Polestar Price Cuts, Ram 2500 Review, Best Films of the Past 40 Years
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Car
Polestar 3
The Polestar 3 is a new electric SUV that focuses on being eco-friendly while still being fun to drive. It's part of a trend where more luxury cars are going electric.
Term
Hemi
Hemi is short for hemispherical, describing the shape of the engine's combustion chambers. This design helps the engine run better and more efficiently, and it's often found in powerful cars made by Chrysler.
Car
Ram 1500
The Ram 1500 is a big truck that people use for work or everyday driving. It's known for being strong and comfortable, with different choices for engines and features.
Car
Dodge Ram
The Ram is a big truck from Dodge that many people use for work or to carry their families. It's known for being powerful and comfortable to drive.
Term
tariff madness
Tariff madness means that taxes on imported cars and parts have gone up a lot, making them more expensive for buyers. This can affect how much car companies make and how much we pay for cars.
Term
chip shortages
Chip shortages mean there aren't enough tiny computer chips needed for cars, which makes it hard for car companies to build new cars. This can lead to higher prices because there are fewer cars available.
Term
average transaction price
The average transaction price is the average amount people actually pay when buying a new car. It includes the car's price plus any extra costs like taxes and fees.
Term
MSRP
MSRP is the price that the car maker suggests you should pay for a new vehicle. It's like a starting point for negotiations when buying a car.
Term
down payment
A down payment is the money you pay upfront when buying a car. It lowers the total amount you need to borrow.
Term
loan term
The loan term is how long you have to pay back the money you borrowed to buy a car. It's usually measured in months, like 60 or 72 months.
Term
monthly payment
The monthly payment is how much money you pay every month to pay off a car loan. It depends on how much you borrowed and the interest rate.
Car
Polestar 4
The Polestar 4 is a new electric SUV from Polestar, which is a brand that focuses on electric cars. It's designed to be stylish and environmentally friendly.
Company
Geely
Geely is a car company from China that owns Volvo and Polestar. They help these brands grow and sell cars around the world.
Car
Polestar 2
The Polestar 2 is an electric car made by Polestar, which is a brand that focuses on high-performance electric vehicles. It has a sleek design and is known for its modern technology.
Car
Chevy Bolt
The Chevy Bolt is a type of electric car made by Chevrolet. The 2027 model means it's a newer version, which likely has updated technology and features compared to earlier models.
Brand
BMW
BMW is a car brand from Germany that makes luxury cars. They are known for their sporty designs and high-quality vehicles.
Car
Mercedes-Benz Cclass
The C-Class is a smaller luxury car from Mercedes-Benz that is stylish and packed with nice features. It's a good option if you want a taste of luxury without going for the biggest models.
Car
Mercedes-Benz GLC
The GLC is a fancy SUV made by Mercedes-Benz, known for being comfortable and having lots of cool features. It's a good option if you want a stylish car that can also carry your stuff.
Car
Mercedes-Benz GLE
The GLE is a medium-sized SUV from Mercedes-Benz that is roomy and has lots of high-tech features. It's a great choice for families or anyone needing extra space.
Term
17-inch wheels
17-inch wheels are the size of the wheels on a car. Bigger wheels can make a car look sportier and can improve how it drives, but they might also make the ride feel bumpier.
Term
MBtex
MBtex is a type of fake leather used in some Mercedes-Benz cars. It's made to look like real leather but is usually easier to take care of and lasts longer.
Term
Black Express
The Black Express is a special version of the Ram 2500 that has a cool all-black design, making it look tougher and sportier than regular models.
Term
three-quarter ton truck
A three-quarter ton truck is a type of pickup truck that can carry about 1,500 pounds of weight. It's used for heavier tasks than a half-ton truck.
Car
Chevrolet Express
The Express is a big van made by Chevrolet that's great for carrying lots of people or cargo. The new 2026 version is designed for businesses and families who need a lot of space.
Concept
sport truck
A sport truck is a pickup truck that is made to be faster and more fun to drive. It usually has a stronger engine and better handling than regular trucks, making it more exciting to drive.
Term
diesel engine
A diesel engine is a type of engine that runs on a special fuel called diesel. These engines are often found in larger vehicles like trucks because they can go farther on less fuel.
Term
Apple CarPlay
Apple CarPlay lets you use your iPhone in your car. It shows apps and maps on the car's screen, making it easier to navigate and listen to music while driving.
Part
telescoping tow mirrors
Telescoping tow mirrors are special mirrors that can slide out to give you a better view when you're pulling a trailer. They help you see what's behind you more clearly.
Part
body-colored front bumper
A body-colored front bumper is just a bumper that is painted the same color as the rest of the car. It makes the car look nicer and more put together.
Part
running boards
Running boards are steps on the side of a vehicle that make it easier to get in and out, especially if the vehicle is high off the ground.
Part
20-inch black painted aluminum wheels
These are large wheels that are painted black and made from a lightweight metal called aluminum. They help the car look good and can also improve how it drives.
Part
sport hood scoop
A sport hood scoop is a feature on some cars that lets air in through the hood. This helps the engine run better by keeping it cooler.
Term
infotainment system
An infotainment system is the screen in your car that lets you listen to music, get directions, and connect your phone. It's like a mini computer for your vehicle.
Car
Mercedes-Benz Sclass
The S-Class is a top-of-the-line luxury car from Mercedes-Benz that offers a really comfortable ride and lots of high-tech features. People talk about it because it's considered one of the best luxury cars you can buy.
Car
Honda Accord
The Accord is a popular car made by Honda that is known for being dependable and good on gas. The new 2026 version has some updates to make it even better for everyday driving.
Term
Argent
Argent refers to a type of silver color used on car parts, especially wheels. It's considered a fancy way to describe that shade.
Car
Ford F150
The F-150 is a big truck from Ford that a lot of people use for work and everyday tasks. It's known for being tough and able to carry or tow heavy things.
Car
Porsche 911
The 911 is a famous sports car made by Porsche that many people recognize. It's known for being fast and fun to drive, and the new 2026 version keeps that tradition alive.
Car
Toyota Corolla
The Corolla is a small car from Toyota that is known for being reliable and easy to drive. The new 2026 version will have some updates to make it even more appealing.
Car
Chevrolet Silverado
The Silverado is a big truck made by Chevrolet that's great for hauling things and doing tough jobs. The new 2026 version is part of a long line of trucks that people trust.
LIVE
Whether you drive a car, need a car, or just occasionally bummer ride with friends, you've
come to the right place.
Join Jill and Tom as they break down everything that's going on in the auto world.
New car reviews, shopping tips, driving green, electric cars, classic cars, and plenty of
great guests.
This is the Consumer Guide Car Stuff podcast.
All right.
This is the Consumer Guide Car Stuff podcast.
I'm Tom Appel.
Thank you for joining us this week.
When you get a chance, check us out at consumerguide.tom.com.
Tom, is that a new ... Wow.
You're creating a new ... Tom.
Yeah.
Maybe you need that.
Tom.
Maybe I need that.
Yeah.
Our 2026 Best Buy list is up.
That's the big news there.
And my review of the Polestar 3 going up in a moment.
In a moment.
Yeah.
In like 12 hours.
I got stuff to do.
That's not really a moment.
All right.
That voice is Jill Simonillo, contributing editor here at consumerguide.com.
Prolific freelancer and North American car of the year juror.
And I was late.
You were.
But yes.
I can't even talk my way out of this one.
No.
No, you can't.
I was late.
Randy had to cover a little bit for me.
He did.
All right.
How are you?
I'm good.
I'm eating chili.
Uh-huh.
Because it's chili outside.
So, a lot of stuff happened last week.
And I think there's one thing we don't actually need to talk about.
Okay.
And that's the EPA cuts.
Yeah.
