Pod Insights THIS CAR POD! with Doug DeMuro & Friends! The Big Three are in Big Trouble, Industry Collapse Here? Nick Bought a Multipla?! About this episode Join Kennan and Filippo for IMSA Sports Car Weekend at Road America for Cars & Bids Trackside Cars & Coffee! August 3rd! Submit your car HERE! https://crsnbds.com/IMSA
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Welcome to THIS CAR POD! Doug DeMuro & Friends offers weekly expert insight and opinion, on the breaking automotive stories, the car market, and audience Q&A.
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Chapters
00:00:00 THIS CAR POD!
00:00:13 U. S. Japan Trade Deal
00:03:55 U. S. Automakers Lose Billions In Tariffs
00:06:58 Mercedes-Benz To Stop Selling EQ In U. S.
00:16:35 Ford Recalls
00:21:49 There's A New Supra Coming
00:25:13 Subaru's New EV
00:27:42 Faraday Future's New Van
00:31:27 Nascar Comes To San Diego
00:32:27 Acura Has One Car Left
00:36:03 Leno's Law
00:38:48 Talk Cars
00:39:01 Nick Bought A Car
00:48:14 Cars & Bids At Road America
00:50:42 Toyota GR Corolla
00:54:08 BMW Z8
00:56:35 Community Questions
00:57:15 Rank the BMW 7 Series Generations
01:02:26 What Feature Made Sense But DIdn't Catch On?
01:07:05 If Cars & Bids Relocated, Where Would You Move To?
01:08:14 Will Chinese Cars Ever Make It In America?
01:09:59 What Is Your Favorite Hollywood Underdog Car?
01:12:36 Final Thoughts
#dougdemuro #thiscarpod #carsandbids
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Transcript 15,545 words · 6 speakers
Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
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1:04 Doug DeMuro? Hello and welcome to this car pod.
1:08 Speaker 03 I'm Filippo.
1:08 Doug DeMuro? I'm Nick. Nick's filling in for Kenan, who's still gallivanting around the world. Let's start with the news. There's a lot to cover today.
1:16 Speaker 03 There is. All right, first up, Japan and the US announced earlier today, today's Wednesday that we're filming this, that they have agreed on a tariff deal that applies 15% tariffs to things imported from Japan. Notably, it includes cars. So cars generally were not include, were previously all under a 25% tariff. Then there are different car baskets, different countries for other things. Now it's going to be 15% for cars imported from Japan. The Japanese automakers understandably are excited about this, or at least as excited as you can be when you go from basically zero tariffs to 15% tariffs. Other parts of this news include that Japan, as a part of this, will start allowing vehicles that meet US safety requirements to be sold in Japan. So previously, if you wanted to sell a car in Japan, you have to meet Japanese safety
2:01 Speaker 03 requirements, which are a little bit different, a little bit stricter in some areas. They will no longer allow that, which in theory, the Trump administration hopes will mean that more US, more American built cars are sold in Japan. Will that happen? Offering for sale and buying are two different things, but that is a big news item.
2:19 Doug DeMuro? Japan owns an enormous amount of US debt, so Trump was smart to make a deal with Japan early because this tariff thing was pissing off some of our biggest debt holders. And so it's, I'm not surprised Japan's already got a deal, as does the UK, some of our close friends. We're still waiting on the Honduras trade deal.
2:36 Speaker 03 I will say, other news from today is that Europe is apparently close to a very similar deal. It's still unclear if it will include vehicles that are built in Europe or not at a 15% tariff amount. And I will also note, as with any, any part of this, this is what's been said by the White House and the Japanese government, but it's kind of coming from a mix of information. We haven't seen the actual deal. Things may change.
2:57 Doug DeMuro? Europe, Europe as a whole?
2:59 Speaker 03 Europe as a whole, well, the EU, which negotiates on behalf of many European countries.
3:04 Doug DeMuro? Not Switzerland, no. So any Swiss-made cars, Nick, Monteverdi, you won't be able to get a Monteverdi. You know about this car?
3:12 Speaker 04 No. Conexant and Volvo are the only Swiss cars I'm aware of.
3:16 Speaker 03 It's, oh, okay. All right, all right. Just move on, move on. A group that's not happy about this very much.
3:24 Speaker 04 Wait, no, can you explain why I'm wrong there?
3:27 Doug DeMuro? Felipe, pull up the Monteverdi Safari.
3:29 Speaker 04 Swedish, they're Swedish. Swedish and Switzerland are different places.
3:32 Doug DeMuro? He actually wasn't kidding. He wasn't kidding.
3:35 Speaker 03 No, he was not kidding.
3:36 Doug DeMuro? Two minutes in. Pull up the Monteverdi Safari. Nick, this will excite you more than anything you will hear about today. The Monteverdi Safari. Go to images. This was, I am not joking, the International Scout, and this Swiss company called Monteverdi made a luxury version of the International Scout and sold it like in the late 70s. I swear this is true.
3:55 Speaker 04 No, I mean, it's like a La Forza and an RRC made a baby. Like, that's pretty cool.
4:00 Doug DeMuro? It's a little older than both, but yeah. Isn't that wild?
4:03 Speaker 04 Yeah, so wildly off-topic of the Japanese tariffs, but I am here for it.
4:08 Doug DeMuro? Well, the Monteverdi Safari would have been tariffed at a different rate.
4:11 Speaker 04 The interesting thing about the tariffs is, because they negotiated 15%, the, the rumor is that the domestic, the US manufacturers like Ford manufacture a lot of cars in either Mexico or Canada, which are subject to a 25% tariff. So in theory, this could hurt potentially some of the US-made cars that aren't made in US, but like, Japan would have a advantage over a car built in Mexico from strictly a tariff perspective.
4:36 Speaker 03 The lobbying group that represents the big three has put out a couple of press releases today alone, saying, this is bad.
4:43 Doug DeMuro? It's absolutely abhorrent. It's ridiculous. The concept that they would prioritize Japanese, and they already did it with British, over US companies that make cars in Canada and Mexico, but they're still American companies. The money flows to Detroit. And on that subject, Filippo, tell us about General Motors and Stellantis, right? Didn't Stellantis also make this announcement?
5:02 Speaker 03 So Stellantis issued a huge loss that we'll talk about in a second, or announced a huge loss in Q2 that we'll talk about in a second. In Q2 alone, admittedly tariffs went into effect in Q2. GM says that tariffs have cost them $1.1 billion, and they expect that over the course of 2025 tariffs will cost them $4 to $5 billion, which has hit massively their operating profit, as you'd expect. So yeah, they're not thrilled. I will say, at the risk of going too far into detail, cars that are built in Mexico and Canada, the tariff only applies to the portion of the vehicle's contents that are not made in the US. It's like part of the USMCA agreement. There's a bunch of math that honestly, nobody figured out, probably including the federal government.
5:45 Doug DeMuro? Yeah, but it does, they are clearly paying a huge amount of money. And it's tremendously, it's tremendously difficult and problematic for their business. The photo that you have there, I believe that's the Renaissance Center in Detroit, and across the river there is Canada. The photo was taken from Canada. Was the photo tariffed?
6:03 Speaker 03 Yes, if it was sold, if it was produced, yeah. If they printed it out and imported it, yeah. Digital media, not yet tariffed.
6:11 Speaker 04 NFTs.
6:12 Doug DeMuro? So General Motors, they're not talking about a $1 billion loss, but they said they've paid a billion in tariffs this year.
6:19 Speaker 03 1.1, yeah, which is in Q2, when tariffs were not fully into effect yet. Correct.
6:26 Speaker 04 Yeah, and I don't, Stellantis did say not just a tariff payment, but they posted an actual significant loss of $3 billion year-to-date. And we're in July, for those that are not aware. So half of a year through.
6:40 Doug DeMuro? That's the first half. They posted a $3 billion loss. Well, they're gonna blame tariffs, but wouldn't you also want to blame the fact that they make bad cars? Does that, is that factor in at all?
6:50 Speaker 03 Yeah, GM still made money, for the record, that they were still profitable in the first half and then in the second quarter. Stellantis has some other issues.
6:59 Doug DeMuro? Hey, two things. First off, GM spent a billion on tariffs and they were still profitable. That tells you just how much money these companies make and how profitable, how much money is in these companies. But you know what the great, the great drawback of it all is? Everybody's like, oh, these rich executives take home all this money while the workers slave away. But they have to live in Detroit. So like, it's really, they really get you. It's really like, oh yeah, you made all this, but you gotta, you gotta buy a house in Auburn Hills. Second thing, um, the
7:31 Speaker 03 Auburn Hills community will be angry.
7:33 Doug DeMuro? I saw a Jeep Wagoneer S yesterday.
7:37 Speaker 03 Wow.
7:38 Doug DeMuro? They're around.
7:39 Speaker 03 Yeah.
7:39 Doug DeMuro? Oh, yes, they are not around.
7:42 Speaker 03 I mean, to the extent that you expect any new EV Jeep product to be around.
7:48 Speaker 03 By the way, one fun fact, talking about EVs, we don't have this in here, but Tesla announced today that in California, sales were down 24% in Q2, year over year.
7:57 Doug DeMuro? Which brings us, which, which brings us beautifully to the Mercedes-Benz story, which I want to go back to this in a second, but Mercedes-Benz announced today, this week, that they're no longer going to sell any of the EQ products in North America. This isn't global, but in North America.
8:12 Speaker 03 And they produce the SUVs in North America, so they're, they're going to export vehicles that they build in the US to other countries that might be interested in buying an EQE SUV and an EQS SUV. I'm sorry, let me say the full name. A Mercedes
8:25 Doug DeMuro? EQ Technology.
8:25 Speaker 03 Mercedes EQ, EQS SUV.
8:28 Doug DeMuro? No, no, no. It's just, it's just, it's Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV.
8:33 Speaker 04 They, they will, anyone who's ordered one that's supposed to come in before September is still getting it. So the six of you listening that maybe fit that scenario, be rest assured. However, they're just, they're, they're going to stop. It's like Jaguar. They're just going to take some time off and let it, let's see what happens.
8:48 Doug DeMuro? No one, no person has ordered one, but there are still tens of thousands of orders flooding into dealerships that the dealerships do not want. Under any strict circumstances, I go to these Mercedes-Benz dealerships and they've got EQ products parked on any surface, any flat surface they can find. I mean, it's like a disaster. This whole thing is sort of an interesting, an interesting product discussion here. So General Motors is paying all this money in tariffs. It's a huge impact on their business. Stellantis reports a $3 billion loss and part of that is gotta be because they went, they pivoted pretty hard towards electric vehicles and some of the choices they made were not.
9:24 Doug DeMuro? Supported in the market.
9:26 Speaker 03 The Dodge Charger, which is what you're referring to, and the Wagoneer S not selling certainly has impact to them. Also fundamentally, across their portfolio of brands, if we're talking about Stellantis, they have a lot of weak aging product. They also acquired some of these companies in the last couple of years and have not really invested anything in them. And if they want to sell cars, maybe they should build good ones.
9:48 Doug DeMuro? The Stellantis company owns Opel?
9:52 Speaker 03 Yes, and Vauxhall.
9:55 Doug DeMuro? Yikes. They like have every bad brand. It's like, like, look at that, look at that picture.
