Why Loving Your Vehicle Makes You a Better Owner
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Car
Jeep Wrangler
The Jeep Wrangler is a tough vehicle made for driving off-road. It's popular for adventures and has a unique look that many people love.
Car
Nissan Rogue
The Nissan Rogue is a type of SUV that is good for families and everyday driving. It's known for being comfortable and reliable.
Part
carburetor kits
Carburetor kits help fix or replace parts in a carburetor, which is what helps your car's engine get the right mix of air and fuel. If something goes wrong with the carburetor, these kits can help make it work properly again.
Concept
muscle car
A muscle car is a type of car that is designed for speed and power, usually with a big engine. They are often American-made and have a sporty look.
Term
classic vehicle
A classic vehicle is an older car that many people admire for its style and history. These cars are usually at least 20 years old and can be very valuable.
Car
Chevrolet Monte Carlo
The Chevrolet Monte Carlo is a stylish two-door car that was popular for many years, especially known for its sporty version called the SS. The 1984 model is special because it's one of the last of its kind and has a powerful engine that many car fans love. People talk about it because it's a classic car with a lot of history.
Term
NASCAR
NASCAR is a type of car racing that happens on tracks, where specially designed cars compete against each other. It's very popular in the United States, and many people enjoy watching it.
Concept
barn find
A barn find is when someone finds an old car that has been sitting in a barn for a long time. People often restore these cars because they can be special or valuable.
Car
Fiat 124 Spider
The Fiat 124 Spider is a small sports car made by Fiat. The 1971 version is known for being fun to drive and having a nice design.
Term
head gasket
The head gasket is a part of the engine that keeps oil and coolant from leaking into each other. If it breaks, it can cause big problems for the engine.
Term
castle panel
The castle panel is a part of a car's body that helps keep it strong and aligned. If it's damaged, it can cause problems with how the car drives and looks.
Car
MG MGB
The MGB is a small sports car made by MG, a British company. It's known for being fun to drive and is often collected by car lovers.
Car
Triumph TR6
The TR6 is a sports car made by Triumph, a British company. It's known for its strong engine and classic design, making it popular among collectors.
Car
Porsche 914 Spyder 1600
The Porsche 914 Spyder 1600 is a small sports car made by Porsche in the 1970s. It's known for being light and easy to handle, which makes it enjoyable to drive.
Part
cylinder head
The cylinder head is a part of the engine that helps control the air and fuel mixture for combustion. If it's not fixed correctly, it can cause oil to leak and other engine problems.
Term
maintenance
Maintenance means taking care of your car so it runs well. This includes things like changing the oil and checking the brakes.
Term
warranty
A warranty is like a promise from the car maker that they'll fix certain problems for free for a certain time. After that time, if something breaks, you have to pay to fix it yourself.
Concept
restorable
A restorable car is one that can be fixed up and made drivable again. It usually needs a lot of work but is worth it if it's special or valuable.
Concept
fixable
A fixable car is one that can be repaired and made to work again. It usually just needs some parts or work done to it.
Concept
parts car
A parts car is a car that can't be fixed up to drive again, so people use it to take parts off for other cars. It's like a donor car for repairs.
Car
Fiat Spider
The Fiat Spider is a small sports car made by Fiat, popular for its good looks and fun driving. The 1971 model is one of the earlier versions.
Car
Monte Carlo SS
The Monte Carlo SS is a sporty car made by Chevrolet, famous for its strong engine and cool design. The 1984 version is one of the models from its fourth generation.
Term
rocker panels
Rocker panels are parts of a car's body that are found under the doors. They help hold the car together and can get rusty over time.
Term
body flexing
Body flexing happens when the car's body bends or twists, which can cause problems like cracks in the windshield. It's usually a sign that the car might need some repairs.
Term
mechanically good
If a car is 'mechanically good', it means everything is working well. The engine, brakes, and other important parts are in good shape and don't need fixing right now.
Term
oil change
An oil change is when you replace the old oil in a car's engine with new oil. This helps keep the engine running smoothly and prevents damage.
Car
Toyota FJ Cruiser
The Toyota FJ Cruiser is a tough-looking SUV that can handle rough terrains and is great for outdoor adventures. It has a cool retro design and is loved by people who enjoy off-roading. Many people talk about it because it's a fun and reliable vehicle for exploring.
Car
Honda Crv
The Honda CR-V is a small SUV that is known for being reliable and good for families. The 1998 version is one of the earlier models.
LIVE
Good morning, folks.
You're tuned into Car Connection,
where the coffee's strong, the stories are real,
and the wrenches never stop turning.
I'm your host, Niall Motormouth Jenkins,
coming to you from the Car Connection workshop,
where the smell of fresh oil and a little elbow grease
is all part of a balanced breakfast.
And around here, we don't just talk cars, we live them.
Whether it's a 25-year-old Jeep Wrangler
getting a second chance at life,
or a Nissan Rogue getting its brakes back in order.
Or perhaps a mystery leak
that's got everyone scratching their heads.
This is where we roll up our sleeves and get it done,
with a little wit, a little wisdom, and a whole lot of fun.
The Car Connection isn't just about nuts, bolts,
and diagnostics, it's about connection.
Connection to our vehicles, to the people who drive them,
and to the community that keeps Niagara rolling.
Because when you fix a car, you're not just turning a wrench,
you're restoring someone's confidence, freedom,
and maybe even their sanity.
We're here every week, Monday through Saturday,
with the Motormouth Morning Drive at 8 a.m.,
helping you keep your ride safe, reliable,
and ready for whatever road lies ahead.
So whether you're a weekend wrencher, a daily commuter,
or someone who just wants to understand
what that strange rattle really means,
welcome aboard.
Stick around for shop, talk, expert advice,
and a few good laughs, and maybe even a story or two.
Well, Car Connection Workshop is brought to you
by Crystal Ridge Dream Center,
serving men, women, and children, meals, love, and hope,
changing lives one at a time in the Niagara region.
In times when the community sport is crucial,
Crystal Ridge Dream Center shines as a beacon of compassion
and transformation.
Visit 385 Derby Road, you can find all our program partners
and sponsors on the homepage of our website
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Thank you to Earl and Louise Grant,
City Auto Sales and Leasing,
providing low mileage quality vehicles at fair prices.
