New Corvette Teased, Maserati Gets Weird, and Chinese Self-Driving Cars Hit the U.S.

Summary

Podcast Summary: THIS CAR POD! with Doug DeMuro & Friends!

Episode: New Corvette Teased, Maserati Gets Weird, and Chinese Self-Driving Cars Hit the U.S.
Release Date: July 18, 2025

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1. Corvette Teased: The Next Chapter for an Icon

The episode kicks off with an in-depth discussion about Chevrolet's latest Corvette release, the ZR1X. Hosts Doug DeMuro, Filippo, and Nick delve into the evolution of the Corvette lineage over the past six years, highlighting significant models like the C8, Z06, e-ray, ZR1, and now the ZR1X. Doug reflects on the impressive horsepower of the ZR1X, noting, “I think they’re going to be a facelift or something like that” [01:47], suggesting that Chevy might continue refining the current platform rather than drastically increasing power.

Filippo adds, “They will need to refresh the car more extensively than they have” [02:06], indicating anticipation for the next-generation Corvette, potentially the C9. The hosts express excitement over the C8’s success and ponder future innovations, such as a potential manual transmission or even a "six-wheel" Corvette for added performance [05:32]. Nick humorously speculates, “If you’re listening. Shooting brake concept. Please, please give me an aero wagon,” [05:40], showcasing the team's playful engagement with Corvette enthusiasts.

2. BMW M2 Track Package: A Subtle Upgrade or a Missed Opportunity?

Next, the conversation shifts to a new performance track package for the BMW M2, featuring camo exterior graphics and enhanced aerodynamics. Doug describes it as “a neat idea” [06:19], but Nick critiques its appeal, stating, “I think it was too subtle of an appearance package for most buyers” [06:30]. Filippo questions whether this package truly differentiates itself from existing models like the M4 CSL [06:56].

The hosts speculate on the market reception, with Doug predicting that such subtle modifications may not significantly boost resale value, whereas Nick prefers customizing cars independently for personal satisfaction [07:31]. Filippo underscores the rarity of the edition, noting only 73 units were made for the U.S. market [04:43], which could influence its desirability and collectibility.

3. Maserati MC20 Rebranded to MC Pura: A Cosmetic Change

Maserati takes center stage as the hosts discuss the controversial rebranding of the MC20 to the MC Pura. Doug expresses skepticism, emphasizing that the change is purely nominal with “no bump in horsepower” or significant updates to the engine and drivetrain [09:17]. Filippo shares his disappointment, “What's stopping you? Just the fact that you will be removed from our group” [78:55], highlighting the perplexity behind the name change.

Nick elaborates on the superficial nature of the rebranding, mentioning, “They’ve got no actual changes… Just a new name” [09:43], and questions the strategic value of such a move. The hosts agree that without substantial updates, the rebranding fails to address the underlying issues Maserati faces, making the MC Pura less appealing to potential buyers [11:11].

4. Mazda CX5 Redesign: Balancing Urban and Rugged Needs

The discussion transitions to Mazda’s latest update to the CX5, which now features a 4-inch longer body and a newly introduced touchscreen in the center console—the first for Mazda's line. Filippo explains, “There’s now a touchscreen in the center, which is the first time Mazda has done that” [14:54], signifying a shift towards modernizing the interior design.

Mazda differentiates the CX5 from the already existing CX50, targeting urban drivers with the CX5 and rugged, outdoorsy enthusiasts with the CX50 [15:40]. Doug questions the practicality of this distinction, while Filippo reveals that the CX50 is built on a different chassis from the CX5, emphasizing Mazda’s intention to cater to diverse customer needs without overlapping functionalities [16:33].

5. Chinese Self-Driving Cars: Waymo’s New Zeekr-Based Fleet Enters the U.S.

Filippo introduces the topic of autonomous vehicles with Waymo testing a new generation of self-driving cars based on the Zeekr van, a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer. Doug describes the vehicle as “legitimately quite cool” [18:43], noting the innovative design and potential for fleet sales.

Nick expresses cautious interest, stating, “I’d ride in one Espe” [19:25], though he remains skeptical about the reliability and safety of autonomous vehicles. Filippo counters by encouraging listeners to experience Waymo’s offerings firsthand, emphasizing its advancements and user-friendly configurations like swiveling front seats [19:10].

The hosts discuss the challenges Waymo might face, including high production costs and the integration of Chinese technology into the U.S. market. Filippo speculates on tariff implications, wondering if fleet sales offer any exemptions, while Nick remains doubtful about the commercial viability without significant cost reductions [24:21].

6. Volkswagen Bus: A Flop in the American Market

Doug shares his take on the Wall Street Journal’s coverage of the Volkswagen bus, labeling it “the greatest news story I ever read” [21:18]. He argues that the bus is an appealing yet mismanaged product in the U.S. market, primarily due to the decision to offer only the long wheelbase version, which has higher costs and limited aesthetic appeal.

Nick reflects on potential buyers, suggesting that “there must be weekly meets for air-cooled buses” in certain coastal towns, but ultimately advises against purchasing due to high prices and diminishing cool factor [22:14]. The hosts agree that while the bus has a cult following, its broader market appeal remains limited.

7. Electric Vehicles Struggle Despite Promising Features

The hosts lament the poor sales performance of recently launched electric vehicles like Rivian, the electric G Wagon, and the ID Buzz. Doug underscores his disappointment, remarking, “They are absolute duds” [23:23], despite their impressive specs and modern designs.

Filippo adds that models like the electric G Wagon are struggling to maintain sales momentum, even at discounted prices [23:28]. The conversation highlights the disconnect between innovative EV features and consumer demand, suggesting that market factors and pricing may be hindering widespread adoption.

8. Porsche’s Price Increases: Navigating Tariffs and Inflation

Porsche’s decision to raise prices across its lineup by 2-4% due to increased tariffs is a focal point of the episode. The hosts analyze the impact of these price hikes on models like the 911, Macan, Panamera, and Cayenne. Filippo notes, “Porsche is struggling a fair amount with sales in Q2 and 2025 as a whole” [27:03], attributing part of the difficulty to a weak Chinese market.

Nick observes, “I think they’re raising prices because they can. People will pay” [26:25], while Doug expresses frustration over the long-term implications, anticipating that automakers will continue to retain higher prices even after tariffs are lifted [26:37]. The hosts agree that this trend, coupled with existing inflationary pressures, poses challenges for both manufacturers and consumers, potentially dampening market enthusiasm further.

9. Talk Car Segment: Doug’s 100,000-Mile Mercedes G500 Cabriolet

In the "Talk Car" segment, Doug proudly announces that his Mercedes G500 Cabriolet has surpassed the 100,000-mile mark [36:10]. He shares his surprise and satisfaction with the vehicle's longevity, despite initial reservations about spending 22,000 miles in such a high-end SUV.

Filippo and Nick engage in a lighthearted exchange about their own experiences with high-mileage vehicles, emphasizing the significance of maintaining a car beyond traditional thresholds. Doug recounts humorous incidents, such as getting the ABS light on due to locking the diffs during off-roading [39:46], showcasing the practical challenges of using powerful SUVs in demanding environments.

10. Market Report: Paint Protection Film (PPF)

Filippo and Nick discuss the benefits and drawbacks of Paint Protection Film (PPF) for vehicles. Doug shares his personal experience, highlighting how PPF successfully protected his Ford GT from significant damage after an accidental collision [63:54]. Filippo emphasizes that while PPF doesn't directly add substantial resale value, it serves as a crucial investment in preserving the vehicle's paint and overall appearance.

Nick adds that high-quality, clear PPF installations can enhance a car’s appeal by preserving its condition without altering its aesthetics, unlike colored wraps that may deter potential buyers [62:05]. The hosts agree that properly installed PPF can prevent minor damages and maintain the car’s pristine look, making it a worthwhile consideration for car enthusiasts aiming to protect their investments.

11. Listener Questions: Poster Cars, PPF, and European Car Delivery

Question 1: What is the poster car for kids growing up in this era?

• Nick's Response: Argues that hypercars like Koenigseggs and Bugattis take the spot, as traditional symbols like Ferraris and Lamborghinis are now commonplace with car spotters everywhere. He states, “It’s got to be a million dollar car plus to draw any attention” [58:15].

• Filippo’s Response: Suggests more relatable models like the M3 Touring and Volvo V60 T8 Pulse, making it a more attainable aspiration for younger enthusiasts [58:57].

Question 2: What are your thoughts on PPF (Paint Protection Film)? Does it add value in the second-hand market? Do you have it on your own cars?

• Filippo’s Response: Explains that clear, well-installed PPF can preserve the car’s paint and appeal, indirectly supporting resale value by maintaining its original condition [62:07].

• Nick’s Response: Emphasizes that PPF indicates meticulous care and protection, making the car more attractive to potential buyers [62:52]. He also shares personal experiences with PPF installations, noting quality variations [64:49].

Question 3: Would you ever consider doing a Top Gear Grand Tour-style video special trip across a state or country?

