10.22.25 HSA Changes / Operational Cost Compare: EVs, Hybrids & Gas Vehicles

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Clark Howard Podcast

Episode: 10.22.25 | Date: October 22, 2025
Theme: HSA Changes for 2026 & Comparing Operational Costs: EVs, Hybrids, and Gas Vehicles
Host: Clark Howard

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Episode Overview

Clark Howard dives into two major personal finance topics:

1. Big changes to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) for 2026—new eligibility rules and strategies to maximize their long-term tax benefits.
2. The cost comparison of owning and operating electric vehicles (EVs), hybrids, and gas vehicles—highlighting what's changed post-EV tax credits and how car buyers can save money.

The episode also features travel and vehicle purchase-related listener Q&A, with Clark's trademark blend of practical advice and cost-cutting tips.

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Main Segment #1: Major Health Savings Account (HSA) Changes for 2026

HSA Primer & Why They Matter

• Definition: HSAs are tax-advantaged accounts letting you save and invest money for medical expenses.
• Triple Tax Advantage: Money goes in tax-free, grows tax-free, and can be spent tax-free on qualified medical costs.
• Key Point: "If your employer is offering an HSA and they will seed money to it, that money flows to you tax free.“ (Clark, 01:54)
• Most people spend their HSA contributions as needs arise, but the 'magic' happens if you can pay out of pocket and let the HSA grow, investing it for decades (ideally with a low-fee provider like Fidelity).

2026 HSA Eligibility Changes (05:30)

• Expansion: New legislation makes many more people HSA-eligible in 2026.
  • If you buy coverage on the health care exchange and choose a bronze plan (even catastrophic plans), you become HSA-eligible.
  • Direct Primary Care: Now, patients using direct primary care models (subscription-based, no insurance billing) are also HSA-eligible if properly insured.
• Clark's Emphasis: "You maybe never having thought about or been eligible for one now are potentially going to be eligible in 26 and what that actually means for you." (Clark, 01:14)

Strategy Tips & Pitfalls

• Use the HSA as a long-term investment, not just emergency cash.
• Move your HSA if your employer’s administrator charges high fees: "You have the right to move tax free…into an account with someone else. The easiest path…is moving the money to Fidelity." (Clark, 04:37)
• HSAs work best for: Entrepreneurs, individuals with discipline to invest, and anyone able to pay routine medical out-of-pocket.
• After 65: Unused HSA funds can be withdrawn penalty-free for any use (but are then taxed as ordinary income).

Notable Quotes

• “If you are in a position where you can afford to pay your out of pockets for medical…let the HSA money grow and you can invest it…the best choice I know of in America is investing your HSA with Fidelity.” (Clark, 03:20)
• “The real payoff, yeah, it’s medical because past 65…your parents are still living, how many doctor visits do they go to a month? Oh, 340.” (Clark, 08:33)
• “The HSA money is your mad money for tax free payment of medical expenses.” (Clark, 08:51)

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Listener Q&A: Travel and Currency Questions

Q1: What to Do with Old Coins in a Cashless Society? (09:19)

• Advice: Pennies/silver coins often have metal or collectible value above face.
  • Option: Turn them into gift cards via coin machines.
  • Otherwise, hold for future collector value.
• Memorable Moment: “Pennies by themselves are worth more than a penny. The copper…they're worth more than the actual penny.” (Clark, 09:45)

Q2: Currency for SE Asia Travel (11:00)

• Clark’s Tips:
  • Use ATMs at bank branches in each country for the best exchange rates.
  • Bring a limited supply of new, crisp US $20 or $100 bills as backup—some rural Asian areas demand “pristine” bills.
  • In tourist/populated areas, credit cards and ATMs should suffice.
  • "You'll be able to use an ATM to get local currency...in population centers that attract tourists...credit cards are accepted all over the place." (Clark, 11:56, 13:32)

Q3: Passport Renewal Timing (13:59)

• Guidance: Renew 9 months before expiry; the State Department encourages early renewal. Many can now renew digitally, and turnaround times have improved (~4 weeks recently).
• Clark's Travel Philosophy: “I love exploration. I love being new places, meeting new people, experiencing new things. It's just the best.” (Clark, 16:52)

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Main Segment #2: EV, Hybrid & Gas Vehicle Operational Cost Comparison

Post-EV Tax Credit Market Update (19:49)

• Tax Credit Gone: With the $7,500 EV credit ending, carmakers are cutting production and/or vehicle prices.
• Buyer behavior shift: There was a rush to buy EVs before September to capture the credit.

