got to schedule with them.
You got to leave the car.
Then you got to Uber home, all of that.
Like I went something you could do over your lunch break and they're just, I'm changing her oil.
That's it.
Go to your Indy for actual service needs, but like you don't need to pay Indy rates of around here,
like $200 an hour plus to get an oil change.
So there's got to be something in between where we can just say in an hour.
Don't you think the speed and luxury components are kind of butt heads here?
No, and that's why you'd have to do something in between.
It wouldn't be like a true drive-through like Jeffy Lube, like you might need to get out of your car,
but like we would stock all the Mercedes and Acura and all the like luxury brand oil filters.
We would use only synthetic baby shell.
If you've got 1.3 billion lying around, like we could be partners in this venture,
but like I think there's a way to do this and no one has tapped that middle segment between Jeffy Lube and dealer.
All right.
I earlier, I said I would put you in the cast.
I no longer feel that way, but I do encourage you to start the business.
It's now time to move on to our talk car segment, which of course is brought to you by Nicky Lube.
All right.
Nicky Lube, if you have a car that is nice, but not too nice, but also not too bad,
and you don't mind waiting, but not too long, short, Nicky Lube's got you.
Is that about?
We got massage chairs.
Put that on, too.
We got massage chairs, folks.
You walk right in, they're plugged in.
They look like eggs.
I want to talk to talk car segment.
There is a lot to discuss today.
Starting with Nick selling his Ford Focus on Facebook Market Plus.
Oh, Nick.
Take it away.
Oh man.
So the first thing I realized is that ChatGPT has sold, has changed the market as a seller.
So before I could have dumped this Ford Focus on someone that didn't know better about Ford's
dual clutch transmission and all the problems, everyone is asking, have you gotten that?
Because they're going to ChatGPT and they're saying, what issue should I be worried about
in a 2014 Focus?
Huh, interesting.
ChatGPT is basically telling them to run far away in the other direction or asking for
documentation and proof.
So it's educating the buyers in a way that makes it hard to sell crappy cars on Facebook
Marketplace.
Yeah.
That's tough.
To be clear, this is a 2014 regular Ford Focus with the hatchback with the dual clutch
that has failed a couple of times.
Thankfully, I have a binder full of receipts.
I have enthusiast level documentation on it.
I took pretty crappy photos, but by Facebook Marketplace standards, amazing photos.
It's mostly though, it's still the people, is this available?
Yes, nothing.
Or like weird people that are like, give me your number.
Then they're like trying to put me into some funnel and offer me wholesale.
Like I have, or someone else that was like, I will be there at three.
Then they text me at 255 saying I've gone a different direction.
Like it is, it is making me really appreciate cars and bids right now because like,
of all the inquiries I've gotten, I don't think a single one has been serious.
And you're just like dealing with all this to the point where you're like, maybe I do
just take the like low ball trade in offers because I don't want to deal with it.
And sadly, I don't think Fleebo correct me if I'm wrong.
The focus is cool enough for cars and bids, especially not that one.
What are you hoping to get for it?
I've listed for 6,500.
How many miles would take anything?
65,000 miles.
I have the original sticker.
It was a $25,000 car new in 2014.
One owner receipts yada yada yada.
Nobody cares.
Nick, Nick, Sean, producer Sean will give you 2,200.
So we can run it over.
The highest wholesale offer I've gotten is 3,100.
Nick, Nick.
We will give you 2,200 so we can run it over.
Will you, will you do that?
You can be the one who runs it over.
I have to run it by my wife.
If we were going to get rid of it and not get a good price,
we want to find someone who's been incarcerated and donated to them.
You're on like a rehabilitation tour this week.
The criminal justice system is a whole other podcast.
It is so beyond broken.
However, people deserve second chances.
If I'm not going to make any money on it, then yes,
I wanted to just go to someone who deserves it.
Nick, I got a better idea.
How about over at Nicky Lube, you only hire ex-convicts in order to do all the
Acura oil changes.
Oh dude, actually, that's a great idea.
By the way, I'm serious about running it over.
You just wasted my time because I gave you a good offer and you said
I have to run it by my wife.
No.
Well, that's not a good offer.
I can get a better offer right now trading it into Herman Cook Volkswagen.
No, no, wait a minute.
Cook Volkswagen will give you 3 grand and you won't get a run it over.
I'm offering you $2,200 and you can drive your key 38 over the car.
Personally, you can do it.
Oh, that's sweetens the pot.
We will set it up.
Sean, you agree with this, right?
Is Sean nodding?
Of course not.
He's shaking his head.
I got a buddy who's got a junkyard.
We can do it at his yard and you can run the car over.
If we'll buy it off you for $2,200 and then you run it over with his 33.
Sean said I can do it if I wear Warby Parker sunglasses,
chubby shorts, and I wrap it in S-Tec paint protection film.
Then if I get injured, I have to use Morgan and Morgan.
If all those conditions are met, then yes, I can do it for the price.
I once ran over Filippo's car.
Me and Filippo are pretty knowledgeable about the process of running over a car.
We could get this done in like two hours.
I'm good without doing it again.
The other top cars that's very related and not on our list,
the owner, the guy who gave me my P38 for free, Texamee this morning,
L322 surprisingly blew the motor.
It's an L325.
Yeah, basically the head gasket's blue.
It leaks so much coolant into the cylinders that there's no way to revive.
It needs more than a head gasket.
It needs a whole new motor, 25 grand,
and the car's worth maybe eight on a good day if I had to guess.
Now the question is...
L325, L322, it's worth less than your P38.
I wonder if I just get rid of both cars.
This is a terrible decision, but I basically said,
here's what I've spent on it.
I want to give you a crazy generous offer.
I'm not sure I want to give it back to him for free, although maybe I should,
but I'm now in this conundrum of I want to give the car back to him,
but I'm also looking at what I spent.