• Nick's Response: Enthusiastically agrees, envisioning a journey through Wyoming with authentic American trucks, although recognizes the challenges of production quality [66:26].

• Filippo’s Response: Expresses excitement and shares insights on previous attempts, highlighting the logistical and creative hurdles they faced [66:49].

Question 4: How often do you look through your own Wikipedia page? Is it accurate?

• Doug's Response: Mentions occasional checks, noting minor inaccuracies but generally finds it satisfactory [73:35].

• Filippo’s Response: Reveals intriguing awards like Emory’s 40 under 40 but underscores the challenges of maintaining accurate entries on prominent platforms [73:40].

Question 5: I'm a sentimental guy and driving my own car on a Grand Tour of Europe is one of my bucket list items only.

• Doug’s Response: Provides a pragmatic breakdown of the costs and logistical considerations involved in shipping a car to Europe, emphasizing the practicality over fantasy [75:24].

• Nick’s Response: Agrees on the feasibility but humorously adds, “Hit me up and I went under 200,000 km” [76:24], signifying his own interest despite practical reservations.

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Conclusion

In this episode of THIS CAR POD!, Doug DeMuro and his co-hosts navigate a range of automotive topics, from the future of the Corvette and Maserati’s perplexing rebrand to the challenges faced by electric vehicles and the intricacies of paint protection. The engaging dialogue, punctuated with insightful quotes and lively banter, provides a comprehensive overview of the current automotive landscape, catering both to enthusiasts and casual listeners alike.

Listeners are encouraged to explore further discussions and share their own experiences, fostering a vibrant community of car aficionados eager to stay informed and connected.

Transcript

[Doug DeMuro]

Hello and welcome to this car pod.

[Filippo]

I'm filippo.

[Nick]

I'm nick filling in for kenan.

[Doug DeMuro]

Kennan is away. Kenan's in europe right now, gallivanting through the old country. And so instead we have nick wearing an E39 M5 shirt. Is that a memorial for kenan?

[Nick]

Yes, although his E39 did fall through. So I think he's in a X3 in Europe. So look for a very particular handsome fellow driving an X3. It might be him.

[Doug DeMuro]

Are you going to act like nick today, or are you going to act like kenan today? What is the plan?

[Nick]

I have no ability to act like others.

[Filippo]

By the way, if you want to buy that t shirt merchandise dot com.

[Doug DeMuro]

You have no ability to act like others. And certainly nobody has the ability to act like kenner. All right, let's start with our first news story, which is corvette news. Corvette is coming out. Chevy's coming out with this ZR1X. Here's how this went. The they came out with the corvette. Then they came out. That was 20, by the way. That's six years ago.

[Nick]

Wow.

[Doug DeMuro]

Five and a half years. It came out, like right at Covid.

[Filippo]

I remember the first one we auctioned. Like, truly. I remember it distinctly.

[Doug DeMuro]

So that was five and a half years ago. C8 spin out. Crazy to imagine. Then they came out Z06. Then they came out with e ray, which was basically a Z06 with a hybrid electric in the front. Then they came out ZR1. Then they came out ZR1X, which was basically a ZR1 with the hybrid electric in the front. Now, a chevy engineer has been quoted as saying that the ZR1X isn't the end of the story. It is merely the next chapter. Everybody on the Internet is interpreting this to mean that there will be a more powerful version. I don't necessarily think that. I think that more likely they're going to be a facelift or something like that. You know, like, I don't think they're going to be able to beat the horsepower number of the zr1x, which is. I've forgotten it, but it's 1,250.

[Filippo]

They will need to refresh the car more extensively than they have. But I think we also can guess that they will continue to make mid engine corvettes. So not that End of the story. Doesn't mean that this generation ca. Corvette we're getting. I assume they're thinking about C9 Corvette. And so maybe that's what they mean. Like, it's become time.

[Doug DeMuro]

I think No, I think it was actually the comment was specific to the C8. Interesting. Maybe not though. In the interview with Top Gear he said it is not the end of the story, just the. Just a new. The next chapter. So, yeah, maybe it's referring to a C9.

[Filippo]

C. C5 was from memory 98 to 05 to 7 years. C6 was 06 to 20137 years. C7 was 14 to 19. Shorter run. But we're getting at the point where the C8 needs to be reimagined for the C9. They just did their mid cycle refresh. I assume in the next year or two we'll start seeing leaks of the next generation Corvette.

[Nick]

I can't imagine they're going to just.

[Doug DeMuro]

I'm going to fill in for Kennan here on the pedantry. Those first two generations were actually eight.

[Nick]

Years.

[Doug DeMuro]

Because 98.05-if you really add up the numbers. Anyway, nicely done. Unlike the Corvettes that you just mentioned, the demand and the excitement around C8 has been so strong that I wouldn't be surprised if this generation lasted longer. Keep in mind, although you trimmed a C5, C6 and C7, you conveniently left out C4, which lasted from 83 to 96.

[Nick]

Right.

[Doug DeMuro]

So at the end, which was. Which is 14 years even in Cannonville. And so it is a possibility that this generation, in my opinion, it probably will last a little longer because there's been so much interest in the car and they're still selling well, so, you know, who knows what's still coming? But maybe a manual.

[Nick]

I just, I can't see how you keep taking the power further or keep doing a meaningful iteration here other than like special editions and stickers and like appearance packages and stuff, which they are good at. And you have to look at the Dodge Playbook and say, all right, well, we'll have the last call, the just kidding edition, the jailbreak edition. I mean, they just got like insane. But it worked every time. Even if you were playing your customers to be suckers, which a lot of them ended up being, I don't think.

[Doug DeMuro]

That'S exactly what happened there. Those cars were all really cool, legit.

[Filippo]

Well, I know that the Durango SRT lawsuit.

[Nick]

I mean, Porsche does this too, right? You have the st. You've got. They're good at coming up with special editions. So maybe it's just a marketing ploy.

[Doug DeMuro]

Filippo, pull up that Endurance racing edition. Pull up that Endurance racing edition. We had this on the site the other day. It didn't sell. Nick's going to Tell you why it didn't sell here.

[Nick]

The C8R initially it was just like neon green.

[Doug DeMuro]

This was a 911. What do you think of this, Nick? Nick, why do you think this car failed to meet reserve?

[Nick]

I think it was too subtle of an appearance package for most buyers.

[Filippo]

Do you know what it included? It included legitimately exterior graphics and some like packages as standard. But they only made 73 for the US market.

[Doug DeMuro]

Can I tell you something? Can I tell you something? In 25 years that car is worth double a regular 991. I'm not joking. That's how Porsche people are. Oh my God. I got an endurance racing edition. It's so. That's how Porsche people are. Look at that.

[Nick]

If it doubles every seven years, it'll keep up with the S&P 500 index fund and still be a bad investment.

[Doug DeMuro]

Right? Anyway, ZR1, ZR1X. I'm excited to see what might lurk in the Corvette realm. I will say the C8 has been immensely successful, immensely popular. The platform has spawned some truly amazing cars. This really has been the resurgence of the Corvette that we haven't seen since the C2 in our generation. This is like a really, really big thing. And I am curious to see where they, you know, how they continue to iterate considering they've already done all wheel drive, they've done hybrid, they've done 1200 horsepower. Like what else do you do?

[Nick]

It's hard to come up with new ideas at that stage.

[Filippo]

Gotta keep doubling 2400 horsepower. Let's go there.

[Doug DeMuro]

Maybe they'll do a six wheel one.

[Nick]

If you're listening. Shooting brake concept. Please, please give me an aero wagon if you. That'd be sick.

[Doug DeMuro]

This is some whistlin diesel stuff, you know what I mean?

[Nick]

That's true. We do. We need a stirato edition. That is what they need to do next.

[Filippo]

That is a good idea.

[Doug DeMuro]

That would be cool.

[Nick]

I'd buy it.

[Doug DeMuro]

It's so cool that I guarantee Chevy won't do it. They won't even make a Bronco competitor. The Broncos out here selling 200,000 units a year. Che, he's like, nah, we're going to stick with the tracks. Okay, give us our next news story, please. Trash car. Ah yes.

[Nick]

Nick, did you see this just now for the first time.

[Filippo]

How can you see it through the camo?

[Nick]

It's a BMW M2 with camo.

[Doug DeMuro]

But this is actually kind of cool. They're going to make a performance track package for the M2, which I think is kind of A neat idea. It's going to have like a wing. And I bring this up because we're selling cars, we're selling enthusiast cars. Yeah, this is the one. Don't you think? Like this is it. Like you get this thing with a manual transmission and it's going to be rare. And there's probably. They haven't announced much about it, but it's rare. There's going to be a big wing. Obviously they've put the fenders under camo so they're going to be flared like, this is the one. This is going to be cool. And I'm sure people hate it when it comes out, which makes it even more desirable.

[Filippo]

But isn't that what the M4 CSL was or is still is. Like, is this just a CSL M2?

