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Electric VS Gas Cars: Pros & Cons | What to Know About Auto Warranty
10K views
Dec 5, 2023
Which is better: Electric or Gas cars? In this video interview, Lauren Fix, @CarCoachReports, and automotive expert talks about the pros and cons of electric vs. gas cars, types of auto warranties, and car repairs. We thank Lauren for providing tips to help consumers improve their decisions when buying vehicles. 00:00 - Introduction 00:54 - About Lauren Fix, The Car Coach 03:35 - Electric vs gas cars 06:53 - Car insurance for electric cars 07:56 - EV repair service 08:39 - Extended car warranties 11:53 - What should consumers do if they believe that they bought a “lemon” car? 15:03 - Lemon Law for consumers 16:03 - Which vehicle is better to buy: new or used? 19:55 - Tips for buying a car 25:58 - Pandemic effects on the auto industry and consumers 29:50 - Future of auto industry 35:13 - Lauren Fix's Guide to Loving Your Car 38:08 - Conclusion More auto tips on https://carcoachreports.com/ #Auto #ElectricCars #ExpertTalksWithPissedConsumer #PissedConsumer
View Video Transcript
0:00
I think people are being sold on what the press is telling them
0:04
And I'm talking about the mainstream press of watching television and maybe some places
0:09
What you forget is that when you purchase a new car, typically your insurance goes up
0:13
But when you purchase an electric car, the insurance is twice as expensive. How do you know if you have a lemon first
0:19
You take the car into the dealer. It doesn't start or there's a problem that's inherent, not just a little teeny squeak
0:25
It's got to be something that's mechanical or maybe there's a software problem that you can't get the center screen to turn on or it shuts off when you're driving
0:33
Something along those lines that's much more serious than just, oh, it's a little teeny squeak I only hear at 60 miles an hour when I drive over a pothole
0:41
What's the best car out there? That's a pretty broad question. What's your budget
0:45
How many seats do you want? Do you want a convertible, a hardtop, an SUV, a sedan, a truck
0:49
I mean, this is a million questions. well thank you for having me i've been involved in the auto industry for about 40 years
0:59
all i have done is automotive and energy so we'll focus specifically on automotive
1:04
i have worked in all aspects of automotive but my background came as a kid working on cars
1:09
living in detroit so i'm a motor city gal my father worked for the big three automakers and
1:15
on the weekends he would work on his corvette or his barracuda the boat thunderbird or whatever and
1:19
I would ask questions and help. And I was never told I couldn't do it. So I've always thought
1:24
whatever I wanted to do, I could. And when I turned 16, my father was not into racing. He was
1:29
like cars that were fast. I bought a Camaro and the first chance I got, someone said, Hey
1:35
do you want to go to a racetrack and try driving, try racing? And this is back in the eighties
1:39
It's a little different than it is today. And I started racing. So my racing career started
1:43
amateur, worked its way to professional. I've raced internationally in the FIA. If you're into
1:48
all that, but I taught my husband how to race, and he's been pretty big in the prototype series
1:54
But beyond that, I have so many different runs of different automotive. We restore cars
1:58
we make parts for the automotive industry, and I work in the auto industry reviewing cars. I'm
2:03
a past president of the North American Car and Truck of the Year. It is one of the top three
2:07
awards. It tells consumers by independent jurors, there's 50 of us, including Canada, that we help
2:14
you make good choices from different aspects, performance and reliability and price and good
2:20
value and all the things that you want when you buy a new car. But beyond that, I have been the
2:24
car coach and had carcoachreports.com as well as on social media. And I also do car smarts. And I've
2:32
been on every national news show that either exists or doesn't from Oprah to every national
2:36
news outlet, Ellen DeGeneres, Kelly and Ryan now, but it's changed hands. I have my own radio show
2:43
that's syndicated. I'm also on a bunch of local stations. So I'm really loving what I do. My
2:48
content literally goes everywhere because I believe knowledge is power and the knowledge you have can
2:54
help you make better decisions so you don't have buyer's remorse. And what I've been helping people
2:59
do for almost 40 years, and my three books also follow that, is to educate people, inform them
3:04
because this is the one thing you never think about until you have a problem. And then it's
3:09
too late because you're already in it. I bought the wrong car. I got ripped off. I paid too much
3:14
for insurance. I bought an extended warranty from an unreliable company. There's a million things
3:18
that can happen. But on top of that, there's also a lot of really good car companies and suppliers
3:23
and aftermarket that are there to support people. So it's a good mix like any other industry. But
3:28
I love helping people. And I say that if you do what you love and love what you do
3:32
you never work a day in your life. Car industry went through quite a transformation in the past
3:39
10-15 years. Electrical or gas? Personally, I think there needs to be a mix. I am not an electric car person. And the reason for
3:51
that is I think people are being sold on what the press is telling them. And I'm talking about the
3:56
mainstream press of watching television and maybe some places. What you forget is that when you
4:02