10:01 Speaker 03 There are some great brands in here. And like, brands that I think are putting out, despite what I just said, some pretty good products. Unfortunately, they're all not selling many of them, or selling poorly, or selling in really low margin areas, right? Like, subcompact cars in Europe don't have a large profit margin. What does have a large profit margin?
10:18 Doug DeMuro? Can you name me the products that Lancia currently sells?
10:22 Speaker 03 Yeah, they have a new Ypsilon. They have a new one.
10:25 Doug DeMuro? The new Ypsilon, okay.
10:26 Speaker 03 I think that's it, is it not?
10:28 Doug DeMuro? That's it. That's the only car the Lancia brand is selling.
10:32 Speaker 03 But DS Automobiles makes really cool cars. Peugeot makes cool cars. The French brands are making interesting cars. And then...
10:40 Doug DeMuro? This entire company rests on the back of the Jeep Wrangler. This entire...
10:46 Speaker 03 And the Ram 1500, that's it.
10:48 Doug DeMuro? Yeah, yeah.
10:49 Speaker 04 The Chrysler is also down to one vehicle, the Pacifica. I mean, there's a few logos here that are really just a car.
10:55 Speaker 03 Fiat sells the 500E, I think.
10:57 Speaker 04 They're counting the Abarth separately from Fiat?
10:59 Speaker 03 I don't even think they sell it. I don't think there's any models.
11:02 Doug DeMuro? I think that most of these are one car. Fiat, Fiat, does Fiat, yeah, does Fiat?
11:06 Speaker 03 The 500E, I think.
11:07 Doug DeMuro? The electric 500, but that's like, nonexistent, basically.
11:11 Speaker 04 They're kind of Dodge and Ram separately, which, fine, but like...
11:15 Speaker 03 Well, they split up a decade ago.
11:17 Doug DeMuro? But by doing that, what Dodges even exist?
11:21 Speaker 03 Just the Charger?
11:24 Doug DeMuro? The EV one?
11:24 Speaker 04 Oh, yikes.
11:25 Speaker 03 Yeah, yeah, yeah, the EV one.
11:27 Speaker 04 Although it's coming out in gas, allegedly.
11:29 Speaker 03 There is a gas one coming, yeah.
11:30 Doug DeMuro? The Durango's still around.
11:32 Speaker 03 Is it?
11:32 Doug DeMuro? Maybe. Oh, the Hornet is still on sale.
11:35 Speaker 03 Oh, I forgot about the Hornet. Also, the Alfa Romeo Tonale is the result. The Tonale.
11:41 Speaker 04 Yeah, this is, this is very bad. I kind of feel like this is at the beginning of the big short where Michael Burry is like, I looked at all the, the mortgages in the portfolio and it's bad, but like, because not only do they have all these crap brands and products, but they're leasing Charger EVs for like $99 a month with zero down. That, if so, I understand like,
12:00 Speaker 03 I will lease one.
12:00 Speaker 04 The finance department will, will ultimately hold the bag, but this is not going to be good.
12:05 Doug DeMuro? That, that price is not accurate.
12:07 Speaker 03 I would lease one at that price.
12:09 Doug DeMuro? I would be getting rid of them.
12:10 Speaker 04 It's, it's not, but it's not, I'm, I'm exaggerating, but it's not far off from the truth. Like they will, the residuals that they are claiming on their leases are so out of whack with what they'll actually be worth, that I think they're going to be holding an even worse amount of debt in like three months or three years when those come up due.
12:25 Speaker 03 Yeah.
12:27 Doug DeMuro? I, I have a suspicion that part of their $3 billion loss is actually some of those leases that you're talking about coming due from three years ago, on 22s, when the market was already starting to cool, right? And you're talking about four by E's that they had high residuals on because initially they were high residual cars. And you're talking about all these other products that now there's, the market has fallen off a lot.
12:46 Speaker 04 The leases are exactly like the mortgages where the exotic dancers in Vegas had seven mortgages. Like it's the exact same thing with Dodge Darts.
12:54 Speaker 03 They do have seven Dodge Hornets. Yeah.
12:55 Speaker 04 Yeah.
12:56 Doug DeMuro? I want to be clear though, this is, this, I don't think this is an industry wide issue. There are some very successful brands right now. It's just Stellantis is in a tough spot. Stellantis is, is working on executives, they're going through CEO changes. It would be very difficult to be running this company right now. The amount of stuff you would have to do is absolutely enormous. There's brand consolidation, there's probably getting rid of some brands, there's, there's just completely reengineering and creating new products. I think it would be a really, really, really tough place to, to be running this, this company right now.
13:25 Speaker 03 Stellantis does have a new, a new CEO as of two weeks ago, Antonio Filosso. And he has said very publicly in like, in, in presenting those news, that there's going to be some tough medicine. I think where his, his words are coming. Cause they, they need to cut costs massively, obviously, in order to have any change.
13:43 Speaker 04 Look at our previous news story with GM. They can afford the tariffs.
13:48 Speaker 03 Yeah.
13:48 Speaker 04 What'd they do? They killed off Saturn. They killed off Pontiac.
13:50 Speaker 03 They really planned ahead. They went back in time 20 years.
13:53 Speaker 04 No, they looked.
13:54 Speaker 03 And made the product plan and.
13:55 Speaker 04 We've got some really crappy brands. We need to shed all this dead weight and then double down on our core.
14:00 Doug DeMuro? That is actually what happened. I mean, I was there. I was selling Saturns at a Saturn dealership in 2008. This is a real story. I was a Saturn salesman. Not that I haven't told this story that many people, but it's real. And I swear, none of this is made up.
14:15 Speaker 03 Luckily, it's a no-haggle situation. It's a good, it's a good environment.
14:18 Doug DeMuro? Let me tell you something. In 08, we were haggling. You walked in, if you wanted an outlook, this is, if you wanted an outlook, we would do whatever you wanted. And people would come in and say, I'm looking at the Acadia, which was broadly the same car. And we'd say, please, please, please. Anyway.
14:37 Speaker 04 Funny enough, a true story as well. I worked at a Daewoo dealership and we looked down upon those Saturn people. We said, those city slickers.
14:44 Doug DeMuro? Did you actually?
14:45 Speaker 04 No, no.
14:46 Doug DeMuro? I worked at a, you think I'm kidding? I worked at, I sold Saturns. I was a Saturn salesperson at Saturn of Decatur. You know, if I, if I was at home, I have my business card still. I swear to the.
14:58 Speaker 04 We'll have to find that picture.
15:03 Doug DeMuro? Do you not know about this?
15:05 Speaker 04 It brings up, I actually thought you worked for Daewoo, to be honest, but I knew it was like a crap brand that's no longer around.
15:10 Doug DeMuro? When I was in college, I sold Saturns. But anyway, the point is, I remember that was going on then. And we were terrified because, you know, GM was cutting these brands. And initially, the thought was that Saturn would get sold off to someone else that fell through. But then they cut, they cut Saturn, they cut Pontiac, and they cut Hummer. And they, they had to make those decisions and focus on like a more like realistic core that was focus on-able. And
15:32 Speaker 04 Yeah.
15:33 Doug DeMuro? That picture there is.
15:34 Speaker 04 I mean, you probably need to cut the Hummer again, for the record. Unsolicited advice to GM.
15:39 Doug DeMuro? Yeah, I mean, it's.
15:43 Speaker 03 I will say, it's still, Atlantis, as a result of the weird consolidation that has happened, or the weird consolidation of all these manufacturers and under the Solanis umbrella, is in a tough spot. Cause I think the French government would not support them shutting down any of these. And there's weird union. Tensions and governmental tensions as a result too. It's a tough spot.
16:00 Speaker 04 I think you don't shut them down. I think you sell them to the Chinese and the Vietnamese that are looking to establish brands and have some cred and just offshore the rest that you're clearly not good at.
16:09 Doug DeMuro? And that's not out of the realm. And by the way, the French government holds stakes in these brands already, don't they?
16:13 Speaker 03 Yep, they sure do.
16:16 Doug DeMuro? That's good.
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17:00 Speaker 03 credit automatically in the background by paying for the bills and subscriptions you already have. I wish I'd had something like Ava when I was just starting out. Most members see their credit start to improve in under a week and it's only $6 a month. And Ava reports on your on-time payments to all three major credit card bureaus daily. That consistent reporting makes a huge difference. You can take control of your credit right now. Download the Ava app, that's A-V-A, and when you join using our promo code CARPOD, your first month is totally free. That's promo code CARPOD. Thanks to Ava and now go get yourself some good credit. Let's talk about the third of the big three, Ford.
17:39 Doug DeMuro? Ford today announced a recall.
17:43 Speaker 03 Their 90th recall, no less.
17:45 Doug DeMuro? No, Ford has apparently announced 90 recalls. You know, people are making a big deal out of this, but I want to say something. I want to say something about this because I think about Ford a lot. When you're winning, sometimes you got to lose a little. You know, but you know what I'm talking about. You see Wimbledon, right? They center doesn't go up there and just win, win, win. He loses.
18:04 Speaker 03 He loses. Yeah.
18:06 Doug DeMuro? So, so I guess my point is Ford has issued the most recalls of any automaker in the entire history of automakers and NHTSA, the governing body of the recalls. But they've also made the Bronco, the Bronco Raptor, the Bronco Sport, the Eco Sport. See what I'm saying? Do you see where I'm going with it?
18:26 Speaker 03 Right. Very successful vehicles all, especially that last one, uh, which is pronounced Eco Sport despite the fact that it should be Eco Sport by all branding decisions. Regardless, uh, it's a lot of recalls.
18:36 Doug DeMuro? They called the name. Their name got recalled.
18:39 Speaker 03 Right. I don't know what all these recalls are for. Sometimes there are frankly, low impact recalls that automakers do. And I also do wonder if Ford is a little bit more open to doing recalls than some other manufacturers where Tesla famously tries every single option to avoid actually issuing a recall. They do a lot over there updates to try to fix things, or try to circumvent problems. I wonder if Ford is just a little bit more willing to engage.
19:04 Speaker 04 Yeah, they stand by their product. I'm a big Ford guy. I've used the recall on my Focus twice now, so.
19:10 Doug DeMuro? Nick, how many transmissions have you gone through on your Focus?
19:13 Speaker 04 Two. Fifty thousand miles. I have a check engine light on it right now, too, but that's all right.
19:18 Speaker 03 That just sounds like a Nick situation.
19:20 Doug DeMuro? Wait, hang on, Filippo. You're giving Ford the benefit of the doubt here.
19:23 Speaker 03 No, no, no. I'm trying to add nuance.
19:25 Doug DeMuro? Before we got on this podcast that they've issued more recalls than the next five automakers combined. Is that what you said?
19:31 Speaker 03 Yeah, sure. That's true. Yeah.
19:33 Speaker 04 A lot of people are saying that.
19:34 Speaker 03 Look, it's problematic. And so when Jim Farley came on as the CEO of Ford a few years ago, the Explorer had just, like, the new Explorer had just come out and there were a lot of recalls for that, a lot of recalls for the Mach-E. And he talked a lot of the time about how Ford really needs to invest in quality and will be investing in quality and additional testing to make sure that they stop that. Clearly, that initiative has failed massively. But when you're doing okay, maybe nobody cares.