Cost to Drive 100 Miles—By Vehicle Type (20:14)

• Data from The Upshot (NY Times):
  • Electric Vehicle (EV): ~$5
  • Hybrid: Just over $6
  • Gasoline Vehicle: Just under $13
• Key Insight: “Hybrids cost just a little more to go 100 miles than an electric vehicle...but so much less than a gas engine.” (Clark, 21:03)

Hybrid vs. "Mild Hybrid" (23:38)

• Real Hybrid: Substantially bigger battery, can drive on electric alone at low speeds, saves fuel during acceleration.
• Mild Hybrid: Small battery, only supports minor functions. Dealers may misrepresent.

Clark’s Take:

• Electric cars are fun, but even if you’re not ready for one, “at least…look at a hybrid. Because the cost over time...the hybrid will save you every single time you start it up and drive that vehicle.” (Clark, 24:27)
• The extra upfront cost of a hybrid pays for itself quickly in fuel savings.

Quote: “If you pay two grand more, let's say, for the hybrid version...the hybrid will save you every single time you start it up.” (Clark, 24:45)

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Listener Q&A: Car Buying and Lending

Q1: Buying from Private Car Owners (25:24)

• Clark’s Answer: It’s smart if you’re patient, knowledgeable, and able to get vehicles mechanically inspected.
• Note: Most people aren't comfortable with private-party transactions, but it's an excellent way to avoid dealer markup.
• Story: "Krista...bought a new vehicle from a private seller...each time you had it checked out...first three vehicles all failed inspection. And then…the fourth time was the charm." (Clark, 26:36)

Q2: Buying Former Rental Cars (27:05)

• Clark’s Recommendation: Used to recommend; not now.
  • Rental agencies now run cars to 40-50k miles without robust maintenance—bald tires, warning lights are common.
  • Fleet practices haven’t adjusted for longer vehicle use.
  • Also: Be wary of buying from Hertz due to aggressive, AI-driven post-rental billing.
  • “I'm paying $120 more to rent from someone else just to avoid Hertz…because of the problems people are having with Hertz sending people AI bills after their rental.” (Clark, 28:37)

Q3: What Happens if Your Auto Lender Goes Bankrupt? (30:22)

• Clark’s Advice: You still have to pay the loan; however, keep careful records.
  • Repossession processes can become tangled in bankruptcy court, but this doesn’t typically affect regular consumers keeping their payments current.
  • Refinance Tips: Credit unions are the best bet for auto loan refinancing; they typically offer lower rates than dealers or banks.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On HSAs:
  “You have the right to move [your HSA], tax free…into an account with someone else. The easiest path…is moving the money to Fidelity.” (Clark, 04:37)

• On EV Cost:
  “To drive 100 miles in an electric vehicle costs a tiny fraction of what it costs to drive a gas engine…the upshot…did an analysis…electric vehicle: $5, hybrid: just over $6, gas: almost $13.” (Clark, 21:00)

• On Car Rentals:
  “I don't advise [buying former rental cars]. They're keeping vehicles 40, 50,000 miles…the cars are a mess…tires are bald, warning lights on the dashboard...They just are not maintaining their fleets.” (Clark, 27:25)

• On Credit Unions:
  “You’re going to have a great, great day in your life the day you join a credit union where you own the place.” (Clark, 31:31)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• HSAs: Primer & Strategy - 00:59–08:51
• 2026 HSA Eligibility Changes - 05:30–08:14
• Q&A: Old Coins - 09:19–11:00
• Q&A: Currency Abroad - 11:00–13:53
• Q&A: Passport Renewal - 13:59–17:16
• EV/Hybrid/Gas Cost Comparison - 19:49–25:24
• Q&A: Private Car Buying - 25:24–27:05
• Q&A: Rental Car Purchase - 27:05–30:22
• Q&A: Auto Lender Bankruptcy & Credit Unions - 30:22–31:50

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Tone and Style

Clark remains upbeat, practical, and focused on consumer empowerment, tying every topic back to cost savings, avoiding rip-offs, and long-term financial health. The tone is friendly, conversational, and laced with personal anecdotes to reinforce the advice.