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Thank you to Rita and Ramiz Shenouda,
the brothers at Rainbow Motors and Garage
in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada.
Sales and service, you can trust.
They have a small car lot, get in touch with them,
let them know what you're looking for specifically.
If they don't have it, they can find it.
You can have all years and makes and bottles
of vehicles up and to,
and including light commercial vehicles,
service at Rainbow Motors and Garage.
Sales and service, you can trust.
Thank you to our Certified Financial Planning Professionals,
Tony Miele and Larry Teacho,
combined at 50 years experience,
IG Wealth Management,
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Call them and get your questions answered
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with building supplies,
hardscape, landscaping materials to help you design,
build, and enjoy your backyard space.
So get in touch with the Grimoire family at Niagara Block,
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that can help line up a contractor for you,
help to create designs and figure out
what materials you need,
and you can be sitting in your backyard oasis
this summer, 2026.
It's a total freedom, Darien Center, New York.
They are an addictions campus,
open to Canadians and USA residents,
and what they deal with is those who are ready
to deal with their addiction.
That's what they do.
There's a new life waiting for those
who are struggling with addictions,
that total freedom, addiction campuses, Canada, and USA.
Well, let's jump right into our morning here together,
which we made it to the weekend.
So thank you for tuning in.
Thank you for being a part of Car Connection
and Car Connection Workshop.
Don't forget the biggest drawer in our toolbox
and where everything that we talk about lives.
It's on the homepage of our website
at carconnectionbusinessnetwork.com.
So when you get to our homepage,
and I always put all this information
in our description of each podcast on iHeartRadio,
we're on all the platforms,
all the major platforms, Spotify, Amazon, and Apple Music.
Wherever you pull your podcast from,
just search Car Connection Workshop,
you'll find us, we'll be there.
So on our homepage are all the logos
of the companies that I just mentioned.
All you have to do is click on their logo
and it will open a profile page
that has all their contact information
readily available for you so that you can reach out to them.
I'll get it right this morning yet.
It's not enough coffee.
That's what it is.
Or I'm trying to talk too fast and get it all in.
That could be as well.
That's why they call me motor mouth.
That's what it's all about.
So their logos are there, click, reach out,
and thank you for giving them your business ahead of time.
We appreciate that.
They've been with us for a long time.
We wrapped up 31 years of Car Connection,
our live call-in automotive program on radio,
on several radio networks for 31 years,
and here we are on the Digitals.
And now we can reach a lot more people
north, south, east, and west.
We've got our YouTube channel going
with almost 100 videos in the library right now.
And all those videos are teaching videos,
showing you what I do, how I do it,
and the basic fundamentals of vehicle ownership
and preventative maintenance
and how you can very easily understand more
about your automobile through the five things
that I always teach.
What it is, where it is, how it works, how it breaks,
and what could you have known or done differently
to prevent that damage from happening,
costing you money.
And how to keep a vehicle long-term
with a long-term engine and transmission.
We know how to give it longevity
if you follow along and put money back in your wallet.
So if that's of interest to you,
then you need to grab on my coattails
and you are in the right place.
Sign up for our YouTube channel.
Make sure you like and subscribe, share, follow,
ring the bell, and help us keep the ignition on
with our YouTube channel.
And help us to grow our iHeart radio platform as well.
Share us with your friends.
Help us out with that.
To also ignite the fire and build the program
so that we can reach many, many more people.
So hand us out and hand us off to your circle of friends,
all your peeps, and let them know
if they wanna know how to keep their vehicle long-term
and give it super longevity, that's my specialty.
I know how to get it done through fleet maintenance.
That's what I did for a long time
was working on different companies' fleet vehicles
because they don't just pass them off
until it's ready to go.
And generally, it will receive its last cycle of maintenance
and then it's scheduled to go down the road
and they generally go either back to leasing company
or for auction, but they don't turn in a piece of junk.
I worked for a company short term
where they went to auctions where fleet trucks
were available to put bids on and they would buy the trucks
and we would go through them, refurbish whatever needs
to be refurbished and they would sell like hotcakes.
Absolutely.
So let's dive in this morning
and remember top right hand corner,
the homepage or website, I almost forgot.
All the links are there for YouTube, Facebook, Instagram
and my Skippy, my videographer always puts funny outtakes
and bloopers and reels that you won't find anywhere else
except for on Facebook, Instagram.
You might see one pop up on stevensvilleontheweb.ca,
click on the businesses tab to find our profile there.
My parents have lived in Stevensville for almost 40 years
and I have a lot of contacts there as well.
And our Skippy is from Stevensville.
She created that website, which I think is brilliant
to bring the community and the business owners
in Stevensville together as a community.
I think that's absolutely fabulous.
So we support that 100%.
I Heart Radio link is there
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Proceeds go to total freedom addiction campuses,
Canada and USA.
So help us to reach out and help those
who are struggling with addictions
to get to a total freedom addiction campus
where they can get the help they need
and find that new life that awaits for them there.
Well, let's jump into our swiggy this morning.
If you're just joining us here on a Saturday morning.
Yep, it is, it's Saturday morning.
We made it and for those who are driving into work,
double check your order before you leave the drive-through,
lock it down in your cup holder.
We don't want any serious spillage going on,
keep an eye on the road and one eye on your beverage
and hand over the 16 pack of Crayola crayons
and the leaf bag so that your co-pilot
can take some notes this morning.
If you happen to miss a program,
just click on our I Heart Radio icon on the homepage.
The link is right there.
Just click, boom, over to our library.
We're going to be shifting gears very shortly
into season two, episode 101.
Yeah, we have almost a hundred series put together,
well, not series, but episodes put together.
Today's episode is series one, episode 87,
entitled Why Loving Your Vehicle Makes You a Better Owner.
We're going to talk about that big time
because you know what that spells out?
M-O-N-E-Y in your wallet, back in your wallet,
not somebody else's and it is very, very doable.
So let's have a swiggy together,
whatever your morning beverage is.
Ours is a high octane, 99.5% octane boost.
So we count it down three, two, one
and have a beverage, that's what we call
a morning swiggy together.
Ready, three, two, one.
Yep, I like that.
That'll get things rolling this morning.
Let's jump into the week in weather,
see what we got coming up for Saturday.