20:02 Speaker 04 Could it be that they don't have Mercury and all the other brands? So all of their recalls are under one moniker? Like, everything's Ford instead of like, oh, we have Chrysler that has one product, Dodge that has one product.
20:13 Speaker 03 We won't talk about Lincoln or any of the other brands.
20:15 Speaker 04 Lincoln's great. Um, but maybe, maybe there's something, they're just not peanut buttering it around.
20:21 Doug DeMuro? One interesting thing that Ford is doing, and I mean this sincerely when I say that you they're winning, like they have undoubtedly the most exciting product lineup, maybe of any big volume automaker on the market.
20:32 Speaker 03 Really? That's the line we're going with? The most exciting product lineup with their lack of cars?
20:36 Doug DeMuro? Raptors. Oh, come on. I mean, they come out, they, in the last few years, they came out with Mach-E, which was, which was like the only electric car that was a hit aside from the Teslas. They came out with Bronco, which was this widely hyped, really excited thing. They got a new Mustang out. They got Bronco Sport out, which has been, at least from my perspective, like a massive, massive hit. What other new Fords have been, have been out? Nick, you follow the brand.
20:56 Speaker 03 The Mustang has plummeted in sales.
20:59 Doug DeMuro? The new Ranger and the Raptor version, the new Bronco Raptor, the new Raptor version, the F-150, which everybody's obsessed with. There's all these like cool new Ford products. The Maverick has been like the most excited, talked about car. Felipe's still freaking out over the Maverick.
21:12 Speaker 03 Especially now that there's an all-wheel-drive hybrid. Yeah.
21:14 Doug DeMuro? Yeah. Not, and not to mention the new Mustang, which has not been a huge success, but is pretty cool. The Lightning, right? The Lightning was a massive hit when it came out.
21:22 Speaker 03 I, I think Ford does them well, legitimately.
21:24 Doug DeMuro? They have these amazing products. I do feel terrible for their PR folks because every time I talk to them, it's like they, they're launching these incredible cars and every one of them just seems to have issue after issue after issue. But, um.
21:35 Speaker 03 Quality's the problem.
21:35 Doug DeMuro? I wonder if there is some prioritization of like, let's bring this to market and make it cool and, you know, kind of quality be damned. It seems like that's, that is the case.
21:45 Speaker 03 I think also like, if you're watching Tesla, that was their strategy for a long, long time. Still might be. Just get the product out and then you can fix the rest. It's harder if you're using infrastructure that doesn't allow the same level of over there updates. And also where you kind of need to maybe support your dealer network a little bit and get people into that, which might be an element here, too. But they gotta work on getting cars out that don't need recalls. If you're more than the five next largest recallers combined, you're in a tough spot.
22:12 Doug DeMuro? Everybody I know with new Fords is having problems. Everybody I know.
22:18 Doug DeMuro? I mean, do you not? You don't know anybody with new Fords because you're not a man of people like me.
22:21 Speaker 03 I don't know people with new cars.
22:24 Speaker 03 Not from that kind of family.
22:26 Doug DeMuro? But my neighbor down the street just put a transmission in his Expedition. I got another, my buddy Dave just put a transmission in his Raptor. These are like four-year-old cars.
22:36 Speaker 03 Your buddy Nick just put a, will need to put a new transmission in his Ford Focus.
22:40 Speaker 04 I just got my dad into an Expedition about three months ago, but yeah.
22:44 Doug DeMuro? A new one? A brand new one?
22:45 Speaker 04 A used one.
22:46 Doug DeMuro? Okay, with a V8?
22:49 Speaker 03 Of course. All right, move on to another equally important news story, which is that Toyota has announced that for the next generation Supra, which I believe is the sixth generation Supra, which should come out in like 2027 or something like that, it will not be with BMW. It will have its own, apparently 400 horsepower four-cylinder engine that Toyota is developing.
23:12 Doug DeMuro? 400 horsepower four-cylinder? That makes sense because they already got a 300 horsepower three-cylinder.
23:17 Speaker 04 H for that.
23:18 Speaker 03 Oh, stole my joke.
23:22 Speaker 03 I don't, sure, they're splitting ways. The one product that they build with BMW will no longer be built alongside BMW. I will say the Supra was about two times as successful as the Z4 in terms of sales. Maybe that proves to Toyota that there is a market for sports cars. Also Toyota in general is leaning into that with their GR Yaris and the G-Rola and other like performance-oriented products. Maybe they decided that there's, clearly they decided that there's a business case for doing this.
23:49 Doug DeMuro? It's a surprise to me because Toyota's point with teaming up with BMW, which was sort of a left-field combination, like that was a surprise when it happened. Toyota's point at the time was that they didn't see a business case for singularly developing a sports car, that they, it only made sense if they could share development costs in production. And in the case of the Supra, although I like the new Supra a lot, like it is a BMW. It is more BMW than Toyota. It has BMW powertrain, it has BMW switchgear, it's made in Graz, like, you know, in Austria. Like that's not how I think of my Supra. Nick and I are Mark IV guys.
24:21 Speaker 03 Of course.
24:22 Doug DeMuro? Yeah. So I'm surprised that they feel like they want to do this. My guess is there this the the subtext here is BMW does not see a future for the Z4, um, which has, which has not really been a big hit since the first two generations, the original Z3 and then the original Z4.
24:40 Doug DeMuro? So maybe we'll get a nice little Supra out of this whole thing.
24:42 Speaker 03 It sounds like we will. Whether you want a 400 horsepower four cylinder Toyota engine, maybe a different question.
24:48 Doug DeMuro? What do you mean? That's all I want.
24:50 Speaker 03 I, I think that part of the success of the Mark 5 Supra has been that it's an engine that is very tunable and has a great aftermarket support. If it's a newly developed engine, there might be some questions about that.
25:02 Doug DeMuro? You know, that's a really good point. When the Supra first came out, that engine was not in its infancy, but close to it. And I remember there was a lot of criticism that all the old Supra, one of the things that made it so cool, it's still a straight six, which is cool, but it was tunable. And that engine in the end has now been put in every car ever made, including the trucks built in France.
25:23 Speaker 03 Yeah, the B58, the Grenadier, the Enes Grenadier. That's right.
25:27 Doug DeMuro? Yeah. And, uh, and it has kind of become a bit of a darling of the enthusiast tuner community in the years since that car has come out. And it actually earned its stripes as a Supra. I think the new Supra is so cool. Mark 5.
25:40 Speaker 03 I also loved the Z4 and I love the Z4's available with a stick now. I kind of want one as a result, but.
25:46 Doug DeMuro? But you will never get one. Uh, so anyway, this is kind of cool. I'm curious to see also what happens with the next gen GR86. If Toyota's recommending to sports cars and Nick and I are here for it, we will, we will, we will buy one used.
25:57 Speaker 03 It's worth noting for those wondering.
25:58 Doug DeMuro? In 10 years.
25:59 Speaker 03 Yeah. It's worth noting for those wondering whether they'll keep working with Subaru. Toyota owns a large portion of Fuji Heavy Industries, which is Subaru. So I suspect there's closer ties there.
26:08 Doug DeMuro? Yeah, I agree with that. I mean, they, they just came out with those two new cars.
26:12 Speaker 03 Yeah. The Subaru Uncharted, uh, which is also a Toyota CHR. By the way, Uncharted has CHR in it, probably a callback to Toyota CHR.
26:22 Doug DeMuro? Wait a sec. Wait a sec. Let's go back. The cars I was referring to are the Toyota. BZ4X.
26:31 Speaker 03 Just BZ.
26:33 Doug DeMuro? Subaru Solterra, which now there's a longer version of which I actually kind of like and sort of want.
26:37 Speaker 03 Yeah, there's also a longer version of the Toyota now.
26:41 Doug DeMuro? That appears to be a Toyota Crown Cross.
26:44 Speaker 03 No, no, no, it is much smaller than that. It's a Toyota CHR, which hasn't, I don't think been revealed in the US as a new model. Subaru beat them to it, which also happened with the Trail Seeker, which is the.
26:55 Doug DeMuro? CHR is gone. Toyota canceled the CHR years ago.
26:58 Speaker 03 So the new, the CHR had a new generation in Europe. It wasn't sold in the US. And now maybe they'll bring it back to the US as an EV. This is also an EV, the Subaru Uncharted. It was revealed last week. And that's all that our people want to know about it.
27:13 Doug DeMuro? No, no, no. I want to know a little bit more. I want to know a little bit more. So the Subaru Uncharted.
27:17 Speaker 03 Yep.
27:18 Doug DeMuro? This is based on the CHR? If that's true?
27:21 Speaker 03 That is a fact. Also, it's in the name. Un-CHRded.
27:26 Doug DeMuro? And it has 340 horsepower and 300 miles of range?
27:30 Speaker 03 Yeah, it seems like a solid offer because it's a small SUV, so that's real power.
27:34 Doug DeMuro? It's not attractive. What's the Solterra Long? What's the Solterra Long called?
27:39 Speaker 03 The Solterra Long is called the, the Trail Seeker.
27:44 Doug DeMuro? The Trail Seeker. Is that true?
27:46 Speaker 03 I really hope so.
27:47 Doug DeMuro? I gotta tell you, I really like how the Subaru Trail Seeker looks. Like, I legitimately kind of, every so often I think to myself, what would I buy if I never was into cars? And for years I thought to myself, I hoped that I found my way to a Honda Accord Hybrid. I hope that like that would be what I would have gotten. I hope that I would have done enough research and ended up with a Honda Accord Hybrid.
28:09 Speaker 03 That's a good choice.
28:10 Doug DeMuro? Yeah, it's the best. And for the best car for non-car people. And I thought that right up until I saw a Subaru Trail Seeker. And now I hope I find my way to a Subaru Trail Seeker if I was never into cars at all.
28:21 Speaker 03 By the way, Toyota version of this does exist and you can, I don't remember what it's called.
28:26 Doug DeMuro? From now on, when I Turo cars, I'm going to first look for a Subaru Trail Seeker and then everything else.
28:32 Speaker 03 If you're Turoing in Portland, Oregon, there's a chance. And then you can drive 280 miles.
28:38 Doug DeMuro? Well, that's true. I don't like to throw EVs because you never know. Uh, okay. Do we have any other news?
28:44 Speaker 03 Yeah, I have to talk. We have to talk about this. All right. Faraday Future, you remember it?
28:48 Doug DeMuro? Yes.
28:49 Speaker 03 As the makers of the FF91.
28:50 Doug DeMuro? Yes.
28:51 Speaker 03 Obviously, largest EV. The company still exists, apparently, and they went all in on AI. If you're ever like really bored, go to the Faraday Future website.
28:59 Doug DeMuro? All right.
29:00 Speaker 03 It is an experience, just truly an experience. Uh, they had a press event last week where they announced their new minivan, uh, which has a face.
29:10 Doug DeMuro? It has a literal face, Nick.
29:12 Speaker 03 It has literal face. This is a screen that might be AI powered.
29:14 Speaker 04 Kids run out in front of your moving car and watch it? Like, that seems dangerous.
29:18 Speaker 03 You know, that's an interesting point.
29:20 Doug DeMuro? Online have people like in front of the face interacting with it. Yeah.
