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Rage Bait, Fake Pricing, and the Truth About Today’s Car Market
Rage Bait, Fake Pricing, and the Truth About Today’s Car Market
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About this episode
The conversation covers various topics related to the automotive industry, including market commotion, transparency in pricing, consumer experience, rage bait and clickbait in automotive content, and the impact of gas prices on the vehicle market. The hosts discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by these themes, providing valuable insights for industry professionals.
Takeaways
- Transparency in pricing is crucial
- Emotional reactions should be balanced with data-driven decisions
Chapters
- 00:00 Introduction and Market Commotion
- 08:25 Consumer Experience and Pricing Tactics
- 18:31 Rage Bait and Clickbait in Automotive Content
- 29:35 Impact of Gas Prices on Vehicle Market
Filter:
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Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Car
Geo Prism
"...ad, I forget what kind of car it was. Maybe a Geo Prism. I don't remember. It was, you know, I remember h..."
Car
Oldsmobile Cutlass
"...s car. She had this old, I don't know if it was a Cutlass Supreme. I don't remember. It was some old school..."
Car
Ford Model
"...w to do that back then. have you ever read like a Ford Model A or Model T service manual or like owner's manua..."
Car
Model Tesla Paid
"... that? I thought they paid off their bill. I know Tesla paid off their bill ⁓ Zach Fritz: I don't think you ev..."
Car
Dodge Charger
"... a car is insane. Approved. It says approved in a charger, 5,400 down, no credit check. And the dealership ..."
Car
Toyota Prius
"...d I've never heard anyone say Prii. It was always Prius. Zach Fritz: Okay, Prius is, all right, I've got ..."
Introduction and Market Commotion
Consumer Experience and Pricing Tactics
Rage Bait and Clickbait in Automotive Content
Impact of Gas Prices on Vehicle Market
Select text to request an explanation
Chris: Hey everyone, this is Chris Martinez and Zach Fritz. We are the automotive informants. We're going to discuss some current events today. What we are seeing in the market, how you can re how can you ⁓ your business today?
It's not overreact and how you can play in the game and in the space today and help you sell more cars and ⁓ do more your business. So Zach, there's been a quite a bit of, you know, I don't know how to nicely say it.
There's been some, some, you know, commotion in the business here just recently. And one the things, and we just jump right into it is the FTC. do you think about the FTC getting onto dealers today?
Zach Fritz: It's an interesting one. mean, when it comes to dealers listing prices that not including out all of their added on fees or whatever they're going to try to upsell you at the dealership or tack on there, it does lack a good bit of transparency. ⁓ it's just funny to me, the FTC goes after dealerships, but they don't apply this to other industries. So a little bit of irony there.
Chris: Well, you know, I think the thing, right? You get the people that complain the most, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, right? And if you've got people that, you know, are complaining, I mean, it's for good, good reason.
There are some dealers that, you know, have these huge addendums that they won't tell you they've got a huge addendum until you get there. And their, their only, workaround is to say, Hey, look, dealer ⁓ adds but they don't tell you it's four grand, or five grand or whatever it is.
Right. So those are the kinds of things that I feel like, you know, if you're going to ⁓ that, just do it upfront that way. Cause you know, you know why you're hiding it because you know that when they, when they do find out that they may not even stop at your store, they're going to come and they're going to go to some other store.
So I think there's, there's a reason for it, but you know, That's my take on it. I think when you look at dealers that exclude those things, think it's important that if confident about it, you understand the value, why not just show it from day one?
Zach Fritz: I mean, they might even improve their carage transparency score.
Chris: Yes, the transparency score. That's a big deal, you know? But I do think that if you're going to do it for you better do it for everybody else. Because I'll tell you, my wife, every time she to Target or some other retail establishment, she goes to the actual website. And everybody's got a price higher in the than they do online.
Chris: If you're going to do it for do it for ⁓ She'll go to Target, scan a price that's in the store and it's higher than what it was online. ⁓ I it happens every day.