Aren't you in at like 12 grand?
Yeah, so that's the problem.
Nick, you're going to just give the car back to the dude for 12 grand,
and you're going to give us the focus for $2,200.
So for $2,200, you're going to lose out on the $6,500 focus and the P38.
Don't you think it feels wrong to charge him to buy his own car back
when he gave it to me for free?
What? Was he formerly incarcerated and you feel bad for him?
No, but I think he does do charity work.
Like he's a good guy.
Who makes bad decisions like owning a P38 and owning an L3.
And evoke convertibles, this is other cars.
So yeah, dude's got some questionable tastes in cars.
I do worry that if you give him the P38 back, you're actually not helping him.
You're reintroducing something that he literally pushed out of his life.
Well, and he's like, I need a reliable daily.
He said, I can't deal with this item anymore.
You're giving it back to him. That's a little...
In better condition.
But it's still going to be a problem.
Nick, don't do it until after you run over the focus with the P38.
We'll deal. Deal.
If that's an opportunity, let's talk about the trade-in value.
It is an absolute opportunity.
We will do that around Labor Day.
Tell Sean we are doing it.
Can you bundle in a couple of Nicky Lube ad reads?
We'll put Nicky Lube on the side of the P38.
Crush it. Wow.
I know.
We'll put Jiffy Lube on the side of the focus.
That'll be the launch of Nicky Lube.
The focus will get crushed.
Jiffy Lube will get crushed by Nicky Lube.
This would be a great ad spot.
I meant, then I could write this all off too, as an advertising expense.
So Nicky Lube is now open, currently taking orders out of my personal garage.
Ken and I will do your oil change for you.
Or actually my summer intern.
The economics are going to get tough.
I could teach him how to do it.
There is a guy on Instagram that is trying to kill Toyota Corolla.
He's doing everything he can possibly do to kill it.
Putting maple syrup in the truck.
He's doing all kinds of weird things.
You could do the same.
You could become Instagram famous.
No, it's a perfectly nice vehicle. Both of them.
Let's make that not the case.
No, I love both of them.
If you're going to crush it, maybe you'll destroy it.
You love the focus?
I love my focus.
I've learned to like it.
After a 12 year relationship, it has its merits.
It's like someone should use it.
Actually, you know what I should do is I should give the focus to the P38 guy.
Here's reliable transportation and not burden him with the P38.
That's not reliable transportation.
The clutch will slip eventually over time, but it's only got 65,000 miles.
He's got a good 35,000.
What transmission are you on?
Second clutch.
Second clutch.
It's the same trans.
Eventually it'll become clutch by wire.
I also had a Ford Focus of that generation.
I had a manual, so it's reliable.
I bought it for $8,600 in 2016 and then sold it for $6,500.
Yeah, five years later.
Five years later.
That's like normal depreciation.
Right, exactly.
But you're trying to get the same.
I don't know.
You're going to have trouble.
Well, you know, mine's got the black pack.
Right.
You probably had mine have a Ford pack.
We have the tar cars.
I want to mention a couple of events that we are throwing.
We're throwing an event on August 1st at a Vance Fest at Pacific Raceway.
That's out of Seattle.
We're going to have something like up to 400 cars.
If you want to bring your car to that cars and coffee, we have a community post on carsandbits.com.
You can submit your car and then we will reach out with additional details.
So please do that because we want to hear it.
August 1st at a Vance Fest in Seattle.
Pacific Raceway.
Pacific Raceway is where I have some storied history.
Go to the community post.
We'll link it below too.
Flippo.
To submit your car.
Flippo, what kind of cars are you going to accept?
I haven't decided yet.
I need to see what comes in.
I guess it's got to be the, if it's Fiat Double-In, I would accept, but it won't be able to make it there.
Because I think it's about 30 miles outside of Seattle.
So it's going to be tight from a range perspective.
Bring a generator.
Yeah.
I mean, I recommend a first generation Honda Crossroad.
Crossroad?
You, for some reason, imported a Land Rover Discovery from Australia.
And a little Honda Crossroad.
Or rebadged your Discovery as a Honda Crossroad.
I'm into it.
Did you know that as part of that tie-up, they also rebadged Honda Civics as Rovers?
I did actually know that.
Incredibly.
Stunningly.
Do you know what the Suzuki Baleno is?
Isn't that the RAV4?
No.
That's the other one.
That's the Suzuki across.
Don't confuse these products.
The Suzuki Baleno was the esteemed.
Do you remember the esteemed?
Oh yes, of course.
I forgot what it was called about.
There was even an esteemed wagon.
Of course.
Pull it up.
Pull it up like you talk about other events.
The only thing I'll say is...
I won't let this die.
I'm sure of a Suzuki esteemed wagon and then I will let you talk about the events.
All right, fine.
Nick, this is good stuff.
This is like a 95 horsepower 1.6 liter, but it's naturally aspirated like a 12-cylindry
manuale.
Of course I know that the Suzuki exists.
They were for sale in Europe too.
Get Esdi Baleno.
Yeah, I guess so.
On Sunday, July 19th, here at the Corson Bits office, we're going to throw an event alongside
Avants.
If you're here in San Diego and you want to come, contact kevinatavants.com to get on
the list.
It's going to be quite a limited list.
It's going to be quite a VIP event.
Is there a point to be allowed?
I haven't decided yet.
Nicky Lube will be there doing oil changes.
There's a lot of...
We legally...
I have already dropped a lot of oil down here, so it's only fitting.
Wait, wait, Filippo, go back to the Nick camera angle.
Go back to the Nick camera angle.
Now look, Filippo, look at that.
No, no, go back to the Baleno.
Does it look like a first gen RX?
Does it look like a first gen RX?
