The discussion weaves through personal anecdotes about holiday preparations and the challenges of managing a car dealership. Lenny shares a humorous story about troubleshooting a mysterious light in his new Nissan Armada, emphasizing the importance of understanding vehicle features. He reflects on business strategies for customer retention and service quality, drawing parallels between effective management and personal life lessons. The episode also touches on legal considerations when transferring vehicle ownership, highlighting the need for clear documentation and communication.
"So this Nissan Armada that I gave to her, I bought and my wife's going to be driving it. I was in the driveway last night in the dark trying to figure out how to get this light off of the dash."
The Nissan Armada is a large SUV that can carry many passengers and has a strong engine. It's great for families and has lots of features to keep everyone safe and comfortable.
The Nissan Armada is a full-size SUV known for its spacious interior and powerful V8 engine. It's designed for families and offers a range of features for comfort and safety.
"Somehow we had pushed a button somewhere and turned a light on, which said that all of the collision avoidance software was deactivated."
Collision avoidance software helps cars avoid accidents by using sensors to see what's around them. If it thinks a crash might happen, it can warn the driver or even help stop the car.
Collision avoidance software uses sensors and cameras to detect potential obstacles and can alert the driver or even take action to prevent a collision. It's a key feature in modern vehicles for enhancing safety.
"...what you're supposed to do when you get a new car. Get the owner's manual out."
An owner's manual is a guide that comes with your car. It tells you how to use different features and how to take care of your car properly.
An owner's manual is a booklet that comes with a vehicle, providing essential information about its features, maintenance, and operation. It's a valuable resource for understanding how to use and care for the car.
"So this thing was called the VDC. No, I don't know what that stands for. Vehicle something, but it has to do with the all of the sensors that are on the vehicle, the cameras to keep you from running into people."
VDC is a safety feature in cars that helps keep the vehicle stable and prevents skidding. It uses sensors to monitor how the car is moving and can make adjustments to help avoid accidents.
VDC stands for Vehicle Dynamic Control, a system that helps maintain vehicle stability and traction by utilizing various sensors and software. It can intervene during slippery conditions or when the vehicle is losing traction to prevent accidents.
"One of the few Ford dealerships that has as many completely certified master Ford technicians working at the same place. That's why we do a lot of business."
A certified master technician is a mechanic who has gone through special training and tests to show they are very skilled at fixing cars. They know a lot about how cars work and how to repair them properly.
A certified master technician is an automotive technician who has completed extensive training and passed rigorous testing to demonstrate their expertise in vehicle repair and maintenance. This certification indicates a high level of skill and knowledge in the automotive field.
"One of the few Ford dealerships that has as many completely certified master Ford technicians working at the same place. That's why we do a lot of business."
Ford is a well-known car company that makes many types of vehicles, including trucks and cars. They have been around for a long time and are famous for models like the Ford F-150 truck.
Ford is a major American automotive manufacturer known for producing a wide range of vehicles, including trucks, SUVs, and cars. The brand has a long history and is recognized for models like the Ford F-150 and Mustang.
"Matter of fact, we even have car dealerships that aren't certified to work on transmissions, for example, because they don't have a technician that is certified to do it, then they can't do warranty repairs on transmissions."
The transmission is a part of a car that helps it move by sending power from the engine to the wheels. It can be automatic, where the car shifts gears by itself, or manual, where the driver changes gears.
A transmission is a crucial component of a vehicle that transfers power from the engine to the wheels, allowing the car to move. It can be automatic or manual and is essential for controlling the speed and torque of the vehicle.
"Well, I'm expecting to open up the envelope and there's a title in there. Nope, no title."
A title is like a certificate that shows who owns a car. When you buy or sell a car, you need to change the title to show the new owner.
In automotive terms, a 'title' is a legal document that proves ownership of a vehicle. It is essential for transferring ownership during a sale or purchase.
"Now that's a problem. How do you transfer ownership of a vehicle that's not in your name? Well, so I looked at it, they had a state of Tennessee registration form that you"
Registration is like signing up your car with the government. It shows that your car is legal to drive and that you own it.
Vehicle registration is the process of officially recording a vehicle with the government, which provides proof of ownership and allows the vehicle to be legally driven on public roads.
"All you have to do is write them a bill of sale. And then they can register it in their state if, you know, they will allow."
A bill of sale is a paper that shows you sold your car to someone else. It helps prove that the car now belongs to the new owner.
A bill of sale is a legal document that records the transfer of ownership of an item, in this case, a vehicle. It serves as proof of the transaction between the seller and the buyer, detailing the vehicle's information and the terms of the sale.
