Tariffs are extra fees that you have to pay when bringing something into a country from another country. In this case, it means paying more money when importing a car from Canada.
Car
Genesis Magma GT
The Genesis Magma GT is a new sports car from Genesis, a luxury brand that is part of Hyundai. It has a powerful V8 engine located in the middle of the car, which helps with performance and handling.
The Hyundai Genesis is a luxury car that offers a lot of features for the money. It's known for being comfortable and well-made, making it a good choice for someone looking for a nice car without spending too much. People often mention it because Hyundai has become a strong player in the luxury car market.
The Audi R8 is a fast and stylish sports car made by Audi. It's known for its powerful engine and great handling, making it popular among car enthusiasts.
The Chevrolet Express is a big van that is often used by businesses to transport things or people. It's known for having a lot of space inside, which makes it very practical. People talk about it because it's a reliable choice for those who need a van for work or family trips.
The BMW E46 M3 is a sporty car made by BMW between 2000 and 2006. It's popular for its strong engine and great handling, which many people love for driving.
A manual transmission is a type of car gearbox that you have to shift yourself using a stick and a pedal. Some people like it because it gives them more control over the car.
An automatic transmission is a type of car gearbox that shifts gears for you, so you don't have to do it yourself. This makes driving easier, especially in traffic.
The BMW E46 is a model of the 3 Series that was made between 1997 and 2006. It's well-liked for its driving experience and is often modified by car enthusiasts.
The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car that has been around for a long time. It's known for being fun to drive and has a unique shape that many people recognize. People often talk about it because it's considered one of the best sports cars ever made.
Car
Mercedes-Benz CLK63 Black Series
The Mercedes-Benz CLK63 Black Series is a special version of a Mercedes car that is built for speed and performance. It has a powerful engine and is designed for driving enthusiasts.
The Ferrari F355 GTS is a sports car made by Ferrari that was built in the late 1990s. It has a unique design and is known for being very fast and fun to drive.
Carbon Kevlar racing seats are special car seats made from strong materials that are very light. They help keep drivers safe and improve performance during races.
Epic VIN is a website that gives you information about a car's history, like past owners and sales. It's useful for checking if a used car has had any issues.
'Spec' means the specific features and options that a car has. This can include things like the type of engine, color, and any special features that make it more valuable.
The CL 63 AMG is a fancy two-door car made by Mercedes-Benz that is designed for speed and luxury. AMG models are known for being more powerful than regular Mercedes cars.
The CLK 63 AMG Black Series is a special version of a Mercedes coupe that is designed for high performance. It has more power and better handling than the regular models, making it very popular among car fans.
The Acura CL is a stylish two-door car that is known for being comfortable and fun to drive. It was made for a few years and is a good option for someone looking for a nice car without spending too much. People talk about it because it offers a good mix of luxury and performance.
A 'stick swap' is when you change a car from having an automatic transmission to a manual one. Many car fans like driving manual cars because they feel more connected to the vehicle.
A 'slush box' is a nickname for an automatic transmission that isn't very exciting to drive. It's called that because it can feel slow and less connected than a manual transmission.
The Mercedes-Benz SL is a fancy sports car that is known for being very comfortable and powerful. It's been around for a long time and is often seen as a status symbol. People talk about it because it combines luxury with great performance.
An F1 transmission is a special kind of gearbox that can change gears very quickly, similar to what race cars use. It helps the car go faster without needing a clutch pedal.
A six-speed manual is a type of car transmission where you can choose from six different gears. It gives drivers more control over how the car accelerates.
A three-pedal conversion means changing a car to have a manual transmission with three pedals: one for the clutch, one for the brake, and one for the gas. It makes driving more hands-on.
A sequential manual F1 is a type of car transmission that lets you change gears quickly, usually by using paddles behind the steering wheel instead of a clutch pedal.
The Ferrari 360 is a sports car made by Ferrari that was produced from 1999 to 2005. It's known for being fast and fun to drive, and many car fans really like it.
The Ferrari 430 is another sports car from Ferrari that came after the 360. It has better performance and more advanced features, making it a favorite among car enthusiasts.
The Aston Martin Vanquish is a high-end sports car that is known for its gorgeous looks and powerful engine. It's a favorite among car enthusiasts who appreciate luxury and speed. People talk about it because it represents the best of performance and style.
The Aston Martin DB9 is a beautiful luxury car that is known for being very stylish and powerful. It's a favorite among car lovers and has been featured in James Bond movies, which makes it even more famous. People often talk about it because it's a symbol of luxury and performance.
The Chevrolet Corvette is a well-known sports car from America that has been around for many years. It's famous for being fast and stylish, and many people love it because it offers a lot of performance for the price. It's often talked about in car circles because of its racing history and cool design.
The Mazda Miata is a small, fun sports car that is great for driving enthusiasts. It's known for being light and easy to handle, making it a popular choice for people who want to learn how to drive stick (manual transmission). Many people love it because it offers a thrilling driving experience without being too expensive.
The Toyota Corolla is a very popular car that many people buy because it's reliable and gets good gas mileage. It's a great choice for anyone looking for a simple, affordable car that will last a long time. People often talk about it because it's a smart option for new drivers or anyone who needs a dependable vehicle.
