09.12.25 Clark Answers His Critics on Clark Stinks / Our New Car Cost Calculator

Summary

The Clark Howard Podcast — Episode Summary

Episode: September 12, 2025 — "Clark Answers His Critics on Clark Stinks / Our New Car Cost Calculator"
Host: Clark Howard

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Overview

This episode of the Clark Howard Podcast features two major segments:

• Clark Stinks: Where listeners write in to challenge or correct Clark’s financial advice, and Clark responds with humor and humility.
• Announcement and Deep Dive on the New Car Cost Calculator: Clark and Team Clark introduce their latest online tool, designed to help listeners make better vehicle purchase decisions by taking all costs into account.

The episode also includes practical Q&A about personal car, insurance, and payment strategies, all focused on achieving financial freedom while avoiding common money traps.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Clark Stinks: Clark Answers His Critics

(Starts ~[01:05])

• Zelle Payment App Issues ([02:36])

  • Listener (Mike from California) shares a story about being blocked by his bank from using Zelle, despite it being marketed in the bank’s app.
  • Clark explains the rift between a bank’s marketing and security departments, highlighting Zelle's widespread fraud problems and lawsuits (notably by the state of New York).
  • Clark: “The marketing department has embedded Zelle in the accounts, but see, the security department people know. They know real world all the problems…” ([03:18])

• Women in Trades ([03:52])

  • Amethyst from PA pushes back on Clark’s past comments about trades requiring upper body strength, providing empowering examples of women in male-dominated trades.
  • Amethyst: “Don’t sell yourself short in the trades… My pay is the same as the men. None of that crazy stuff white collar people have to deal with.” ([04:49])
  • Clark revisits the rise of women in trucking, citing better pay parity and job openness.

• SIM Card Lock Issues ([06:00])

  • After Clark’s advice to SIM-lock phones, multiple listeners report being locked out due to not knowing their PUK number (personal unblocking key).
  • Clark: “Wow… My god, that’s new for me.” ([06:41])

• 529 Plans & Tax Credit Overlap ([07:21])

  • Glenn from Texas warns that paying all college costs with 529 money may disqualify families from education tax credits like the American Opportunity Credit.
  • Glenn: “You stink like sour milk left in the sun” ([08:09]) for not pointing this out.
  • Clark acknowledges the need for better planning to optimize both 529 and tax credit use.

• Currency Conversion Abroad ([08:43])

  • Pete from Georgia misunderstood Clark’s advice about which currency to use for card payments abroad.
  • Clark: “You always want to clear in local currency, never in US dollars. This is a scam that is played on Americans all over the world…” ([09:18])

• Car Repair Costs & Dealer vs. Independent Mechanic ([10:21])

  • Richard, WV, flags high dealer repair bills and advocates for independent mechanics or learning DIY skills.

• Dollar Tree & Fraud ([11:01])

  • Richard again explains that large fraudulent charges at Dollar Tree are due to third-party gift cards, not merchandise.

• Nostalgia for Clark’s Old Sign-Off ([11:48])

  • Thomas, GA, misses Clark’s more energetic sign-off: “Save more, spend less, and don’t let anyone ever rip you off.”

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2. Highlight: Launch of the Car Cost Calculator

(Starts ~[16:06])

• Clark reveals a new decision tool at the heart of the episode — the Car Cost Calculator at clark.com/car-cost-calculator.

  • Designed to compare new vs. used car costs based on purchase price, financing terms, and ownership period.
  • Encourages listeners to see the full picture of car-buying costs (depreciation, insurance, payment length, maintenance)—not just monthly payments.
  • Clark: “The numbers stare right at you because it’s a decision tree… It puts very quickly numbers there for you to stare at and what it’s actually going to take out of your life…” ([17:14])
  • The calculator also illustrates “how much money you’re going to save keeping your current car longer versus buying the new wheels you’re intending to buy…” ([18:59])

• Economic context: Average new car prices have hit $50,000 due to tariffs.

• Clark warns against long-term auto loans, which trap consumers in negative equity, and notes rising car loan delinquency and repossessions.

  • Clark: “People have been doing loans that are longer, longer and longer. And then you’re upside down in the vehicle for the entire life of the loan…” ([19:45])

• The tool is available and will be continually improved based on listener feedback.

