Nissan Restructures, Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid, Canadian Tesla Adventure

Summary

Car Stuff Podcast Episode Summary

Episode: Nissan Restructures, Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid, Canadian Tesla Adventure
Date: April 20, 2026
Hosts: Tom Appel, (guest host) Dave Polewski, Robert Colangelo (guest)

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Episode Overview

This lively edition of the Car Stuff Podcast offers listeners an engaging tour through the latest automotive industry news, vehicle reviews, and a personal adventure story. Tom Appel is joined by mechanical engineer and old friend Dave Polewski (with regular host Jill Ciminillo away) for spirited banter about Nissan’s ambitious restructuring, Ford’s supply chain woes, a detailed review of the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid, and a candid, anecdotal look at the realities of road-tripping in a Tesla from sustainability expert Robert Colangelo. The episode concludes with the signature quirky automotive quiz and personal asides.

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Key Topics and Discussion Points

1. Catching Up: Hosts' Banter and Automotive Observations

• Donuts and Old Stereos: Tom and Dave enjoy friendly banter about donuts, old Wendy’s salad bars, and nostalgic car memories.
• Car Test Drives: Tom mentions driving a VW Golf GTI and reflects on entering the car to an unwanted blast of country music (“Luke Combs was playing when I got in... I’ve complained about contemporary country before” — Tom, 03:29).
• Car-Industry Anecdotes:
  • Ford Aluminum F-150 History and the ramifications of a recent supply chain fire, including aluminum sourcing issues due to Middle East disruptions (Ford at “43% of normal” F-150 inventory – 06:50).
  • Rental Fleet Insights: Nissan's previous over-reliance on rental fleets and why this strategy can undermine profitability (11:06–11:33).

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2. Nissan’s Global Restructuring and Future Plans

(Timestamps: 07:04–16:15)

• Nissan’s Struggles: Declining sales globally—14% drop last year; challenges in US and massive fall-off in China.
• Model Strategy:
  • Rogue: Best-selling US model, but less successful than Toyota RAV4 or Honda CR-V. Post-chip shortage, Nissan flooded fleets and lagged retail market recovery.
  • Electrification:
    • Nissan once a pioneer with the Leaf, but surpassed by competitors like Tesla and Toyota (with their hybridized lineup).
    • Upcoming plans to migrate the Rogue to a plug-in hybrid powertrain.

    “They’ve been behind in that marketplace...to see [Rogue] go to a hybrid, plug-in hybrid...is going to change things for them.” – Dave (08:25)

• Exiting Rental-Fleet Focus:
  • Refocus on profitability, not just volume for efficiency's sake.
  • The impact: “They got really heavy into it. Something like close to 20% of their vehicles were showing up in US rental fleets. And that’s not money. That’s just you keeping volume up to maintain efficiencies.” – Tom (11:06)
• Product News:
  • Xterra Returns: New body-on-frame SUV as alternative to the Toyota 4Runner, tapping into off-road popularity but with an eye on margins (11:57–15:21).
  • Discontinuations:
    • Versa (possibly last sub-$20k car), Kicks, Sentra—all made in Mexico and not profitable, especially with current US trade and regulatory environments (14:58–15:18).
• Market Shift Commentary: Discussion on why crossovers and body-on-frame SUVs are staging a comeback, and how relative success has depended on nostalgia, perceived ruggedness, and current pricing pressures (15:39–17:03).

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3. Vehicle Review: Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid Calligraphy

(Timestamps: 17:47–20:24)

• Luxury for Less?
  • Tom reviews the Santa Fe Hybrid in top “Calligraphy” trim ($52k):

    “The interior is glorious...it’s really, really nice, and the ride quality...the interior noise levels non-existent.” – Tom (18:14)

  • Hybrid system adds about $3k; delivers ~231–232 hp and real-world 35 mpg:

    “All the power out of this hybrid system is really available immediately around town...[It’s] quick. Quiet. Smooth. The power is very progressive.” – Tom (19:08)

  • Third-row seating actually usable for adults—a rarity at this size.
• Packaging and Comfort:
  • Tom praises the Santa Fe’s “very good use of space” — unlike some rivals, it fits large drivers comfortably (19:40–20:12).
  • Analysis on value versus upmarket options and competitors.

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4. Guest Segment: Robert Colangelo’s Canadian Tesla Odyssey

(Timestamps: 22:31–44:06)

a. Background & Credentials

• Robert Colangelo introduces his environmental and real estate work, plus authorship of a forthcoming book “Duck and Uncovered” about post-Cold War Russia.

  “It’s called Duck and Uncovered. Do you remember the duck and cover?” – Robert (26:40)

b. The Canadian Tesla Adventure

• Premise:
  • Road trip from Chicago to Hamilton, Ontario for The Guess Who’s final tour—leaving in a Tesla Model Y on the coldest day of the year.
• EV Winter Challenges:
  • Frigid temps mean range anxiety; multiple charging stops required on a 300-mile journey.
• The Flat Tire Saga:
  • At first charging stop, a tire is punctured—no spare, no jack (common with many EVs, especially Teslas).
  • Local shops can't get the correct tire before Monday; Tesla roadside tows him to Ann Arbor (driver’s “lady riding with him in the front seat”—35:02).
  • Robert rides inside his Tesla on top of the flatbed:

    “I went from a successful adult to a man riding in his own car on top of a tow truck cruising down the interstate.” – Robert (35:05)

  • $450 tire replacement at the service center; hours lost; must abandon the trip and return home, missing the concert (The Guess Who pun: “Guess who didn’t make it to Canada” —41:48).

c. EV Tire Realities & Public Service Advice (38:01–41:05)

• Frequent Flats: Robert has had three flats in two years in his Tesla. Why? No spare/jack, heavy vehicles, instant torque, and low-profile tires with higher replacement costs.

  “My public service announcement for EV drivers: Put your Tesla in chill mode most of the time.” – Robert (37:21)

• EV Tire Maintenance: Regular rotations (every 6,000 miles), “EV-rated” tires more expensive, unique repair/jack needs (“pucks”), and tire kits availability.
• EV Maintenance Fallacy: While EVs need less powertrain maintenance, there are still “lots of little things”—filters, radiator cleaning, etc. – Robert and Tom discuss (39:36–40:14).

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5. Bonus Segment: Automotive Quiz & Nostalgia

(Timestamps: 46:50–56:57)

• Quiz Theme: “What Came First? 1980s Edition” – Tom quizzes Dave on auto and pop culture milestones.
• Memorable Moments:
  • Comparisons between ’80s cars and TV shows; quiz questions about the Cadillac Cimarron, Fiero, Porsche 944, Star Trek: TNG, Ford Taurus, and the infamous sitcom Petticoat Junction.
  • Example:

    “Which came first, the Cadillac Cimarron or the Fiero?” – Tom (47:12)

  • Banter reveals decades of shared car geek history between the hosts.
• Nostalgia Sidebar: Extended talk about old stereos, K-Tel records, and what happened to Petticoat Junction’s “naked” daughters in the opening credits.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “So every single male country artist sounds exactly the same.” — Tom Appel (03:37)
• “I've rented those [Nissan Rogues] a lot...the fit and finish, the interiors are really nice. To see that go to a hybrid, plug-in hybrid...is just, I think it's going to change things for them.” — Dave Polewski (08:25)
• “My thing about the Wrangler is it's a vehicle I wish no one would buy. And I want one.” — Tom Appel (16:58)
• “The interior is glorious...it’s really, really nice, and the ride quality...the interior noise levels non-existent [on the Santa Fe Hybrid].” — Tom Appel (18:14)
• “I went from a successful adult to a man riding in his own car on top of a tow truck cruising down the interstate.” — Robert Colangelo (35:05)
• “Guess who didn’t make it to Canada this year concert.” — Robert Colangelo (41:48)

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Important Timestamps

• Ford’s F-150 Aluminum Shortage: 05:21–07:04
• Nissan Restructuring Discussion: 07:04–16:15
• SUV Market Trends/Off-Road Segment: 11:57–17:03
• Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid Review: 17:47–20:24
• Robert Colangelo’s Segment (Cold-Weather Tesla Road Trip): 22:31–44:06 (esp. flat tire: 32:06–38:01, EV tire PSA: 38:01–41:05)
• Automotive & Pop Culture Quiz: 46:50–56:57

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Summary Tone and Style

The episode is friendly, witty, and deeply conversational, peppered with inside jokes, historical trivia, and first-hand insights from decades in the car world. Technical segments alternate with humor and personal storytelling, providing a balance of practical advice and entertainment that regular listeners will recognize and new listeners will find accessible.