purchase a new car, typically your insurance goes up. But when you purchase an electric car
4:06
the insurance is twice as expensive. So that's the first thing you have to think about. The cost
4:11
of that vehicle is more expensive than a gasoline powered vehicle. So you have to calculate that
4:15
into your budget, into your life. And yes, there are some $7,500 tax credits, except for with
4:20
General Motors and Tesla. But then I always tell people, you forget there needs to be service and
4:25
servicing these cars. And yes, there are moving parts is more expensive than it is on a gasoline
4:30
powered car. And then you've got the charging costs and the infrastructure for that is not there
4:36
So high-speed charging, you really can't get at your house, and then it goes into a whole
4:40
other area of potential magnetic fields that might impact your health. But that is a whole other conversation
4:47
But having that put in your home, having a level two charger or plugging it in the wall
4:51
that's your expense as well. And it starts to add up, and you start realizing, what are you really saving when you add it up
4:57
And if you look, we call in our industry cradle to grave. From the time the thought of the vehicle comes, all the components, all the rare earth minerals
5:04
that go in those batteries to the time that vehicle is done and it's parted and what's
5:09
recycled can be, you'll find that electric vehicles are not that green
5:13
And they're equivalent to that of a gasoline powered vehicle. And the one thing about gasoline powered vehicles is they last a long time and they're becoming
5:20
more fuel efficient. And there's a lot of recycled materials in both vehicles
5:24
So you're seeing a lot of great things. And I think one of the types of propulsion that's overlooked, actually two of them, one
5:30
of them is diesel. I'm a huge diesel fan. I have two diesel SUVs. They go 700 miles in a tank at 34 miles per gallon. And the demand for
5:39
used diesels is super high. So if you're looking for one, whether it be a Porsche, Land Rover
5:44
Jaguar or a Volkswagen, good luck finding them because they're sold like that. And the reason
5:49
for it is people that are doing their homework realize that. Now there's also compressed natural
5:54
gas and hydrogen, both of which are available online and both have zero emissions and no tail
5:59
pipe. So before you make a decision, look at your options, do your homework. Because once you buy
6:04
one of those electric cars, after three years, if you have to replace that battery, you're going to
6:08
get a bill for close to $10,000. That's a lot of maintenance. You're not going to put that much
6:13
into a regular gasoline powered vehicle. So I think the answer is, if you want to buy electric
6:18
you should do so. Decide what works for your family and for your budget. But there needs to be
6:24
it's part of the answer. It's going to be gas, it's going to be diesel, it should be other propulsions and there is a new fuel coming online i've been talking about on national tv called
6:32
e-gas now it's not ready for prime time yet but it's being worked on with a volkswagen group and
6:38
with exxon and it is a chemical that would go in place of gasoline that has zero tailpipe emissions
6:44
so that could be an interesting answer so you can keep your 20 year old car because the average car
6:48
on the road is 16 years old why buy a new one if yours is working fine interesting lauren i want to
6:55
Just one follow-up. Why is car insurance on electrical cars three times more expensive
7:02
Do you have any insights on that? Yes, I do. When you're looking at the computer processors that are involved, you've heard about that with the semiconductor chips
7:10
You're talking about tenfold more than that of a gasoline and electric car
7:16
Even with the cool new screens and technology and awesome safety features that requires more technology which is why there a slowdown now of getting product to market because of semiconductors But you will note that if that car is damaged in an accident it has to be replaced or repaired And the repair costs are more expensive and the replacement costs are more expensive And so therefore your insurance is
7:38
higher. And also there's a higher risk if a fireman doesn't know how to shut off the power properly
7:43
or somebody, a first responder gets hurt, that leads into other insurance costs. So if it costs
7:49
more for the insurance company and they have what's called a reinsurance company, it's going to cost
7:54
you more money. Again, electrical cars are just starting to go onto the market with, and of course
8:01
service, regular repair guy that works on gasoline powered cars knows very little how to service
8:10
electrical vehicles today. You'd be surprised because the ASED, Automotive Service Excellence
8:15
of which I am an ASC certified technician and I am an engineer as well, an automotive engineer
8:20
we have been trained on these things for years. You remember we had the Prius before, we had the
8:24
EV1, the Nissan LEAF has been out for over 10 years. You had the Chevy Bolt and the Bolt
8:29
they've been out for a while and Tesla's been out for over 10 years. So people do work on these
8:33
although Tesla is very specific. If you buy a Tesla, you have to use their Tesla service centers
8:39
Car warranties and extended car warranties. As a normal US consumer, I get
8:46
a dozen of phone calls per week selling me extended car warranties. What's going on
8:55
Then you've also got like Jaguar, Land Rover, Volkswagen, a couple of those are six years
9:01
50,000 miles. I think Audi has now stepped up to that as well as Mercedes and BMW
9:05