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3. Car-Buying & Ownership Listener Q&A

(Begins with car cost calculator segment and continues ~[21:11])

Highlighted Questions:

• When to Replace the Family Car? ([21:11])

  • Ken in Oregon: Debates replacing a paid-off, low-mileage Subaru Forester as his family grows.
  • Clark advises waiting until the need is real (after their third child arrives) to maximize vehicle value and avoid premature spending.
  • Clark: “It’s not the time yet to ditch the Subaru… keep driving it with the agreement with your wife that when the third child is born, then you get a larger vehicle…” ([22:00])

• Downgrading / Insuring Older Cars ([24:06])

  • John in Florida: Considers whether to keep, downgrade, or drop full insurance on an aging Infiniti.
  • Clark suggests dropping to liability-only insurance as the car ages to reduce costs, but warns the risk is up to the owner.
  • Clark: “You can look up the used value… If it’s as depreciated out as I think it is, you can… just go liability only.” ([24:35])

• Cash vs. Finance When Buying a Car ([26:23])

  • Lisa in Minnesota: Asks if it’s smart to finance a car (even with cash available) to secure a better price and then immediately pay off the loan.
  • Clark explains this is often a valuable tactic—if the lower price comes from manufacturer incentives and there are no prepayment penalties, take the deal and pay off right after to save a potentially substantial amount.
  • Clark: “If it… generates a lower price and the loan has no prepayment penalty… then go ahead and do it to get the savings.” ([26:32])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On bank's internal split over Zelle:

  • “That is a riot that the department doesn’t want you using it at a bank. That the marketing department has embedded Zelle in the accounts because see the security department people know…” — Clark ([03:18])

• Women in trades:

  • “My pay is the same as the men. None of that crazy stuff white collar people have to deal with… You don’t need to be a bodybuilder… you’re selling yourself short, brushing off the trades just because you’re a woman.” — Amethyst ([04:49])

• On old vehicles and insurance:

  • “…if you just go liability only on it, you may find you can have your cake and eat it too…” — Clark ([24:35])

• On new car pricing trend:

  • “Are you ready for this? $50,000. We were down about 47, but the tariffs have pushed things up.” — Clark ([16:45])

• On car buyer behavior:

  • “Most of us… we’re payment buyers, we’re just hearing what it’s going to cost per month. We’re not thinking about the overall cost, the depreciation, the maintenance, the insurance…” — Clark ([16:37])

• On sign-off nostalgia:

  • “Save more, spend less, and never, never, not ever get ripped off.” — Clark ([29:00])

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Key Timestamps

| Time | Topic | |----------|-----------| | [01:05] | Episode intro and Clark Stinks segment begins | | [02:36] | Listener: Zelle security issues at banks | | [03:52] | Listener: Women in trades pushback | | [06:00] | Listener: SIM card lockout and PUK code confusion | | [07:21] | Listener: 529 plan vs. tax credit tradeoffs | | [08:43] | Listener: Currency conversion at foreign merchants clarification | | [10:21] | Listener: Car repair costs and independent mechanics | | [11:01] | Listener: Gift card theft at Dollar Tree explained | | [12:12] | Listener: Sign-off nostalgia request | | [16:06] | Main segment: Launch of the Car Cost Calculator | | [21:11] | Listener Q&A: Family car replacement timing | | [24:06] | Listener Q&A: Insuring older cars and “downgrade” decisions | | [26:23] | Listener Q&A: Financing vs. paying cash for car purchase | | [29:00] | Iconic sign-off: “Save more, spend less, and never, never, not ever get ripped off.” |

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Episode Tone

The episode retains Clark’s hallmark down-to-earth, relatable, and humorous style; he admits mistakes gladly, jokes with his team and listeners, and delivers clear, actionable consumer advice. The show's interactive structure, with listeners calling Clark out and Clark responding candidly, creates a lively, trust-building atmosphere.

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Useful Links

• Car Cost Calculator: clark.com/car-cost-calculator
• Submit a Clark Stinks or question: clark.com/askclark
• Consumer tools & hot deals: clark.com, clarkdeals.com

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This episode is a must-listen for those who want to make savvier decisions not just when buying a car, but anytime financial wisdom and a dose of humility are needed.