It looks also like a first gen Sequoia too, by that.
No, no, only in the Nick camera angle.
You got to look into the monitor.
Look at that.
It looks like a first gen RX.
I thought it looked like the Saburo.
I get it.
I liked my Sequoia answer better.
So reach out to Kevinatabons.com if you're local.
Come to that and obviously go to the community posts for the Seattle event.
We're excited to be there.
Nick, are you upset that we have a manual swapped AMG wagon on the site?
You thought you were the first.
You thought you were the only.
And not only are you not the first and only, we're selling one in Maryland.
All right, baby girl.
The first thing is that I made, and I'm stealing your line.
Yes, I made that claim specific to the 55, not the 63.
Even then, I'm not sure I was actually correct in there,
but no one thinks I'm actually accurate about anything I say on the spot.
That's so true.
I've been chatting with this guy forever.
He's a super cool dude.
It seems like he did the swap the right way.
He did some of it himself, I believe, but he's a Mercedes swap shop for the tuning.
And there's a lot of similarities.
I'm excited to see what it does.
It's a really cool build.
And no, I'm not upset at all.
I honestly have no idea what mine is worth.
I'm guessing like I spent so much doing it that I'm curious.
Like this will be an interesting comp for me either way.
And we'll help inform like, do I hold mine on a long time?
Do I sell it?
Because there's an opportunity.
What have you?
This one's modded.
Mods are always difficult because some people love them.
Some people don't.
I adore all these mods, but I could see some people preferring a bone stock one.
But it should be really interesting.
And this is, I don't know, the 63 is so cool.
Like maybe I should have done a 63 after all.
I wanted the 5.5 because it was closer to the SLR in terms of a SuperTurge V8.
If I wanted to swap the SLR, but I think if you didn't have that very niche use case,
then the 6.3 might be a better choice.
I don't know, but yeah, it's cool that you guys got it.
I'm glad he chose cars and beds compared to that other site or site.
It's interesting that you say that you may have preferred the 63 after stealing my baby girl line because...
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Filippo, can we talk about Annapolis for a second?
Maryland, yeah.
Sailing capital of the world.
Do you remember how I used to say that I wanted you and me to retire to neighboring houses in Carmel by the sea?
Of course.
I now feel that I want us to retire to neighboring houses in Annapolis.
Why?
Love Annapolis also sort of a similar vibe, kind of like a chill, like bayside town.
I think Annapolis is like a little bit like chiller, bayside-ier.
And the C63 wagon is there.
Oh, I was wondering what the tie-in is.
That was my next question.
And so there must be a vibrant car scene for God's sake.
That's true.
There is also in Carmel though, for about a week, two weeks a year, which is coming up so quick.
Yeah, but the rest of the time, the cars in Carmel are all SL450s, you know?
That's so true.
I'll consider Annapolis.
I think it is cool that the manual swap Mercedes are out there.
It has become like a...
I think people are doing, and there's now even ones for sale.
So like the big shortcoming of AMGs in this era has basically been fixed, and they're out there, and people are driving them.
So excited to see how it does.
You know, a lot of people say that if you manual swap a 210, it's better than an E39M5.
A 210?
A 210.
Is that what you're going to do?
Absolutely not.
I know when a car should have an auto and when it should have a manual.
Are you still getting one?
I know very well.
Huh?
Are you still getting one?
What do you mean am I still getting one?
It's bought and paid for.
It's in New Jersey getting paid for.
I haven't heard about it for a while, much like you buying a Jeep Wrangler.
Like I didn't know if that was just something you said or was real.
I'm buying a Jeep.
I'm doing it.
I got so many car moves coming this winter that it's going to make Sean's down wheeled head spin.
Sean is sitting there right now trying to get wrap his arms around how now he asked because I've committed to it,
he's going to have to crush a Ford Focus on camera.
And what he doesn't know is all the things that are going to happen.
I'll tell you this, folks, if you're looking for a California legal G500 Cabriolet, it's coming.
You're going to be able to-
Tomorrow, right?
Nick, you want it?
Or it'll be yesterday when the pod comes out.
Sean's G-Wagon.
Oh, Sean's G-Wagon.
Yes, yes. He means his own G-Cabriolet.
That'll be on the site eventually.
But yeah, producer Sean's G-Wagon ends when the pod comes up.
It's at 43 grand right now with 22 hours to go, which is-
I would like to talk about-
It seems like people are not discounting its bad color.
I would like to talk about a couple of cars while we're talking about cars just really nearly.
Okay.
Slowly transitioning to market report here.
Car one is this car, which is going to be live when this podcast comes out.
Which is 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer.
Nick, I got to tell you something.
I drove this car.
I'm an Evo guy.
I've always been an Evo guy.
I'm into Evo's.
Yep.
I drove this car and I decided I have to get one.
Really?
I am actively looking for an Evo right now also.
Wow.
This is a good-
The thing is, the thing is, I know that in order to find the Evo I want, I have to strike
when it hits because they're so rare.
Yeah.
And this Evo, this particular one, it's too nice for me.
It's got like 900 miles or something.
960 miles, which has to be the single nicest Evo 8 in the world.
It is an absolutely pristine Evo 8.
It is unbelievably nice.
It is unbelievably clean.
Yeah.
And I drove it and I was like, I'm sold.
I love how eager this car is.
It's so much fun.
I think the 6 and 7, I don't want to say a little better.
They're all really, that era, it's 6 to 9 are the good eras of Evo.
And the problem is the 6 and 7s are all right hand drive, basically are all right hand drive
and they're all modded to health.
This is like the last clean US market Evo 8 in existence.
That's so cool.
You and I made that pact of no more BS cars and I was worried this was a BS car.
It's like, all the lore on the internet is like, oh, it's fun, but like the interior is like worse than you expected.
You expect nothing of it.
