Honda Drops 2 Models, Audi Q3 Reivew, Buying a Car in Uncertain Times

Summary

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Car Stuff Podcast – Episode Summary

Episode: Honda Drops 2 Models, Audi Q3 Review, Buying a Car in Uncertain Times
Hosts: Tom Appel & Jill Ciminillo (Consumer Guide Automotive)
Guest: Sean Tucker, Managing Editor at Autotrader
Release Date: March 16, 2026

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Overview

This episode dives into notable shake-ups in the automotive world, including Honda’s withdrawal of two key models and discontinuation rumors, and a review of the redesigned 2026 Audi Q3. The hosts dissect affordability issues in today’s car market, with strategies for buyers navigating economic uncertainty, and welcome industry expert Sean Tucker to share practical car shopping advice. The show balances auto industry news with in-depth analysis on buying new versus used, the reality of EVs in the marketplace, and memorable commentary on quirky features and trends.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Goodbye to Promising New EVs and Honda Models

(Bad News in the Industry – 05:40)

• Volvo EX30 Discontinued in U.S.
  • Once touted as an affordable, agile, and fun EV that could have changed minds about electric vehicles.
  • Pulled due to tariffs on Chinese-made EVs, then moved to Belgium production, but high tariffs on EU imports made it unviable at the intended price point.
  • Canada may still get it.
  • Quote, Tom: “These are the kind of cars that would have changed people’s minds about EVs. …That obviously went bad. China tariffs.” (06:09)
• Honda’s Zero Sub-Brand & Model Cancellations
  • Honda cancels its “Zero” brand electric vehicles: both the SUV and Saloon (sedan), which were expected this year.
  • Ongoing rumors that Honda’s Prologue EV may not see another generation.
  • The Honda/GM partnership is likely to be short-term, with shifting focus.
  • Quote, Tom: “No more Honda Zero. And Honda’s killing everything.” (08:09)
• Uncertain Future for Joint Ventures
  • The Honda-Sony Afila venture for premium EVs looks doubtful.
  • Observations that used EVs may see a resurgence as leases expire and flood the market.

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2. The Flood of Used EVs and Market Implications

(EV Market Trends – 09:42)

• 1 million EVs coming off lease over the next 3 years: represents a major opportunity for affordable, high-tech, low-mileage used EVs.
• Many off-lease EVs will be attractive family or commuter cars, likely to be loaded with safety and infotainment tech.
• Quote, Tom: “If you were going to dip your toe into this maybe as a second car or a car for the kids, you can buy one for $20, 25 grand.” (10:58–11:08)
• Quote, Jill: “I think there’s lots of safety, lots of tech features… nearly new, as you pointed out, because somebody who’s driving an EV probably bought it as a commuter car.” (11:31)

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3. Political & Practical Barriers to Car Ownership: Texas “Real ID” Law

(Regulatory Trends – 12:10)

• New Texas DMV Rule: First-time car registrations now require a “Real ID,” above and beyond a standard driver’s license.
• Dealers fear customers may abandon purchases if additional documentation is required, impacting regional sales.
• Some potential buyers will be caught off-guard; most Americans still do not have a Real ID yet.
• Quote, Tom: “If someone leaves, there’s a 75% chance they’re not coming back. …This seems designed mostly to harass, frankly.” (14:51)

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4. Car Affordability: Is the Problem Us or the Market?

(Affordability Analysis – 16:54)

• High Prices Driven by Choices, Not Just Costs
  • Many $60,000+ non-luxury SUVs on the market; buyers often take on larger loans to “get all the things.”
  • Alternative: Many sedans and hatchbacks provide comparable comfort and features for far less; eg., loaded Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Limited at $40k.
  • Quote, Tom: “There is an answer to the affordability issue and it’s to buy less car, it’s to not get an SUV.” (17:35)
• Historical perspective: Post-9/11 “Keep America Rolling” five-year car finance promoted up-market purchases over frugality.

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5. Review: 2026 Audi Q3

(Vehicle Review – 18:57)

• Redesigned, Subcompact SUV Competitor
  • Competes with BMW X1 and Mercedes’ subcompacts; new generation brings significant tech and interior improvements.
• Notable Upgrades:
  • New MMI interface with improved user experience.
  • Controversial, innovative gear selector design (mounted over steering column).
    • Quote, Jill (on gear selector): “It actually works really well in practice.” (21:32)
  • Improved trim and materials; now a single trim with option packages for simplicity.
  • Performance: 2.0L turbo (255hp), 7-speed dual-clutch, more horsepower, built in Hungary.
  • Priced from ~$45k base, ~$52k optioned up—competitive with rivals.
  • Quote, Jill: “The Q3 is now a delight to drive.” (23:46)
• Quirks: Lacks cargo area levers for rear seats, but otherwise high praise.

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[27:16] Expert Segment: Buying a Car in Uncertain Times with Sean Tucker (Autotrader)

Introduction & Industry Overview

(27:16 – 30:05)

• Current environment marked by economic uncertainty, high auto prices, and evolving buyer habits; cars last longer now (avg. age: 13 years).
• The “dealer battle” culture is fading but high prices are here to stay.

Market Deep Dive: Pricing & Buyer Decisions

(30:10–34:09)

• Average new car price: $49,353 (Feb. 2026); full-size trucks skew this upward ($66k avg).
• Consumer choices drive up averages; buyers “step up” to pricier trims when possible.
• Midsize crossovers are notably expensive; compact SUVs offer more value, often overlooked.
  • Quote, Sean: “Cars have grown so much larger than they used to be… the average buyer would probably be quite satisfied with a compact SUV now.” (31:44)

Consumer Advice: Is Now a Good Time to Buy?

(32:51–34:09)

• Surprisingly, yes; prices are high, but affordable models are available.
• Slowing sales may put buyers in a stronger negotiating position.

Economic Indicators: Gas Prices, Used Car Inventory

(33:43–34:09)

• Used SUV demand dipped as fuel prices increased; expect possible used-SUV price drops.
  • Quote, Sean: “If you can actually make use of a used SUV… this might be the time to buy one of those.” (34:09)

The “Hybrid Boom” – Real or Artifact?

(34:15–35:18)

• Hosts question if hybrids’ popularity is real or based on lack of other powertrain options, especially Toyota’s shift to hybrid-only for key models.
• Quote, Sean: “They’re just slowly becoming a hybrid company.” (34:53)

Practical Car Shopping Tips

(35:27–36:36)

• #1 Tip: “Buy the car you need 50 weeks a year”—don’t overbuy just for rare needs.
• Inventory Matters: Brands with high supply (e.g., Ford, Hyundai) will negotiate; Toyota and Lexus have tight supply, expect less room.
  • Quote, Sean: “You’re not going to get a deal at Lexus and Toyota. Ford and Hyundai are at 121 [days inventory]. They are willing to negotiate.” (36:31)

New vs. Used: What Makes Sense?

(36:45–38:34)

• No new cars available under $20k; very few under $25k. Most budget-limited buyers must shop used.
• For long-term owners, buying new with long warranties can pay off in ownership year 9+.

The Reality of Used EVs

(39:03–41:05)

• Cox (Autotrader’s parent) provides unique insight into market inventory and even battery health of used EVs.
• On used EVs: fears about battery life have not materialized; most batteries are holding up well.
  • Quote, Sean: “Most of these batteries are in pretty good shape… used EVs are a fantastic value this year.” (40:38)

Before Buying an EV: Think About Lifestyle

(41:12–42:19)

• Home charging capability is crucial—if you can charge at home, infrastructure matters less.
• Roadtrippers may want to reconsider EVs due to holiday charging congestion.
  • Quote, Sean: “On a day when everyone is driving, can be quite difficult.” (41:48)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Jill (about her donut): "That's not a review you want of a donut. It's not horrible. But then, you know how many women said that after a first date with me?" (50:01)
• Tom (on buying more car than needed): “Part of the affordability issue I think is homegrown. I think people are buying more car than they need to. The other part is that cars are damn expensive and interest rates are pretty high.” (18:34)
• Sean (on car choices): “Buy the car you need 50 weeks a year. ...Save $15,000, buy a two-row car and rent one when [relatives] show up.” (35:27)
• Sean (on new car prices): "There are no new cars left under $20,000. We believe the last one rolled off the lot about two months ago." (37:09)

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Important Timestamps

• 05:40 – Tariffs and the demise of the Volvo EX30 & Honda Zero
• 09:42 – Used EV market about to boom
• 12:10 – Texas requires “Real ID” for first-time car registrations
• 16:54 – Car affordability: choice vs. market
• 18:57 – 2026 Audi Q3 review (all-new tech and design)
• 27:16 – Sean Tucker segment: buying tips in uncertain times
• 30:10 – Average new car price analysis
• 31:44 – Car size inflation and consumer decisions
• 35:27 – The 50-week rule for car buying
• 36:31 – How to use inventory data to negotiate
• 41:12 – Buying an EV? Consider your charging situation and travel habits

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Additional Memorable Segments

• Quirky Gear Selectors: Jill’s animated description of Audi’s new “yoke-like” gear lever on the Q3 (20:25–21:39)
• Car Quiz Humor: Light-hearted quiz segment on car sales numbers and Hardy Boys book titles (50:45–55:55)
• Breaking Recall News: Hyundai Palisade recall due to unsafe power-operated seats after a tragic accident (57:50–60:19)
• Lexus LS Farewell: Tribute to the legacy of the Lexus LS as it nears the end (60:44–61:42)

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Tone & Style

The hosts blend expert insight with a conversational, witty, and occasionally irreverent banter. They balance news and analysis with humor, personal anecdotes (from travel mishaps to donut critiques), and prioritize actionable guidance over hype or sensationalism.