Transcript

[Clark Howard]

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[Clark Howard]

I'm so glad you're with us on the Clark Howard Show. You know, our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you so you make better financial decisions in your life. And in today's show, it's time for Clark Stinks. Also, I want to tell you about something I'm really proud of. A new tool our team has developed that I've not seen anywhere else to help you make a major financial decision in your life. I'm really excited about it. What I love about our decision making tools is it's like we've landed on the beach at Normandy and then from there we got better and better with it. From your feedback as we learn how we can make these tools more helpful for you making decisions. Because so much of life now is noise, that's hard to figure out. How do I make a good decision about all the different things I've got to make decisions about in a busy life? And that's what we're trying to do with our decision making tool section on clark.com but now it's time for Clark Stinks, where you get to hear how I messed up. I should have never encouraged you to speak. You must think I'm pretty stupid.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

You should be ashamed of yourself. Well, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm wrong.

[Clark Howard]

Maybe you're right, pal.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

All right, we're going to start off with Mike, in California's submission on a recent show, Clark talked about using pay apps. Clark has always advised against using Zelle, which I understand. However, I wanted to share with you a time when I was in a bind and I attempted to use Zelle to pay a vendor whom I knew well. I attempted to pay the vendor $300 but I was unsuccessful because my bank automatically blocked the attempt. I soon received a call from my bank security department and I was told that even though Zelle is a feature on their banking app, they don't want their customers to use it. Needless to say, I was shocked. In addition to sharing this story with you, I wanted to mention users should always try sending a dollar test amount first when using a payment app to pay someone for the first time.

[Clark Howard]

Okay, that is a riot that the department doesn't want you using it at a bank. That the marketing department has embedded Zelle in the accounts because see the security department people know. They know real world all the problems that people are having with Zelle, which by the way, Zelle is being sued by the state of New York for all the fraud problems that people are having with Zell and then sells like not us. I mean what do we have to do with it? We're not concerned about all this fraud.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

All right. Amethyst in Pennsylvania says Mary wrote in with a Clark stink saying you were incomplete to quote unquote. Remember the ladies. And once you suggest trades for women because in quotes the majority of trades require upper body strength. I'm a sheet metal worker and there are quite a number of women in my union as there are tons of women in all other building trades. Seriously, there are tons of us. Just drive by a site especially at lunchtime and you'll probably see some running out to get a bite to eat. There are even groups geared for women in the trades or in non traditional careers. If neat examples of fantastic women in the trades. Master Carpenter, Leah from C, Jane Drill, Beth Allen from diy Hip Chicks and Faye Hadley from Piston and Pixie Dust are just three empowering women freely sharing their knowledge. Don't sell yourself short in the trades. We get excellent health benefits, participate in building things and go places and see things the average person will never see. You have immediate gratification for seeing what your hands have created. And every day I leave work seeing what I did and I made a difference. My pay is the same as the men. None of that crazy stuff white collar people have to deal with. Bickering over unfair pay between the sexes. You don't need to be a bodybuilder, but if you feel you need to work on your upper body strength, then do just that. But you're selling yourself short, brushing off the trades just because you're a woman. I love it.

[Clark Howard]

Thank you for that. And do you remember we talked last year about how women have been taking higher and higher percentage of the jobs as a truck driver? It used to be really a male only profession and women have been doing it because they're better drivers. What?

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

What? Did I say that out loud?

[Clark Howard]

You said that out loud. The pay is the same. You know where you work for a trucking company, you're paid for productivity, you're paid per mile or however the pay works at that company. There's no discrimination, but based on being whatever race or male, female, whatever. And so women have been moving into the trucking industry for that reason. Another field that was pretty much all men.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

Pat in Texas says, Clark, you don't stink, but you made me stink. After you spoke about locking the SIM card on my phone for safety reasons, I eagerly tried to do just that. My attempt resulted in my phone being virtually inoperable because I didn't know what my PUK number was and the phone locked me out after three guesses. I couldn't make or received phone calls or texts for over two days until I went to a brick and mortar office on Monday where they couldn't unlock it either until they put a regular SIM card in, unlocked the phone, took it out again, and put me on an E SIM again. I love most of your very good financial advice. And we had several people write in with various cell phone companies saying the same thing happened to them that they.

[Clark Howard]

That they got locked out of their own phone. Wow.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

Yeah.

