Octane is basically how ‘stable’ the gasoline is inside an engine. Some engines need higher-octane gas to run smoothly, but if your engine doesn’t require it, paying for higher octane usually doesn’t help much.
A four wheeler is usually an ATV—an off-road machine with four wheels. It’s built for dirt and trails, so it can have different fuel and maintenance needs than a car.
A “side-by-side” (often called an SxS) is a type of off-road utility vehicle with two seats side-by-side, typically used for farm, trail, and recreational riding. These vehicles often have small engines and may have different fuel requirements than cars.
A dirt bike is a motorcycle meant for riding on dirt and trails. It can have different fuel needs than a car, and using the right fuel helps it run properly.
A turbo diesel is a diesel engine with a turbo that helps it make more power. Because it’s a more complex setup, using the wrong fuel can cause bigger problems.
Gas prices affect how expensive it is to drive every day. When gas gets pricey, people start thinking about switching to a more fuel-efficient vehicle.
Gas prices don’t stay the same—they go up and down. That means the cost savings from buying a more efficient car can change depending on where prices go.
In a hybrid, the battery can run an electric motor. When you’re driving in town and stopping/starting a lot, the car can rely on the battery more, which helps you use less gas.
Stop-and-go traffic means you’re constantly slowing down and speeding up in a short distance. Hybrids can do better in this kind of driving because the electric part helps more often.
An AI bot is a computer program that answers questions based on what you type in. If you want useful help for a car purchase, you have to explain your situation clearly.
MSRP is basically the “starting price” the car maker lists on the window sticker. The final price you pay can be lower if there are rebates or discounts.
An extended service contract is extra coverage for repairs after the original warranty ends. It’s worth comparing what’s covered, what’s excluded, and how much it costs.
Electric vehicles are cars that run on electricity from a battery. Instead of burning gas, they charge from the power grid, so people worry whether there’s enough power for everyone.
EMP stands for electromagnetic pulse, a burst of electromagnetic energy that can disrupt or damage electronic systems. Modern cars and charging infrastructure rely heavily on electronics, so the speaker is using EMP as a hypothetical threat to electronics broadly.
A “printed circuit” (more commonly, a printed circuit board or PCB) is the board that holds and connects electronic components. The speaker argues that an EMP could disable devices by damaging these circuits, which would affect many modern systems.
The power grid is the whole network that delivers electricity across an area. If it can’t handle demand, lots of things—homes, businesses, and charging cars—can be affected.
BMW is a well-known luxury car brand. The speaker is saying some people will travel to buy BMW because they don’t have a dealer close to where they live.
A bed cover is the cover that goes over the back cargo area of a pickup. It helps keep things dry and can make it harder for people to steal what’s in the bed.
Raising the vehicle gives it more clearance underneath. That can help on rough terrain, but it often comes with bigger tires that can be louder on the highway.
Larger tires are a key part of many off-road packages because they can improve traction and help the vehicle roll over obstacles. In this segment, the host highlights the downside: bigger tires generally increase road noise and can make the cabin less comfortable.
Road noise is the sound transmitted from tires and the road surface into the cabin. Off-road tire tread patterns and larger tires often increase road noise, which becomes a comfort issue for daily driving.
Wind noise is the sound you hear from air moving around the car, especially on the highway. Some vehicles or configurations can be noisier, which affects comfort.
LIVE
Hey folks, this is actually Lenny Lawson, the car guru.
I have been absent for the last couple of days for the local radio audience for the
podcasters.
You probably haven't noticed any difference, but I am back.
I had a sudden attack of laryngitis, no other symptoms other than I couldn't speak very
well, extremely low voice.
It was awful, but I'm cured miraculously.
I think it was the pollen in the air here in East Tennessee, and that happens, but
it usually doesn't happen to me.
So we had our big cars and coffee event, I call it second Saturday, cars and coffee.
And you know, I thought that would be pretty self descriptive of when the cars and coffee
event was going to be, the second Saturday of every month.
But I still had people calling say, when's the car thing?
And I said, second Saturday, it's called the second Saturday, cars and coffee.
Yeah, but when is it?
The 11th of April?
Yeah, when's the next one?
Well, I don't know.
I have to look it up on my calendar.
I have to find out what the second Saturday is in May.
You want me to call you back?
I guess some people just don't use calendars.
I live with a calendar and a planner.
Do you?
Yeah, I just, I mean, for the last 48 years, I had to have a notebook with a list of everything
I had to get done every day.
And the sad thing was that whatever I wrote down, I got about 70% of it done.
And then I had to carry over the other things, which the next day I got 70% of them done.
Yeah, it's just this 30% thing.
You know, if it were my wife, she would get 130% done.
She'd get 100% done, then she'd be looking for 30% more to fill the rest of her day.
When I left this morning, she was, I mean, this, this was pretty early.