They don't actually matter because earlier in the year, the current administration actually
killed the ability of the EPA to find manufacturers for being over these limits.
So these limits no longer matter.
Yeah.
I don't know why that was necessary, but there we are.
So manufacturers were going to need a cut anyway, even if they were going to pretend
to meet these standards, because they were going to make these standards with electric
vehicles.
Right.
So the administration that cut the standards also cut the incentive to purchase EVs, so EV
sales were going to fall anyway.
Yeah.
And I mean, I know we said we don't really need to talk about this, but I do have to
wonder.
Yeah, but you know what, it thinks steamroll.
All of a sudden you're talking about it.
And then all of a sudden we're talking about it.
So I wonder how much the makeup, because like all the, you know, I just listened
to the We Are Motor Driven podcast, Sons of Speed, who occasionally fill on for
me our, our, that's their podcast.
And I was listening to their podcast about the return of the Hemi.
And everybody was like, yes, now that these standards are gone, like all the
cool things are coming back.
And I'm like, will they?
Because America isn't the only economy or the only market that matters.
Like these automakers are developing vehicles for global scale.
And maybe America wants the Hemi, but nobody else does.
There's no market for the Hemi outside of the U.S.
And you're exactly, exactly right about what's going on over there at Ram.
The Ram 1500 now available with the Hemi again.
And guess what?
There's absolutely no zing or ding to Ram or to Stalantis for selling that engine again.
No.
And so I mean, they should bring it back.
But I also love the comfort.
Financially, yes.
Yeah.
I mean, it just makes sense because if people will buy it, then they should have it.
Not only will they buy it, they'll pay a lot extra for it.
Right.
Maybe.
We'll see.
Well, it's a three grand option.
The other part of this conversation that I find hilarious is everybody's like,
now the cost of cars is going to come down.
The cost of cars, by the way, hashtag in case you missed it.
It is never going back down.
Even if the car is going to cost less to make, they will still charge you what
they are charging you right now.
Yeah.
I mean, this underscores that exactly.
We went into COVID with record sales.
I think 2019, we saw 18 million units.
We haven't gotten close to that since.
But manufacturers, up until very recently, up until the tariff madness,
were as profitable as they ever were.
So the prices that got jacked up during chip shortages and other things,
people kind of got used to them and shoppers are still paying them.
So no, prices aren't going to go down.
Someone came up with a number that the average price of a car is going to
come down 900 bucks.
That's not going to happen.
It's passable, but unlikely that some less expensive stuff comes in from
the bottom end.
Doubt it.
Well, so here's what I think the most likely scenario is.
Prices don't go up.
I mean, I don't think prices are going to go down.
But I think that maybe they will hold the line.
What the average transaction price of a new vehicle right now,
I think is like $50,000.
Yeah.
And that has gone steadily up over the last couple of years.
So maybe that holds the line for a year or two,
but I don't think that it's going to go down.
They're going to have to hold the line simply because people can't
afford cars anymore.
We're right at that threshold.
Interesting fun fact.
This is a little bit off topic, but not a lot.
When we talk about that $50,000 average price,
that includes the price of full-size pickup trucks.
And those tend to average $60,000.
Here's a fascinating fact.
If you finance a $60,000 vehicle, put 20% down,
you pay tax on it, and you finance it for, God forbid,
60 or 72 months, which is the prevailing length of a loan
now, your loan comes to almost exactly $1,000.
So that's a line in the sand, right?
I think regular car buyers would
like to see something under $700, $800.
But big truck buyers, probably looking for something
under a grant, they can't afford more.
Yeah.
They don't want to pay more.
I mean, four digits is a big deal.
Yeah, no, I mean, this is why my husband and I buy used.
Our car payment is, I think, less than $200 a month.
Well, there you go.
Yeah, I don't think I ever had a car payment over $300.
I can't remember.
Yeah, I just know.
I mean, really run a tangent.
I have a lot of, I pay attention to Dave Ramsey.
I don't follow everything he says to the letter,
but I do believe that.
He irritates the crap out of me, but go ahead.
No, I believe he gives you a lot of smart advice.
Like I said, there's stuff that I don't agree with.
I think if you're going to pay your credit card off every month,
you should have one because you get points.
Yes, I know.
But you're not going to suddenly decide
that you're going to just charge it up to $20,000
because you can.
No, no.
Well, some people do.
Some people do.
I know people who do that.
But no, I mean, I think in terms of car payments,
like you should buy what you can afford.
And you should never pay more than you have to,
like $1,000 a month.
Like that's rent.
That's a mortgage payment.
There's Ramsey.
And then there's, I can't think of her name,
but there's another financial analyst
that gets a lot of pop coverage.
Susie Orman.
But they both use about the same factor
in that your household, of your total income,
take home income.
So not growth, not your net income.
You shouldn't spend more than a third on automobiles.
So if you need two cars, you know.
Yeah, I mean, thankfully, living in the city,
we only need one.
Yeah.
So affordability is still an issue.
Car prices are not likely to go up much more than they have.
And there's been a lot of conversation
about affordability on other podcasts.
That's fake news.
Yeah, it's not.
All right, more fun stuff.
Are you ready for a fun thing?
I was writing about the Polestar 3 today.
OK, which will be going up momentarily.
Momentarily.
12 hours.
12 hours.
I might sleep before it goes up.
You're going to sleep less than, like, eight hours?
Anyway.
OK, sorry.
Anyway, the Polestar 4.
Yes.
I was just looking in.
And I may have gotten this wrong on this show last week.
OK.
The Polestar 3 is built in South Carolina at the Volvo
factory.
The Polestar 4 is built.
Do you know this?
Yep, it's South Korea.
South Korea.
This makes the Polestar 4 one of the craziest, most
multinational vehicles ever.
Right.
So Geely owns Volvo and Polestar.
So we've got China.
The vehicle is built in South Korea.
We've got South Korea by a French company.
That's Renault, and then sold in the US.
So that's four countries.
And then we can double down.
Renault Korea Motors, an RKM where it's built in Busan,
was once owned by Samsung and Nissan.
So there you have it.
Yeah.
Well, and you haven't even thrown, like,
the Swedish factor in?
No, right.
It's a Swedish car owned by a Chinese company.
Right.
Built in South Korea by a French company.
And if that's not enough to make your head spin?
Yeah, so that's five nations.
Yes.
In doing some final research and writing
about the Polestar 3, crazy doings at Polestar.
OK.
It's not a good sign.
I went to the Polestar website,
and I'm looking at the Polestar 3 and the Polestar 4.
Polestar is currently kicking in enormous discounts
in 2025s, $18,000.
That's not a rebate.
That's like madness.
And when I went there yesterday, they actually
had the prices of the car shown with slash marks through them
and the new prices there.
They didn't do that today.
And I don't know why they're changing it or fussing with it.
But the interesting thing is there are incredibly good
least sales on the Polestar 2, which is going away.
Because they're not going to move that anywhere from China.
Right.
So that's going away.
So just three and four, and then five is coming.
Yes.
All right.
I got one more piece of news than you ever review.
Yes.
Two pieces of news.
This one's short.
The Chevy Bolt.
OK.
Is a 2027.
OK.
Who knew?
I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if it's 2028, but I, you know.
So here's the thing.
And I don't know how plugged into this you were.
And it was a bigger deal years ago.
But BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Lexus have a contest every year.
They can't avoid it because everyone covers it
to see who sells the most luxury vehicles in the US.
OK.
For years, possibly decades, Mercedes always won that.
But for at least the last five years, BMW has won.
And Mercedes has slipped under Lexus.
Third place of the top three.
Yeah, it's a big deal.
So Mercedes has this crazy plan to start selling.
Here's the numbers so far this year.
275,000 for BMW, 236 for Lexus, 224 for Mercedes-Benz
through Q3.