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For Listeners

• Consider smaller vehicles for better value—sedans and compacts still offer luxury and features.
• If you’re in the used market, especially for EVs, 2026 and beyond will offer more choices, often at bargain prices.
• Check inventory before you shop; brands with more cars on lots are more open to deal-making.
• Don’t overbuy: Get the car that fits your actual routine—not the occasional outlier.
• Watch for regulatory quirks in your state, like Real ID requirements, that may complicate the buying process.
• Audio reviews and on-the-ground impressions matter—test drive and check interior usability for the latest tech quirks.

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Closing Thoughts

The episode delivers a timely, lively look at how shifting economics, global trade policies, tech innovations, and consumer habits are reshaping the automotive landscape. Whether you’re car shopping now or just nerding out on cars and industry drama, Tom, Jill, and guest Sean Tucker provide the pragmatic—and often entertaining—insider’s view.

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Transcript

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[Host]

Whether you drive a car, need a car, or just occasionally bum a ride

[Producer/Announcer]

with friends, you've come to the right place.

[Host]

Join Jill and Tom as they break down everything that's going on in the auto world.

[Producer/Announcer]

New car reviews, shopping tips, driving green

[Host]

electric cars, classic cars, and plenty of great guests.

[Producer/Announcer]

This is the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast.

[Tom Appel]

All right. This is the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast. I am Tom Appel. Thank you for joining us today. When you have a moment, check us [e-mail] you know the drill if you're looking for a car or truck. Great stuff there, including our 2026 Best Buy list. Also, just lots of other fun stuff. Industry news, other stuff. It's good. I just wrote a piece.

[Jill Simonello]

Jill, you wrote a piece?

[Tom Appel]

I wrote a piece, okay. About the the Jeep Station Wagon Maverick edition.

[Jill Simonello]

There's a whole lot of stuff going on with that name.

[Tom Appel]

There is. And the story here. Jeep used to build a thing that was based on stuff that it had sold during World War II.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

Actually, it wasn't cheap. It was Willys at the time but they built this thing called the station wagon, and they started to sponsor the show Maverick, which is fabulous. James Garner, Jack Kelly, Great show. But this vehicle was a special edition based on that sponsorship. Okay, Very cool. I just wrote about that. That voice is Jill Simonello. She's a contributing editor here at Consumer Guide, North American Car, the OR juror and freelancer. How are you, Jill?

[Jill Simonello]

I am doing well.

[Tom Appel]

Remember we talked about that perfect day a week ago?

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah. What today is not that day.

[Tom Appel]

Last night. Wind gust. My wife and I live in a bungalow, and the entire upstairs is our bedroom. Basically, our bedroom has four outside walls. The sound of wind slapping the. The. The siding on our house was. I couldn't sleep. It was crazy.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

And it's cold.

[Jill Simonello]

It is cold. It is.

[Tom Appel]

And then there was snow.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah. It can't decide if it wants to snow or if the sun wants to come out.

[Tom Appel]

We have a lot of listeners in Michigan right now. They're just flicking us off, like, because it was way worse in Wisconsin and Michigan. And up Nordic.

[Jill Simonello]

Yep. So I have to say, I was trying to get back to Chicago on Friday. I was in Detroit. I gave a keynote speech on Friday to the women of Stellantis, and it was pretty awesome. But trying to get back to Chicago, not so awesome. I was stuck in the airport for an extra, like, three hours because the wind was so egregious that things just couldn't, like, take off. There were ground stops both in Chicago and in Detroit. And then when I landed in Detroit, I posted in my stories. I took a picture of the departure board, and there was, like, maybe one flight on there to Frankfurt that was not delayed.

[Tom Appel]

Frankfurt?

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah. Every other flight was delayed.

[Tom Appel]

A lot of flights stop in Frankfurt. You could have just made a stop.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah. Well, I think that's why that wasn't delayed, is because that's like the jumping off to all the other things. And they're like, if one flight gets out of here today, it's going to be that one.

[Tom Appel]

That's where they have those hot dogs.

[Jill Simonello]

I thought Chicago was where they had those hot dogs.

[Tom Appel]

No. Well, Frankfurt's tours anyway.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Right now it's crummy outside.

[Jill Simonello]

It is. That was the point of all that.

[Tom Appel]

Here's the funny thing. I'm watching people shovel today. We got some snow. It's not gonna be melted in a day or two. It's going up to, like, 60.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah. Like, I feel like by Friday or something, it's gonna be warm again. This is where everybody needs to start taking zinc because everybody's immune systems are gonna be like, what?

[Tom Appel]

I'm still a little sick, so I can't get sick again.

[Jill Simonello]

I'm finally famous. Last words. I'm finally out of the woods. I'm finally.

[Tom Appel]

Still coughing?

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah, not much. I mean, I still have a little bit of a cough, but other than that, I'm good.

[Tom Appel]

You ever had that thing happen where you're falling asleep, you're comfortable, everything's great, your pillow's your best friend, and you're just sort of drifting off and then you have to cough and you're like, seriously?

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

I'm gonna have to reset after that.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah, yeah. Because it's not just one cough. It's like a big cough, and you gotta get it all out.

[Tom Appel]

And then you might sit up and get a drink of water, and then you're like, oh, well, that's 20 minutes I lost.

[Jill Simonello]

Exactly.

[Tom Appel]

Because I gotta start over. I have to reacquaint myself with my pillow.

[Jill Simonello]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

Oh, man. Speaking of bad news.

[Jill Simonello]

So which bad news do you want to talk about?

[Tom Appel]

There's a lot more. There are more EVs disappearing.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah. You and I may have the same bad news.

[Tom Appel]

Well, I've got two. Okay, I've got two pieces of bad news here. First is the Volvo EX30.

[Jill Simonello]

That was the bad news that I had.

[Tom Appel]

This was a vehicle with so much promise. It was a delightful vehicle. And it was going to be $35,000 when they were going to build it in China.

[Jill Simonello]

Yep.

[Tom Appel]

I didn't even write down the name of the city in China because there was no way I was going to be able to pronounce it. But they were going to build these in China, bring them in here for as little as $35,000. And they were quick and they were fun, and they were agile, and they made great use of space. These were great little cars. And these are the kind of cars that would have changed people's minds about EVs.

[Jill Simonello]

Yep, 100%.

[Tom Appel]

But that obviously went bad. China tariffs. Yeah. So they move production to Belgium, but if it's not one administration, it's another Biden. Of course, with 100% tariff on Chinese, EV is actually 102.5%. And then now the Trump administration with a 15% tariff on stuff from the EU. So they just couldn't make a run of it. No, it was a little small for what they were going to have to charge for it. So that's gone. Yeah. Great car.

[Jill Simonello]

It was. You know, and I recently just had the opportunity to drive it on snow up in Canada and was thoroughly, thoroughly impressed.

[Tom Appel]

They may still sell those in Canada.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Actually, I don't know the nature of this discontinuation. They're not killing the car.

[Jill Simonello]

No.

[Tom Appel]

They're just not going to bring it.

[Jill Simonello]

They're just here killing it here and here.

[Tom Appel]

Might be just here in the US Canada and Mexico probably still going to get it. I don't know if Mexico was ever going to get it, but that's. That's it. So. All right, that's one piece of bad news. The other one's kind of a bigger deal because it was a sub brand and I never knew where this was going anyway.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

And. And for reasons that I can't fully explain, I never followed the story that closely, but Honda was developing a line of electric vehicles, a sub brand called Zero. And there were two products that were coming imminently and one coming later. But one of them was the Honda Zero SUV and the Honda Zero saloon. Saloon being British for sedan. And these were really striking looking. To me, they look like something that might have been out of the movie 2001 A Space Odyssey. Because the concept cars were white.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

And simple and had that sort of plastic look to them. But really interesting cars. They were due this year. Ain't coming at all.