It's bad.
It's bad.
But it's an honest car and I love how it looks.
I think it's age gracefully.
I'm with you.
I just get personally excited when I see one around, especially one that's well kept as that one appears to be.
I love my super dearly.
I love my super dearly.
I've loved the time that I've spent with it.
I've owned it for a few months.
But I think I would rather have this Evo.
I'll let you down to Evo with and trade you for the super.
How about that?
It's impossible to find what I'm looking for though.
I'm looking for an unmodified eight in either blue or red.
Yeah, it doesn't exist.
But this black one is too nice.
Even if this was blue, I wouldn't buy it because it's only got 963 miles.
Someone probably Mitsubishi, if they had any money, should put this car in an Evo museum.
Unfortunately, Mitsubishi doesn't.
I think that have to use all of their sales profits for the years to get there.
But I'm excited that this live on Carson Bids as you are watching this.
Doug did a review.
Yep.
What are the incredibly special?
Is that car still in the office?
Right there.
Oh, yeah.
Looking at it.
Before you leave, go sit in it.
You know what that is?
That's like a Japanese Mustang.
It's like all the money went to powertrain and drivetrain and suspension.
And the interior is trash, but the goal was to keep the price down and make it a fun car for not crazy money without ramping up everything.
And I just, I loved driving that car.
I'm also a sucker for evented hood and I'm literally looking through the vents.
Like they're functional, real vents.
And that alone is, that seals the deal for me.
It just looks good.
Such a good looking car.
We've transitioned to the market report brought to you by Carson Bids, right?
Now it's time for the market report brought to you by Niky Lube.
Pull up the town car.
We posted a video the other day, a short where I was like, there are still cheap cars.
And people are like, these cheap cars are blow up.
Yes, every cheap car ever.
That's always been the problem.
Here's one that won't.
We sold this, Nick, you see this?
We sold this town car 46,000 miles for seven grand.
I don't know if those numbers are right, but that's what I remembered.
That's a pretty damn good, this is a panther and it's a late panther and it's a big old cool American car.
It's got a nice boat thing to it.
Or you could put a blower on it and have some fun.
Yeah.
Nick, you like this car for seven grand?
Remember the one you, you saw that was Terminator swapped?
Yeah.
Yeah.
That thing was so cool.
I also sold those cars I've never reviewed, but everybody's always telling me, oh, cars,
the cars are expensive.
No, we sell good cars for reasonable money.
And these panthers, these town cars are exactly that good cars for reasonable money.
But we also sold a manual swapped grand marquee.
Damn.
That's all I want to say.
Nick, you're not buying this town car instead of this.
What is a Marauder cost compared to that?
Not a little more.
Not a ton.
If I had seven grand, Nick, I wouldn't even touch your focus.
I would buy that town car in two seconds.
Marauders with miles are 10 to 15.
Yeah.
It's just another example of cars and beds selling cars for all levels of enthusiasts,
all levels of enthusiasts.
People are like, oh, that 04 STI sold for 100 grand.
Yeah, that had one mile on it.
There are still good enthusiast cars for sub 10 K and that town car is one of them.
Nick, you ever have a panther?
I haven't.
I'd be down.
I mean, I love that era of Ford.
Yeah.
Can I mention another sub 10 K car that I was stunned to see sub 10 K?
What was the deal with it?
This Raptor?
What happened?
We sold a Raptor for $9,500.
Nick, you did?
I didn't think Raptors were cheap yet.
No.
And they generally aren't.
They're not.
They're not.
I mean, they're getting lower, right?
Like if I look at lowest price, 16, 17 grand gets you one.
This one had miles, 160,000 miles and had a lot of flaws that were consensual.
Flaws that were consistent with heavy use off-road.
Rather like a bunch of cracks in the headlight lens, scuffs, scratches, cracks in the windshield,
weathered finish on the wheels, tears on the inside, rust, et cetera.
For $95,000, I mean, Nick, instead of your trash P38, you could have had a Raptor.
I know.
Yeah, you should have.
You still could.
Honestly, that is pretty compelling.
It is so compelling.
It's a 5-4 Raptor, though.
That's another thing you're not saying.
It is a clean title, though, but it's a clean Florida title.
There's some question marks, but it's cool as hell.
There's a reason it was sub-10 grand, but I love that Raptors, admittedly, not the not-nice
examples are getting there.
Remember, so Whovies Garage bought one that was formerly a Border Patrol car, 300,000
miles.
It sold the new guy that owns it is still in Kansas, JR Garage, which is a YouTube channel
I love, still maintains it.
Dude's still driving.
It's got like 330,000 miles.
They're reliable.
They're rough, but it's afford at the end of the day.
The parts are there.
They're available.
You can go to AutoZone and get them.
At 10 grand, even if you are spending a decent amount of money each year freshening things
up, that's a pretty cool truck.
Yep.
Hey, by the way, Nick, speaking of Whovies, what's your thought on, you watched the Car
Wizards, Lost Cruises video?
That thing's got like 670,000 views right now.
He makes a pretty compelling argument for Lost Cruises in the video.
Did you think about maybe moving there?
I mean, it's the same and someone moves to Arizona.
They make the same arguments like anywhere in the Southwest has similar value props.
And I agree, like especially compared to depends on where you're coming from.
I'm not moving.
I'm locked in at 2.49 mortgage.
Here's what we heard from Wizard.
It's not as hot as Wichita.
I was crying but not where he lives.
Here's something he didn't say.
Eight character vanity plates in New Mexico.
Eight character vanity plates.
Does that tip the scales for you?
No.
I have zero vanity plates right now.
Wow.
Really?
You?
Yeah, well, mostly because I moved everything to California.
Right.
Then California's vanity process also takes months.
And so you're deciding, I don't know the patience for that.
When he did Montana took like 30 minutes.