OK.
Those are the numbers.
This is where this gets interesting.
Mercedes is in us to plan to sell 400,000 units a year
in the US by the end of the decade.
Good luck.
I know it's like, good luck.
We're all counting on you.
But I have a plan for them.
OK.
Are you ready?
OK, should we get them on the line
so you can tell them you're playing directly?
I'm sure that they listen to this podcast.
100% sure.
OK, I can forward it to people.
I know people.
OK, people do listen to the podcast and correct me.
I just wrote about the Ram 1500 Big Horn.
And I called it something else.
I forgot, but I got an email.
I'm not very friendly kind and just, hey, loved your review.
But it's not that.
I called the Big Horn the long horn or the long horn,
the Big Horn, I don't know.
But it was someone from Stalantis.
But it was a very nice.
Dear putts.
Yeah, dude.
Nice job.
Hey, stupid.
No.
Also, Big Horn on the badge is one word,
but on the Maroney label, it's two words.
That's annoying to me.
It's an editor's nightmare.
It is an editor's nightmare.
My plan for Mercedes.
OK, yes.
Are you ready?
I even have I even have like a commercial campaign laid out.
OK.
The Ledger series.
They're not interested.
I'm yeah, I don't know.
OK, go for it.
Ledger like an accountant's ledger.
OK.
The Ledger series.
And what Ledger is, is versions of the C-class,
the GLC, the compact carbon crossover and the E-class
in the GLE, the mid-sized carbon crossover
that are slightly decontented.
OK.
And like certain metallic paints are not available.
They won't have branded audio.
That means the only color you can get on the car is black.
Yeah.
Got it?
Something like that.
17-inch wheels become 16-inch wheels.
And maybe you get like the MBtex fake leather
as opposed to real leather, something like that.
But the base prices come down two grand, something
like that, not a big deal.
But those are the cars that you lease heavily.
OK.
And the tagline is the Mercedes your accountant would approve of.
So it's not about going cheap.
It's about the best value for your luxury car value.
Yeah, because a luxury car wants to be known for value.
No, but I mean, if you think about wealthy people who
buy these sort of cars, a lot of them,
they used to be called the working rich.
OK.
That's what people used to call the Mercedes-Benz E-class
buyer.
OK.
And they do want to save money, right?
They're not crazy.
OK.
So when's the approval of your accountant
is kind of a cool thing?
The Ledger series.
OK.
All right, you don't have to like my idea.
Yeah, I don't.
All right.
All right, fine.
The Ledger series.
Got it.
All right.
I mean, it does sound catchy, but when you explain it,
it doesn't.
Wow, it becomes less catchy.
Yes.
So the explanation ruins it.
Kind of.
All right, you just drove.
You're driving.
I am currently.
We don't talk about heavy duty trucks too often,
but you were driving the Ram 2500.
Yes.
In what trim level?
The Black Express.
Black Express.
So that's that package.
Yes.
And we talked a little bit about that last week.
So you're driving this Humongous vehicle.
Yes.
Here's the deal about that.
When we talk about large trucks,
we're usually talking about half-ton trucks,
1,500s or 150s or something like that.
And they're super capable.
And a lot of them will tow up to 12,000 pounds.
But there's so much more there.
Yeah.
If you step up from what's called a half-ton to a three-quarter
ton, you're totally nearly twice as much.
And you get those ridiculous, wonderful, huge diesels.
Yeah.
So anyway, you're behind the wheel of one of these.
I am.
Which is sort of amusing.
It is not sort of amusing.
Can you see over the steering wheel?
Barely.
I have a picture posted on my Facebook page
right now of me standing next to the truck.
And I'm like, this falls under the category of things
that make me feel small.
So tell us about the truck.
Why are they circulating this thing now?
We've got an update for 2025.
Yeah, I feel like it got a big refresh for 2025.
And you're driving to 2026.
2026, sorry.
And they added that black express package, which
is kind of building on the idea of a sport truck.
So it's got the scooped hood.
It's got the large tow mirrors.
It's got a body colored front bumper.
It's got some things on it that you wouldn't normally
get in a base version of the truck.
When RAM reports truck numbers, it's all the trucks.
So it's the 15s, the 25s, the 35s, and even the 45s
and 55s, I believe.
So this is another move for them to bolster sales.
They lost sales.
We just talked about the hammy.
And obviously killing the hammy hurt them a little bit,
which makes me really sad.
Because the hurricane has more horsepower.
I'm just going to put that out there.
We want to pay more for the worst engine.
But it's like, OK, sure, I'll take your money.
So are you driving a diesel?
I am.
So this is an expensive dog.
It is.
So what's interesting is this, the base price
for this vehicle is, I was going to say about $52,000.
But let me look at that exactly.
Yeah, it's $52,545.
Without the diesel.
Without the diesel.
And that's actually like a reasonable amount
of money for a ton of capability.
Yes.
I wouldn't want to drive it around here.
Oh, it's tough.
The diesel engine is about $13,000.
$13,000.
They lose money on those.
They price them where they're at,
because they don't think they could price for that much more.
And then they're just selling this enormously profitable
big truck with a lot of other options.
Yeah, but that's a big vehicle.
So I got it on Friday.
And I literally, I looked at it.
I'm like, no, not even going to try and fit it in my garage.
And then I parked it on the street, which was fine.
And drove it to Indianapolis.
And I was really concerned that I would have problems
keeping it in between the lane lines
and that I would just not feel comfortable driving.
But I was pleasantly surprised.
It drives a lot smaller than you would think.
Almost has to.
Yeah, but there are some pickup trucks
that do not drive small.
And I've driven them all.
And this oddly feels really good.
And I didn't feel like I was going to hit anything
when I was driving down narrow city streets, either.
Like, I felt like I had a good sense of the vehicle's size
and proportions.
And there's a bunch of trucks that
just try to get down a narrow side street.
Yeah, and I'll be honest with you.
So I live off of a one-way street heading east.
And fine, no problem going that way.
But there is a block over a two-way street
that's the size of a one-way street.
And the navigation kept trying to take me down that street
to curve around.
And I was like, yeah, I think I'm not going to do that.
I think I'm going to go up to the next main street
and take an extra half a mile onto my drive.
Were you using the built-in navigation system?
Apple CarPlay.
OK.
And the built-in system should almost take it to account.
You know what?
Maybe on the way home, I will use the native system
and see what it does.
So tell us about the express package,
because it kind of dresses things up on the cheap.
And that's what it's supposed to do for 2026.
Yeah.
So I mean, it adds like what's about $2,500
is what the package is.
And it's a lot of chrome, right?
It is some more chrome.
Like I said, it's a body-colored front bumper.
You've got the telescoping tow mirrors.
I think they're like 20.
Oh, the body-colored bumper.
Yeah, body-colored front bumper.
Is that not the plastic, though, over the chrome or?
Yeah, it's what like the tungsten?
Yeah, kind of.
OK.
And then that's a weird thing to see on a heavy duty vehicle.
Yeah, so it's not.
It doesn't have a chrome bumper.
They're calling it a painted front and rear bumper, painted.
Then you get forward and reverse utility lights.
You have sensors, front and rear sensors, which, by the way,
is super helpful when you're parallel parking in Chicago.
And it added the side steps.
So the running board, everybody was like,
how are you getting in and out of that vehicle?
And I'm like, running boards, running boards.
I have a running board story if we have time.
And I'm like, what else?
It's got the 20-inch black painted aluminum wheels.
So yeah, it's got the sport hood scoop on the front.
And just, yeah, just so.
Did you get a new infotainment system?
It has the large vertical infotainment system.
And now everywhere gets that, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think so.
And it is huge.
Well, it's funny because that's the most tech forward thing
on this vehicle, because the seats are cloth,
the gauge cluster is analog, the seats are power,
there is no lumber support.