Here's what we got for today.
Today's weather forecast brought to us by Niagara Block,
5,000 Montrose Road Niagara Falls,
building Canada since 1931,
the building supplies and hardscape landscaping supplies
that can help you design and line you up with a contractor
that can give you a proper estimate,
start the work and finish it.
Whatever building needs you are requiring around your home,
get Niagara Block involved
so that they can help you with that.
Absolutely, so say thank you to them
when you stop by to buy some supplies.
Saturday's low will be 25 degrees after 11 p.m.
Okay, and the high will be 34 degrees
between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.
The temperature range will feel like 18 degrees to 31 degrees
and this is all Fahrenheit,
I don't do the Celsius thing.
You know, inches, foot pounds, inch pounds
and Fahrenheit.
The wind is gonna make it feel colder
than the actual temperature,
so dress warm, looks like we still have winter,
especially here along the south shores of Lake Erion
and we're gonna take some, I'm gonna ask Skippy,
we're gonna go on and grab a cup of Joe
and head down to the lake and shoot some video for you
so that if you live in, I don't know where you live,
so if you wanna send me an email sometimes,
let me know where you're listening from.
I find that very interesting
and we'll show you some pictures of winter here
along the south shore of Lake Erie
and what they call the ice caves.
We'll take you to a couple of beaches
and take some video there
and just have some fun with it and show you,
here's where we live.
Here's what we get to look at in the winter time,
so if you're in a warmer climate,
you're really gonna enjoy those pictures
in those short video clips
because you may not ever get a chance to see that,
but we're gonna give you an opportunity
to see what we get to see along the lake shore
and yeah, we get snow almost a couple times a week
when we have winter
and this year has been a very typical great Canadian winter.
Yeah, you know, my mucklucks have been frozen
to the ice a few times
and our dogs had team,
we had to plug it in a couple times too,
it was just way too cold to get them going.
So anything, let's see if there's anything
from precipitation saying zero, zero inches,
so that's good because I think the snowblowers
are just starting to cool off.
I got one broken one that has to be taken care of
but it's another carburetor issue.
If you haven't watched that video,
I did shoot a video because Skippy said
you should show them how to do that,
how to fix their own snowblower
for like $2.50 for a carb kit.
Instead of $29 for a carb kit,
I found them on the,
and you gotta be careful when you're shopping online.
I mean, for parts and stuff,
I have my go-tos and I'm pretty happy with,
I'm very happy with the results.
Most of the time I get what I need
and it's not an issue once in a while,
something, oops, something goes wrong.
It's usually me, I clicked on the wrong thing
or I didn't understand the write-up on the parts
and I ordered it and it's not what I really wanted.
And that happens but I found these carburetor kits
or Tecumseh engines and Briggs and Stratton
and that's most of the engines
that run our lawn and garden equipment
and our snow removal equipment.
I paid $29 for one carb kit
and I'm like, that's a lot of money for a gasket,
two gaskets, a little holder for the needle and seat
and I'm like, wow, that's like a lot of dough,
that's 30 bucks for nada.
Yeah, I felt ripped off, you know,
like going through the drive-through
and ordering something and looking forward to having it
and then you take a sip of it,
it's like somebody else's tea and it's like, what?
Black tea, is that what, if I wanted black tea,
I would order black tea.
So anyways, I found the carburetor kits,
I bought five for 12 bucks.
That's right, five for 12 bucks.
And most of the time, if your snowblower's
starting to die and starting to dying
or it's revving up and down,
you're like that, there's something wrong in the carburetor
and you don't need to go out and buy a ton of parts,
but if you go to our YouTube channel,
I showed you how to fix a snowblower there,
fix the carburetor in literally minutes
and back out into the snow for a road test
to make sure that everything's working as it should be,
cost $2.50, not too shabby.
Well, I gotta do the same thing to Goldie,
that was a hot rod red and he's been performing
really, really well, so since that,
everything seems to be normal, starts really easy
like it used to, one pole in a way, hot rod red goes, man.
That little thing, yes, it's probably still glowing
a little bit after the last five and a half hours
and I kid you not, when I say five and a half hours
on the blower, south shore's the Lake Erie,
wait till you see these ice caves and the ice pile ups
along the south shore, because the lake,
this is the first time in a couple of years
the lake is frozen, so we'll get you some pictures of that
and just as a special video, we'll put them up
on our YouTube channel so you can enjoy those,
you can shoot me an email anytime through our website,
carconnectionbusinessnetwork.com,
if there's a specific topic you'd like me to cover
or a special video, we've done a couple
of special videos for people, one was asked,
what is all the gobbledygook written
on the sidewall of a tire and I'll tell you what,
if they make the, it's like going to the pharmacy,
yeah, and you're reading labels, good luck,
that is not gonna happen without a magnifying glass,
I'm sorry, but you know what, my name is not Clark Kent
and I don't have X-ray vision, but the sidewall
of a tire is very confusing, there is a ton
of information there and there's stuff
that you really don't need to know
and I shot a video for that for a couple of people
that requested, can you explain the lettering
and the information on a sidewall of a tire
and so I took care of that, so feel free
to shoot me an email, even send me a comment,
putting comments in on our YouTube videos really helps us
to ignite this ignition on the channel,
we wanna grow it big and the reason for that is,
I don't need any more goodies or trinkets or stuff,
we're actually wanting to downsize some more
and kind of trim things back,
the whole idea of the channel is to teach you
how you can have an older vehicle,
keep it as long as you want, put 300,000, 400,000,
600,000 K miles on it and still turn the key
and you own it and it still has value and it's reliable,
that's putting money back in your wallet
and that's the channel, teaching you the basics
that you can do and understand and follow along
and treat your vehicle as though it was part of a fleet
and you're maintaining it and you're scheduling
its maintenance, not waiting till stuff is breaking,
broken, hanging off, falling off or you gotta go back
on the highway and try and find it, you're missing a piece,
then it becomes a collector's piece, not so funny.
So that's what we wanna do with our channel
and that's what we have been doing is teaching that,
but there's other things and it means a ton to us
to get to our goal, our vision.
So if you're subscribed to our channel,
first of all, make sure you are subscribed,
leave a comment, I don't care how short it is,
but all these things matter to grow the channel.