Zach Fritz: I always get anxious about those conversations with my wife when we'll go up to the register and she's like, can you price match this? I found this online. And I'm like, looking around awkwardly, I'm like, dang it. But I mean, it's true. Don't say something is one price and then charge more once you're there and stuck. That's not fair to consumers. ⁓
Chris: Yeah. Well, I even tell you, like even Best Buy, bought a laptop recently and I found a price cheaper and it was from the manufacturer. I, but I wanted the, I wanted the laptop that day because my computer was smoky after the fire.
And, um, and so I go and get the laptop and sure enough, it's like $500 cheaper online. And I told Best Buy, you guys price match, right? And they go, well, not if it's from the OEM. And was like, what do you mean if it's not for so needless to say, I spent the extra money because just needed I needed the laptop right then and there.
⁓ but, you know, you can there's cheaper prices online 100 percent.
Zach Fritz: And I think that might be part of the consumer trap or even the dealership trap to apply to this situation where it becomes a sense of need or urgency once they're in there in that dealership. It's harder to then leave and say, well, let me go shop around somewhere else, waste more time, waste more fuel, or maybe they've already traded something in and gotten to the process and had their credit ran.
Chris: Yeah. you know, it's funny when, but a, it's a big deal. I'll tell you, I just recently, commented on this post on Instagram about that same type of thing. And I'll, and let me just kind of give you an idea of what some of these people were saying. And so this guy, he does, he's a broker for a living. He charges customers a thousand dollars. A transaction. And he goes and negotiates.
Chris: your car deal for you, right. And and he posted up some other dealer commenting on social media, saying, Hey, look, if you're gonna, if you're paying these guys $1,000, shit, just pay me $1,000. And I'll make sure you, you know, let me make $1,000 profit and I'll sell you my car today. Right. And so then the guy makes another ⁓ on guy's video and says, ⁓
Chris: the dealer business model is trash and he's just bashing it and talking about how car dealers are criminals. And so I commented that. I couldn't let that go, right? And so said, look, it's really two things.
First, most dealers are upfront and will give you pricing over the phone. Like any industry, there are a few bad actors, but they're not the majority. And then second, there are people who keep the narrative alive to scare customers into paying them to negotiate the deal instead.
And so then I got a lot of customers or people commenting on what I said and basically said, just he goes, dude, just because you work in it doesn't mean you're buying them. LL go watch a live stream.
And then he starts talking about, I'm living in a fairy tale. And then this other guy, I spent a week calling every dealership within 200 miles for specific thing. And what I told that guy is that, look, you know, I it.
know, most dealers, some dealers may not give you a price like that just because it took you 200 dealers to get the price you wanted because really it wasn't really the best price. It was probably the dealer that needed to hit a number and he finally decided to lose.
all the money just like dealers that make money, right? But yes, you can go and spend, you know, hours and, know, email and text 200 stores to get you a better price because some dealers may just want your business enough or they're gonna lose money.
And that's that's real. That's not really the best price is just that dealer was willing to lose money. And that's why you got were able to get that price.
Zach Fritz: brand. I think it's the broker in general. If they're gonna charge $1,000 to negotiate a transaction, then ⁓ my mind, they need to provide $1,000 worth of value or discount on that car. Like that's where their money needs to be made.
But at same time, there's YouTubers who will go out and they will live stream every transaction they do and... Obviously piss off dealerships. I mean if I'm a dealership and I've got a broker's calling me Hey, what's your best price?
What's your best price like an OBS transparency score car edge? All that stuff I'm not going to work as hard as I possibly could to give you some great grand price when all you're gonna Do is go window shop it down the street to all my competitors.
That's not fair Versus if a customer's there in person we can have an actual rapport and a conversation and everybody feels serious great It's just like selling a house and somebody not coming up for a show ink.
Like, blows my mind that people get upset about dealerships saying, why don't you come on in, we'll run your credit, figure out what we can do, maybe I can show you some models, adjust options and trim levels to fit what you need.