And a lot of the domestics are still three years, 36,000 miles. So once you've reached outside that
9:11
warranty, it depends on the vehicle. Some people lease them and you don't have to worry about it
9:16
But that's why you never want to lease outside that warranty window. It's important that you know that
9:20
That's a very important factor. But if you do go outside that window, it's like a bell goes off somewhere, and every extended warranty automated system calls you
9:29
Your car is out of service, or it's out of warranty. You should let us know
9:34
There are two ways to look at this. There are a couple good companies
9:38
But in the past, we've had a lot of them go out of business. So if you've paid for that company's service through a dealer or through a used car lot and you have a problem, you should always do what I tell people
9:50
What the big print gives you, the small print takes away. And a lot of that is the repair isn't done at the dealer
9:57
There is a deductible. Certain things aren't covered that break normally, like air conditioning or suspension components
10:03
So what does it cover? It would cover major situations. and in that case, it might be worth getting rid of the car
10:11
And these are things that people need to think about because if you were to pay $300 a month
10:16
and over 10 months, that's $3,000, and you start adding that up
10:21
you're thinking that's a lot of money. I've paid this company $10,000 over three years
10:25
and you've never had a claim. The company's very happy that you don't make a claim
10:31
But if you do need to call in on that claim, that repair could only be a couple thousand dollars
10:36
So the smartest thing to do is to set money aside and hope that nothing happens
10:40
And if it does, you've got a special savings or checking account where you've been putting money in every month
10:45
Now, a lot of people can't do that. They can't afford that. They want to somehow roll that into the purchase of a used car
10:51
You have to be careful which companies. And it's really hard to find a good resource to what is best and which plan to buy
10:59
And that's very difficult. There's a couple of websites you can go to. but pretty much every website's going to try and sell you on the same thing
11:06
The only thing that could be a problem is if that company goes out of business. And that has happened in the past and the dealer or the used car lot that sold it to you
11:13
cannot back it up. It's not them. You bought the service through them, but it came from a dealer
11:19
So you need to really think about, you know, what am I doing with this car? How many miles am I going to put on
11:23
Are you using for long distance driving? You're just driving it around town and you do that basic maintenance that it says to do
11:29
in your owner's manual. If you do that, you shouldn't have problems. If you fail to go after the vehicle when there's a check engine light, you hear a squeak while it's breaking, maybe it has trouble starting or it's making noises in weird places and you ignore it, that's when a little bill becomes a very large bill
11:46
And you hope to God that you have this extended warranty and that it's covered because it's not covered under every single warranty
11:52
So when a person buys a car, a new car from the dealer, we hear it a lot on our website
11:59
I bought a lemon. I bought a lemon. I bought a lemon. What does it mean? What are the right ways? Very often dealerships don't want to
12:08
deal with it. Would you have recommendations to give to our consumers? How, what to do if they
12:16
believe that they got a lemon? That's a good question. If you have one, you know, how do you
12:21
know if you have a lemon first? You take the car into the dealer, it doesn't start, or there's a
12:26
problem that's inherent, not just a little teeny squeak. It's got to be something that's mechanical
12:31
or maybe there's a software problem that you can't get the center screen to turn on or it shuts off
12:35
when you're driving. Something along those lines that's much more serious than just, oh, it's a
12:39
little teeny squeak I only hear at 60 miles an hour when I drive over a pothole. That's going
12:45
to be a tougher one to track down and it's certainly not going to qualify for the lemon law. So you have to be reasonable in what the problem is. So when you take it in, you want to have
12:53
documentation. You don't just want to hand the keys over and say, here's the problem, fix it
12:57
what you want them to do is write up a work order that work where and this is true because there's a
13:02
90-day warranty on vehicles unless you purchase it as is which i do not recommend uh so during that
13:08
90-day period before then you got a problem you want to be on top of it but have them put it in
13:12
writing sign the work order you sign it they sign it keep a copy put it in a file folder the problem
13:18
goes away great but if it comes back again in a short period of time they didn't fix it or maybe
13:22
they can't fix it and if you've gone back a second time still no luck by the time you get to the third
13:27
time, a good service writer, the person at the counter talking to you should say, let
13:32
me talk to my manager about a lemon law. And what that is, is you've brought it back three times from the same exact problem that's
13:39
inherently serious. It's electrical. It's mechanical. It's some sort of flaw. In that case, what will happen is the service manager will get involved and they'll help
13:49
you with a lemon law. Now that, let's say they don't. Too bad
13:53
Bring it back four, five, six times. We'll keep fixing it. that's not what you paid for. And if you don't get any luck, you're not getting any satisfaction