She's pressure washing the sidewalk.
It had, you know, I guess black stuff on it and she didn't want that on there.
So she's doing it.
She's like the energizer bunny.
Sometimes I say, well, you just sit down, you're driving me crazy.
I mean, I'm sitting here trying to watch TV and you're, you're working.
It's almost bedtime.
Well, why don't you empty the dishwasher?
OK, I give, I went to the dishwasher.
So it's a negotiation.
Her activity versus my desire for inactivity.
So, but we still, you know, 48 years, we're still hanging in there.
OK, so what's on the agenda today?
Well, I was looking at the latest automotive news.
You know, everybody's in an uproar about gas prices.
Rightfully so, I think I use that 90 octane pure gas in my lawnmowers
and other equipments, you know, like my side by side and my four wheeler
and my dirt bike and, you know, other things, other things with motors.
Yeah, because the ethanol, the 10 percent that's in the gasoline
that you probably buy every day, it's not good for especially when
something has to sit for a long time.
So I put 90 octane pure gas in my antique cars and in my other equipment
that has motors, gasoline motors, not the diesels.
No, the diesel tractor only gets diesel.
You know what happens if you put gasoline in a diesel?
A vehicle with a diesel engine.
It's catastrophic.
You're getting ready to buy an engine or at least a complete fuel system.
We had to do that the other day.
I think I mentioned it on a previous show.
We had a customer traded in a vehicle.
We thought it was fine.
It was a well, less than one year old F 250 or 350 Super Duty
with a six seven turbo diesel engine.
It's a great engine.
Power stroke is what Ford calls it.
And so one of my service guys went to pick it up to do a pre delivery inspection.
It made it about 10 feet after he cracked it.
Then it shut down.
The fuel system was corrupted.
It had somebody put gas in it.
Yeah, we drained it out.
You know what the warranty coverages for that zero.
You know what the cost was 13,000 to fix that.
That was my cost to fix it at my dealership.
So that was not good.
So I guess the before the guy traded it.
He wasn't concentrating and accidentally put gas in his diesel in.
We didn't know it.
You know, somehow he was able to drive it in here.
You know, this happens in people sometimes they'll trade cars knowing
that they have a problem and they won't disclose it.
And I guess somehow in this world, that's OK for a consumer to basically
commit fraud against a car dealer.
Oh, but if a car dealer does that and sells a vehicle to a consumer
that they know has a problem.
That is the unforgivable sin.
Absolutely wrong.
That's a jury saying he's a car dealer and he's probably guilty.
One of the best things I've found to do is it's just amazing how well it works.
Just always tell the truth.
And then you don't have to worry about covering for yourself
when you can't remember what you did.
It happens.
We all forget.
I forget more now that I'm 69 years old than I did when I was 49.
And sometimes I'll use that as an excuse.
Well, I just don't remember.
You know, I'm old and my daughters say, oh, dad.
And the customers say, oh, well, I understand.
We're old, too.
Or my daddy's old and he forgets a lot of stuff, too.
I said, well, we're we're just twin sons of different mothers, I guess.
OK, I'll be back in just one minute if I remember.
OK, I remember I am back.
Yes, dealer sentiment is improving right now is the industry
enters the spring selling season.
I know I feel better that it's warm.
We just like I said, we just had our cars and coffee event and it was packed.
We had over 100 vehicles for our first second Saturday cars and coffee.
We'll have another second Saturday cars and coffee next month.
And if you want to know when it is, you know what to do.
But yet, gas prices are putting hurts on a lot of people.
I've had several people come in thinking about trading
their vehicles that don't get as good a gas mileage
for something that gets better gas mileage.
Now, let me ask you a question.
Is that a little short sighted?
I mean, they're looking at a what I hope and believe is a short term scenario
with high gas prices.
And I guess feeling that it's going to be a permanent situation and it's not going to be.
Now, are we going to have fluctuations in fuel prices?
Yes, we always do.
I think the runs are longer with low fuel prices
because it's typically the car or the result of some type of an event.
Now, this one's pretty serious out in the Middle East.
And I think it's going to be over pretty soon.
But it is putting the hurts on a lot of countries.
And individuals in this country who, you know, they live on a pretty tight budget.
They're having a hard time making it at two dollars a gallon.
And when it shoots up to four fifty a gallon, that's a problem.
But I would just hang in there and not trade for fuel economy reasons,
unless even at two dollars a gallon, it's a struggle.
I mean, I can understand somebody going out there, for example, we sell the
well, we have several different hybrid vehicles.
And our best seller, as far as hybrids is concerned, is the Ford Maverick.
Because I was looking at the window sticker the other day, gets 42 miles
of the gallon in the city and 38 on the highway.
And it gets better gas mileage in the city because it's using battery
power more often in the city.
Of course, we don't really have city where I live.
