Have "Clout" Cars Gone Too Far?

You might have thought it would never happen, but Switchcast is endorsing a transport company.

Whether you're moving a rare collectible, a high-end sports car, or your personal luxury

vehicle, Shaughnessy Overland Express delivers with precision, privacy, and respect.

This isn't just transport, it's white-glove care from pickup to delivery.

For over 14 years, they've earned the trust of collectors, enthusiasts, dealers, and owners

by offering unmatched service and personalized attention.

You'll work directly with their experienced in-house team, ensuring a smooth and private

experience without middlemen or surprises.

Every shipment is protected with up to $3 million in cargo insurance, offering peace

of mind for even the most valuable and rare vehicles on the road.

In addition to their enclosed fleet, they've also established a trusted auto transport

brokerage service, giving you access to a nationwide network of vetted, open, and enclosed

carriers.

Whether you need transport on a route they don't currently operate, or their carriers

are at full capacity when your schedule demands, they'll still get it done without compromising

the Shaughnessy standard of excellence.

Same professionalism, same personal touch, expanded flexibility.

We are proud at Switchcast to endorse Shaughnessy Overland Express as the official transporter

of Switchcast.

Visit SOEXInc.com and tell them Switchcast sent you.

OK, we're going to do as if we're doing because we are a second audio intro, because this

is two full audio podcasts.

Yeah, I got you.

We got to banter a little.

You ready to banter?

I'm ready to banter so hard.

Oh, yeah.

Got yourself.

OK, welcome back to Switchcast season host.

Host season host.

Let's start that again.

Run it back.

We're not live anymore.

Run it back.

One more again.

Welcome back to Switchcast season six.

I'm your host, Doug Tabott here with my co-host, Tyler Knoop.

It's Tim Neely from Tim's Enthusiast Garage sitting in while Tyler is on a much-needed

and well-deserved vacation to the Bermuda promises.

I don't know where he actually is or what he's doing, but he's not here.

Probably working.

Bermuda.

Santa Barbara.

OK, well, somebody else.

Is he in Santa Barbara?

Nice place in the Caribbean as well.

I love Santa Barbara.

Oh, did I like it too much?

It was kind of creepy.

If you live in Santa Barbara, I'm waiting for the invite.

Switchcast is the automotive podcast.

It's not just for car people.

We do run background checks on our co-hosts, despite how it appears.

Switchcast is a show where we seek to edify, educate, and entertain in no particular order.

If you enjoy this podcast, help us out with the algorithms and support our co-hosts channel,

which is...

Tim's Enthusiast Garage.

I really like that placement.

Do you like that placement?

You like it.

I'm getting very good at product placement.

That is a nice placement, Tim's Enthusiast Garage.

Yeah, I just wear this Sheffield watch for every episode.

Another one.

And I'm checking the time on it now.

I love it.

It's quarter till.

Well, Tim's Enthusiast Garage.

We talked about the M5 saloon, no, not the saloon, the estate, I'm sorry, last week,

and got a little flack for calling it big.

You called it a fat pig.

Yes.

We made a...

We did a TikTok Instagram short, and some people did not agree with your take.

Well, they said that it's supposed to be a touring car, right?

It does what it's supposed to.

It's got 700 horsepower, it makes up for the weight, et cetera, et cetera, it gets around

just fine.

Everybody that's driven one loves it, which, no, a lot of reviewers have said it's awful.

But I did a little comparison because I said, okay, if they made an E39M5 wagon, that would

have been the best car ever.

And so people say, well, M5 has always been the heavy car compared to an M3.

If you want a light car, get an M3.

But E39M5 compared to an E46M3 was 15% heavier.

Not a lot.

The new, I don't know what the model code is, but the brand new M5, not the wagon, we're

doing fair comparisons here.

The new sedan M5 is 40% heavier than the new M3.

That's not good.

It is 600 pounds more than the Defender I drove here in.

Yeah.

And the M3 has only gained 10% weight as much as I make fun of the new BMWs for being heavy.

The M3 has only gained 10% in weight in the last 20 years.

It's not too bad.

The M5 has gained a 40% higher percentage.

That's actually, that's shocking.

40% heavier for the sedan, let alone the wagon.

40% heavier than an M3.

Shocking.

So how about them apples, detractors, critics?

We love talking about auctions here.

You sell on Bring a Trailer.

I do.

You don't buy on Bring a Trailer because you're too cheap.

You like off-market deals where you can shrewdly negotiate people.

Tim's a shrewd negotiator.

I am a shrewd negotiator.

You just do it so kindly that nobody knows.

I do like to be kind.

I did get some deals this week.

Yeah.

What did you get a deal on?

I got an R9T Racer BMW motorcycle for a deal.

It's one of the most handsome BMW bikes.

Yeah.

Are you going to flip it or?

I'm going to use it as a backdrop for videos and stuff like that.

On Tim's enthusiast garage.

There you go.

And then I got a first year supercharged Avanti Studebaker,

which is not my usual fare, but it's down to the shrewd negotiator thing.

It was the price was right.

And shout out Myron Vernes.

Thank you Myron Vernes for all your what to ask and what to look for when you're

investigating under the hood of Avanti.

He is very smart.