So we've got about 93% of our viewers are not subscribed.
If you were subscribed, I'd do a happy dance
in my tidy whities in the front lawn of the house
for 20 minutes because what, well, maybe not 20, 10, 10.
What we want to accomplish is I got a group of guys
that are all with me that we, over the winter,
we build every year a muscle car
and then we sell tickets by selling our merchandise
for you guys to get a chance to win it
and it'll all be legit, I've already talked to our attorney,
they're more than willing to handle that for us,
pro bono, to take care of that, how we do that.
We want to give away a muscle car every year,
something classic, a classic vehicle
and the team's all gonna get in on it and do their bit
and then it moves on to the next guy, they do their bit
and by the time we get to the end,
it's ready and it's showtime
and we can sell and raffle off tickets
and it goes to another caregiver to carry on with it
and the proceeds, the profits from building the classic
go to a local charity in our very own backyard
and we want to do that on an annual basis.
Every single year we build a classic
and we offer it up for somebody to win it
so that's another reason.
Another reason is our merchandise store
is there for you to grab our car connection,
motor mouth gear, be part of our car connection crew,
proceeds going to help those struggling
with addictions to get to a total freedom addiction campus
and get the help they need to get back on their feet
and there's a new life waiting for them there
when they come out the other side,
they're ready to face the world
and that's what they've done there for 25 years.
So I always like to let our listeners
and have for 31 years on the radio,
we have not because we ask not.
So that's our goal and we want to achieve that goal
so that we also have resources
which means we have monies coming in
that we can buy parts and fix vehicles for widows,
orphans, single moms, those who may be going through some,
what my granddad used to say, financial cramps
where things aren't going well,
we'd like to be able to offer our services
and in lieu of shooting some videos on their vehicle
so we can keep them rolling
and we can teach you at the same time.
So there you have it.
That's the whole magic of the whole ordeal
but the main recipe is we need people to like, subscribe,
follow, leave a comment, ring the bell for notifications
when new vids go up, all that helps us
to keep the ignition on and move forward
so that we can accomplish those things.
So thank you for hearing me out this morning
on a Saturday morning and let's jump into our topic.
So Saturday mornings are going to be this way.
A one hour, approximately one hour program.
The podcast during the week,
I am really cutting them back
so that I don't take up too much of your time
and I want the weekly Monday through Friday podcast
to be about a half hour.
And then Saturdays we go full bore and do one hour.
And so you can enjoy that at eight a.m.
while you're having your morning cup beverage or whatever
and enjoy an hour of the car connection workshop.
And we're next working towards being able
to take live phone calls so that you can call in
and be a part of the program.
And you can also always right now,
send me an email if you got a question.
And if I use your question on the podcast,
as long as you give me information
so I can connect with you,
we like to send out a gift card
to those people that participate.
Don't forget, we're still promoting
our 30 day fuel savings challenge.
And I'm still waiting for those emails
to come through our website,
carconnectionbusinessnetwork.com saying you're all in.
Sign me up, I wanna do it.
So here's what I need.
I need an email, you gotta give me
contacting information and what vehicle
is going to participate with you
on the 30 day fuel saving challenge, okay?
So once we have enough people signed up,
then we're gonna let her rip.
I'm gonna be your coach all the way for 30 days.
And at the end of 30 days,
we're gonna see how much money is gonna be saved.
And even if it was $100 a month
on one car in the household,
that's $1,200 in savings, fuel savings in one year.
How many of you are gonna get a $1,200 raise this year?
In 2026, how many gonna get a tap on the shoulder
or surprise in your paycheck
that you got an extra $100 for the month?
Probably more than not likely.
That's what I'm gonna say.
All right, let's jump in.
Why loving your vehicle makes you a better owner?
I'll tell you this straight up.
It'll make you a smarter owner.
Why? A number of reasons.
If you take care of your automobile,
and I don't care how old it is,
as long as you've got something to start with.
And it's just like I've built a lot of cars
over the years, I still have a few projects
tucked away that we will share
with you in the car connection workshop
because there is a huge following on that stuff.
I really don't wanna do it, but I'll do it
because there's a following on that.
And you can learn a lot of things about restoring a vehicle
and a lot of it is just loving the vehicle
more than the person did before.
They gave up on it.
That's what happens.
And the first car that I want to give away
is a vehicle I bought.
I didn't want it.
I really didn't want it because I had, at the time,
I had closed my shop, I had a car collection,
I had 16 vehicles and I chiseled it down
to I think I have six left, six or eight left.
And it is one that I added to
the repertoire, not because I really wanted it
and I couldn't sleep a wink without it,
was I was approached to come and look at the vehicle.
I'll tell you what it is.
1984 legit Monte Carlo SS, last of the model year.
So if a lot of you watch NASCAR,
you would have seen Dale Earnhardt Sr.
driving the same vehicle, was his Wrangler vehicle.
Wrangler jeans was yellow and blue.
I have the car somewhere.
Somewhere in the studio, I have that car.
I was a huge NASCAR fan, but things keep me busy
and I'm not much of a sitter, I like to get stuff done.
So anyways, that's gonna be the first one I offer up.
It has originally 66,000 kilometers.
I went to look at this car at the time
I was working with a dietitian.
This all ties in with the why loving your vehicle
makes you a better owner.
And it all ties in together.
Just be patient with me here, we'll get there.
So I went to look at it in the hubby.
He bought the car, I don't know how many years ago.
Well, he drove it till it broke.
And apparently it broke just coming up the street.
They lived close to the Niagara River
and just driving up to their house up the hill, it quit.
So the neighbors helped them push it into the driveway
and then eventually it went into the garage
and it stayed there.
That's what happened.
That was the end of that ride.
It was tucked in the garage.
Well, I said to the wife, I said,
well, yeah, I'm interested and I'm not.
I said, here's my card, here's how much I can give you for it
and I'll take it off your hands.
But you know what, if you won't hurt my feelings,
if that number doesn't work for you,
but right now I really don't need it
and I have to find somewhere to put it
till I'm ready to do what needs to be done to it.
But here, I'll leave this with you.
A year goes by, a year.
And I get a phone call from the wife.
Now, yeah, it's so-and-so.
Oh, how are you guys doing?
We're having a baby.
Oh, congratulations.
Have you had it or you're still working on it?