And so I was like, I literally had to take off my coat
and roll it up and put it behind my back
for a three-hour drive, because there was no way
I was gonna be able to drive hunched over for three hours.
So we're out of time here,
but what did this cost with the diesel?
About $72,000, a little more than $72,000.
That's a lot cheaper than what we've seen
for some diesel equipped.
Medium-duty trucks.
But I wanna say overall, impressions are very favorable.
Comfortable on the highway,
drives smaller than you think it would.
Visibility for me as a small person
is a little bit less than good,
but the side mirrors, the tow mirrors
are amazing with your blind spots.
So you just drove around with a couple of phone books.
I thought about it, actually.
Are there still phone books?
I don't know, I don't know.
We've had that conversation.
I have a foam pad that I do balance exercises on
and I thought about bringing that out, but I did not.
But I did contemplate.
All right, I have a surprise.
Okay.
After the break, we talked to Nick D'Gilio.
Yes.
Chicago late night legend
and host of the Nick D podcast.
He has written a book.
He has.
I have a friend who's an author.
Yes.
Which is pretty cool.
All right, we're gonna take a break
and be right back with Nick.
Questions or comments?
Drop us a line at carstuffatconsumerguide.com.
That's carstuffatconsumerguide.com.
Quick, turn up the sound.
You've discovered talkzone.com,
the best in internet talk radio.
Welcome back to the Carstuff podcast.
Tom is off his game today.
And we're back.
I'm not even bothering with the headphones.
No, you're not.
I'm just like...
What happened to my headphones?
That's like a Rubik's Cube thing.
It is not, actually, but that's okay.
I couldn't get that on my head.
Well, you do have a bit of a big head, so...
Yeah.
And we're back.
Hi!
This is the Consumer Guide Carstuff podcast.
I'm Tom.
She is Jill.
And I'm running late.
Every segment.
All across the board.
Every segment.
I'm like eating chili and a donut
and I'm still like on my game.
I'm just saying.
Yeah, I was talking about smart things though.
Were you?
I was talking about things.
Were you?
All right.
Okay.
Big thrill for me.
We've got Nick to Jillio in studio today.
Nick, how are you?
I'm good. How are you?
I am good, Nick.
You've had an interesting career.
And I'm gonna let you summarize it
to the priorities you enjoy.
Okay.
Well, I was...
Let's see, I've been...
I'm celebrating 2025.
This is the year I'm celebrating my 40th year
as a film critic.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
And I've been a film critic since 1985.
And through that,
I became a radio host.
I'm WGN Radio and spent over 35 years with WGN.
Over 20 of those years, 20-something years
hosting my own show.
I had overnight, so I started out doing
overnights on weekends and fill-ins
and then I was the overnight host
for a bunch of years.
And then it was unceremoniously let go.
Let's just say that.
And but still remained.
And now I have a podcast, the Nick D podcast.
Two of them, I have a Nick D podcast
and then a podcast about Saturday Night Live
called That Show Hasn't Been Funny in Years
even though I think it has.
So I've done that.
And I've got a website, nickdjilio.com
where I have a blog where I write about a bunch of stuff
and write about movies.
Well, people can now read your reviews.
Yes, they can.
This is exciting.
Yeah, every week I review every single movie.
The reviews drop on early Saturday morning
at nickdjilio.com.
And I have a newsletter that you can subscribe to.
And I host movie screenings once a month.
So I'm not just kissing your ass now
because I already got you in studio.
I don't really need anything from you.
You are an excellent writer.
Oh, thanks.
I'm just throwing it out there because you expect
like people in media to like be reasonably good writers.
But you're a really good writer.
Oh, that's really kind.
Thank you very much.
You know, before I started doing radio,
I wrote reviews and I did them
for the high school newspaper and all that stuff.
And I wrote a lot of plays.
I remember this.
So yeah, well that really doesn't have anything
to do with being a good writer.
But I did.
But you also produced those plays.
I did.
Do three of them, two of them in Chicago?
No, a lot.
Oh, a lot?
Yeah, I mean a couple of them became really big
and successful.
When I was with the factory theater,
that was a group that got together.
We all like kind of didn't make it
to the main stage of Second City
and we were kind of angry.
And so they formed like a theater company.
And so we were like,
we can be as funny as Second City and funnier.
And so we wrote a bunch of original plays
and all of those plays were produced by the factory,
someone on to other theater companies as well.
But yeah, I wrote a lot of plays.
Most of them were groin jokes
and bodily function jokes.
That was what I was really good at.
Good comedy.
Yeah.
Straight up good comedy.
Absolutely.
I wanna talk about your book,
but real quick so we don't forget,
tell us about how people can get ahold of your podcasts.
Well, the podcasts are available
at Radio Misfits Podcast Network at radiomisfits.com
but also it's available everywhere.
You can go to every single platform it's streaming.
And new episodes of the Nick D Podcast,
which is my entertainment podcast,
which you are a regular guest on, Tom.
Thank you.
Yes I am, I enjoy it.
I do movie reviews.
We talk about television, entertainment.
I have a lot of my regular guests
that used to be on my WGN radio show
and I brought them along to the podcast.
And my co-host, we do a segment together
at the end of each episode is Esmeralda Leon
who did traffic for me on the overnight show
and then became a really good friend.
She's a great broadcaster.
Tuesdays and Fridays, new episodes of that
and then Wednesdays, Saturday Night Live episodes drop.
And it's radiomisfits.com
or wherever you get your podcasts.
Cool, people should listen, it's good stuff.
Thanks man.
He's competition.
Well, you know, and I have to ask
how much you talk about Adam 12 when Tom is on.
How much do we, can we measure that?
Yeah, I don't know.
Not enough.
It's possible to measure that.
Not enough.
Not recently, I mean, it used to be Gunsmoke and like Bonanza
but now it's like Adam 12 and Barney Miller.
Those are the two.
And this is entirely because FETV changed its schedule
because I do the star spotter thing,
which we don't talk about a lot on this podcast
but star spotter is an important part
of the cultural environment on Facebook.
Instead of car spotter.
It's the same thing.
Oh yeah.
Yeah, it's practically the same thing.
But they moved.
I used to watch a lot of Gunsmoke
but Gunsmoke now isn't on when I watch TV.
At like four a.m.
And Adam 12.
No, like between 10 and midnight,
I took a break from working.
Then I go back to work.
Oh man.
And then he'll spot, you know,
like Ron Howard on some show
or and then take the picture of it.
And then we talk about it.
It's good stuff.
I'm long sleeping by the time you're going back to work.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So Nick, you wrote a book.
I did.
And it's not only did you write it,
you got it published.
I don't know how the hell that happened.
That seems like half the work.
Yeah.
It's published by Eckhart's Press.
They're a Chicago publishing house
run by two really, really great guys.
And there takes more than two people to run it.
But the main two guys are David and Rick.
They also host a podcast
on the competing network that I mentioned.
And, you know, I'd written the book
and we were trying to think about
how we're gonna self publish it
and we're gonna go through Amazon.
But Amazon, the money situation at Amazon
is just not, you know, like the amount
that they take for the little that they do.
It's kind of a pain in the neck.
We did publish the e-book.
It is available at Amazon on Kindle.
So if you have a Kindle, you can get it on Amazon.
But I would prefer that you go to Eckhart'sPress.com
and get it.
That's where I got these.
Yeah, Eckhart's Press, it's a full,
it's a paperback and a trade paperback.
Came really quick.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So there's still time for Christmas.
There is time for Christmas.
If you would like to order it,
you can go to Eckhart'sPress.com and order it now.
But yeah, I knew Rick Kemfer for a while.
He was in broadcasting.
He produced, he used to be Stephen Gary's producer.
He produced John Records Landecker for a while.