29:24 Speaker 04 Yes, that's that's just what you want is to train your kids from an early age to just run in front of a car to see if it has SpongeBob on it.
29:31 Doug DeMuro? AI will not hit your kids. It'll see your kids and it'll say, oh, hi, and it won't hit them. The face will come out there.
29:37 Speaker 03 Uh, it is at heart and in every other way, except for the screen, a great wall motor, something. It's a Chinese made and Chinese sold, uh, minivan. Uh, will it ever actually be sold? Who knows? But it does have AI.
29:53 Doug DeMuro? The FF91 was never sold.
29:55 Speaker 03 It was technically was sold for the record. They sold like two.
29:59 Doug DeMuro? I'm on the website right now and it's still saying that you can, uh, preorder an FF91 SUV. Um, I have a Faraday Future story for you. Nick, you know what I've learned about my stories? Filippo likes them a lot, but he hates that I tell them on the podcast because.
30:11 Speaker 03 No, I love them.
30:12 Doug DeMuro? Okay, here's my Faraday Future story. I'm at the LA Auto Show, maybe four years ago. Everybody at the LA Auto, I go on the press days, right? It's only me and the press and then automaker people.
30:20 Speaker 03 Yep.
30:21 Doug DeMuro? Automaker people come up to me. They know they recognize me. They're like, oh, hey, it's Doug. Automaker people came up to me from Faraday Future. And I was like, oh, what are you guys working on? Thinking like, we're gonna have like a fun conversation. And they're like, oh, we can't tell you. And I'm like, you're out of, this was five years ago. I'm like, you're out of your mind that you, I didn't say this to them, but I was thinking like, are you joking? Like, everybody knows you're not coming to market. And five years later, they, whatever they were working on, never showed up. And it was like they were being so secretive about it.
30:49 Doug DeMuro? Come on.
30:50 Speaker 03 They didn't want to want to tell you about their one on one bespoke private AI.
30:54 Doug DeMuro? I saw that.
30:56 Speaker 03 And this is the FX super one is what the MPV is. By the way, Paul Walker's brother was part of the reveal for the FX.
31:05 Doug DeMuro? Hey, go up to the top, go up to the very top of the website. Is that the top for you?
31:10 Speaker 03 Yeah.
31:11 Doug DeMuro? On the top for me, it talks about how they just got a hundred million dollars in funding. Who do you think is funding? Uh, okay, we got to do other, do we have other news stories? We can't.
31:20 Speaker 03 No, but I do want to talk about the FF 91 2.0 versus FF 91 2.0 Futurist versus FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance.
31:28 Speaker 00 Coca-Cola for the big, for the small, the short and the tall. Peacemakers, risk takers for the optimists, pessimists for long distance love. For introverts and extroverts, the thinkers and the doers. For old friends and new Coca-Cola for everyone. Pick up some Coca-Cola at a store near you.
32:00 Speaker 05 All right. If you're a fan of cool cars, IMSA racing and this podcast, you've got to check out what's happening at Road America on Sunday, August 3rd. We are hosting the first Cars and Bids Trackside Cars and Coffee event during the IMSA Sports Car Weekend at Road America. Cars and Bids is the ultimate online auction platform for enthusiasts, whether it's modern sports cars, analog classics, race cars, quirky builds and anything in between. And for the first time, we're bringing that energy trackside with an awesome lineup of enthusiast cars, the Cars and Bids crew, and yes, Filippo and I will be there in person too. Come hang out with us and watch some racing. And if you've got a cool car, submit it by clicking the link below for a chance to be part of our Trackside Cars and Coffee event.
32:43 Speaker 05 We already have some amazing submissions and we'll be sending out our invitations soon, so don't wait. Whether you're bringing a car or not, come join us on Sunday, August 3rd. Check out our Trackside Cars and Coffee and watch the incredible IMSA Sports Car Racing with us.
32:57 Speaker 03 There is one more news story that we want to talk about really quickly, which is that NASCAR announced today that they will be in San Diego on Coronado Island at the, I believe at the Air Force Base there, sorry, at the Navy Air, whatever. Words, tough.
33:11 Doug DeMuro? Non military. What a lib.
33:14 Speaker 03 At the Navy
33:15 Speaker 04 Raging.
33:16 Speaker 03 Base on North Island, Coronado. They will be there for a race. There will no longer be a Chicago NASCAR race, but they will be in San Diego.
33:24 Speaker 04 And what hasn't been announced yet is that I will be driving the pace car. I'm, I will be acquiring an SRT 10 Ram and whether they allow me or not, I will be doing a parade lap.
33:33 Doug DeMuro? Hey, you know what? When is this happening? Sean, I want to drive the pace car. Sean's always like, what do you, what opportunities do you want to have? I'm like, none. I want to drive the pace car for this, for this race.
33:43 Speaker 03 If you're a NASCAR San Diego weekend planners, reach out to our content.
33:47 Speaker 04 Yeah, we will host you here at the Cars and Bids headquarters.
33:50 Doug DeMuro? You can sleep at the office. We have a shower. The water pressure is terrible, but we have a shower. We don't have any towels. You have to bring your own towels. Okay, we both move on. Oh yeah, no, no. Do that, do that, do these last.
34:00 Speaker 04 Yes, yes. I, I prepared a toast. Where's the camera? Akira, you've done some quality things over the years as a former.
34:09 Doug DeMuro? TLX is gone, folks. This is a big deal. When I was a child.
34:12 Speaker 04 We are pouring one out for the homies.
34:15 Doug DeMuro? When I was a child, a wee child, Acura came out with a midsize sedan called the Vigor. Okay, Akira, Akira came out with a midsize sedan called the Vigor. Nick might call it the Vigor. It had a five cylinder engine. Things were great.
34:30 Speaker 04 I don't remember that.
34:31 Doug DeMuro? The TL, they came out with the TL in 96 and it had a five cylinder engine. Things were great. And then they came out with that amazing TL. I'm doing a little, I'm doing a little eulogy here. Then they came up with an amazing TL in 04. Well, okay, first, from, from 99 to 03, there was that TL that destroyed the transmissions. That, that every one of those you see, which is none, because the transmissions are all dead, but everyone you see is on its 38th transmission. Then in 04, they came out with that TL, which is the, probably the greatest Honda sedan of all time, right? The 04, 08. Then they gave it that beak note. I mean, this car has been called these thousands of times. It's gone now. A midsize Acura sedan no longer exists for the first time in my, Akira, I'm so sorry, for the first time in my lifetime.
35:11 Speaker 03 I appreciate the integrity of that eulogy and how much of a legend the TL is.
35:17 Speaker 04 Wow.
35:18 Doug DeMuro? Wow.
35:18 Speaker 04 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
35:20 Speaker 03 That's great. Please don't pour water on our set.
35:23 Speaker 04 Just carpet.
35:26 Speaker 04 I specifically chose water instead of coffee for that.
35:29 Speaker 03 I appreciate that.
35:30 Doug DeMuro? This podcast has gone off the rails. The TLX is gone, Acura is canceled. They only have one car left, which is the new Integra. And I gotta be honest with you, if you had told them the sales figures of the new Integra when they were launching the new Integra, I have a suspicion they would never would have launched it. And so the Acura lineup is down to one car.
35:46 Speaker 03 But the Integra now has a color match front grille, so that's something. And they do sell three SUVs. Can you name them, Nick?
35:54 Speaker 04 MDX, RDX.
35:56 Speaker 03 And?
35:57 Speaker 04 ZDX.
35:58 Speaker 03 Okay, I'm so sorry. They sell four SUVs.
36:00 Doug DeMuro? Yeah, they have the ADX also.
36:02 Speaker 03 Yeah, I forgot about the ZDX.
36:05 Doug DeMuro? No, the Acura's SUV business is, Acura, I'm so sorry.
36:08 Speaker 03 Loves them, yeah.
36:10 Doug DeMuro? But the car business is gone. I mean, this story is repeated with every automaker, no surprise. It's just funny. I mean, the midsize Acura sedans is just such a mainstay. Like, that's always, literally my whole life, they've had one. And I have started to wonder what other sedans are just gonna die. Jag killed the XJ. When does the BMW 7 Series just die? When does the Audi A8 just die?
36:30 Speaker 03 The A8 has gotta be close, let's be honest.
36:32 Doug DeMuro? Yeah.
36:33 Speaker 03 The others have a market, a marketplace. But Ford doesn't make any cars anymore, except for the Mustang. Like, it's an inevitability.
36:41 Speaker 04 When Doug was working at Saturn and I was at Daewoo,
36:44 Speaker 03 Yeah, yeah.
36:44 Speaker 04 the Ford Taurus and the Toyota Camry were everything. So I do think that whole segment's dead, or on life support at this point.
36:52 Doug DeMuro? We had a midsize sedan. Can you name it, Filippo?
36:55 Speaker 03 You, your family had a Lexus.
36:57 Doug DeMuro? No, no, no. When I worked at Saturn, what were we selling?
37:00 Speaker 03 Oh, of course, the L200 and L300.
37:03 Doug DeMuro? No, no, this is after that.
37:04 Speaker 03 Oh, I'm so sorry. I forgot the era. I was thinking of the golden era of Saturn, not the later when.
37:12 Doug DeMuro? Dude, the golden era of Saturn was like 92, like the first year. And then it got worse progressively.
37:18 Speaker 03 They were such good cars. The S Series was such a good vehicle.
37:20 Speaker 04 The Sky, the ION Redline, there was some.
37:23 Doug DeMuro? Also, Lotus Esprit, never forget, the Lotus Esprit used the same steering wheel from the Saturn S.
37:29 Speaker 03 And it's a good steering wheel. It's actually an atrocious steering wheel.
37:32 Doug DeMuro? It's bad. If we're being honest. I want to talk about the Leno's Law thing. California Senate Bill 712. Nick, we're good. We're all set here. The Transportation Committee passed it 14-0, and they actually expanded it. It's actually been improved. I did a deep dive into the bill this morning. They've kept all the provisions in about collector cars 35 years and up, but they added an interesting thing, which is that even if you do not have a collector car, beginning in next year, 81 and up, no longer has to do smog. And each subsequent year, they are removing cars one more year from smog. So 81 in 27, 82 in 28, et cetera. And so even if your car isn't collector, you, that, that, those cars are going away. Because right now, the standard is 76.
38:16 Doug DeMuro? So it's actually been expanded. They've, the collector provision is still in there for 35 years, uh, cars that are 35 years old and are have collector insurance and collector plates. And now that it's passed the Transportation Committee, I have a suspicion it's going to go to our buddy Gavin Newsom, Nick's, Nick's right-hand man. And he's trying to be all conservative, and I bet he signs this thing.
38:36 Speaker 04 Do you, I, I saw a semi-viral Instagram post that said that they quote-unquote gutted it because they were, we're going to do historic plates and you had to have collector car insurance, something else.