14:02
You can go to the district attorney for your state. Here in the U.S., you can go to your DA
14:07
It's no charge to you. The Better Business Bureau can get involved. And you say, listen
14:11
I have a lemon. I have documentation three times bringing the exact same problem, a signed
14:17
work order with no resolution. Then they get involved and they'll do all the legwork for you
14:23
I've helped a few people that had lemon laws on some pretty expensive cars, and they bought it back
14:29
And the nice thing about it is you can buy from that dealer or you can take the money and go to another dealer or go to another brand if that's what you choose
14:36
But know that when you're building anything, whether it's a phone, a computer, a refrigerator, or a car, not everything's going to be perfect with every single item that comes off the production line
14:46
So what is important to highlight here is three times with the same problem
14:53
If you got a vehicle that is really not well put together and you are getting a problem one after another Does Lemon Law require same problems three times
15:06
That's typically what they call a consistent issue in the court of law
15:10
But if you come in and you say, hey, the engine blew and they go, we'll get you a new one
15:14
Remember, that's going to decrease the value of that vehicle if that engine is not the original engine
15:19
And guess what? They report that to Carfax and VehicleHistory.com and a bunch of others
15:23
and the result of that is your vehicle could lose some of its value
15:28
So that's something to keep in mind. So if your brakes fail the next week and then you come in and it's a transmission
15:33
then the air conditioning, you've got a real problem. At that point, you should be in-person conversation with the general manager of the dealership
15:41
whether it be used car, new car, or whatever, and say, we have a problem
15:45
You should be aware of it. And remember, this is a business deal. Going in and screaming and yelling and making a scene, anybody can do that
15:51
But going in and saying, listen, we have a problem. How would you like to, how can we resolve this so that I'm a happy customer and you sell a vehicle
15:59
Typically, they'll contact the manufacturer who will buy the vehicle back. Of course, everyone makes their own decision on whether to buy a new vehicle, maybe a used vehicle, maybe a dealer used vehicle, right
16:14
Maybe a rental car. I saw a video on your platform where you are considering making a recommendation on the purchasing a rental vehicle because it used to be in rental service
16:27
What is your view on purchasing used vehicle? Honestly, I wouldn't buy a rental car
16:32
Rental cars are abused. They're typically beat up. They're, you know, the maintenance may not be up to date
16:37
They may have not done all the recalls, technical service bulletins that have to be done
16:41
And you can get those done at a dealer at a later date. But the fact is they're not loaded vehicles. They don't have all the goodies. And what you do also have is that when people rent cars, they take them to the beach and there's sand ground in it or there's food stains on the seats
16:55
You know, they're not well loaded vehicles and they're just they're beat up. And yes, you can clean them up
16:59
And if you just need transportation and you don't care, it's just a utility for you. That might be an option
17:05
I would personally never buy a rental car when it comes to used cars
17:11
If I had a choice, I'd highly recommend a certified pre-owned, but there's a key to that
17:16
So if you're looking at buying an old Kia, I would go to a Kia dealer and say, what do you have on a certified pre-owned
17:23
In other words, something that came off the lease, something that someone traded in for another vehicle that's two to three years old
17:28
The reason that is, is because you're getting the best value and you're not getting the biggest loss
17:33
The biggest loss is the day you buy the car, you put the key in the ignition or press the
17:37
button to start it and you drive off the lot, you've already lost money. That second you've lost money
17:42
But you're going to use the vehicle. It has a purpose for you. So note that they're taking the biggest financial hit and it's called depreciation
17:50
And after the certified pre-owned hits, then you're getting the best value
17:54
But you don't get to pick the color. You don't get to pick the options. You don't get to pick anything about it other than what it is
18:00
but typically there is still some warranty left on the vehicles that offer warranties
18:06
But if you're looking at a used car, I always tell people, don't just buy a used car off of
18:10
a friend, someplace that they call them curb stoners, people that sell on the street corners
18:14
and off their front yard or use car a lot without taking it to an ASE certified technician. They
18:20
have the blue and white gear. I'm an ASE tech. I don't rent on cars. I have in the past, but
18:25
mostly my own, but I tell people to have them check it out. It's about $125, $150. They're
18:30
going to literally go through that vehicle top to bottom. They're going to open up the cover that's
18:36
on the fuse box. They're going to look underneath. They're going to take the wheels off. The reason
18:40
you want that, if it's a flood damage car, you want to walk away. You always have to be willing
18:45
to walk away. You have to have that in your head because if you don't and you buy a flood damage
18:50
car, there's no warranty at all, not even rust your protection. And if something fails, which
18:55
typically would be a safety feature you wouldn't know until you're in an accident and then you got