He's a regular contributor to this podcast from behind the scenes.

I'm a big Myron Vernes fan.

Yeah.

He knows everything.

There's a reason I say this podcast is not for car people is because I don't have the level

of knowledge like people like him.

So I try not to say too much.

And he is encyclopedic.

Lest I get in trouble.

But let's look at some auction results.

The best Ferrari 456 in the world, but not really.

It was a GT, not an M, but it was a manual and had 1900 miles in a unique color.

Sold last week on bring a trailer at a hefty premium from the one just a few weeks before.

1900 mile first year 456 GT sold for $230,000.

Which is all the way full retard for those listening because yesterday an M manual transmission

M sold for $149.

But it was Tour de France blue.

No, blue swatters.

Sorry, blue swatters over tan.

That's too much money.

I'm sorry, it's not tan.

Tradisione Connelly leather upholstery.

Anyway, that was a huge bump from a 3000 mile car that sold a few weeks before that for like

156 I think it was.

Big bump.

People be crazy.

But let's talk about 1900 mile cars.

So if you want the best example of a Ferrari 456 GT, $230,000.

Tim, what do you think a 1900 mile 89 Chrysler TC by Maserati five speeds sold for the best one

out there?

The best one out there deserves to sell for a, and I'm going to, this is going to be a big number.

And it's the yellow beige.

Yeah.

The nicest one on the planet deserves to, it probably sold for $49.99, but it deserves to

sell for 71 50.

It sold for $11,453 that is that they overpaid.

They overpaid.

That is a truly, truly terrible car.

Who got the worst deal, the $230,000 Ferrari 456 or the $11,000 Chrysler.

The Chrysler TC or by Maserati.

I think double paying for, because eventually the Ferrari will be worth 256.

Probably.

Maybe.

I don't know.

Maybe that's a lot.

That's a lot.

You know those shocks were leaking.

You know they were leaking.

Doug, let's see.

Let's talk about realists.

You like no, do you like or not like no reserve auction?

So I'm about to do a no reserve auction because I had no interest at all on my

virage, which is blowing my mind.

The engineer for the car was the high bidder.

Oh boy.

Yeah.

Oh, so you sold it at a.

It did not sell.

Did not meet reserve and I sent him an offer and now you're listing it.

No reserve.

That may work out for you.

I think so.

I've been watching a few of these realists and it's, it's, it might be a better strategy

than just selling no reserve to start.

Because you get all the people interested and they get a notification that's back.

Oh, now I'm selling.

Because I was giving that thing away.

It's like making no sense.

So here's, here's a prime example of that.

And this is not a loan example.

2007 Aston Martin V8 Vantage six speed coupe black metallic paint with the kestrel tan leather.

I'm sorry, Dan, our technical advisor said it's wrong.

Bring a trailer is wrong.

Breaking news.

What color is it?

It is factory Ferrari Nero Daytona.

Let's see if anyone in the comments, nobody in the comments call that out.

Red Fox.

Well, shoot, this is the best kind of autism or experience and he's got, he's got a spreadsheet.

So it is not while it is black metallic.

They just didn't say those Nero Daytona Ferrari color.

Anyway, in the first auction with a reserve, it went reserve not meant for 44 to 50.

They re-listed it a month later.

No reserve and it sold for 56, which is a big number for a four three car.

That is, it's a big number.

Let's see if the first auction called out the correct color.

Let's see.

My Vera, nobody did.

My virage is one of 54 in a manual transmission.

So if you, if you want rare on rare, I've got what you need and it's coming to bring a trailer soon.

If you like our Patreon topic, nope, that is not what I wanted to say.

Our Patreon topic is the worst car names.

So if you want some exclusive content, check us out on Patreon, patreon.com slash

switchcast if you like our content and you want more of it.

That's where I was going with that.

Soul and spine wants everyone to have a higher quality of life.

They specialize in non-surgical options for those who have been told that they need injections or

surgery. They offer state of the art techniques that help over 90 percent of patients become

pain free in just weeks. Starting with thorough medical history and comprehensive examination,

you'll work one-on-one with Dr. Hoover to meet all your treatment goals.

Their mission is to unleash your body's own healing potential to avoid drugs and surgery.

Visit soulandspine.com to learn more located in Solon, Ohio.

Tim has a hot take here that he texted me. He wanted to talk about the premise of it is

essentially the question, have clout cars gone too far? And I said, well, that's going to offend a

lot of people. I need you to present your case and tell me what exactly you mean by that.

Have clout cars gone too far? What are clout cars and what's not clout cars?

I would broadly define clout cars as car payment vehicles, cars that are very expensive but are

attractive to banks because they generally hold their value. So all the cars that went down in

the collapse of 2009. But in general, generally speaking, like Huracans, R8s, stuff like that.

But I would say it even gets broader. Pain to sample GT3s.

GT3s. So not the super, super cars. That's cool, though.

I disagree with you there. It's just a color. That's literally the definition of buying clout is

I paid $20,000. No, the definition of buying. I will sidestep that for a second and say,

what is with all the paint to sample? And then they paint it like Carrera GT.

Like GT silver. Like how is that? You could have painted it anything.

I don't get the paint to sample guys or like paint to sample chalk.