38:46 Doug DeMuro? I want to make a really clear point about the collector insurance thing. And I really wish people would just shut up about this until the bill passes, but I'm going to just say the point. We're going to move on. People are like, if you have to get collector insurance, that means you'll have to have the car garage. It's only for rich people now. Folks, the insurers will figure this out. You will be issued an insurance policy for your beater. I promise. Just, let's not talk about it until the bill passes, and then there will be insurers who show up with collector insurance for you also. Just shut up for a few more months, and then we'll be fine. Everything will be fine. I promise. I promise. The insurers aren't going to let this market just go. Collector insurance is undefined in the statutes. So all you have to do is show up with some sort of paperwork
39:30 Doug DeMuro? that says collector, and they'll accept it. They're, they don't know what they're talking about. It's going to be fine.
39:35 Speaker 03 Also, will, will there be historic plates? Like, will that be a type of like?
39:39 Doug DeMuro? Yeah, California has historic plates currently.
39:40 Speaker 03 Oh, that's true. You never see them though.
39:42 Doug DeMuro? They have no benefit. In fact, they only have a drawback, which is that you can only use them if you're driving the car like to an exhibition. So there's no reason to have uh and no so no one does. But now they obviously will become popular.
39:54 Speaker 03 Yeah.
39:55 Doug DeMuro? Uh Nick will have to get them.
39:57 Speaker 03 It's a good update. Go Jay Leno.
39:59 Doug DeMuro? Good update. So 1991, well 92, because this doesn't go into effect until 27, 11 of 27. But so that will mean that like 92, 93 model year, Nick, you're going to be all set.
40:10 Speaker 03 Sweet. All my 80s cars.
40:15 Speaker 03 You will buy 80s cars for it because of the result.
40:17 Doug DeMuro? Soon. Um, okay. I want to move on to the talk car segment. The talk car segment is brought to us by the Cars and Bids app, which is like Cars and Bids, but an app. Nick, do you use the Cars and Bids app?
40:27 Speaker 03 I do religiously. Good. It's a good app.
40:31 Doug DeMuro? Okay. I want to talk about something interesting. Um, that hasn't been discussed yet.
40:36 Speaker 03 Is it about the elephant? Or no?
40:39 Doug DeMuro? Wilmer? That hasn't been discussed, Elmer. Now, I want to bring up a topic that nobody here has covered, that we haven't talked about, that I've just thought of.
40:46 Speaker 03 I'm so scared. Alright. Like actively frightened.
40:49 Doug DeMuro? It's just hit me in the face. A couple of minutes before we recorded this podcast, Nick sent a Mercedes G-Wagon result to our friend group via text message. And he made a big thing about the price that it sold for, which shocked me because Nick doesn't pay attention to anything, like including prices and mileage.
41:07 Speaker 03 Yes, but he borrowed a G-Wagon last week and therefore now, let's think about it.
41:13 Doug DeMuro? That's the thing. So Nick's been borrowing Sean's G-Wagon and he's now paying attention to the G-Wagon market. And I want to break the story right here, right now, that I think Nick is interested in a G-Wagon. Nick, will you tell us your thoughts?
41:26 Speaker 04 I well, specifically, so I liked Sean's G-Wagon. Other than it was like too normal and good. So I a G55 or 63, that's kind of stupid. A G65 would be amazing, but I think they're real money.
41:39 Speaker 03 We would respect you more.
41:40 Speaker 04 Yes. Well, then that's maybe worth an extra five grand or so, but I think it's a higher premium.
41:45 Doug DeMuro? You concede though, that I have correctly deduced that you are interested and looking in G-Wagons?
41:50 Speaker 04 It's it's it's on my list as a potential option. Yes, I am not ruling them out. That's for sure.
41:56 Doug DeMuro? And that's because you spent the time with Sean's car.
41:58 Speaker 04 Yeah, and I didn't, I only drove it basically from here then to a dermatologist. But it was, it was nice. I felt very like, I actually went through like Rancho Santa Fe area, so I felt, I felt like I belonged for the first time in my life.
42:11 Speaker 03 Did you miss your Bentley? Cause you also drive your Bentley through Rancho Santa Fe and that feels fitting.
42:15 Speaker 04 Yeah, but the, the G-Wagon feels just like, like I'm, I'm one of the cool kids, but I'm not like, the Bentley stands out, right? And it like draws all this attention to you and you get imposter syndrome. The G-Wagon just feels like, okay, I'm like a, I'm an average Joe here. Like I'm, I'm one of the good soccer dads, but I'm not like.
42:34 Speaker 03 And the wealthiest zip codes in America, you are just an average Joe?
42:37 Speaker 04 Yeah, yeah, that's what I want to be.
42:38 Doug DeMuro? So Nick's thinking about a G. Nick, uh, what else are you thinking about?
42:42 Speaker 04 Well, I'm thinking about a G, but I just sent a deposit, or actually not a deposit, the whole fricking thing, a wire this morning for a Fiat multiple.
42:51 Speaker 03 You own a Fiat multiple, basically. Congratulations.
42:54 Speaker 04 I, I mean, I, it's in Stuttgart somewhere, a lovely listener, Parth, if you're listening, thank you. He, I, I was like, I saw this one, I like it, but the photos suggest that they're hiding something. I'm nervous about it. They're asking top dollar and he's like, dude, I live in Stuttgart. I have Monday off, I will go look at it. He FaceTimed me, took me around it.
43:14 Speaker 03 Oh, that's incredible.
43:14 Speaker 04 He drove it along with another buddy. They both work, um, I believe at Mercedes corporate. And they're like, it drives great, here's the, the close up here, here's this. There was like some overspray that he's like, oh, that's actually just like armor all over here. This door definitely needs repainted, but gave me like the full PPI. I then like, wouldn't take any, I was like, can I send you beer money? And he's like, no.
43:34 Speaker 03 Shout out to him.
43:35 Speaker 04 Yeah, so super legit, the CarPod slash Cars and Bids community coming through. And I was like, all right, you know what? I've, I've been looking for six months, I'm never gonna find perfect. This is as good as it's gonna get. It is the ugly green with the blue interior. And I, I started to realize that that, that was a must have, no longer a nice to have, so.
43:52 Speaker 03 Hallelujah.
43:53 Speaker 04 It's gonna take, it's gonna take two months to get here. They ship it, I, I'm not flying it because that would cost more than the car itself to fly it over here. So we are gonna put it on a barge or a cruise ship or something like that. We'll figure out if I'm gonna get tariffed. On a cruise ship. Yeah. I don't know how any of this works. Shout out to Rami at Inbound Motorsports. He sells a lot on the site. He's on the leaderboard, actually, but he's helping facilitate all this for me. Thank God. And then I will do a YouTube series for the channel, sort of showing what it's like to import a car that's 25 years old. The hoops you have to jump through and the surprises along the way. And you will then sell it to me at the end. You can bid on it. It will be no reserve. Fine.
44:35 Doug DeMuro? The way it works is that it goes on to, they call it row row. Nick, I'm surprised you're not interested especially in that.
44:42 Speaker 04 I think he mentioned something about it.
44:44 Doug DeMuro? That means roll on, roll off. So it goes, it drives into a cargo ship, a car specifically fit for car.
44:53 Speaker 04 Or a cruise ship, if you're Nick.
44:54 Doug DeMuro? A cruise ship, I guess, doing the famous cruise from Emden, Germany to whatever port, Galveston, Port of Houston.
45:03 Speaker 04 We're bringing it straight to San Diego and I do expect all of you to come to the port with me to receive it. 100%. We can all fit in the car. The first, yeah, the first drive has to have all six of us sitting cheek to cheek.
45:14 Doug DeMuro? Do you have, do you have global entry, Nick?
45:17 Speaker 04 I can look into that.
45:18 Doug DeMuro? If you have global entry, you can go into the port area. There's something called a TWIC card, but I think global entry also gets you in. If you don't, you probably won't be able to, or at least you won't be able to easily. You'll probably need a customs broker to do it for you, or maybe Rami can hook you up. I have global entry. I'll pick up your multiple, me and Filippo.
45:34 Speaker 04 Dude, that'd be sick. You think I'd pay for that?
45:37 Doug DeMuro? Nick, the port situation's great. I'm thrilled for you. It's gonna take forever. It takes a long time for these cars.
45:42 Speaker 04 I was told two months, maybe you get lucky and it's a little shorter, but yeah, it's late July.
45:48 Doug DeMuro? It's about a month on the water, but the car often has to wait, it's to the west coast, because your car will go through Panama, which is legit. But the car often has to wait a couple of weeks on one side for the boat and then there's port processing on our side.
45:59 Speaker 04 This is so exciting though. Yeah, I didn't even know about the car until this car pod and you guys kept talking about it and I'm like, they keep talking about it. Someone needs to actually do it. And then low and behold, I'm now. It is you who will do it, which is wonderful. Also, my wife listens to the podcast and she's like, oh, so we're getting a multiple? She said that last week to me. It's like, this is why I listen, is to learn more about what you're doing, because you don't talk to me enough. And so, yes, honey, we're getting a multiple. I actually haven't told her yet.
46:30 Speaker 03 You have until Friday morning.
46:32 Speaker 04 No, yeah, I'll just let it go live. Now I won't bring it up tonight. So.
46:35 Speaker 03 I'm legitimately incredibly excited.
46:37 Doug DeMuro? You also got another car. I heard that you car was sold from an out of state business to you recently.
46:43 Speaker 04 Yes. Yes, that is true. Nick's Car Blog LLC has sold at Edmunds appraised value, a Lamborghini Murcielago. So I got a speeding ticket in the Mercy and I started to just think like, oh, maybe not having Montana plates would be a good idea. I also, after the manual swap, I have driven it a ton and I tried to smog it before and I failed due to readiness. Basically, I hadn't gone through enough drive cycles or what have you. I saw, I scanned the codes because I wanted to see if the manual swap had any errors. And not only did I have no errors, but it said, hey, your cats are now ready. You could pass smog. So I went into smog. The guy like could barely drive a manual. It was horrible. But he passed it. I didn't want the AAA.
47:28 Speaker 04 From where I parked it, they have to hold it at a certain RPM for a certain amount of time. And I don't know, the whole thing was sketch, but I passed smog.
47:35 Doug DeMuro? My smog guy lets me do all that myself. He doesn't want any part of the liability of touching any of my cars.
47:40 Speaker 04 Next time I will insist on that, but oh, well, it's the same place that did my Bentley, my Land Rover. So I figure they have a, you know, less, less accurate eyesight than some other places. But I then went to the DMV and basically, yeah, you have to explain, I sold it from my Montana to me personally. And multiple people at the DMV were like, congratulations on your Lamborghini. Like you must be so excited. And I'm like, yeah, no, I'm just trying to be less sketchy, but like, you know, you play along with it. Like they're not in on it, apparently.
48:08 Speaker 03 Well, I do feel bad for Nick's Car Blog LLC, which no longer has that.
48:11 Speaker 04 Yeah, it has no vehicles, but the multiple will probably go to Montana for, you know, reasons.
48:17 Speaker 03 Not California legal.
48:17 Speaker 04 Yeah, not tax evasion reasons.
48:20 Doug DeMuro? No, you don't have to do Montana. I'll register it here in mass for you. Nobody cares about those cars though. I've often thought about that. If I got pulled over in like a multiple and the cop was like, you're out of state, driver's license, out of state plates. I'd be like, take the car. I don't, I actually do not car anymore. If you're going to give me grief, I simply want the car gone.
48:40 Doug DeMuro? I'm not going to deal with the fallout from this. I just want you to take the car.