She goes, no, working on it, but the car's gotta go.
I said, is it still in the garage?
She goes, yes.
And my hubby knows I'm getting rid of it
because he's converting the garage into a baby room.
Oh, so that's a problem.
She goes, yes.
Will you still stand on your offer
that you gave us a year ago?
And I'm kind of like,
I'm thinking all this stuff I still wanna get done
and I wanna get these vehicles done
and either use them to go to car shows
and fundraising events and let the kids sit in them
and get the picture taken, all that kind of stuff.
They're tools, not toys.
And I'm thinking I'd like to get all these things done.
And if we're not keeping it,
then find another caregiver to take it
and continue where I left off and really take care of it.
And it's going through my mind as she's going
and I go, okay.
So I said, does it run?
She goes, no, it still doesn't run.
So I said, you know, what happened when it quit?
Well, my husband just said it kind of gave out
a big backfire and smoke came out from under the hood
and it was over.
I said, was there any oil or anything underneath it
to leave a big skid mark, exon, Valdez on the road?
No, the neighbors pushed it in and it's been there ever since.
So I packed up some stuff and I said, okay.
I said, I'll be there in two days.
So I packed up a distributor that I had rebuilt
and I figured it sounded like the distributor exploded
inside.
So anyways, long story short, I go there,
I work on it and within an hour I had it running
and it was smoking so bad, you couldn't even see me.
And the neighbor across the street
came running over screaming, hey mister, are you okay?
Are you in there somewhere?
Are you all right?
Do you need some help?
And I step out of the smoke.
It was bizarre.
The smoke was so thick.
I couldn't see anything around me, not even the car.
When it started up, it was crazy bad.
And then it just smoothed right out and I drove at home.
It wasn't too far from where we are right now
where I'm broadcasting from.
I drove at home, literally not even two kilometers.
And I parked it in my backyard at my rental property
at the time and I just said,
that's where it's gotta stay until I'm ready.
And so that's the story of the first muscle car
we're gonna put together and it's not a piece of junk
by any means and that's gonna go to someone else
and they'll be the next caregiver.
And that's exactly what I want to do
is with a group of guys, we've already got it planned.
Soon as we're at the point where we can purchase
what we need to get to it and get it done,
we're gonna get it done and then we'll offer it up
and raffle it off.
It'll be the first one on our docket
and then we'll do one every year from there in.
So I say that to say this.
When that vehicle, that 84 Monte Carlo SS
goes to someone else.
I don't want it going to someone who's just gonna drive it
and beat it to death.
We want the cars to go to someone
who's gonna love on it and take care of it.
And you can rely on it as well.
You can hop in it and drive it 1600 miles straight
if you want it.
And that's what you can do with your everyday driver.
When you go to car shows, you may be a car nut,
you may be not, but most people when they see vintage
automobiles, custom hot rods and salvage vehicles
from yesteryear and you see the love and the tender care
that they're given, there's no reason why your daily driver
can't be like that, because mine are.
I see the value.
And you know, I've told the story before
about my 1984 Toyota short box four wheel drive pickup truck,
one of only 500 in the world.
And I paid a lot of money for that in my early 20s.
I was 22 years old when I bought it.
I bought it from a couple up in London.
He'd bought it for his wife and it turned out
she could not save her life to drive a stick.
And so he bought her something else and it was for sale.
And I was disappointed because I had my name
on the list for one and I didn't get it.
And then I happened to be looking through
the Hamilton Spectator and I saw it for sale
and I called and I said, that is mine.
And I want it, I'll pay you when you're asking.
So that's how I ended up with it.
But what I remember was how hard I worked
at 22 years of age, paying 17.93% on a car loan
and I was an apprentice.
I was still an apprentice mechanic
and I was working hard to get to my second year,
putting myself through school, living on my own.
And I'd left home at age 16.
I'd been out of the house since I was 16 years old.
Yeah, independent.
I knew what I wanted and I went after it.
So I learned from that vehicle
that you don't just drive it and make the payments
and there's nothing left.
I took care of it and I took care of it
really, really, really well.
And that's why I still have it.
Because that vehicle reminds me how important it is
to take care of the things that you have.
Then you're not trading time for money.
You gain your time back
and you put money back in your wallet.
We don't need to be replacing vehicles
every three to five years.
That's insanity.
And being a tech for 44 years,
I've seen it happen where people wrecked beautiful vehicles.
My goodness.
And I think of all the money blown
that could have been saved is crazy.
It's crazy, folks.
If you just learn to put some effort in
and every single vehicle you see at a car show,
that's just it.
What is the bottom line?
I love meeting the owners
and I love hearing the backstory and seeing photographs.
They dug this thing out of a barn
and you know what?
There's YouTube channels all over the place.
I have my favorites and they rescue these things.
They rescue them.
I've done it myself.
That's how I got the Monte Carlo.
I have a 71 feet spider from Europe.
I rescued on the hottest July day
on the face of the planet in a pair of coveralls.
Get dragged out of my shop on the Hamilton Mountain.
You got Nile, you gotta come and get this car.
The city's condemned the building it's in
and I'm going, oh, it's gotta be good.
And this fella comes in.
His name was Leo.
If Leo, if you're listening, I still have it.
And my coworker, Jeff, said, Nile,
you gotta go look at it.
You need to go look at that.
And I go, I need another vehicle right now
like I got a hole in the head.
So anyways, it was a desperate situation,
circumstance in the chap goes,
Jeff told me how you look after vehicles.
I'd like you to take it.
I said, well, what kind of money are we talking?
And he told me and I go, wow, okay, where are we going?
So he drives me somewhere on the Hamilton Mountain
to what looked like an old carriage house.
It was all wood and the things leaning over to the side.
And I go, it's in there.
He goes, yeah, I said, I'm not going in there.
No way, that thing's gonna,
he goes, well, the city's condemned it.
I split up with my wife and I gotta get this,
this car's gotta be gone today.
Well, that's short notice.
So I had the money in my pocket to pay the man.
And I said, you open the doors, I'll stand back.
And he pulls this big tarp off of it.
He goes, what do you think?
Said, is it a run?
Yeah, but it needs a head gasket.
There's oil coming up in the cool.
And I'm going, okay, so it needs some work.
I said, how come the windshield's broken?