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For Listeners

This episode is essential for anyone interested in:

• The future direction of Nissan and shifts in the SUV/crossover market
• First-hand impressions of new hybrid vehicles
• The realities of EV road trips and tire management
• Enjoyable deep cuts into automotive culture, history, and life-long car enthusiasm

Skipping the show's ads and non-content, this summary captures all major discussion points, guest perspectives, and memorable conversations, making it a perfect catch-up for those who missed the episode!

Transcript

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[Tammy (Geico Subconscious News Host)]

From Geico Subconscious News, I'm Tammy. Racing thoughts tonight. You just left for work and had a non specific feeling that something was happening to your place and it wasn't good. Dan.

[Dave Polewski]

Exactly, Tammy.

[Tom Appel]

It could be smoke damage, theft or just too much caffeine, but you can't stop thinking about it.

[Tammy (Geico Subconscious News Host)]

But with renters insurance through geico, your stuff is covered so you don't have to worry.

[Tom Appel]

And that's great. Cause the weekend is coming up and it's chock full of social obligations that

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Oh boy, will they. Dad. It feels good to worry less. It feels good to geico.

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Whether you drive a car, need a car, or just occasionally bummer ride with

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friends, you've come to the right place.

[Podcast Announcer]

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

[Tammy (Geico Subconscious News Host)]

New car reviews, shopping tips, driving green

[Podcast Announcer]

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

[Tammy (Geico Subconscious News Host)]

This is the Consumer Guide Car Stuff podcast.

[Tom Appel]

All right. This is the Consumer Guide Car Stuff podcast. I am Tom. Thank you for joining us today. When you get a chance, do me a favor, check us [e-mail] lots of stuff there, including my latest reviews. Plus you can stream the podcast right there. Plus sometimes I get to do fun stuff. I just did something on the Chevy Bel Air hybrid, I'm sorry, concept from a few no, 20 plus years ago. Cool looking car, should have happened. Didn't happen. And you can read all about it right there. All right. In studio with me is not Jill. Jill is doing something. I think she's driving some Infinity or something in her seat. Literally in her seat. Dave Palwski, good friend. You are a mechanical engineer.

[Dave Polewski]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

You are a car lover and you've been my friend for darn near half a century.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah, yeah. It's really hard to quantify that at

[Tom Appel]

this point, but as I'm famously insufferable. Congratulations to you for hanging out with me.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah, no, I do. I get a commendation every year that's sent from some obscure government agency. So I've got that going for me. But yeah, with RTM Engineering, headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois, we've got 29 offices. We are in architectural engineering, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, civil and structural.

[Tom Appel]

You are one of those guys. And by that I mean you're one of those people that works in a place where the name is on the building.

[Dave Polewski]

This was negotiated.

[Tom Appel]

Yes. It's always interesting to know people who work in a building where the name of the place they work is on the building. My wife worked at True Value for years, and Chicagoans know that you could see the True value building from 90. From the Kennedy, right?

[Dave Polewski]

Near Cumberland Avenue. Yes.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. Close to the airport. Interesting thing about that. They took up, like, two floors.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, yeah. We. We take up one floor.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. They were the plurality talent attendant, but they were not in any way taking up most of that building.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

So there you have it. I have a quick question for you. You may know the answer. What is a Luke Combs?

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, this is a country music artist.

[Robert Colangelo]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

How do I make this never happen to me again? I got into a test car today, and I should have been happy. It's a Golf gti, and I am happy.

[Dave Polewski]

Sure.

[Tom Appel]

I am happy.

[Dave Polewski]

Great car.

[Tom Appel]

Oh, my gosh, what a great car. But this Luke Combs fellow who was playing when I got in.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah. Wow. Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

I've complained about contemporary country before, but

[Dave Polewski]

dang, I don't know if he's the one with long neck beer or something. And. But every country star has written a song entitled that, so we don't really know.

[Tom Appel]

So every single male. Male country artist sounds exactly the same. Yeah, it's. It's. Yeah. And I didn't have time to change things because I just got in the car.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh. And just drove over here. So that's a five minute ride.

[Tom Appel]

I have 90 seconds on that car.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Well, from the donut shop.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, okay.

[Tom Appel]

You can check out the donuts anytime. I went with a completely no Jill worries assortment today.

[Dave Polewski]

Right. There's a lot of pushback sometimes on some of these, I've heard, but they're donuts. You won't get that from me.

[Tom Appel]

Donut. Like, what's bad? It's like when Wendy's used to have a salad bar. What was bad on it? No, I mean, technically everything was bad. Well. But nothing was bad.

[Dave Polewski]

True, true. I think they had a bean salad. A mixed bean salad.

[Tom Appel]

I like those.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah, it's good. A little vinegar.

[Tom Appel]

Do you remember? I think it was called the Wendy's Superbar. That was what they called that thing. And they used to make garlic Bread by cutting hamburger buns in half.

[Dave Polewski]

I do, I do. Didn't it have the most Achilles? Yeah, yeah.

[Tom Appel]

A lot of, I think three bean salad.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah. It had things that you couldn't order off the menu, but somehow they, they showed up in the super bar.

[Tom Appel]

None of that stuff could have been more average.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah, no, it was. Put some French dressing on it though, and pep it right up. Yep.

[Tom Appel]

In other car related news.

[Dave Polewski]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

Actually, this is an interesting story. Years and years and years ago now, two generations ago, Ford redesigned the F150 with aluminum body panels. And I don't think they ever got the play out of that that they thought they were going to get. I don't think consumers care and I don't know that they got the weight savings they needed to actually really impact fuel economy.

[Dave Polewski]

And that was the intent was weight.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. Savings ultimately was weight savings. Yeah, yeah. And it was kind of a mess because. Not a mess, it was just very complicated because dealers who had body shops had to set up separate body shops because you couldn't contaminate aluminum. Right. Especially when you're welding.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Temperatures with steel and other stuff. So. But a few months ago, Ford's aluminum supplier in the US in New York caught fire. Oh.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh.

[Tom Appel]

So that's bad.

[Dave Polewski]

Yes, I think I saw that on the news. Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

And they're not bad. Yeah. So Ford is scrambling to find aluminum. And this is all complicated by the Iran conflict because I didn't know this. Things you learn during weird times. Nine percent of the globe's aluminum comes from the Middle East.

[Dave Polewski]

I had recently heard that too. Yeah. That's. Who knew?

[Tom Appel]

Who knew. Yeah. I didn't know that. But Ford knows it now.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. So the news here. And I've got to check my notes. I'm going to be a little slow in doing this. Here it is. Nope, I lost it. Dang. Anyway, about. Oh, here it is. Ford's current inventory of F150s is at 50. 43% of normal.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, wow.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. So there is a shortage of F150s. If you are looking for an F150 right now, expect to probably pay close to retail and not get the color you want.

[Dave Polewski]

Interesting.

[Tom Appel]

Cause there just aren't any there.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

So bigger news. And you and I were talking about this before we went on air. Nissan held a big event back in April. Or not back in April. This April. Back on the 14th. That's what I meant to say back on the 14th in Yokohama, Japan. But the news is big. They're trying really hard to Break out of a funk. And the funk is pretty extreme. Global sales fell 14% last year. They're down 7.5% this year in the US and they're way, way, way down in China. And China is a whole different story because I don't think anyone ever made money in China, but they were selling cars there and lots of them.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

So Nissan's got a bunch of stuff going on, but they want everyone to know, which is why they had this event. They have plans.