48:45 Doug DeMuro? Okay, we need to move on to the market report. Do you understand that? I have something very exciting to share. The Cars and Bids merch store is live with more designs than ever before. That's right, you can now wear your love of quirks and features with t-shirts, hoodies, keychains, and yes, even license plate frames. Because nothing says you know your quirks and features like proudly wearing our merch. We've got high-quality shirts that are perfect attire for car events. Doug Score shirts, Car Spotter shirts, even a shirt with God's chariot itself, Kenan's E39 M5. I already have a few of the items. They're super comfortable, very cool, and honestly, way more stylish than my usual
49:26 Doug DeMuro? wardrobe. So, head to merch.carsandbids.com to check it out. That's merch.carsandbids.com. Grab your merch and show the world that you support this YouTube channel. We need to move on to the market report.
49:40 Speaker 03 Can I say one last thing? Because it's next week.
49:42 Doug DeMuro? Only if it's related to market report. It's not.
49:44 Speaker 03 It's not.
49:44 Doug DeMuro? Moving on.
49:45 Speaker 03 No, we gotta mention it. We gotta mention it. You gotta mention it. Next, one last thing, before we move on to the market report. Next week, next weekend, I and Kenan and others from the Cars and Bids team will be at Road America for IMSA's Sports Car Weekend. We're hosting a-
50:00 Doug DeMuro? Whoa, Road America, you're gonna be in Wisconsin?
50:02 Speaker 03 I am so excited for that. I lived in Wisconsin for six years. I miss Wisconsin. I'm just excited to be back in Wisconsin. Truly. I'm gonna drink some Spotted Cow, have some cheese curds. It'll be a great, great weekend.
50:14 Doug DeMuro? America's dairy land.
50:16 Speaker 03 We are running a Cars and Coffee that's literally next to the track in the paddock area. We're gonna have some really cool cars that are brought there by some fans of Cars and Bids. We'll also have some cars that are actively for sale there, and you can meet us. We'll have some surprises, some giveaways. So if you're gonna be there, come say hi. If you have a cool car, let us know. There's also a community post-up. We can let us know about that, and we can hook you up with some discounted tickets and other fun stuff.
50:41 Doug DeMuro? I'm gonna tell you a little Wisconsin fact. Wisconsin has the most interesting license plate type of any US state. Nick, you're gonna like this. This is especially exciting for you. It's the collector plate. Pull this up, Flipo. Pull up the Wisconsin collector license plate. This is a true story, Nick, that will change your life. You're gonna get a Nick's Law going through the California State Senate trying to get this to work.
51:03 Speaker 04 I do like that color.
51:04 Doug DeMuro? The Wisconsin collector license plate is issued to a vehicle collector, not to his cars. And he can move it around from car to car like a dealer plate. So if you're a car collector, you don't have to smog them all. You don't have to title them all. You get this collector plate and you can just move it between cars. Isn't that crazy?
51:22 Speaker 04 That's brilliant. That should be the next Leno's Law. We know of several collectors here in California that got wholesale dealer licenses just for that purpose. So.
51:30 Doug DeMuro? No, Nick, they all run legitimate wholesale dealerships. What are you talking about? That's crazy.
51:37 Speaker 04 And I run a legitimate Montana LLC.
51:40 Speaker 03 As legitimate as something that you run can be, yeah. One last thing in Wisconsin, I'm sad that they went to seven-digit plates.
51:47 Doug DeMuro? I want, man, we all run out. I was thinking about this the other day. The number of states that have six-digit license plates is down to like 12. We are all coming to an end here. It's all, we're all ruining the world. Actually, that's the number of states with three letters, three numbers, which to me is like a license plate. You know, maybe it's one, two, three. Now there's all these four-letter things. I can't. It's passed me by.
52:12 Speaker 03 Agreed.
52:12 Doug DeMuro? Mark your report. Tell us about the GR Corolla.
52:15 Speaker 03 Yeah, all right. I've been watching this as the owner of a hot hatchback, right? Wow. The GR Corolla has held.
52:23 Speaker 04 He's got, dude's got a GTI and he has a complex about it.
52:28 Speaker 04 Hot hatch.
52:29 Doug DeMuro? I pay attention to the market.
52:32 Speaker 03 All right, who does it? The GR Corolla has held its value better than any of the other entrants into space.
52:38 Doug DeMuro? What are those numbers?
52:39 Speaker 03 GTI was 2023 with 12,000 miles when I bought it. It had like a 35K sticker. I bought it for 22 and that's what they go for. The new WRX, not a hatchback, but called the same market. This GR Corolla, which had like a 45K sticker, so a little bit higher, sold for 38. They have maintained, like they've had, they've depreciated 20-ish percent. But compared to all the other ones that depreciate seemingly 30, 40, 50% in the first two years, the GR Corolla has not. And I think, yeah, please.
53:11 Doug DeMuro? Can I tell you one thing I've noticed? Specifically, the circuit additions have held their value better. So that was a circuit that
53:17 Speaker 03 And Marizo, yeah.
53:19 Doug DeMuro? And the Marizos, obviously, but that was always going to be the case because they were limited. The circuit, when I went to the launch, I was astonished when they told me that they were going to make like 75% core and 25% circuit. The circuit was the one with all the, with like, it was the GR Corolla, but it actually had like nice stuff in it, like more equipment. And I assumed that the type of buyer wanting a GR Corolla would want the more equipment. And what ended up happening was they made more cores. And so the cores are still doing okay. But if you go back to that list, you can see we sold a core for 31. The circuits seem to be holding in the high 30s or around 40. I think there's more market demand for the circuits because they're rarer. They were rarer new and they're rarer still.
53:57 Speaker 03 That is certainly true. And also it's the most enthusiastic of them. It's the most high performance of them. But the core MSRP was also notably lower. So this is all, even at 30 grand, that has appreciated less than any of the other cars. I suspect that people actually like the GR Corolla in a way where they don't really love the new Mark eight Volkswagen's or the new WRX. And I suspect people think they'll be reliable. You buy a GTI, you maybe have some concern that it's a car you might not want to own 20 years down the line. Jer Corolla, maybe even though it's a 300 horsepower, three cylinder, you don't have that same concern.
54:30 Doug DeMuro? Yeah, I mean, GR Toyota always has stronger resale than basically all of its competitors in part for this reason. It's one of the reasons I bought my Sequoia, not necessarily because I honestly thought it was better, but, but in part because I felt that the resale would be stronger long term. And I think a lot of people think that about these cars. Also, to be honest, the GR Corolla is really cool. Like of all the hot hatchets, I think they're all cool. The Golf R, your car, the WRX, which again isn't a hatch, but same deal. Like, they're all cool, but the GR Corolla, there's just something, it has a something special, you know?
54:58 Speaker 03 It is certainly just the coolest of these cars without doubt. Like the fenders are wide, it's all wheel drive. It's just like, seems more special.
55:06 Doug DeMuro? Do you ever wish you had one?
55:08 Speaker 03 No.
55:09 Doug DeMuro? Okay, uh, okay, Nick, give us your market report topic for the day.
55:14 Speaker 04 Before I do that, on Live Now this week, he also claimed that he is an Italian convertible.
55:19 Speaker 03 I do.
55:20 Speaker 04 And so he's really stretching here.
55:22 Speaker 03 Do I? I'm sorry. How would you define my Fiat 500 Barca Brevet? Is it a convertible? Yes.
55:27 Speaker 04 What car did you replace it with?
55:29 Speaker 03 A four five eight Spider, which is an Italian convertible.
55:32 Speaker 04 Yes, about as much of a hot hatch as a GTI.
55:35 Speaker 03 It's an Italian convertible.
55:36 Speaker 04 Nonetheless, okay, now that I've called you out for that, um, I wanted to call the Z8 that ended today.
55:42 Speaker 03 Wild.
55:42 Speaker 04 The Z8 values are a little all over the place. This one actually had ran before and did not make reserve just shy of 200. It brought in 251. The bids were 1,000, $500 at a time, then $1,000 at a time for like forever, basically. They kept going and going and going. A couple of people wanted it, but it was presented extremely well. Kenon did a video that was like Top Gear level production. I mean, just geeked out on the car. Like, I'm not a Z8 guy. Like, to me, it's just a spicy Z4. And that video made me want one and be like, oh, this car's actually way cooler than I ever gave it credit for. So I think just kudos to the Cars and Bids team, to the sellers, to the buyer as well. Like, it's a unique color.
56:25 Speaker 04 I like that it has the Alpina wheels, but it's not an Alpina, which is really important. So.
56:30 Speaker 03 It's not an automatic result.
56:32 Speaker 04 Killer, killer.
56:33 Doug DeMuro? Z8 market is odd. I'm off and on. I've considered a Z8, uh, because it fits my ethos of supercars from regular carmakers, which I like, I'm a big, big, big fan of. Um, I don't know if it's a supercar, but it's in that league. And, uh, it's such a cool thing. And the values really are all over the place. Euro 1s with miles sell like 100. And this is 250. Like, it's a, it's kind of, yeah, we've sold quite a few at this point.
56:57 Speaker 03 In the 130s, we've sold some.
56:59 Speaker 04 It's a shame that the Z8's not like the 8 Series or even an E39 where they're affordable to an enthusiast. Like, at 250K, that is, you've got some serious opportunity cost, but, um, it's, it is really cool.
57:12 Doug DeMuro? Wild one, though. It's not that crazy money for considering how rare and how special it is. You can get Z eights in the low 100s, which is, which is, which is a little bit of a surprise considering how special the car and how rare and how bespoke and one off. I mean, that interior is one of the most exciting, bizarre, like special interiors. And you show up at a car show with a Z eight, you're like legit. You're like, in my mind, you're like almost on the level of 4GT, you know, Ferrari 458 legit, even though you spent less money.
57:40 Speaker 04 It's kind of, it gives me a little bit of Spiker C8 vibes and that it's like a very tasteful, refined grand tour.
57:46 Doug DeMuro? Also, that steering wheel does give Spiker vibes.
57:48 Speaker 04 Yeah.
57:48 Doug DeMuro? Well, so remember who designed the Z eight, Filippo's idol. Henrik Fisker? Henrik Fisker designed the Z eight and he's Filippo's idol because he pulled all of his money out of his, his Fisker company and bought a giant property in Los Angeles. Props to him. Wanted to do. Props to him. Okay, we got to move on to questions, questions, questions. Now you yourself can ask questions. If you go to carsandbids.com, click on the community tab, there will be a post in there that says, ask your questions and then we'll ask them. Now, this week, some of us, and I'm not going to name names, but it was Filippo, forgot to make the post asking about questions. Sorry. However, a random user did instead, so we still have questions. Thank you, random user. That's a sign that we've made it, thankfully.
58:31 Doug DeMuro? Yeah, that's right. That's a sign that we've made it. We know we're somebody now because Porsche 111 actually made the questions for us. And I got to say, even though it wasn't an official questions post, the questions were tremendously good and insightful. Like this week, some of my favorite questions we've had. And I'm going to start with, uh, Hamu, no, I want to start with JSJ33, who asked the following question. I enjoy watching your car ranking videos from best to worst. I want to continue doing it. I, I have stopped doing it because we've done a bunch of them, but I felt like it kind of, we kind of played it out, but he did a good one. He asked, will you rank the BMW seven series generations from best to worst?