Well, the body's kind of sagging.
And I knew right away, it's the castle panel
on those types of vehicles, same with the MGBs, TR6s.
So I go, all right, I'll take it.
So I called the tow truck driver
and I paid the man and he left.
And he left me on the side of the road.
It was like 90-something degrees,
no shade to be seen anywhere, and he's gone.
Here's the title, here's the keys,
here's an extra set of keys.
It's all yours, it's gonna be gone today.
I said it's gonna be gone in an hour
as soon as a tow truck driver can find me here.
So that's how I ended up with the 71, be it Spyder 1608.
And it came from Europe.
I have all the documentation on it.
It was purchased by a military man in England
and he was stationed in Italy and he bought it in Italy
and had it shipped to Montreal, back to Canada.
So story on that.
So I say that to say this,
that person who I never met before Leo knew
through my worker that I would take care of it.
He didn't want the car going to someone
who was just going to trash it.
And so I have driven it.
It's gonna be coming in the shop
and we're gonna get that cylinder head issue
taken care of because the engine's new,
but it's starting to leak some oil up
because the cylinder head was not fixed right.
It wasn't a plane before they put the head on.
Anyways, that's getting too technical.
But I say that to say this, again,
why loving your vehicle makes you a better owner.
I got the whole backstory on that little Fiat
and it kind of broke my heart.
And I'm like, you know what?
We'll bring that thing, we'll bring it around.
And a couple of guys helped me out
and they restructured it, did a great job,
got it solid and square and straight.
And so the rest is easy.
The rest is easy.
It's not a piece of junk or anything.
It was a good buy.
It was a very good buy.
But that's what you can do with your own vehicle.
You need to look at your vehicle differently.
Yeah, they depreciate.
They depreciate huge, huge.
Some vehicles hold on a little bit more money,
but you know what?
They depreciate just the same.
They're not an investment really, but they are.
If it's paid off and you're not making payments,
you own it outright and it's still structurally sound,
you have yourself a bar of gold with rubber wheels on it.
Because every time you drive that, it's making you money.
You're not working hard to make a stupid car payment.
And I'm not saying that to disrespect anyone,
but I remember exactly what it was like at age 22,
working my stinking butt off as a first year apprentice
trying to get to my second year
and paying for that truck at 17.93%.
That's right, was the early 80s.
Interest rates, I had a mortgage at that time was 12%.
11.86, how do I remember that?
Because you know what, you do.
It's just like a dog, if it gets hurt somewhere
and it doesn't know how it happened, it won't go back there.
If it can't figure out how it hurt and it whelped,
it won't go back there.
And that's why I think about how hard I had to work
for five years straight, put myself through Mohawk College,
trade school, play for my apartment,
and everything else on top of that.
In the interim, I bought a home, got married,
and there were expenses coming out of the wazoo.
And I was only 22 years old, 24 years old at that time
when we got the house, got married,
and I was still paying it off.
And I remember that, having to make that payment.
And most of the payment went for interest,
a big chunk of it anyway for five years.
And that was when I said, you know what,
I am not doing this again, I don't need to do this again.
I can buy something, refurbish it quickly
and get the mechanicals and all the neglect taken care of
and get this thing looking good inside and out.
And I have very little money invested in it.
And I can keep it going until the cows come home.
That's what I'm talking about.
And it is very doable.
I don't care who says, well, you know,
I want a reliable vehicle and you know,
that's why I buy a brand new one, that's okay.
You go ahead and do that.
But for like 74% of Canadians right now,
they're less than $200 away from being broke.
So a paid-off automobile is worth how much to you?
Could you make a $1,500 car payment?
$800, $900 car payment, could you?
In this economy, probably not.
What's more important?
Essentials, daily essentials.
That's why that night, in 1984, Mo taught me a lesson.
How hard I had to grunt it out, working after hours,
working late nights in the shop,
changing a transmission and getting paid cash to do it,
and sock that down to get the truck payment gone.
Cause it took a big chunk of my paycheck.
You know, apprentices back then were making
a whole lot of dough, let me tell you.
I was getting paid pretty good,
but it still wasn't a whole lot of dough.
So owning an automobile and not looking at two things,
the mileage and its age.
That's what man wants you to think about.
That's not what I want you to think about.
I don't, I don't even look at my odometer.
I don't care, I don't care how many kilometers are on it.
Cause I can keep spoon feeding it and keep it going
and it's paid for, paid for.
And just stay ahead of the maintenance.
Love on it, why?
Why do that?
Because it's gold, it's money in your pocket.
Vehicles, even after you've bought and paid for it,
once you're outside the warranty, when stuff breaks,
who's paying for that?
You.
So whether you buy another vehicle or not,
you gotta spend money on your piece of equipment, period.
But if you stay ahead of it and schedule it in
for maintenance, it's just like dentistry.
I'm gonna use that as a great example.
If you never go to a dentist, at some point,
the pain is gonna be so bad, you'll want someone to kill you.
Please put me out of my misery.
Because you're scared to set up an appointment,
go to the dentist on a regular basis,
would have prevented that pain and suffering.
Cause I'll tell you what, I think mouth pain,
other than, I hear the ladies are ready.
If you birthed a child before,
no and I don't plan on doing that.
But next to childbirth, I think mouth pain
ranks up there huge.
Let me know in the comments, send me an email,
what you think?
And I had that recently and what happened was,
during the COVID campaign, I couldn't get to my dentist,
who I had in the US, I couldn't get there.
So I've had three years, three, four years
without six month checkups, like clockwork.
And I never had a problem when that was going on.
And that's why I'm sharing it.
I always had a spring appointment and a fall appointment.
Every year, spring appointment, fall appointment,
spring appointment, fall appointment, no mouth issues,
no teeth issues, four years not going
and I got a disaster going on.
Yeah, cavitation and it all is money.
But when everything was being set up for me,
spring appointment, fall appointment,
spring appointment, fall appointment, no problems,
stayed ahead of the curve, four years, no appointments,
problems.
Yeah, huge, I don't even want to get into it,
but it only just happened in 2025, tail end.
It was a mouth nightmare.
I had to have surgeries and teeth extracted by,
what do they call them?
Just call it an oral dental surgeon.
Yeah, and yeah, it was a nightmare.