It's not always a scam, but then you get people who want to hype it up and...
Zach Fritz: all these rage bait and fear tactics out there and say ⁓ you need a broker just as bad as the crappy dealers ⁓ ⁓
Chris: Yeah, no, I agree. I agree. think it's a I do think it's it is something that needs to be done for because some people just, you know, take complete, you know, advantage of the situation and try to play the shuffle game with the price.
But the problem is you get a few bad actors that, you know, ruin like change the game for everybody. And it's just only to help you. It's only going to get the dealer better. Right. Like, you know, If everyone has to play on the same rules, then so be it.
But that whole addendum thing, that's a big deal for sure. We have another one, another current event that just came up and kind tying into transparency is the disposable So this one caught because was in a forum.
and had a lot of responses, a lot of engagement. And then I posted on LinkedIn, and we got a lot of conversation around it. And what they basically said was, GM becoming the American version of Hyundai?
And what they meant by that is because right now on their TSB, which is their site that basically tells you like disclaimers of things happen to vehicles that are common. What do they say? What's term mechanics or technicians use?
⁓ characteristic of the vehicle. That's the characteristic of the vehicle. I like term every time I hear it. But what they're is, 2,000 miles that you you may need a quart of oil.
Zach Fritz: I mean, you know... GM is one that really frustrates me because introduced, you know, and this oil thing is a little bit different than some of the AFM problems they were having with lifters ⁓ and not popping back up for that V8 to four cylinder mode.
They've had issues with it. There have been multiple class action lawsuits and they haven't come up with a solution. Instead it's just, let's scrap everything. And interestingly enough, their new engines are completely redesigned.
So I'm excited about that. But to just come out and say, oh, well, it's fine. You're going to burn a quart of oil every 2000 miles. Okay. Let's take a, let's pretend it's a V8 because it's probably the highest amount of oil capacity.
So it's a 5.3. My truck takes six quarts, I think, of oil. And 2,000 miles, let's say it's a 10,000 mile oil change interval, you're gonna burn five quarts of oil? If you're not adding it?
Chris: Yeah, that's crazy. It reminds me like those cars back in the day, right? Like I remember, I must have had, I forget what kind of car it was. Maybe a Geo Prism. I don't remember. It was, you know, I remember having a like, it seemed like every day I had to go buy a cord oil or something, or my mom's car. She had this old, I don't know if it was a Cutlass Supreme. I don't remember. It was some old school car.
Chris: I remember just always having to put a quarter of oil in that thing and I just remember thinking, dang, this is crazy.
Zach Fritz: people knew how to do that back then. have you ever read like a Ford Model A or Model T service manual or like owner's manual? It's incredible and if you haven't I'll send mine to you and you can go through it but it talks about you know cleaning out you know the distributor and taking stuff apart and you know priming it and choking it in cold weather.
It's incredible that the people these days they don't know how to do any of that let alone add oil. I mean, why do you think that Volkswagens and Audis, and even some Mercedes don't even have dipsticks?
Because the manufacturer does not want them touching the car, or adding any oil or fluids or doing anything to it because they will screw it up.
Chris: you know, I ⁓ it's twofold, right? Like, you don't know how to change the battery on an iPhone, right? Like there's there's things that we've just technology gotten to a point now where it's just you just want you just want it to work. And that's it, right? Like it's, you know,
Chris: there's no to do those things that cars are lasting longer than they have ever before people are hanging on to cars more and for good reason because prices are just outrageous right but you know idea when I look at this forum and one one of the the comments that got the biggest attention was this one lady, she actually said short version, they're building throw away cars to keep you buying new.
It's all junk. That's added tech just lets them track your every movement. know, I all junk and I just responded. I look, you know, I don't think I wouldn't say it's all junk. Because do think like certain brands do a really good job of keep like, there's some brands that I I've worked for that you basically just need to change the oil and that thing will last forever, right?
almost bulletproof in my mind. But then, you know, but I can see where she came from because she basically said, look, I've been doing this 39 years and you know, said cars when all we had was computer command control and the pre OBD and she had her first scanner in 1991.