"What was it? 1964 Volvo P 1800 S. And you may be thinking, well, that doesn't sound cool. It is one of the coolest cars ever made from an appearance standpoint."
The Volvo P1800 S is a classic car that many people admire for its beautiful design. It was made by Volvo and is known for being a reliable and stylish vehicle.
The Volvo P1800 S is a classic sports coupe produced by Volvo from 1961 to 1973. It is known for its stylish design and durability, making it a beloved model among car enthusiasts.
"...And come to find out there's a lien on that car. They put up the title for a title loan at 32 percent interest."
A lien means that someone else has a legal claim to the car because of a loan. If the owner doesn't pay back the loan, the lender can take the car back.
A lien is a legal right or interest that a lender has in a borrower's property, granted until the debt obligation is satisfied. In the context of car buying, it means that the lender can claim the vehicle if the loan is not repaid.
"If it's got 13 digits in the VIN or fewer, then there's no history on those websites. It has to be 17 digits and then you can find out some history about the car."
A VIN is like a car's fingerprint; it's a unique number that helps identify a specific vehicle. If a car has fewer than 17 digits in its VIN, it may be older and not have a complete history available online.
The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is a unique code used to identify individual motor vehicles. A standard VIN consists of 17 characters, which provide information about the car's make, model, year, and place of manufacture.
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Well, hey folks, welcome to another edition of My Car Guru.
I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that it's December.
Putting the Christmas tree up made it plainly evident.
That's my job.
I also have to put the lights on it.
My wife bought a bunch of extra lights and she said, I would really like to have all
of these lights on the tree.
And I said, honey, the tree was pretty full last year.
I know, but I just, I think it needs more.
And I said, all right, I'll work on it.
And so I did.
I got them all on there.
I mean, it lights up the east side of Greenville.
And plus it's a fake tree.
You know, that was always an anathema to me.
No fake trees in my house.
Well, I guess people change and it is a lot easier.
I mean, this one's like opening an umbrella.
Well, it's not quite that easy.
What I hate about it is having to, you know, it gets when it's sitting in a box, everything
gets smashed.
And so I have to do the fluffing to get it ready.
You know, it's just like life, right?
Sometimes we need to get fluffed.
I had to fluff my managers this morning.
We had an early managers meeting talking about 2026 and what our plans are.
And you know, we, of course, we look at personnel.
We look at our facilities.
We look at our current inventory, what it should look like versus what it does look
like.
We talk about our marketing principles.
You know, I've got five basic things I look at, price, product, service, access and experience.
And so we, we manage each of those areas to make sure that, that people want to buy cars
from us and that if we let any of those down, then we, you know, we don't sell as many cars
as we should and we don't retain customers.
So that's so important and a lot of businesses don't waste time planning and they just let
what happens happen.
But the car business is evolving so rapidly.
It's really hard to adapt.
I'll give you one example, price.
I mean, cars have gone up dramatically, you know, in the last five years, pre pandemic.
It was a totally different ball game.
Everything's gone up and some of it's due to tariffs and a lot of it's due to over complexity.
I'll just say it.
So this Nissan Armada that I gave to her, I bought and my wife's going to be driving
it.
I was in the driveway last night in the dark trying to figure out how to get this light
off of the dash.
Somehow we had pushed a button somewhere and turned a light on, which said that all of
the collision avoidance software was deactivated.
And I was being warned that if I wanted it to work, I needed to turn it back on.
And so I'm telling you, I looked all over that dash.
I thought it might be buried in one of the menus, you know, on the screen.
I was out there a good 20 minutes and getting pretty frustrated.
I said, why would this be so hard to find?
So I took a picture of the screen and I sent it to my service manager.
I said, what is wrong with this thing?
He said, well, there should be a button somewhere, a switch or something in the
menus.
I said, I know that.
I can't find it.
Any idea where it is.
He said, no, I'm not that familiar with the new Armada.
So I called my nephew, Max, Max, how do I turn this off?
He's also my next door neighbor.
He said, I don't know, but I'll run up and try to help you figure it out.
And I said, no, I'm too proud for that.
So what did I do?
I do what you're supposed to do when you get a new car.
Get the owner's manual out.
So this thing was called the VDC.
No, I don't know what that stands for.
Vehicle something, but it has to do with the all of the sensors that are on the
vehicle, the cameras to keep you from running into people.
You know, it has collision avoidance.
There's a lot of good software on there to keep you from running into people.
And that's fine, but I could not find the button anywhere.
So I open, I go to the index and I go to the V's and there it was VDC setting.
And it showed me where the button was.
So I'm inside.