Okay. So it goes back. I'm sorry. There's a bigger problem there. It's the herd mentality.

It's the herd mentality of everybody buying what everybody else wants. It's the same thing

with the paint to sample. And then you get the kids, the kids that are the car spotter culture

or whatever. And it's, you know, it's Instagram. Dan here is a recovering car spotter,

so be careful. Dan has taste. I mean, Dan, I follow Dan. Dan posts interesting cars.

And I think that you can be, most of the clout cars bring in people that aren't inherently

enthusiasts. They aren't inherently like, now I think like take the Lamborghini Huracan,

for example, Lamborghini Huracan is a great car ruined by cloud chasers. I mean, I wouldn't be

caught dead in a Huracan until 10 years from now maybe when all the clout, it's not cool to own one

because the last, you know, six, seven years. So you're talking about like the ones with rims,

the ones with the Instagram tag on their back window? Yeah. Would you say it is a sin, an

automotive sin to have an Instagram tag on your car anywhere? I wouldn't go that far now. I mean,

I think it's helpful on interesting cars, like on the V12 century guy, the V12 century. I mean,

okay, I'll check him out on Instagram, you know, or like Krypton, Exige or whatever, at least or

whatever, you know, okay, so it's exige. I'm sorry. What is the actual problem with clout cars?

The problem is it's developed this whole, it's developed this whole car. There's almost like

a subset of car culture. There's a, so in our area, we have a cars and coffee for clout cars

and those kids that like the clout cars and then we have a real cars and coffee. I mean,

so what's at the real cars and like real cars, cheap cars, bad cars, expensive cars, what's an

enthusiast car? So even at the, even at the real cars and coffee, like if a, if a lone hurricane

or a lone M4 GTS paint to sample or whatever shows up, typically it's like a real enthusiast

owned car. Like he also has 15 other BMWs that are interesting or whatever, rather than the

one guy that lives in the apartment with the M4 and it's so you're saying it's just cars that

maybe they can't afford it or they're stretched beyond their means. Does that make somebody

not an enthusiast if I'm on payments? No, I mean, what's what makes them not an enthusiast is that

they like a hurricane is a really good car. It is a really good car, but it's been tarnished a

little bit. Would you not agree with this? Maybe. Yeah, it just feels like I'm trying to get you

in trouble with the internet. I know I'm really, I am sort of soft shoeing this a little bit here.

Okay, so that and maybe that's the problem is I really, you understand what I'm saying though.

Sort of. Do you understand? Maybe I haven't articulated my premise. I don't, but I could

make the opposite argument that cars and coffee is overrun with non clout cars, with like the

poser clout cars, like the, the, the pop tune Volkswagen's and BMW's that there's a million of

that their parents bought them. So it's nice. Yes, hurricanes are common and the modern exotics

have become accessible. So there's a lot of them, but at least they're like decent cars that people

want to see that they're not just going to see it any car dealer. So I'd rather see the cars and

coffee full of quote unquote clout cars. I'd much rather see it full of oddball random stuff

that people like just because they like it, not because it's a trend. So is a, is a hurricane

even an exotic car though anymore or an R eight or a, I mean, or a vented or even, I mean, in

what define, that's a whole nother thing. What define is exotic. I think it's, I think rarity

has to be a play a big part of it. Well, I think now it's just, well, it's, it's a hypercar.

Hypercars have taken the place of supercar and that gets me to my second point is, is, is the

performance because now every time a new car gets introduced, it's like, well, this one's 2.2

seconds to 60. This one's 2.1 seconds to 60. Does it, does it even matter anymore? Like,

I feel like this was a base Corvette C eight is 2.8 seconds zero to 60. It doesn't matter.

And I was sitting at a fundraiser table with a guy who had a C eight and he said, I do 2.6

seconds zero to 60. And I literally called BS on him right there. I don't know the numbers off

the top of my head. When I was a kid, I did. Now I'm like, I don't know, there's too much

information jumbling around in my head. I'm like, you are full of crap. He showed me his app. And

I was like, how is a naturally aspirated rear wheel drive car do 2.6 seconds zero to 60?

Whatever you're right. But my counterpoint to you with the guy in the apartment with a Huracan is

maybe that's a good thing because exotic cars have been become accessible. In the 90s, they

weren't accessible. If you look at the inflation of car values relative, like to buy an E class

Mercedes in the early 90s, you would have had to make the equivalent of like a quarter of a million

dollars today. They were way out of reach for the average person. It was real status just to be able

to afford something like that. And now it's in a sense erased the status, which maybe is a good

thing because it's allowed the quote unquote average Joe to be able to afford a Lamborghini

or Ferrari. They're making way more of them. They are better cars and they are accessible to most

people and just the overall wealth of America is growing. The number of people who are millionaires,

the overall standard of living. Yeah, I just don't think the feeling that you get

or the feeling that you would have had at the time. I almost feel like it has shifted now

in the real exotic cars. And I'm going to use the word exotic as

like an untouchable car is like a Zonda or a Wira or a Konex. The way what we call hyper cars.