And so 39 years of just seeing that you're in service and you're only focused on that. I can see that because she sees all of the bad, right? But to say they're all junk, that's the only thing I was like, well, I wouldn't say all of them because there are some brands that, you know, most of the time, if you just changed all your you're good.
Zach Fritz: Yeah, it's tough because we've just seen cars become more complex. So there's more to go wrong. And I think that's an important perspective to have on it as opposed to being in the industry for almost 40 years.
what changed over the course of 40 years, right? What's been introduced? know, are we, we're now modern. further and you know it's a multitude of things but then look at it on the other ⁓ of the coin GM being as smart as they are you would think would probably say well we've got a system that works we should stick with that It almost makes you wonder, is this a Nissan Cummins situation where they plan for it to fail at a certain point so that it has to be replaced?
Chris: Yeah. And don't get me wrong. And I don't disagree to a certain extent, like, you know, Ford back in the day, they were purposely, you know, making sure that they, there was a plan to obsolescence, right?
Like there was just that you knew it was going to happen. Like it was important to do that because then you could buy a new car. Right. Same thing with Apple. Apple got crushed, on the fact that their batteries for whatever reason would go out.
you know, coincidentally every year, right? So then now you just, you needed to change your phone. All right. So
Zach Fritz: And yeah, now we don't even complain about it anymore. We just swap out iPhones or whatever every, like I think, I go out every three years. I'm like, okay, time for a new phone. And it just is what it is.
Chris: We. Yeah, it is what it is. So I get it. I just, I think that there's a, there's a challenge there for sure. I don't know what the right thing to do there is other outside of, know, just make sure you take care of your customers and you know, you can't, it's a lot easier when the manufacturer stands behind it, but when your manufacturer is not standing behind it, that's, that's the challenge for dealers, right?
Cause then you're the one, you know, with the relationship that you could potentially ruin because now they're looking at you because you sold it to them. All right, so.
Zach Fritz: especially whenever we the people all technically own a share of them.
Chris: know, that's a different I'll have to look at that one because I don't know Do we do they we still own a piece of that or does the government still own a piece of that? I thought they paid off their bill. I know Tesla paid off their bill ⁓
Zach Fritz: I don't think you ever pay off that bill, but sure.
Chris: Well, we're going to the next one, the next one, I saw this post. this one just made me mad. Right? So this guy, he's from good financial sense. And he has a lot of good content. Don't get me wrong.
The thing that really made me mad because I think it's click bait and or bait, right? That's a new thing. People like that get that rage bait and they just, they want to just get you upset. Right. And ⁓ This is the title.
It said 37.99 % interest on a car is insane. Approved. It says approved in a charger, 5,400 down, no credit check. And the dealership ad shows a buyer putting 5,400 down at 37.99 % interest with 72 monthly payments of $8.97 a month.
So you think about it, and this guy. I'm thinking $900 payment for 72 months, $5,400 down. And the guy, he has got a tatted up face with his family. But what I didn't like about it when the commentator said, dealers love that game because once your brain locks onto, I can make the payment, the rest of the math gets shoved into the trunk.
And that bothered me. for obvious reasons. And the reason why is because banks are the one that dictate the terms. The just presents it. And more than likely, if that was a real deal, which I don't think it was real.
I think it was click bait or rage bait, then do you really think that dealer didn't have to pay a fee for that? More than likely, there was a legal fee for that to go that long term.
Chris: And there was another, the same guy posted another one right after that the next day. And he basically said that the customer got approved with $500 down for 120 month loan on a first time buyer. First of all, there's no bank that's going to do a first time buyer zero credit score for 120 months, let alone a 2019 Mercedes. You know what saying? So I just think he's commenting on
Chris: guys on tik tok so these guys are tik tok are basically just doing this you know as joking and just throwing it up there to try to get people to you know go see them and in reality it's it's not real like there's just no way 120 month loan i just i call i call bs what do think
Zach Fritz: mean, it's just... two-fold, right? Because as an automotive YouTuber myself, I love rage baiting sometimes. It's really entertaining. And I will purposely throw stuff in my videos ⁓ it does rage bait people and they get super mad and upset.