[Clark Howard]

Because you know, with our provider, all you do is there's on the app, there's a button you push, right? And it SIM locks your phone, which means that nobody can who's trying to get your two factor authentication to steal your money. Can. Can do that if you have your SIM locked. But if you're with a provider that requires a code, whatever this puk, I wonder what that stands for that I'm not familiar with. Then I guess you have to remember that code. My God, that's new for me.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

Well, most and most cell phone companies require you have a pin, so I don't know if it's the PIN or what it is, but okay. Glenn in Texas says, Clark, you stink worse than a skunk at a picnic. You keep praising 529 plans as if they solve everything for college costs. But here's the rotten egg. If parents pay all tuition with 529 funds, they can lose out on valuable tax credits. The American Opportunity Tax Credit can be worth up to $2,500 per student per year for the first four years of undergrad. The Lifetime Learning Credit can be worth up to $2,000 per return per year for grad school or continuing ed. But if every dollar comes from a 529, families could miss those credits entirely. A little planning saving some tuition to pay with cash instead of 529 withdrawals can mean thousands back on taxes. Clark, when you skip that warning, you stink like sour milk left in the sun.

[Clark Howard]

Thank you for that. The problem with college costs is most families have not been able to save enough money for it. But you're right that if you're too good at saving with a 529 that you end up missing the Opportunity Credit. And the way you can handle that if you save for part of college costs is you only use 529 money in a particular year and other years you get the Opportunity Credit.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

Pete in Georgia says Currency Conversion when paying by a card On a recent trip to the UK I paid for breakfast with a credit card and selected US dollars as opposed to pounds as the currency as Clark always recommends. This receipt shows I was charged a 5% markup on the currency conversion rate. This seems high. I wonder if I would have been better off selecting pounds. How can I know what is better beforehand?

[Clark Howard]

So Pete, I must be terrible as a communicator because what I've always said is the opposite and I must have not explained it well when you heard it. You always want to clear in local currency, never in US Dollars. This is a scam that is that is played on Americans all over the world. It seems now where they act like they're doing you a favor clearing purchase in US dollars or an ATM clearing it in US dollars. Then they charge you often 10% extra for the convenience fee of having cleared you in US Dollars. You always want your purchases overseas. Any withdrawal from an atm, always in the local currency and a lot of the terminals now in Europe will default to US Dollars. You have to override that and say you want it in euro or pounds or Swiss francs or whatever. You never want to clear in US dollars at an ATM or at a payment device.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

Richard in West Virginia says, dear Clark, you stink worse than a mechanic's old coveralls. When someone wrote in about paying $1,000 to replace a wheel bearing in your car. You didn't say anything about the ridicul they paid. I checked my purchase history on Amazon and I paid $88 each for brand name wheel bearings for my car, which I installed myself. Even including labor, there's no way it should have cost $1,000. Please advise people to never get any work done at a dealership unless it's under warranty. Instead, find an independent mechanic, preferably one that specializes in their type of brand of vehicle, or better yet, learn to do it themselves.

[Clark Howard]

Richard, I couldn't have said that better myself. Thank you for writing that.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

Richard in West Virginia says Dear Clark is someone who's supposed to just said.

[Clark Howard]

Richard in West Virginia.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

Oh, he wrote in twice. I didn't realize that. Okay, well, Richard, you get both yours read. As someone who is supposedly a big fan of Dollar Tree, you should realize the reason someone spent over 900 on a stolen credit card was because they bought a bunch of gift cards there. Our local Dollar Tree has a select a section where you can buy gift cards from different stores like Apple cards, gaming cards, etc and I think even prepaid debit cards. The thief was not buying hundreds of items at $1.25 each to sell later.

[Clark Howard]

Thank you for that because you taught me something I didn't know. I never think about buying gift cards, so I probably it's like they're invisible to me when I walk through the $25 tree.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

All right, another one from Richard. No, I'm just kidding. This one's from Thomas in Georgia. Clark doesn't stink, but I have one sort of nostalgic request. When you sign off each episode, please go back to your old way of saying it. Save more, spend less, and don't let anyone ever rip you off. Too often you say avoiding getting ripped off. These days, not nearly as much fun.

[Clark Howard]

You know what? It's funny you say that because I did at one point used to saying don't ever, not ever allow anyone to rip you off. And now I just have shortened to say avoid. You know, avoid getting ripped off. So I'll try to remember every once in a while to say never, never, not ever getting ripped off like I just did for you twice, right then. Coming up ahead. Speaking of ripping yourself off, spending too much money on the second largest purchase we make. That's the vehicles we drive. I got a new tool to get you to overcome new car Beaver.

