The steering column is the part of the car that connects the steering wheel to the rest of the steering system. It helps you turn the car in the direction you want to go.
The Rivian R1T is a new electric truck that runs on batteries instead of gas. It's designed for outdoor adventures and has cool features that make it good for off-roading.
The Acura RDX is a small luxury SUV that offers a comfortable ride and modern features. The 2025 version might have new updates or changes compared to older models.
The Toyota bZ4X is a new electric SUV that runs on batteries instead of gas. It's designed to be spacious and practical for families while being better for the environment.
The Ford Ranger is a smaller truck that can carry things and drive off-road. It's popular because it's strong enough for tough jobs but also good for everyday use.
The Subaru Solterra is an electric SUV made by Subaru. It has some technology features, but there have been reports of problems with the display that shows important information.
The Chevrolet Caprice is a large car made by Chevrolet, popular in the late 1960s. The 1969 version is notable for its stylish look and can have a very powerful engine.
The Plymouth GTX is a classic car from the 1960s that was designed for speed and power. It's part of the muscle car era, which featured cars with big engines and sporty designs.
The Porsche Panamera is a fancy four-door car that offers a mix of speed and comfort. It's designed for people who want a sporty driving experience but also need space and luxury.
The Ford F250 is a strong truck that can carry heavy loads and is often used for work. It's part of a series of trucks made by Ford that are very popular in the United States.
The Toyota Hilux is a tough truck that can handle rough conditions and is known for lasting a long time. It's used a lot for work and outdoor activities.
The Shelby Cobra is a classic American sports car famous for being fast and powerful. It was made a long time ago but is still very popular among car lovers.
The Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid is a bigger SUV that uses a hybrid engine, which means it combines a gasoline engine with electric power to save fuel.
Ceramic coating is a special liquid that you put on a car's paint to protect it from dirt and scratches. It helps the car look shiny and makes it easier to clean.
Paint protection film is a clear layer you can stick on your car's paint to keep it safe from scratches and chips. It's like a shield for your car's surface.
Nano ceramic window tint is a special film you can put on your car windows to keep it cooler and protect against sunlight. It's better than regular tints because it blocks more heat without making it hard to see out.
Windshield protection means using special products to keep your car's front window safe from breaking or getting damaged. It helps make the glass stronger.
The cockpit is the part of a car where the driver sits and controls everything. It's like the driver's seat and dashboard area in regular cars, but in racing cars, it's designed for high performance.
The Mazda MX-5, or Miata, is a small sports car that seats two people and is designed for fun driving. It's known for being light and easy to handle, making it a favorite for people who love to drive.
LIVE
Welcome to another in-wheel-time podcast, a 30-minute mini-version of the in-wheel-time car talk show just to hit our show. And what the auto industry is struggling with, along with what we're struggling with, we've got recalls, and guess what it sold for on himmings this week. Also, I'll give you my thoughts on driving the 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid, and Jeff has the motor minute in this segment of the in-wheel-time car talk show. Howdy, along with Mike out of this world,
cars in Needle in Texas, we always need more Jeff Zekin, Chief Engineer David Ainsley, I'm Don, I'm Strong, glad you could join us today. Sorry for the glitch. Yeah, the glitch, if you want to call it that, don't know. The glitch is a good word to say I'm public. Yeah. We're going to be getting a new computer, hopefully this week, maybe that will solve whatever issue we have. In a hot tub. Through. The computer in a hot tub. It is a waterproof
laptop. I am not getting anywhere near you guys any kind of a hot tub. Did you ever see a hot tub time machine? Yes, but it reminds me of one of those trips we took to California, Don. No. No, it doesn't remind me of that at all. Thank you. This one you all wanted to San Francisco, right? I think it was just South of San Francisco. I'm not mistaken. Well, I'll tell you what, you know, we'll worry about that another day. We can explain that to people, but I
had, I was not an any hot tub with any man in this room. Other men, but not this. All right, clarification got to be clear. Got to be clear. I actually wasn't, wasn't in any hot tub. Remember, input in wheel time, send you pictures of your hot tub. We'll put it here. No, no, yeah. Okay. Let's do that. All right. Let's get on with the car show. Shall we? We're story of the week. Automakers and suppliers urge the Trump administration to end.