[Doug DeMuro]

I don't think it's going to go as far as that. I think it's just like a track package, like maybe a couple extra horsepower, wing fenders, seats. Like the CSL had some significant weight lightning. And it was considerably more expensive as a result of that. All those cars are. But this is the purists one. This is like if you just want a regular M2 but you want a little more go fast. Goodies. Nick, you want to talk about beating the S and P, buy one of these. And then also put a lot of money in the S and P. And the money in the S and P will do better.

[Nick]

I think I'd rather just mod a normal M2 and add a wing and wheels and carbon fenders.

[Doug DeMuro]

That's not going to gain value.

[Nick]

They'll do it better. No, actually I do think if you're going to take your M2 to a track or any BMW, this is probably the one to get. The price will determine whether this is a flop or a smash success.

[Filippo]

Also, the M2 is a gray car.

[Doug DeMuro]

They've not announced pricing yet. The M2 is a great car and I think with widened fenders it would be even greater. I think with a big wing. I don't know, but it'll be fine.

[Filippo]

We're not wingmen.

[Doug DeMuro]

But no, Nick is. Are you kidding?

[Filippo]

That's so true.

[Nick]

Filippo and I are going to rocket bunny and M2 in our garage smoking some cigarettes.

[Doug DeMuro]

Filippo. When I met Nick, he had a TTRS with a wing, no joke, the size of a picnic table.

[Nick]

They come with wings.

[Doug DeMuro]

He had taken it from a GT3RS and he had welded it on top of the existing wing.

[Nick]

Yep. Downforce double wing.

[Doug DeMuro]

Like a 90s escort Cosworth.

[Nick]

The. The understeer is notoriously fixed by giant wings in the back.

[Filippo]

Famously.

[Doug DeMuro]

Biased all wheel drive. Okay.

[Nick]

Oh, baloney. Understood.

[Doug DeMuro]

All right, give us our next news story, please. This one's my very favorite news story.

[Filippo]

It's the most important by far.

[Doug DeMuro]

I want to be very clear about this. I want to be very, very clear about this Maserati. And my apologies to the folks at Maserati who I'm sure we've greatly offended over the years. Maserati has come out with the MC20. Now, in my mind, this is still a new car, but it came out in 20 and I haven't seen one.

[Filippo]

I have seen one. It was crashed during a test drive and at the local, like, high end body shop. The only time I've ever seen one.

[Nick]

Have you seen a MC20 outside of a dealership? Probably not. It would be rare.

[Doug DeMuro]

Like maybe a cars and coffee.

[Nick]

So maybe.

[Doug DeMuro]

Anyway, they've decided. They've announced that because the MC20 is now five years old, somehow they're going to rename it. They're gonna facelift it and rename it the McPura. Oh, the McPura. Oh, why? It's a McDonald's promo title.

[Filippo]

It's like they need the money, so I'll accept that.

[Nick]

What's the most wild about it is there's no bump in horsepower. There's no change to the engine, there's no change to the drive train. The visual changes are almost impossible to identify even if you had them parked next to each other. So all they did was roll out this name, which is pretty weak to say the least.

[Doug DeMuro]

Okay, I want to be clear. The actual name is MC Pura. Or Pura. We will not refer to it as that. We were going to only call it the McPura or maybe the McPura, depending on your interpretation.

[Filippo]

Right.

[Doug DeMuro]

For the rest of our podcast's history.

[Filippo]

Can I ask you. I know that Maserati has an MC line on some cars. Your Quadraporte may have an MC Line car, correct?

[Nick]

Yes.

[Filippo]

I don't. I can't think of any other tie to MC that they have.

[Doug DeMuro]

Like why.

[Filippo]

Why get rid of the number? The number was the only thing that connected it to any heritage. Fundamentally. They don't have another line of cars called the McGibli and the Mer Quattroporte.

[Doug DeMuro]

They have done like an MC Sport version of a lot of their cars. And I think that the real MC tie in was intended to be the MC12, but which came out in 2012.

[Nick]

Yeah, they're only good car, 12 cylinders.

[Doug DeMuro]

That's what it was.

[Filippo]

That's what it was, yeah.

[Doug DeMuro]

M12 cylinders, 2004.

[Filippo]

Yep. Close.

[Doug DeMuro]

But now M20 seems old. It was in the past. It's like COVID 19. Like Nick had Covid the other week. He was at a Trump. He went to a Trump rally. He had a Covid the other week and they're calling it Covid 25 now.

[Filippo]

I mean, why didn't they just update it to the MC25? It would have made more sense than McFarlane Covid Pura.

[Nick]

Covid Pura.

[Filippo]

Do you think they're preparing for their like high performance suv? They can just call it the Mechpura Sangue. Let's just like really connect it to the real important brands.

[Nick]

I think Pura is supposed to be like, it's, it's like a pure car, simplified, like more track oriented but like, it's just so similar to what they had. I think they're wasting a good rebrand. Like I, I assumed that if they were going to rebrand, they were going to do it for the Gran Turismo and said, oops, since no one can tell this in the previous gen apart, we'll at least give it a distinct name. But to do this and then not actually refresh the car, like what's the point of drawing attention to the car to say, oh, the car hasn't changed, but we all want you to pay attention to it again.

[Filippo]

The marketing department wanted to keep their jobs and so they had to.

[Nick]

They're all gonna lose.

[Filippo]

But they needed to create a need for like that designer for that week.

[Doug DeMuro]

I got a question for you.

[Filippo]

There's a new letter.

[Doug DeMuro]

What do you think the base. What do you think the base sticker on this is?

[Nick]

288. Yeah. And that's a guess.

[Filippo]

Thereabouts.

[Doug DeMuro]

A little, little less 250. Would you rather have this or a 360 challenge Stradale?

[Nick]

There would be so many cars you would have to exhaust.

[Filippo]

I will say I love the McPura. Like I think it's a great looking car, truly. Thanks. That's a looking car. Who doesn't love a nice V6?

[Doug DeMuro]

You know who doesn't love a nice V6? Yeah.

[Nick]

If you've got 250, even if you say I want to spend it on a new car like you gotta look at in Aston aroma, whatever they're calling it now.

[Filippo]

I'm going to be honest, these aren't trading at 250.

[Nick]

Yeah, even at 200 it's a pretty tough sell. So good luck to You Maserat.

[Filippo]

How are you feeling? I mean, what's a gran turismo? 170? Something like that? Thereabouts.

[Doug DeMuro]

I think your Gran Turismo is even more. Yeah, starts at 175 base.

[Filippo]

I would pay up for the McPura over the Gran Turismo all day, every day.

[Doug DeMuro]

I mean, that's obvious. I mean, the Grand Turismo is the most overpriced car in the history, currently on sale. I mean, there's no doubt that's a 175 car. That is. That's a. That's a $48,000 car masquerading as a 175 car. I'm not. I think that's just like, accurate. And honestly, I think that the prices that they're actually transacting at, I'd be curious if they're even cracking 150 on any of these deals.

[Nick]

Yeah, I just. Unless you're saying there's only a Maserati dealership and no other cars for sale in 100 miles. Like, yeah, the only time you'd be cross shopping the two vehicles is if, like, hey, I have a friends and family discount or my boyfriend is a sales manager at the dealership kind of thing.

[Doug DeMuro]

Yeah, that's exactly right.

[Filippo]

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[Doug DeMuro]

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[Filippo]

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[Doug DeMuro]

Our next news story? Do we have something good?

[Filippo]

Oh, yeah. Something great. We gotta talk about the Mazda CX5. There's a new CX5.

[Doug DeMuro]

Oh, my God. I saw this storyline specifically didn't talk about it because it seems boring. What do you got?

[Filippo]

We got a. There's a new CX5. It's like 4 inches longer than the old CX5. Same powertrain. They claim they've recalibrated it. Same powertrain, notably, for all the Mazda enthusiasts out there. There's now a touchscreen in the center, which is the first time Mazda has done that. They've been very focused on their little knob and not doing touchscreen. Like having the touchscreen really recessed. Now. It's like a normal interior. Like normal modern interior. You might be wondering, but, Filippo, there's a CX50, which was already the slightly longer version of the CX5 that still exists. Mazda believes that the CX50 is for rugged enthusiasts, outdoorsy people, and the CX5 is for urban people who drive over bricks, as shown in this photo.

[Doug DeMuro]

The irony of that is. And we're not going to get into what urban people means, but go to CX50.

[Filippo]

That is, I think, language from their own.

[Doug DeMuro]

Pull up a picture of the CX50. Pull a picture of the CX50. Now, you'd think to yourself, okay, the CX50 is for the rugged folk. All right, well, let's see. Let's take a look at it.

[Filippo]

Look at that. That's rugged. Look at how rugged.

[Nick]

That looks different.

[Doug DeMuro]

That's a car. Now pull up the new CX5. Pull up the new CX5. Right, Nick, I'm going to do a quiz on this later, see if you.

[Nick]

Can tell the part.

[Doug DeMuro]

All right.