[Jill Simonello]

No.

[Tom Appel]

No more Honda 0 and Honda's killing everything.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah. I mean, top. On top of that, I've heard rumors that the Prelude is going away.

[Tom Appel]

Oh, the Prelude. The Prelude.

[Jill Simonello]

No, not prolonged Prologue.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah, that.

[Jill Simonello]

Too many plosive P's.

[Tom Appel]

That confusion is because the Prelude is a small gasoline powered car based on the Civic.

[Jill Simonello]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

The Prologue is an electric car based on a General Motors design.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Actually very similar to the Equinox or Blazer.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah. I think it's based on the platform for the Blazer and. But the Prologue, I'm going to mess them up Now. Has Apple CarPlay, whereas the GM variants did not. But the rumor, and I don't think that this has been confirmed yet, but the rumor is that when it stops production, it will not enter another generation.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. Yeah, that's it.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

I think the relationship with General Motors was going to be short term.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah. Well, I mean, the Zero sub brand was supposed to take the place of the relationship with General Motors.

[Tom Appel]

So here's a question for you. And we have not talked much about this on the show. Afila. Afila is a Honda Sony joint venture to build premium electric vehicles. Were they going to build those here? I should know this. And I don't.

[Jill Simonello]

I don't know.

[Tom Appel]

But they were going to be premium electric vehicles for sale in the United States. I was going to be the primary market where they would sell them everywhere because. But the brand was a Fila and they were going to be very high tech. Sony was going to bring connectivity and whatnot and Honda was going to bring its obvious manufacturing and automotive design expertise to the project. I bet you that's dead.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, and here's the thing. I've recently been hearing a lot about the used EV car market and how

[Tom Appel]

that for some reason that's being hyper covered right now.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I feel like as a lot of vehicles are starting to come off lease, that there is a huge potential for somebody to dip into the EV market without having to pay like the high EV premiums. So, you know, I think in some way we might see a resurgence of electric vehicle registrations. It's just not going to be the new ones.

[Tom Appel]

Well, there's not going to be any premium for purchasing a used ev versus buying a new correct ev.

[Jill Simonello]

Right.

[Tom Appel]

And part of the reason is that in that resale value, that 15, I'm sorry, $7,500 tax credit was part of the price.

[Jill Simonello]

Right.

[Tom Appel]

And that's why used EVs seem cheaper perhaps than they might. But yeah, to your point, I've heard the same story three times now from three different outlets, but about a million cars, a million EVs are coming off lease in the next three years, which means there are people who got four year leases, which is very weird. But, but anyway, those are going to flood the market with quality, nearly new EVs that are probably going to be very affordable.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

So if you were going to dip your toe into this maybe as a second car or a car for the kids, you can buy one for 20, 25 grand. Do that. Yeah, why not?

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah. I mean, and these things are going to be high tech. They're going to have all the safety features that you want, you know, especially for a teen driver, you're going to have the cool things. Most of them, you know, except for the ones from General Motors will have Apple CarPlay and then.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah, but the youngsters can work around that.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah. By touching their phone.

[Tom Appel]

Old people like you and I, we can't figure it out.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah, again, by touching your phone. That's how you work around it. So I don't know, but I just, I think that there's lots of safety, lots of tech features, you know, nearly new, as you pointed out, because somebody who's driving an EV probably bought it as a commuter car. So they weren't going huge miles. Like, they probably didn't do the 12,000 miles a year that is the average.

[Tom Appel]

No, the mileage, actually, man, I don't remember what I read about the mileage, but I thought it was higher than you thought it would be for an ev. Because I would think what you just thought that the mileage would be pretty low. It's a second car. You don't take it on trips. But anyway. Yeah, so that's going to be weird. And that'll be interesting. Here's a story. I want you to just sort of raise your hand if I'm getting too political when I talk about this.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay. Nobody else is going to see it, but you will, and you'll change course.

[Tom Appel]

But there's no way to have this conversation without hand raising.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

Without getting political. Texas. The Texas DMV is now requiring residents who purchase a car. Do you know the story?

[Jill Simonello]

I do.

[Tom Appel]

They're going to need more than just a driver's license.

[Jill Simonello]

They need a real ID to purchase, not to purchase.

[Tom Appel]

To register a new or used car.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

And this is. This is clearly politically motivated and it is aimed at preventing undocumented residents from

[Jill Simonello]

purchasing a car or registering a car.

[Tom Appel]

Registering a car. Well, but you can't do one without the other.

[Jill Simonello]

Correct. But I mean, you can purchase the car and then like, here's where the problem is gonna come in.

[Tom Appel]

You purchase the car and then move to Louisiana.

[Jill Simonello]

Well, no, but this is where the problem is gonna come in. Somebody bought a vehicle this year before whatever laws were enacted, and then they need to re register their vehicle.

[Tom Appel]

Here's the good news. It's only the first time registration.

[Jill Simonello]

Is it?

[Tom Appel]

Yes, Based on what I just read.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

It's just the first time I've seen

[Jill Simonello]

it because everything I've heard was talking about the RE registry.

[Tom Appel]

That's more difficult. Also, I don't know how many people actually know this whole story, but if I'm right, it's not as horrible as it could be.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

If you're right, it's tragic.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay. Tragic.

[Tom Appel]

Here's part of the problem. This started this month. So I don't know how dealers are reporting monthly sales since it's only been two weeks, but they are. Dealers are reporting a slowdown in sales. It's small, but it's interesting. And ultimately we'll see what states adopt this. Otherwise, maybe Texas is the only one. Maybe there's a couple other states down south that want to do this, but this may actually hurt. Sales somewhat nationally.

[Jill Simonello]

Well, and so the concern is this, like, it's not, yes, it's to prevent people who don't have proper identification from registering a vehicle. But the concern from dealers, as I understand it, is this, you know, say you just have a regular driver's license and this new law requires a real id and you haven't gone to get a real ID yet, but you have a driver's license. Well, in addition then to your driver's license, you're going to need a birth certificate or a passport or something like that. So you show up at the dealership with your id, which is perfectly legal tender here. And then the dealer's like, this isn't a real ID and maybe your real ID isn't due for four more years or you're not due to renew. And so now they're like, you need to go home and get your birth certificate or your passport to complete this. And they're concerned that in the act of you need this one more thing, that people will just walk away.

[Tom Appel]

Well, they will. There's a fact in the auto industry and when I sold cars, this was very, very real to me. If someone leaves, there's a 75% chance they're not coming back. And that's because they're going to find a better deal someplace else or they were embarrassed by being forced to find more ID and want to go someplace else. Whatever it is. Dealers are going to lose some people, but they may gain some people in the flip flop. But it's still a very awkward situation and it seems designed mostly to harass, frankly.

[Jill Simonello]

Now, okay, this is me raising my hand. I think that is a little bit of a political statement. And I mean, I understand the rationale for this. And by the way, everybody should go get their real id. You should just do that because it makes going through an airport so much easier.

[Tom Appel]

If you go through an airport fair,

[Jill Simonello]

you know, but you never know.

[Tom Appel]

Actually a surprisingly small population of Americans actually go through the airport on a regular basis.

[Jill Simonello]

But okay, so you have a relative who lives in Ohio and you live in California and you need to go to their funeral or something and last minute you're going to have to travel. It's so much easier if you just have that real ID in hand.

[Tom Appel]

You're right. People should have it. People don't. And they're not.

[Jill Simonello]

No, no, they don't. My husband doesn't have a real ID yet.

[Tom Appel]

I don't yet either. So I've been slow to move.

[Jill Simonello]

I got my real ID with my license Expired this year. I was like, let's just, let's just make that happen.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. My license isn't up till 2028, so I probably need to do something before then.

[Jill Simonello]

I mean, you have a passport someplace. Is it valid?

[Tom Appel]

I don't know.

[Jill Simonello]

So you're. You're the problem.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah, I am the problem. All right, enough of that topic. We'll follow up on this if it turns out it does have some impact on sales in Texas.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Because part of what can happen too is, is that people might just borrow cars, register them with a family member, something like that. So ultimately this may not have any impact at all.

[Jill Simonello]

Right.

[Tom Appel]

It's just going to. Basically it's just some force people to jump through additional hoops.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah. It's just something for us to talk about.

[Tom Appel]

It seemed than that overly political about. I didn't get overly political. Lord knows I didn't. I just finished my review, it's not published yet. Of the 2026 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Limited. I want to make one point about this. You and I have driven a number of $60,000 non luxury SUVs. Non luxury brand SUVs. They've all been fine. But they're $60,000.