It drives comments and it drives the algorithm, right? You get views and, you know, make money and it's cool. However, ⁓ do think on the other hand... ⁓ seen it recently in the circles that I run with on YouTube, people are actually starting to pull some of this clickbait, rage bait out because it's being called out so often.
But I think on the other hand it also might be desensitizing people to that. Where they see, 2019 Mercedes, know, 120 month long, first time buyer. I mean at some point if that is repeated often enough it might...
Zach Fritz: People might just start saying, ⁓ that's normal and that's a dangerous place to be.
Chris: You know, have gone through the roof. Don't get me wrong. And I get why extended ⁓ has made a big, you impact in a lot of loans. mean, I've never seen more 84 month terms. People are like desensitized to the longer term now.
And I remember 60 months felt like eternity. Then it was 72 months. was everybody was just doing 72 months. And then they came up with 84 month loans and now everybody's doing 84 month loans. And before you know it, I mean, these cars have to last that long because I mean, 84 month loans, you're I mean, you'll never get out of that car.
right and then now some of these lenders are doing 90 month loans and supposedly this buy here pay here a lot's doing 120 month loans so interesting
Zach Fritz: It doesn't. At what point do you... I mean for me a vehicle only makes sense if I can pay the car off and still have a car be... And just, it goes back to that negative equity conversation we had where you're banking on that duration of a loan, regardless of just burning money on interest, right?
You're banking on that car lasting that long. So if that car doesn't last that long and you don't have the capital to come out of pocket or a warranty to say, hey, we're gonna fix it and it's gonna continue to go that long.
Well now you're short. You still got to pay that loan off or roll it into another vehicle. And I think maybe that's part of this negative equity trap that we've seen.
Chris: Well, it's definitely caused friction in used car market, right? Like the used car market, Cox just recently announced that used car market's tight. And for good reason, know, sold two years ago, they didn't sell that many new cars, you know, it used to be the SAR was, you know, 17 million or something like that, then it's now it's like 15 million.
So you sell less new cars, you have less opportunities, less leases. Leases almost gone away because the rates and just haven't really been there. ⁓ So you really need to dial in your game plan for sure.
Zach Fritz: Yeah. It's interesting to me because I think we are seeing these longer loan terms pushed out. And so by default, you're going to have a cheaper monthly payment. So at a certain point, new cars almost become competitive with used cars for a payment term because think of a CAF, right? CAF to my knowledge, think, well, actually they may have an 84 month option now, but farthest I've ever seen is 72.
Chris: Hey, just so the traditional dealers understand what is CAF sir. Okay. You're talking about CarMax auto finance. that's good stuff, sir. So yeah, that's the, that's a, that's CarMax is prime lender, right? But they also do sub as well, but it's primarily, you know, they, try to cherry pick the good credit customers, right? ⁓
Zach Fritz: ⁓ CarMax Auto Finance. Yeah, yeah. So they can only push out. Yeah. No idea.
Chris: but 84 month loans, I'll tell you Mercedes-Benz this year, they cut off dealers from doing 84 month terms. They would only do 72 months sometimes. They were pushing every. buddy that bought a Mercedes for 60 months and really trying to get them to do leasing because they were losing big money.
I mean, it was, it was like a real deal. Like they were losing money on these, these loans repose all time high things like that. And so they were the first time I'd ever seen a captive tell me, Hey, if you need to, you know, get the customer finance somewhere else, let so be it instead of send me all, send me all your paper.
know I'm saying that that was a real that was a real deal like they I mean back in you couldn't get back in on those long terms or 72 months or and then 84 months was basically non existent they just didn't do it anymore
Zach Fritz: it ⁓ yeah, and I just, for me, I'm seeing a lot less dealer financing. I'm seeing like lot of out of house, know, small credit unions and pop-up companies and online financiers to the table and start writing these loans. And it's honestly kind of baffling what you can get approved for these days. ⁓ I was not responsible, I could get in a lot of trouble.