[Nick]

New CX5, they look about as different as a McPura and a MC20.

[Filippo]

Look at that.

[Nick]

The grill is different. The grille is distinct.

[Doug DeMuro]

I gotta ask you, why does. I mean, they're pitching. One is rugged.

[Filippo]

Yeah. There's cladding.

[Nick]

This reminds me, Doug, of, like, Mercury Mountaineer versus the Ford Explorer or the Mazda Tribute. It's badge engineering, but they're keeping the same.

[Filippo]

You know what's incredible? It's not even the same chassis. The CX50 is based on the CX30 chassis, and the CX5 is based on a different one. Like, truly, they don't actually share that much in common. Or at least the old CX5 didn't.

[Doug DeMuro]

The mountaineer was like the luxury one. I don't think there's any distinctions. Now, I will say with regards to Touchscree, I do want to make a little statement, a little point here. Many years ago, I reviewed some Mazda, God knows which, and I complained dearly about the knob control. I thought it was the stupidest thing I'd ever seen. And I lambasted it. And Mazda got mad at me and they called me up and they said, look, we're going to. You have to meet with our engineers and our designers. So I had a lunch in San Diego. They came to San Diego like six of these people. This was like, these are guys are all getting paid a lot of money to take the full day to come down to San Diego is probably thousands of dollars for Mazda. Right? They all come down and they give me this explanation. They go through this whole thing. Here's why we do the little button. Here's why we do the knob. It's less time looking away. The knob is safer. The knob is better when you controlling your favorites. It's a better situation. It's better. We've done all the studies, We've done all the research. We've done these eye tests where we look at the people's eyes when they're driving with the knob versus the touchscreen. And the eye test is better. And the knob is better. I'm seriously. I sat with them for six years. Six years. And then now they're doing touchscreen.

[Filippo]

So anyway, I will say one fact about the CX5. There is a CX50 Hybrid that built on a Toyota assembly line or built alongside Toyotas, and uses a Toyota hybrid system, the CX5. In 2027, there'll be a hybrid, one that uses an entirely different hybrid powertrain. But that's not for two years.

[Nick]

There's probably a joke somewhere in here about getting rid of the knob and making it 4 inches longer, but we're.

[Filippo]

Moving on from that. Yeah, yeah. No, we wouldn't make that.

[Nick]

Yes, you wouldn't. In honor of the McCura, we won't make that joke.

[Doug DeMuro]

All right, move on to the next one. What do you got?

[Filippo]

Okay, this is a Waymo. It's the new generation of Waymo vehicles. They've been spotted in testing still, and it looks so cool. It's based on a Zeekr van, which is a Chinese EV manufacturer, and it looks legitimately quite cool. Also the first Chinese brand that I can think of really breaking into the US market, even though it's via Fleet sales. Have you mentally accepted that you won't see Jaguar I paces around.

[Nick]

I still see them quite a bit.

[Filippo]

Well, you see them as Waymos. Everybody in San Francisco and now in like parts of LA and San Diego sees the only Jaguar I pace. I see are Waymos at that rally.

[Nick]

I was at that Doug mentioned. We. We flipped a few over. I think it does. It looks cool. I'm into it and I think from a visual standpoint, yes, it's an improvement. I personally would never trust a Waymo.

[Filippo]

Have you ridden one?

[Nick]

No, I never get in one.

[Filippo]

It's great.

[Nick]

It's taking jobs away from hard working Americans one and two. You're trusting some tech company that like, like prides themselves on failing fast and hard to like with to drive a vehicle like I. No way, shape or form. I would rather walk.

[Filippo]

I. I would have expected you to be a little bit more pro Tesla than that because they're also doing some autonomous driving stuff. But Waymo is the most dance.

[Doug DeMuro]

You're not gonna get an autonomous car. That's the stance you're gonna take. You're gonna.

[Filippo]

Waymo is the most serious one.

[Nick]

It could be a free taxi and I'll be like, no, thank you. I'm good. I.

[Filippo]

You should ride in one Espe. Okay. I've ridden in the back of an I Pace. Not the most comfortable vehicle, but Waymo did great. And I'm excited for this because this is like an actual human design space. I will say the front seats swivel in the zeekr, whatever this is called. And I do wonder how they'll have it configured like whether you can just sit in the front. But it will be way better use of space as an autonomous car and you should try one. It's better than you expect.

[Nick]

The lack of seat swiveling isn't really my concern. It's the safety here. And I have to think replacing Jaguar with a. An off brand Chinese car. It's not exactly Chinese car.

[Filippo]

Also, it's Jaguar. So, like, it's all better.

[Nick]

Jaguar had the E type. What did zeekr have this off brand too?

[Doug DeMuro]

Jaguar had the E type. God, give me a break. Okay, let me ask you this, Nick. What would it take to get you into an autonomous car?

[Nick]

20 to 30 years of R and.

[Doug DeMuro]

D, they've had a.

[Filippo]

You should legitimately try one next time.

[Nick]

You really don't. Somewhere.

[Filippo]

I'm gonna call away Mo.

[Nick]

I am both ethically and morally opposed to it. Wait, those are the same thing.

[Doug DeMuro]

Do you agree that if the horse was being Replaced right now, Nick would be like, I'm not giving up old, old Bluey.

[Nick]

Yeah, dude. And I would have. I would have a sick stallion, too. Like, I. You'd be like, yeah, that's a. That's a nice horse. Like, I get it.

[Filippo]

You know when you asked if he was coming to this podcast as Kenan. Yep. Turns out, no.

[Doug DeMuro]

Kennard would never go down any of this road. Although he would not also ride an autonomous bikebet. Okay, this is a boring story. I will say one interesting thing. Did you read the article about the Volkswagen bus in the Journal?

[Nick]

Yeah, that was a great one.

[Filippo]

I've not yet.

[Doug DeMuro]

All right. Journal did a big piece. I don't know why this is a news story. Greatest news story I ever read. Wall Street Journal did a big piece on the Volkswagen bus and how it's been a complete and utter flop. It has. I think part of it is I've seen a few. I think it's the coolest car on sale. Like, I think it's the coolest car on sale and I can't wait to buy it. When they're used and what they're actually worth, which is probably like 40. I think there were a bad product planning decision to only bring the long wheelbase. I think that decision was made in the US With Volkswagen of America, and it was. It was the wrong decision because it ended up forcing the larger one, which is more costly and also looks a little weirder, honestly. And I don't necessarily think that minivan buyers are the buyers for the car. I think it's like people who want to look cool and you look incredibly cool driving that thing around. Nick, are you thinking about an ID buzz for your family?

[Nick]

That's why I like that article. I would absolutely love to put my family in it. I live in Encinitas, which is a nice coastal surf town where there must be. There's like weekly meets for air cooled buses like it is. We are the target demo. And yeah, it's just for 70 for an EV, I'm just like, not into it. And now the tax credits are going away and so buy before September. I'm not buying this is your shot. But to Doug's point, if it were affordable or even mid range, I would be so into it. And then at 70, you're just kind of like, it's not that cool.

[Filippo]

A couple of.

[Doug DeMuro]

A couple of appealing electric cars have come out. I'm not an EV guy. I went on a big rant last podcast about how I really strongly believe government should continue doing these subsidies to make EVs better and to make us competitive against China. And I really do believe that. I'm not personally known, but a couple of appealing EVs have come out in the last couple of years. Obviously Rivian, but the electric G wagon and now the ID buzz are both out and I really like like beyond forget about the powertrain. Like I think they're both just great cars regardless. Gas, electric, they're just great and neither of them are selling. They are absolute duds. And I'm like here for this used situation.

[Filippo]

I know it will be quite appealing. Apparently it's incredibly hard to sell the G580 with EQ technology.

[Nick]

Electric G wagons.

[Doug DeMuro]

You should go on autotrader or whatever website you use to look up cars. Electric G wagons are going cheap, cheap, cheap already. They're already like 30 back MSRP use for with like 800 miles on them.

[Filippo]

Yeah, it becomes appealing at certain price. I want to get back to the story though because there's two things I want to talk about regarding the zeekr. First, like I said before, first, like real Chinese entrant in the US there have been a couple of Chinese built cars, the S90L Volvo for example. But this is like the first like really truly Chinese brand in the us even though it's not being sold to consumers. The other thing is I paces are expensive and you got to assume they're expensive to maintain. And these, if you convert their Chinese, their cost in China to the US is like 40 grand per van. You assume Waymo got a deal. It's all new technology. It's like they've updated their sensors, packaging, etc. It becomes really interesting to see if they can get the big price per unit down massively. That changes their business.

[Nick]

Why don't they get tariffed?

[Filippo]

They may. I don't know. It's a very good question.

[Nick]

I mean like does fleet sales give you a loophole or are they still paying 50%?

[Filippo]

I assume that they are indeed. Tariffs.

[Nick]

Huh.

[Doug DeMuro]

Hey Filippo, I got a question for.

[Filippo]

You here on registration.