The Honda Civic is a small car that many people like because it's reliable and gets good gas mileage. It's been around for a long time and is known for being fun to drive, making it a popular choice for many drivers. People often mention it because it's a smart buy for anyone looking for a practical car.
The Toyota Prius is a car that uses both gas and electricity to help save fuel and reduce pollution. It's known for being very efficient, which means you can drive a long way without using much gas. Many people talk about it because it's a good choice for those who want to be more environmentally friendly.
LIVE
Welcome back to Switch Guest Season 6. I'm your host Doug Tabott here with my co-host
Tyler Sanders and behind the camera, well you can't see in the camera, but anyway, behind
the scenes behind the curtain is Ethan Huffnagle, our executive international producer extraordinaire.
If you enjoy this podcast, please keep listening, but also leave a comment wherever you can,
share it with whomever you can, leave a five-star review, not a four or less, and if you really
want to support us, check out Patreon, where we have bonus topics. You can interact with us live
and see kind of the behind the scenes and the way behind the curtain in between segments.
Of us preparing for segments that we're about to do. It definitely didn't just happen.
No, there's exclusive content.
Pay no attention to the men behind the curtain.
Right, right. And you can get there Patreon.com slash Switchcast. Special announcement, speaking
of watching live, we are going to do our annual Switchcast Live Christmas Party episode with the
All-Star Switchcast cast. People like Tim from Tim's Enthusiast Garage, Myron Vernes, our technical
advisor, Dan Doucet, and OG John Sabo, and more will be on hand to lend their expertise and humor,
and we're just going to have a great time interacting with you, sipping on some nog,
and just enjoying the night, talking all things cars and related to cars.
I like our Christmas tradition. This will be the second year we've done it,
so too means it's a tradition then, right?
Tyler's already getting ready. He's got his kid in his sweater on over here.
We love a man's sweater.
Yes, so we know it's warming, Tyler, but what is warming our bellies? What is fueling this podcast,
Tyler?
Well, Doug, it is snowstorm outside, and it is Christmas time, so I'm drinking my
a mid-winter night's dram from High West Distillery.
That was a weak cork pop, but this is a few years old. I'd buy one of these bottles every year,
and I drink it only during a snowstorm or the Christmas season, and it might be overpriced,
but I like the vibes.
I'm now trying the Elmer T. Lee that you tried last podcast. I do like me a little bit of Elmer T.
Lee, and this tastes kind of weird now. It's been sitting there for a while. It's been oxidized.
All right, so getting warmed up. There was a midnight blue 996 GT3 that just got
list on brain trailer, and Tyler, you were looking for a long time, and that was kind
of your unicorn color, one of them. This one has full leather and ceramic brakes,
but it's got some track time, but you bought a white one already. Do you feel like you jumped
the gun too early and didn't wait for your ultimate unicorn?
So, Doug, I got to be honest. This is one of, other than the green ones,
probably looking at the spec sheet, one of the best North American 996 GT3s from a spec
perspective. Color match center console, color match seat backs, some Illuma look that I think
is pretty tasteful in period, the aluminum gauges, the full leather, the whole, like the
cats pajamas. It's the embossed like Porsche crest in the headrest. Good time.
This car specifically was one of the ones that I was thinking of hunting down based on the spec,
and I got to say, after seeing it and thinking about it, I have no regrets.
It's a little rough. It's a little rough. The ceramic rotors look just a wee bit more toasted
than John Daly by the 18th hole, and it went off and hit a tire wall and had the front bumper
replaced, and there's, it's obvious based on the leather on some stuff, like it has just been used.
All the GT3 enthusiasts, quote unquote, in the comments on these are like, I love to see one
that's been used as intended. But then they don't bid on it. They don't bid on it, and it's rough,
and it's, I feel very good about the lovely white car that I have purchased, but I will be
fascinated to see if this goes for more than I paid for the white car. My guess is it will purely
because it's blue. I don't know. People see condition and it's got a lot of track use
associated where previous off track damage. Yeah. But I guess your GT3, we got a gift.
You got a gift. Oh, Stephen Long, a listener of the podcast. Thank you, Stephen. Don't even know
what it is yet. And it is color matched. Who white stitched Porsche key chains. Oh, well,
thank you. My goodness. Yes, there you go. Oh, look at me. Now, you have to use them,
even if you're better ones. Nah, I use it. I don't normally have key chains,
so these will be quite wonderful to put on. Do you have two keys? I do.
One of them doesn't have the computer chip in it, but it, hey, it starts the car and it unlocks
the doors. Of course. Well, thank you. Ah, yes. We were speaking about importing cars last
episode, and I'm importing one from Canada for a client, and I was amazed. It's been a while
since I've done it, but really nothing's changed other than the tariffs. So I still know my way
around it. Well, it's been a while since I've done it in Canada anyway, but it's amazing how
few customs brokers know their way around the rules. I'm not going to name names because some of them
are people I work with and they're great, but it was just I contacted three different customs
brokers. Well, this is four, actually, and five that all gave me conflicting and often flat out
wrong information. It wasn't all to do with tariffs. So one car from Europe, I was quoted 25%
tariff by one broker and 15% by the other one. Both of them specialize in overseas European
imports. And I'm like, okay, it's one thing for AI to get something wrong, but this is,
this is what you do. This is what you should know. But in researching this car coming in from Canada,
I was told three different things all wrong by three different brokers. One, it has to be held in
their yard for 30 days. So they do the import, but it has to go to Boston sit in their yard for 30
days. I was like, that seems bizarre. What? There's no bond on it. Like it doesn't, it's an old car.