Yeah, like literally, I think if you look at like even, I mean, you know, when I when I was

younger or what, I mean, when's the first time you saw a Diablo in traffic? I mean,

it wasn't the year the car came out. I was an adult. You know, that's what I'm saying. It wasn't

when the car was new. It was like in the Midwest or even anywhere. I mean, when you just don't,

you just don't see them. I didn't until I own one. Part of me is like, you know, exotic now.

You know, what's exotic? I mean, a spiker, you know, which is old now, but that's exotic. I mean,

they didn't make many. It's it's very bespoke. I don't know. I mean, I think there's a the problem

that I'm connecting and that we connected with on this on the subject initially is that the type

of people and I am this is a hot take and I am this is going to offend some some people. But the

type of people that buy those cars are the type of people who want to shut down a gas station

and have, you know, a bunch of kids like taking their picture. They are the type of people who want

to hard park at a restaurant, you know, like so that no other car can go through. Whereas the

owner of a of a of wire probably isn't that that person, you know, it's a cloud chaser.

The Rev Limit Lamborghini, the Lamborghini Rev Battles can't buy a Vented or because they've

all they all need valve jobs. I mean, because every one of them is like cold start.

I mean, no oil pressure, no temperature. I mean, I have a problem with that just because to me,

I find it incredibly annoying. But that's not an enthusiast. No enthusiast ever say they are.

They have everybody around them with cameras. It's it's someone's enthusiastic about something.

Hmm. I don't know. Maybe this is a conversation to have, but I just feel like that is that's

ruining car culture. Okay. I would say that is I don't you know, I'm not saying this broadly.

Like I want to hear, you know, like I want to hear a Marchelago Rev. I mean, I think cars

generally sound better under load. So if you have a car that makes a pretty noise, it sounds better

driving up the road than it does free revving off the off the rev limiter. Now that's a that's

an opinion. I just stated my personal opinion about it. But I just think that that culture

is is similar to cancer.

You heard it here. I mean, it just it just is. I don't know. I mean, battle Lamborghini owners

and those those two cultures are cancerous to the car culture. They just met in in Gatlinburg.

The those two cultures met the the 28 degrees of negative camber. Like what is that stance

stance nation and the cloud chaser, a vented or SVJ owned by someone with a car payment

just united for what is the worst car show ever in the history of man. Yeah, you know,

and I just think that's not it's not like it's funny to me because like no one that would have

owned I'm not saying that like you inevitably were cool if you had a 355. That is not that is

not the case. But there was something there's less there's less exotic cars, you know, from the

bygone era. And this is partially like a barrier to entry. There's a barrier to entry. And there's

no barrier to especially with exotic car hacks. Thank you very much. And some of that. I mean,

you know, and some of it like I I want to own. I mean, thankfully you own I own you own

interesting cars that we always dreamed about some new some old. You know, I have but it took me 20

years to earn that same page and I paid barrier to entry and I paid cash for every one of those

cars. So now that could be like an old school mentality that I have. But it I

and this is not a commentary on whether or not you can actually afford the thing. But if you

can actually afford the thing like so take for example my Ferrari. When I started, I let it warm

up because I you know, I don't want to replace the valves, you know, because I dropped one from

free revving it or, you know, cracked in a manifold or or whatever. I don't know. I can get on board

with you there because that goes to a philosophy of earned versus given. I think there's a stat that

says 80% of millionaires are first generation millionaires. Because there's something to be said

about starting with nothing and when you earn it, there's a you learn the inherent value

of that thing, whether it's a dollar, whether it's a car or whatever. So and on the flip side of that,

when you win the lottery, statistics say you'll go broke because you didn't earn it. You don't know

the value of that money. So I think where I can get on board with your point is when something is

too easy to obtain and or you can get it on financing your dad bought it for your whatever,

that's what's the cancer in this culture. It's not the cars themselves. It's that there's so many

of these cars being produced and the horsepower and the performance and the status is so easily

attainable that there is no barrier to entry. And if people are not working towards it and earning it

and not just the financial aspect of it, but also earning it in terms of knowing about the car

they're buying, researching and knowing why they're buying it, not just because somebody on social

media told them to or because everybody else is buying it. So the third part of this that I would

say and you can we can you can audit this and tell me if I'm right here. But so all those cars

that we so up to, you know, say the Audi R8 or the the Gallardo Superleggera, like that's the end of

one era and then now we're in another era. Because cars have become so like

generationally ridiculously fast, you know, Christian von Koenigsegg posted a video

last two weeks ago now of a car that he always wanted. I know you've seen this probably, but it's

a Lotus Esprit. And it's it's he's always wanted one. He got one and he like basically rest them

out of the interior, put reggae events on the inside of it and and and loves it. And there's a

there's an interview with him and Matt Remak, where they talk about, you know, just like where cars

are because their cars now have 2000 horsepower and, you know, quarter mile and four seconds or

you know, whatever. That's not that fast, but very ridiculous. And the contention is that before,

you know, exotic cars were built to this sort of, you know, feeling, you know, when you drive a

Kuntas, you felt a certain way. When you drive a Diablo, you felt a certain way. And when I drive

an SF 90, I don't feel that way. When I drive a that's actually a really good example on SF 90 is a

is not a good Ferrari. It's very, it just doesn't it does the 296 is even a better car, I would say,

even going back a generation, I think the 458 is a better car in terms of the way it feels the way

it drives. And I think that they they're they agree with me somewhat on this premise that

500 horsepower and 2500 pounds is a real sweet spot that we've gotten away from.