19:00
nothing so there's no warranty you're on your own so there's a lot of issues with that including mold
19:04
so if you find a car has been a flood damaged car I don't care what anybody says you want to walk
19:09
away from that but if a car needs work like you find out it needs brakes well then you have a
19:14
negotiating tool or you find out the engine has an oil change in a while they can tell that
19:19
those are all tools to lower the price and then you have to decide at what point does it not make
19:23
sense like wow this this vehicle was not taken care of there's no record just no documentation
19:27
and I think they used to say in the past oh yeah that vehicle was only driven back and forth to
19:32
church on Sundays it's got so low miles because they used to turn odometers back in before the
19:38
year 2000 but now that's not as far as I know what's not happening I know you can do it I've
19:43
seen it you can do it electronically but the fact is you still want a mechanic to look at it don't
19:48
just trust what somebody's saying well even if it's your personal car meet them someplace and
19:53
have them check it out. When coming to the dealership to purchase a car
19:59
how do you efficiently negotiate with a dealer? Would you be able to give a couple of tips
20:06
So from a consumer side, I think what people are starting to do now, especially because of COVID
20:10
is they've got a lot of downtime because they're working from home. And I always tell people
20:15
the first thing you should do is kind of decide what you want. I've had more people ask me that
20:20
Like it's the first line in my third book, which is what's the best car out there
20:24
That's a pretty broad question. What's your budget? How many seats do you want
20:29
Do you want a convertible, a hard top, an SUV, a sedan, a truck? I mean, there's a million questions
20:33
So you kind of have to pare it down to, I want an SUV. Great. What size do you want
20:37
They come small, medium, large, and teeny even, and then the extra large
20:41
So you have to kind of decide of the, I think it's now seven different variants of sizes
20:45
what fits with you. Do you need a third row, a two row? So once you kind of decide, all right, I've kind of found out that I want a smaller SUV
20:54
OK, great. Now, do you have a price point? So that's where, again, keep tapering it down
20:58
So when you kind of figure out what cars you're looking at, my suggestion is to go to websites like mine, Car Coach Reports, and look at all the car reviews
21:07
They'll say, I just did the Hyundai Tucson. And then you'll look, well, I wasn't sure I'm thinking CRV or RAV4, very popular cars
21:14
Go and look at everyone's reviews. Get a multitude of opinions, not one, but I mean like three or four
21:20
It's the smartest thing you can do because then you can see the strengths and weaknesses that each person finds
21:25
And we're all going to find different things. Now that you kind of know, I'm down to like, oh, I'm going to say it's either a Hyundai
21:30
Tucson or a CRV. Great choices. Then you know you're going to two dealers to test drive cars
21:36
So when you walk in the dealership, they're going to ask you. They're not supposed to. I used to be a dealer trainer
21:41
You're supposed to find out, you know, what are you looking for? How can I help you? not direct questions. You do not want to deal with a salesperson who says
21:48
so are you buying or leasing today? You know, do you know how much you want to spend? Well
21:53
how much can you afford a month? Those are not questions you should be looking at right now
21:57
Right now you want to decide you've done your homework. You've got a file folder full of information and you can print it out if you
22:03
want to put it on your phone or your iPad. And what I tell people is go in and say, tell them upfront, I'm not buying today. I'm test driving today
22:12
But I will take your card when I'm done and I will let you know what I decide
22:16
And as long as you follow up, it's a business deal. It's not a flea market. And I tell people that all the time
22:21
So when you go in, you test drive the car, you've already set the groundwork
22:25
I not buying today It doesn make a difference what your deals are I know it the end of the month I going to decide in the next couple of weeks Keep it vague Test drive the car They may go with you or not
22:35
Depends because of COVID. But when you drive the car, you obviously want to make sure to put it in a parking spot
22:41
If you can put it out in your garage, whatever it is, every place that you have trouble maybe maneuvering
22:47
And that would include U-turns. And if they ride with you, they'll have you go on the highway and the street
22:53
And when you come back, you'll have a good feel for it. Then you can say, listen, give me your card
22:57
You got a brochure. Give me a copy of this window sticker. You can take a picture of it
23:01
I'm going to get back to you. And then drive all your other choices the same way. When you're done, go home
23:06
Go back and look at all your paperwork and say, okay, this car, totally uncomfortable
23:11
Had no lumbar. Or this car, the only way I buy it is if it had heated, ventilated seats and a heated
23:16
steering wheel, which brings me out of my price point. So you have to kind of be realistic
23:20
So then maybe you want to step down and go to a, you know, an HRV, which is the next step down and then get that loaded
23:27
Or maybe you were looking at the Tucson. It's too expensive. You end up with a Kona that's got every option
23:32