It's 20 degrees outside.
So I go put my coat on.
I said, I'll be back in a minute, honey.
She said, where are you going?
Your soup's ready.
And I said, well, I've got to figure this out.
So I go outside and I get in the vehicle.
There's no lights on in it, but it's brand new.
And so I'd never activated the the switch that controls the lights so that
they come on when you open the doors.
Where's that?
So I had to turn my phone on and turn on the flashlight and I started looking around
and here's Lenny Lawson out there in this car in the dark looking for the light switch.
And I just happened to remember that typically they're on the roof near the
near the rear view mirror.
And I looked up and there it is.
And so I pushed that button, lights came on and I looked to see where
the owner's manual said the switch was and I looked and I just didn't see it.
And so I just kept looking in that general area and there it was.
VDC off.
I pushed the button and it went off and I was giddy.
I had solved the problem and could go inside and eat my soup in peace.
Do you get like that?
Do you get to the point where you just get so frustrated that you are just,
you know, you have to take a break.
You have to go think about it and then come back and end up solving the problem
and how that makes you feel.
Well, that's what my meeting this morning was with my managers.
We identified key issues that we have and we have them just like any business.
I mean, one of the things I've noticed over the years, my 47 year career is nothing
stays fixed. I mean, you you like it, try to improve something.
Let's say you have a process in the service drive and when customers come in,
there's something that you need to do and do it on a consistent basis.
Maybe it has to do with the walk around that my service advisors are supposed to do.
They're supposed to walk around your vehicle when you come in.
Because trust me, if you come in for an oil change and you have a headlight out
and we don't catch it and you don't know it's out and then you get home and you
say, my headlights out, what did they break?
You know, it's our responsibility.
You trust us to see that kind of stuff.
So we do a walk around.
Well, let's say that, I don't know, our walk arounds aren't working like they should.
We're not doing it a hundred percent.
Then we have to recalibrate, talk to our manager or talk to our service
advisors, say, guys, this is important.
Do you understand why it's important?
Yeah, we understand.
And I said, well, why are we not doing it?
Well, the phones ringing off the hook and, you know, they come up with all kinds
of excuses, but it doesn't matter what the excuses are, right?
Uh, sometimes they're genuine and you need to make some adjustments.
But, you know, we have to do the walk arounds, guys.
And how often do we need to do them?
A hundred percent of the time.
That's right.
We do it a hundred percent right.
A hundred percent of the time at a hundred percent volume.
Where did I learn that?
I learned that at Pals, the fast food place.
Yes, I learned a lot when I went to the Pals school.
They actually called the school, it was an interesting name.
They call it the mean lean profit machine.
And those of you who are listening to the podcast, you, you don't know what
pals is, but it's probably the highest profit fast food business.
Per store in the entire United States and Canada.
Matter of fact, what do you think is the number?
Well, this was 2008 when I went to this school.
So let's back up a little bit.
What do you think the number one fast food place was in Canada?
And everybody says McDonald's.
That's right.
And then they'll say Wendy's.
No, neither one A and W root beer.
And while I was at the Pals school, there were like eight representatives
there from A and W root beer of Canada to learn how to run a more profitable
fast food business.
They came to Kingsport, Tennessee to learn that.
You know, sometimes you have to go out of your way to learn something good.
And I learned a lot of good there.
And I've translated that to or there are a lot of their guidelines.
Not all of them.
I wish I could to the car business to improve our customer service, to
improve our customer's experience, to make things work better in the dealership,
to stay cleaner, neater, you know, it just covers so many different
aspects of your business.
And so that's what my meeting was about.
And that's what you have to do to be successful.
Okay, I'm going to take my first break.
I'll be back in just one minute.
Okay, I am back.
So I've had this customer and they've had this vehicle in my shop for some time.
And they can't pay their bill.
What am I supposed to do?
What am I supposed to do with somebody who brings their car to the dealership?
We fix it and we put it outside and wait for them to come pay their bill.
And they just don't come and pick it up.
They don't pay their bill.
Well, we call them and we try to be nice and we say, okay, you know, what's,
what's the problem, what's going on?
Sometimes, well, I just can't come up with the money or, well, I don't really
need the vehicle right now.
You know, we really don't want to be a storage lot for somebody and we tell
them if you're going to just leave it, we've only, we got limited space here.
We're now, we're actually having to rent the lot beside my dealership property.
I've got five and a half acres.
We're having to rent this lot beside us to park overflow.
And that overflow is our own vehicles because we don't have enough room.
Our service department is so busy, you know, with business.
We, we do a lot.
We service all makes and models.