[Dave Polewski]

Right.

[Tom Appel]

So, and the plans are interesting. And their best selling vehicle in the US the Rogue, which is a very good vehicle.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Does not sell nearly as well as it probably should. It doesn't sell as well as the Toyota RAV4. It doesn't sell as well as the Honda CRV, but it sells well for them. And they got into real trouble after Covid and after the, the chip shortage. Right. Where somehow they mismanaged that and all of a sudden they had way, way, way too many Rogues and all of a sudden they were selling vehicles that were a year old deep into the next year. Okay, so that's the trouble. So now they're looking at some new stuff and there's a bunch of crazy stuff. I know you read about this too, but.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

What surprises you here?

[Dave Polewski]

Well, it's, you know, thinking about Nissan as, as having come out with the Leaf so many years ago and electrification and kind of being on the cutting edge of that. They've been behind in that marketplace.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah.

[Dave Polewski]

You know, they still have the Leaf out there, but you know, just seeing that the Rogue, which is a really nice car, I've rented those a lot and you know, the new model, the fit and finish, the interiors are really nice. So to see that go to a hybrid, plug in hybrid, I think it is, is, is just, I think it's going to change things for them.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah, they've got stuff coming. And you mentioned the Leaf, which is a really interesting story because I've often thought about this. They came out first.

[Dave Polewski]

Right.

[Tom Appel]

I mean the Leaf came out around the same time that the Tesla model Model S came out. One of those companies handled that better. Yeah, right. There's, there's millions of Teslas on the road and there aren't millions of Leafs on the road. But the other part of that that's a little weird is that Toyota came out with the, the Prius way back when and that was shocking and strange, but people slowly bought them. And the interesting thing about the Prius is people are telling stories now. They're Writing stories about the fact that the Prius is selling really poorly. It's like, yeah, well, it survived 25 years and every other vehicle in the Toyota lineup is now a hybrid.

[Dave Polewski]

Right?

[Tom Appel]

Of course it is. I don't even know why you would think about the Prius anymore unless you really like that styling.

[Dave Polewski]

This, the compact. Right. And. And it is kind of a different styling. But now that you could get the hybrid and pretty much everything that they make.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah, it's.

[Dave Polewski]

It's not a standalone like it was when it first came out.

[Robert Colangelo]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

I do not think. Maybe for myself, but I don't. I'm not a good customer, but I don't think I would ever recommend someone buy a Prius instead of a Corolla hybrid.

[Dave Polewski]

Sure.

[Tom Appel]

I would just go with the more obvious thing. Probably have the better resale value. And it's Corolla, right?

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, yeah. It's got it written all over it. And then the RAV4, I rented a RAV4. So I travel, you know, as, you know, probably 20 trips a year.

[Tom Appel]

Dang.

[Dave Polewski]

And I always try to rent something different. So, you know, I don't get the driver cars.

[Tom Appel]

But you're. You're old. You should be slowing down.

[Dave Polewski]

Well. Oh, yeah. Well, I do. I move slower, but still, I move

[Tom Appel]

way slower getting out.

[Dave Polewski]

Getting out there. But, yeah. So had a RAV4 hybrid. Really nice.

[Tom Appel]

So the new one.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Okay.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

I haven't driven that yet, and I've heard great things about it. And I keep trying to get into it and it keeps getting moved.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh.

[Tom Appel]

Like it's on my schedule and then it disappears from my schedule.

[Dave Polewski]

Well, that's another thing.

[Tom Appel]

I don't know who I stop.

[Dave Polewski]

Well, that's another thing to note is that, you know, rogues are very heavy in the fleet for rental.

[Tom Appel]

Rental companies, which is interesting, actually, because that comes up in this Nissan story. One of the things that Nissan wants to do for profitability reasons is get out of fleet. And they got really heavy into it. Something like close to 20% of their vehicles were showing up in US rental fleets. And that's not money. That's just you keeping volume up to maintain efficiencies. But you're not making money selling cars into fleet. Toyota does this for an entirely different reason. They are advertising those cars.

[Dave Polewski]

Sure.

[Tom Appel]

And they're very selective about what they put out there. And I don't know this. Do you see Camrys out there?

[Dave Polewski]

Actually, no, not really.

[Tom Appel]

Because the new hybrid Camry is really good. And that's hybrid only. So Back to Nissan and their move. One of the interesting things that they're doing, and it's funny because everything seems backward these days. We're no longer moving towards efficiency, is they're bringing back the Xterra.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh yeah.

[Tom Appel]

And when I say bringing back, they're building a new vehicle that they're calling Xterra. Right. Everyone always says that they're bringing it back. It's like it's different.

[Dave Polewski]

Right. Was it the previous Xterra? Was that a body on frame?

[Tom Appel]

Yes.

[Dave Polewski]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. And it was crazy looking. And you and I were young enough to maybe have the bug to buy one at the time.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah, it looked cool.

[Tom Appel]

It looked cool. And it had that crazy, crazy roof rack.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, yeah.

[Robert Colangelo]

And.

[Tom Appel]

And they sold a supercharged V6 version of it.

[Dave Polewski]

Right.

[Tom Appel]

And I cannot remember what the deal was with that but. Or why they were doing a supercharged six. But they were, they were shockingly affordable at the time. Like I remember prices like around 22 grand or something like that.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

And. And they were cool looking and they sold like hotcakes and, and thing that should annoy you as much as it annoys me. There's always a car that it seems like young, spoiled rich boys get when they graduate high school.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh yeah.

[Tom Appel]

And for a while I think it was yellow Exterras.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, yes. That yellow was predominant in that model for sure.

[Tom Appel]

And then you and I had a buddy that went to Northwestern College down in Evanston, Illinois, just north of Chicago. And it seemed like every rich kid there got a red 944.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh yeah, sure.

[Tom Appel]

And screw those guys.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah, well, they just pass those out. That's basically. They don't even buy those, they're just handed out. Cause they're like handbills on the street.

[Tom Appel]

Another one. And you remember this. It seemed like in Barrington, Illinois, also not far from here. For a while, every rich kid that graduated from high school up there got a defense. A Land Rover Defender 90.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

In yellow.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah. Oh yeah. Like the yellow is these guys. Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

These cars are so cool.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh yeah. So that stuff does bug me.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

I didn't get a car when I graduated high school.

[Dave Polewski]

Years and years later I'm still.

[Tom Appel]

I think I got a briefcase. I don't remember what I got.

[Dave Polewski]

Wow.

[Tom Appel]

I don't know. See, but that Xterra is interesting because Toyota is making money selling the 4Runner.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

And it's interesting how much money they make because they sell a Highlander, they sell a RAV4 and those are, you know, unit body nice cars for Nice people. But if you wanted to survive an apocalypse or. And the Forerunner still feels like that. It feels really solid. But that's a body on frame vehicle. It's rough and tough. It works really well for Toyota and they sell Alexis version of that too. The GX. What is that called now? The GX 500.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh yeah.

[Tom Appel]

And is it 500, 450, 500, I can't remember. But the GX. So these body on frame vehicles are probably a money opportunity for them. And one of the problems that Nissan has now, and this is, this has a lot to do with the current administration in Washington. They had three vehicles. They still have two vehicles that were really high volume, really appealing, but they were built in Mexico. Oh, and this is problematic. And that was the Versa which is going away. I think they've built the last Versa subcompact car was available under 20 grand. There are some reports that the last under $20,000 car was the last Versa.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, is that right?

[Tom Appel]

Yeah.

[Dave Polewski]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. And then the Nissan Kicks, which is a great little crossover and it's one that my daughter test drove when we were looking for vehicles. And the, the Sentra. The Nissan Sentra.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Which I just drove. So they have those and they're appealing, they're good and they sell in some volume, but they don't make any money on them.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

And they're not going to make any money on them for a while.

[Dave Polewski]

So. So yeah, they're, they're focusing on, on Murano and, and kind of their higher end. And then, you know, so something like the off road versions that, that we've got, that's you know, kind of the hot thing right now. Right?