Unpredictable expansions of tariffs saying they're making it harder to justify investments in the United States. That's the message of a September 16th letter to the Trump administration from automotive trade groups and associations representing other industries. The business groups criticized the recent expansion of steel and aluminum tariffs to cover more than 400 new products, including auto parts and industrial robots saying it was implemented without adequate
notice and creates more costs and uncertainty for U.S. businesses. At a time when many are dealing with fragile supply chains, global competition and inflationary pressures, this process creates additional uncertainty that risks slowing growth and deterring investment in the United States. That according to Jeffrey Kessler, the Undersecretary for Industry and Security at the Commerce Department. More than 40 business groups signed this letter.
Including those that represent automakers and their suppliers in the United States among them are the American Automotive Policy Council, which speaks for the Detroit three autos drive America, international automaker association in the U.S. and MEMA, the auto supply chain trade group.
Importers need reasonable time to implement changes and clear guidance on how to comply according to the group arguing that the tariff expansion undermine the predictability companies need to make investments and could cause significant harm to U.S. employment.
I think that this is a learn as you go kind of thing with the tariffs and everything that's going on with that.
The letter comes as the Trump administration appears poised to expand the number of vehicle parts subject to auto tariffs, Commerce Department said September 16th that it would consider requests from companies for additional parts to be added to the listed components subject to tariffs.
The tariffs thing is a very complicated and involved deal when it comes to the automotive industry as well as others clearly, but we deal with the automotive aspect of it.
The tariffs expected to cost the auto industry $188 billion over three years, equating to about $4,600 per vehicle by year three, according to an estimate by the Center for Automotive Research.
By the way, today's average price of a new vehicle is almost $50,000, $49 some change.
It's a lot of money now.
And if you're wanting to buy a new vehicle, then let's just say that you want to buy a one that's $40,000. Good luck in trying to find that that fits your needs.
How are you going to afford that payment? You're going to stretch it out to seven years.
And seven years, by seven years, you've driven that vehicle for seven years. What do you got? 120,000 miles or more?
Yeah.
So it's a real catch 22.
And seven years is not going to be really worth anything. No, it's not going to get money out of it, but not what you expect.
And depending on the condition of the car, too.
Right now, I'm dealing with Katie's 2007 Ford Focus that she doesn't want to get rid of. It's in Colorado where she is.
And she wants to bring it down here. And I made the foolish mistake of saying, well, let's just bring it back down here. And when you come to visit, then you can use it here.
Well, okay, it's a $1,000 car at best.
$1,000. Is it worth it? Probably not.
And I know that she's not listening to this program today, but she's going to get the bad news that I don't think that I'm going to bring it down.
So the car comes down here and then what is it going to cost to maintain it down here?
Well, yeah. And I know that she's spending an enormous amount of money on getting it fixed up for me to drive back down here.
It's 1,000 mile trip. She bought a new set of tires at it, which I don't know how tires lasted like they did, but they were cracked.
They had big chunks out of them. Oh, wow. It was scary. And she's done some other things there.
And how often does she come down to actually use the vehicle, too?
Well, three times a year maybe? Well, it's more than that. But, you know, is it worth it?
And we're thinking, no, and where is she going to keep it?
I don't have the room here at the house to do it.
And so now we're going to have to spend money to store it.
So what do you do? Probably cheaper to just rent a car while you're here.
Well, that, but is it that or is it the sentimental value?
Well, it's the sentimental value and that's so much of her life.
I know she's had it all well since she was 16. I gave it to her for a 16th birthday.
And it had 1200 miles on it. So, right.
And it now has 185,000 miles on it.
Well, and it's been coast to coast just about, you know.
Every fender has been dented on it. It probably weighs twice as much as it did when it was brand new because of all the filler that's underneath the black paint.
So it's just, yeah.
Yeah, that's kind of a tough one because of the sentimental value of it.
Yep. So I'm going to have to let her make that choice.
But anyway, back to the the tariff thing.
It's not just new cars. It's also the parts.
So if you have, let's say you have a fender bender and you need a fender in the associated parts that go with the fender because it's never just the fender.
What are you going to do?
How much is that going to cost you?