We have town and we definitely have stop and go traffic.
But it's not like living in a major metropolitan area where you're stuck
in traffic all the time in those types of situations.
Yeah, I mean, a hybrid can save you a lot of money and maybe it does make sense.
But you have to look at the total expense.
I mean, are you going to pay twenty five thousand dollars difference
and finance that in order to be able to get a few more miles to the gallon?
Do the math before you go shopping.
Don't just base it on, well, you're just tired of paying high gas prices
and filling up your car and so forth.
Because it just it's a little bit short sighted.
I'm not trying to be rude here, but you just got to put the numbers to it.
Get a piece of paper calculator or ask chat GPT to analyze it for you.
I'm using that more and more.
I know I'm probably going to have a hand in destroying the world as we know it.
But in the meantime, I can get information more quickly and more completely
than if I Google it, of course, Google uses AI to the first response on Google is always AI.
And then you have all the other stuff following behind.
But I I pay nineteen dollars and ninety five cents a month
for my chat GPT subscription.
So give it a shot.
Just go to Google or chat GPT or one of the other AI bots.
That's what they call them, BOTS bots.
Don't ask me and tell it what the scenario is.
Now, the quality of the answer that you get is one hundred percent dependent
on the quality of the question that you ask.
You know, that's true in life in general as well.
We won't get into that subject.
I'll say that for a later podcast.
But if you want to know what AI thinks about the deal you're trying to get.
Tell AI what the scenario is.
I'm trying to buy a twenty twenty six Nissan Altima.
The MSRP is thirty four four ninety five.
I'm just making up numbers.
I can get a rebate of twenty five hundred dollars or I can finance it at zero
percent for up to sixty months.
My trade in is worth according to the dealership fifteen thousand dollars.
I owe seventeen thousand dollars on it.
The new Altima gets this many miles per gallon.
My old car got this many miles per gallon.
In other words, folks, what I'm doing is I'm laying out all the facts and then
send it and you won't believe the detail that you will get back from chat GPT.
And it will tell you its opinion on what you ought to do.
And if you have any other questions, you can even ask it.
Well, what would it cost for the typical extended service contract for this type
of vehicle? And would you recommend buying it from the manufacturer of the
vehicle or an aftermarket insurance company?
It will lay out all the facts for you.
I mean, it's almost like having a car guru living in your guest bedroom.
But I'm happy where I am, so I'm not going to do that.
But you can do the chat GPT and it will, I mean, it's just a great resource for
now until it gains consciousness and takes over the world.
But I don't think I'll live to see that my grandkids might or even my kids.
It depends on how much power it needs.
See, that's the big problem with AI right now is it consumes a tremendous
amount of electricity and they're trying to figure out, OK, if this thing's
going to keep growing, how are we going to generate enough electricity to power
this without triggering all kinds of problems for normal everyday people?
Because from what I've seen, there's not enough electricity to go around
in places like California, of course.
You know, they want us to drive nothing but electric vehicles.
Wait till all of that hits the grid.
You know, and there are no internal combustion engines except Lenny's car
collection. And, you know, if we have an EMP strike, we're cooked.
An EMP is one of those nuclear bombs that that explodes in the atmosphere
and rains an electronic shower on everything and kills any type of printed circuit.
Read the book one second after by William Fortion.
I can't remember how you spelled his name, but it's like F-O-R-C-H-E-N.
Not only will you be looking for a 1959 Galaxy 500 to drive around in case
that happens, but you'll be stocking up on freeze-dried food like five years worth.
You see, everything that had a printed circuit wouldn't run anymore.
Nothing that had a printed circuit.
What has printed circuits? Everything.
Everything in our house, everything that makes our house work, the power grid,
everything in industry, nursing homes, hospitals.
I mean, they don't have to drop a nuclear bomb on us to put us out of business.
They just have to unleash an EMP strike.
It doesn't kill anybody.
Well, it doesn't immediately kill anybody, but it certainly does the job over a period of time.
So anyway, don't read that book.
If you want to sleep or unless you want to spend a bunch of money on freeze-dried food,
but on a lighter note, I like to think about things like what motivates people to buy a particular product.
I lost a deal this past week.
I had a customer that totaled their Lexus and while somebody pulled out in front of them
and they t-boned those poor folks, they survived, but her Lexus didn't.
And so she had one of the big Lexus, Lexus I, what's plural of Lexus? Lexuses or Lexi?
Anyway, her Lexus was totaled.
And so I've done some business with these people and they're there.
Well, I'm not going to disclose too much information because you might figure out who it is.
But they came to me and I was grateful.
They were wanted to see what Nissan or Ford I had that they might enjoy driving to replace their Lexus.
And so I showed them, well, let's see, we looked at the Nissan Murano, which is really nice,
not quite as big or as powerful as the Lexus they were driving because they had the big one.
So I said, well, what about the Armada?