So you have to kind of be flexible a little bit. And then once you've driven it all, that's when you go, this is the car I want, whatever it is
23:39
I want the brand new Hyundai Kona. That's that's the car I want
23:43
Then I would contact your local dealer, let the other people know, hey, thanks. I went a different direction
23:48
You don't have to be, you can send them an email, a text message, whatever, but let them know so they're not badgering you because they'll hunt you down and that's their job
23:56
So you have to give them credit for that to sell you a car. So now you've found your local Hyundai dealer
24:01
You call them, call around three other dealers, maybe just outside of town
24:05
If there is three dealers in town, call them because it's great to keep the money local to support your town
24:09
But if you're not getting any headway, they don't have the vehicle you want. Maybe you don't like the experience you had
24:16
Don't be afraid to get online. and contact as far as you're willing to drive. I've picked up cars in California. I've got a
24:22
car coming in right now from the UK. I've picked up two cars recently out of Chicago and I live in
24:27
Buffalo. So I'm not afraid to get on a plane and bring a vehicle back. I've bought cars out of DC
24:33
Boston, literally all over the country, Dallas. So it's easy. You take a low cost flight, you get
24:40
there, they pick you up at the airport, the dealer does the paperwork and you're on your way. so don't don't let that intimidate you but once you get your best price go back to that local
24:49
dealer and say hey they were two thousand dollars less or a thousand dollars or five hundred bucks
24:53
and i wouldn't if it's if they can't do it they can't do it for whatever reason but sometimes
24:59
they'll say you know what we can do that we will meet that number in order to keep your business and don't let any sales consultant tell you well if you buy it elsewhere we won't service it
25:07
absolutely not it is a federal law through the franchising laws that if you buy any brand you
25:12
buy a Ford anywhere on the entire planet, a Ford dealer will take care of you. So you could be in
25:18
New Zealand and they'll take care of you. So don't let don't let the dealer intimidate you
25:23
that it tells you they have bad business practices. So if you can, I've got a whole bunch of stuff in
25:27
my book. It's called Lauren Fix's Guide to Loving Your Correction. That's funny. I have a copy here
25:32
But you can get this anywhere. But the thing is, is that I give people a lot of those tips
25:38
Because if you don't have that ammo, if you don't have that process, it's very easy to be intimidated
25:43
And nowadays, you don't even have to go in the dealer to do the negotiation. You just do it from your home in your pajamas
25:48
It's great. And then when you're done, you can send over the paperwork. Vehicle can be delivered and you're on your way
25:54
Very easy to do and much less stress than it was. Last year was an interesting year because of COVID
26:02
How did it affect auto industry at all? How did it affect auto industry
26:07
how would it affect consumers for this year the impact has been crazy uh starting with the fact
26:15
that at first no one knew what to expect so everyone was kind of locked down uh most auto
26:21
dealers depending on what state were allowed to remain open because you're considered essential because you need transportation as is the repair shops um but then on the other and it's funny
26:30
because i had a lot of people calling me who lived in new york and san francisco and we didn't have
26:34
cars. She said, I need a car like now, like now, like today, for the end of the day, two of them
26:39
were anchors on different national news networks. And I'm like, okay, I made it happen for them
26:43
because it's the right thing to do. But that's the worst way to buy a car. So you have to look
26:49
at what the situation is. Everything shut down. Production of cars shut down. So what was left
26:54
in the dealer funnel, in other words, that were produced, waiting to be delivered, got delivered
26:59
What was on the lot was there. Leases were being traded in, but they had nothing for them
27:04
So some people were extending their leases, and that hurt the dealer because they couldn't
27:09
get them into a new car. Plus, they didn't have enough inventory to give incentives or discounts to get you into
27:15
a new car. So people started looking at used cars. So you watched new cars have less inventory, less incentives
27:22
Used cars went up 10% to 15%. You were looking at trucks and large SUVs at the highest point because life will lost jobs
27:30
They said, you know, I've got this great skill and I'm going to use a pickup truck for that because you can do anything with a truck
27:35
And you started watching all the prices of everything go out of control
27:40
So now that we're back up on production, now we have another. We actually have two issues that most people don't know about
27:46
One of them you may have heard of, the semiconductor, the chip shortage. That's partly China penalizing us because of the tariffs that they don't want
27:55
We're only getting about 80% of the chips that we want. They're looking at other suppliers from other countries and other materials
28:02
But in the meantime, they've got cars. They can't produce cars. So they've shut down plants
28:07
There's no overtime when they were trying to catch up. If you're looking at a new F-150 pickup truck, they're fabulous
28:13
We reviewed them. Actually, we went there during the middle of all those COVID to test drive one. But what I did find out is that they can't produce them as fast as the demand
28:20
So unfortunately, it hurts the car companies, which means they have less incentives