Because now there's a big tariff on that fender that was originally made in China or Korea or Canada or whatever.
So that fender that was originally, let's just say, $500, that fender is probably going to cost you $750 just for the fender alone.
So there's a lot to be done here.
I know that there's a wait and see game. Hey, look, we're going to put the pressure on them.
Why isn't the auto industry putting pressure on their associated countries where they are that is causing all of this to continue on?
And I think it's something that they need to look at within themselves and say, you know, we really need to move on.
Let's get this tariff thing streamed out.
You know, it's interesting you bring that up dawn about buying a fender or something.
Next week, we've got a guest coming on that's created an app that might actually help people at least go through that decision making process.
And of course, AI is involved and all that stuff.
But it should be an interesting conversation that they have with auto fix it.
It's what it's called, but it relates exactly to what you're talking about.
The tariffs and stuff are going to make changes and this will give you an opportunity to make a little bit better decision related to some of those changes.
When is the last time that you or somebody that you knew went to a junkyard to pull a fender off of a car because it was cheaper?
Never. Never. I never have done it. Our parents did it. My dad did it.
Back when I was building an old pickup truck, I went there and took the steering column out of it because I needed a steering column.
I've never bought anything from a junkyard. I've had buddies that I've gone to the junkyard with like a pickup part type thing.
But I've never bought anything myself that I would buy, you know, today, there's a thing on the online that if you want to buy used, it's a whole network of junkyard parts.
And they put the cars are up there and the parts that are for sale and they'll ship them to you.
General Motorsport has the same thing. They've got a network of suppliers that they do internally, you know, swaps, part swaps from dealer to dealer or whatever, but that's the same principle.
Yeah, the old salvage yard, you know, if you went in there, they had kind of an intercom between the different locations.
If you went in there looking for a particular part, they would put that out on the intercom.
It's like a phone party line.
Yeah. Oh, we connection is what the manufacturers use or the party.
Yeah. Hello, Sarah, give me the diner.
Not quite like that.
I want too much Andy Griffith.
Absolutely.
Hey, Stellatus is recalling 53,849.1 vehicles in the US for a fuel pump issue that may lead to loss of drive power.
Pump quit.
Recall covers 2018 to 19 Alfa Romeo, Stelvio 2017 to 19 Alfa Romeo, Julia, about 1% of the recall populations expected to have the defect.
If you own one of those, good luck.
Hands-free highway assists software me and correctly identify other vehicles.
Uh-oh. Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
That's not a Rivian R1.
That's a Rivian R2.
Okay.
Because this is a recall for the Rivian R1S and the R1T for 2025.
Are you like me or you not like me?
Yes.
Loss of power steering assist Acura RDX 2025 being recalled.
An operative defrosting and defogging system.
Lexus Subrune Toyota 23 to 25 model years, RZ, Soltera, and BZ4X.
Let me have that because I'm going to read it next week too.
Okay.
The same ones are going next week.
Instrument panel display failure on the Subaru Soltera Soltera.
Inaccurate fuel gauge reading.
Martha, we ran out of gas, but it says it's full.
Martha and push.
Mazda CX70.
Mazda CX90.
24 to 25 model years.
Those are the recalls.
Martha.
I don't know what.
I don't know.
Martha.
Martha.
She's great.
Where are they?
Garden lanterns.
That's what that goes through.
I know.
I know.
When Martha on the streak.
That song, the streak.
When that Martha.
No, that wasn't Martha.
No, it wasn't Martha.
I worked with a woman named Martha.
Martha.
Harvey.
Why don't we do these sold cars round up?
Okay.
Mars, are you able to look and see if Jeff and George are online with us?
Jeff was here telling us about the audio issue.
George was here earlier.
Well, Jeff, Jeff is all about the, you know, pointing bad things out for us.
But we already knew that.
He's our monitor.
Yeah, we already knew the best.
All right.
So here's the sold cars round up.
Mars is no longer allowed to participate because he knows the price.
But we're going to try to fix that.
But in the meantime and in between time.
On Hemmings, the sold car this week, 69 Chevrolet Caprice.
It's a two door.
And it's got red striped tires and beauty rings on it.
So I would imagine 69.
So that would probably be a 427 car.