[Doug DeMuro]

Must be hard here on Nantucket they have electric buses that are Chinese. So what's that?

[Filippo]

Hope they don't. Hope they don't need to buy a new one. I do wonder how regulation works around this, right? Like this isn't US street legal, but there's so many exceptions made for like autonomous driving permits that presumably it's at.

[Nick]

A small scale now so they can afford to overpay a little bit.

[Filippo]

But I'm excited to see them here soon.

[Nick]

I won't I won't be buying the Zeekr or the ID Buzz, but I am in the market for a nice Fisker Ocean. If anyone's got a line. I got 14 grand in my pocket. Wires ready.

[Doug DeMuro]

You could buy one tomorrow. I think you only about nine.

[Filippo]

Buy two.

[Doug DeMuro]

Give us our next news story.

[Filippo]

All right, Porsche. You're familiar with Porsche. You own a Porsche?

[Nick]

I do.

[Filippo]

You guys are the two people here that own one. They've announced another set of price increases. They announced 2026911 prices back in the spring and they went up pretty dramatically. They've now announced that pretty much across the lineup there's a 2 to 4% price increase goes into effect the next month or two. Porsche was very careful not to say that they're tariff driven, but they are pretty clearly tariff driven because those are applying to these cars when imported to the US they just kind of got to recoup some of that cost. They're not passing across the full tariff amount clearly, but they are trying to raise prices a little bit. That means that the cheapest 911 is over 130 grand. But these also apply to non.

[Doug DeMuro]

What is the cheapest 911 then?

[Filippo]

130. Something like 130 and some cents. Geez, sorry, I don't remember anymore.

[Nick]

But as someone who works in sales, my initial thought is they're raising a 2 to 4% because they can. It could be tariffs, it could be anything. But people will pay. There's a wait list. They're selling like until people, until they stop selling, keep raising your price.

[Doug DeMuro]

What's especially annoying to me about this whole situation is that eventually the tariffs will come off, whether it's with Trump or deep in the future or, you know, post Trump. But regardless, the automakers aren't going to pull the prices back.

[Nick]

Right.

[Doug DeMuro]

Like the increase in price that they're doing now, they're going to keep like, once they realize the consumers accept the new price, they're going to do it. And if Porsche raises the 911 to $135,000, then such and such raises the such and such. And then the next thing you know, a Miata costs another three grand.

[Nick]

Right. Because I think you're describing inflation.

[Filippo]

Yeah, yeah.

[Doug DeMuro]

But inflation that has been supercharged by the policies of the federal government.

[Filippo]

I will also note Porsche is struggling a fair amount with sales in Q2 and 2025 as a whole because the Chinese market is weak right now. And they're incredibly reliant on the US For a lot of their Sales and they raising prices 2 to 4% is notable for them because it does also impact the Macan which now which went up 2.6%, the Panamera which went up 3.6% and the Cayenne which went up 3.6%. That puts them in a tough position.

[Nick]

So people are driving self driving Zeekers over in China and not 911s.

[Filippo]

The high end market in China has remained quite active compared to like five years ago, but has struggled a bit last year.

[Doug DeMuro]

Interesting though, Porsche prices increase. Everybody's increasing prices and this is what we all said would happen when they announced tariffs and everybody's like, they're not going to increase prices. The, the country importing will pay the tariff. Whatever the thing was, it was so stupid. Obviously going to be passed on to the consumers and here we are passing it on to the consumer. And it's beneficial for carsandbids.com but very non beneficial for you. And it's very annoying, I think, if.

[Filippo]

You'Re a car enthusiast, to add a little bit of money. There are some manufacturers that have kept really attractive incentives live because they've seen a surge in sales and they're willing to eat into their margin for some amount of time to do that. Also, inflation, part of the June inflation numbers was relatively low because spend on new on cars went down a little bit. It's like an interesting situation. A lot of purchasing was moved up. I think the real impact of the tariffs will be felt in Q3 with some of that fervor and the demand that was pulled up. You got to figure out what to do now.

[Doug DeMuro]

Depends how long it lasts. It'll be felt in Q3 maybe, but it'll certainly be felt in Q4 and then all next year Q3, Q7, and I mean it could get ugly. But I guess we'll find out next. I will say, by the way, you know Nick? Oh, he's done.

[Filippo]

He bought a massage chair last I heard.

[Nick]

Yeah. And I just redid a bathroom. I think we're, we're stimulating over here. The one we're growing by 4 inches and replacing the knob over here for the economy.

[Filippo]

One other piece of Porsche news. I believe they just announced that they've built a million Macans.

[Kenan]

All right, guys, real talk. Brunt Workwear is back as a sponsor and while I've not always been a boots guy, I have to say that these boots blew me away. I got the Marin boots and the second I put them on I was like, wait, wait, wait, wait, am I even wearing Boots, how are they this comfortable? Most work boots feel like concrete blocks for the first week, but not these. No break in needed, just straight up comfort and durability. They're made for more than just walking. Instead of wearing them around for the uncomfortable break in period, I was walking around my house wearing them like sneakers, just good looking real boots with actual comfort. Brunt was founded by a guy named Eric Girard. And he grew up as a salt of the earth, blue collar guy and built this brand for real workers. That's why these boots are named after guys he grew up with. It's personal and it shows whether you need waterproof safety, toe pull on, lace up. Brunt's got you covered. And they've got more than just boots. Heavy duty workwear that is built to last. Brunt didn't just make a durable work boot. They reinvented comfort for the hardest workers out there. And for a limited time, our listeners get $10 off Brunt by using code cars at checkout. Just head to bruntworkware.com and use the code cars that C A R s and you're all set. After purchase, they will ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show by telling them that you heard about them from us. And enjoy your pair of Brunt work boots.

[Doug DeMuro]

That's not news. What's your next news story?

[Nick]

The actually the new Range Rover logo, which is interesting. So that's what this is for people listening. Yes. Range Rover debuted a new emblem and it's two Rs. Basically, if you just sort of did a mirror image of one on top of the other, this is a secondary logo. So they will keep the Range Rover script. But their point is you can't always fit 10 characters across on the hood. You obviously can, but there are certain points where they need a smaller logo to imprint places. And Rolls Royce already has the double R where they're kind of on top of each other. And so I think some, you know, PhD level nuclear scientist was tasked to come up with a, another way to put two hours together and came up with this. It's, you know, kind of bizarre.

[Doug DeMuro]

Your eyes, it just looks like a box and then a bigger box than another box. Like you can't even see the R's unless you like want to. You know, it's, it's sort of like pp.

[Filippo]

It looks luxurious.

[Doug DeMuro]

Ish.

[Nick]

Yeah, it looks like, like a Louis Vuitton or Gucci type, which they would repeat, right? Yeah.

[Doug DeMuro]

Always be mounted on Fleur de lis.

[Nick]

I hope, or those little doilies that go underneath your tee.

[Filippo]

Right.

[Doug DeMuro]

So, Nick, you're. We both Range Rover men. You and I both had range full size Range Rovers. What are our thoughts on this? What do you. What do you think about the logo?

[Nick]

I think if you're getting like a mani pedi, it would go nice on one of your nails or. Oh, like latte art. Like, they're, they're. They're appealing to the Porsche Pilates mom demographic here with this and saying it's like fashion.

[Doug DeMuro]

Yeah, yeah. You think people will buy these and then throw them on old P38s like yours?

[Nick]

Yeah, I could see, like the headliner mod or like seats, you know, like, people get it embossed.

[Filippo]

Did the P38 still have the Land Rover logo?

[Nick]

Yes.

[Filippo]

Okay, but now new ones don't, right?

[Doug DeMuro]

I don't know if the new ones do, but mine did, and it was an 06. It was way after the P38. Remember, they used to put the Land Rover logo in the grill. The grill had these little ovals. That was even on the L405s. They like that Land Rover logo. It's green. It's not high quality. Eventually became black.

[Nick]

A lot of these stories today were kind of like manufactured. Jumping the sharks with renaming things like the Mickpura or coming out with like these pedantic special editions like ZR1XX or what have you. The CX5 being indistinguishable from the CX50. So, I mean, it's sort of on brand. Sadly, these automakers are all like, what can we do that's really cheap to invigorate the product. I know a new name, a new logo, like, that's basically free. So it seems up that alley.

[Doug DeMuro]

I don't think it's free. I bet they spent millions and millions of dollars on this. Jaguar's taking the year off. All right, we got another news story. Are we done?

[Filippo]

We have one more.

[Nick]

One more. There's a drift movie coming out. It looks really cool. Drifter. Sang Kong announced it on his Instagram. But you've got James Pumphrey from Donut. You've got Rutledge Wood. You've got all these. Adam LZ, another YouTuber.

[Doug DeMuro]

Second. Wait a second.

[Filippo]

This is a real movie. To be very clear. Like, this is, like, happening.

[Doug DeMuro]

Stop the presses. Okay, James Pumphrey, Adam LZ and Rutledge. Why aren't I involved in these things, Filippo? This is like when we found out that Thomas and James are doing Top Gear. Why don't I get a phone call?