[Robert Colangelo]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

And I wonder too about that. Right. So you've got the off road things that they want to do, including the Xterra and, and the, the Wrangler and the Bronco seem to have beat each other up pretty badly.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

And they both. Yeah. And, and they've had to lower prices. Resale values have fallen a little bit and they're not making as much money on them as they used to. And now Hyundai is threatening to join in there. Did you see the Boulder concept out of New York?

[Dave Polewski]

I have not seen that.

[Tom Appel]

So it's a Hyundai body on frame vehicle, four door. Looks very much like a Wrangler Bronco competitor, because that's what it is.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

And that's going to enter the fray at some point.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh wow.

[Tom Appel]

Probably they haven't committed to it, but then all of a sudden there's a lot of vehicles in there. And I don't know how big that pie is. And I don't think that pie is going to get bigger. When the Bronco first came out, it seemed like there was money for everybody.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Like Bronco sales went up and Wrangler sales didn't go down. Happy day. But since then, it's been ugly.

[Dave Polewski]

Well, I think there was a certain novelty to the, to the Bronco, you know, coming out with the retro looks and whatnot. And there was that throwback feel and then. But you've talked about this.

[Tom Appel]

It's a good name.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, yeah.

[Tom Appel]

His historic name.

[Dave Polewski]

And you've talked about this a number of times. You know, the fact that this, it could be a fad and it's, you know, people kind of, you know, they're never going to touch these things. Aren't going to touch mud.

[Tom Appel]

No.

[Dave Polewski]

They're not going to touch rocks. You know, they're going to drive them to a movie theater in the grocery store, and that's about it.

[Tom Appel]

My thing about the Wrangler is it's a vehicle I wish no one would buy. And I want one.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Because I completely get it. I want that. I owned a CJ7, you know that?

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

You drove my CJ7?

[Dave Polewski]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

We both should be dead because there was, there was no floor.

[Dave Polewski]

There was no floor. There were seat belts, I don't know, things like that.

[Tom Appel]

And who equipped that thing new? It was, it was the V8, the 304 V8. And a three speed manual.

[Dave Polewski]

Three speed manual, whatever. No high revs. Definitely. If you needed high revs, you had them.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah, yeah. 10 miles on the highway. Oh, man. But, but yeah, we'll see how that goes for them. But there's a lot of stuff here. Watch Nissan. They're going to be making more news soon. Last week I drove. Speaking of Hyundai.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

The Hyundai Santa Fe hybrid. Calligraphy.

[Dave Polewski]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

And for people who aren't familiar with the Hyundai lineup, they have two midsize crossovers. Both of them are three row, interestingly. But the Palace. I'm sorry, the Santa Fe is the smaller of the two.

[Dave Polewski]

Right.

[Tom Appel]

And the more affordable of the two. Although not by much.

[Dave Polewski]

Well, it's, it's gone more upscale since the restyling a couple of years ago.

[Tom Appel]

And that is exactly where I wanted to go with this.

[Robert Colangelo]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

The vehicle I drove. First of all, I want to get to the hybrid part of it, but the interior is glorious.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, yeah.

[Tom Appel]

This is 52 grand. You're like, well, 52 grand for a Hyundai seems high, but you can get a palisade up to 60 if you try. But that's. That's not the deal. The interior is really, really nice and the ride quality is really, really nice. And the interior. The interior noise levels non existent.

[Dave Polewski]

Right.

[Tom Appel]

And then you mix that. Now that part of that price is about three grand retail for the hybrid system. It's really good.

[Dave Polewski]

And that changes everything. Right? I mean, you get a lot more power out of that, it seems.

[Tom Appel]

This is what's interesting. I read some other reviews. I shouldn't do this before I write my own. And people were complaining about power.

[Dave Polewski]

Really.

[Tom Appel]

But if you read about their complaint, it's mostly like higher endy, you know, merging and passing kind of power. All the power out of this hybrid system is really available immediately around town.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Like driving around here, Suburban Palatine, Illinois.

[Dave Polewski]

Right.

[Tom Appel]

It's quick.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

It's quiet, it's smooth. The power is very progressive.

[Dave Polewski]

I had one of those too. So did you. Yeah, that's how I could talk about it. But yeah.

[Tom Appel]

231 or 232 horsepower, I forget. That's actually kind of a lot of horsepower in the class. It's a good number. And then my 35 miles per gallon observed. That's what the computer told me. We assume that that's accurate. I remember when they weren't. Yeah, that's a scandal from many years ago. They seem to be pretty accurate these days. But 35 miles per gallon. Dang. Good.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

So I'm digging this vehicle. Also, this is important. I sometimes have a problem with Toyota vehicles and this is specifically a me problem. I'm a very, very big guy. Getting into and being comfortable in the vehicle. Some Toyotas, even though they're big vehicles.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Not easy for me. Sometimes the console's too wide like the old RAV4. I didn't fit in that well.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, okay.

[Tom Appel]

But like I'm driving this Golf.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

I fit great. And I'm driving. When I drove the Santa Fe, I fit great. Yeah. But that's a very good use of space. Also the third row, you could actually put you back there.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, yeah.

[Tom Appel]

In a normal size. Well, you're tall, six, six, one, whatever.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

But a normal size, a big adult would fit back there. Okay. Be happy about it.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah. Well. And a lot of times it's an afterthought. But this is actually usable.

[Tom Appel]

You're saying it's usable. It's not great. I mean, it's. Ideally, it's for the teens, for the kids.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah. The kiddos but you can get some kids back there. Throw them back there.

[Tom Appel]

We're going to take a break in a moment. Afterwards, we talked to my old friend Robert Colangelo, previously of Green Sense Radio. But Robert's a sustainability expert and renewable energy consultant and he wants to check in and talk a little Tesla. He took a road trip. Oh, I don't even have notes. I don't take notes when I talk to Robert. It's just. It's Robert.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

So we'll be right back.

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welcome back to the Car Stuff podcast.

[Tom Appel]

And we're back. This is the consumer guide Car Stuff podcast. I'm Tom Appel. He is Dave Polewski. Hey, Tom, old friend hanging around. Today we're talking cars and he's sitting in for Jill. Jill, I think is doing infinity things today.

[Dave Polewski]

Yes. Never ending.

[Tom Appel]

Never.

[Robert Colangelo]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

We just talked a little bit about Nissan and Infiniti on the phone. On the phone is my good friend Robert. We haven't spoken a while is Robert Colangelo, sustainability expert and renewable energy consultant. Robert, how are you?

[Robert Colangelo]

Fantastic, Tom. It's always good to be on the show. I miss talking to you.

[Tom Appel]

I miss talking to you too, sir. We talked briefly on the phone this week, but not long enough. But you have. You're a Busy man and an interesting man and it's always good to catch up with you. We have a lot to talk about today, but just basically just how are you doing? What are you working on these days?

[Robert Colangelo]

Well, I'm working on citing data centers and well, I'm back into commercial industrial real estate. One is a data center development, the other is a intermodal development.

[Tom Appel]

Wow.

[Robert Colangelo]

And I'm also writing my book with my colleague. We spent seven years in the Soviet Union from 90 to 97. And a lot of what we worked out there in oil and gas and nuclear programs is coming true right now in Iran. So we're trying to tie all that together. So that keeps me busy as I have a granddaughter and a grandpuppy.

[Tom Appel]

Congratulations. Congratulations on both. I didn't know this Russian Soviet thing

[Robert Colangelo]

that's really interesting is yes, I was there from 1990-97. We had a contract with Department of Commerce. We won a competitive bid to set up. It was like a quasi foreign commercial service center. They had an experiment at that time as the Soviet Union broke up. A lot of companies were coming to Moscow and St. Petersburg, but they weren't going beyond those big cities. And as you know, Russia has 11 time zones. It's your largest landmass. And they wanted people to go out into, you know, the other cities. And so we picked a town called Nizhny Bartovsk, which was the heart of the oil, Russian and gas industry. And we provided project finance and assistance to US Companies trying to work with the Russian oil industry, make it more sustainable and productive. So it was great experience. And then I worked at Argonne National Labs and we won a project to write a small report, little book on how to transfer technologies that had, that were defense technologies that had dual use applications and mainly to clean up environmental issues. At the Department of Energy complex of the labs, I got to see just lots of cool technologies and evaluate whether they had application to be commercialized. And that was really part of stopping brain drain. Russia had at one time 50% of the world's scientists. A lot of them were working on nuclear programs. And the idea was if we can create companies and keep them employed in Russia, then they wouldn't go off to other countries and build bombs. So yeah, it was a great experience.