How much would that be?
12,000.
21,525.
Are you going to participate?
Yeah.
Perfect.
Because he was going to guess 21.
He was going to, well, he would have won it.
Yeah, he would have won it.
Okay.
So David, David's here.
David won it.
All right.
So would you like to have a good thing from Heitzman yet?
Why not?
I don't know.
Well, I know that you don't have a microphone, but we can shout it out.
Here.
Here's one.
A 1970 Buick Grand Sport.
Need to change that pick.
There it is.
Beauty car.
Look at that.
Hallelujah.
I'd like to have that price.
It's a Buick.
A 70 Buick Grand Sport.
Now, I'm going to go 32, 32 without even hearing it.
What would you say?
36, 750.
It's got to be at all original.
Yeah.
It looks ready.
Oh, my goodness.
That's nice.
Next up, the 1967.
Another one.
Plymouth GTX.
Now, there's one at the Hemie Height.
I was white, isn't it?
Your memory's better.
He's got it.
He's got a white 67 out there.
I don't remember exactly what it is.
It's got a little 67 Plymouth GTX.
This is going to be an all-original car.
I'm going to go 27.
Well, David said 35.
It actually sold for $43,785.
That's a major dollar.
That's a nice car.
It is a nice car.
Well, it is.
This is for you, Jeff.
Actually, for your granddaughter.
Okay.
So, when she gets done with the SUV,
this is a 2014 Porsche Panamera.
She was accepted to Texas Tech.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
She needs to become struck.
She was accepted to Texas Tech.
But she's going to wear.
Oh, I don't know.
She's decided yet.
She's got several options.
Oh, okay.
So, 2014 Porsche Panamera.
41.
David said 23.
Jeff said 41.
It went for 18.375.
Oh, I don't know what it's been ragged out, wrecked, or what?
Oh, I was thinking it was a blue one.
Next up, this is for Mars over there in Neederville.
A 1989 Ford F250.
See, if she's going to Texas Tech, that's what she needs.
Yeah.
This one here?
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's a long dead.
A long dead extended cab.
Wow.
Things like 70 feet long.
Yeah.
It is.
And it's got the bug catcher on the flow.
Yeah.
Boy, that is 1980s all the way.
I like it.
This is an 89 Ford F250.
How much?
9,000.
David says 18.
It.
No, he didn't.
It went for 11,550 dollars.
That's a clean truck.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Look.
George pops in for $89.99.
Close.
All right.
Next up.
A 1939 Chevrolet Master.
Yeah.
That's ugly.
That's 38.
It's quite you, Tom.
39 Chevy Master.
Then bulbous headlights on it.
Oh, yeah, man.
Right.
Is it?
Yeah.
You can see you driving that back and forth, commuting in the car.
With that.
All right.
The license plate would say, mm.
39 Chevy Master.
How much?
21.
David says 25.
It went for 16,590.
Oh, wow.
That's pretty good.
Yeah.
I get by for that.
You could get that much scrap metal out of it.
Probably.
Yeah.
That's pretty good.
Yeah.
I get by for that.
You could get that much scrap metal out of it.
Probably.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's pretty good.
Yeah.
I get by for that.
You could get that much scrap metal out of it.
Probably.
Yeah.
And wait.
By wait.
Okay.
Next up.
Now, you could tell already there's a rust issue.
A 1970 Toyota Hilux.
A Hilux.
The door works.
Apparently.
The door.
You talking about the.
The driver's door works.
The driver's door.
The driver's door.
Yeah.
I think it bailed out.
How much?
A 70 Toyota Hilux.
Four grand.
Of course, they took this picture because they didn't want to see the rust through on the
fenders.
4,000.
4,000.
4,000.
Yeah.
Three and four.
David said three grand as $4,000.
I did.
Yeah.
Right on spot on.
Here's Jeff's car.
I get repeat.
1959.
Mercury Monterey Convertible.
Look at that thing.
$7 million.
I would say 27.
27.
David, what do you think?
25.
$21,000.
That's a deal to me.
Well, I pay with the tax too.
So.
And the last car of the day is.
2018 factory five cobra.
Now, this is a.
It's a.
It's a kit car.
Yeah.
You can order the bodies and all that.