Chris: Well, it- Well, got, you know, a couple of years ago, it was a lot worse. promise you that, everybody auto approvals, the scoring models. but they were, ⁓ mean, could get some pretty big loans for, you know, having that strong a credit.
almost felt like back in the ⁓ eight time ⁓ line when Or 05 to 08 when people were just buying homes with zero credit and those subprime loans, it was ridiculous, right? Same thing, similar in automotive, but I mean, not to those extent, but still you credit tightening because customers that had 700 credit scores, that had good history, good income, wouldn't get approved for some cars for over hundred grand.
And you look at them, like, man, this guy. makes good money, job time, good stability. And, he still wouldn't get approved. And you're like, man, that's, that's crazy because the, the dollar amount of the loan and because he'd qualified for that type loan in the past, he was stepping up.
So maybe in the past, his biggest loan amount was 30 grand. And now he's trying to get a Mercedes for a hundred grand. He couldn't qualify. Even though his income was there, his credit was there, everything was there, everything that two years ago, he would have just been auto approved and we'd have kept moving.
Zach Fritz: Well, it's funny to me, I just guess I've seen such a reduction in people trying to do things to like build their credit. So, I mean, I remember the biggest hack back in the day was, you go to Rooms2Go and finance furniture. Because you need to get 0 % but it was a credit, line of credit, so you could start building and things like that. And I just...
Chris: Well, let me me rephrase it. He couldn't get approved through that lender. We got him approved through other lenders, but it was just that one letter that basically tightened and we couldn't do it anymore. But go ahead. Sorry about that.
Zach Fritz: ⁓ yeah, I just think it does, people like that though, does, you are looking at risk. know, if this is something that somebody's not used to doing, and let's say they're taking out a loan for, know, let's call it hundred thousand, right?
And say it's a crazy nice S class or something. And haven't taken out a loan before their highest loan amount's been like 40 grand. I mean, yeah, there's some risk there. Now if that person had in the past done two $50,000 loans or a $40,000 and a $60,000 or whatever, there's not much risk associated because they've proven that debt to income, can manage that payment.
think a lot of people don't prioritize that now, where they prove payment history, they prove that they can handle the responsibility of having a note and not just let a car get repoed or say, well, the moment maintenance comes up, we're screwed, don't know what to do.
Chris: Yeah. Well, you know, let's ⁓ I think we got a little bit more time and I wanted to kind of throw this one last article that I just read. New York Times eight minutes ago says oil and gas prices soar after new attacks on Gulf energy sites. What do you think about that, sir? You think that are we in for an EV frenzy again or a hybrid frenzy? What do think? Do need to stock up on EVs and hybrids?
Zach Fritz: up. You know, It's two-fold, right? I think short-term, yeah, we may see a lot of people going after EVs and going out to make that purchase, but we are seeing all these tax credits fall off and incentive programs go away, so that's a little confusing, because you would think the opposite would happen. But at the same time, with this Gulf oil being shut off... Well, so then that apply to every other country? So maybe makes the U.S. the dominant leader in oil?
Chris: Possibly now that we have you know other sources of oil right and we have control of those other places, but I think for me I'm not go out there and just start you know buying all kinds of EVs or hybrids.
I'm going to buy what's turning fast right now just and just working it day by day. In automotive, you can't be buying 100 used cars just because you saw a shift. You got to gradually buy into it. the worst mistake to do is go out and buy a hundred cars at auction or and over overpay for them in trying to and time the market.
I think your best bet is just, you know, go buy what your inventory can withstand and get the quick movers and make sure you have a plan for that. But outside of that, this oil, mean, we've lived through it a couple of times now, right?