Montana, they have like a cannon ink jet that pops them out on demand.
You joke, but that is literally called print on demand.
And that is almost exactly what it is.
That's one of the benefits of the flat plates, which Montana has in California.
In California, they're making the incarcerated folks do it.
In other states, they are also making incarcerated folks do it,
but they use a printer and the flat plate process as opposed to the press plate process.
It's still done by prisoners generally.
That's anyway, he's in Las Cruces now.
Filippo, if you thought about a move, maybe there,
I've driven through Las Cruces, like we go to El Paso once or twice a year.
Not my favorite place.
Filippo, this is a market report on Las Cruces.
What I'm telling you is you can buy all the house you want as long as it's in the Adobe style.
You can buy all those.
I do like to be fair.
I would be okay with that.
It's the rest of living Las Cruces that I'm not.
Can you pull up the V12 vantage place that Nick wants to talk about?
I'm moving to Wyoming if I move just for the record.
You are not moving to Wyoming.
You would not be able to handle it.
I would winter somewhere else.
You would winter somewhere else?
That would make me a lot of fan friends with the locals, but yes, no, I would winter in Florida.
The V12 vantage is super interesting.
You all sold one for $203,000.
It is as far as I can remember, the only Aston Martin that seems to be holding its value short of the like million dollar plus special one.
This is specific to the manual ones.
The sticker on one of these, when new was like 185.
It is the only Aston that if you don't count inflation, which CarGuyMath, I don't, has held its value in the Aston range.
A V8 vantage you can get for like 30 maybe.
So it is also like to have a better engine and better revving, like a handful of changes.
It is worth 200K versus 40, but I just, I couldn't think of any other Aston products that have held its value that well.
All the V12 vanages compared to the V8s are 2X the price, but a manual is 2X the price of the V12.
It's notable.
The DBS manuals have also held pretty okay.
They're in the hundreds compared to 30 or 40.
Yeah, but not like this.
They're nowhere near endless.
This is holding sticker.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's that.
Honestly, up until very recently, even the Merchial logo hadn't held the sticker compared like, I sold mine for what, 300-ish and it was more than that new.
Like that is for Aston to do that.
Like one, if you're Lance Stroll or what have you like pay attention.
Maybe we need a clutch by wire situation across the whole range, but or maybe just put V12s and everything.
I don't know the answer, but that is pretty interesting.
They were also pretty limited.
Hey Nick, speaking of vantages, can I ask you a question?
Filippo, can you type in Aston?
A-S-T-O-N.
Mm, thanks a lot.
Aston.
Nick, how come you're not interested in this red one that we currently have live with the stick?
It is cool.
The main reason is because it can't follow in your footsteps again.
Right.
You'd be like, oh, I got one in front of a bison 20 years ago.
Oh.
First off, it was 10 years ago and that bison and I are still friends.
He sent me a Christmas card this year.
Did it.
Interesting.
I might have seen him when I was in Yellowstone.
No, this is in North Dakota.
I don't think they go that far.
I took my Aston North Dakota.
That's right.
I do think for the 40-ish K that these go for maybe more for the premium on this one being really cool.
TJ Hunt bought one.
He's modding it, which is exactly what I would do.
The
The flywheel, so it revs a little better, like put some sound on it.
Like, dude, that is really, really compelling and something I would consider doing had the Simpsons not already done it.
The Simpsons?
Yeah, it's got it.
It's a whole, because everybody does it.
I'll explain it to you later.
I want to talk about a different car.
We've been talking about 9-eleven values generally going up.
We have this incredibly nice 996 turbo.
Coming up this week.
That's 21,000 miles, 16-manual, the X-Series Performance Package, and a color.
All of which should help it be kind of a standout result.
And it's going to be really interesting to see where this actually lands.
There aren't that many low mileage 996s.
It's going to be interesting.
Doug, any predictions?
Any feelings?
Deep in the six digits.
That's 900 grand, 800.
The real story here that he's not telling you is this is a friend of all of ours.
Sure, it is, yes.
And if you become our friends and you're really nice to us, we will shamelessly promote you on the podcast.
I'll be honest, even if you're not our friend but you sell a really interesting car that I'm interested in the value of, I might win the good photos.
Also worth pointing out, like, we haven't seen the car.
I don't know.
I've never been in the car on it, but like, it looks incredible.
It's quite a thing.
It's an interesting market, too, right?
It's truly, 996s and 996 turbos have not had the same appreciation as a lot of 991 manuals out of 997 manuals and 997 turbos.
Contrary to my brother Filippo, 996 turbos are really strong right now.
They've been coming up.
They're strong relative to the 50K that they were for a couple years, five years ago.
So they've gone up, but they haven't exploded.
I don't know, man.
They're selling for 80s.
Mid cars are selling for 80s, 90s.
That's a lot of money.
I think it is a pretty significant increase, a rise in time.
I sit here and think about this.
I got confronted on the street the other day by a guy.
All these turbos are so expensive.
All these 911 turbos are so expensive.
Especially manuals, yeah.
I think people don't really understand the right way to use them for it.
I think people buy them.
When the numbers get this high, I think people are buying them thinking they're going to be a GT3,
but really it's like this high speed bullet car that you use to go from one city to another,
firing people's dads.
You know what I'm saying?
That's $1.
It is interesting how the market has really, really, really started to value all of these cars,
including that 996 twin turbo.
I think they're all strong right now.
We'll see what this incredibly nice by low mileage and presentation.
When are you getting a 911?
Dude, these pictures really make me want this specific car.
Those wheels alone.
The wheels are cool.
I wanted to put those wheels on my B7S4 back in the day.
Of course you did.
It's the right bolt pattern.
You could do some stuff.
Nick, legit though, when are you getting a 911?
You've had a Porsche longer than anybody I know.