[Jill Simonello]

Correct.

[Tom Appel]

This fully loaded, top of the line Sonata in Hybrid trim.40. And you can do one for less. I'm just saying there is an answer to the affordability issue and it's to

[Jill Simonello]

buy less car, it's to not get an suv.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. Seriously, step down from an suv. Consider a car again. You can get a Civic, a Corolla, a K4 Kia, K4, the K4 hatchback.

[Jill Simonello]

Phenomenal.

[Tom Appel]

These are nice vehicles. They cost less.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

You do not need to finance a vehicle for seven years. That's more car than you need. But people do that. And going way back, I don't know if you remember. Keep America Rolling. It was a General Motors program that was launched right after 9, 11. And basically it was. We are financing your car for I think five years. So just free financing, five years. And it worked. General Motors sold a lot of vehicles afterwards. Here's what happened. Nobody, nobody bought a cheaper car. They, they all stepped up to more expensive cars because this was cheaper. Like, like this helped them save money. And that's the way we work here. Like, we get as much as we can get because we want all the things and, and we like all the things. We do like all the things, but we may not need all the things. And so part of the affordability issue I think is, is homegrown. I think people are Buying more car than they need to. The other part is that cars are damn expensive and interest rates are pretty high.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah, but.

[Tom Appel]

But anyway. But anyway. Was that political?

[Jill Simonello]

Ish.

[Tom Appel]

Ish. Okay, more social commentary.

[Jill Simonello]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

You. Yes, you, Jill.

[Jill Simonello]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

Just drove the Audi Q3.

[Jill Simonello]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

Which is redesigned for 20, 26.

[Jill Simonello]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

Okay, tell. So tell us what that is because I think people think the Q3 is compact.

[Jill Simonello]

It is.

[Tom Appel]

It's smaller than compact because it's kind of subcompact. Q5 is kind of considered compact on the Q7. Really? Considered mid size.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

All these things play a number lower than like they do at BMW or Mercedes.

[Jill Simonello]

Right. Well, I mean, so I mean if you're looking at BMW, like the competitive vehicle would be the X1. Yes, so I wrote that down. You wrote that down. So, you know, next gen vehicle they've made in addition to styling changes which happens when you have a next gen vehicle, they did a lot of tech upgrades which I thought was interesting for their entry into the SUV line for them. And so they are launching the new user interface for their Audi MMI multimedia interface with larger icons and a different design. You know, they have quicker processing speeds. They launched and this is going to be a little bit controversial. I just posted a TikTok on this and I haven't had the chance to look at the comments yet, but they have a new gear selector and it's controversial. Yes, because it's interesting. So Audi's gear selector used to be on the console and they now have this unit that goes over the steering wheel and it's kind of like a single unit.

[Tom Appel]

And then Jill is gesturing with her hands.

[Jill Simonello]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

Okay, go ahead.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah, well, I'm like hoping that it will help me describe it because it's really hard to describe. It almost looks like, you know, way back in the day, like I've only seen pictures of this, but like a yoke that they used to put on an ox that was going to be pulling like things. It's kind of, it's shaped like that. At any rate, I'm not up to date on yokes. Okay, you're not up to date on yokes. Got it. Okay. So at any rate, it's this thing that goes over the steering column and has two wands out to the side and on the right side is going to be your gear shift and it's not. You don't move the wand itself. There's like a little square on the end of the wand that is actually the gear selector.

[Tom Appel]

Well, that sounds like Hyundai, Kia, ev

[Jill Simonello]

no, that's a twister that you twist. This is an up or down square, like a disc almost. And then on the other side you have your turn indicator, which is a similar like, disc that's coming off of the wand that you don't obviously turn. You flip. And you would think that this is horrible, but it actually works really well in practice.

[Tom Appel]

Do you end up using your thumb?

[Jill Simonello]

No, I think I've used my finger. And you don't need to take your hand.

[Tom Appel]

I guess if it was thumb, I'd be inboard a little bit.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah, you don't really need to take your hand off to select it.

[Tom Appel]

My thumb's on the wrong side, so I might use my thumb.

[Jill Simonello]

You might. You might. Your hand is kind of reversed. But at any rate, so I just want to rest assured everybody that like the gear selector, even though it looks a little bit weird, is not. Once you get behind the wheel and you use it, it works really.

[Tom Appel]

Not to cut you off.

[Jill Simonello]

Yep.

[Tom Appel]

But I am.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

Everyone's going with new gear selectors now. Like the Hyundai Kia does it. It's actually really great. And that's a little twisty thing that comes off of the stock. But I think the Silverado and the Sierra, the new big pickups, are going to a column twister. Little thing.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah, well, they had like the push button thing on.

[Tom Appel]

The part of the reason is everyone wants the console space for other stuff.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

And you know what drove that? Phone chargers. Yeah, phone chargers take up a lot of space. So everything has to migrate somewhere.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Because you have a limited amount of real estate. But anyway, I cut you off.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah, but no, I mean, I just wanted to say outside of that, I think there's a huge improvement in interior materials. Like I. The last time I drove an Audi Q3, I just remember thinking it was really not nice. Really, it wasn't worth the money. That it was just kind of like plasticky and really didn't feel good to me. But driving this 20, 26 model and they've gone to a single trim and you just add like tech packages, driver convenience packages, that kind of stuff to it. Really high end, really well done materials.

[Tom Appel]

Did Audi bitch about the tariffs?

[Jill Simonello]

No.

[Tom Appel]

Okay. Because they have in the press.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah. No, they did not.

[Tom Appel]

Part of the reason that this is a single trim level with just a couple of packages is to simplify the lineup because they tended to sell fewer because they had to raise the price. And indeed, for a subcompact crossover, I have the price here someplace.

[Jill Simonello]

I want to say the base Price is right around $45,000 at destination. And then if you go all in with all the packaging, you're still, you're only looking at $52,000. So that I want to say is less than if you add all the things to the X1 or, you know, the Mercedes version.

[Tom Appel]

Here's the thing about the BMW X1. I'm mumbling already. The X1 is a delight to drive. I just wanted to throw that out there. I haven't driven a Q1 in a long time, but I always liked Audis.

[Jill Simonello]

The Q3 is now a delight to drive. I mean, it's always been delightful. It certainly has more of a firm, sporty ride to it. But I, I thought it was delightful in terms of ride and handling. I thought it was delightful in terms of the overall design. I thought it was delightful in terms of the interior materials, the user experience. I liked pretty much everything about it. I mean, there's always a couple of little quirky things that it's just like, why wouldn't you put latches in the cargo area to drop your rear seats down?

[Tom Appel]

Can't tell you.

[Jill Simonello]

They didn't.

[Tom Appel]

Don't know. Yeah, we were out of time. But real quick. Two liter turbo. It's Audi's famous tfsi. It's a nice engine. Seven speed, dual clutch. Is that smooth?

[Jill Simonello]

It is.

[Tom Appel]

Volkswagen Audi dual clutches are either really good or really nasty or terrible.

[Jill Simonello]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

And the one that they stuck in the. Was it the Taos or the Tiguan?

[Jill Simonello]

I think it was the Taos.

[Tom Appel]

Brutal.

[Jill Simonello]

It was miserable.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. All right. They reduced the number of trim levels. The car is built in Gior Hungary.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah. And more horsepower this year too, I think 27 more horsepower.

[Tom Appel]

Oh, my.

[Jill Simonello]

So it's like the same engine? Ish. But completely reworked.

[Tom Appel]

All right.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah. I want to say it was like 255 horsepower and maybe 273 pound feet of torque.

[Tom Appel]

And when does this bad boy go on sale?

[Jill Simonello]

I think it's already on sale.

[Tom Appel]

It's on sale. There you go. All right, we're going to take a break. When we come back, we're going to talk to Sean Tucker of Autotrader about buying cars during economic uncertainty. Like right now.

[Jill Simonello]

Like now.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. We'll be right back.

[Host]

Questions or comments?

[Producer/Announcer]

Drop us a line at question [e-mail]

[Host]

that's carstuffconsumerguide.com what would you do if

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Yes, please.

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Open a new retail location with 36% more square feet.

[Tom Appel]

Fantastic.

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Hire 36% more help.

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You're hired and you're hired.

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[Host]

Welcome back to the Car Stuff Podcast.

[Tom Appel]

And we're back. This is the consumer guide Car Stuff Podcast. I'm Tom Shi is Jill in our slightly political show.

[Jill Simonello]

Yes. And this is a moment where I literally wanted video during the break. Coming into this segment, there was like some zzz zippy music and Tom was actually dancing.