[Tom Appel]

Wow. Every time I talk to you, I learn a new line on your resume that was a secret. Does the book have a published date? When should we look for that?

[Robert Colangelo]

We're hoping to have it finished at the end of the year. My co author, El Boudica he worked for me on the center we set up in Siberia. And then when I left in 97, he stayed on for 20 more years, married a nice Ukrainian woman, and really has just incredible experience over there, just seeing all the change that they went through. So our goal, we meet once a week to keep us on track and keep writing a couple of pages every week. So we're hoping in the next six months to have it done.

[Tom Appel]

Well, good. Congratulations on that. That's super cool. And obviously we'll have you on to talk about that too.

[Robert Colangelo]

It's called Duck and Uncovered. Do you remember the duck Uncovered?

[Tom Appel]

Oh, it chills me. I will link to that because Duck Uncovered sounds cute and it's not cute. It's actually horrifying. And people who don't know about that don't know about what. What things were like.

[Robert Colangelo]

Yes, Tom, did you grow up in, I can't remember, Chicago or Palatine?

[Tom Appel]

Well, mostly Palatine. I was in Chicago till I was six.

[Robert Colangelo]

So do you know about the Nike based complexes that were. Yes. And so I grew about two blocks away from a Nike base. So there was a lot of myth around those. And that's. That's with the Duck and Uncovered. You know, I started the story about growing up next to a Nike base and, you know, teasing the guards as they walked the ring because I couldn't get across the fence.

[Tom Appel]

Oh, man. People need to check this out. And I will link to it from our show notes. But if you don't know about Duck and Cover, my daughter is pretty fascinated by this stuff and all the. All the war propaganda. It was post war Cold war propaganda from that time. But the notion that a turtle in a cartoon can give you advice that would save you from a nuclear blast is. Is deeply troubling. And that somehow covering your head with your hands.

[Dave Polewski]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

Gonna make it better.

[Dave Polewski]

Or even going under your desk, which is.

[Robert Colangelo]

Right.

[Dave Polewski]

That'll do it.

[Tom Appel]

And yeah, that's actually live action video. There's like a flash and all the kids scramble under their desks. Oh, they're safe now.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah, no, it's all good. Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Oh, man. What else is going on, Robert?

[Robert Colangelo]

Well, I thought I'd start with a little story.

[Tom Appel]

Okay.

[Robert Colangelo]

What do the guess who, the guess who flat tire and the coldest day of this winter have in common?

[Tom Appel]

I don't know, but I suspect it has something to do with a Robert Colangelo road trip.

[Robert Colangelo]

Right. Well, let me tell you a little story and I'll connect it and we'll answer that at the end of the story.

[Dave Polewski]

Okay.

[Robert Colangelo]

So if the audience remembers, we had a really cold winter. And on Friday, January 30th at seven in the morning, I climbed it to my fully charged Tesla Model y for a 300 mile drive to Hamilton, Ontario. And it was 10 degrees that morning.

[Tom Appel]

Wow.

[Robert Colangelo]

So why did I leave so early? Because we all know freezing weather crushes EV range and nothing wrecks a good road trip more than range anxiety. And so I wanted to leave enough time in case I had to make multiple charging stops. So with a time change, lunch, the border crossing, and the fact that I'd have to stop at least three times to charge because the extreme cold, I figured the trip would take about eight to nine hours. And that meant I'd get to my friend's house around 4pm Just enough time for a shower, dinner, and then we'd get a good night's rest before we went to see the concert the next morning. And so what was the big event? It was front row seats. The guests who front row seats their final tour.

[Dave Polewski]

Wow.

[Robert Colangelo]

For those that don't know, that was a legendary Canadian band. They were big in the 60s, 70s and 80s. They starred Bert Cummings and Randy Bachman. And this just wasn't a concert. It was the last time for me to see two Canadian rock legends. And Tom, I know you're a music aficionado so I want to play a little quiz for you. Can you guess the three of the five classic sharp topping guess who songs was?

[Tom Appel]

Was American Woman one.

[Robert Colangelo]

Bingo. That's one.

[Tom Appel]

Okay, the guess who jump right in because I'm not gonna get this American Woman was Magic Carpet Ride them. No. Producer Reddy's really disappointed in me. He's a music guy. He's a big time music American woman.

[Robert Colangelo]

Oh, Professor. Yeah, I like him.

[Dave Polewski]

I'm drawing a blank myself.

[Tom Appel]

I don't know if I'm going to get the others now. I will, I will.

[Robert Colangelo]

Tonight when I tell you them, you're going to say ah.

[Tom Appel]

Yep.

[Robert Colangelo]

No time. Remember? No time.

[Tom Appel]

No time. Yep.

[Dave Polewski]

No time. Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

That sounds like a bird song.

[Robert Colangelo]

Yeah, it. They did sound very similar. How about these eyes?

[Tom Appel]

Oh yeah, yeah.

[Robert Colangelo]

How about laughing?

[Tom Appel]

Don't know that one. I do. Randy says I know it.

[Robert Colangelo]

You do?

[Tom Appel]

I've certainly heard.

[Robert Colangelo]

Well they had a bunch of classics and as I said, I, I thought they were a great band and it was great. A chance to see, you know, two legends.

[Dave Polewski]

That's great.

[Tom Appel]

When Chicago was super into classic rock. They were played them all the time.

[Robert Colangelo]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

Especially American Woman.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh yeah.

[Robert Colangelo]

Well, I gotta tell you, I love my Tesla. But after having it for two years, to be honest, it has a couple of quirks. First, there's no jack or spear.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah.

[Robert Colangelo]

Second, it seems unusually committed to flat tires because I've had three in two years. And third, as we all know, you get a decrease in range in extreme cold weather. Yeah. So.

[Tom Appel]

And then you went towards the cold weather. You went to Canada.

[Robert Colangelo]

Yes.

[Dave Polewski]

It was drove to the Nexus.

[Robert Colangelo]

How could I have picked a worst day?

[Tom Appel]

Right?

[Robert Colangelo]

It was like the coldest day in Canada that year. That's funny. So I make it to my first charging stop in Marshall, Michigan. It's around 11:30. I grab my third coffee, plug in, I sit back and wait for the charger to renew the battery. Then I see on the screen what no driver wants to see. My rear tire pressure starts dropping like the stock market after the closing of the Strait of Hormuz. It went from 42 to 15 and three.

[Tom Appel]

Oh, no.

[Robert Colangelo]

And so at that moment, one thought entered my mind. John Steinbeck's the Best Laid plans of Mice and men often go astray. And the day started so well. So I step out into the freezing cold, get on my hands and knees and I inspect the tire. And immediately I hear, yeah, that's not a good sound.

[Tom Appel]

Oh.

[Robert Colangelo]

And I see a big screw lodged in the tire. I'm like, oh, no. And it's cold. It's freezing. I'm not going to fix it. I'm not going to mess with it. So lucky me. The Tetra Tesla chargers were located at one of these gas station Mini Mar combos and it had a washroom. So that was great. And if you, it's, it's a great location if you need coffee or windshield fluid, but bad if you need a Pirelli tire. Very expensive Pirellis on the Tesla. So I called three nearby tire shops in Marshall. None of them had my tire in stock and they said the earliest they could get one is Monday. And that's, that's not going to do me any good. So I thought, perfect, because when you're trying to get to a concert in Canada, what you really want to hear is wait until Monday. So, yeah, I gave Tesla a call and thankfully Tesla roadside assistance kicked in. I had a free tow. Only problem is it took about two hours for the tow truck to arrive. And by the time the car was on the flatbed truck, it was past 3:30pm and the nearest Tesla service center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and it closed at 5. And guess what? It wasn't open on weekdays. So I had to get there to get my tire fixed. And I did not want to spend a night stranded in Marshall or Ann Arbor, Michigan, especially without a car. So then things got weird. The tow truck driver, then they got weird. He was really a nice guy but lacking dental care and he had his lady riding with him in the front seat of the truck.