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[Clark Howard]

So I just mentioned minutes ago that I was going to talk about a new tool we've developed and we'll keep refining it. This is the first version that's now available. But the point of this is to really get you thinking about what the average vehicle this averages we have here cost to own, depending on what you pay, how you finance it and how long you intend to keep the vehicle. And then we compare it to what that vehicle would cost you buying it used. The purpose of this tool is to give you a sense about how much of your pay when you get new car fever and you go in and you buy something. And most of us, let's face it, we're payment buyers, we're just hearing what it's going to cost per month. We're not thinking about the overall cost, the depreciation, the maintenance, the insurance, all the things involved with owning a vehicle. And so the numbers stare right at you because it is in a sense a decision tree. Should I be looking at a two or three old car, year old vehicle? Should I be looking at a new one? What's the difference going to cost me if I intend to own the vehicle this long or that long, what's it actually going to cost me? And so it puts very quickly numbers there for you to stare at and what it's actually going to take out of your life. If you have a vehicle you loved but now you just kind of tolerate it because it's gotten older and more worn out and it's not shiny new and it's paid for, it's depreciated out. You're thinking, but wouldn't it be great to have this new thing I want you to see what isn't it great gonna cost you? So you can put in the average cost of a new vehicle, which right now is pretty much right around. Are you ready for this? You ready? $50,000. 50,000. We were down about 47, but the tariffs have pushed things up. Now we're going to be about 50 grand. And on this tool you very quickly put in the price, whatever it is, maybe vehicle, you're looking at 38,000 or 64,000 or whatever it is you put that in. Put in what your anticipated down payment is, what you likely qualify at your credit union. Or if you don't have a credit union, you want to go to an inferior bank, what the bank will issue your loan for, what the interest rate is, how long you're going to take out that loan, new or used, how long you're going to keep the vehicle. And then the numbers hit you with right in the face, what it's going to cost you to make that decision to buy those new wheels. And then down below to do the full guilt trip, we got a tool that shows how much money you're going to save keeping your current car longer versus buying the new wheels you're intending to buy or buying used instead of new, how much money you're going to save. So it just goes bam, bam bam bam. Hitting you as hard as I can so that you won't trap yourself in a vehicle. Why do I call it a trap? Because people have been doing loans that are longer, longer and longer. And then you're upside down in the vehicle for the entire life of the loan, meaning you are trapped upside down even if you realize, oops, I shouldn't have bought that. You have no way out. And then life happens. And sadly the rate of vehicle repos is going up, up and away right now. And it's so upsetting. The percent of people that are delinquent on their vehicle loans has gone up so much. So please go to our tools on clark.com and we call them calculators on the website we do.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

There's a shortcut to this one. Clark.com Car Cost Calculator can you say that three times? Clark.com Car Cost Calculator say it quicker for you. Clark.com Carcos Calculator. You're the worst.

[Clark Howard]

I know. I'm a terrible person.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

Just kidding. No you're.

[Clark Howard]

I'm a terrible person.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

You're not.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah I am. Go ahead.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

Now you say it fast.

[Clark Howard]

No, because I know I can't. I knew you couldn't either.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

Ken in Oregon says my wife and I currently have a paid off 2019 Subaru Forester with 50000 miles and 4 and 1 year old girls. We are hoping to have one more kid in the next year or two. My wife is adamant that we will need a new car. It kills me to lose a paid off Subaru with such low miles. But I agree it will be very tight. With three kids our Current second vehicle is an old two seater truck with almost no value that I drive occasionally. We both work from home, so currently have little use for two SUVs. Although that could change when our kids start playing sports. What would Clark do? Buy a bigger vehicle and sell the Subaru. Buy a bigger vehicle and also keep the Subaru. Knowing life changes and we may need two kid haulers. Or make the Subaru work and use the money on a divorce lawyer. My wife eventually leaves me.

[Clark Howard]

Oh boy, oh boy. Okay, so Ken, there's a third option. It's what I would recommend. It's not the time yet to ditch the Subaru. Subaru is very low miles. It's only six years old. And right now you only have the two kids. So when the third child comes along, which, who knows if that's a year, two years, three years, whenever that is, that's when you make the decision to get a new vehicle. And what I would do at that point, the Subaru is at the age where the depreciation will start leveling out. Because the greatest depreciation is in the first three years. Then it's a little less years four and five and then after the fifth year it's doesn't depreciate much each year. So as you said, the Subaru, the 2019 Subaru paid off. So keep driving it with the agreement with your wife that when the third child is born that then you get a larger vehicle and I would keep the Subaru and get the new vehicle. Unless the much older. What was the other vehicle?