[Filippo]

What Would your response be to that phone call?

[Doug DeMuro]

I would say if you can do it in San Diego during the. During my working hours, which are 10 to 1045 Monday through Monday, I would be willing to. I'd be willing to have the conversation. Okay. I'm not saying I'm doing it.

[Nick]

Sang is not only an actor, but he's the producer of the movie as well. He was in several of the Fast and the Furious movies. So you need to slide into his DMs, presumably to get cast, but he'd probably into it. I would love to see them bring Jesse back from Fast and the furious one ideally in a Mark 4 Jeddah. But I'm open to do any drifting in that movie. No, but he could do some front wheel drive drifts.

[Doug DeMuro]

No, he is escapes, remember. He escapes. Right?

[Nick]

That's right.

[Doug DeMuro]

The last we see of him, he's like afraid of the S2000 guys and he drives off into the desert and we never see him again.

[Nick]

But in all seriousness, most car movies suck because they end up trying to be Michael Bay action films. I love that. He's like, we're going to get real car people into this movie. We're going to make it like, like Fast and the Furious one was it's about car culture and not about action and love and all these other like irrelevant things come out.

[Doug DeMuro]

Nick doesn't want to see love so giving on any of that crap. When does this flick come out, Nick?

[Nick]

I don't know.

[Filippo]

I don't know. It was announced this week though.

[Nick]

Eminem.

[Doug DeMuro]

Oh, so it's like, it's like, it's like in planet. We're not talking about like this in theaters tomorrow.

[Nick]

No, no, the movie will be in theaters before the McPura is seen by the naked eye on the street. Without dealer tags.

[Filippo]

Without dealer tags. It's exciting to see more like movie content though.

[Doug DeMuro]

We gotta move on to our next story, our next segment, which is the talk car segment. The talk car segment this week is brought to you by Kennen. Kenneth is touring Europe and he sponsored the talk cars segment. That's great, Cannon. He's in Paris right now. I want to start the talk car segment with something near and dear to my heart. Nick, I think you're. You're well aware of what's going on here. I had a. I had a moment the other day. I had a moment and I. I crossed a threshold. Filippo, will you pull up the photograph, please? There we go. That's not the one. The next one I hit 100,000 miles. There in my Mercedes Benz G500 cabriolet. And then go back to my last photo. There it is. I hit 100,000 miles. I was off road. This was by chance, by the way. I did not set it up this way. Although I mostly drive it off road, so I guess that makes sense. But I hit 100,000 miles, and I've only been in the car twice when that's happened.

[Filippo]

And what was the other time?

[Doug DeMuro]

I had a Range rover that hit 100,000 miles.

[Nick]

The CarMax one.

[Doug DeMuro]

Yeah. And I don't remember when that was or where. Anyway, this is a big moment. You know, I bought this car with 78,000 miles on it. I look at it, I look at the car, right? I physically lay eyes on the car, and I think to myself, I can't believe I drove this car 22,000 miles. Like, if you came to me with an open checkbook and said, name your price, but you have to drive this car 22,000 miles, I would say there is no amount of money you can give me that would make me want to spend 22,000 miles in this shortened G wagon. And yet here we are.

[Filippo]

How many years ago did you buy it? It was 2018.

[Doug DeMuro]

No, it was the fall of 19. I had just come back from a trip around the world. I literally went around the world, and when I got home, I got a dog and a convertible G wagon.

[Filippo]

They go hand in hand.

[Nick]

I remember when you bought it and you mentioned to Sam and I, you're like, yeah, I think I'm gonna go buy this. And you showed me a picture of it, and I thought, oh, that's pretty cool way to spend 35 grand. And then you told me what it was actually gonna cost, and I'm just like, this is the most insane. Like, my brain couldn't process it, and I just moved on. I was like, okay. Like, I. I. I don't know. It was Greek.

[Doug DeMuro]

When I bought the car, I didn't know Nick all that well. And I was like, only the third or fourth time I met Nick, I, like, showed up in it. And I was like, I just bought this. And he was like.

[Filippo]

Why? It's an exceptionally good automobile.

[Doug DeMuro]

Yeah, it's been great. It's been great. And it's my family car out here. We've been using it every day. The whole family rides it in, including the dog. It's been sand toys and everything. Nick in Filippo, can you share for me, please, a special moment that you've had with the G500 cabriolet?

[Filippo]

Yeah, let me Think about that. Let's come back to this next week. I'll think.

[Nick]

I will say you've never had any.

[Doug DeMuro]

Special moments with it. Nobody has.

[Nick]

It is. It is special, though. To take a car over 100,000 miles like that, to me, is like a meaningful thing. In the Cayenne, I captured that. I also think just keeping a car with 100,000 miles on the road, it makes me feel so proud of myself. And it's like a miles. Everyone who's into cars, even if you're a new car guy like Sam used to be, you gotta, like, take it past into the six digits at least once to understand what that takes and what that feels like.

[Doug DeMuro]

Yeah, it's pretty deep. It's like getting. It's like getting up there. I'm like realizing, like, damn, this is some real miles on this thing. The guy who sold me my career GT sold it to me at 9982 because he was terrified that if he went over 10,000 miles, the value would be just. And I was like, this is so stupid. This guy's an idiot. And that's, you know, here we are, 100k, dude.

[Nick]

Well, yeah, on a G wagon, 100k is not actually that much to write home about. But a car of that value and the fact that you're off roading it is actually pretty cool. Like, I think a lot of people now are buying these to flex at Air1 or to, like, are they right?

[Filippo]

Are they successful?

[Nick]

The only other person I know that has one is one of the Jenners.

[Filippo]

So.

[Nick]

That's right.

[Doug DeMuro]

They've become a little popular with the wrong crowd. But I drive mine off road. In fact, in that photo, you can see the ABS light is on. And that's because the diffs are locked. And when you lock the diffs, it disables abs and turns on the ABS.

[Filippo]

Light, by the way.

[Doug DeMuro]

And that's how shit I am.

[Filippo]

I want you to throw there. I know where this is. You just like, you nailed the 100,000 mile. Barely on the off road. Like, barely off road.

[Doug DeMuro]

This is deep, deep, deep.

[Nick]

How many times have you got stuck this summer?

[Doug DeMuro]

Frequently. It's not the best. I think I need new tires. I've never gotten it stuck to the point where I needed help, but I've gotten it stuck many times, including yesterday, to the point where it wouldn't go any further. I had to go forward and then backward and forward, forward and backward, and finally I got it out. But. But it's not. I think it's a. I Don't know if it's a tire thing or what's going on.

[Nick]

Does it make you wish you had a Maybach with the recovery mode?

[Doug DeMuro]

Yes. You know what the thing is, though? When you have the Sequoia, you don't have to worry about getting stuck. Like, there's no time where I ever am to worry because I can just like, go to the Sequoia and it does everything that TRD Pro Sequoia could. Could, could run over Filippo and not even blink.

[Filippo]

And honestly, certainly that's the biggest concern with these large SUVs.

[Doug DeMuro]

Yeah, May, actually. Yeah, yeah. Okay, Filippo, give us your Talk car segment, please.

[Filippo]

All right. I have reached out to a dealer about a car they're selling for myself.

[Nick]

Cryptic.

[Filippo]

That's it, Move on.

[Nick]

That's it.

[Filippo]

That's it.

[Doug DeMuro]

You're not gonna talk about the. Okay, folks, here's the deal. It's an Acura ILX automatic hybrid.

[Nick]

Akira is pronounced Akira.

[Doug DeMuro]

I'm so sorry. Cura Ilx automatic hybrid. He found a rare cloth seat. No sign.

[Filippo]

What a dream.

[Doug DeMuro]

Filippo, tell us the story. What happened?

[Filippo]

There's a dealership near here that is selling a very high mile 991.1 cabriolet with a manual. And it's an incredibly light spec. Truly probably one of the most weakly spec'd ones I've seen and one of the highest mile ones I've seen. And the combination of those items mean that it's like they're asking 40 grand.

[Doug DeMuro]

Yeah, it's 12.

[Filippo]

Oh, yeah. It's a first year highest mile one I've seen, lowest spec I've seen, and therefore it's the cheapest. And I'm considering pulling a hoovy and buying the cheapest X in America.

[Doug DeMuro]

It always works out.

[Filippo]

Yeah, it works first for him, always. It has like 120something thousand miles. It's interesting. It's a cheap way to get to a991, and that's kind of appealing. So we'll see. I have not committed to going to see it. I have not committed to anything because that's too much commitment at my current stage.

[Nick]

How close, Nick?

[Doug DeMuro]

What are the.

[Filippo]

How close there.

[Nick]

It's like la, Nick.

[Doug DeMuro]

What are the odds? What percent do you give it?

[Nick]

So here's the thing. We used to give Philippe a hard time for not taking action, and then he impulse bought that gti. So now that.