28:24
So now we're back to where we were. We're used cars are now going back up. New cars are not becoming available
28:30
And just about last week, we now have a rubber shortage. So that means tires, windshield wipers, belts, bushings, all the parts, a lot of new parts
28:41
inside those CVT transmissions. And that's a problem. So now we have an additional shortage
28:47
And the thing with rubber is it takes seven years to grow a tree. So it's not like you're just going to grow a tree
28:52
So there has to be other resources, other ways. And sometimes when these things happen, it causes people to be more creative
28:59
And that's how things are invented when there is nothing. So we're hoping that there'll be some new types of products coming out, new ways of using these chips, maybe some fiber optics
29:11
So we'll see how this all unfolds. But right now the impact to consumers is, I say, if you have a car that's coming off a lease, see if you can extend it to the fall would be great
29:20
If you're saying, no, I've got to get a new car. Mine had a problem
29:24
Note that, be very, very aware that new car prices are not negotiable if they have product
29:32
And used car prices are higher and more expensive. So you may have to buy something older or something that's not a certified pre-owned
29:39
because nobody wants to give up their vehicle. And more people are buying vehicles. When we thought ride shares were going to be the answer after this, I don't think ride
29:46
have a chance because people don't want to ride in other people's cars because of COVID. I am thinking, shall I teach my son how to drive
29:55
Or autonomous vehicles will just do the trick. Where are we with autonomous vehicles
30:00
Well, here's the truth. I was sitting with the CIO, the chief information officer of a very large car company
30:07
I will keep that person's name to myself because I don't want to expose their information
30:12
But we had we sat two nights together at dinner. I was just driving the Hyundai Tucson just last week
30:17
And I had that conversation. He was talking about interfaces and technology and firewalls
30:23
And and I told him, I said, here's because we were talking. He asked my opinion about autonomous cars
30:27
I just said, in 2009, I rode in an Audi from Palo Alto, California, where the software was developed, all the way to the Consumer Electronics Show
30:35
We stopped at the Ford and we changed license plates. We had someone riding with us. And it was so weird that you wanted to sit with your arms crossed
30:41
It was like, I want to grab the wheel. I have ridden in Volvos, oh, my gosh, more than 10 years ago that are autonomous
30:47
Mercedes, a lot of different brands. Ford, GM, and the Super Cruise
30:52
there is no such thing today as autonomous cars that are available
30:58
So even though Tesla says his autopilot is level five, it is not
31:01
It is level three. So there are five different levels. Level one is nothing
31:06
You have nothing. And then you start adding on things like blind spot detection
31:10
rear cross traffic alert, forward collision warning, emergency lane control, mitigation. So there's a lot of things that are available
31:17
The maximum we have today, and that includes Super Cruise, Tesla's Autopilot. Nissan has a ProPilot 360. There's CoPilot 360 from Ford. Whatever you want
31:28
to call it is level three. No one is beyond that in a production car. Now, why will you not see
31:35
autonomous cars? And this CIO agreed with me. He says, you're very smart that you caught this
31:40
because a lot of people don't. There are five reasons. First off, people love the self-parking
31:46
stuff. They show their friends because there's a lot of cars that have self-parking. One of the The first one was Ford
31:50
They did with the Lincoln. It would parallel park. Now just perpendicular or you can get the car like Smart Park where it comes out of the spot from Hyundai
31:57
Well, that's cool. But you show people every once in a while and you don use it on a regular basis And the other thing is if you don practice that skill of driving like riding a bike maybe you not so good at it
32:10
The other thing to consider, the next factor is insurance. The insurance companies don't want
32:16
this. And the reason they don't want autonomous cars is if somebody has an accident, whose fault
32:22
is it? Did something override? Was it a software problem? The car manufacturer's problem? The other
32:27
person's problem. And they're, again, they're supporters of their reinsurance companies, and they don't like it either. So that could be overcome. People could be overcome. There's no
32:36
government regulations as of today. Elaine Chao, the past Department of Transportation
32:40
chairperson, never made any laws for autonomous cars. And I don't think this administration is
32:47
either because they don't know exactly what makes sense. Now, the other part of that is
32:52
the weather. You can't control the weather. It'd be nice, but you can't. So you're driving to the
32:58
desert and there's a sandstorm or your, I live in Buffalo. We've had freak snowstorms today. We had
33:04
six inches of snow. It was totally unexpected. If you're all those radar, LIDAR and all those
33:09
covers, all those sensors are covered. You've got nothing. You don't have to be able to get anywhere
33:14
especially without a steering wheel or pedals. So that the weather is a big factor. And then
33:19
you get into the other factor is this is a big one. This is the hackers and there's no solution
33:25
for this. So that's what I was talking to the CIO about. I said, so how good's your firewall? He
33:30