We have a good reputation.
You know, we have some very talented technicians.
One of the few Ford dealerships that has as many completely certified master Ford
technicians working at the same place.
That's why we do a lot of business.
There's people drive from, you know, 30, 40, 50 miles away to get the cars
worked on here.
Matter of fact, we even have car dealerships that aren't certified to work on
transmissions, for example, because they don't have a technician that is certified
to do it, then they can't do warranty repairs on transmissions.
They send them to us to get them done.
So anyway, back to the story.
This person has this vehicle that they're just going to leave it here.
That they're not going to pay us for it.
And so finally, after I ended up having to call them and they said, tell you what,
we don't want the vehicle anymore.
I said, well, that's no good.
What are you going to do with it?
I said, well, we're just going to bring you the title and sign it over to you.
I said, well, I'll have to think about that.
Number one, let me go out there and figure out what the thing is worth.
And if it's, you know, if it's something that we can sell, then I'll be willing
to give you some money for it.
And maybe we can, well, we can offset your bill, hopefully.
So I looked at how much their bill was called my office.
And they said, wow, that's pretty sizable.
So then I looked at their vehicle.
And it's got a lot of issues, but as far as value, it's close.
And so if I discount the bill, then I could probably take the vehicle.
So I called them back and I said, well, bring me the title to the vehicle.
Okay, I'll bring you the title.
So they showed up yesterday and handed me an album.
We sat in my office and talked for quite a while, had a nice conversation,
but they handed me an envelope.
Well, I'm expecting to open up the envelope and there's a title in there.
Nope, no title.
Matter of fact, the vehicle was not even in their name.
Now that's a problem.
How do you transfer ownership of a vehicle that's not in your name?
Well, so I looked at it, they had a state of Tennessee registration form that you
would fill out if you were going to go get tax and it had the owner's name on it
and it was signed at the bottom.
I said, well, this is interesting.
So I look at the next piece of paper and it is a power of attorney and it's in the
owner's name and it's signed at the bottom.
Now, power of attorneys folks are supposed to be notarized.
And so I look at it and it's not notarized.
And so I've got a person trying to transfer me a vehicle in exchange for making
their repair bill zero.
They don't own it.
Somebody else does.
I have a power of attorney had no idea if the person really signed it.
So I said, well, I don't have to call this person.
You can't call that person.
Why not?
You know, I mean, all kinds of alarm bells are going off.
Well, they finally realized, yeah, go ahead and call.
You know, I guess they were offended.
They thought I wasn't trusting them or whatever, but that it's not about trust.
I mean, I've got to have legal documentation.
I need a title and it's got to be signed by the person who owns the vehicle over to me.
So anyway, I'm going to be calling them tomorrow and just find out that it's genuine.
You know, you just really have to be careful in the transfer of ownership to other people.
Let's say that you have a relative that passes away and then the will.
They said that you can have the vehicle.
Well, you take possession of the vehicle.
Now what?
Well, you've got to have a title whose name is the title in the person who died.
So what do you have to have?
You know, one of the family members can't just sign that title.
You're going to have to have some documentation as dictated by your DMV.
They may say, well, we need a copy of the will.
Well, I can't get a copy of the will.
Well, then, you know, you're going to have a hard time getting ownership of that vehicle.
What if you have a power of attorney signed?
Well, that's fine, but is it notarized?
If it's not notarized in many states, they won't acknowledge that either.
So the time to take care of all this really is before you die and not leave it
for attorneys and judges and your family members to try to figure out, give them
the honor or the respect of a clear path.
You know, and that's one of the things that I've tried to do is, for example,
if you come into my office and you open the top drawer,
that's pretty much everything that my kids and my wife need to know if something happens to me.
I mean, a will is great.
You know, I'm going to give this person this, this person that and so forth.
But I think it's important also to just write a letter and update it every year or so
so that your family knows where things are and what's important to you.
I mean, the will can state a lot of that.
But also, you know, when it comes to specific things like bank accounts,
where's the key to the safe deposit box?
What things do you have in your household that are truly valuable?
You know, just walk through it with them.
I mean, a lot of families just they don't do that because they don't want to think about it.
Right. I mean, my girls for that way, they said, Dad, I don't want to think about this.
I said, honey, you have to. You don't have a choice.
You have to take your emotional hat off and put on your business person hat
or your logical hat. You have to be able to get through this.
But then I backed it up with a it's probably a four page letter.
I mean, I think my first time I did that was when I was getting ready to go out of the country.
I said, you know, that plane goes down with my wife and me.
They're going to be lost trying to figure stuff out where all the insurance policies
are, you know, where the accounts are.