[Doug DeMuro]

Well, no, wait, I want to be clear. We gave him a hard time for not taking action on really cool stuff that he always used to talk about. And then he impulse bought a practical, affordable hatch, which I love.

[Filippo]

It's such a good car.

[Doug DeMuro]

Like it's so filippo. Like reach for the stars and if you miss you may end up somewhere in your backyard. Like that's kind of okay.

[Filippo]

It's such a good car. My, my wife had said that she loves the GTI. I drove it to LA yesterday. To LA and back yesterday and it was wonderful. It got 37 and a half miles per gallon on that trip. It was. It did everything perfectly. It does everything perfectly. I do like it a lot. But I could trade it in for or sell it and buy a 991. And if I sell that and a barth, I'm like 30 of the 40 grand there.

[Doug DeMuro]

Nick. I give it 2%.

[Filippo]

I don't give him more than 2%.

[Nick]

Because he has to sell two cars to get there. That will take too long and the car will be gone.

[Doug DeMuro]

He hasn't even moved on selling the Abarth yet and it's not even using it. It's just a tractor.

[Filippo]

First of all, I am using it. Our friends, when their cars break down, as Kenan has and as our producer Sean has now borrow it. So that's a purpose for it. They then make fun of me for how not great it is. But they do like it briefly and they borrow it. And I've been told that I can't sell it until August.

[Doug DeMuro]

Why?

[Filippo]

I'm going to make a video about it and it can't go live till August. So it will be on cars and beds in August.

[Doug DeMuro]

Still have that car. I bet you you still have that car. Next summer.

[Filippo]

No, not a shot. We'll drive it off a cliff first. This episode is brought to you by AVA Cars and good credit score go hand in hand. Having good credit can be the difference. Being able to afford the car your enthusiast desires. Or not. Which is where Ava comes in. Helping you build credit fast. Ava is a credit building app that makes it super simple to improve your credit fast so you can get better rates on loans, pay off debt faster and keep more money in your pocket. Instead of waiting months for a secured card, AVA is instantaneous. It's simple, affordable and it really works. Most members see their credit go up in less than a week. Hello, F40. Ava reports your on time payments to all major credit bureaus every day to help you build positive credit history quickly. The longer you stick with AVA, the higher your score can go. Joining AVA gives you access to all of AVA's credit building tools starting at just $6 per month. There's no credit check, no interest and no fees. AVA is the highest rated credit building app with thousands of five star reviews. It's the only credit building app rated excellent on trustpilot and an A by the Better Business Bureau. Don't let your credit hold you back another day. Grow your credit score fast with ava. Download the AVA app spelled AVA today. And when you join, using my promo code carpod, you'll get your first month free. This offer is only for my listeners. Get the AVA app and use promo code carpod C, A, R, P, O, D to get your first month free. That's promo code Carpod, thanks to Ava. And now go get yourself good credit. Nick, what's your top trust?

[Nick]

Mine's. Mine's short and sweet. I have no multiple. We've been on the multiple search for so long. All of them have been. We got one ppi and it was so rusty, you could literally bend the frame.

[Doug DeMuro]

There's been a green one that you just sent us a couple of days ago.

[Nick]

It's still available, but the closer you look, the worse it gets. And I just.

[Filippo]

No, it's not nice enough.

[Nick]

It needs to be pretty rough.

[Filippo]

You deserve, as your friends a nice multiple experience.

[Doug DeMuro]

You guys don't understand. Like, Filippo's over here talking big like, dude, nobody saved these things.

[Filippo]

I know, which is a shame.

[Doug DeMuro]

You find it. He's commissioned somebody to go all around Europe looking for them. They're looking in Spain, they're looking in Poland, anywhere. Like, there's no nice multiples. This wasn't a car. People were like, let's preserve this so some American can import it as a joke in 25 years.

[Filippo]

It is, I want to be clear.

[Nick]

An audience of one.

[Filippo]

It might be a joke to Nick. It is not a joke to me. It's a car that I will buy from Naked End. That's.

[Doug DeMuro]

It's not a joke to you. You think. You think you have too high of expectations.

[Filippo]

If you're listening to this in Italy or southern Spain or a country where you treat your cars well and maybe therefore it's in good condition. Not either of those two. Let us know because we have a buyer for you.

[Nick]

The other problem is it has to be a 2000 to be 25 years old. And that's like. I think you say you have 99 2000, but it's. Every year we wait, there will be more options available.

[Filippo]

Then there was a facelift. You have to wait that long. You need a pre facelift.

[Nick]

The facelift is more complicated than this.

[Doug DeMuro]

You need a pre facel. You need a decent color. Personally, you don't want to get too far into weird languages because then you got to deal with all.

[Filippo]

No, Fine. If you're Italian and you have one.

[Nick]

Hit me up and I went under 200,000 km.

[Doug DeMuro]

Italian works as a language for the documents. When they come polish, the car shows up and there are L's with lines through them. I don't think that flies at the dmv. I think you got a problem then.

[Nick]

Right, well, we'll go through Montana and they're a little more lenient, I would say. So it should be fine.

[Filippo]

But I will speak to our Italian friends. Say, ay, percasi. I'm really. I'm putting. Pulling out all the stops here. I'm just. I'm speaking to my countrymen in their language to try to get you a multiply.

[Doug DeMuro]

You're meeting them where they are. Okay. Speaking of Italians, I want to move on to the market report. Market report. Market report is brought to you by the wing on the BMW M2 Track Edition. It's big and you can sit on it.

[Nick]

Let's not test that claim.

[Doug DeMuro]

No, no. Think about the downforce. £6,000. If that's what they all say of downforce. Like that means you can. If you weigh less than £6,000, you can sit on the wing.

[Filippo]

An automotive engineering expert.

[Nick]

You could Drive a Salina 7 upside down on the backside of the wing.

[Doug DeMuro]

And you could drive a naturally aspirated Tesla there, too. This is all my engineering tech. Okay. Anyway, I want to talk about. We were talking about Italy a second ago. I want to talk about the Italians. Pull up that 599 now. As my son would say, do it right now. Nick, you deal with that ever.

[Nick]

There's not a lot of patience in either direction.

[Doug DeMuro]

All right, so what did this sell for 111 or something?

[Filippo]

Yeah, so this was a 599 GTB in blue turret of the fronds. But I will say it had a rebuilt Louisiana title.

[Doug DeMuro]

Nick, you don't buy this at a. Yeah, dude, but it's 100 any longer.

[Filippo]

I know, I know.

[Doug DeMuro]

It's appealing around New Orleans for like a decade to make some video. Nick, you don't buy this car.

[Nick]

I. I'm happy with my Murcia Lago, but I think that is an amazing value prop. Also, you can swap these, so if you think it's perfect. Other than the transmission, it's pretty straightforward. A couple cold ones. Machina. Actually, who did my Murcielago is about to sell one of theirs on the site in near future. So a little teaser there, but it's. I actually didn't like this car when it came out because it reminded me too much of the 612 Skag and the ugliness there. But I think it's aging wonderfully. I think if you put a valvetronic exhaust on it, it just like we're.

[Filippo]

Getting the mods already.

[Nick]

The sound is so ridiculously slap you in the face aggressive. It's so cool. I'm into it.

[Doug DeMuro]

You know what I was thinking about with the. With the manual swaps? The fact that the purist guys hate them only encourages. The other day I said they're too sketchy and I don't want any part of them. I'm actually off that. I've heard several purist guys, we've talked about it privately and I want to call any of them out on the pod, but several purist guys. You've talked to them or. I've talked to them and they've been like, those manual swaps or this or that. To me, that's like what a wealth advisor says. Don't buy the S and P. You don't buy this. I'm like, all right, let's do it.

[Nick]

This is.

[Doug DeMuro]

Let's swap.

[Nick]

No. The one guy who we won't name like in the swaps to a fake handbag you give to your wife. And it's like, no, I don't think that's at all what this is. But regardless of whether you like the F1, which at this point drove pretty decent, My understanding, like Kenan said, actually this one drove great. It had a new clutch, but regardless of transmission option, you've got an Enzo derived V12. It looks really cool. That value there is amazing. Especially when you consider the deepest base Porsche you can buy is now 130. So save 20 grand, which is a major on this car service wise, or the cost of a swap almost and have some.

[Filippo]

That's a great point. The price of a new 992. Base. Base.

[Nick]

Base.

[Filippo]

You get this. A built in major or a swap.

[Nick]

Yep.

[Filippo]

That's incredible.

[Nick]

You Montana this car with the salvage title and save all the taxes and you just laugh at those Porsche.

[Filippo]

That is Nick expressing his personal opinion.

[Doug DeMuro]

Never do that on cars.

[Nick]

We would never do that. And when it breaks down, you can just take the Zeeker into the shop.

[Filippo]

That's right. You can have a drive. You.

[Doug DeMuro]

Hey, by the way, on the subject of off color cars, cars that aren't perfect let's say, can you tell us your experience with Ed Bolian? You went over inside Bolan. You were on an Ed Bolian show the other day.