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Final Takeaways

• **HSAs are set to become an even more vital financial tool; plan ahead for 2026.
• For most drivers, hybrids or EVs are strongly favored for savings—and be wise to misleading “mild hybrid” labels.
• Be scrupulous about car buying methods and cautious with used rental cars and certain rental agencies.
• Credit unions remain a Clark Howard favorite for personal lending.

For more tips, visit Clark.com or submit your questions to the show at clark.com/askclark.

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Transcript

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[Clark Howard]

It's great to have you here on Clark Howard Show. You know our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you to make better financial decisions in your life. And one way we serve you is through our Team Clark Consumer Action Center. It's where you can get free one on one advice and this is something we've been offering since 1993. You want to know how to get your question answered? Go to clark.com cac today I want to address the big changes coming in HSAs for 26 and how you maybe never having thought about or been eligible for one now are potentially going to be eligible in 26 and what that actually means for you. And then later EV credits gone. So the sales of EVs gonna fall off a cliff. But how much cheaper is it really for you if you have an EV to run it versus a gas engine? I'm gonna fill you in on that later. It's all part of the calculations of what makes sense over time for you to be driving. So HSAs health savings accounts. Something I've been excited about for a generation and nobody else is. It's funny because life has so much noise in it. Life's so complicated. We have so many decisions we have to make. Then one more set of initials. You really want me to worry about another thing? Yeah, because the HSA if you're eligible for one, is the greatest place for you to stash cash. Because an HSA stands for Health Savings Account. If your employer is offering an HSA and they will seed money to it, that money flows to you Tax free. That plus whatever you contribute to your HSA up to the max you're allowed each year and we have the dollar totals for 26 in a briefing on clark.com you are able to have that money grow and have it invested through the decades and then that becomes a tax free pile of cash. Because not only does it does it grow tax free, it's spent tax free, used for eligible medical expenses and much, much, much later in life. Not in the Wayback machine, but the way forward machine. When you hit the point that you are retired, you are going to have in the last few decades of life, you will have a lot more medical expenses than you had your entire prior years of life. So then you're able to draw that money out tax free for the medical expenses that come out of your pocket in retirement. It's the coolest thing. Now most people who have an employer provided HSA have like no money in it. Whatever the employer puts in, they'll draw it down when they have a bill, a medical bill and they treat it as like emergency cash supply. But if you are in a position where you can afford to pay your out of pockets for medical routinely over time, each year, each visit and you let the HSA money grow and you can invest it with. The best choice I know of in America is investing your HSA with Fidelity. And hopefully others will come along and say or this company or that company, you've got this opportunity of a whole nother income stream later in life that is tax free. Now who benefits the most? Usually the people who follow those steps I talked about are not people who work for a big company that offers an HSA and seed some money to it. It is entrepreneurs and individuals who understand the advantage of long term growth from investing and especially understanding tax free benefits. Going with the investing not just tax free growth, but tax free spending from it, tax never having to be paid. That's who really really benefits. But if you have a plan through an employer, odds more often than not or the HSA administrator they offer is awful. Horrible charges monster fees because the employer is doing this benefit but they don't want to pay for it. So they end up sticking you as the employee with these monster fee schedules. But you have the right to move tax free as you build up money in it into an account with someone else. So you'd have two HSAs, one with the crummy employer plan and then another with a good plan. The easiest path, least resistance right now is moving the money to Fidelity in your HSA and let it grow through the years. Now what happens in the way forward machine? You later in life decide, hey, forget medical, I need the money. Well, you get clobbered on that. You pay a penalty and tax on the money unless you're out of retirement age, then you just pay tax. It's only fully tax free. And you only get the full benefits of an HSA if you are going to use the money for medical bills. What's new in 26 is if you buy your own coverage on the health care exchange and you buy a bronze plan. Congress just changed the law for 26. You're HSA eligible with a bronze plan because you can buy bronze, silver, gold, I don't know there are any platinums anymore. But if you buy a bronze plan that doesn't have as great a benefits as the other colors on the plan, then you are HSA eligible. If you buy a catastrophic plan on the health care exchange for you as an individual, for your family, you again are HSA eligible. And if you use a direct primary care provider, which direct primary care is now how 5% of primary care doctors work where they don't accept insurance, you pay them a monthly subscription, but not a huge one like with a concierge doctor and you go see them and you see them for free, you don't involve insurance. You are eligible now for an HSA as long as you have a direct primary care provider.