Oh, sure.
Somehow it wasn't connecting.
I know who this is.
Yeah, we've crossed paths many times
in the broadcasting world.
And I was like, you know,
this guy has a publishing company.
And then I sent him, you know, the book
and I was like here, man, you know,
and he read it and he's like, yeah, we need to talk.
This is right up our alley
because they do sort of Chicago-centric books
or books that were written by Chicagoans.
And so he's like, yeah, man, we should do this.
And the turnaround was amazing.
When I got them the copy and, you know,
I mean, between getting it to them,
them approving it, saying it was cool
and then me getting my first, you know, book
which is really kind of insane when you get the book.
I imagine.
And like, wow, that's, my name is on it.
But here's the thing that was really crazy.
Like I turned it over and I was like,
wow, there's a barcode on it.
This is real.
It's a real book.
It's a real book.
So the turnaround was great.
And the book looks great.
They've done an amazing job.
And I couldn't be happier with that,
Garts Press.
They're amazing guys.
Well, we should talk about the book
and how you lay this out.
And I need, there's a car thing in here.
And I know you're aware of the car thing
but I don't know if you know how deeply
and weirdly this car thing.
You're gonna have to remind me
because what the car thing?
First thing you reviewed.
The first movie?
Yep.
Lost in America.
Lost in America.
Yes, that's my favorite movie from 19.
Cause each, the book is set up
where there's a little autobiography of me
at the beginning where I talk about me from birth to 1985
when Roy Leonard, who the book is dedicated to.
If we have time, I want to talk about that chapter.
About the movie, Me Growing Up.
Yeah.
Cause there's some stuff in there about TV you watched.
Yeah.
That's killing me.
And my take on that's a little bit different than years.
Okay.
So I want to get to that.
Well, you and I are the same age.
Yep.
But yeah, the book is dedicated to Roy Leonard
who I would not have a career without him.
Roy brought me into his radio show on WGN
and had me be a part of his show
even when the bosses at the time were like,
who is this punk?
And he had, was he Saturday or Sunday
where he had his big show?
Saturday, he had a Saturday show as well.
He was on weekdays, middays,
and then he would also do,
he was on six days a week.
And he was the movie review guy.
He was.
And the reason I loved Roy was
because I was a big movie fanatic
and like I knew who Gene and Roger were.
I knew that, you know, like I read their stuff
but they weren't accessible.
Like you couldn't call them.
Roy, I could call and go,
why didn't you like Caddyshack?
You know.
And then Roy would go,
I was stupid, you know, or whatever.
And then, but then Roy,
I was like, I know, like every time I talk about Roy,
I break into the Roy.
But I dedicate the book to Roy
and then the book is like sort of autobiographical
where my stories are weaved in and out.
But the crux of the book,
the reason why it's called 40 Years, 40 Films
is because my favorite movie from each year
starting in 1985, I do a whole essay.
And I write about each one of them.
And 1985 was the first year I was a critic
in the first movie in the book.
My favorite movie of 1985 was Albert Brooks'
Lost in America.
You were, you matured faster than I did.
I don't think I would have picked that movie in 1985.
I was young and I was still looking for,
I think guns, cars being driven fast
and the occasional boob.
I mean, that's the kind of thing.
No, I wasn't above that.
Trust me, I'm still not.
Are you kidding me?
I'm like, and I have to say,
I am like a horrible person to be engaged
in this conversation because literally last night
I made my husband watch the K-pop Demon Hunters.
That's like my level of movie.
It's one of the biggest movies of the year.
It's made millions of dollars.
I found it to be very entertaining.
My husband did not.
It just got a Golden Globe nomination today.
Yeah, so I'll have to tell him that.
It probably won't make him like it any better.
He's like, I can't believe I just wasted an hour
and a half of my life on this.
I just watched a movie by accident.
Okay.
So when I, then wanting to watch this movie,
I watched it once when I was young
and I didn't fully appreciate it.
The Day of the Jackal.
The original. Oh, that's a good movie.
The original Day of the Jackal.
Somebody broke it down to six minute chunks
and I've been watching it on YouTube.
Six minute chunks of The Day of the Jackal.
I was gonna say,
that's gonna take you a couple of months.
It's gonna take a while.
But I did watch it between like,
whenever I would take a break.
I'm like, I'm watching six more minutes
of this really good movie.
It is a good movie.
It's a great, it's a great,
my favorite, unfortunately it's not really in.
It's not a great way to not publicize the book.
My favorite decade for movies is the 70s
and none of that is in here.
Except for the,
I do have a list of my favorite movies
from birth to 1985 in the book.
Yes, actually that was today, my daughter.
Just nodding and tisking and nodding.
It was so funny.
She's like, okay, most of my favorite movies
from this year are here,
but they're in the wrong order.
Yeah, I've been hearing that a lot.
So the book has those 40 reviews and autobiography
and then in the back,
there's all of my top 10 lists from 40 years.
So there are 400 movies in there
that have been ranked by me.
And I feel like I have 398 movies to watch
based on your recommendations.
Surprisingly, I have seen most of those 400 films.
Wow.
Yeah, and then I'm closer to my daughter,
closer than my daughter to your list.
Like, I'm pretty good with the list.
But I wouldn't mind the cones
maybe getting a little jet too.
Yeah, one of my publishers,
after he actually was like,
he actually did a deep dive into the book
and he was looking at it,
and he was interviewing me on the podcast.
He goes, oh, wait a minute.
How was Fargo not number one in 1996
and why did we publish your book?
My daughter asked that same question today.
Yep, all of Fargo.
And where was Royal Ten and Bombs?
Was it? Number one.
Okay, good.
Of 2001.
We're friends again.
Yeah, that was number one.
Although his recent movies,
I can't stand them.
Yeah.
As Wes Anderson stuff now.
Oh, so the Mercedes thing,
I was gonna talk about.
Oh, okay.
Mercedes thing.
So Lost in America,
which is a wonderful movie.
It's hilarious.
I watched it later in life and like, whoa.
Yeah.
It's so good.
Albert Brooks just kills.
He's the best.
He's the best.
But there's that thing in the beginning of the movie
where he's shopping for a Mercedes
and he's talking to an extremely arrogant
Mercedes salesperson.
That isn't really given them that much time.
Right.
And Albert Brooks is trying to clarify
the leather situation.
Yep.
Here's the deal.
In those days,
Mercedes didn't generally equip cars with leather.
They had something called MB-Tex.
Don't they still have that?
Yes.
Don't they still have that?
They don't call it that anymore.
But it's just stuff that wears better
and actually they think looks better.
Sympatic leather.
It's high-grade stuff.
Yeah.
But Albert Brooks wants leather.
And the guy, the salesman just keeps saying,
it's Mercedes leather.
It's good.
And he wants to hang up on him.
He keeps talking.
It's so funny.
And then later on in the movie,
Albert Brooks is working as a crossing guard.
Dude shows up in an S-class.
Yep.
And he just gets up and looks in the S-class
and goes, is that leather?
Yeah.
And the owner of the car goes, it's a Mercedes.
What else would it be?
Of course it is, yeah.
What are you doing smelling?
And what's the smell?
I mean, that's funny anyway,
but if you knew anything about Mercedes
at the time, it kills.
Well, if you remember, by the way,
the person he's on the phone with is Albert Brooks.
It's him doing a voice.
So he's talking, it's Albert Brooks.
I didn't realize that.
That's Albert Brooks doing,
he's playing the Mercedes salesman.
Hans is his name.
Hans.
And, but he says, one of my favorite line
in that exchange is like,
you would think I'm paying all this money.
You would think it would be leather.
All right, okay.
I'll throw in a pair of shoes is what they're...
How?
That's so good.
Yeah.
No, I love Albert Brooks.
He's one of my favorite people in the world.