When are you getting a 911?
Probably never.
Only because they're so expensive at this point that I would rather just dabble in the underrated,
undervalued cars rather than a 911 in particular, such a known commodity that it does always the
market correct price because there's so much demand and supply that it's never going to be a deal.
I'd rather buy a $18,000 or a NAHG that destroys me financially because I think I'm getting a deal
and there's no such thing in the 911 world.
That's somewhat reasonable.
I want to move on to the question segment.
The question segment, of course, is brought to you by Nicky Lube.
Nicky Lube crushed Jiffy Lube with a P38.
Look, if the Monroney partners or whatever they were called are listening, 1.2 bill.
1.2 bill for Nicky Lube.
Cheaper than Jiffy Lube and better.
Just for the name.
Got an idea.
I'll just ask you a few questions.
First question is actually for Nick.
It's actually from Mrs. Rochon.
It's for Filippo.
What's your dug in friends?
Do you think Filippo is the only dent side Ford owner with a co-exist sticker on the rear bumper?
Yeah, it's odd.
You see one of those trucks and you think maybe they're-
We don't have that sticker on there, but we should.
They're a certain type of person.
Filippo is a different type of person, if you know what I mean.
Let's just say that Filippo and Nick are sitting in their respective correct positions on the political spectrum.
I don't know.
He just apologized and that's surprising.
That's true, but I also said the terrorists were producing good results.
The audience can continue to gas and the people on Reddit can continue to put insane theories as to my political leanings and I'm here for it.
Filippo, what's the status of this truck?
We're still on bad tires.
We're still on some questionable tires, but we did a bunch of work with our friends at AutoZone, which is exciting.
Can we please fix the tires?
You ever drive it?
Drove it yesterday and then got a new battery and alternator and now we're here.
Nice.
This is a good question.
Next one from T4RV8.
Dude, Doug, I'm 22, just graduated from college, landed my first real job.
I own a 2004 4Runner with a 4.7 liter 2UZV8.
Grace, I own a powertrain of all time.
I've had the truck five years, loved it, but it's now got over 200,000 miles, started to develop minor issues.
My question is, when do you know it's time to let go?
The answer is when the issues start getting to you.
It's purely dependent on your age and issue tolerance.
Nick will tell you this story because he's had cars with issues his whole life, but he's let the issues...
When he was younger, this many issues would get to him and now this many issues gets to him.
And I think that it's really dependent on your issue tolerance.
Yep.
I was going to say, so for me personally, I've had this thought before.
Sometimes I didn't sell, and then I ended up selling like six, 12 months later and regretting not selling it earlier.
Generally speaking, when I start to have that thought, should I sell, it is time to sell.
Like to me, that says I'm kind of tired of it.
I'm ready to move on and I can drag it on like you did with the 500 or Sean did with several of his cars and just let it languish being not excited about it for six months.
Or I can just say, you know what, if I'm asking the question, I already know the answer.
The answer is it's time.
I'm also pro people having different experiences.
And if you've had it for 90,000 miles and you're 22, you've had this for 20% of your life and driven all the miles you've ever driven.
Maybe it sounds like it's great.
I agree. Other than for this particular person, they just graduated college.
It is a very volatile job market out there.
Save some money.
Like I don't know what you're making, but I would say financially, like this is the time one invests an experience.
Like go out there, go on dates, buy nice dinners, go travel.
Like I don't go into debt on a new car.
They have the finest.
Din Tai Fung and six other restaurants like Din Tai Fung all available to you.
Do you want ramen?
They got it.
Do you want udon?
It's a different restaurant, but they also have it.
Like they got everything.
If you like it.
Sounds like a lot of Asian food there at the UTC mall.
They have pizza?
Yeah, yeah, they do.
It's got bok choy on it though.
I do love the issue this person is going to have is that they're not going to get a better truck because there's not many better trucks than a fourth gen four runner with the VA.
You know, behind you, we just sold that 0600 series, which is the greatest Toyota truck of all time.
That's going to be better.
It'll be a little better.
But I do think though that it all depends on your age.
I don't toluate in many issues anymore, but there was a time when I tolerated them all.
I will say it is not just just age.
It's also just general tolerance and ability in your life.
So like if you were when you were in college, you could maybe spend time fixing those things or if you didn't have the car, that was fine.
If you have a job now that requires a commute and you need to be there on time, then maybe those issues become really problematic really quickly.
And so that's the consideration too.
It's always hard to get blanket car advice like that.
Yeah.
Next question from Alex goes racing.
This is a question for me, but I'm going to have Nick answer it for me, but for me, not for him.
Do you, Doug, you mentioned before you were very close to buying a Huracan Storato, which would have been your first time purchasing a new supercar.
Are there any other new supercars you're interested in buying that fill the experience?
Nick, go ahead.
I still think the Storato would have been really cool.
I think that's a great example would be at the top of my list.
The answer is no for Doug, by the way.
Just to finish the bit.
If I'm answering on your behalf, I think the answer is no.
Yeah, they all got too expensive.
He's a Sequoia guy.
He's going to Toyota and buying new SUVs.
When I look at what new supercars cost, I am pretty astonished at the price for what you get.
That Kuntash for $600,000, that's like a Temerario.
The Kuntash is on an order of magnitude, cooler and more special and more exciting and more everything, except boring, reliable, rich guy GoFast has Bluetooth.
I don't think there are any new supercars.
I look at 12-cylindries and I love how that car looks and I love how it drives.
For $800,000, there are so many cooler cars.
Nick, your mercy for $250,000, you can't even buy a supercar for $250,000 anymore.
It doesn't exist and that mercy is cooler than any new supercar.
I know.
It's amazing that you have this opportunity.
I just could never justify the price of today's modern supercars.
The Strato actually is an interesting example.