18 factory five cobra.
How much?
21.
17.
17.
35.
Seven.
Well, it's probably got a hot rod motor.
Yeah.
Anyways.
Oh, it's bad.
Four cobras or something.
Yeah.
Hey, just ahead.
Or if you have Toyota's new grand highlander hybrid
and Jeff's motor minute with the in-wheel time car talk show
continues.
Right after this.
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It's inwheeltime.com, join us.
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every Saturday, 10 to noon, central time, in-wheeltime.com,
YouTube and Facebook get one today, it's free.
Yeah, I just threw that in there.
Yeah, it is.
Okay.
Time out for this hour's car review.
No, let's do the motor minute first.
Okay, motor minute real quick.
There was a race last week in HRA, Tony Stewart confirms
that he was coming back after NHRA crash.
Big name driver, NHRA hot rod driver.
I was involved in a crash during the NHRA event last Sunday.
It was in the second round actually I saw it.
He and fellow competitor Doug Colletta collided at speeds
over 300 miles an hour just after the finish line.
Both drivers fortunately walked away.
Tony was a little shaken up.
Despite being rattles, he seemed to be okay after the ordeal,
but still said that he hit his head in the cockpit.
He actually lost consciousness for a little bit and did not
remember the incident.
And what had happened was Colletta was in the right lane.
They were across the finish line.
His left front wheel actually collapsed, didn't blow out.
The whole mechanism collapsed.
He went in the left lane, hit Tony, Tony kind of rolled a little bit,
hit the wall, and then they scratched their way down
to the past the finish line.
But he's okay.
He's going to be at the race this week.
He went through some testing and things cognitive testing,
and he seemed to be okay.
So he's back on the track.
So good for him.
I didn't want to see that, but things like that happen.
And that's why you need a helmet.
That was an earlier feature.
Yeah.
All right.
Time out for this hour's car review.
Had a chance to drive the 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander.
Now, the difference between the Grand Highlander and the Highlander,
six inches of links out the back end of it that allows for a third row.
Final assembly location, Princeton, Indiana.
So it's built in the US of A.
Available trim levels, the LE, the XLE, the limited, the night shade,
the max limited, and the max platinum.
I had the max shade hybrid standard SUV seats,
including the driver, seven exterior changes from last model year
was all new in 2024.
Best front fascia award for Toyota looks really good.
Settle sheet metal creases create a conservatively look to a conservative look to it.
Rear hatch design allows for more interior room, yet still very attractive.
Love the fake dual exhaust tips for a four-banger engine.
Yeah.
What I liked, one of the best looking SUVs on the market bar none.
What could use improvement?
Nothing.
Interior highlights.
One pod for the instruments and one separate infotainment screen for accessories.
Center console has a sliding door for the cover of the storage area,
which is a good thing.
You don't have to open it up to the left or the right or the back or none of that stuff.
Yeah, that was good.
Seeding is comfortable.
Consider captain's chairs in the second row, if you're interested in buying one,
I think that that would probably be a good thing unless you actually need the extra seat.
Third row actually has room for adults.
Thanks to that six inch increase in the length of the overall.
I was in that car, and yes, it does.
It is roomy.
I made the comment when I was back there that hey, you could actually fit back here.
I really like it.
Yeah.
More room in the third row when the third row is up than most as far as cargo space is concerned.
What I like, high marks for a well thought out interior.
What could use improvement?
Upscale models could use a bit more bling.
The $1,350 glass roof option is for northern states only, but you want to cook.
Cell phone charger allows the phone to slide off of its charger pad.
That was a little bit of an issue.
2.5 liter four cylinder engine in the hybrid.
It also has a max option for more power, but then you use the fuel mileage.
And that's what this is all about.
It's a hybrid.
Horsepower 245 is what I had.
The max has 362 horsepower.
If you need all of that, okay, go for it, but I like the mileage.
As a CBT transmission, now the max has an actual six speed transmission.
All rating, 3,500 pounds, all wheel drive.
I got, well, it's rated at 36 miles per gallon on the highway.
32, I'm sorry, 36 city, 32 highway for combined to 34.
I got 29.7 miles per gallon over 475 miles.
What I liked about it, clearly the mileage.