There's just so many different things.
I mean, I have a lot of vintage cars and stuff like that.
They need to know where the titles are to those vehicles so they can do something with them.
You know, we just need to make it easy for them.
And there may be some of you that have terrible relationships with other family members
and you care less. And that's fine.
I mean, if that is your plan, the care less plan,
then that's fine. That works for you. That's fine.
But if you love your family members and you want to make it clear and understandable
and easy for them, I just think that's a great gift to give to your family members
is that kind of clarity.
And yeah, it's hard.
It's hard to sit down and talk to them about it.
But I think it's very valuable and very critical that we do that.
OK, I'll take my last break. I'll be back here in just a minute.
OK, I am back.
One other thing, if you have a vehicle that's over 25 years old
and you can't find a title in the state of Tennessee, it's not a problem.
If you want to sell it to somebody, you can without a title.
All you have to do is write them a bill of sale.
And then they can register it in their state if, you know, they will allow.
You just have to know what the rules are before you think about passing
something to somebody else.
Now, I have titles for all of my old cars.
You would expect that, wouldn't you?
But a lot of people don't. They can't find them.
I've run into this so many times.
I had a guy I bought a 19. Let's see.
What was it? 1964 Volvo P 1800 S.
And you may be thinking, well, that doesn't sound cool.
It is one of the coolest cars ever made from an appearance standpoint.
Yeah, I just love that car. I restored it and it was gorgeous.
But anyway, that car didn't have a title.
I couldn't find it.
I said, well, just write me a bill of sale.
So he did show and he put my name on it how I wanted how I wanted it titled.
But the selling price and all that.
So I just took it to the the DMV or the registrar's office here in in Green
County, Tennessee. And I said, I need to register this vehicle.
She said, you have a title? I said, no, but I have a bill of sale.
We can't do that. Yeah, you can. It's over 25 years old. Oh, OK.
So they printed a title.
Well, I take that back.
In that case, they couldn't print a title.
It had to go to the state.
They do some kind of a search.
And then I got a title in the mail within 10 days.
And so you can do that, like I say,
if the vehicle is over 25 years old in the state of Tennessee.
So before you buy a car from somebody, a vintage car or any car, for that matter,
you have to find out what the status of the title is.
You know, some people will lie to you, believe it or not, they will.
And they'll say, well, I'll get you a bill of sale or something like that.
You say, well, that'll be OK.
And come to find out there's a lien on that car.
They put up the title for a title loan at 32 percent interest.
And you can't get your title because the title loan place has it.
And they're going to come looking for that car because, in fact, they really do own it.
And so you've got to make sure that's not the situation.
One of the things I would also want to make sure of, if I had any doubts,
I would go to my state if the vehicle was supposed, let's say it has Missouri tags on it.
And you live in Missouri, then I would go to the tag office in Missouri and say,
you know, are there any liens on this car?
All I got was a bill of sale.
Would you check the and see if there's any liens on this car?
And they can pull it up.
You know what a lien is, right?
That's when somebody owes money on that particular car.
They're using it as collateral.
And if they say, yeah, there's a lien on this car for $2,000 at ABC credit union.
Well, they lied to you.
And so, I mean, you may have the car and you may have a bill of sale.
You may even have a title, you know, somebody could have found a lien.
It could be a mechanics lien, you know, where they took it to be repaired
and they never paid the bill.
And so the shop goes and puts a mechanics lien on it.
Well, the only way that you can get a title in that case is to go pay their bill.
Or if there's a lien on it, you know, they just borrowed money against it
and you got to go pay that loan or you're not going to get a title.
Sorry, that's just the way it works.
So do the research, find out about the car, find out about the status of the title.
You know, try to find the history.
If you're trying to buy an old vintage car, there's not going to be anything on car facts.
There's not going to be anything on auto check.
There's no history.
If it's got 13 digits in the van or fewer, then there's no history
on on those websites.
It has to be 17 digits and then you can find out some history about the car.
So this is just more of the kind of stuff you'll learn on my car guru.
If you have any questions, specific questions, send me a text 423-552-2020
or send me an email to Lenny Lawson 2020 at gmail.com.
And if you're interested for a Christmas present for somebody,
you need the my car guru guidebook.
It's free.
Just send me your email address to that phone number 423-552-2020
or you can call the dealership and at Gateway Ford or Gateway Nissan.
623-423-639-5151 and tell them, hey, I need Lenny to mail me a copy
of the my car guru guidebook.
I'll print it out, mail it to you as long as they as long as you give them an address.
Well, thanks for listening and I'll see you next time.
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