I think part of the reason you were attracted to it was that it was around $300,000,
which is an insanely large amount of money,
but by supercar standards, kind of a bark.
It would never exist today.
I think if they came out with a Temerario Strato, first off,
it would be three years from now, three more years of inflation,
which the automakers really take advantage of inflation when it happens.
If inflation is 3%, we got 6% raises in MSRP and I think they would price that at a half mil.
It used to be that if you bought a supercar for a long time, not forever,
but for the last 20 years you bought a supercar, you could usually kind of maintain the value.
Sometimes you'd make money, you wouldn't really lose.
I don't necessarily know that's true anymore,
given how the automakers have decided to kind of go after the full margins in some of these cars.
I just can't imagine spending today's money for a new supercar.
When there are so many cooler cars, a Diablo,
I mean, I could get a lot of Diablo for the price of basically any of these older cars.
Well, that's why you have a website selling used enthusiast cars and not new Rich Guy Go Fast.
New Rich Guy Go Fast.
Don't you worry, we got both for you.
Look, they got like a couple hundred miles though. They've been stamped.
Next question, this is a very, very good one for me and Filippo.
Dear Doug and Associates, what is the best generation of Lexus RX?
I think 1.2.
I'm going to just straight up say the second.
What? Really?
Yeah.
What?
Yeah.
The question, I'm just going to ask you another question.
I apologize, that's a third gen facelift, but it's not.
The third gen facelift, the third gen was a tremendously,
you know what, I'm changing my answer to the original RX 400H.
This is the third gen, isn't it?
That's the third gen. Yeah, that's silver one.
The second gen, which is the RX 400H, by the way.
I'll agree with. Yeah, that's fine.
The RX 400H revolutionized the whole world.
Pull up a second gen.
You know, my parents to this day are still driving us RX 3.3.
Like this one colors theirs.
To this day, my mom is still driving that car.
It's a great car.
This is an interesting thing. I can't believe this happened.
The other day I was on the phone with her and she brought up the fact that she was thinking about getting a Bronco Sport,
which shocked me.
What?
And she said that she's thinking about selling her RX.
And I'm like, oh my God, they've had this car, no joke.
They bought her a CPO in 2008.
They've had it for 20 years.
And they said maybe we could sell it on cars and beds.
And I said, you know what, you could.
A Bronco Sport makes sense because she had a escape, miles of tribute, whatever.
Yeah.
And so it attracts.
It's like going right back.
She had a luxury experience and rejects it.
The RX is such a, these vehicles still look modern for being 20 years old.
They have held up incredibly well, reliability wise.
They're still comfortable.
They're delightful.
Yeah, you're right.
I think you're right.
The second gen, but I like the hybrids the best because I love, they did so many little height details to the hybrids to make them different.
Like changing the fog lights from that shape to a circle is why did they do that?
It makes no sense, but they did.
There were all these little hybrid changes that you could tell it was like a little nod to the people who liked the details like me.
That's my favorite RX.
Third gen was a great RX to be clear.
No, third gen is among my least favorite.
Third gen being this one, I just never liked how it looks.
I thought the interior was, I never liked how it looks, but it was a tremendously successful car.
This is a generic SUV.
The RX before was a standout SUV.
The second gen was odd looking in a nice way, I think.
Yeah, I thought it looked good.
And also it's set to...
The cool one is sort of heinous, you agree?
Yeah, yeah.
I kind of have been to it in the right color trim, but this RX was exemplary at the time.
It was clearly the segment leader at the time in a way that the third gen was just a competitor.
It was also, the second gen's heart was a hard car because the first gen was such a hit, but it was very conservative.
And the second gen, they decided, hey, we're going to try something a little different, but we still have to maintain the success.
It was a difficult car to redesign and they smashed it out of the park.
I think the third gen is definitely more conservative again, yes, but it was a big hit.
That was a good car.
They were all good.
The second gen, comparatively to the market, was better.
It was the best of them.
Final.
Yeah.
All right, it's time for one more.
Flipo, do you want my parents' old one?
I don't not want it.
How many miles?
I don't know.
Okay.
Two more.
No, we'll do two more questions.
I'll trade for a focus.
That's a good trade.
We need to do two more.
One from Stills 400.
Dear Doug and Nick, some of your automotive decisions are based on the fact that you have children.
Would your car ownership choices be different if you didn't have a family in tow?
What would your daily be?
Would you still own SUVs or wagons?
I can tell you, I wouldn't have a Toyota Sequoia for a car.
But you, Doug, own pre-children, owned Mercedes SUVs.
Sorry, Mercedes station wagons.
Yeah, I don't think my choice is to be that different.
I also, my daily with my kids is my 911 Turbo, so I don't think it would be that different, honestly.
And it will be the Supra going forward.
Nick, however...
Oh, you'd be entirely different.
Oh, yeah.
I don't really have any friends outside of you guys.
And we all drive separate.
And all the Nicky Lube employees, yeah, we drive separate to everything because they're car events.
So I have zero...
If I had no kids, I would just need a seat for my wife, maybe somewhere for the dogs.
Oh, yeah.
So maybe a 2 plus 2 would be good.
But like, yeah, I think they would all be like, the TTRS was great when I was kidless, is that's all the car I needed.
And then some, so yeah, I think if I could do it all over again, like I wouldn't...
Who is it that...
Oh, my co-worker, Scott, he doesn't have kids.
They're like young.
He's got like a Frenchie.
And he's like, oh, I need this like S-Class.
And it's like, dude, what are you doing?
Like now is the time to get like a Lotus Elise.
Like when you have kids, then go get wagons and sedans and all that.
If you were young, like the guy with the 22 year old with the four runner, like get the tiniest, sportiest, most impractical car you can and enjoy it because one day that will no longer meet your needs.