59:11 Speaker 03 No, thanks.
59:13 Doug DeMuro? Okay, Nick, let's do this.
59:15 Speaker 04 You want to go first?
59:17 Doug DeMuro? Okay, from best to worst. Well, let's talk about it a little bit first.
59:21 Speaker 04 Well, the first one's easy.
59:23 Doug DeMuro? We agree that the worst, well, worst is tough. There have been some bad ones.
59:28 Speaker 03 So there's a, we'll go from what, like?
59:33 Doug DeMuro? E32.
59:33 Speaker 03 E32 and up, right? Okay.
59:35 Speaker 04 E38, the sporty shorty.
59:38 Speaker 03 The E38 is a clear number one, for sure.
59:41 Doug DeMuro? You think that's the best?
59:42 Speaker 04 Uh huh, easily.
59:44 Doug DeMuro? Okay.
59:45 Speaker 03 The E65, no, that's a six series. That's a seven series. That's right.
59:50 Doug DeMuro? The ones, okay, here's the ones that everybody knows. I mean, the ones that everybody knows were the E32, the E38, the E65. That was the Bengal one.
1:00:00 Speaker 03 Yeah, that one's tough.
1:00:01 Doug DeMuro? The new one, but there's a couple in between, which maybe you don't know.
1:00:05 Speaker 03 I forgot about them.
1:00:06 Speaker 04 We can just call those all current.
1:00:08 Doug DeMuro? There's the F01, then there's the G11, and the new one's called the G70. But here, let me, let me tell you what the ranking is. Worst, and it's hard to say this, but the worst is the E32.
1:00:22 Doug DeMuro? The worst is the E32.
1:00:23 Speaker 03 I don't know about worst.
1:00:25 Doug DeMuro? And that's hard to say because the Bengal one is so terrible, and because the E32 introduced the V12 in this type of car, more or less.
1:00:34 Speaker 03 Also, the Bengal one isn't great, neither is the F01.
1:00:39 Doug DeMuro? The F01, though, is like a nice car. The E32 is, I'll be honest with you, there's not a single E32 in the world that isn't clapped out.
1:00:49 Speaker 03 No, no, no, we, we, we sold that one that was imported from Europe with a manual, and that was nice.
1:00:53 Doug DeMuro? We sold an E38.
1:00:54 Speaker 03 Oh, you're right. Yep.
1:00:56 Doug DeMuro? That was, I drove that car. It was nice.
1:00:59 Speaker 04 I put, I put the Bengal one as second for me.
1:01:02 Speaker 03 Second worst or second best?
1:01:03 Speaker 04 Second best.
1:01:04 Doug DeMuro? Do you second best?
1:01:06 Speaker 03 Wow.
1:01:07 Speaker 04 I, I, I, I think Sandy Cohen driving in the orange, the OC TV show. It, it changed the world. It literally coined the term Bengal butt. It was just so luxurious.
1:01:19 Speaker 03 Yep.
1:01:20 Speaker 04 It's, it's just to me.
1:01:21 Doug DeMuro? Nick is 04 rich to like the max. Like if Nick could be, if, if there's any opportunity for Nick to be 04 rich, he will do it.
1:01:27 Speaker 04 I, I love the E65 Bengal butt more than Filippo likes breathing heavily into the microphone. It's just my favorite thing in the world. So number two, but the E38 goes above that. So E38, E65.
1:01:39 Speaker 03 I will weirdly maybe agree.
1:01:42 Speaker 04 The rest are below my line. So I, the, the rest just tie for last.
1:01:46 Doug DeMuro? To me, okay, to me, the worst, I'm not going to count the E23, even though it was a seven series, just because it was such an old school situation. The, to me, the E32 is the worst, then the Bengal one is second worst. Um, a facelift Bengal, I would maybe not say is so bad, but undoubtedly the early facelift Bengal cars are, are terrible.
1:02:04 Speaker 03 But, but when you think seven series, you think E38 followed by the E65. You just do. When you think seven series, you think of that one.
1:02:12 Doug DeMuro? Yeah, but that doesn't mean.
1:02:12 Speaker 03 Cause they, it solidified that car in BMW's lineup.
1:02:16 Doug DeMuro? Yeah. Okay. Well, that's fine. When, when, when I think of certain things, I think of other bad things. That doesn't necessarily mean that that.
1:02:24 Speaker 03 I'm glad you could come up with something good on the spot there.
1:02:26 Doug DeMuro? Well, I did in my head go up something good, but I don't think we should say it on the pot. Um, okay. So E32 is the worst. Sean likes us to go from worst to best. E32 is the worst. Uh, then the Bengal one.
1:02:37 Speaker 03 No, I, I, I, I don't have any love for the F01, the fifth generation.
1:02:42 Doug DeMuro? Yeah. No, the next worst is the F01 because there's some reliability issues. Okay. But here's where I'm going to go crazy. Next worst is the G11.
1:02:51 Speaker 03 Yeah.
1:02:51 Doug DeMuro? The two best, the two best are the Nui and the E38.
1:02:55 Speaker 03 I'll agree with that. The, the, the new one, which I don't think looks beautiful, has a lot of presence. And that is something.
1:03:02 Doug DeMuro? Finally brought cla- not, not class. The new one finally brought a statement back to the seventh.
1:03:07 Speaker 03 Yeah.
1:03:08 Doug DeMuro? Mar has not made a statement since Bengal and the, and at that time, the statement was heinous and bad tech.
1:03:15 Speaker 03 I, I will give my rankings slightly different. E thirty-two is the worst. I'll agree with that. I think that F zero one's second worst, G eleven's third worst, then Bengal, but new, and then E thirty-eight. We're, we're, we're just off by a couple there. And Nick gives, God knows.
1:03:28 Doug DeMuro? Single cars are also terribly unreliable. They are all off the road.
1:03:31 Speaker 03 No, no, I know. It's a bad vehicle, but I like.
1:03:35 Doug DeMuro? At, once Sandy Cohen drove that car, from every minute after that, that car became terrible.
1:03:40 Speaker 04 He was a public defender, standing up for good, like helping Ryan get out of juvie. It was.
1:03:46 Doug DeMuro? You've only watched, you've only watched the first season, haven't you?
1:03:49 Speaker 04 You've only watched the first. You know, Sean was in the O C as an extra.
1:03:54 Speaker 03 Sean was in.
1:03:55 Doug DeMuro? He's had the. I drive an E sixty-five. Next question from Hamud. Question for all. What's the most obscure car feature you've ever seen that made sense but never caught on? I put this in here because I've always felt the answer to this question is climate controls on the steering wheel. I've begged, every time I meet a designer at an auto show, they come up to me and they're like, oh Doug, I watch your videos. I love your videos. And I say, what do you do? Oh, I'm a designer. Can you please put climate controls on the steering wheel? And they say to me, oh, okay. So then they think to themselves, okay, so this guy's nuts. This guy's nuts. I, I, I've always wondered what Doug was like in person and he's nuts. You are looking at the oh four Prius, which I believe was the last car that ever had climate controls on the steering wheel. Uh, and it does have.
1:04:37 Speaker 03 It's the only one I can think of.
1:04:39 Doug DeMuro? Well, American cars had it commonly in the, in the, throughout the eighties and nineties, like, like Lincolns and Cadillacs, they pretty much all had it in that era. And then they get away with it and it's gone. All I want is climate controls on the steering wheel. Nick, why can't I have this?
1:04:52 Speaker 04 Um, I don't ever really, mine stays at 74. Like, I probably wouldn't use this, to be honest, but I'm sorry.
1:05:01 Doug DeMuro? You don't ever turn up the fan speed?
1:05:03 Speaker 04 Rarely.
1:05:04 Speaker 03 I don't believe in auto H-trac.
1:05:07 Doug DeMuro? Yeah, I mean, I don't have auto climate. I'm not rich like Nick, so like, I don't have auto.
1:05:12 Speaker 03 What?
1:05:13 Doug DeMuro? I don't have auto climate.
1:05:14 Speaker 03 Yeah, not on the Countach, you're right. It didn't exist.
1:05:16 Doug DeMuro? Or my Ford GT, I don't have it in any of my cars.
1:05:19 Speaker 03 Well, luckily you have a couple of modern ones. What feature were you?
1:05:22 Speaker 04 I just came up with a new one, actually, which is in similar, Ford cars have the keypad where you can lock your keys in the car.
1:05:28 Speaker 03 I do love that.
1:05:29 Speaker 04 It doesn't work as well now with keyless entry. You've got to have like a little place to hide the key so that it doesn't unlock, but it's so handy when you're going on a run, going swimming, like, like trading cars with friends, which apparently is a thing we do.
1:05:41 Speaker 03 I do love that. Totally. I would love for more people to do that.
1:05:45 Speaker 04 And then the stretches that I had were an AMG slash SRT slash M slash RS version of every car, an off-road version of every car, including many vans, like the R63 needs to come back. Split tailgate in SUVs needs to be the door.
1:06:00 Speaker 03 It still exists.
1:06:01 Speaker 04 Umbrellas built into the doors.
1:06:03 Speaker 03 It's common.
1:06:04 Doug DeMuro? No, it's not common. There's only a couple of cars that have.
1:06:06 Speaker 03 The X5, the Range Rover 2, the best-selling luxury.
1:06:09 Speaker 04 Yeah, it's okay, but it hasn't caught on in the sense that every car, that should be the default method, then you have to explain yourself when you do a different style.
1:06:15 Speaker 03 Yeah.
1:06:16 Speaker 04 As opposed to the other way around.
1:06:17 Doug DeMuro? You know what killed the split tailgate, Nick, was the power tailgate, because it's very difficult to make, it's very difficult to make them power, you know, like, it work properly. And it only.
1:06:28 Speaker 03 BMW and Range Rover have done it, but yeah.
1:06:30 Doug DeMuro? They do, but it must, there must be some cost and some engineering, because only those cars do it.
1:06:36 Speaker 04 I also like the design cue on the Z8, as well as my R9, that you can hide the radio with a piece of interior trim.
1:06:41 Speaker 03 Yeah.
1:06:42 Speaker 04 And make the radio disappear. That should be, cars in the future, like the tech will become antiquated and the fact you could just hide it.
1:06:49 Speaker 03 Yeah, and given what the radio looks like in your car, it's insane.
1:06:54 Doug DeMuro? The S2000 has that, and the SLR has that.
1:06:58 Speaker 03 True.
1:06:59 Doug DeMuro? The S3000 did the best though, because you can hide the fate, the head unit of the radio, but then there are separate radio controls elsewhere, but only like the ones you would frequently use, like the volume knob and things like that. It's kind of cool.
1:07:11 Speaker 03 Two that come to mind for me, I legitimately liked sobs like night panel face and like especially in cars that have a lot of touchscreens, it's hard to figure out how to decrease the brightness of all of them now. And if you could just like at night, make it all much dimmer or off would be great. Thing that should not have taken off, but I miss Volvo for a little while on the key fob, there was like a heart rate sensor inside the car and it would tell you on the key fob if there'd be like a light that shot that blinked, if there was somebody in your vehicle. And Volvo's claim was that if there was some, you're going back to your car late at night, it's in a parking lot, you would know if there was somebody hiding in your car to abduct you. This is a real feature. I'm not making this up.