They'll show us the Armada and I showed it to them and they loved it, drove it down the road, enjoyed it.
And then they thought about doing a truck.
So I showed them an F-150 and they really liked that as well.
And they said, well, we'll let you know.
And I've heard that before.
So I followed up the next day.
It was one of those, oh, you did calls.
Yeah, I called them and and they said, well, we just we just went ahead and got the Lexus.
Oh, you did.
Yeah, we did.
And, you know, let me let me just tell you, it was just something that she really enjoyed the Lexus
and it made her feel comfortable and, you know, it's just a little bit more prestigious car.
Not that they're looking for prestige or anything, but a little bit more prestige and uniqueness than a Nissan.
So I was slightly insulted, but I got over it.
But that's there's just a lot of people like that.
I mean, what drives you to purchase a certain vehicle?
Is it is it just price?
Is it all about price and economy and, you know, insurance costs all about money and longevity?
You don't care what you're driving.
It's just a way to get from point A to point B.
There are a lot of people like that and quality is important.
A lot of people, it's maybe a combination of things, price and quality.
A lot of people just want to drive something nobody else has.
That's why they go out of town.
I've had people say they go out of town and buy BMW because there's not a BMW dealer around here.
And they just want to drive something unique or they just like a particular design or, like I said, prestige.
You know, what drives people is sometimes not the most practical thing in the world.
And in the long run, it ends up being a bad decision because you fail to consider how your lifestyle matches up
with what you're buying.
Now, if you want to drive a particular vehicle just simply because the neighbors will take notice, then,
and if that makes you happy, then go ahead and do it.
But if your decision like that is going to negatively impact your family and your car life, then don't do it.
Resist that temptation.
I mean, I really like this new Bronco that just came in.
It's beautiful. It's the color scheme that I like.
It's got all the options that I want on it.
But, you know, I use my truck so often.
I have that bed. I have the bed cover over it.
We travel in my truck.
It has that wonderful new tailgate that Ford designed, a very simple design that opens like a door or folds down like a tailgate.
I can tow my camper with it.
It rides great. The seats are comfortable.
So why would I consider a Bronco?
There's only one reason I like the way it looks.
Yeah, it handles good, but not any better than my F-150.
The gas mileage is about the same.
There's not enough room in the back seat for three car seats, and I go pick up the kids at school once a week,
and all of them are still in booster seats.
That's not going to work.
So I think about these considerations, and I just have to resist the temptation to do something that just isn't going to fit.
It's not going to fit our lifestyle. I know that I'm not going to be happy.
Here's the advantage I'd have, though, over you.
I own a car dealership.
I buy vehicles every, I don't know, 12 to 18 months.
I do that for two reasons.
One, the IRS is going to charge me as if I'm buying it anyway if I drive a demo,
so I just go ahead and buy one because I can keep all my stuff in it.
And I don't have to change from one car to another.
A salesperson calls me and says, hey, Lenny, we need to sell your F-150.
And I say, now I can say, no, it's not for sale.
I've got all my stuff in it, and I'm driving it for another year.
And then I sell it and get something else. You can't do that.
That doesn't work for you, typically, unless you're just really loaded.
The average person is going to buy a car, they're going to finance it for 60 to 84 months,
and they can't go out on a whim and buy a Bronco when what they really need is an F-150.
So what am I going to do?
I'm going to be disciplined.
I'm going to buy what makes the most sense for me and makes me happy.
I'm buying the Bronco. I'll be back in one minute.
How's that for a curved ball?
No, I'm not buying the Bronco.
I talked myself out of it, but it is a really cool vehicle.
It does handle well.
It uses what they call the Sasquatch package.
What's that?
Well, that makes it taller, lifts it off the ground about three extra inches higher than a regular Bronco.
And it has really big tires on it.
And yes, that means it'll make a lot of road noise, which I don't want.
And there's just no, there's no, I guess I'm too old.
I like a soft ride. I like comfort.
I don't want to hear tire noise.
I don't want to hear wind noise.
And bottom line, I really don't care if I look cool.
And you shouldn't either, because all it does is cost you money.
Well, thanks for listening to this edition of My Car Guru.
If you have any questions, so let me know.
Send me a text, 423-552-2020.
Or send me an email to Lenny Lawson, 2020, at gmail.com.
And I'll see you next time.
About this episode
Lenny Lawson returns from laryngitis and jumps into automotive talk: gas prices, why trading solely for fuel economy can be short-sighted, and a real dealership horror story where someone accidentally put gasoline into a diesel F-250, costing $13k. He then argues that buying decisions should match lifestyle, not prestige or neighbor approval. He briefly considers a new Ford Bronco (great looks, Sasquatch package, but noisy tires, similar mileage, and not enough back-seat space for car seats) and ultimately talks himself out of it, favoring his practical F-150.