So anyway, that was a, that was a big no. The next one told me that classic cars are exempt
from the 15% reciprocal tariffs, and I only have to pay two and a half percent. And they were
referencing this section 232 exemption because the car is aluminum and steel. So it falls under
the aluminum and steel tariff rules, whatever, which I've literally read an article that clarified
where people had tried to do that before and they got charged back by customs and customs
clarified. No, that doesn't work. So I told her, no, like, no, I think you need to charge me 15%.
And I referenced this article, she goes, well, did that come from an article or from the executive
order? I was like, well, it's an article from a somebody who does this and they're referencing
like cases of people getting charged back. They're like, Oh, I don't know about that. I mean, we've
only been, we've been doing it this way forever. And, you know, we've only been charging people
two and a half percent. So man, I'm going to have a lot of unhappy customers, if that's not right.
I was like, well, you're going to have a lot of unhappy customers because the feds are charging
people back when they don't pay what they're supposed to pay. Yeah. And then the third one,
for a car over 25 years old, they said, I need to provide a photo of the VIN sticker showing
that the car conforms to the federal motor vehicle safety standards. How does the VIN sticker tell
you that? Well, the, it says it right on it says this vehicle conforms to US EPA DOT,
blah, blah, blah and HTSA crap. So I was like, no, it's, and I told them it's a 1993.
And no, so I had to clarify and, but it's all these customs companies, I'm having to tell them
what to do. And I'm like, this is like when we closed on our house, I had to fix the closing
statement that was prepared by a title company. That is what they do. Is they prepared? I guess,
seriously, it was like $8,000 off. There's this random $2,500 credit on there for nothing that I
should have just left on there and been like, okay, but it was wrong. And they had all this
different stuff on there. And I'm like, that doesn't apply. That doesn't apply. This amount is
wrong. I was like, I can't trust professionals to be professionals. Okay, cool car coming out,
not worthy of a full segment, but it's interesting.
Via the drive, the Magma GT mid-engine supercar could be the future of Genesis. Now,
this thing has Hyundai roots, we're getting a little bit far removed. It's the luxury brand
of the luxury brand of Hyundai, but this thing's kind of cool. It does look pretty darn good.
And it's supposed to be just a mid-mounted V8. It's not a hybrid. It's just a car.
And it's probably going to be fairly reasonably priced. It looks good.
Holy, the Jalopnik has an article entitled, Genesis wants to go GT3 racing with this thing.
That would be sick. Right? Whoa. Right? So I feel like this is the modern day Audi R8.
It is a mid-level luxury brand, kind of up branding with an entry that hits above its
pay grade. What's the phrase? I don't know. Punches above its weight. I was trying to make a
baseball analogy with hits, but then I lost it. Sports ball. This looks, and I like that it's
not over, it doesn't feel over styled. It is smooth and curvaceous. And I kind of dig that you can
still tell it's a Hyundai with the way the headlights are done. Like that's kind of,
it doesn't, it looks, it fits in the brand's design language. Genesis. Genesis. You can tell
it's still a Genesis. Come on. Yes. Sorry. My mobby is hot. But it gets going so fast. It's like
an Exodus. Ha. Oh, but have you seen numbers yet? No.
What are, what are the numbers done? I don't know. We'll leave it up to the judges.
These are all Old Testament references, Tyler. I am too smitten by this car to pay attention
to you. I'm too atheist for that. Agnostic dog. Agnostic. Did you hear about the dyslexic
agnostic insomniac? No. He stayed up all night wondering if there was a dog.
That's good. Okay. I like, I like that one.
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Are stick swaps worth it? Yes, end of segment. Well, yes, okay, but everybody only talks about
money and ROI in the car world today, which is everything that's wrong with the car world,
separate tangent that we're not going to go down right now. But it's a worthy conversation because
we do get asked that often. I get asked that often anyway. And people go, oh, well, should I stick
swap it? Or, you know, should I buy a stick swapped car versus a factory manual? Whatever.
What's your response to that question? It depends. Okay. It depends. It depends on the car.
But backing up to your first question, yes, it's worth it. If you want a car in a stick that they
don't make in a stick, 100%, it's worth it. Cost doesn't matter. If you want a car like
E46M3, well, they do make that in a stick. But a bad example. Early 2000s, late 90s,
sequential manual crap is better in a manual. There will be people that say manuals aren't
always better. But I think from like 1995 to 2005, manuals were always better. There's just
full stop. Well, I'm going to flirt with the price thing here a little bit. If there is a
significant delta between an automatic and a factory manual, most of the time it would be cheaper to
buy and easier to find a good spec, a good condition automatic that you can then pay a company to put
a stick in. Correct. There's some risks there. Yes. But E46s are a good platform for that,
aren't they? It's relatively cheap. Yes, it's like five grand to do a swap. Yes,
I would not do it on a 911. They've made so many manual 911s, I don't think it's worth it.