I mean, I remember when Prius's were selling for like five grand over sticker, 10 grand over sticker. What's that?
Zach Fritz: think it's pre-I. Is it pre-I when it's plural?
Chris: man you know I'm not that smart sir so my apologies
Zach Fritz: I needed an answer on that. We need to figure it out. it pre-lose or pre-eye?
Chris: I don't know, sir. You know, it's crazy. I worked for Toyota for 10 years, over 10 years probably, and I've never heard anyone say Prii. It was always Prius.
Zach Fritz: Okay, Prius is, all right, I've got it. Then that's it's gonna be, that's how Toyota says it. That's how I'm gonna say it.
Chris: Thank you. Well, you know, maybe they didn't want to correct me. You know, when I was with Porsche, they did correct me when I'd say Porsche, it was Porsche. And so, you know, hey, I try to, you know, when someone corrects me, I try to get it fixed. But, you know, sometimes, sometimes I just don't know, sir. So but yeah, I think gas prices, you think it's gonna be long term, short term, you think this is gonna be a forever thing like we did last time when we went and had
Zach Fritz: No, I think this is gonna be super- And just looking at it statistically, I'd say.
Chris: We hope, we pray, right? You know, whatever political side that you're on, you know, I, to me, look at it just from the economics, from oil and you know, don't get me wrong. The people that are going through this is sad.
I'd hate to be in that position where, know, having our family uprooted and things like that, but you know, it's, it's a tough deal. I, you know, I don't, I don't know any of it and I'm kind of ignorant to all of that, but when I, what I am and what I chew try to ⁓ keep, of good understanding of is how do we perform in a market where things like this happen?
And so, know, you do the basics, the blocking and the tackling, and those are the tried and true methods that have gotten me through every downturn. And that's what you focus on. And you know, most people in when the streets are bloody, they say, that's when you can make the most money.
And because lot of people are gonna pull back and say, ⁓ no, this is kind of scary. Let's not do anything. And the shouldn't stop you from moving forward. You still should be trying to find the deals because it doesn't matter if it's a down market or an up market.
The best always seem to do really, really good. and I'd rather, you know, Grant Cardone says it, you know, I'd rather fail forward than in retreat. And, you know, sometimes, and of course, someone's going to say something like, well, you know, I'm going to devil's advocate or whatever.
But I'm personally a driver. definitely like to live in a space that if there's if there's opportunity, I'm going to go after it. So what are your thoughts?
Zach Fritz: Yeah, I think right now the key thing is just not to react emotionally to what's going on in the world. think, you know, what using ⁓ rather than emotion I think is always a successful strategy.
Especially whenever things are uncertain, right? When buyers are uncertain, when we're uncertain about gas prices and what car is going to be better to keep on a lot, know, new or used financial situations, people's credit, repos being high.
I mean, these are all things that you could react very emotionally to and make a really bad decision and get yourself in the deeper hole. But if you can weather the storm and not freak out, I think everybody's going to do just fine.
Chris: I agree. And I think, you know, everything we kind of talked about today was kind of like that the consumer standpoint, right? What is, you know, ⁓ the FTC, disposable engines, you know, talking about, you know, extended terms, and then we kind of threw in a couple rage bait things.
so, you know, it was a little, you know, consistent across the board of what we were talking about. And to kind of recap everything, what do you think? How do you tie this up into a nice little bow and get our audience to get some real value from this?
Zach Fritz: I really think it's just, it's a great example of how much uncertainty there is how fluid industry has become, especially in this day and age where technology just disperses information to all four corners instantly.
Where you see the engines blowing up, you see people in their financial situations, you see people online who are profiting off of it and making the best or worst of it, depending on what side of the coin you're on.
And I think it's just a matter of, again, not reacting so emotionally and saying, you know what, are we doing good today? And how do we focus on that? What is working for us? What has always worked for us?