In the chasing of crazy quarter mile time, the Veyron sort of set this, you know, impossible

now everything beat the Veyron, then everything beat the Chiron, then everything beat the whatever.

There's a real sweet spot. And you just said the the F one was even better than your friend

could have imagined. And that's a good example, because that's a car that's lightweight,

that has analog, manual, drive naturally aspirated. My contention is the solve for this,

the fix for this, because you can't say if you had a 500 horsepower, 2500 horsepower car at the

zero to 60 in a manual, it might be 3.5 seconds. Yeah, who cares what it is really. But the quarter

miles probably going to be somewhere in the high 10, low 11. So there's not going to be any Bragg

fast there. It's going to be in look at that piece of art. It's going to be feel this, this shift

feel the way that it, you know, the front end bites in this corner. We've somehow we've lost

that that was what made super cars great. That really is what made cars great. We sort of got

to a peak of, you know, an Audi R, R8, V8, even the V10 is just such a sublime car, but it's

almost too accessible. It looks like a, it looks like an Audi, you know, and is that a problem?

Is that maybe it only does now in hindsight when it came out, it was world ending. I think it looks

better now than it even did then. I mean, I, I like that car. I'm not using that as a negative

necessary. What I'm saying is that I think there's the era now, I think is it should be the era of

the enthusiast and hopefully the affordable enthusiasts. They're talking about Christian

Von Connick sex, talking about making a car similar to that and in a price point, you know,

between a hundred and 200,000, which would be, you know, hilariously affordable.

So you're saying we got to go backwards to go forwards?

I am making that argument because I think when you look at, you know, I wanted, I thought this,

I wanted to buy a new 911 this year and I'm, and I am chagrin to find that I will not be

buying a new 911 this year because the only 911 that I really want is a 911 T and it only has,

it's a manual. I want a manual. It's only has 388 horsepower and it weighs and is giant.

You know, it just doesn't, the, the, the, the man 388 horsepower is not an only unless you,

that's a good amount of horsepower. The M two is a better, the M two is a far better car for half

a month. How much does it weigh? $160,000 and it weighs over, well over 3000 pounds,

which is my vector for, you know, power to weight is wrong. You know, if it weighed,

if it weighed 2,800 pounds, okay, but it doesn't. I think it's going to be tough to get back to that

point because maybe those cars existed in a perfect era of some airbags, some safety stuff,

some EPA regulations, but not so many that we have to add another 500 pounds to the car. So

I don't know if we'll ever really get back there. Lotus has been trying to and they keep getting

banned from the U S. Yeah, they did just get banned. I have counterpoints to what you said,

but I don't actually agree with any of them. They're just playing devil's advocate for the

sake of playing devil's advocate. So I'll just leave, we'll leave it with that 500 horsepower,

2,500 pounds manual cars. If we can get back there and get away from the clout cars that

are seven on a horsepower all wheel drive automatic, the whole thing, yeah, cars need to be

accessibility isn't the problem. Accessibility is a huge problem.

Yeah, inner interactiveness. I mean, it's a huge problem. I drove that 996 GT3 RS

and I could not believe how much I liked that car. I always liked the 996 is a nice form factor

because it's like almost 993 small. It's not huge. It's a little bit of a bigger car. It's

a little longer wheelbase, but it's still now it's like hilariously small compared to a 992.

I mean, it literally feels inside. It feels like smaller than it is smaller than a Cayman,

a modern, you know, a modern GT4. So it's like, you know, Porsche, I feel like, well, what should

Porsche make for enthusiasts? I mean, the answer is the 996 GT3 RS just not $475,000. I know what

the answer is. I know what it is and some manufacturers are already doing this. It's the

singer formula. Yeah, they can't make new cars without conforming to all the safety regulations.

So Porsche and other manufacturers need to go back, Lotus maybe, and rest them on their old cars.

I think it's, I hope they don't. The one thing where Singer gets a little stuck is because

they end up being a million bucks is they let all these cloud chasers say, well, I want,

can I get rhinestones on the interior? Analog Elise. Have you heard of that? The

Elise S1s that a company in the UK is doing this, not the singer. I shouldn't say the singer treatment,

but they're updating everything. They're improving everything and modernizing what

needs to be done. They're taking a really great driver's car and bringing it up to today's standards.

I do like that. And the price points around like $100,000. I love that. There's your answer.

$100,000 to $200,000, I think is the answer. Well, ideally $100,000. That'll fix the car community.

Yeah. Yeah. Lots and lots of restomods. And now we pray. All right, now going to Shrew Negotiator,

which is people trying really hard, often too hard speaking of praying. We've got a 2005 Bentley

Continental Coupe for sale. Owner, pastor's wife, very seldom driven, need to sail to be driven

and enjoyed with the ambience of luxury and speed with pure admiration of everyone you encounter.

All right. Well, I don't know why a pastor's wife is driving a Bentley.

That's a whole other and cares about the admiration of everyone she encounters.

That's a whole other conversation. That's a whole other conversation. I don't know why

any of that is a selling point on a Bentley. I'd rather know about the maintenance, but

apparently it's more about the ambience of luxury and speed.