Yeah, no, that's pointless. Good luck. You find a tiptronic car. Yeah,
like it just doesn't make any sense. So there are, but whatever, but yes.
One area where I think it's especially worth it, and I love, we'll get there, I love that people
are doing it to like CLK63 Black Series and really, really amazing cars that weren't available with
a manual. So you can't put a price on that. But also, if you find a car that's in the spec that
you have to have, if you're a spec conscious person, but that one isn't a stick, then you go,
okay, well, maybe I'll swap that. And of course, nobody wants to make a bad financial decision
when buying a car. So you go, you know, am I going to lose my shirt or is this going to be worth it?
And I pulled one example, very, very recent sale that I think highlights how worth it it is.
This is a 98 Ferrari F355 GTS six speed conversion. This car is an outlier because it is blue Tour de
France with Bordeaux leather and the incredibly rare factory carbon Kevlar racing seats. So
it is a spec to die for. It is unreal. This has got to be the only one.
Probably. And like this is a perfect scenario, obviously, you know, big dollars and everything.
But like the spec only came in this color, then just swap a stick in. This is amazing.
Right. So this car sold for $168,000 and the auction, there were some allegations in the
auction that may have seen previous damage, including underside frame repair. So there
was some questions, but it brought the moon anyway, which is more than I've seen recent
factory stick shift 355 sell for. There was a yellow one with seemingly no questions other
than needing a major service, which is like 10 grand, and that sold for like 133 last week.
So yeah. So if you're going to do it to a spec that's amazing, that's when you do it.
And I was able to, thanks to Epic VIN pull up the previous sale pre conversion because I want to
compare this car as it sold as an F one, then somebody converted it, and then it sold as a
stick. What's the ROI? So Epic VIN is a great site. It's not car facts, but it has historic
archived listings, including photos. And it's great if you're trying to research kind of the
story history of a car. And if you want those reports, you can use our affiliate link, which
is listed in the show notes in the video description. So this car was last for sale as an F one
in 2020. It was listed for 90 K. Now you might say that's not a relevant result before the
stair step have skyrocketed since then. Guess what cars haven't skyrocketed? Oh, is it 355?
F ones. The line is flat. The stick cars have skyrocketed. The blue chip desirable cars have,
but the F ones seem to be selling for the same money that they were back then.
That's crazy. It is crazy. So in this particular instance with this spec,
you got your money back and then some by taking a great spec car and converting it to stick. And
spec really rules the day in the market currently. People are paying bonkers money just for a different
color because it might be rare, which is a whole nother discussion. We're not being depressing,
Doug. We're talking about fun things. I know, swaps. Okay, stick swaps. Talk to us. I'll get
back to Ferraris. Talk to us a little bit about the Mercedes ones speaking of cars that didn't
have sticks that should have come with them. So that's what I really wanted to focus on is,
is it worth it to swap a Mercedes AMG car from the mid 2000s? And I came across a car that I had
kind of an ML 65. No, the AMG is the good stuff. So I came a junk. I came across a car that I'd
forgotten about from May of this year that was on bring a trailer, which was a 28,000 mile AM,
CL 63 AMG or CLK, CLK 63 AMG black series. This sold for $138,000 as an automatic. No, this was
after the stick swap. But that's kind of what they go for as an automatic. It kind of is. So I looked
at some other comps from around that time and it is based on mileage and like I'm not digging too
much into condition. It did go like 10 to 20 K over a comparable automatic. I remember that sale.
I do remember watching that one. It is so pretty. And in the comments, I don't know how accurate
this is because it wasn't a comment by the folks that did the swap. Somebody said it was about 15
K alleged it was about 15 K to do the work. So they got the money back. I think so. I'm surprised
it didn't go for more given how rare that is. But maybe the hype hasn't built yet for a stick
swap AMG like it has for some of the other cars. And I think that is, you know, we would hate the
next big thing frame of mind because we're not trying to make any money. But I think stick swapped
AMGs, they don't have to be black series, but from the early, you know, from the 2000s, from
2010, those are going to be something that as people make the kits and do the engineering work
and the like smart stuff to make them function as a stick as they would have been stock if they
were offered that way, that is what is going to be fantastic because you are getting an experience
that is unlike anything that was available and you're getting rid of a slush box. Because those
were never great transmissions, were they? They're always just kind of okay for an automatic. Maybe
the car was just so good. I didn't care. They're okay. Now you could have it with a stick for like
not crazy money. Yeah, I like that. And smoking tire did a video on like a normal SL AMG that was
stick swapped and they said it was absolutely incredible. It just suits the car and you,
you know, can breathe new life into something that was typically just kind of a cruiser.
So I'm all about that. It doesn't seem to be that bad. Some companies are starting to do it.
Yeah, I honestly, I could, I would consider one at one point, I think. I don't want to do the
swap, but like I would buy one that's already been swapped. Totally. I totally would. Maybe I just
need to find a really cheap, ratty CLK 63. CLK 63 black. How's it going to make fun of you? I'm
struggling over here. I've had to deepen the sauce. Back to the Ferraris. 360 challenge stradales.