[Dave Polewski]

The only way to go.

[Robert Colangelo]

And I didn't want to interfere with that whole arrangement. So I asked can I sit in my Tesla while it's on top of the flatbed truck? Said sure, you're the customer.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah, no insurance issues, I'm sure.

[Robert Colangelo]

And I thought, here I went from a successful adult to a man riding in his own car on top of a tow truck cruising down the interstate state, not caring if it's legal or not. I just want to get to the dealer before five.

[Dave Polewski]

Wow.

[Robert Colangelo]

But honestly I gotta tell you, it was kind of fun. I felt like I was in my Tesla with self driving mode without losing any charge. So we pulled into the Tesla service Center is around 4:45pm and to their credit they agreed to stay late. Good news, they could fix it. Bad news by 4. By fix it, that meant replace the tire. That'll be $450, thank you very much Sarah.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Oh man, I still remember $75 tires.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Robert Colangelo]

Oh yeah, that would be a dream. So at that point I was stressed, I was tired, I had too much big coffee to argue with them, you know, why didn't they just plug it? And I was just happy that my tire was fixed. So they got me back on the road just before 6pm and then reality set in. I still had at least 200 miles to go. Still had across the border, still needed to stop two or three more times to charge. So I looked at myself in the mirror and had an executive meeting. As the chief, the cook and the bottle washer, we all agreed it's time to turn around and go home. Oh. So I finally got home around 10pm exhausted the defeated and lost my chance to see rock history. While I was waiting at the Tesla dealer, I started wondering are EVs more prone to flat tires than gas powered cars? And Tom, I checked and I could not really find a reliable source that compared flats per thousand vehicles by maker model. Yeah, or even a solid EV versus ICE engine breakdown. But I did find that flat tire trouble comes down to a couple things. It's really the tires. It's run flat tires, oversized wheels, low profile, sidewalls, no spare, no jack and extra weight or performance too. And those last two hit right in the EV pocketbook.

[Dave Polewski]

Sure.

[Robert Colangelo]

Most EVs don't come with a spare or jack. So when you get a flat, you're going to fix it. You're either waiting for assistance or rethinking your car choices about why did I buy this? EVs are also heavier and that way combined with instant torque can be really tough on tires and wear them much quicker. So here's my public service announcement for EV drivers. Put your Tesla in chill mode most of the time. I know the instant acceleration is fun, but the price to pay for flats and new tires every 20,000 miles gets very expensive.

[Tom Appel]

Also, I've heard some stories about Tesla Model S's and how quickly they burn through tires and it's not good news. It's like 20, 25,000 miles. I'm sure that that particular scenario of the 20205000 meant aggressive driving.

[Dave Polewski]

But still, aren't manufacturers like Pirelli and Michelin coming out with or don't they have on the market EV rated tires at this point?

[Tom Appel]

Yeah, they're actually. Yeah, they're special purpose and they're usually the carcasses line to. To abate noise as well.

[Dave Polewski]

Okay.

[Robert Colangelo]

Yeah, they have some foam in there, but they still wear because you know that that instantaneous torque is just very hard on the tires. And when you're in chill mode it evens out that acceleration curve so it doesn't wear them so quick. So that's definitely an issue. And those tires are running about $2,000 a set, so that's not a cheap thing. Other thing is you have to rotate your tires regularly about every 6,000 miles. They're on the same side and they're back to front is the way you change them.

[Tom Appel]

That is interesting, Robert, because one of the sort of advantages of an EV is that you don't have to bring it in for maintenance like oil changes. But. Yeah, but a tire rotation is maintenance. You do have to make time and schedule it. It doesn't cost very much, but it's a thing you have to do and it's.

[Dave Polewski]

So it's not bundled with, with a rotation and an oil change and other service. Yeah, that would normally happen, right?

[Robert Colangelo]

Yeah. Discount tires will rotate them for free, but it's just something people usually don't think about because that's pretty awful every 6,000 miles. And Tom, I think that's a fallacy that EVs don't need maintenance. They don't need the maintenance and ICE engine needs. But there's all sorts of. We could talk about this maybe another time. There's lots of little things that need to be cleaned like your filters and your radiators and those can cause trouble or even drain holes for water when it rains.

[Tom Appel]

Interesting.

[Robert Colangelo]

So. So it's not the main to think of. It's a lots of little things but. But you got to do.

[Tom Appel]

Interesting.

[Robert Colangelo]

The other is I would. There's AC powered air compressors and tire sealant and you need special pucks, jack pucks in the car because if you ever get lifted up on a hydraulic jack, it'll hurt. It can damage the battery if these pucks aren't there where the jack goes. And so carrying those in your car is probably a good thing to have and gives you at least a fighting chance to fix a flat tire.

[Tom Appel]

Interesting. Yeah.

[Robert Colangelo]

I also saw that Tesla sells a tire repair kit that can be an option. I've never used one. I don't know if it's practical or just an expensive way to feel optimistic that you can fix your flat, but when it's 10 below, you don't want to be on your hands and knees.

[Tom Appel]

The false hope kits. Oh. So I gotta know, did your friend end up going to the concert?

[Robert Colangelo]

Funny you should ask. In the end, my friend used his concert ticket. He took his nephew to see the guests too.

[Tom Appel]

Okay.

[Robert Colangelo]

And not to rub it in, but he told me that these two old guys in their 80s put on a great show. But. So I missed the show. I spent the day with a screw in my tire, a hole in my plans, and I drove home tired. But I arrived safe. So what do they get? Well, let me finish. Here's the big one. What do the guess who flat tires in the coldest day of winter have in common?

[Tom Appel]

A failed mission for Robert.

[Robert Colangelo]

Very close. They all answered the same question. Guess who didn't make it to Canada this year concert.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh.

[Tom Appel]

Oh, I didn't. I didn't see the pun coming. Oh man.

[Dave Polewski]

Fantastic.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah, but that's.

[Robert Colangelo]

I'll tell you, I got. I got to ride on a flat back truck.

[Tom Appel]

Which is cool. Which is cool. Also after the fact, horrible things are fun things to retell. So you do have a story to tell.

[Dave Polewski]

True.

[Robert Colangelo]

I do. So I hope that help your listeners with EVs to just have some preparation in the car in case they get flat tires. Robert, what I did notice, I talked to a number of my friends with evs and they've had multiple flat tires too.

[Tom Appel]

So I don't know that's worth looking into and I will do that.

[Robert Colangelo]

Have you noticed more flat tires just in regular cars in Your driving?

[Tom Appel]

No. One of the interesting things is while my daughter was at Monmouth College at Monmouth, Illinois, she got like a flat a month. It was. Was irritating.

[Robert Colangelo]

Really?

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. We don't know what the deal was, but that was a car with low profile tires and, and expensive sporty tires.

[Dave Polewski]

The nail factory near Monmouth College might have had something to do with it.

[Robert Colangelo]

Well, I'm wondering, do you think that there's more debris on the road, more construction? I just, I've never had that many flat tires. I've been driving for, I don't know, decades.

[Tom Appel]

I don't know where she was driving around. There might have been crud everywhere because she also rode horses, she took horseback lessons. And I think that the back roads that she to these barns.

[Dave Polewski]

Sure.

[Tom Appel]

Not good.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Not good for a Nissan Jukes tires.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Well, Robert, we're completely out of time, but how can people keep track of what you're working on? Should they follow you on LinkedIn?

[Robert Colangelo]

Yes, I'm on LinkedIn. That's probably the best place to find me. And I really, it's always been a joy to talk with you, Tom. You're so.