[Tom Appel]

How do you know? Talkstone got new zippy boppy hipster music.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah, a little zippy bumper there.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah, I'm too old for that music.

[Jill Simonello]

I don't know. You were. You were popping your head.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah, I got into the groove.

[Jill Simonello]

And you know what? Even though you're old, you've got social media, right? How'd you like that transition?

[Tom Appel]

I have several social media. Yeah. Real quick. You could just check me out. Car guy Tom on Twitter X or Blue sky or if you want to just Follow my completely non automotive stuff

[Jill Simonello]

about pictures of cars on TV shows.

[Tom Appel]

Yes. I guess that's automotive kinda. Also pictures of people on TV shows.

[Jill Simonello]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

Like if Ave Vigoda showed up on the Night Stalker, I might get a picture of that.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

You have an Avagoda T shirt.

[Jill Simonello]

I do.

[Tom Appel]

That you've never worn a second time.

[Jill Simonello]

I probably will not.

[Tom Appel]

I spent hard earned money on that T shirt. You should wear it or camp in was over. It was big.

[Jill Simonello]

It was, it was like husband sized.

[Tom Appel]

One of the things that we often talk about doing that we never do is talk about car buying tips.

[Jill Simonello]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

And these are certainly strange times, so it'd be a good time to talk about car.

[Jill Simonello]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

About. No. Luckily for us on the phone is Sean Tucker. He is the managing editor at Autotrader. Sean, how are you?

[Sean Tucker]

Pretty good, Tom and Jill, good to be with you. How are you?

[Tom Appel]

I think we're well.

[Jill Simonello]

I'm very well other than the freaky cold weather outside.

[Tom Appel]

Where are you at, sir?

[Sean Tucker]

I'm in Washington D.C. so all I've got outside right now is thunderstorms and a possible tornado.

[Tom Appel]

Oh. Oh, okay. Well, that's, that's fine then. Tell us a little bit about what you do at Autotrader.

[Sean Tucker]

I'm the managing editor of both the Autotrader and the Kelley Blue Book brand. So I lead a team of, you know, video and written experts who talk about cars all day.

[Tom Appel]

That would make you, I think, the perfect person for the conversation we're about to have. But before this conversation, we invited you on to talk a little bit about smart car buying tips during economic uncertainty. That certainly describes the world we live in now. And we do know that, that most pundits out there are suggesting that auto sales are going to fall slightly this year.

[Sean Tucker]

It does seem likely.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. Yeah. What's your take on that?

[Sean Tucker]

You know, even before we were dealing with high gas prices into war, there was just enough economic uncertainty going on that I think we are somewhat likely to see a drop this year. But on top of that, you have to add in that cars have grown far more reliable than they used to be. The average car on American roads is almost 13 years old now. So people just don't car shop as much as they used to.

[Tom Appel]

Part of the problem, which isn't a problem at all, is that cars actually last longer than they used to.

[Jill Simonello]

Right.

[Tom Appel]

So I think consumers are served well by improved reliability. But on the other hand, things change very quickly and they might feel left out of the game. But buying cars has gotten to be Kind of a strange process. It's, it's no longer as difficult. One of the things I learned just shopping for a car with my daughter is that the old, the old battle with the dealer seems to have subsided a little bit. But that doesn't change the fact that prices are extremely high. And I've heard some numbers lately about how upside down the average shopper is.

[Sean Tucker]

Yeah. And those prices, I. There's a certain element of consumer choice playing into that. The average buyer February paid $49,353, which sounds like an extraordinarily high number. But if we take full size trucks out of that, it's more than $10,000 lower. That was pushed up quite a bit by the fact that the average full size truck is selling for $66,157. And as you know, most of those have options in the low $40,000 range. That's just consumer choice.

[Tom Appel]

66,000. Well, that's a, that's a wonderful point. And Jill and I were just talking about that, that people are in fact choosing to buy these cars as expensive as they are. And I made the point that I had just Test driven the 2026 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Limited. And then that vehicle came to almost exactly $40,000. And it would serve most families very, very well for 20 grand less, 10 grand less than something else that they might buy. And one of the things we've also noticed that crossovers, mid sized crossovers have gotten phenomenally expensive.

[Sean Tucker]

Phenomenally expensive and very, very big. Not to jump the gun into where I think you're going next, but as your experience with that and that hybrid might have taught you, one of the things we're seeing is that, that cars have grown so much larger than they used to be that the average buyer would probably be quite satisfied with a compact SUV now. And they're not necessarily aware of that. They're still going for mid size models that are as large as the large SUVs of a decade ago.

[Tom Appel]

I do remember a story, and this is completely off topic. Jill is used to me doing this,

[Jill Simonello]

and so I apologize in advance, but

[Tom Appel]

I remember a story maybe 15, 20 years ago, but I bet you this is still true, is that people who were shopping for an Accord would go to buy an Accord and leave with a crv. And the number was fantastically high. It was like half the time or something like that. And I think that a lot of shoppers are finding that crossovers, for whatever reason, the magic is there that holds more stuff. You can get all wheel Drive. And the seating position is. Is more. Is preferable in traffic because every other vehicle is a crossover now.

[Sean Tucker]

Right?

[Jill Simonello]

Right.

[Sean Tucker]

We're kind of in a constant height war where if you want to see over the guy in front of you, you need a taller car than him. And I don't know when that ends.

[Tom Appel]

We do. So what do you recommend consumers do now? Is this a good time to buy a car?

[Sean Tucker]

This is a relatively good time to buy a car, as strange as that may sound.

[Tom Appel]

It does sound strange

[Sean Tucker]

because those prices are high, as I said. But that's partly a matter of concern, consumer choice. There are a lot of reasonably affordable compact crossovers, compact sedans that will meet the needs of most families. And I think with sales likely to fall a bit this year, the buyer is going to be in more demand.

[Tom Appel]

So are we looking at any shifts during the year? Jill had noted earlier a story about the fact that EVs. Used EVs are about to. The availability is about to increase because a bunch of leases are coming in. But. But what are we waiting for this year that might affect the market? Is there any big event? Are we waiting for a big fall in interest rates that may not happen, or what is the outlook?

[Sean Tucker]

It's very hard to predict the interest rate situation right now. But the one thing that I have my eye on in the short term is the price of gas. We just got the numbers in this morning that demand for this is used car shopping. But demand for used SUVs dropped off quite a bit in February, and The war started February 28th. So with gas prices rising, it may be that there's far less demand for those used SUVs, and those prices may be going to come down.

[Tom Appel]

Wow. If you can actually make use of a used suv, then you actually need it. This might be the time to buy one of those.

[Sean Tucker]

Right.

[Tom Appel]

All right, I got it. I got a question for you, if you don't mind. I have a theory, and I think that the mark. I think that the media is kind of overblowing something. We keep hearing about the fact that hybrids are incredibly phenomenally popular right now. Everyone wants a hybrid. But my suggestion to you, and please tell me I'm wrong if I am, is that hybrids aren't that popular. It's that people aren't really choosing hybrids. They're just looking at vehicles that happen to be available as hybrids. And at Toyota, it's almost hard to not buy a Toyota. A hybrid.

[Sean Tucker]

Now, I was going to say, I think you're onto something. I don't have A lot of data to back it up. But I would note that in the Toyota example, they're just slowly becoming a hybrid company.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah.

[Sean Tucker]

If you go in to replace your Camry, you're buying a Camry hybrid because there is nothing else anymore. Anymore. That's also true of the Rav 4 all of a sudden. So some of their volume models, they're no longer available in anything that isn't hybrid. And I'm sure that's pumping the numbers up.

[Tom Appel]

And I think the Sienna and the Crown too. Hybrid only. And didn't you suggest the Sequoia?

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah, I can't remember if the Sequoia is hybrid only or not.

[Tom Appel]

I mean, that's not a huge volume thing, but still.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

All right, so we talked about this. If you're a consumer right now, what do you suggest that they do if they're, if they're thinking about buying a new car or used car?

[Sean Tucker]

So a couple of tips that are really evergreen, tips that make sense in all markets, but certainly in this one, my number one piece of advice to friends is buy the car you need 50 weeks a year. I see so many people say, you know, I need three rows of seating because mom and dad visit during the holidays. Well, that means you need three rows of seating during the holidays, save $15,000, buy a two row car and rent one when they show up.

[Jill Simonello]

Yes, It's a creepy 100%. That's, you know.

[Sean Tucker]

The second thing I recommend though is pay close attention to inventory. You're not going to get inventory numbers out of your local dealership, but we publish the inventory numbers by brand and car. Pricing is supply and demand and in some cases the supply is really out of whack with demand. I'm just looking here at the end of February and Lexus and Toyota. So there's an old industry rule of thumb that they aim to have about 75 days worth of cars for sale on the lot. Yeah, Lexus and Toyota right now are sitting at 38 and 41. You're not going to get a deal at Lexus and Toyota. Ford and Hyundai are at 121. They are willing to negotiate.