And yeah, that was easily my choice for 85.
But enough of the first of 40 movies you reviewed,
what else you got?
Well, I mean, it was interesting
because when I was putting this thing together,
I was like, I guess I should, I mean, 40 years.
I'll pick my favorite movie from each year.
And I went back and I was looking at my top 10 lists.
And I was pretty happy with all of them.
The only movie that I actually changed
from my original top 10 list as time went by was 2002.
And in 2002, my original choice
was Punch Drunk Love with Adam Segel.
Okay, I just saw that.
Yeah, it's a weird movie.
I love it.
It's Paul Thomas Anderson.
He's got what I think is the best movie of the year
about one battle after another,
which is getting all kinds of year-end awards.
I need to see that before it leaves theaters.
It's amazing.
Well, it already left, so you're a little late.
Oh, I missed it.
But it'll get, no, it'll get re-released
because it's gonna be nominated for a lot of stuff.
But anyway, so my original choice was Punch Drunk Love.
And then I made the list, I did it.
And then about six months later,
for the second time, I saw Spike Lee's 25th Hour.
And I was like, whoa, I missed the boat on this one.
I don't know why I was like in a funk or something
when I saw it the first time and it didn't hit me.
That's the only time I've ever gone back
to a top 10 list and changed it.
So 25th Hour is the movie that I write about
for 2002.
There is a movie on this list I saw,
one of the movies you review
that I sort of forgot about.
And I wish I hadn't because it is one of those movies
that is painful.
Painful to watch.
I have a lot of painful movies in this one.
The ball is like crazy and that's a simple plan.
Oh man.
That movie is so crazy.
I'm afraid to watch it again.
Yeah, 1998.
That's my number one movie of 1998.
Have you seen Simple Plan?
No.
I'm telling you.
You would enjoy it.
I have all, would I?
I have like painful and I don't like uncomfortable.
It's one of those things where.
It's not humor, but it's very uncomfortable.
I don't like uncomfortable.
It's very, very suspenseful and really, really tense.
Okay, life is uncomfortable.
It's just, imagine the worst day you ever had.
And it's just sort of like every time, who's?
Bill Paxton.
Bill Paxton.
Billy Bob Thornton.
He thinks he's done something
and he thinks everything's fine.
And every time he turns around,
Billy Bob Thornton has made the situation so much worse.
They find a bunch of money, stolen money
in a plane that's crashed in the wilderness.
And they think, okay, well, and that's never a good thing.
No, walk away.
And it's like who's gonna do the money?
Who's gonna have the,
and then it just gets really complicated and dark
and it's really tense.
There's a sequence in the movie.
There's a long sequence in the movie.
It's one of the most suspenseful things I've ever seen.
I love that movie.
Sam Raimi directed that.
He's mostly known for horror movies.
He's mostly known for the Evil Dead movies.
And he's done, he did the Spider-Man movies,
the first three Spider-Man movies,
and he's done Marvel and horror.
And then here's this dark,
sort of very, very twisted little conspiracy thriller.
It was really good.
Really, really good movie.
I have read a third of this book so far.
Wow.
It's super good.
Thanks, man.
It is super good.
I would read things at night.
I would put this on.
That's the thing I used to do.
I used to have three or four books
that I would read chapters from.
You're too busy watching Barney Miller.
That is what's happening.
That is, so, what are you gonna do?
It's Barney Miller.
Yeah, I agree.
I agree.
But this book is fabulous.
It's a really good size for stocking stuffing.
Remind us how we can get this.
You can go to EckartsPress.com
and that's E-C-K-H-A-R-T-Z.
EckartsPress.com.
We will link to that in the show, no?
Yes, that's so great.
And I have a, you know,
since we're live right now,
on Friday night, my book launch party
is at Kaiser Tiger, which is a really cool bar.
They have bacon and sausages and all kinds of,
and curling.
You can curl while you're there.
I've never curled.
Ice there.
And it's at 1415 West Randolph.
You can put a handle on Jill and curl her.
Thanks, thanks.
I have a friend who's like a professional curler.
She's a kid.
Yeah, I do.
So what else does she do for her living?
She's a Pilates instructor.
Okay.
Does she do the sweeping
or the actual throwing of the?
I think she does the throwing.
Oh, that's cool.
Yeah.
Very cool.
So at Kaiser Tiger,
I'm gonna be signing books.
It's the book launch party.
Awesome.
It's this Friday the 12th from six to 8 p.m.
Excellent.
So books will be on sale and I'll sign them there.
Nick, thank you so much for making the effort to be here.
And because you're here,
you're stuck doing the quiz.
I'm all for it, man.
I loved it the last time.
Chances are you will probably win.
You think?
Yeah.
I hope so.
It's a good quiz.
I hope so.
All right, we're gonna take a break
and come back.
Quiz time.
Quiz time.
Questions or comments?
Drop us a line at carstuffatconsumerguide.com.
That's carstuffatconsumerguide.com.
Hi, it's Brendan from Sons of Speed.
You've heard me and my colleague Paul
on the Car Stuff podcast,
whenever Jill's out of town.
But now you can hear us every week
on the We Are Motor Driven podcast,
along with Jennifer from Auto Exotica
and Harvey from Rides and Drives.
We talk about everything from sports cars
to trucks to EVs and our favorite, Speed.
So join us each week by searching
We Are Motor Driven,
wherever you get your favorite podcast.
Welcome back to the Car Stuff podcast.
And we're back.
This is the Consumer Guide Car Stuff podcast.
I'm Tom.
She's Jill.
He is Nick DeGilio in studio this week,
which is awesome.
Jill, you've got some social media stuff
to get out of the way.
I always have social media stuff to get out of the way.
Just wake me up when you're done.
Yeah, yeah.
No, I'm on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn,
Threads, Blue Sky, all the things.
You can find me at JillSiminello.
And I use the hashtag Car to Shore.
And I've been really trying
to build my YouTube channel lately.
So I would love it if you would go on over there
and give me a follow and comment on my stuff.
You're trying to build the channel,
but you took down the Car Stuff podcast.
I'm working on it, getting it back.
It's just really hard to do the video and sync the audio.
It was taking like hours of my time.
People are like, Tom, why can't I see you on YouTube anymore?
You really want to be seen?
No.
Okay, because I mean, I will try very hard
to make that happen.
No, we're good.
That'll be a 2026 New Year's Resolution
is to get that back up on my YouTube channel.
All right, sounds good.
All right, it's quiz time.
Okay.
And I came up with a great quiz.
Okay.
The Pepsi's coming up on me.
Is that part of the quiz?
You can't drink Pepsi.
I'm just gonna be like,
you should not have anything while you're doing the show.
The thing is I'm drinking Pepsi out of a bottle tonight.
Oh, sure, excuses.
Yeah, that is my excuse.
All right.
You're good at that.
Today's quiz, are you ready?
Fake colors.
Okay.
I'm gonna give you a car
and you just have to tell me,
and two colors, you have to tell me
which one is the fake color.
Okay.
It's that easy.
I'm gonna say that Nick and I
probably have an equal opportunity to...
That was sort of the idea.
Is the whole, the entire quiz is about fake colors?
Yes, except the bonus question.
Okay.
Five questions.
Which is probably about the Hallmark.
No.
The Hallmark.
No.
No, but it is about Christmas.
Okay.
All right, so I've got five.
Are we working as a team or are we?
No.
Oh, am I your...
Oh, we're okay.
We did it against each other.
Which is your nemesis.
Oh, all right, so she gets a question then.
I get a question.
All right.
You get the same question.
You get the same question.
Oh.
And he alternates who goes first and yeah.
So Nick, you go first.
The colors, the 2026 Mercedes-Benz E-Class.
That is their mid-size sedan.
Still very popular.
I'm gonna give you two colors.