That is a hot thing right now. Everybody is six speed converting those not swapping. I shouldn't
even say six speed conversion. It's a three pedal conversion because it is the exact same
the F1 transmission just shifts the sort of bird to bird. Right. You're removing paddles and
hydraulic pumps and arms and things like that and using your own. How can you drive a stick
without arms, Doug? Yes. Actuators, you're taking out actuators. Okay. November 19th,
very recent result in 11,000 mile challenge stradales, six speed conversion, three pedal
conversion sold for $493,000 on bring a trailer. Now that is not, it might actually be lower than
a non-stick one, but it's very difficult to determine where these are lying right now because
the 360 challenge stradale market seems to be going through puberty right now. Six months ago,
they were 300 grand and now they're like 450 to 800. Everybody's just throwing numbers out there,
like throwing darts at a wall and who knows where they end up. It's very difficult to say
whether or not the CS six speed manuals are worth it from an ROI perspective. However,
I kind of missed the boat. I was actually going to, I did try to buy a couple different
ratty or previously damaged or rebuilt title challenge stradales to do a six speed conversion on,
sorry, three pedal conversion last year around like 200K and like they all got sold out from
under me or something, whatever it was. And so I feel like I missed the boat, but I wanted to do it
because they're just amazing cars. Like that's one of the greatest driver cars ever made minus
the sequential manual F1 flappy pedal crap. So I think that's one of the best cars on the planet
to do that too. So money be darned. I just I think you should do that. I think that's the way to go.
An example, wow, of how far the stradale market has come in a short period of time. One year ago,
this exact same car already converted bid to $282,000. So it went from 282 to 493 in 11 months.
Yeah, growth spurt. The fourth why 30s. People are pumping them. There's a few people who are
pushing the market up speaking of people pushing the market up. Blue Chip Denver has sold a couple
stick swaps. This is one I tried to buy. There's a Canada defusially probably butchered that 360
stick swap that I tried to buy a couple years ago. Okay. They offered me their silver one,
but they said it would have to be like 400k, which at the time was an insane number and I
didn't pay it. Well, they just recently listed the silver one on their site for 725. And then
it is listed as sold. Now, we don't know what it sold for, but that certainly creates a perception
of huge value in the market. The Canada defusially one is now listed at I pulled the listing down.
I think it's $845,000, which is insane. It's a great color, but talk about trying to drive the
market up. That is almost a million dollars for Ferrari 360. It's just like it can't compute.
And no bearing in reality of the one that just sold for 493. But there's got to be something
because people are using, I'm guilty of this, sites like classic.com that will show the like
last asking price. You have no idea what it sold for. And if you're trying to look at the market,
like, wow, they were asking that much. That doesn't mean it sold for that.
Exactly. They might have just brokered it privately and then put it up for 725. Not
accusing anyone of shenanigans. I'm just saying like, this is the car business. Perception of
reality sometimes becomes reality. All right, let's look at 430s. That seems to be a pretty good one
to do. And again, thanks to Epic Venn, we have some pre pre conversion sales and post conversion
sales and mixed results here. So we've got an 07 430 with 10,000 miles sold on P car market for $130,000
in 2023, as an F one, as a three pedal manual, it sold in May of this year for 178,000 pretty good
return there sort of, but a conversion also costs in the neighborhood of $20 to $30,000.
So got your money back in a little bit more for the hassle. Another one we found here was a red one.
The last listed price was 135,000 with 27,000 miles that was in 2022. And then it sold on bring
a trailer with 36,000 miles, so more miles as a three pedal manual for $141,000. So in that
scenario, it did not ROI. Well, and isn't is 36,000 miles high for a 430? It is, but so is 26,000 miles.
Okay. So yeah, there's there's a couple other factors there. But still, it was not a significant
enough difference to warrant the conversion. I think the best overall car to do it to and the
biggest ROI is the Aston Martin. Oh, yes. Aston Martin works offers a, you know, quote unquote
factory manual conversion and that transmission on that car that automatic was absolute garbage
both from a driving experience, unless you ask somebody that owns one, they'll say it's the
greatest thing ever. But also from a maintenance perspective, if anyone ever offers me one, I go,
can I see the receipts for service because I want to know if the transmission has been
replaced, fixed, whatever. And often there has been work done. These sell as an automatic all day
long for like 5040 to 50 to 60 grand 60 being like a final year s package as a manual and the
conversion costs anywhere from $25 to $40,000. As a manual, they regularly sell in these six
figures. Yes, an O5 in May of this year, an S sold for $108,500. Another one sold on collecting cars,
it was a US car sold for $90,000 plus import and all that stuff. And I was actually trying to
buy that car. The original sale didn't happen. They relisted it. I was bidding on it. And then it
just disappeared from the site. So there were some shenanigans with that car. But
the original sale happened at 90K, which after you factor in tariffs and importing it over here,
is well into the six figures. Another one sold on SBX cars earlier this year. And of course,
I've lost this reference. Where did it go? $136,000. So it was a very low mileage one,
4,000 miles, but still some very, very solid results for the converted vanquish
manuals. I think that's the best car to do it to. It's an absolutely gorgeous car. Huge,
huge improvement to the car in terms of just mechanical reliability, driving experience,
but also resale value. So there's my vote for the best car to manual swap, well other than the
$360 and CLK63 Black Series. I would put the vanquish and the Black Series in kind of the
same bucket of incredible vehicles that you just could never have with the proper transmission.