[Tom Appel]

So they've got a bunch of stuff. Where do you, where can people find your inventory numbers?

[Sean Tucker]

That one's available on Cox Automotive. We also publish it monthly in an article on Kelley Blue Book. Yeah,

[Jill Simonello]

so question for you, like, say I'm getting ready to. I know I need a new car and I'm getting ready to go and look, but I don't know if I want a new car or a used car, Would you. Do you have any, like, pros and cons of buying new versus used or buying used versus new? Like when, when should I buy new and when should I buy used?

[Sean Tucker]

So your grandfather's and your father's old advice of letting somebody else pay the depreciation still apply?

[Jill Simonello]

Right.

[Sean Tucker]

The reality is the market's kind of bifurcating to where there are no cars. There are no new cars left under $20,000 at all. We believe that the last one probably rolled off the lot about two months ago. There are very few under $25,000.

[Tom Appel]

What was that?

[Sean Tucker]

So the last one was likely a Nissan Versa S. Since Mitsubishi canceled the Mirage and Nissan canceled the Versa, there's nothing new for sale under $20,000 at all. Under 25 is relatively rare. So if that's your budget, you're shopping used.

[Jill Simonello]

So do you think it's purely a budgetary consideration or. I mean, like, I know my husband and I, we needed a new car in 24 hours and I was like, I asked my husband, I was like, how much do you want to spend? He's like $10,000. And I'm like, good luck with that. I will say we managed to find a 2017 Volkswagen Jetta for 12. So we were close. But yeah, those unicorns are very rare and don't exist.

[Sean Tucker]

It's primarily a budget consideration. But there's also the question of how long you're going to operate it and how long the warranty will be. If you are like me and you drive a car until it absolutely will not drive anymore, then there are good reasons to consider some new cars with very long warranties because that will save you a lot of money in year nine. And I'm still driving a car in year nine. That's not necessarily true of everyone though.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

My wife is driving a 10 year old Subaru. So I appreciate the getting the most for your money. Which we did buy new, right? We did buy it new, but. But yeah, ultimately we're holding on to it. And she started working from home.

[Jill Simonello]

No hurt, right?

[Tom Appel]

Tell us about Cox then, because Cox is one of those things that I don't think people fully appreciate because there are so many branches and divisions of what they do. And they serve, they serve dealerships, they serve manufacturers and they serve the consumer. It's a big company.

[Sean Tucker]

Yeah, absolutely. We've got a, you know, a company that provides the software that operates a lot of dealerships. That's where we get some of this data. The way that I can tell you the inventory, you know, partly because we have the software that controls the inventory.

[Tom Appel]

You actually generate that information. Interesting.

[Sean Tucker]

Cox also runs Mannheim, which is the largest source of auctions. So quite a few of the used cars pass through our hands and increasingly over the last few years we're getting into battery recycling and.

[Tom Appel]

Interesting.

[Sean Tucker]

My world is. Is Kelly Blue Book an autotrader?

[Tom Appel]

Tell me about Manheim for just one moment. And the batteries. Jill and I had an opportunity to visit Mannheim a long time ago now.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah. It's been a hot pre covered. Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

But we visited an auction on the south side of Chicago and the volume of vehicles that go through that. Crazy. I don't think people know. I don't think people know how many Mannheim vehicles they've owned or how many vehicles go through that process. But when we were there, there was already talk of of making dealers aware of the battery condition of EVs. Is that something that's happened?

[Sean Tucker]

Yes. In fact, when you look at a listing for an EV on Auto Trader these days, you will find a battery health score. O surely we've actually tested that physical battery that you're considering buying and can tell you how much life is left in it.

[Tom Appel]

So that's handy. And people might be shopping for EVs now. So if you're looking for an EV, if you go to. Is that Autotrader and Kelly.

[Sean Tucker]

No, those are on Auto Trader.

[Tom Appel]

Just Auto Trader. Okay. You can get the battery health indication. So that's cool. Generally are those. Are you finding that the batteries are in fact holding up nicely?

[Sean Tucker]

Yes, I think there was a lot of fear a few years back battery replacement would be a significant expense. And the reality is it's something we rarely ever see. So it hasn't proven to be a significant problem for the industry. Most of these batteries are in pretty good shape and right now I think Jill got into as we were beginning. There are just so many 3 year old EVs about to be rolling off lease that will be available used that used. EVs are a fantastic value this year.

[Tom Appel]

What is your recommendation for someone who's considering an ev? What should they think about before they commit to going electric?

[Sean Tucker]

You need to think about your lifestyle and how you're going to use the car. There's a common misunderstanding in that people tend to look at the infrastructure around them and say, you know, does my town have enough charging? And the reality is there's a mental shift you have to make in that you don't have a gas station at home, but you do refill your Battery at home. It's a different way of driving that you're going to refill when you get there instead of stopping in the middle. So you don't necessarily need the local infrastructure to be up to spec if you have access to home charging. However, I do caution people, the one situation in which I'm a little reluctant to get an EV is if you do a lot of road trips.

[Tom Appel]

Okay.

[Sean Tucker]

Structure, particularly here on the East Coast, YM has caught up to the point that a road trip on an ordinary day is not difficult, but a road trip on a day when everyone is driving can be quite difficult. So, you know, it's the day before Thanksgiving and you need to drive to grandma's house. A lot of those chargers that. That the charging route planning app is telling you to use are likely going to have lines.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah. And I think this all feeds into something that you said a little bit earlier, is that you should buy the car that is going to work for you 50 weeks of the year.

[Tom Appel]

I wrote that down. Just say what you're going to say.

[Jill Simonello]

If you are only going to be taking a road trip once or twice a year, one, do you have a gas car to back it up and you could take that car instead? Or, you know, two, I mean, the route planners these days are so good. That will tell you, like, where the chargers are and, like, tell you if they're open as you're arriving. And so, you know, I think a lot of times people will buy a pickup truck because they're gonna haul something once a year or they're going to put plywood in the back of their car or mulch in the back of their bed once a year. And it's just like. Like buy the car for 50 weeks, not 52.

[Sean Tucker]

Right. You can always rent for the other two. It's so much.

[Tom Appel]

Do you remember either of you, when. When BMW launched the i3. It was the i3. And one of the things. This was a pioneering electric vehicle, and it was fun to drive. It was a crazy car. People might remember. Small car with weird doors. But one of the things that they were going to put together for owners was a plan by which they could rent a BMW for a couple of weeks a year. Yes, that was part of that.

[Sean Tucker]

I remember that Nissan did something similar with the Leaf for a few years, where I bought a new Leaf and you had the right to check out some other Nissan for. I think it was up to two weeks a year.

[Tom Appel]

I have a business idea for Autotrader. This is a great idea. You can have it. I'm not going to make you sign anything, but you had suggested that what you have now if you have an electric car is a gas station at home. What you need is the AutoTrader gas station kit, which you put in your garage and is filled with Funyuns and Slim Jims. Right.

[Jill Simonello]

Self refilling.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. Maybe Gatorade. Yeah. Someone comes by once a month and tops you off.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

All right. Just an idea. Just an idea. You don't have to. You don't have to tell me now.

[Jill Simonello]

I think that's enough.

[Sean Tucker]

I'll pitch it to the CEO. My hopes are not high.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah, I'm sure the CEO is listening to this and he'll be like, yes, that's a great idea.

[Tom Appel]

Oh, man. Sean. How can people find out more about AutoTrader? Go to autotrader.com Sean, thank you so much for your time today. We really appreciate it.

[Sean Tucker]

Thanks, guys. I really enjoyed this.

[Tom Appel]

All right, that was Sean Tucker with AutoTrader. We're going to take a break and when we come back.

[Jill Simonello]

Quiz time.

[Tom Appel]

Quiz time.

[Host]

Questions or comments?

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Yes, please.

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[Tom Appel]

Fantastic.

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[Host]

Welcome back to the Car Stuff podcast.

[Tom Appel]

And we're back. This is the consumer guide Car Stuff Podcast. I am Tom. She is Jill. This is episode 318. Is there any Feng Shui there?

[Jill Simonello]

Well, 18 is a lucky number in the Jewish faith.

[Tom Appel]

I knew that.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

I don't know why I knew that, but I knew that.

[Jill Simonello]

My. My accent is going to be horrible, but I think it's high.

[Tom Appel]

Isn't there a name for. For a Hebrew. Hebrew numerologist?

[Jill Simonello]

I don't know.