One of these is fake.
Pick the fake.
Sonoran brown metallic or Jalisco bronze tricote.
They're both ridiculous.
They're both ridiculous.
Yes, and I stayed with the theme.
I just, I want the points for that.
One more time on the colors.
Sure, Sonoran.
I love reading these again.
Sonoran brown metallic
or Jalisco bronze tricote.
What was your theme?
What, they're both, they're both,
they're both Mexico.
Oh, how about that?
Sonora, which I think is a state
and still, I think Jalisco is a city.
Okay.
Sorry.
Yeah.
Am I answering, I'm answering.
Yeah, so Sonoran and Jalisco.
Now if I pick, does that mean
you're stuck with the other one?
No.
Oh, you can pick the same one.
Yeah.
Oh, okay, cool.
I'm sorry, I'm very confused right now.
That's all right.
But I'm gonna get it.
That's because I'm very bad at this.
You're better than Dick Clark.
All right, let's see.
The second one.
Jalisco bronze is the fake?
I'm gonna go with that.
I'll go with the Sonoran, whatever.
No, Jalisco's the fake.
Nick gets a point.
Wow.
All right.
All right, yeah.
I am a lefty.
Yes, are you sure?
I'm not a lefty.
This is why the deck is stuck against me today.
I'm a lefty.
I'm either an idiot or a genius.
Right.
Those are your choices.
Why not both?
Yeah.
That's possible.
Yeah.
Jill, you have no points.
Your favorite phrase.
Yeah.
The 2026 Honda Accord.
Are you ready?
Sure.
Urban gray pearl or uptown Argent mist.
I love the word Argent.
I'm like, that just sounds way too bougie for a Honda color.
Which?
Argent.
Oh.
Like that word.
That used to be the...
Ford used to call the steel wheels
on the F-150 Argent.
I don't even know what that is.
There's a band called Argent from the 70s
who did hold your head up.
Oh!
Oh yeah.
Gonna need an answer.
Give me, read them again.
Urban gray pearl or uptown Argent mist.
I'm gonna say the first one.
Is the fake?
Yeah.
All right, Nick?
I'm going uptown Argent
just for the song Hold Your Head Up.
Nick, that's another point.
Yeah, that's the fake.
Jill, you're in trouble.
I am in trouble.
Like colors are not my thing.
The quiz goes back to Nick.
The 2026 Porsche 911.
Oh, well, I've seen Risky Business.
Risky Business is one of my favorite movies.
Olive Neo.
Olive Neo?
Olive Neo, N-E-O, Olive Neo or Corfu Fig.
I'm going Corfu Fig.
That's the fake?
Yeah.
I'm actually going Corfu Fig too.
Yeah, that is the fake.
I thought I figured olives are Greek
and Corfu is a Greek island, so.
And then fig?
But then the word fig, yeah, I don't know.
All right, you both got a point.
Well, you can have olives and figs at the same time.
You can.
Yeah.
I've been to a Roman gorgie.
What?
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la,
I am not listening to you, la, la, la, la, la.
What is the terrible, terrible movie
about a Roman emperor?
Caligula?
Caligula.
Yeah, with Malcolm MacKell.
Yeah, that would have figs and olives.
Oh, it had all kinds of stuff in the wrong places.
Oh, well, me and my buddies rented that one night,
but we had too much beer, so I don't actually remember.
I saw it at the Davis Theater on the Lincoln,
I snuck into the Davis Theater to see it, at Lincoln Avenue.
Yeah.
Ah.
Latina, I think.
Wow.
Yeah.
All right, Jill, this question goes to you,
the Toyota Corolla, 2026 Toyota Corolla,
Polar Vapor Metallic or Windchill Pearl?
And we're looking for the fake?
You're looking for the fake.
The first one.
Polar Vapor Metallic?
Yeah.
The second question goes to you.
I'm going to agree.
I think it's Polar Vapor Metallic.
It is.
You both get a point.
I agree.
I have, like, officially lost here.
No, actually, no.
Yeah?
Well, you've got four, right?
If you get this next one right, oh no, yeah,
you're screwed.
No, I'm like, I have officially lost.
No, you're screwed.
Yeah.
I mean, we could maybe eke out a tie, but I've lost.
Yeah, no.
All right, this is for fun, then.
Yeah.
Speaking of which, we could talk about this later,
but you owe me lunch.
You hit your 500 followers on Bleast Guy, okay.
You're on Bleast Guy.
I am.
Yep.
And Radio Misfits is on Bleast Guy.
Yes, they are.
Radio Misfits is everywhere.
Okay.
Yeah.
All right, Nick, the 2026 Chevrolet Silverado.
Okay.
Riptide Blue Metallic or Cobalt Foam?
Ooh, those are both possibilities.
That's good.
I'm going to, you said,
I'm going to go with the second one, Cobalt Foam.
Cobalt Foam is the fake?
Yeah, I think.
All right, Jill, Riptide Blue Metallic
or Cobalt Foam?
Yeah, I think Cobalt Foam is the fake.
All right, and you said?
I said Cobalt Foam.
You are both correct.
Yeah, I'm like, Riptide, I could see foam, not so much.
I see your theme there, though.
Nick would be hard to prank.
Nick has gotten every question correct.
Yeah.
Did I get everything right so far?
You did, good job.
What in hell is happening?
Ha, ha, ha, ha.
I will point out that.
Why can't I do that in my real life?
If I were doing this alone, I would have won,
because I would have gotten three out of five.
Yeah.
I feel bad being here now.
Yeah, nice job making our guests feel guilty.
I'm good at that.
All right.
What else can I do to heap
some of my Catholic guilt on you?
The bonus question, of course, always relates
to the topic of today, of the day.
Today's topic is Christmas in Germany.
I need, this goes to you first, Jill.
I need you to find the fake German Christmas menu item.
I've got three items here for you.
One of them is fake.
Are you ready?
Yeah, because I love German food.
Knudel, Leibkuchen, Fussgeruch, or Blaukraut.
By the way, we didn't call it Blaukraut when I was a kid.
Oh, I gave that away.
All right, I gave you a freebie.
But it is Blaukraut.
So we're looking for the fake one.
Yeah.
I think it's Knudel.
Knudel?
It has Umlauts on it.
Okay.
They might be fake.
I love Umlauts.
Maybe you're saying it wrong too.
My daughter has a t-shirt,
or she needs a t-shirt, I need to make it.
That says Umlauts are always funny.
Just putting them on anything?
Hilarious.
All right, so Knudel, Leibkuchen, Fussgeruch.
You picked-
Knudel.
Is the fake?
Yeah.
All right, Nick, this question goes to you.
Yeah.
Knudel, Leibkuchen, Fussgeruch, or Blaukraut.
Well, Fussgerut.
Is the fake?
Yeah.
You got every one of them right.
Wow.
Yeah, Knudel.
Knudel is a potato dumplings, Leibkuchen is gingerbread.
Every year, my cousin in Munich sends me this giant box
of like 50 types of Leibkuchen.
It's like some crazy Munich Bavarian thing.
Is it dessert?
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's gingerbread, and it's not like gingerbread stuff here.
No.
It's very intensely ginger.
Very ginger-y.
Oh, I love that.
You're paying a little dry.
You want to soak it in something.
I love ginger.
I love ginger ale.
I love ginger beer.
That's my big.
And I did have a gingerbread donut a couple of weeks ago
that got the thumbs up.
Yeah, those are good.
All right, so Blaukraut is red cabbage.
Okay.
Which I ate a lot of as a kid.
We didn't call it that, because that's blue.
Blue cabbage is a weird name for that.
And then Fussgeruch is foot odor.
Foot odor.
Yeah.
So I thought Knudeling was like,
you know, like a slang for like,
when people are like Knudeling or something.