And the whole time I'm thinking, you know what?
If I was still on that regiment
of preventative maintenance, mouth maintenance,
this would not have gotten to that point.
But my passport ran out and I never renewed my passport.
So I was still on a non-program issue
with my dental health and boom, it blows up.
A car is exactly the same.
I'm telling you, I spent years keeping fleet companies,
vehicles going flawlessly, flawlessly.
Some of them with 800,000 kilometers on them
and still running well.
How is it done?
Fleet maintenance.
So we've got a, if you haven't been tuning in until now,
we've got a YouTube video coming up
and I'm going to break down fleet maintenance
and how important that is to you to adopt it,
grab on to it.
And I have a way for you to track yourself
through our car connection maintenance schedule
that I created out of my fleet service schedule
that I made up for myself.
So when I had a fleet vehicle in my service bay,
I followed my checklist
and I didn't miss anything on that vehicle for service,
whether it was a huge truck,
a small commercial vehicle or a van
that was part of a 100 or 200 piece fleet.
Yeah, it works on everything.
And so if you've got the foundation in your hands,
you're already ahead of the other guy.
And what I mean by that is,
you don't have a collector's piece
where it's so rusted out and destroyed, it's done.
Then that means, you know what,
that's a vehicle that I would say,
she's singing and it's time for it to go to the crusher
if you don't have a foundation.
And it's no different than push, pull and drag,
a muscle car or a vintage car out of a field or something.
It's either fixable, restorable or it's parts.
That simple.
You pull something out of a field
and it is rougher than a stucco toilet seat.
It's over, it's a parts car.
That's all it is, because it's gonna be way,
unless it's one of five in the entire world
and it's valuable because of what it is
and the number of them created, that's different.
But if it's just an everyday whatever
and they made hundreds and thousands of them,
then it's a parts car.
But if you drag something out of,
like I dragged the 71 Fiat Spider
and the 84 Monte Carlo SS came out of a little garage
and it had been out of the weather.
The Fiat was out of the weather,
but he had to stop driving it, I found out afterwards
because the rocker panels filled up with water
and that's how the castle panel rotted out
and the car was sagging a little bit.
It had some play to it and it cracked the windshield.
That's how you know, on like an MGB or a TR-6.
If the windshield's cracked,
it's because the body's flexing.
But anyways, we got that fixed.
The guys did a great job on that for me, wonderful.
We did some trade off work,
some guys on the Hamilton mountain and yeah,
that's how we got that car back in order
and it will be back out on the road.
I used to drive it until the oil was coming up
in the radiator too much.
So I shut it off and that was it.
So anyways, and it's funny because a little tale story
to that was I had a co-op student, his name was Jeffrey
and if Jeffrey tunes into this,
I'm sharing a bit of the story, Jeffrey.
Jeffrey was a co-op student that I first one ever
I took in and he recently reached out to me.
I can't remember what platform we're on, he found me
and he said, oh, I'm watching your YouTube videos.
Amazing, do you still have the Fiat?
I said, I sent him a message back and I go, yeah,
and he's now a mechanic himself.
And he just, you know, was giving me some kudos.
I'm a humble guy, so yeah, he was just sharing
from his heart how much he enjoyed working
at the shop with me and what he learned and stuff.
And Jeffrey really fell in love with that car
with the little Fiat and we could drive it in and out.
We'd bring it in at night to the shop
and take it out the morning.
But he really took a shining to that little Fiat.
But you know what, it doesn't matter what you have.
If it's bought and paid for and it runs well
and it's mechanically good, then you gotta keep
that baby going because that sucker is making you money.
When you're turning the key and you're loving on it,
keeping it clean, keeping it clean on the inside,
the outside and showing it love,
that vehicle will pay you back 10-fold.
I see it myself.
You know, I had to go to the accountants this morning,
drop everything off for the year end, month end
and whatever, all the tax gobbledygook.
And I was just thinking as I was driving the O7FJ Cruiser,
we're heading for 400,000 K and I was just thinking,
man, this thing is so good on the road.
It's fabulous to drive, easy to clean.
And people ask me all the time, what year is that?
I said, it's the first year of the FJ, O7.
Oh my gosh.
And I go, yeah, it's self-cleaning, self-maintaining.
Get out of here.
No, you gotta take care of it.
Well, the thing looks like new.
That's the attitude you gotta have.
That thing looks like new.
Because the longer you can keep it and take care of it
and love on it and service it, not when it's broken,
but preventative maintenance is gonna pay you back
10 times what that vehicle was worth brand new.
Minimum, 10 times.
Doesn't matter the mileage.
Doesn't matter what its value is.
I don't care.
It's an IDK, that's what Skippy and I always say.
Is that an IDK?
Yup, that's an IDK.
I don't care.
You can keep it as long as you want and save money,
like crazy, yeah.
Do I have to spend some money on the FJ?
Yup, it's due for an oil change,
gotta do an oil change, I'll check everything over
and make sure I don't have anything developing
over the few winter months that we're into.
And anything that it needs, I just plan to get it done.
I don't let it go.
Why?
I don't wanna replace it.
And B, I don't have the money to replace it
and even if money were no object,
I'd just keep it going anyway.
I don't need to go and spend money on a vehicle
when I have a perfectly good one right in front of me.
And then in the summer, I take one of the crews
and fundraising vehicles and I'll drive it part-time
for the summer and love on it and take care of it.
And take it to some shows and go and hang out with
some of the local car shows.
There's a place in St. Catharines, I wanna get to.
Cars and coffee, been invited to go there.
I think it's Thursday or Friday nights until the fall.
And meet people.
That are like-minded.
They have older vehicles, they're loving on them,
they're caregiving to them and they're valuable.
Because they're bought and paid for
and at the end of the day,
it'll be worth something to somebody else.
It's that simple.
So I hope I'm striking a chord with you guys and you gals.
Because what I'm telling you is gold.
It's money back into your home.
It's money that you're gonna save, you will save,
and you can apply it to pay down some debt.
But you don't need to go back in debt to buy a vehicle,
make interest in principal payments for the next seven years
to own a vehicle, to impress someone
you don't even know or you don't even like, period.
It's your everyday driver.
Treat it like it's the last one on the planet.
And drive it till you can't.
Something major goes wrong with it.