[Tom Appel]

There's. There's some. There's something to that, which I don't think is very steeped deeply in the actual Judaic faith. I think it's something kind of ancillary and weird.

[Jill Simonello]

I just know that all of my Jewish friends, whenever they donate money to whatever charity I'm raising money for, it's usually in multiples of 18.

[Tom Appel]

Really?

[Jill Simonello]

Yep.

[Tom Appel]

Really? That's crazy. All right, social media.

[Jill Simonello]

Yes, I'm on it.

[Tom Appel]

All right.

[Jill Simonello]

I'm on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn threads, Blue Sky, YouTube, all the things you can find me at. Jill Simonello. Or, you know, Blue sky does that. Weird. Like, Jill Simonello. Bs Ky. Whatever. So. But Jill Simonello, and I use the hashtag Karta Jour. So if you can't find me with my name, which is, you know, kind of hard to spell, you can usually find me by cartesur.

[Tom Appel]

Speaking of things Jewish. Okay, tomorrow.

[Jill Simonello]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

I have to go drive past my old office, which takes me to Skokie, Illinois.

[Jill Simonello]

Yep.

[Tom Appel]

I don't. People outside of Illinois might know this, not know this, but lots and lots of Jewish people in Skokie, Illinois.

[Jill Simonello]

There are.

[Tom Appel]

And because of that, Kaufman's Deli.

[Jill Simonello]

I was gonna say really good delis.

[Tom Appel]

I'm going to Kaufman's Deli tomorrow.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

I need Egg salad. I need challah. I need coleslaw and dill pickles.

[Jill Simonello]

Oh, oh, okay.

[Tom Appel]

So they sell them in two barrels. One is like new and old. And it's basically how long they've been.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

They've been decanting.

[Jill Simonello]

Decanting.

[Tom Appel]

That's the wrong word.

[Jill Simonello]

Fermenting.

[Tom Appel]

All right. Did you get through the social media?

[Jill Simonello]

I did.

[Tom Appel]

I wasn't paying attention.

[Jill Simonello]

I feel like I was pretty time efficient there.

[Tom Appel]

You were, you were. And we actually have enough time today. I have some really good news about the quiz today. The bonus question is an extension of last week's bonus question.

[Jill Simonello]

Great.

[Tom Appel]

So I think you'll enjoy that. We talked about the Nancy Drew mysteries last week.

[Jill Simonello]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

So we're going to expand on that this week. People are going to do that. But the quiz. Oh, 318 was a BMW.

[Jill Simonello]

Got it.

[Tom Appel]

And it was one of the early BMWs. When people talk about yuppies buying BMWs in, in the 80s, the 318.

[Jill Simonello]

Got it.

[Tom Appel]

And later the 320. 325. 328, but got it. Yeah.

[Jill Simonello]

I'm taking a bite of my. I'm an orange cranberry scone right now.

[Tom Appel]

You have issues with the donuts again?

[Jill Simonello]

Well, I mean, I'm never gonna do the German chocolate thing. And then, wow, I know that's racist. I'm not gonna do. I'm not gonna do that. And then you had this scone looking thing that's covered. It's like, you know, it's not horrible. It's not horrible. So I took a bite of that cranberry and orange with like some white chocolate in it.

[Tom Appel]

That's not a review you want of a donut. It's not horrible. But then, you know how many women said that after a first date with me?

[Jill Simonello]

La la la la la. I'm raising my hand again. That's too political. And then the other, the other, the other donut is magically delicious.

[Tom Appel]

That is possibly the most cynically cheap thing a donut shop can do for St. Patrick's Day, which is literally to pour lucky charms on a donut.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah. They put icing on top and then just dipped it in lucky charms.

[Tom Appel]

Here's the thing about it.

[Jill Simonello]

And put some like, shamrock sprinkles on there.

[Tom Appel]

And it looks good.

[Jill Simonello]

It is all yours.

[Tom Appel]

It looks good. Well, no. Well, producer Randy picks before I do. That's a rule.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

All right. And that's fine because I love German chocolate.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

All right. It's quiz time.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

Do you remember when we Had a lot of time.

[Jill Simonello]

We still have a lot of time.

[Tom Appel]

Not really.

[Jill Simonello]

I'm looking at your watch upside down. We've got like 10 minutes. Plenty of time.

[Tom Appel]

All right. Are you ready?

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Consumer guide, Car stuff. Podcast power quiz. 318. $100,000. Question mark. Okay, I forgot the. No, it's not $100,000. It's 100,000 units. I'm going to give you a car. You have to tell me if they sold more than a hundred thousand of those bad boys in 2025. Are you ready? The Hyundai Elantra. Hyundai's likable compact car. Good looking and one of those cars that you can buy instead of a crossover.

[Jill Simonello]

That is true. I'm gonna say no,

[Tom Appel]

actually. Yes, by a lot. 148,200. Wow. Secretly a hot seller.

[Jill Simonello]

Wow.

[Tom Appel]

That's a good car. It deserves it.

[Jill Simonello]

It is. It is a good car.

[Tom Appel]

All right. You have no points. BMW x5. BMW's very nice mid sized crossover.

[Jill Simonello]

I'm gonna say yes.

[Tom Appel]

No.

[Jill Simonello]

Oh, gosh.

[Tom Appel]

76. 246.

[Jill Simonello]

I'm off to a bang up start.

[Tom Appel]

But that's an awful lot of these things because they probably. The average retail price is about 80 grand on those.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

All right. You have no points.

[Jill Simonello]

I'm in trouble.

[Tom Appel]

Here's one. The Jeep Compass. No, that is Jeep's compact crossover and really the only affordable crossover in their lineup at the moment. Yeah, we have the Cherokee coming. You and I are going to go see the Cherokee next week.

[Jill Simonello]

We are. I'm in town.

[Tom Appel]

They're bringing it to the local journalists here in Chicago. We're going to get a walk around. We're not going to drive it. No, but we get to see it.

[Jill Simonello]

We get to see it also.

[Tom Appel]

We probably get like free pasta

[Jill Simonello]

there. There will be some form of free lunch involved.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah.

[Jill Simonello]

I'm thinking it's probably going to be like sandwiches.

[Tom Appel]

Journalists just, just come together over free food.

[Jill Simonello]

I know.

[Producer/Announcer]

Free food.

[Tom Appel]

We're all journalists. We haven't seen for nine years will be there because. Free food.

[Jill Simonello]

Free food.

[Tom Appel]

All right. What did you say about the compass? Yes. Yeah. 101,997. That surprised me. Of the ones on here. I didn't know the Compass was selling that well, so. But it does have a very nice interior now. And it's pretty quick. All right. You need to, you need to win out. You need to clean up here.

[Jill Simonello]

I know. I, I'm, I'm. Signs point to know the Magic 8 Ball is saying this is not my week.

[Tom Appel]

All right. The Subaru Cross truck. My wife owns a Crosstrek, the most affordable Subaru crossover.

[Jill Simonello]

I really like the Subaru Crosstrek. I just don't think.

[Tom Appel]

When do you think Subaru will kill the impression?

[Jill Simonello]

Soon.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. All right. Sorry I cut you off again, Kim.

[Jill Simonello]

Like soon. I just. I don't know. I don't know there's a volume like that much of a volume seller. Let's see if I can go for 0 for 6. I'm gonna say no.

[Tom Appel]

Yes. By a lot. 191,724. They move a lot of those bad boys. Subaru may have a bunch of different models, but it is the Crosstrek, it is the Outback, and it is the Forester that do all their volume. And those are all great vehicles.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

All right. You can't win anymore, but you can try to save face. The Honda Passport.

[Jill Simonello]

There is no face to be saved. Yes.

[Tom Appel]

No. This is a model. This is a model in a slump because it used to be one of the best selling good size crossovers. Just 55, 231 last year. So I don't know what the deal is there.

[Jill Simonello]

That's hard.

[Tom Appel]

But everyone's been. I mean, you know what part of the problem is the Koreans. I mean, they have two vehicles in, in the mid sized category. Both of them. Right. You've got Palisade and Tucson and then Telluride. And what is the Sorrento? Sorrento. Thank you. It's kind of a one, two punch bunch. And they're all good vehicles. And there's hybrids there now.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

In all of them.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Alrighty, bonus question. Are you ready?

[Jill Simonello]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

We talked about Nancy Drew. Today we're going to talk about the Hardy Boys. Hardy Boys. The Hardy Boys novels go back to 1927.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

They wrapped up the original season in Series in 2005, but there's been a bunch of subsequent things that have come out. So there's still plenty of Hardy Boys to be had. I'm going to give you four book titles. You have to to tell me which one is real.

[Jill Simonello]

Real. Okay.

[Tom Appel]

Are you ready?