It definitely needs airbags. The suspension is definitely shot and it's never had.

And the tires are 15 years old. Every vacuum line on that W12 is bad.

I guarantee it. Every one. 100% driven to church on Sundays and Wednesday nights for Bible study.

That's exactly what you want to avoid.

The Sheffield brand was recently revived by Jake Turkbus, an owner of an original Sheffield

All Sport Diver he received from his parents in 1970 when he was just 11, beginning his love of

watches. As an adult, Jay used his extensive expertise in product development and marketing

to revive the brand that started it all. He set out to develop watches with a high level of quality

and specification and a value price. His first effort and a successful one on July of 2023

was the debut of the Sheffield All Sport Diver one. It had the kind of build and movement that

much more expensive watches use and his debut price of $108 was equivalent to the $13 his parents

paid in 1970. Since that debut, Sheffield has expanded to a wider range of automatics and chronos

many designed around vintage Sheffield dials of the 60s. The Sheffield well of clever and unique

design remains his inspiration as well as maintaining the goal of high quality, very

affordable range of automatic and quartz watches. Sheffield watches value on merit, not just price.

I love mine, so get yours at SheffieldWatches.com and be sure to mention you found them on Switchcast.

Americans are drowning in auto loan delinquencies and a report says Congress needs to fix it. This is

courtesy of USAToday.com. Now, there is a very real problem.

According to this article, the record number of auto loan defaults is a cannery in the coal

mine for large-scale economic problems warns the Consumer Federation of America. Now,

that I agree with and we have not, we have purposefully not touched on this auto loan

issue yet. The last couple years, there have been a number of social media videos going around

repo lots saying, oh man, look at all these repos, they're on the rise. And I'm like, well,

you're not comparing it to anything. You're literally just walking around a lot saying

all these cars are repos. Unless you have a baseline to say this is more than last week

or less than last week, more than some other period of time, it's irrelevant data. And most of the

data that we've been seeing has essentially been auto loan defaults are backed almost to

pre-COVID levels or now they are back to 2019 levels, which there was already a debt problem

in the US. There is a debt problem. We get that. But looking at the numbers, there was nothing

concerning. It was just, okay, we are getting back to normal because 2000 to 2022 was abnormal

economics. The government printed money at record rates. Inflation was at levels not seen since

the 1920s, I think. And we're basically just getting back to normal, back to normal levels

of debt and normal levels of people not paying their bills. Well, it seems like the stats are

now telling us that we're getting back to abnormal levels. And the numbers are more

mirroring the pre-2008 numbers of defaults, which is very concerning.

Was it you that sent me the chart? It was way worse than that. Was it you that sent me that?

Maybe. Yeah, it was really bad.

I sent you some things. Well, how bad is it to him?

It's really bad. And the funny thing I just want to say, Congress fixing it,

it's just like 2008. Congress can't fix debt.

Here's who can fix it. In 2008, it was these guys that were like, I mean,

everybody saw The Big Short or whatever that movie was.

Yes.

Yeah. Is that what it was called? The Big Short, am I right?

Can't short car loans, though.

I mean, car loans, though. I can get you approved. Should you get me approved?

You know, I mean, if I've got a debt to, I mean debt to income, debt to income,

these people should not, you know, you watch those TikToks and you ever,

you see those ones where they're going around to every person and what's your,

what's your car payment? They do it a lot in car dealers.

Yeah. The average new car payment is over $1,000.

It's like $1,500.

I'm sorry. No, it's not.

$1,275.

20% of new car payers are paying more than $1,000. The average new car payment,

I believe, is around $800. Okay. So according to this article,

CFA sent the report to members of Congress who, for the record, are record debt accumulators.

So they can't fix this problem.

Calling for an end to, quote, exploitative practices, including interest rate kickbacks

where dealers and lenders, quote, conspire to secretly inflate interest rates and

share the profits gleaned from the consumer's overpayment, end quote.

I had one opinion before I started reading this article, but the more I read it,

the more I get angry at just blaming banks and car dealers.

It's a lack of personal responsibility.

There's no secrecy.

Interest rates are readily available to the general public.

And if you don't like the interest rate that the dealer offers you,

you can go to PenFed or go anywhere in your credit union.

That's an open competitive market.

And they also blame the, let's see, the growing cost to buy and maintain a car,

as this article says, exacerbated by inflation and tariffs are leading to rising auto loan

defaults and repossessions. No, you know what's leading to it is people not paying their bills.

Nobody needed to buy a new car at a crazy inflated rate in 21 and 22.

There were used cars available on the market.

Good used cars.

Yeah.

You can still get a really nice used car for 20 grand.

You can get a really nice used car for eight grand.

I mean, you can get a really nice used car for six grand.

You can get one that works for four.

You can get a car.

Dan Doucette sold his perfectly good Honda Accord for what, $2,000?

Less than that, he says, ran fine and it will continue to run fine.

So this is consumer behavior.

Now, fully admit that in the 2008 recession, there were banks and mortgage loan officers

taking advantage of people, telling them all sorts of things, hiding things in the contracts.

I get that. It wasn't just the consumer's problem because there is, I guess,

more responsibility on the part of the people who know what they're doing to be responsible.