What could use improvement?
Nothing.
Just get the base engine in it.
I think that you'll really be impressed.
Right and handling the smoothness.
It rides like a big car.
It's not stiff.
It is not trying to pretend to be something else.
It will go off road.
But let me ask you something.
Percentage wise, how many SUVs actually go off road?
Not many.
My guess is less than one or two percent.
Yeah, not many.
That's how much you buy them for.
They're like a big station wagon.
The dirt road is for this.
I go really gravel, snow, maybe.
Yeah, what could use improvement?
Nothing that I can think of.
Like I said here, who takes an SUV off road these days?
Base trim price.
52, 6, 10.
Price is tested.
58, 187.
Base model price.
44, 210.
That's not, don't add too much to it.
Why?
Why junk it all up?
With all the options when you can't, you know, that's an $8,000 savings.
Yeah.
And you tend to see for more stuff to break.
Competitors to this vehicle.
The Mazda CX90 hybrid plug-in.
They don't have a pure hybrid.
It's a plug-in.
49, 9, 95.
Hyundai Santa Fe hybrid.
37, 8.
Kia Serrento hybrid.
38, 690.
Next week.
You're going to review the 2025 Mazda Miata MX-5.
It's beautiful.
And that is my review.
That's the, that's the, uh, okay, I know, yeah, I got you.
That's a little two-seater sports car.
Yeah.
I forgot the, I just had it.
So, yes, I just gave that up last Thursday.
It's hot lights on my skull.
It's got the coolest convertible top on.
I'll tell you more about it next week.
One hand.
Put it down.
One hand.
No, not in drove with it.
Oh, no.
One hand.
Click one hand up here.
And you just take it and do this.
And it folds right down, right behind you.
It is.
It's all manual.
Yes.
There's no, no electric motor.
That's like an old TR6 from the 70s.
No, it's not.
Because remember, you had to get out and push it all down and all.
This thing is the easiest operating thing you've ever seen in your entire life.
No button.
There's no electric.
No electric roof panel on it.
All right.
We're going to take a quick break.
All right.
Then touch with us and like to remind you, send us an email, the addresses info at
nwheeltime.com.
We're back.
After this quick break.
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I'm Don Armstrong.
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About this episode
A deep dive into the automotive industry's challenges with tariffs and a review of the 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid. The hosts discuss the impact of recent tariff expansions on auto parts and the financial strain on manufacturers and consumers. They also share personal anecdotes about vehicle recalls and the sentimental value of older cars. The episode features a detailed review of the Grand Highlander, highlighting its spacious interior, hybrid efficiency, and overall design, making it a compelling choice for families.
Buckle up for a deep dive into the automotive industry's latest battle with tariffs that could reshape how we buy and maintain our vehicles. Automakers and suppliers have formally urged the Trump administration to reconsider unpredictable tariff expansions, warning that these policies make investing in America increasingly difficult. The financial impact? A potential $4,600 price increase per vehicle within three years, according to the Center for Automotive Research—a sobering prospect when average new car prices already hover around $50,000.
The conversation takes a personal turn as we explore the emotional versus practical considerations of keeping older vehicles. One host shares the dilemma of his daughter's beloved 2007 Ford Focus with 185,000 miles—is the sentimental value worth the maintenance costs and logistics of storing it for occasional use? This sparks a broader discussion about how consumers might adapt to rising costs, including a potential revival of salvaging parts from junkyards as repair expenses climb due to tariff-affected components.
Our Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid review showcases why this three-row SUV deserves attention despite its $52,610 starting price. With actual adults fitting comfortably in the third row (thanks to its six-inch length increase over the standard Highlander), impressive fuel economy averaging 29.7 mpg over 475 miles, and what we call "the best-looking front fascia" in Toyota's lineup, it delivers substantial value for families needing space without sacrificing efficiency. We also cover the latest automotive recalls, auction results from Hemmings, and an update on Tony Stewart's remarkable recovery after a 300+ mph NHRA crash.
Ready to join the conversation? Connect with us at [email protected] or tune into our live broadcast every Saturday from 10 AM to noon Central Time on inwheeltime.com, YouTube, and Facebook for more automotive insights, reviews, and industry analysis.
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