[Jill Simonello]

Ready.

[Tom Appel]

All righty. The Case of the Shapely Librarian. The Tuna that Would Not Swim. The Empty Q Tip Box. Or the Tower Treasure.

[Jill Simonello]

And I'm assuming the last two are the case of because you didn't put the case of in front of that.

[Tom Appel]

Strangely, strangely, the Hardy Boys aren't named that as consistently as the Nancy Drews.

[Jill Simonello]

Interesting.

[Tom Appel]

It's the case of or the clue of for almost all of the Nancy Drews. Not the case with the Hardy Boys.

[Jill Simonello]

I wouldn't know if you're telling me a bald faced lie because what I

[Tom Appel]

just said is true in the context of the quiz. I would not lie about the question.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah, you would.

[Tom Appel]

No, I wouldn't. Okay, so the case of the Shapely Librarian.

[Jill Simonello]

I'm gonna say no.

[Tom Appel]

The Tuna that would not Swim, the Empty Q Tip box or the Tower Treasure.

[Jill Simonello]

And I have to tell you which one is real.

[Tom Appel]

Yep,

[Jill Simonello]

I'm gonna say the Tower Treasure.

[Tom Appel]

It is. Yep. You got a point. As a kid I would totally have read the Shapely Librarian.

[Jill Simonello]

No joke.

[Tom Appel]

Sadly, these weren't illustrated. Actually. I think there was like a line drawing in the middle someplace.

[Jill Simonello]

You don't know what shape the librarian was though. It could have been a square.

[Tom Appel]

Well, shapely suggests a certain positivity.

[Jill Simonello]

Does it?

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. Yeah. I don't know that I would describe a librarian as shapely if I didn't mean it, you know, as a compliment.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

Mercedes Benz is bringing out a van. Did you see this?

[Jill Simonello]

I did not.

[Tom Appel]

Yep. Why didn't I write down the name of it? I believe it's the. I believe it's the Vel. Anyway, it's an electric van. It's coming in a couple of years.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

It's going to be a premium thing, going to be used for maybe hotels, they are going to make a passenger version of it. So you could buy it as the America's most expensive minivan. Do you remember the Mercedes Benz R Class?

[Jill Simonello]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

That was a really interesting vehicle because it was a crossover ish with sliding rear doors. It did. Did it have sliding doors? It did, yeah. And they advertise this as having the room of an S class up front, the room of the midsize E class in the second row and the room of the compact C class in the third row. And sure enough, I could get into the third row pretty easy and be comfortable back there. Even me.

[Jill Simonello]

That was like 20 years ago.

[Tom Appel]

It was a while ago. 15 years ago. But they're giving it another shot. No one understood what the R class was. It didn't sell well. They did do an AMG version of it, which I thought was the coolest thing in the world. But another shot, they're going to go with this. This van. It's going to be electric only.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

All right.

[Jill Simonello]

So a piece of news we did not discuss at the beginning. It just jogged my memory when we were talking about SUVs.

[Tom Appel]

I can't talk about news that isn't in my notes.

[Jill Simonello]

Too bad.

[Tom Appel]

So four minutes of silence.

[Jill Simonello]

Okay. Four minutes of silence. The Hyundai Palisade recalled this week.

[Tom Appel]

Talk about that. Yeah, I'm sorry, I really should have covered that first.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah, no, like I completely spaced. And then when you mentioned it, I was like, we just, we should probably mention that recall. So essentially it is being recalled because the second row seats are, they're power operated and they don't stop even if somebody is in it. And it resulted in the death of a child.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. That is tragic. And we're so used to these things working.

[Jill Simonello]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

That it is stunning and awful when they don't work. That this actually happened because there are so many things now on cars. Like if you stuck your hand in a window as it was rolling up, it would just bounce back.

[Jill Simonello]

Unless it's a Tesla.

[Tom Appel]

And I don't know how many times I've actually bumped my head on the, the rear hatch of a crossover or minivan and it just bounces off.

[Jill Simonello]

I've, I've had some that haven't, like, because I'm short and so what I'll try to do is pull it down so that I can reset the height and then it just keeps going and I'm like, no, no, no. And I'm like trying like Atlas Shrugged as I'm trying to like hold the thing up so that I can set it. So I've had some, I've had some missteps.

[Tom Appel]

It used to be in General Motors. It used to be a little bit knob in the door pocket on the driver's side that you could adjust the

[Jill Simonello]

height to like half, three quarters. Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

But this recall, this is two vehicles. Right. So it's the, the Palisade and the Telluride.

[Jill Simonello]

No, because the Telluride. I think it's the new Palisade.

[Tom Appel]

Just the new Palisade because the new

[Jill Simonello]

Telluride isn't out yet. 2027. I don't think it's. So I, if, if it would apply to the Telluride. I've only heard it applied.

[Tom Appel]

Okay.

[Jill Simonello]

It would. Well, it would be the 2027 model, which, I mean is on sale, but I, I don't think that. Actually, you know what? I don't think the Tellur. I haven't driven the Telluride. I don't think it has power operated seats.

[Tom Appel]

You're right. So it's not on sale yet. So not an issue. But yeah, a child was hurt, killed.

[Jill Simonello]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

So this is brutal.

[Jill Simonello]

So if you own a new Palisade, be sure to, to look up that recall information, please.

[Tom Appel]

Get that done immediately. I don't think they have a fix yet.

[Jill Simonello]

No. I don't know.

[Tom Appel]

The way these things work, it's really interesting. We're made aware of the recall as soon as they decided to recall. But then there's a period of time, sometimes it seems very long, a month, six weeks before people get notifications. But they have to find a fix. They know there's a problem and they have to let people know about it right away. But it can be a while before they develop a fix. And if it's a software fix like that. Right. You go to your dealer and have it fix. Or if you have OTA updates, if your car accepts those, it just happens in your driveway automatically. But yeah, this one's a big deal.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

So. All right, what else you got going on?

[Jill Simonello]

You know, just something cool that I'm going to be doing later this week that I'm not sure I can talk about yet. So yeah, I. Lots of cool things on tap.

[Tom Appel]

And does that involve fruit juice, electrolysis donuts?

[Jill Simonello]

Cars. It involves cars.

[Tom Appel]

Oh, okay. It's a car thing.

[Jill Simonello]

It's a car thing.

[Tom Appel]

Guess what I got delivered today.

[Jill Simonello]

What did you get today?

[Tom Appel]

The Lexus LS500 Sport. Okay, this is the end of the line. It's actually a 2025 model. But the Lexus LS the single most important Lexus ever built. It's no longer very important because Lexus has moved on. But back when they were sitting there scaring the crap out of the Germans back in 1989, this car mattered.

[Jill Simonello]

Right.

[Tom Appel]

It came in 15 grand cheaper than the Mercedes Benz S class, with more power, possibly better build quality. I think that, I don't think people question anymore, but it was absolutely a game changer. Mercedes Benz products are cheaper now because of Lexus.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

So this car is going away. I've got one of the last ones. It's really a pretty cool car. But people do not want large luxury sedans. They do not ever for any reason. They just don't buy them.

[Jill Simonello]

But as we discussed at the beginning, maybe that's your better cost alternative for an suv. I don't know.

[Tom Appel]

I don't, I don't.

[Jill Simonello]

Not the large luxury sedan.

[Tom Appel]

The $95,000 sedan might not be your best option.

[Jill Simonello]

I don't know.

[Tom Appel]

Also Lexus still sells the es. Yes, the front drive Camry based vehicle. It is so roomy and so refined and so quiet.

[Jill Simonello]

Well, and I've started to see some 60 grand content coming out from the new ES that's going to be launched and I'm hearing Electric.

[Tom Appel]

Interesting. I was not 100% convinced there would be a new ES.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

But anyway, we are out of time.

[Jill Simonello]

Yeah. So more on that next week.

[Tom Appel]

All right. Big thanks to Sean Tucker of Autotrader. Thank you, Jill. Thank you to producer Randy and the good folks here at talkzone. Let's talk more about cars again next week. Next week.

[Producer/Announcer]

Remember to check us [e-mail] the car

[Host]

stuff podcast is produced by J Turn Media.

[Producer/Announcer]

To advertise on the show, please drop us a line at car [e-mail].

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[Capella University Announcer]

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[Ryan Reynolds (Mint Mobile Announcer)]

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[Producer/Announcer]

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[Jill Simonello]

then full price plan options available, taxes

[Producer/Announcer]

and fees, extra fee, full [e-mail] if

[Host]

you like the show, please take a

[Tom Appel]

moment to rate, review and subscribe.

[Dish Network Announcer]

It really does help the show to grow.

[Tom Appel]

Thank you for listening.