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

Truck.

[Clark Howard]

Truck. Well, you're not going to be able to take the kids in the truck. In a pinch you could take the kids and the really comfortable new bigger thing or squeeze them in the Subaru. So I would keep this.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

You don't need car seats.

[Clark Howard]

Huh?

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

You don't need car seats. Just kidding.

[Clark Howard]

Well, I don't know if the forester will take three car seats.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

Right, that's the thing.

[Clark Howard]

But anyway, I would keep the forester and get the new vehicle, but not yet. No need to take on that new vehicle at this time. And so she's getting the new vehicle just on a different time.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

So she's right.

[Clark Howard]

She's right. But the right is delayed.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

She's just right too soon. Okay. John in Florida says myself and my wife both work remotely and have since the pandemic. I'm thinking about selling my second car, a 2015 Infiniti Q50 or I would like to possibly downgrade as it will cut my insurance by $1,000. A year by only having one car. Is there a good option or list for cheap cars? For insurance, I would just need something simple to get around town as we use my wife's 2022 Palisade for road trips, et cetera.

[Clark Howard]

So the 2015 Infiniti. I'm wondering if you're still insuring it in full. It's old enough now at this point that the math probably works for you to only have liability coverage on it. And then you're your own insurance company. If at its age at this point, 11 model year old Infinity, if it's as depreciated out as I think it is, you can look up the used value of it, then you don't have to think of this as an either or, that you get rid of it and not have a second vehicle or a different second vehicle that this one, you know it, you know how it performs. If it's behaving okay, you use the word downgrade, which makes me think you really like it. If you just go liability only on it, you may find that you can have your cake and eat it too. That you still are able to drive the vehicle you've enjoyed and know and lower the cost of it by going liability insurance only knowing that if you then have a wreck in and it's totaled, you're going to hate me. Because now whatever remaining value it has, you're the one that absorbs it. But the average person has a wreck, I think it's every 10 or 11 years. So the odds are with you that you're going to be fine driving it. And I wouldn't do that with a vehicle that was worth a lot of money, like a new vehicle or one that was an exotic, that was worth a lot of money, but one that's got as much age as this one, you're probably fine just going liability.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Caller]

Lisa, Minnesota says, I'm wondering if you're able to pay cash for a car, if you should finance instead to get the best price and then pay the loan off right away.

[Clark Howard]

So Lisa, this is a game. A lot of people who have the resources to pay cash for a car do. Especially if the manufacturer, not the dealer, the manufacturer is offering a special factory incentive where you get a lower price on the vehicle if you finance it with them. So if it in fact will generate a lower price and the loan has no prepayment penalty. Yeah, take out the loan, get the lower price, and then soon after you pay off the loan, you might have to leave the loan open for 30 to 90 days and then you pay it off. The savings can be today, oddly, a few thousand dollars on the purchase price of a vehicle. If you elect to finance instead of paying cash, you'll have a little bit of interest for that very short period of time. As long as you execute the payoff and get it done, it can save you money. But what you do when you're getting a quote on a car and I want you get them online, you never discuss financing. You just as you're getting quotes from dealers on specific VIN numbers, you want to get what the price is to buy the vehicle, including all junk fees and taxes. And then you've got something to really compare it to. And if the dealer wants to offer you a lower price for financing and it's substantial enough that it's worth the hassle of setting up a loan that you're then going to pay off in a month or so, then go ahead and do it to get the savings. And that concludes our podcast and YouTube show today. I hope that you have an absolutely wonderful weekend. No. We serve you all weekend long on our social media posts on our websites clark.com and clarkdeals.com with our newsletters. We are here for you so you are empowered with knowledge so you can save more, spend less and never, never, not ever get ripped off.

[Mint Mobile Legal Disclaimer / Alicia Wainwright]

Did you know we can use climate data to predict when and where infectious disease outbreaks will happen? This is just one of the many things we'll be learning about in season three of When Science Finds a Way. I'm Alicia Wainwright and I'm really excited to share our new episodes with you. From making healthy food sustainable to improving global access to vaccines and getting the arts on the global mental health agenda, listen to season three wherever you get your podcasts.