So that's the thing to do it on. And I do think that once the AMG stick swaps become a little bit
more common, it probably won't be as high as the vanquish, but I think they'll definitely be worth
it financially and of course for the experience. Yep. I think it's got some of these have to
catch on a little bit, but I like the Aston Martin at least with the DB9. They initially
offered it only in automatic and then they said, we'll make it with a stick and the stick one was
significantly better in any way. More horsepower to the rear wheels, faster zero to 60, lighter,
just better all around. What if this is a new sub-segment? I don't even have a name for it. I
just, I don't know, wrote some jokes. It may or may not be that funny, but we talked about tallow
and Tesla's a while back, which was an initiative by Steak and Shake to promote their new, we were
healthy. We make our stuff, fry our stuff in tallow, beef tallow instead of vegetable oil,
which is actually makes a big difference. But anyway, they wanted Tesla owners to come out and
share their appreciation or whatever, they get free fries or something like that.
And you got the alliteration, it's catchy, marketing. So that got me thinking in an effort,
you know, there's an ongoing effort to come up with new, creative, alliterative names for cars
and coffee. Lambo's and latte, you know, conics, eggs and eggs. What if we came up with some names,
but did wrong answers only? Oh, okay. All right. Well, what do you got?
Corvettes and croissants. I mean, you won't catch a Corvette owner drinking French press coffee
or eating something he can't pronounce when he could just have toast and bacon and eggs.
But don't you dare tell a Corvette owner that Corvette and croissant are both French words.
Them are fighting words. Lambo's and Lesbo's. Oh, you don't see many Vermont natives have a
sticker on their Subaru saying my other car is a Countache, right?
Tea tree and trucks.
You know, there, Bob, if your truck's going to burn oils, might as well be essential oils.
What? Instead of rolling coal, how about we diffuse lavender from our exhausts?
Ethan, how do we pull the plug?
Yoda's and Yoda's for people who love economy cars and Star Wars action figures.
I think I might, Ethan said, I don't know about this segment for those of you listening when he
does have a bike. No, yes, maybe.
Ethan, we need a team meeting.
Let's see what YouTube thinks about that one.
YouTube, what are your best culture clash? Two things that will never go together.
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Well, speaking of manual transmissions, apparently they might save lives, that's according to an
article on yahoo.com, and we'll get there in a second. Before that, we want to highlight
somebody who is teaching teens to drive stick shifts, not just teens, but teens and adults.
He did not know how to drive stick when he first got his Miata, and in learning stick,
he created what is now becoming a nationwide franchise sensation. According to the drive,
Ahmed Reza turned his Miata into a side hustle by teaching enthusiasts to drive stick.
So he created the Manual Driving Academy, which is an in-person program that is teaching a new
generation of drivers how to row their own all over the country. So he started doing it just
in his locale in Houston, but then he expanded to other cities in Texas and then nationwide.
As of 2025, that's this year, but as of when this article was published, the academy offers
lessons in 47 different metro areas, and it is basically just a virtual company where he contracts
with local instructors to offer lessons. The problem is, if you want to do this as an instructor,
you have to use your own car. Ooh, I'm out. Nope. He does provide you with commercial
insurance coverage though, so you don't have to worry about that. You could buy like a Corolla
or like a Civic or something. Yeah, those are becoming increasingly hard to find. It is very
difficult to find a cheap stick shift car. Yes. But anyway, he is increasing the number of
stick shift enthusiasts and their proficiency across the country with his cool little company.
There's three different packages you can get, basic standard and the works. If you get the works,
apparently in two to four hours, you can learn advanced clutch control, hill starts, parallel
parking, and rev-matched downshifts, which, man, I want to meet that instructor that can teach
somebody who can't drive stick to do rev-matched downshifts in less than four hours. I know,
that was something that took me a while to get used to. I had to drive my car for probably a
couple of months before I felt like I was even okay at it. Well, he said your students should
walk away with a grasp of, so, you know. No, grass hit the gas pedal when he said make rev go up.
Right. Anyway, so if you have a cheap manual car and you want to make some extra side hustle
money, apparently he says you can earn 50 to 60 bucks per hour. I just think it's cool because
it is one more way that the stick shift culture is staying alive. And maybe, maybe it'll catch on and
manufacturers will respond and make some more true manual cars. And that is good because,
back to the Yahoo article, a number of parents are now thinking that their teens learning to
drive stick shift is the way to keep them from crashing. Distracted driving, we know,
is a real problem for teens, but let's be honest, it's a real problem for everybody.
Old drivers think they're better just because they're old, but they're not necessarily. And I've seen
just as many adults maybe more on their phones distracted crossing over the center line than
they have teens, but. It's always middle aged people. Yeah. I gotta be honest. They're like
holding up their phone like this. It's so bad. Yeah. But in this article, the parents who are
teaching their kids to drive stick, they believe that it is a way to give them
too many things to concentrate or enough things to concentrate on that they don't have time or
the ability to be distracted by their phones. Also in driving stick shift, anecdotally,
it makes you a better driver. If you talk to like old school drivers ed people, they would say that
if somebody came in with a stick shift, like they always passed, they just knew that they knew how
to drive and they proved it that they did know how to drive because when you learn stick, you have
to like learn more concepts and it's just like a more engaging experience with what you're doing.