[Co-host/Guest]

All right.

[Clark Howard]

That's a lot to spit out.

[Co-host/Guest]

It is a lot. You know what you were saying about the. If you decide you don't want to use the HSA for medical expenses, if you're 65 plus, you don't, you just, you pay ordinary income tax. So it's kind of like another IRA at that point. So it's really not, you know, it's still a good idea to do it even if that's your choice, right?

[Clark Howard]

Yeah, I mean it is, but I mean the real payoff. Yeah, it's medical because past 65. All right, your parents are still living. How many doctor visits do they go to a month? Oh, 340.

[Co-host/Guest]

A lot.

[Clark Howard]

A lot every week, right?

[Co-host/Guest]

All the time.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah. So the advantage of having that money later in life, that you're not having to use the precious dollars coming in from Social Security or if you're lucky enough that you either got hit by a meteor or you have an employer pension, if you have that money, you want to use that money to live on. And the HSA money is your mad money for tax free payment of medical expenses.

[Co-host/Guest]

Right. Okay, we're going to go to questions.

[Clark Howard]

Yes, ma'. Am.

[Co-host/Guest]

These were all [e-mail] Ask Jennifer in Alabama says, with our society seemingly becoming more and more cashless, what do you suggest I do with old coins? Mainly silver and some pennies. Will they lose all their value since we're going cashless? Should I cash them in now?

[Clark Howard]

Well, this is, this is funny because there's so many coins in people's drawers in their houses or in an old container or whatever, nobody knows what to do with them. I mean, pennies by themselves are worth more than a penny. The copper and do they even have copper anymore? Whatever metals are in them, they're worth more than the actual penny. The same. You know, silver has finally recovered from the 1980 or 80s crash. And value silver has gone way up in value of coins that are actual silver to them. They likely could end up being worth more than the stated value on them. So, I mean, I don't know what you do with old coins. I mean, you hold them long enough and maybe they become. For the people inherit from you, they become something that becomes valuable as a collector's item. I mean, who knows? But what I did, I went to this machine.

[Co-host/Guest]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Clark Howard]

You could turn them into gift cards and stuff. Yeah. And so you got a dollar for dollar and then immediately use the gift card because, you know, I hate gift cards.

[Co-host/Guest]

Right.

[Clark Howard]

But I just, I just liquidated all my coins.

[Co-host/Guest]

All right. Kristen in California says my best friend moved back home to Jakarta, Indonesia. I'm going to visit in January and the two of us will also travel to Bali, Malaysia and Thailand.

[Clark Howard]

Awesome.

[Co-host/Guest]

Oh my gosh.

[Clark Howard]

In January.

[Co-host/Guest]

Wow.

[Clark Howard]

Okay. You're only a genius.

[Co-host/Guest]

She says I should use a credit card whenever I can, but I may need to use cash in some instances. She says I should exchange money in each country. She also said that American bills must be pristine with no fold marks, turned corners, etc. Otherwise the money exchangers won't accept it. She suggests that I order $100 bills from my bank. So the bills are brand new. I'm to going a little uncomfortable traveling with cash in the first place, let alone large amounts of cash. What's your suggestion? Do I order the $100 bills and exchange them in each country? Do I convert the foreign money back to American dollars and do this before I leave each country?

[Clark Howard]

Okay, so you haven't said how remote the areas you're going to be going into in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. But having traveled a lot in Asia, as long as you're in big population Centers, you're, you're probably going to start, I gather in Jakarta and then go to Bali as an example, you'll be able to use an ATM to get local currency to get Indonesian currency. Right. When you get to the country, you want to use an ATM at a bank branch, not just a UFO atmosphere. And in terms of taking US cash, yes. You're going to have people who are going to be very skeptical of counterfeit US bills. So taking just a small number of hundred dollar bills or a larger number of twenties that are in pristine condition is not a bad backup. But in all three countries, you're going to be spending time in population centers. You'll be able to use an ATM card which will get you a better exchange rate than you are going to get at a human teller in the countries getting local currency. The other thing is that in population centers that attract tourists in Bali, I mean credit cards are accepted all over the place. Now you are in Bali, were you able, did you have credit card everywhere? You didn't ever have to use cash?