Yeah, you're talking or hanging out or whatever.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think those people Knudeling.
Signed the quiz.
I do not get it.
Because there you go, you win.
Oh, I get to copy the quiz.
Yeah.
You will have to frame that and put it on your desk.
I will.
Or just throw it away.
I mean.
So we have a couple of minutes here still.
Nick, tell us a little bit about the SNL podcast.
Well, the SNL podcast drops on Wednesday.
I've watched every single episode of Saturday Night Live
since the very first episode in October of 1975.
That's insane.
I have.
And it's ridiculous.
Not live all the time.
Sure.
Not live all the time where I would videotape or videotape.
I would videotape.
And anyway.
And so each week I concentrate on a different either episode
or a sketch sometimes.
I mean, the very first episode that I ever did
was about the potato chip sketch,
which is one of my favorite sketches of all time.
Which people can watch on YouTube.
Yes, they can.
I have watched it.
It's one of the weirdest sketches
in the history of Saturday Night Live.
OK.
And right out of the gate,
I wanted to let people know that I was going to dive deep
into Saturday Night Live.
OK.
The entire episode is about that sketch.
It's Will Forte, Jason Sudeikis,
and the host was Blake Lively that night from Gossip Girl.
And it's one of the weirdest sketches.
So I concentrate on that kind of stuff.
And then I have guests on.
I've had John Rudninsky on.
I've had Michael Longfellow, writers and other people.
And then sometimes I just concentrate on other stuff.
And I've had guests on to pick their favorite sketches
and stuff like that.
The latest one that I just recorded,
which will drop in a couple of weeks,
I did an entire episode dedicated to the one time only
that Jerry Lewis hosted Saturday Night Live.
I didn't know that happened.
OK.
It was November of 1983.
And it was insane.
Insane.
In a good way or a bad way?
Both.
OK.
That's the case with Jerry Lewis.
It's always good or bad.
I worship the man.
But I can understand why people are like, he's insane.
And I don't understand him at all,
which is the case with this episode as well.
OK.
I needed you to touch on something
and we have enough time.
Are you ready?
Yeah.
Sunday afternoon television.
Are we back to Adam 12 again?
No, no, no.
This is about Nick's book.
And he did a little biography at the beginning of the thing.
You talked about some shows he used to watch as a kid.
Yeah.
Kind of about the limitations of the TV we had access to.
But you mentioned the Bari Boys, the Dead End Kids,
Bond Pockettle, Blondie.
Yeah.
And here's the thing about that stuff.
I don't remember it as fondly as you
because it was sort of a punishment moment for me.
We would go to my dad's mother's house after church.
Yeah.
So I'd be wearing my nylon dress pants.
And I wasn't allowed to lie down on the floor.
But my grandmother's house was set up
like living room front room.
I got you.
And you couldn't see the TV except by sitting
at the very end of the couch, which
is lying along the wall of the room that the TV was in.
So you had to lean over really far to look at the TV.
And we'd be watching these shows
and I just wanted to go home.
I didn't want to wear my dress nylon pants.
I didn't want my polyester pants.
I didn't want any of the crap my grandmother had baked.
And I just wanted to leave.
And my cousin Joe was always there.
And he got the only chair in the room.
And he also picked what we watched.
And so I swear to God, family classics, which, by the way,
Roy Leonard would host for a little while.
He hosted after Frasier.
Yeah.
Family classics showed Sink the Bismarck seven times a year.
And I somehow feel like that was always on.
And you think that I was young enough to really enjoy
watching a German boat get blown up out of the water.
But it gets old.
Strangely, that gets old.
And then Blondie was really weird to me.
Yeah.
I mean, those were on.
There was a TV on all the time when I was growing up.
And I had no restrictions.
My parents didn't care.
They were like, yeah, you can stay up
till 1 o'clock in the morning.
My parents pretended to care.
Yeah.
My dad took me to see the extras just when I was 8.
So that.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
That kind of says a lot about who I am now.
But no.
Bonaparte and all that stuff.
They were on.
They were constantly, it was constantly on.
And I loved all that stuff.
All that old.
I would have loved it.
And I think if I was more comfortable, I would.
Well, sure.
If you were not wearing your nylon pants.
Yes, exactly.
Yeah, I was wearing probably wearing sweats or something
when I was watching.
But I did enjoy always.
And you had a name for them.
And I didn't know that these were as related as they were.
And that was the Japanese half-hour stuff.
Yeah.
Godzilla, Ultraman.
But Godzilla was the movie.
Yeah.
I don't know if there was.
No, no, no.
Godzilla was the movie.
The movies is what I kind of talk about in the book
is that those were like the Saturday afternoon.
I would go over to my Aunt Josephine's house.
OK.
Like much like you would go over to your grandmother's house.
I would go over to Aunt Josephine's
and she would have a small TV.
And she would be making pasta and sausage and stuff
in the kitchen.
And I'd be off to the side room.
She had a very small apartment.
I'd be off to the side room.
And every week we'd go over there on Saturday
and I would watch Gidra and Godzilla and all of the,
all of the, all of the Godzilla films, the Kaiju movies.
The, that included Mothra.
Yeah, Mothra.
Yeah, of course.
Yeah.
Destroy all monsters and all that stuff.
Now, Inframan and Ultraman, those were TV shows.
OK.
And those are different.
They're hilarious and they're awesome, but they're different.
I loved Ultraman.
Me too.
Are you kidding?
That was the best.
That's good stuff.
Yeah.
Nick, thank you so much for being here today.
Oh, my pleasure.
Thank you.
All right, we're out of time.
Anything to announce?
Do we know who's on next week?
We do, but I do not have it in front of me at the moment.
All right.
Thanks for putting me on the spot.
We have a guest next week.
We do have a guest next week.
All right.
This has been the Consumer Guide Car Stuff podcast.
Big thanks to Nick DeGilio, host of the Nick D podcast.
Thank you, Jill.
Thank you to Producer Randy and the good folks here at TalkZone.
Let's talk more about cars again.
Next week.
Next week.
Remember to check us out at ConsumerGuide.com.
The Car Stuff podcast is produced by J-Turn Media.
To advertise on the show, please drop us a line
at carstuffatconsumerguide.com.
About this episode
Jill and Tom dive into the latest automotive news, including significant price cuts for Polestar vehicles and a review of the Ram 2500 Black Express. They discuss the implications of rising car prices and the impact of EPA regulations on manufacturers. The episode also features a fun quiz segment and a guest appearance by Nick D'Gilio, who shares insights about his new book on film criticism and his podcast about Saturday Night Live. The conversation blends humor with serious automotive topics, making for an engaging listen.
Original notes
Jill and Tom open the show by discussing the recently rolled-back federal fuel-economy standards, and the implication for carmakers in the near term.
Tom then shares—to his great amusement--the long, complicated, and multinational route by which the Polestar 4 crossover arrives in the United States. Hint: Five countries are involved. The hosts also discuss massive Polestar discounts currently being offered on 2025 models.
Tom then shares his plan for Mercedes-Benz to recapture U.S. luxury-car market share. Listen in to hear Tom’s “Ledger Series” marketing scheme.
Still in the first segment, Jill reviews the 2026 Ram 2500 pickup. Listen in for her take on the capable workhorse.
In the second segment, Jill and Tom welcome movie reviewer and podcast host Nick Digilio into the studio. Nick’s newly published collection of movie reviews, 40 Years, 40 Films cover’s each year of Nick’s career, and is available now in time for Christmas.
Nick shares stories about his career as a film critic, and discusses some of his more controversial picks for best movie from each year.
In the last segment, Nick join’s Jill for this week’s quiz, which includes a bonus question regarding German holiday food.
Car Stuff Podcast
Consumer Guide Automotive, Tom Appel, Jill Ciminillo
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55:49