1:07:50 Speaker 04 How weird.
1:07:51 Speaker 03 And it obviously didn't take off for so many reasons, but it was kind of cool.
1:07:57 Doug DeMuro? Yep, I agree.
1:07:58 Speaker 03 It was a real feature.
1:07:59 Doug DeMuro? I think it's probably better for the leaving a child in the, in the car seat by accident, but regardless.
1:08:06 Speaker 04 Maybe the child was wanting to watch the TV in your front bumper.
1:08:10 Speaker 03 Their marketing was a hundred percent about safety so that you went back to a car and there wasn't somebody in it. That's it.
1:08:16 Speaker 04 Also, remember the Mercedes feature where it tells you every hour to get a cup of coffee?
1:08:21 Doug DeMuro? Oh my God, you know what I learned? You know what I learned? My Toyota does that depending on how I'm driving. And so like, sometimes I'll go the whole day and it doesn't tell me, but sometimes like 20 minutes into my drive, it'll tell me and it's like.
1:08:31 Speaker 03 You should reconsider your driving style.
1:08:34 Doug DeMuro? Okay. Uh, next question from Marco Camargo. If cars and bids had to relocate out of San Diego or the SoCal area, where would it move? I'm assuming it was established there because of the weather, the car culture and different vehicle exposure. Uh, the reason that it was established that, uh, in San Diego is because of my wife.
1:08:52 Speaker 03 Yep.
1:08:53 Doug DeMuro? And the, uh, my wife got a job there and I moved with her and I was like, yeah, all right. And then we started the company just randomly. We were like, all right, let's do this. I met a guy there and then Filippo moved there and then Nick's already there. So we're all good. Where would we move though, Filippo? Do you agree we'd move to Princeton, New Jersey?
1:09:09 Speaker 03 That's an interesting question.
1:09:11 Doug DeMuro? I think we'd move to Princeton, New Jersey.
1:09:13 Speaker 03 I'd support that.
1:09:14 Doug DeMuro? You know why? Because all the big drug companies are there and I, I think you dressed for the job you want.
1:09:20 Speaker 03 Drugs? Drug companies? Uh, I will also say you're then halfway to Lake Como and that's nice.
1:09:27 Doug DeMuro? Uh, interesting. Uh, I, that didn't factor in for me, but I suppose that being halfway to Europe is, is a component of our relocation to Princeton. We could, but, but the drawback is we'd have to fly out of Newark, which is the worst airport on planet earth.
1:09:41 Speaker 03 So the P, P, the PHL airport's there.
1:09:44 Doug DeMuro? Okay. I want to do two more very quick questions. One is from German excellence. Not taking in the current or future administrations into account. So Nick, we can't talk about your man Trump. Stop.
1:09:55 Doug DeMuro? Do you think there will be a time where Chinese auto brands have the same US market share as the current top sellers? Or will there always be unease about Chinese vehicles in consumers' minds? Here's the answer. Okay. In 1941, the Japanese attacked the United States with planes and bombs and all sorts of stuff. You may have heard about it. It was called Pearl.
1:10:20 Speaker 03 Yeah, they, they.
1:10:23 Doug DeMuro? Thirty years later, they were selling cars to Americans and 20 years after that, they were the dominant player in the United States, uh, uh, in the auto industry, the United States in most vehicle segments. So do I think the Chinese could, could, um, move past some of the opinions that people may have about the quality of their products? Yeah. Yeah. I think if you can get over the fact that they bombed us.
1:10:49 Speaker 03 The Japanese, that is, yeah.
1:10:51 Doug DeMuro? The Japanese bombed us and then started selling Subaru SVXs, then I think.
1:10:56 Speaker 03 A little bit of a gap, yeah.
1:10:59 Doug DeMuro? Then I think you could probably get over the fact that the Chinese are known for making stuff that goes on Amazon. Do you have a different take?
1:11:07 Speaker 00 Coca-Cola. For the big, for the small, the short, and the tall. Peacemakers, risk takers. For the optimists, pessimists. For long distance love. For introverts and extroverts. The thinkers and the doers. For old friends and new. Coca-Cola. For everyone. Pick up some Coca-Cola at a store near you.
1:11:39 Doug DeMuro? No, that's the right take.
1:11:40 Speaker 04 Yeah, I had a, I had a less colorful example, but the same conclusion. Mine was gonna be if people were willing to buy Fisker Oceans after everything Henrik Fisker did, then we can forgive a lot.
1:11:49 Doug DeMuro? I'm gonna tell you, they were.
1:11:51 Speaker 04 Well, to an extent, yes.
1:11:53 Doug DeMuro? Henrik Fisker is Filippo's idol. Filippo still looks at the Zillow listing for that house and when, and with awe. Uh, okay, final question from Mike Spy. For Mike Spy, what is everyone's favorite car from movies or TV shows that are not necessarily known for being the cars? From the movies or the TV shows. So not like the DeLorean, but like sort of a secondary car. The, the instant ones that came into my mind were all the cars in The Sopranos, which were so perfectly cast. The Mercedes station wagon that the wife drove and the, the Suburban that, that Tony drove. And they have the P38 was in that at one point and all. Um, those came to mind for me. What, what do you got?
1:12:34 Speaker 04 I have a laundry list here. I gave this one a lot of thought. Um, obviously the E65 in The Orange County driven by Sandy Cohen comes to mind. The OC, as the kids call it these days. Um, Entourage had amazing cars throughout. Turtle got an H2. They all got Aston Martin DB9s at some point, for whatever reason. There was a QP5. He got a Rolls Royce Phantom. Like legit 04 rich cars. Uh, Bruce Almighty, uh, he got a Selena 7.
1:13:07 Doug DeMuro? That was the hero car in the movie, though. That doesn't count.
1:13:10 Speaker 04 It was, but it wasn't about cars. Like it wasn't like Fast and the Furious or what have you. Um, I also think there's a, uh, Yellow Defender in She's All That 90s movie for you there.
1:13:21 Doug DeMuro? Oh, we're, Nick, Nick, I got a good one for you. I got a good one for you. In American Beauty, the Realtor.
1:13:28 Speaker 04 With Kevin Spacey?
1:13:29 Doug DeMuro? Yeah.
1:13:29 Speaker 04 Yes.
1:13:30 Doug DeMuro? Kevin Spacey's wife was like a Realtor in the suburbs in 1998 and she drove an ML320.
1:13:36 Speaker 04 Ooh.
1:13:36 Doug DeMuro? It was just like perfect. It had just come out. It was like, it would have been like what you had, you know, it was like
1:13:42 Speaker 04 Yeah.
1:13:42 Doug DeMuro? The, the perfect product placement for that, for that.
1:13:45 Speaker 04 For perfect casting, I put, um, Landman as well as Yellowstone. The female anti-hero drives a brand new Bentley Continental GT in both of them. And I feel like that is good for sort of like a high maintenance, wealthy woman of that stature. Uh, then the last one is Layer Cake. I have to mention that legally. They had a yellow P38. They had a Bentley Arnage. They had one other really cool car that I'm drawing a blank on, but basically
1:14:10 Doug DeMuro? You will buy.
1:14:10 Speaker 04 Two of my last three cars were in this movie in the like almost identical specs, so.
1:14:16 Doug DeMuro? That's fair. Filippo, you got any?
1:14:17 Speaker 04 I got nothing.
1:14:19 Doug DeMuro? Filippo's never watched a movie. He only listens to NPR.
1:14:22 Speaker 04 I do listen to NPR.
1:14:23 Doug DeMuro? He sits there, he sits there and he's like, oh my God.
1:14:28 Doug DeMuro? I don't know what happens on NPR, but that's what I think the people who listen to it say. Uh, okay.
1:14:33 Speaker 04 Hard to argue with facts.
1:14:37 Doug DeMuro? Uh, Filippo, thank you so much, uh, for, for being a part of this. Nick, thank you. You get a crystal elephant.
1:14:43 Speaker 04 Wow. Ooh.
1:14:45 Doug DeMuro? Look, there's a crystal one and a re- this is pure coincidence.
1:14:49 Speaker 04 It's a lot of elephant things.
1:14:51 Doug DeMuro? Nick, do you have any final thoughts? This was definitely our best podcast.
1:14:54 Speaker 04 Oh, without a doubt. Definitely our best pod. Um, but I never have any parting thoughts. I wish you'd stop asking. Come, say hi to Kenan and I. Say hi to. Sports car weekend. Yeah, go to IMSA. Go to IMSA and say hi to Filippo.
1:15:07 Doug DeMuro? Yeah. Nick, also, you gonna, you gonna get a Diablo?
1:15:10 Speaker 04 No, but, uh, I know someone who is getting a PPI done tomorrow, so Wow. I'm hoping that there will be a possibility of having a Countach, Diablo and Mercy, all three on the same drive sometime, whenever you get back.
1:15:24 Speaker 03 Wow.
1:15:24 Speaker 04 Gated.
1:15:25 Doug DeMuro? Filippo, are you selling your Fiat?
1:15:27 Speaker 03 Yeah, I'll be selling my Fiat in August, I'm told. I do want to make a video where I disclose every single flaw that I can find. And I will ask for my friends, producer, film, Karabnik here, to make sure that I'm thorough in my disclosures. Because I was told last time I drove it that there was some smoke and I hadn't seen that before. I need extra eyes.
1:15:47 Speaker 04 And it's Italian sports car.
1:15:49 Speaker 03 In my Italian convertible, which is, it's all factually true. It's a manual.
1:15:54 Speaker 04 Your hot hatch in your Italian sports car. You're killing it, dude.
1:15:57 Speaker 03 I'm so sorry. You're gonna say that GTI is not a hot hatch? It has the same amount of torque as a 997 911.
1:16:03 Doug DeMuro? I do question a little bit. I do question a little bit calling the Fiat an Italian car. It was made in Mexico, but never is.
1:16:09 Speaker 03 I'm sorry. Is it not Italian Fiat? It's an Italian brand.
1:16:13 Doug DeMuro? You're doing a little bit of stretching, I guess. Is Bugatti French? Do we think Bugatti's French?
1:16:19 Speaker 03 Do you call the BMW Z4 a German car? It's built in Austria. Do you call it a German car?
1:16:23 Doug DeMuro? You're right. You know what? You're right. You got an Italian convertible.
1:16:27 Speaker 03 Are Ranger British or are they Polish?
1:16:29 Doug DeMuro? I don't know even what that means. Are you talking about Slovakia where they built the Defender?
1:16:34 Speaker 03 I was thinking, I figured there was a chance they built something Polish.
1:16:37 Doug DeMuro? Slovakia and Poland. We gotta edit all this out. All right, everybody.
1:16:41 Speaker 04 That's almost as bad as confusing Switzerland and Sweden.
1:16:43 Speaker 03 No.
1:16:44 Doug DeMuro? You guys don't know Europe. You guys.
1:16:46 Speaker 03 I made a mistake on where the Ranger Sport is built. I couldn't remember.
1:16:50 Doug DeMuro? You don't know countries. They're all different. We'll go over them next week. Goodbye, everyone. Thank you for watching.
1:16:57 Speaker 03 Goodbye.
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