When you have to pay more attention to what the car is doing, what you are doing, the traffic
around you, because you need to be able to preempt. Do I need to downshift? Do I need to
upshift? What kind of maneuver? Like you can't just like step on the brake pedal, you know?
And there's stuff from folks I've been around that don't know how to drive stick. They honestly
ask me, how do you pay attention to so many things? How do you know what gear to go into?
How do you know this? And it's like, I had just kind of learned. And every car is different too.
The different shift points and like different, it likes each car likes to be in a different
rev range when you're just cruising. And it's like all of that stuff you need to learn and internalize.
Yep. It's a lot. I don't have time to sit there on my phone when I'm driving ever.
Absolutely. Yeah. And one of the parents is quoted as saying there's something about that
engagement that makes you a better, more attentive driver. The room for distraction stinks.
Shrinks. Shrinks. Whoa. Dugs a little heavily toasted over here. I know. I was reading another
word and I conflated them. Each year, more than 200 people are killed according to this
article and crashes involving distracted teen drivers. I think that stat is fake.
We've talked about this before. People don't admit to being distracted because they don't
want the ticker. They don't want the responsibility. So I would say that number is probably 10x
because you can't know unless you open an investigation and, you know, subpoena their
phone records and stuff if they were actually on their phone. And it's proven that people
absolutely lie about it. So I think the number is harmfully low because it's not painting the
real picture of what the real danger is. Here's a scary stat. In a 2025 survey,
seven in 10 teens admitted to using or looking at their phones while driving for about 20% of
their trip. What? What could you possibly need to look at for that much time? Six, seven.
Oh, I don't know. Oh my God. Just whatever that ticker is. It's a six, seven thing. I don't know.
Here's the disappointing thing. There is limited evidence to show that driving a stick shift can
help reduce distracted driving among teens. Although one study found a reduction in distracted
driving among adolescent males with ADHD. I don't know what that has to do with stick shifts, but
anyway, they quoted it. But the parent said, we don't need a study to prove that driving a stick
have been good for their kids. Quote, I've noticed that Logan is actually hyper focused when driving
the stick shift. One parent said his attention is fully on the driving. He simply doesn't have the
mental bandwidth to be thinking about his phone or other distractions. Is that kind of a dig?
Bro can handle. No, he's saying when he's when he's driving an automatic car, the kid says,
there are so many functions the car does for you that it's easy for his mind to wander more. And
that is so telling. There are so many functions the car does for you. We are going down that
dangerous path of the car does more and more and more for you because regulators and manufacturers
and parents are, in my opinion, wrongly saying, well, drivers suck. So we need to have the car
fix that. We need to have the car do more things for you. Which means the car is a wonderful book
for Matthew Cronin. There it is. We need like a ding every time why we drive. He says the exact
opposite. He says that the more you do, the more skilled you are at it, the happier you are,
the better you function. And we don't need the car to do more things. We need people to do
more things because that is the root of the problem. Well, and a lot of the things that we
dislike about modern cars, their size, their complexity, the their weight, a lot of it is
in support of some of it is for batteries for hybridization or fully electric vehicles and
all that stuff. But otherwise, there's a lot that is related to additional safety or additional
convenience features that I find entirely unnecessary. I never want lane keep assist
in a car. I'm paying attention when I'm driving. I don't need the car to buzz me if I get slightly
too close on a corner to the like inside the to the shoulder marker. I don't need it.
We do all of this stuff and it means people don't have to participate and you're driving a
three thousand pound vehicle. They can hurt someone. Yeah. The problem is the stick shifts now
aren't real stick shifts because they have hill start assist and stall assist and red matching
and stuff. That's fine. Now, you know, the geezers would say, well, manual transmission is used to
not have synchros. You all are just soft, you know, but so double clutch. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
So we can all, you know, the only hill start I need is my handbrake. Yes, I've said that.
I've said that. All right, brings us to the props and flops of the week.
And as always, the props and flops are brought to you by Switchcars. Switchcars is the enthusiast
dealership where you buy and sell cars that we like ourselves. Check out our handpicked inventory
at switchcars.com and be sure to mention switchcast for special pricing when available. Find more
information online at switchcars.com or come visit our showroom in Twinsburg, Ohio. Doug,
what is the prize later? No, we're not giving it away. But what is the pick of the week from
2007 Porsche Cayman S six speed manual. Very few nannies or anything that that car does for you.
No lane keep assist. No hill start assist. None of the assists. Thirteen thousand miles Arctic
Silver and factory sport seats. Very nice spec. Low mileage. Just a really, really fresh car. The car
looks like it has the low miles that it does. It has crazy low miles. Uh huh. Our flop of the week
is a doozy. This article was originally on WXYZ.com. The title of the article is family's only car
full of Christmas presents for children stolen and in Detroit. Now this happened when they were
out at a Jonas Brothers concert and their car, they had gone Christmas shopping before the
concert. It was all loaded up with Christmas presents and their purse and their wallet were
in their things. My wife tells me not to leave in my car. I also wouldn't go Christmas shopping
before going to a concert in a city parking a car. But either way, this sounds sad. That's
terrible. Right, right. The awkward part of this all and there was an interview with this couple
and it was pretty sad like the guy is crying. He's going through cancer treatments like they're
just going through a lot of difficult things. The article is no longer on the website and I'm not
sure which is the flop in all of these flops. But yeah, the article is no longer there. We had to
try to find the video because it came out that the car wasn't stolen. It was repossessed.