This feels like your responsibility problem.

It really does.

But it's both and. People are signing loans.

People are buying ridiculous cars and getting themselves into this trouble.

The interesting thing is, there's two pieces of information that I think is interesting

related to the mortgage loan crisis.

So Westlake Financial came by last week to solicit us as they wanted to do indirect lending for us.

And I go, wait a minute, you guys are like a subprime lender.

We don't do that.

Oh, no, no, no, we're moving into the 600 plus credit score, the good loans.

We want to give good loans now.

It's like, really?

Because that is not your reputation at all.

No, no, we're moving away from that demographic and we're moving into prime loans.

It's like, okay, sure, fine, whatever.

That seems smart, right?

You want to diversify.

However, on the flip side of that, Wells Fargo is going the complete opposite direction,

now offering loans starting at 540, well, starting at 500 credit score, but 540 and above

can get a loan to value up to 150%.

150% Wells Fargo will loan you if you have a 540.

Now, but is that not predatory?

That's predatory lending.

If you have a 500 to 539 credit score, they'll go up to 110% of loan to value.

That's disturbing.

Very disturbing.

Let's unpack this a little bit.

So those are the facts.

These are the, I'm a car dealer, not an economic expert, but I know a few things,

quoting my critics here, with the, I'm not an economic expert, I should stay in my lane.

However, staying your light.

So what was one of the big issues that caused the financial meltdown of 2008?

This is a layup question.

Yeah, I don't know.

It was the loan packaging, right?

It was not just the bad loans.

It was that the banks were taking the loans.

You watched the big short.

I did.

What was that called though?

There's a name for that.

Credit default swaps.

So they package all these AAA rated with the subprime loans and sell them as good stuff,

but then they ran out of good loans.

So they just put more bad ones in there and put enough in there that it was a good mix.

And they were getting the rating from the SEC or whatever and reselling them.

So I'm looking at this going, okay, Wells Fargo has probably a really good portfolio of good loans.

Well, they can take on these risky loans, super high profit, if the people pay, and then package them up

with their good loans, just like they did with mortgages, and then sell them off and make a bunch

of money.

Because why else would a well-established bank, and Wells Fargo is not the only one doing this,

why else would a well-established bank go, let's see, all-alone delinquencies are at an

all-time high, essentially.

Let's get into this business when it's terrible.

Yeah, that's crazy.

That's disturbing.

Unless, according to the chart you sent me, it is at an all-time high.

Unless you can make a bunch of money by kicking the can down the road, passing it off to somebody

else. And maybe Westlake wants to do the opposite, not just diversification, but it's like, well,

we need to sell off our portfolio, we need some good loans in here so we can package our crap,

all of our subprime junk, and put it in and sell it off.

So Doug's not a financial expert, but he's saying there's like 18 months before the collapse.

There's been a lot of people calling for the collapse on TikTok for a long time,

but it's with data that wasn't real data.

It was just, look at all these repos.

I'm thinking this is not a good sign.

This is not a good sign.

Now, this is mostly subprime stuff, but it's going to have a trickle-up effect on everybody.

You know, the problem with the government is, you know, this is about the time where

you don't have a bad loan, you don't have a bad loan, you don't have a bad loan,

I don't have a bad loan. We all have good credit.

I have a loan.

We don't, yeah, period. Here's the problem.

I don't have credit here.

Here's the problem is all of these people with the really bad situation are going to get

bailed out by Congress, and they're going to say, oh, you know what, just we'll pay off your car.

That's what, that's part of the reason we got into this in the first place is during COVID,

everybody got checks, everybody got bailed out in advance.

They hadn't even defaulted on anything yet.

They just started getting checks.

That's so accurate, yeah.

And then it's not the people that get bailed out.

It's all the companies that don't need a bailout.

Look at how many companies got PPP that didn't need it.

It's painful.

You're right. You're right.

It's painful, and it's just going to be another one of those things that you can already,

I mean, honestly, I don't really even have a comment here because that's what literally

what is going to happen, and we're going to pay for it, and we're not going to win.

We're not going to win, but we're going to pay for it.

You know what I mean?

Like, surprise, which is fine, which is fine.

It's not fine, but it is what it is.

Okay, well, yes, it brings us to our props and flops of the week

brought to you by SwitchCars.

SwitchCars is the enthusiast's dealership where we buy and sell cars that we like ourselves.

Check out our hand-picked inventory at switchcars.com and mention

SwitchCast for special pricing when available, likely $900 off.

And if you know why, we'll throw in a free t-shirt.

Find more information at switchcars.com or come visit our indoor showroom in Twinsburg, Ohio.

We probably don't offer 150% loan-to-value loans to people with 500 credit scores just as an FYI.

That should not be a thing.

Going back a little bit, the whole conspiracy thing of dealers,

like, it's not the predatory lending, the conspiracy to mark up rates, to secretly mark up rates.

There's no secrecy about it.

There is a required disclosure where you have to put on a piece of paper.

This is the rate you're paying.

This is the effective rate with fees.

This is the total amount of interest you're paying during this loan.

Like, all that stuff is regulated by the FTC.

And I've had two car loans in my life.

One was 0% and the other one was 1.8%.