[Co-host/Guest]

Nope, nowhere.

[Clark Howard]

So it's not the same level of difficulty. Now if your best friend is going to take you to extremely rural areas in any of three countries, whole different story. It is still a non electronic economy in extremely rural areas of Asia. And there you are going to need cash.

[Co-host/Guest]

I would just bring some like maybe a compromise in between. Bring a couple hundred dollars or something.

[Clark Howard]

Makes sense.

[Co-host/Guest]

Just in case. Okay, one more travel one from Cynthia in Michigan. I have two international trips planned for 2026. My passport is fine for trip number one expiring six months and two weeks after this trip. However, the passport expires in less than six months for trip number two. There is not enough time between the two trips to get a new one. How far ahead can I renew my passport and hopefully cover both vacations?

[Clark Howard]

Well, the State Department loves it if you want to renew it extremely early. They they don't have an early deadline that you can't renew before. In fact, they recommend that you renew a passport nine months out so you have no problem planning out. And passport renewals, at least for now, have been far, far faster than they've been a good long while. Also, you may be eligible for digital renewal where you don't have to fill out any physical paperwork. You can do the whole thing online. And the digital passports are a little bit quicker. But weirdly, I've been hearing from people that are renewing passports, not rush, that they've been getting them in about four weeks, which is crazy fast for what historically has been the case with renewing a passport? So, so what you do is you just simply forfeit some time of the remaining of the 10 years you had on that passport, get your new passport and you're going to be just fine. And I don't think there's any extra charge for getting the fatter, what's called passport book than the standard. And it's great because if you end up over the next 10 years traveling a whole lot, you're not going to have your passport die on you early because you're out of pages. I am embarrassed to say that I've had to early renew my passport because when I renewed my last one, they weren't making the expanded ones available and I've filled the, the passport book.

[Co-host/Guest]

Why are you embarrassed to say that? That's amazing.

[Clark Howard]

It means that I'm an over privileged spoiled brat or you save your money.

[Co-host/Guest]

And you use it to. You always try to save wherever you. It's your love. I think it's fine. It's not like you're just racking up credit cards.

[Clark Howard]

But I think I've got like two more trips in me in that passport before I'm going to have to renew it. Because I looked the last time and Guy was flipping the pages and he was looking for a place to stamp him. Like, oh no.

[Co-host/Guest]

I mean you're like, I have to say you're a very happy, go, lucky, joyful person. But I don't see you happier than when you're traveling. Like even in the whole airport process. It's kind of.

[Clark Howard]

Airports are awesome. I just, even when they're dumps, airports are just great because you look and you see. I mean other than the business travelers, the excitement in people and what they're getting to go see, how they're getting to explore. I mean, I love exploration. I love being new places, meeting new people, experiencing new things. It's just, it's just the best.

[Co-host/Guest]

It's infectious. It's infectious for the rest of us.

[Clark Howard]

So here's something that has not been so fun for people of late and that's when it's time for you to make a decision about buying a vehicle. There's a lot of change right now in the vehicle market and I want to tell you some stuff about what it actually costs to operate a vehicle moving forward. Depending on what kind of vehicle you buy.

[Schwab Announcer]

We all have moments when we could have done better. Like cutting your own hair. Yikes. Or forgetting sunscreen. So now you look like a tomato.

[Co-host/Guest]

Ouch.

[Schwab Announcer]

Coulda done better. Same goes for where you invest. Level up and invest smarter with Schwab. Get market insights, education and human help.

[Clark Howard]

When you need it.

[Schwab Announcer]

Learn [e-mail].