And do we continue that forward instead of saying, Hey, we're going to react to these, you know, micro indicators in the market or across the industry. And you just screw yourself up. Don't be your own enemy.
Chris: Yeah, I agree a hundred percent. And I'll tell you some why I remember sometimes when you, know, what, what do they say? What like a duck quacks like a duck. It's, probably a duck. Right. And so sometimes you can get caught up in that position where it looks like a really good deal.
Right. And so, yes, I want you to make sure you look at data, all that, but at end of the day, Still understand there's, still that gut feeling you need to have around certain things that, you know, it's telling you something for a reason.
so be extra aware and, kind of go in understanding your. The surroundings, the economics, all of that, but the end of the day, you still got to use your gut. Cause I think, um, I think some people can get burned pretty quickly if they overanalyze things.
Chris: you know, in either way, like in good or bad, like I've seen some people, you know, overanalyze it and they talk themselves into it and then, or they overanalyze it and they talk themselves out of it.
And if you just know that that's an opportunity, you see these certain specialty cars and know, their deal and you know, you can't replace it. You just need to get it, you know, and some people just, they, they.
I get it being cautious and all that but sometimes you just got to make sure that you you have confidence in what you're doing and you make those decisions pretty decisively.
Zach Fritz: I mean, the best way to live life, know? ⁓ within reason and, you know, go off that. But one thing I will add that I think...
Zach Fritz: and know, rage bait and all the things we've talked about is the best piece of advice I think I ever got in business was whenever you implement something, it usually takes about six months you to see the results of it.
So today, if you react emotionally to something and say, we're not buying inventory or this type of inventory because this post said this or the industry is doing this today, but traditionally it's always worked, well, In six months, going to see the difference of making that decision.
So ask yourself, is this a six month problem for the industry? Are gas prices a six month problem? Are these loans a six month problem? Or are we going to see a resolution before then?
Chris: Yeah. agree 100%. Here's another one. So I remember during the last gas crisis that we had, I remember when Prius were going over, you know, sticker 5, 10 grand. And one of the general managers at the store, the group I was at went ahead and just bought a bunch of them, right?
And thinking, man, these things, we can sell them and make all the money. Well, then ⁓ couple of months later, all of a sudden, those Prius weren't bringing that much and he was holding on to the price too high for too long.
And then now he's upside down in all of them. And he's like, what do I do with all of these things? So you definitely don't want to it stuck in a trick bag like that. definitely, if you're going to move on certain models, as long as they're turning fast today, don't oversupply yourself.
Get enough to be in the game, because it can turn ugly pretty quickly. But I will tell you that last time this happened, everybody started trading out of their trucks and getting cars. trucks got really, really cheap.
And then the pricing, I think we ended up cutting all the prices of all the trucks, a couple of grand at CarMax, I remember. And then we raised the prices of all the sedans. Like it just, it seemed like overnight.
Zach Fritz: got really cheap right now is the time to buy sure that whenever I actually bought my truck was whenever it did downturn.
Chris: Yeah, that was, was a thing. Like trucks that were normally 30 grand people came in and they were like 18 grand, which was kind of crazy. So yeah, those are things you got to keep ⁓ of. So don't like, if you, if you're looking at those big trucks at auction right now, just, just be cautious.
Don't, oversupply yourself. Get a couple of them here and there. Don't, don't just go ham and just say, know what, we're going to do it. just because it's March. Because now the used car market prices are holding pretty strong.
Cox just said they're strong, but the supply is still tight. I think it's like a 42-day supply right now. So you definitely need to be aware of all this stuff to make good decisions.
Chris: It is all right. Well, that's that wraps up our show today. We hopefully you got some value out of it. Where can they follow you at Zack and us? They can follow us on YouTube, right? The automotive informants, check out our website. But they can check you out on YouTube and LinkedIn and everywhere right?
Chris: Absolutely. Okay. Well, it great talking as always. you guys get value on it, like, share, subscribe, and we'll see you again next week. Thank you, Zach.
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