said, well, it's as good as the last firewall. So they put up a firewall and I asked him, are there
33:35
really kids sitting around the world just going, this is great. I'm going to hack into this. He said, yes. And they do. And it's a challenge to say, I hacked into whatever brand. And they've
33:44
hacked into Tesla. They've hacked into Jeep. They've hacked into a lot of different brands
33:49
And the interesting factor on this is there's no firewall. So they go and put up another firewall and they keep getting around it
33:55
So there's a consortium of different car manufacturers, but to this day, this is one of the reasons
33:59
the insurance companies don like it is there no firewall that 100 guaranteed that you get in this vehicle and it an amusement ride with no pedals and no steering wheel I would not trust it because again there a lot of factors that are outside your control
34:16
And if you can't take over, that's a problem, which is why Super Cruise requires you to stare
34:21
at the gauges. If you don't stare out front, it sees you looking away, it shuts off. It warns you
34:27
and starts to shut off. We see that with Infiniti. We see it on Nissan, Ford. All of the brands are
34:33
doing that because they need you to pay attention, but you're not practicing your skills. So I just
34:39
don't see consumers are a big factor. They have to want it and the demand is not there. And when
34:44
that person died in Arizona by an Uber driver who wasn't paying attention because they were told
34:51
don't worry about it, it's working. That was sort of a wake-up call for a lot of people
34:55
as well as all the manufacturers. So they don't think that we'll ever actually, this person said
35:00
and I'm not going to give you a clue who it is, said you may never see autonomous cars
35:04
but some of that technology will make driving safer, driving better, and make it easier for
35:09
people who aren't 100% paying attention. I have three books out. One of them is Driving Ambitions
35:16
And as someone who has trained people to race, who are now professional racers
35:20
that is sort of my past. And the book is still good. It's good. It's evergreen for a reason
35:25
just as the same reason I wrote Lauren Fix's Guide to Loving Your Car. Because what you learn
35:29
in driver's ed is how to pass the test. We don't do that. What we do is we try to give you
35:34
information so that every time you're buying a car, you've repaired those what ifs that happen
35:39
this book will answer those. This is what should be taught in driver's ed because today they'll
35:43
tell you there's three fluids in a car. No, not true. Not even an electric car. Gasoline powered
35:49
cars, there are nine fluids and there are seven in an electrical vehicle. It's a car that's an EV
35:53
or a plugin. So I always tell people, you know, do your homework, know the information. This is a
35:58
Great resource to have if you've got a new driver, so I'm going to college
36:01
You'll be grateful that you have this because it talks about how to jump a dead battery
36:05
what to do when you have a flat tire, what if you have an accident. All those things you don think about but it also not just about that It about selling a car and the experience about it Because I always tell people and this book is available on Amazon or on my website but I always tell people that when you trying to figure out what right for me you don think about the auto industry until there a problem
36:27
It's not like food or fashion or buying a home. All that stuff is every day that people discuss
36:33
But when it comes to your vehicle, you're not happy when it's broken
36:38
You're miserable. And you make sure people know about, ah, my car's in the shop again. I can't believe it
36:42
When the car's running fine, everything's great. You don't even think about it. You get in it, you go, you live life
36:48
So the key is that if you start collecting this information like you would if you were
36:52
buying a house or replacing a roof or buying an appliance, just knowing a little bit of
36:56
information can help you not just in automotive, but it can help you in other areas
37:00
And I've always said to people, you know, having car smarts because knowledge is power is one of the smartest things you can do
37:07
And we give out information every day. We review new cars. We give you first looks of new vehicles, new technology
37:12
And I'm always trying to educate people. Things that you might not find out anywhere
37:17
I'm on all forms of social media. It's at Lauren Fix. It's L-A-U-R-E-N-F-I-X
37:22
So whether you're on MeWe to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, I'm always putting up great content because the goal is to help you so that it's very natural when you have a problem or you're looking to buy something, you're confident in making the right decision
37:38
And that's what I've been doing here for almost 40 years. And you might find me on the Weather Channel
37:42
I'm also on Inside Edition. I'm on all the national news outlets. And, of course, I'm also on radio
37:47
So if you're not sure, you want to get information, you don't go to any of those sources. I have a newsletter on my website at carcoachreports.com and you can click the link there and we'll get you a newsletter once a month to sort of update you on what's going on
38:00
We just keep the highlights in there and there's always more on my website, which is in English and in Spanish
38:05
And we have other contributors there as well. Lauren, thank you very much
38:10
Thank you for your time today. It was a great chat. I really enjoyed it
38:14
Thanks for having me
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