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[Clark Howard]

So the electric vehicle tax credit gone. And so automakers are having to respond. A lot of automakers are reducing the production of electric vehicles, figuring that the demand, the absolute demand, will just fall off a cliff. And it will for a while because there was some pull forward purchasing in September where people were buying electric vehicles who may have thought about it, intended to later. Whatever they rushed the purchase. Well, they could still get the 7, 500 credit. So you've got people cutting back on production, got others cutting prices of models to account for that. Hyundai and Kia, which are big sellers of electric vehicles in the United States, have both done that. Same owner essentially have cut the prices of their electric vehicles and Tesla came out with stripped down versions of The Model Y and the Model 3 to account for the ending of the tax credit. But again, the real thing that matters over time. What does it cost to fuel up a vehicle? Whatever kind. And what's interesting is the upshot, which is something owned by. The New York Times did an analysis of what it costs to drive vehicles in all 50 states of different kinds. And what I found fascinating is to drive 100 miles in an electric vehicle costs a tiny fraction of of what it costs to drive a gas engine, the typical gas engine vehicle. So it's a little over five bucks to drive an electric vehicle for the energy to go 100 miles. A gas vehicle, just under 13 bucks. But there's a third thing, and what's been selling like crazy in the United States the last three years, Hybrids. Hybrids cost just a little more to go 100 miles than an electric vehicle. If you're not ready to make the leap to an electric, what's clear as day is that buying a hybrid because the fuel economy of a hybrid, a real hybrid, I'll tell you what that means in a second of a real hybrid is so phenomenally better than the gas engine version of that same vehicle that the cost of going 100 miles for fuel is less than half. Just over 6 bucks to go 100 miles in the hybrid and almost 13 in the gas engine. Big reason for this is the blend of driving that most people do. Hybrids thrive in fuel economy and suburban driving with, you know, a lot of stopping and going. And, you know, in suburban driving, people are driving lower than freeway speeds, generally, even if you're on a freeway. And so hybrids can get 50 to 60 miles a gallon in city suburban driving, which is more than twice what the gas engine equivalent might get. So again, a lot of people, I've been driving electric for 14 years now, and it's just fun for me. So I can't picture going back to a gas engine vehicle. It's just not my thing. But if you or someone not considering the other direction, coming from gas to electric, then at least when you're looking at your next vehicle, look at a hybrid. Because the cost over time, even if you pay two grand more, let's say, for the hybrid version of a vehicle, than the gas engine, the hybrid will save you every single time you start it up and drive that vehicle. You'll be saving so much money. Now, I said, what's a real hybrid? I said, I address that. A lot of automakers put on their vehicles what are known as mild hybrids, which are a little bit larger than A regular battery in a car, they'll put this little extra battery in there that takes care of some functions in the vehicle. Like the thing a lot of people hate, the stop start thing where it'll shut off at a red light, that kind of thing. And it does almost nothing for your fuel economy. But a lot of dealers will mislead you, thinking you're getting a real hybrid. A real hybrid is a larger battery, not anything like an electric vehicle would happen. A larger battery that can do in slow traffic. You can be fully electric. When you're accelerating, the battery picks up a lot of the work getting you up to speed. Because a lot of the hit on fuel economy that happens with a traditional gas engine is an accelerating. And so that's why the hybrid makes such an enormous difference. And what your wallet is going to be dinged per 100 miles you drive.

[Co-host/Guest]

All right, ready for some questions?

[Clark Howard]

I'm ready.

[Co-host/Guest]

All right. Couple are about buying cars. Doug in Georgia says, why don't you ever suggest that car buyers buy from private owners? My philosophy is, why not give my money to a private owner versus paying the grossly overpriced dealer prices? I've not purchased a car from a dealer since 2013. There are plenty of private sellers who are offering their vehicles, and many are mechanically sound.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah, Doug, great question. So I'm always getting the question not from buyers, but from sellers. So what I've addressed is how difficult it is as an individual seller to deal in the private market, which is why so few vehicles actually are sold that way, transacted that way. But yes, if you're somebody who's very patient, you go out there, you test drive from private sellers, you make sure they have the actual title in their possession. Yeah, you cut out that middle person markup, and it's great. I mean, you also probably are somebody with some basic knowledge about the mechanics of automobiles. Most people are not that into that. But when Krista years ago bought a new vehicle from a private seller, each time you had it checked out by diagnostic mechanic, and it was the first three vehicles all failed inspection. And then the fourth vehicle, fourth time was the charm.