[Tom Appel]

You too, sir.

[Robert Colangelo]

And I appreciate the opportunity to be back on the show. And I still love my ev, although the longer I have it, the quirkier it gets.

[Tom Appel]

Well, thank you for sharing that story with us, Robert.

[Robert Colangelo]

All right, thank you. Have a great day.

[Tom Appel]

That was Robert Colangelo. We're going to take a break and

[Dave Polewski]

when we come back, quiz time.

[Tom Appel]

Quiz time.

[Dave Polewski]

I understand.

[Podcast Announcer]

Questions or comments?

[Tammy (Geico Subconscious News Host)]

Drop us a line@car stuffsumerguide.com that's car

[Podcast Announcer]

stuff at Consumer Guide.

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[Podcast Announcer]

welcome back to the Car Stuff podcast.

[Tom Appel]

And we're back. This is the consumer guide Car Stuff Podcast. I'm Ham.

[Dave Polewski]

Hey, Hom, how's it going?

[Tom Appel]

I'm Tom. He's Dave. Dave's sitting in for Jill this week. How you doing, sir?

[Dave Polewski]

Doing great.

[Tom Appel]

That Robert can. Robert can spin a tail.

[Dave Polewski]

He really can. And I feel so bad about my. My guess who knowledge. It stopped after American Woman.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah.

[Dave Polewski]

But yeah, all famous songs.

[Tom Appel]

You know why? Because I'm sure there was a K Tal record.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, yes.

[Tom Appel]

And man, that age is me.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

That had American Woman on it.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, yeah.

[Tom Appel]

And we just saw the commercial 3, 800 times and you had the Lenny

[Dave Polewski]

Kravitz cover of it back in.

[Tom Appel]

Oh, yeah.

[Dave Polewski]

Late 90s, early 2000s.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. People who don't know about K Tel records just go to YouTube and look up K Tel record commercials. Oh, they're fantastic. They're fantastic. But it was really weird. The artists they would get. Because every now and then they'd get like a big artist and you wonder how that was licensed. Like Elton John.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

You know, when he was super, super hot.

[Dave Polewski]

Right.

[Tom Appel]

Would show up on these things.

[Dave Polewski]

They'd catch them at the right time.

[Tom Appel]

But the Beatles and the Stones, never. No, never.

[Dave Polewski]

Right.

[Tom Appel]

So there you have it. All right, it's quiz time.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

In celebration of the fact that I've known you for way, way, way too long, today's topic is what came first? 1980s edition.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh.

[Tom Appel]

I'm gonna give you two things. You just have to tell me which came first on the calendar. The very big broad.

[Dave Polewski]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

Timeline of life. All right, Are you ready?

[Dave Polewski]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

Which is that? Easy. Which came first? The Cadillac Cimarron or the aforementioned but off air Pontiac Fiero? Cadillac Cimarron. The shockingly disappointing Cimarron.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Or the super cool Fiero.

[Dave Polewski]

I think that The Fiero was 84. Cimarron based on a Chevy Cavalier.

[Tom Appel]

Yep.

[Dave Polewski]

Was 86.

[Tom Appel]

No, no, you got the 84 right. Ah, the other is 82. Oh, yeah, the Cimarron. You remember you and I sitting around a bar and there were guys talking?

[Dave Polewski]

Never happened.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah, there were guys there. We were at college. We were actually up at Northern Illinois University and some guy was talking about having driven his buddy Cimarron with the V6. And then he went 140 miles an hour.

[Dave Polewski]

Yes. In reverse. Yeah. I think he said.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah, you didn't do that. But nice story.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah, no, great.

[Tom Appel]

But the Cimarron dates back to 1982. It's when. Yeah. When the Cavalier came out.

[Dave Polewski]

The.

[Tom Appel]

I think it was called the Pontiac J 2000 when it first. It would slowly become sunburned. Yeah. Over time. And then there was the old Fiero Forenza Forensa Nabuk Sky Hawk. Yeah, yeah. Those were the J cars. They were disappointing.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

All right, all right, I have no points. No points. You have no points, sir.

[Dave Polewski]

All right, thank you.

[Tom Appel]

Number two, the Porsche 944. Or the first episode of Cheers or did they came out the same year?

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, why are you doing that? That 944 would be.

[Tom Appel]

Was there ever a car that was more benchmarked than that? It was just. It was shockingly brilliant.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, yeah.

[Tom Appel]

And you. You drove a 924S, right?

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah, 924S, yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Which was like an inexpensive version of this. That came later.

[Dave Polewski]

Right.

[Tom Appel]

And the dollar was in a free fall at the time, the mid-80s. And they really wanted to get this thing to the US for like 22 grand.

[Robert Colangelo]

Right.

[Tom Appel]

They couldn't do it.

[Dave Polewski]

Same platform. It. It lacked the fender flares. It had kind of more of a trimmed down body and cast iron.

[Tom Appel]

Aluminum. Cast iron suspension bits instead of aluminum.

[Dave Polewski]

Right. Okay.

[Tom Appel]

So, yeah, 944 or cheers. Cheers came first about the same time. Ah, yeah. They both came out in 82.

[Dave Polewski]

Okay. Okay.

[Tom Appel]

All right, next one here is interesting. Chrysler Concord or Ronald Reagan's second term.

[Dave Polewski]

All right, Ronald Reagan's second term.

[Tom Appel]

Our friend Josh had one of the first Concordes I ever saw.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, yeah.

[Tom Appel]

He bought a loaded Concorde. I don't remember. Was it called Alexa? I don't remember what that was. With the bigger engine. With a 3.5 liter engine.

[Dave Polewski]

So second term.

[Tom Appel]

That car was brilliant and so deeply flawed. It was in the shop all the time.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, really?

[Tom Appel]

It ran. It was fantastic to drive.

[Dave Polewski]

I wouldn't have expected that.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah, it was problematic. So Chrysler Concorde, the LH cars.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Cab forward design.

[Dave Polewski]

Right. So Ronald Reagan's second term began in 84.

[Tom Appel]

Yes.

[Dave Polewski]

The Concorde came out later.

[Tom Appel]

It did, yes. Yep.

[Dave Polewski]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

You're on the board, sir.

[Dave Polewski]

Thank you.

[Tom Appel]

You're gonna like this one because it involves you. Oh. Which came first? The first ever Acura Integra or Star Trek the Next Generation. All right, we have an Integra story to tell because you own the First Generation and Second Generation.

[Dave Polewski]

Right.

[Tom Appel]

And I own the Third Generation. So we covered the full Integra run.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

And every one of those cars. So good.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

So very, very good. If you want to know how Honda started to take over the world, it was. Cars that good.

[Dave Polewski]

Yes, yes, yes. Because it was basically just like a awesome Civic.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah.

[Dave Polewski]

And.

[Tom Appel]

And at the time, 16 valve engines were new.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

And they did them so well.

[Dave Polewski]

It was great. It was great. So I had an 87. I think it came out in 86, however. And next generation came out in 88.

[Tom Appel]

Close 87. So you got this one.

[Dave Polewski]

All right.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah, it was later. I thought Next Generation was much later, like closer to 90.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah, I was, but it was, it was troubling me to think that late.

[Tom Appel]

So my. I'm a Star Trek geek. I love Star Trek. I'm not a geek. Like I don't memorize crap and I wouldn't go to a convention. But, but I love the show. And I remember my grandmother getting like a huge big screen, like 40 inch Mitsubishi TV and I was there helping her install it and Star Trek, Next Generation came on. It's like I'm just coming here every week.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah. And that was a, that was a crt. There was a tube tv. It was a big heavy thing, weighs a thousand pounds.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. I don't know what came of that tv. Probably not worth anything now. So it doesn't matter. Right. All right, speaking of Star Trek, which came first? The Ford. You have two points. We didn't talk about this. There's five questions plus the bonus question. Six total. You need three for a victory. All right, you have to get one of the next two. Which came first, The Ford Taurus or the Wrath of Khan?