And then you will be forced to be buying wagons and three row SUVs and boring stuff.
If that's who you are, I've always been a practical car person that has no real bearing on what...
Like I just like practicality, like being able to throw stuff in the back or bring people a visit, whatever.
It depends on who you are.
Flippo, under what circumstances would you buy a Mark 4 Super Turbo?
I have zero interest.
I will point out my sports car that has that.
Oh, yeah.
What would the circumstance...
It's a very practical car.
It's a Toyota.
It's very reliable.
If somebody gave me one, I'd keep it for like a month.
Under what circumstances would you buy an XJ Cherokee?
More.
I don't know.
More than a Super.
Last question, and this one is for everyone.
I wish Kenan was here for this, but it isn't.
From Jet Steiger, where does everyone stand on food in the car?
When is it allowed or not allowed?
Well, we know Kenan's response.
Yeah, no food ever allowed.
One time he let one person drink something that wasn't water in the car.
That was a big moment.
I have zero rules and you can drink or eat anything in the car.
I don't care.
I think cars are meant to be used.
And your road trip car, you should absolutely eat in the car,
drink in the car, whatever.
If you're a more special car, maybe take some reasonable avoidance steps.
If you're going to open something, be careful.
If you're going to eat something messy, maybe don't in that car in that moment.
But just be reasonable.
Who cares?
You should see what my sequoia looks like right now.
That is the family car.
And you should eat in that car.
Kenan would be terrified.
I just went around off-roading through these giant mud puddles
and my kids convinced me to put the windows down.
They wanted to get wet.
Nice.
And you should see what it looks like.
Did they get wet?
They got incredibly wet.
The car is all wet.
They tried to convince me to open the sunroof,
which I thankfully did not do, but other than that, pretty bad.
That's maybe an extra level far.
If they want to get wet, get out of the car and go in the puddle.
I've never eaten in the SLR.
That car doesn't even have cup holders.
You drove to Arizona and you got out and ate?
Yeah.
I mean, the dog, you needed a potty and all that.
I will do, in a car like that, I'll do a Crunchwrap Supreme,
where it's fully encased.
I wouldn't do a hard shell taco.
But for the most part, I'm fine with it.
One of my first jobs in high school, I worked at a detailing shop.
We would get used car trade-ins.
We'd have four hours to make them perfect.
One of French fries and disgusting stuff that I found in between seats
that was years old and still not as gross as you would think,
but also bizarre.
It does turn you, you just realize some amount of food will stay in the car
and never leave unless you unbolt the seats and manually remove it.
And even then, maybe not.
You have to make a decision early on to say,
I'm going to go full Ken in here and there's no food ever
because there's no coming back from it once you open the floodgates.
Or you just say, forget it, it's a car, I only live once,
and I'm going to let it get destroyed.
I think you can come back and have it not be destroyed, but have it be used.
It's difficult to ever get it back, fully back to where it was.
You can have a couch and eat on the couch
and not have it look like you poured Coke all over it.
You've never seen our TV room couch.
I have all the covers and stuff, but the amount of kid stuff that's been ruined on it.
It's going to get dirty, but it's going to get ruined.
No, it's going to the landfill. It can never come back.
Fair enough.
That was a great podcast. We got Philippa's thing there.
Thank you so much for participating.
This was a podcast, not our greatest ever.
Our greatest ever is when Ryan Lopez is going to come on sometime in the fall.
I'm saving for that.
Looking forward to the events.
Philippa will be at the one in Seattle.
That's not confirmed, but I'm excited.
He will take you to dinner.
And thank you everyone for watching.
As always, it's been a pleasure.
Producer Sean and I are going to work out the logistics on crushing next focus.
Goodbye, everyone.
Goodbye.
About this episode
Ferrari’s back with a “gated manual” that’s really a dual-clutch with a clutch pedal and shift gate—by-wire, but reportedly able to mimic real manual behavior (including bucking/stalling) while still offering an automatic mode for traffic. The hosts debate whether it’s “fake” or simply the next step, and how it could spread to other DCT cars and even dodge some regulatory hurdles. They also cover Ferrari’s limited Tailor-Made allocation, pricing, and what it means for future enthusiast demand. Then it’s Fiat Topolino arriving in the US as a low-speed microcar, plus jokes and safety talk about its door options.
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Welcome to THIS CAR POD! Doug DeMuro & Friends offers weekly expert insight and opinion on breaking automotive stories, the car market, and audience Q&A.
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Chapters:
00:00:00 THIS CAR POD!
00:00:16 Ferrari Brings Back The Gated Manual!
00:09:19 Fiat Topolino Is Coming To US
00:18:06 The All New Bentley Torcal
00:20:57 Automakers Return To Regional Designs
00:24:31 Toyota Tacoma Production Returns To Texas
00:33:28 Massive Deals On Polestars
00:37:45 Massive Deals On Lucid
00:43:32 The Tesla Model Y L
00:45:47 Cadillac Vistiq Recall
00:46:43 Jiffylube Is Under New Ownership
00:51:35 Talk Cars
00:52:06 Nick's Selling His Ford Focus
01:00:04 Cars and Bids Events!
01:07:30 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII
01:10:30 Market Report
01:10:38 Lincoln Town Car
01:12:19 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor
01:16:00 Aston Martin V12 Vantage
01:18:59 Porsche 911 996 Turbo
01:22:17 Community Questions
01:22:39 Is Filippo The Only Dent Side Ford Owner With A Coexist Sticker?
01:23:46 When Do You Know It's Time To Let Go Of An Old Car?
01:26:50 Is Doug Interested In Any New Supercars?
01:29:32 What Is The Best Generation Of Lexus RX?
01:33:06 Would Your Car Choices Be Different If you Didn't Have A Family?
01:35:17 What's Your Stand On Food In The Car?
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