Then it's time to move on.
Then you look for something that's in the budget
that you can pay for, either cash upfront
from someone who's selling something off
and moving into a new vehicle.
Those are the grabs.
That's what I call those.
Those are the grabs.
That's how I end up with the 07 FJ,
came out of Kingston, actually Wolf Island,
just off of Kingston.
They live, I think, on Wolf Island or something like that.
They take the ferry every day all winter.
It just happened, my producer at the time knew I was looking
and I had given up because there was nothing out there,
FJ Cruiser that I could afford
with the budget that my financial planner, Tony Miele,
had given me.
And he said, now, here's the budget.
Don't call me for $1 more.
You gotta sell your vehicle, use that money,
plus this money to get you that FJ.
If you can't, then you can't.
You continue with what you have.
That's how you work with a certified financial planner.
And it all panned out.
My vehicle was sold just by a whisper.
And the money was in my hand.
We don't care if it takes a year of motor mouth,
that's ours, we licked it.
Yeah, it's yours.
But if I don't find what I want, then I gotta drive it.
Then we'll wait another year, but we want that car.
It was a 98 Honda CR-V.
It was amazing.
I didn't really wanna let it go.
If I didn't have to, I'd still have it.
And I took care of it, very much so.
So it was my producer that found it.
He goes, Nile, I think I found what you're looking for.
When I came off the air at ESPN,
he goes, I think I found what you're looking for.
It was our Canadian Thanksgiving.
So he goes, I've already sent her an email,
told her you're interested.
What?
He goes, yeah, you gotta jump on these things.
And that was the one for me.
It all panned out right down to the dollar.
Didn't have to ask Tony for one more dollar.
It all worked together for good.
And that's how I got it.
And I've loved it ever since.
I care give it.
That's what I do.
I'm the caregiver.
And I take care of it because I do not want,
I'm done, period, car payments and interest.
I'm done with that.
Absolutely done with that.
So I hope you get something out of this program.
Anytime you have a question, comment,
or you'd like me to cover something,
we're gonna cover this in more detail yet
when the video comes out.
I've just written the program.
I don't usually write a program,
but on this specific one,
I wanna make sure I cover all the details
so that you really get a bird's eye view
into what's in my head.
And so I can share it with you so you can understand.
You know what?
Stop listening to the white noise.
Start listening for the signal.
I'm the signal.
Anything else where somebody's saying,
oh, the mileage is too high.
Oh, the car's getting old.
You shouldn't put any more money into it.
That's man speaking.
That's not a CFP speaking to you.
Let me tell you,
because Tony or Larry would say,
you're not in a position to buy another vehicle.
You better start loving on what you have
because you're gonna be needing it for a long time
to get you out of the hole.
That's what you'd be hearing.
That car is gonna be with you for a very long time
so you better start kissing up to it
and loving on it
because you ain't getting another vehicle
for quite some time.
You got a long way to go
and it's gonna be a long haul
to get out of the position you're in financially.
That vehicle that's in your driveway,
whether it's 10 years old, 15 years old,
and it's got 300,000 K,
is your ticket to freedom, baby.
That's right.
It's your ticket to freedom.
So until next time,
we'll talk to you on Monday morning at 8 a.m.
for another motormouth morning drive.
Have a great weekend.
It's Valentine's Day weekend.
Remember, fellas, the trifecta.
Got it?
Candy, chocolate, copious quantities of chocolate,
flowers, beautiful ones.
Don't cheap out on the $5 one, guys.
And dinner, cook her dinner,
take her out for dinner,
but you know what, treat her like a queen
and she'll treat you like a prince.
Maybe a king someday, maybe, just maybe.
So have a great weekend.
It's family day weekend here in Ontario.
Get out there, enjoy the winter weather.
Go skiing, ice skating,
cross country skiing, whatever.
But do stuff.
Do stuff with the kids, the grandkids,
the nieces and nephews.
Get out there, enjoy the weekend.
We'll see you right back here for more of Car Connection
and the Car Connection workshop
with your host, Nile Motormouth Jenkins,
in the driver's seat and still a little raspy.
You know what?
I've had this cold thing, all stink and winter.
It goes away, comes back like a bad smell.
I'm telling you.
Yeah, we'll see you Monday morning,
bright and early, eight o'clock.
Put the coffee on and we'll enjoy the morning drive,
but have a super fantabulous weekend
and have a good time.
I think it was Daytona 500 this weekend,
if I'm not correct and enjoy.
We'll see you next week.
Happy healthy motoring, peace, patience and kindness always
and put that coffee on
cause I'm gonna come to your house.
About this episode
Exploring the connection between vehicle ownership and personal investment, this episode emphasizes how a genuine love for your vehicle can enhance your experience as an owner. Host Niall Motormouth Jenkins shares insights on maintaining cars, from classic models like the Jeep Wrangler to everyday vehicles like the Nissan Rogue. The discussion highlights the importance of understanding your vehicle's needs, fostering a sense of community, and the financial benefits of proper maintenance. With a blend of humor and practical advice, listeners are encouraged to engage more deeply with their automotive passions.
Original notes
"Love Your Car and It Will Love You Back"
" Every classic car you see at a show started as a rough project. Someone loved it back to life. Your daily driver deserves the same treatment-and it can keep you out of debt."
Loving your vehicle changes everything. When you treat your car like a long-term project-just like a classic or custom build-you become a better owner, spend less on repairs, and avoid unnecessary car payments. In this episode' we break down how passion, pride, and preventative maintenance keep vehicles on the road for decades, why your paid off daily driver may be your best financial move, and how a labor of love mindset can keep you out of debt and in control of your transportation.
More episodes and ...project Details & links available at Car Connection Business Network.com
(ccbusnet.com) you'll find everything on our home page if you'd like to follow the build/repair work we do &connect with our program partners click their logo to connect with them & Thank You Friends!
Grab some Car Connection Motormouth Merch in our online store join the crew helping those struggling with addiction get the help they need at Total Freedom Addiction Campuses Canada & USA, where a New Life Awaits Them there! Tnx a Bunch Friends!
Happy Healthy Motoring & Tnx for watching, following and Listening, together let's keep the ignition turned on! Peace Patience Kindness Always. NMJ
Car Connection Workshop
Nile Jenkins
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