[Co-host/Guest]

It was so I paid $100 in inspection, if I remember right. So it cost me $400 in inspections, but totally worth it not to get a.

[Clark Howard]

You ended up with an extremely reliable vehicle that you loved. Yeah.

[Co-host/Guest]

All right. Gary in North Carolina says, I saw where some of the cars for rent from Hertz or Enterprise came up for sale. And usually with around 40,000 miles, they will sell you a Compact car. Do you recommend getting one of these cars? I believe the quality is passable. May have some generic body issues if you look closely. Thanks for your help.

[Clark Howard]

So do I recommend buying from rental car fleets? I used to. I have not in the last five years. And the reason is what you said. They're now keeping vehicles 40, 50,000 miles on the odometer. So I rent cars a lot. Typical year, about 30 rental cars a year. What I have found is that the rental car companies were not really set up for owning cars past 10,000 miles. And so the cars are a mess a lot of times the tires are bald, there's all kinds of warning lights on the dashboard. And I'm renting from the big companies. They just are not maintaining their fleets. I think they kept waiting to get back to their normal ownership cycles which were as short as six months and now they're owning them so much longer. And to my experience, I don't know what they'd say, but my experience they're still not adjusting to being multi year owners of the fleets, so I don't advise it. I should mention Hertz has reached a deal with Amazon and people interested in used cars from rental car fleets which again I don't recommend, can now buy one entirely [e-mail] I should mention aside about Hertz. You know, I talked recently on the podcast about why I won't rent from Hertz and it's funny, I'm taking a one way van rental. That's a really expensive thing to do. So I'm looking at all the car rental companies and Hertz was the cheapest for the one way van rental. I'm paying $120 more to rent from someone else just to avoid hurts because of the problems people are having with Hertz sending people AI bills after their rental, saying, oh, we found a hairline scratch on the back rim and it's going to cost you $880 for that or whatever you pay us within 72 hours or else. And there's no appeal with this crazy Hertz AI thing. And when people try to call and talk to somebody, they can't reach anybody. And so I don't rent from Hertz right now. And I would advise you to be very, very cautious renting from Hertz until their system is reworked to have some actual fairness and authenticity to it. And as I said before, hers wants to come on and rebut me. You're welcome. On the podcast and YouTube show, Diana.

[Co-host/Guest]

NC says I'm working with my niece on her Finances. And she has a high interest rate auto loan that she will try to refinance soon when she can. I saw that one auto lender has declared bankruptcy. It wasn't her lender. And I was wondering, just out of curiosity, what happens to those loans and vehicles in that kind of circumstance?

[Clark Howard]

Okay, so this has been, for people who read in the financial press like you, Diane, there's been a big finance and business story, massive bankruptcy of behind the curtain auto lender. And so people, unfortunately with those loans have to keep paying on them. You don't get to have a payment holiday. Keep thorough records of the payments you make if your auto lender goes bust. Second, it's been very messy with the repossessions that have taken place, dealing through the bankruptcy court and all that. Not for the borrowers, but I mean for the industry and all the people who lent money to this auto lender and are claimants, how they're disposing of the vehicles that have been repoed. And this is something not normally to worry about for us as consumers. But for your niece, the place she should go to refi that vehicle loan is at a credit union. Credit unions write auto loans so much cheaper than any loan anybody ever gets at a dealer unless it's a special factory subsidized loan from the manufacturer and far cheaper than is available from banks. So as you're helping your niece with her finances, get her into a credit union and then shop around for the refi on the loan. Depending on what your niece's credit score is, credit unions generally will make loans but on a sliding scale based on your score. And it's a fantastic thing for anyone who has a current auto loan to go reshop it and see if it should be refied at the credit union you're already a member of or the one you're going to have a great, great day in your life the day you join a credit union where you own the place, when you are a credit union member. Hope you have an absolutely great rest of your day today. Now on our next episode. You know what we got? We got Clark Stinks. Where you get to share with me where I have let you down, given bad advice or whatever is my favorite segment we do every week. If you've never heard Clark stinks, tune in this Friday to have fun along with me and know what we're devoted to in everything we do, our websites, newsletters, social media, if I'm on TV in your market, radio in your market, it's all about you and your empowerment through knowledge that you gain here that you can act upon to save more, spend less, and never, never, not ever get ripped off.