Dave Ramsey has entered the chat with his controversial opinions. What are you doing
going to a concert when you don't have money to pay your car note?
Yeah. Yikes. Yeah, he'd say you shouldn't be buying Christmas presents for your kids if you
don't pay. I mean, honestly, you shouldn't. You should be paying for necessities. The best Christmas
gift you can give your kid is security, a roof over their head, not presents. We don't need more
stuff. But anyway, oh boy, yeah, lots of, lots of step in it in that news story.
There's probably, don't worry, there's probably a GoFundMe out there for this couple to get their
car back from the thieves. Those evil companies who took back the car that, whoops, egg on faces there.
Let's see our prop of the week, according, according, according to scotastoryboard.com,
European Rally Champion, I'm not going to try to pronounce his name, Miko. He's a Polish driver
and he likes hypermiling. And our friend Jay Roberts likes doing that in his Prius,
but this guy did it with a diesel Skoda. And yeah. The model of this car is the Superb.
The Skoda Superb. It has a scant 66 liter fuel tank and supposedly good aerodynamics. He did
not heavily modify this car. It has a two liter TDI, a seven speed DSG automatic transmission.
He just used low rolling resistance tires and he noted that they were not brand new. He wore them
in a little bit because that gives you better gas mileage and he broke a record and, Collie,
where the heck is this record? You'd think I could do this better, but no. Man, this car is like
attractive. Yes. Why don't we get these? For the longest amount of mileage driven on a single fuel
tank. And that in this long, long article, you'd think it was, oh, right here, 2831 kilometers
on one tank of gas. How is that even possible? Hypermiling. That's nuts. Yeah. 2.61 liters
of diesel per 100 kilometers. Wow, they make a super station wagon. Oh, that's hot. This is great,
though. His secret is smooth driving and foresight. Quote, look ahead, anticipate, ease off the
accelerator in time and try to break as little as possible. Accelerate gently and gradually.
Honestly, that is stuff that driving a stick shift in normal traffic kind of teaches you to do
because you have to work less. Right. I always preempt, like, when do I need to slow down?
What do I need to do? And I just try to do everything smoothly. So anyway, I'm a big fan of diesel.
I think it's a little bit crazy that America just poo-poo's it and is full all in in EVs.
But man, think of what we could do. Like, what if that car was a diesel hybrid?
You could go across the, well, well over 100 miles a gallon easily. That's insane.
Yep. Yep. Anyway, I thought that was cool. I'm not a hypermiler myself, but I think these types
of driving feats are cool nonetheless. And I love it when people prove that internal combustion
engines can be in our very, very efficient. The Sheffield brand was recently revived by Jake
Turkbus, an owner of an original Sheffield All Sport Diver he received from his parents in 1970
when he was just 11 beginning his love of watches. As an adult, Jay used his extensive
expertise in product development and marketing to revive the brand that started it all. He set
out to develop watches with a high level of quality and specification at a value price.
His first effort and a successful one on July of 2023 was the debut of the Sheffield All Sport
Diver one. It had the kind of build and movement that much more expensive watches use and his
debut price of $108 was equivalent to the $13 his parents paid in 1970. Since that debut,
Sheffield has expanded to a wider range of automatics and chronos, many designed around
vintage Sheffield dials of the 60s. The Sheffield well of clever and unique design remains his
inspiration as well as maintaining the goal of high quality, very affordable range of automatic
and quartz watches. Sheffield watches value on merit, not just price. I love mine,
so get yours at SheffieldWatches.com and be sure to mention you found them on Switchcast.
Thank you for joining us for Switchcast with Doug Tabott and Tyler Sanders produced by Ethan
Huffnagle. Switchcast is an automotive entertainment and opinion show and nothing we say should be
taken very seriously. We do not give tax, investment, legal, emotional or professional advice and the
only licenses we hold are driver's licenses. The opinions expressed on this show are exclusively
held by the people pontificating at that moment and do not reflect the values of our producers
or sponsors. Our theme music is provided by Emily and Ivory. You can stream their full
album on Spotify or SoundCloud. If you like this show, you can stream it in its entirety on your
favorite audio podcast platform. Check out switchcast.live for more info.
About this episode
Engaging discussions about the merits of manual transmissions and stick swaps highlight this episode. Hosts Doug and Tyler explore the benefits of driving stick, including enhanced driver focus and safety, while sharing personal stories about car purchases and modifications. They dive into the financial implications of stick swaps, using examples from the Ferrari and Mercedes markets. The episode also features a segment on a new driving academy teaching manual skills, emphasizing the importance of stick shifts in reducing distractions for young drivers. A mix of humor and automotive insights makes this episode a captivating listen.