That's when you get a car loan.

I mean, not 31% and oh, gosh.

It's bad business, for sure.

Maybe predatory, but it's not illegal.

I think what they're talking about is

you go to, you go to get a car.

Say even switch cars.

You go to get the, you see a 996 or a 997, 991 that you've gotten.

Hey, that's a good price.

It's a great color combo.

Let me see.

And you get them with whoever your loan provider is.

I'm sure you work with someone and they can do whatever.

Right now, probably 6.5% or something.

Let's say 8%.

Let's say 8% and because you brought that bank, that thing,

you get a percentage point or something.

Sure, like 1%.

And if that, and if that is really offending you,

that's how the car market, that's how the car industry works.

That's how Doug continues to pay for the things he wants to,

you know, groceries or whatever, but that's not predatory.

Where it's predatory is you go to get a Hellcat.

Yeah.

You know, it's like a 2023 Hellcat.

Why Hellcat, Tim?

Why'd you pick that one for this example?

Oh no.

But say you go to get a 2023 Hellcat and you have a 500 credit score

and you show up and they're like, and you just want the 2023 Hellcat

and you say, well, what can you get me?

Well, we can get you 26%.

No, they don't say that.

We can get you at $1,200 a month.

Yeah.

How does that payment work for you?

That's it.

Yeah, they hide things.

And that is, I mean, is that predatory?

Yes.

But you have to sign the paperwork.

Just like when you go to the new car dealer and they say,

you have to get the thing where they put air in the tires.

And nitrogen.

Yeah.

All that crap.

You don't have to pay for it.

Simonize and load jack and hold.

I hate to tell you.

So if you're going to buy a new car, you say, no, I'm not buying that.

I'm paying whatever you agreed to and the sales tax in your area

and a reasonable dealer dock fee of $500 or whatever.

And you're out.

Yeah.

And honestly, that's a good deal.

And you know what else is pay cash.

That's the other tip.

Well, now you're speaking like an elitist.

And if you don't pay cash, whatever Prime is, pay close to Prime.

So whatever, 8%, 7%, 6%.

Listen, people financing Hellcats don't know what Prime means.

Yeah, I shouldn't use that.

Please don't come at me.

Okay.

Well, speaking of 996s, that's that transitions nicely to our pick of the week is a 99 Porsche 911

Carrera Coupe six speed manual in palladium metallic, which is really grandma gold,

but it has the factory painted to match twist wheels and painted hardback sport seats

all in palladium metallic, among other really cool options.

So that is available on switchcars.com.

And our props and flops of the week are, let's see, flop of the week pit race,

which used to be beaver run has been sold to allegedly build a data center.

Why?

I don't know.

It's out in the middle of nowhere.

Because frigging.

Oh, it's horrible.

Like there's, I would think there's plenty of real estate around there.

I don't know why they have to sell a really fantastic facility that they'd like spent

all this money to redo and expand.

So sad.

It's awful.

It is literally awful.

And let me just say that if you live in the Midwest and there's a data center going in next to you,

did you know that if the nuclear reactor is under so many megawatts,

it does not need to be disclosed to the neighbors?

Did you know that?

That these data centers are, if they're not powered by V16 uncatalyzed diesel engines as

their backup power, they are allowed to use nuclear reactors on site,

nuclear reactors under X amount of, and they don't have to get special disclosure.

I recently found out that one of the data centers close to me has,

and has had it operating now for a little bit of time, a nuclear reactor.

They are very safe.

It's super safe.

We love nuclear.

It is.

It really is.

Apart from catastrophic failures.

Everybody here is like, hey, I love nuclear power.

Why are you so scared?

Our prop of the week, because that is a really bad flop.

Usually we have fun with them like, ah, this is stupid, but this really sucks.

That is a local track to us.

Great track.

I've been driving there for, I don't know, since 2005, 6 something.

It sucks.

Our prop of the week may be premature that we'll know in hindsight, but our very own Tyler

Sanders, who's been chasing a 996 GT3, has made an offer on one that has been accepted

with some contingencies.

So we might come back next week with Tyler being an owner of a 996 GT3.

So big props to him for getting, at least to the point where he put forth an offer and

it was accepted.

That's all it needs.

Even if it falls apart, he committed.

He committed, and we love Tyler.

So we'll get the full story in a couple of weeks, and so will you.

Thank you for joining us for Switchcast with Doug Tabott and Tyler Sanders produced by Ethan

Huffnagle.

Switchcast is an automotive entertainment and opinion show, and nothing we say should be

taken very seriously.

We do not give tax, investment, legal, emotional, or professional advice, and the only licenses

we hold are driver's licenses.

The opinions expressed on this show are exclusively held by the people pontificating at that

moment and do not reflect the values of our producers or sponsors.

Our theme music is provided by Emily and Ivory.

You can stream their full album on Spotify or SoundCloud.

If you like this show, you can stream it in its entirety on your favorite audio podcast

platform.

Check out switchcast.live for more info.

Have "Clout" Cars Gone Too Far?

About this episode

BMW R nineT Racer

Lamborghini Huracán

Lamborghini Murciélago

Ferrari 355

Request an Explanation

Want to learn more?

Help improve this episode

More from SwitchCast