[National Debt Relief Announcer]

Oh,

[Tom Appel]

and we haven't mentioned Ricardo Montalban in a couple weeks.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah, so. Or the Cordoba, oddly enough. And the FCC is going to be reaching out about that. So we had a buddy that had a Taurus, didn't we?

[Tom Appel]

Didn't Tony have a. Tony had a Taurus wagon.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think, I think

[Tom Appel]

that served him well. Yeah.

[Dave Polewski]

The Taurus also showed up in Robocop.

[Tom Appel]

That's a really good use of that car.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Because they just all matte paint.

[Dave Polewski]

Right. So I'm gonna say that was Taurus came out in 85. And wait, what are we comparing it to?

[Tom Appel]

Wrath of God, Wrath of Khan or Star Trek 2 as it's known.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

And really should be Star Trek 1. We just ignore the first movie like it never happened.

[Dave Polewski]

Wrath of Khan came up later.

[Tom Appel]

Earlier. Ah, yeah, yeah. 82. Yeah, the, the, the. Forgettable Star Trek the motion picture was 80, and then Wrath of Khan was 82.

[Dave Polewski]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

And I think that was every two years after that. I think search for stock was 84. Yeah. All right. Two points. The bonus question matters for you, sir.

[Dave Polewski]

All right. It's related to the topic of the day. That's what I've.

[Tom Appel]

I've never been more true than today.

[Dave Polewski]

I've heard.

[Tom Appel]

Petticoat Junction.

[Robert Colangelo]

All right.

[Tom Appel]

A terrible TV show ran from 1963-19. 1970 was part of what CBS was calling briefly, its rural programming. And it was related to Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres.

[Dave Polewski]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

Both of which were brilliant.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

By the way.

[Dave Polewski]

Right.

[Tom Appel]

And. And if you were drunk, they were more brilliant.

[Dave Polewski]

All right.

[Tom Appel]

Because any. Any Jethro episode of.

[Dave Polewski]

Oh, yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Of the Beverly Hillbillies. Totally worth watching.

[Dave Polewski]

Crazy.

[Tom Appel]

I've yet to talk my daughter into sitting down and watching a full episode of the Beverly Hill.

[Dave Polewski]

Really?

[Tom Appel]

Because she probably just thinks it's a sitcom and doesn't know that it's a weird psychedelic.

[Dave Polewski]

That's deep.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah, it's deep. Petticoat Junction.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

The least entertaining of the three rural shows on CBS followed a family of people who were running the Shady Rest Hotel, which existed on some weird line. Branch of a railroad, whatever.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

But at the beginning of the show, during the opening credits, they did make a point of showing you the three daughters.

[Dave Polewski]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

Who worked at the Shady Rest. And in fact, they were nude. You just couldn't see the nudeness.

[Dave Polewski]

They were in a water tank of some sort. Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. And they were not unattractive.

[Dave Polewski]

No.

[Tom Appel]

There were three of them. I've got four names here. You have to tell me which one is not one of the daughters.

[Dave Polewski]

All right.

[Tom Appel]

The naked daughters at the Shady Rest. Are you ready?

[Dave Polewski]

I'm as ready as I can be.

[Tom Appel]

This could not be dumber. Billy Joe Bradley. Bobby Jo Bradley. Betty Jo Bradley. Bonnie Joe Bradley. One of them is a fake. Maybe she died very young and haunts them as a ghost. But one of them is fake.

[Dave Polewski]

I'm going to jump right in. Bonnie Joe Bradley, you just saved your butt, sir.

[Tom Appel]

There was no Bonnie Joe.

[Dave Polewski]

All right.

[Tom Appel]

Also, I was going to give the name names of the. Of the actresses who played these young ladies, except that apparently the actors didn't matter and they just changed. Oh, a lot.

[Dave Polewski]

So it was like.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. There was really no keeping track of it.

[Dave Polewski]

Just plug somebody in.

[Tom Appel]

If you were to go to, for some reason, a Petticoat Junction convention.

[Dave Polewski]

All right.

[Tom Appel]

I'm not convinced there ever was such a thing.

[Dave Polewski]

I'm gonna look it up.

[Tom Appel]

But if there were people signing autographs, there'd be like 90 of them because there were so many, many different people who played the Daughters.

[Dave Polewski]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

So

[Dave Polewski]

it wasn't. Was it as notable as a switch between Dick York and Dick Sargent?

[Tom Appel]

No. Okay, So I was going to tell you the story off here, but I'm just going to tell Tiana. You know about my refrigerator.

[Dave Polewski]

I do.

[Tom Appel]

All right. Did I tell. I didn't do this?

[Dave Polewski]

No, but I.

[Tom Appel]

Okay.

[Dave Polewski]

You mentioned your refrigerator, and I know when you switched refrigerators the last time, because I got your old one.

[Tom Appel]

Oh.

[Dave Polewski]

As a garage beer fridge.

[Tom Appel]

Do you still have it as a garage?

[Dave Polewski]

No, it blew up a long time ago, God rest its soul.

[Tom Appel]

But I'd like to claim the contents of your beer fridge. But now I have no legitimate claims.

[Dave Polewski]

You have no.

[Tom Appel]

So to move the refrigerator into the house. We live in an old bungalow. Nothing's roomy. We had to move our entertainment center.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

On our entertainment center is my very, very sad stereo. It's sad because I haven't played it in 25 years. Literally, since my daughter was born, I have almost never used my old stereo. And as you know, every guy our age had a stereo. Yes. You started having a stereo in your early teens, and then you just swap things out over time.

[Robert Colangelo]

Right.

[Tom Appel]

So that it grows with you.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

So my project was looking at the sad stereo that I haven't used in decades was to just move all four speakers that are way, way, way too large for my 10 square foot. My 1010 by 10 office. 100 square foot. I guess that would be.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah, it would.

[Tom Appel]

Yeah. Into. Into my office. And it should have been simpler than it was, but there are things that had to be moved and shuffled, and I had books up there that had to find a place to go. And what I'm disappointed in is my wife and daughter's lack of interest and actual irritation.

[Dave Polewski]

I'm not surprised.

[Tom Appel]

With me for trying to move all the speakers.

[Dave Polewski]

Sure.

[Tom Appel]

So really, this morning was the first time that I enjoyed all four speakers. And I gotta tell you what, I had a very nice Bose Bluetooth speaker on my desk. But that's right in front of you. Yeah, Right in front of you.

[Dave Polewski]

This is room filling.

[Tom Appel]

This is room filling.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

I'm digging it.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

I'm really happy about it. And I needed a Bluetooth. I had to spend money on a Bluetooth receiver.

[Dave Polewski]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

And two days ago, I didn't know, even though there was such a thing, but there you go.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah. Well, yeah. I mean, other than. So is that in the office, too, or is this typed in from.

[Tom Appel]

No, no, it's all there. I've got a remote the size of Iowa. I mean, it's huge. It's like the size of a sword.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

The remote for it. And then because of my monitor, I have to hold it up over the monitor. Oh, but still the sound is good.

[Dave Polewski]

Nice.

[Tom Appel]

I'm pretty happy.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah.

[Tom Appel]

All right. That's a therapeutic. Really?

[Dave Polewski]

So you're not going back to. You're not going back to the stereo, you know, with records or CDs.

[Tom Appel]

This is still the turntable and the tape deck. Their future is uncertain.

[Dave Polewski]

Okay.

[Tom Appel]

All right. All right. Guess what? We did.

[Dave Polewski]

Yeah, I think we used up all the time.

[Tom Appel]

Thank you so much, Dave, for sitting in for Joe.

[Dave Polewski]

Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

[Tom Appel]

Thank you to Robert Colangelo, always entertaining, especially entertaining today.

[Dave Polewski]

Yes.

[Tom Appel]

Thank you to producer Randy and the good folks here at talkzone. Let's talk more about cars again next time next week.

[Tammy (Geico Subconscious News Host)]

Remember to check us [e-mail] the car

[Podcast Announcer]

stuff podcast is produced by by J Turn Media.

[Tammy (Geico Subconscious News Host)]

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