[Nick]

Yeah, well, I will be on the pod again next week. I think Kenan's still gone.

[Filippo]

Kenan will still go.

[Nick]

Someone's gone. And we're going to have some videos documenting that whole thing. So I will go into it.

[Doug DeMuro]

Tell us, give us a little teaser what happened. You went and met. You went to the snake's den and met. And met the snake charmer himself. What happened?

[Nick]

I am so pumped. No offense to you, Doug, but Ed and Hoovy are probably my two favorite channels in terms of what they do, in terms of the cars that they buy and the adventures they go on.

[Filippo]

Is that's my big Audi TT fan. So that makes sense.

[Doug DeMuro]

Listen, whenever I go to see Ed, I say, look, my friends are all big fans of yours. They don't care about me, but they're all big fans of yours. And I got you some sort of gift the last time I was with you.

[Nick]

Yeah, you did. You got me a plate.

[Doug DeMuro]

Now you've got the real gift of being with Ed, and that's a true gift.

[Nick]

He's incredibly nice, just very generous human being. So easy to talk to. He's a lot like he is in videos. Like, there's no on, off switch where he's like hamming it up for camera. Like, he's just a easy, outgoing, conversational guy. Like, we just talked cars. It felt a lot like our Wednesday night dinners where it was just like an effortless, oh, I'm really into the. Like, we Talked about the 599s like we're doing right now. We talked. It was all era, like the 2000s eras, Italian heavily depreciated cars, which is like, I can just talk that all day, every day. He gave me a ride in the vay, which was amazing. His tires are a little old and we were in a residential area, so I didn't quite feel the full 1000 horsepower, but that was a really special bucket list. More important, I got to drive his Diablo SV for about 40 minutes. And you'll have to wait for the video to hear my take on that, but let's just say I'm. I'm seeing orange over here, you know?

[Doug DeMuro]

You know, are you going to sell the Mercy and get a Diablo?

[Filippo]

I don't.

[Nick]

It's much like you do. Whatever car you've driven most recently is the best car you've ever driven. And then the. The next car so. But when I was driving that, I.

[Doug DeMuro]

Only feel that way among the three cars that I own. Yeah, you're in a different little spot here, aren't you?

[Nick]

If I.

[Doug DeMuro]

If I had sell the Mercy and get a Diablo. Filippo, push him on this.

[Nick]

If I had the capital to have both, I would have both.

[Doug DeMuro]

Oh, for Christ's sake. I do not have the capital to buy 78 cars. I'd have a warehouse.

[Nick]

The. The Diablo was way more usable than I thought. And so it. It negated my main detractor.

[Filippo]

Anybody has ever said, yeah, no, I. I assumed.

[Nick]

Yeah, I assumed it was going to be too compromised and I wouldn't be able to make that my primary fun car. I could drive that any way I drove the Mercy. It would be a little more uncomfortable, a little bit more raw, but, like, not limited. So that opened some doors in my head.

[Doug DeMuro]

I think that the Diablo, the Countach, is cooler, obviously. Like, I think that's like a kind of an objective statement. The Mercy is more livable, but one thing that Diablo does a good job of, it's not that far from being as cool as the Countach, but it's not that far from being as livable as the Mercy. Like, it's actually. It's actually the better. If you were hoping for a car that could get closer to the coolness and the usability, it actually does that. Instead of being closer to the usability of the Countach and the coolness of the Mercy, that's what you wouldn't want. The Diablo actually does the opposite in kind of an interesting way. At least that's true of kind of the later ones. I drove an SV and felt the same way. The 6.0s, that's true, too. I've never driven a 92, but maybe they're different.

[Nick]

The early ones are. I mean, no power steering, no power brakes. It's probably closer to the Countach, but I do think the Diablo is the Goldilocks, between the Mercy and the Diablo in terms of compromised, but not too compromised. Modern, but not too modern. It just.

[Doug DeMuro]

If you drove one around, people would still freak out almost as much or as much as the Countach. But it's like a. You know, it's a rational experience. The windows roll down.

[Filippo]

So are you selling the Mercy and buying a Diablo?

[Nick]

Not at the moment. So when Ed bought, we talked about this a little bit, and I think he's comfortable sharing this. But when he bought the blue Murcia Lago off Cars and Bids, it was a similar thing where he's like, oh, I'm not. I don't actually want to buy this car, but for the right price, I will. That's how I feel about his Diablo. Like, I don't actually want to buy it, but if it goes for. And it's going to be no reserve, so it could go for a deal. So I will bid on it and then if I win it, I'll figure out what to do and be very poor for a couple of months until I liquidate one or the other.

[Filippo]

There's a scoop for you. It's going to be live on cars and bits soon.

[Nick]

Yeah. We're aiming for end of the month is what I'm told.

[Doug DeMuro]

Wow. Wow. And Nick will be bitten hard. Hard and fast.

[Filippo]

And Nick bitten some cars.

[Nick]

But I do thank you. I also got the fortune to go on vinwiki, which was really fun to tell some car stories. I told the Arnaz story, so if you're not tired of hearing that story, go check it out. But that was a lot of fun.

[Doug DeMuro]

Story about money shifting the ttrs and blowing the motor.

[Nick]

I never money shifted it. Even Ed was like, oh, you're gonna tell the story about money shifting the TTRs. I'm like, I didn't. I wasn't even shifting it. It just started sputtering and died. There' story to tell.

[Doug DeMuro]

The time that I blew motor, it wasn't I me. Same, same. I didn't over rev it. No, it was. It was something else.

[Nick]

I really didn't. I really didn't.

[Doug DeMuro]

Something else happened. I don't know. I don't even know. I don't even get. I don't even know.

[Nick]

It was the APR tune on it removed the knock sensors and caused the engine to go boom, boom. And they do not like it when I say that on Facebook, but I continue to say it to them and they continue to play dumb.

[Doug DeMuro]

Okay, we got to move on to the question segment. The question segment is brought to you by Nick's shifting from second to first accidentally.

[Filippo]

Can it be brought to you by. I don't know. Carsandbeds.com the best place to buy and sell cool cars.

[Doug DeMuro]

No, no, no, no.

[Filippo]

All right. Thought I'd ask.

[Doug DeMuro]

I wish it was. But unfortunately, brought to you by the time Nick went for third and got first and. And the subsequent issues that came out of that.

[Nick]

Yeah, came out of that with 500 wheel horsepower, thank you very much. We just sleeved the block, threw in a bigger turbo, and it was good to go. Six months later, no, it's brought to.

[Doug DeMuro]

You by Cars n Bids and the Cars and Bids app, which is like Cars and Bids, but an app. I use it every day.

[Filippo]

You better.

[Doug DeMuro]

I don't. I like all the Cars and Bids Inc. Okay, the questions this week. Now remember, you can ask questions. Go to carsandbids.com, click on the questions tab or click on the Community tab and there will be a post there at the requesting questions and then you can ask. Now I don't go to only the top questions anymore. So even if it's late in the week, throw up a question or two. I got some late in the week questions this week that are good. Okay, first question from Eric44. Hey, Doug, what do you think is the poster car for kids growing up in this era? If you were growing up during this time period, what would your poster car be, Filippo, other than the Acura zdx?

[Filippo]

The zdx? The old ZDX is up there. Yeah.

[Doug DeMuro]

No, no, no.

[Filippo]

I saw one yesterday. Looked great.

[Doug DeMuro]

What do you think? The poster car, Nick? What do you think, Revuelto?

[Nick]

So actually Ed had a really good explanation of this, which is basically we as a culture have, like everything is now photographed. There's car spotters everywhere that a Ferrari, a Lamborghini is no longer special. And so the hypercars are now the poster cars. So the Koenigseggs, the, the Bugatti, like it's got to be a million dollar car plus to draw any attention. Otherwise it's just a Ferrari that you see, quote unquote anywhere. And I know that's very Californian of me to say, but like it, it's the, the bar has become so high that it's, you know, even a Rimac nevera is not going to draw any attention. Like it's got to be.

[Doug DeMuro]

That's not a bad take, honestly.

[Nick]

A utopia, like something like that.

[Filippo]

It's not a bad take for me. It's an M3 Touring new one and a Volvo V60 T8 Pulsar. But that's me.

[Doug DeMuro]

And that's very relatable, Filippo. Thanks. No, that's a really good point from Ed and repeated from Nick. Thank you. I think you're right. I think you're exactly right. When I think about it, Revuelto isn't really the poster car. Yeah, all the kids are obsessed with the Koenigseggs and the Paganis and stuff. And us old guys don't care about that stuff.

[Filippo]

Well, you know what the next one will be, right? The McPura will obviously be.

[Nick]

Oh yeah, my other related theory Is so the generation older than Doug and I are super into Ferraris and Lambos are like below their line. They don't care. And then like our Doug and I's generation is like into Lambos and Ferraris. Like, it's still cool, but not as cool. I think the next generation will be super into McLaren and be like, you guys were all sleeping on the 570s and the 620LT and the 575 and the 675 and the 720 and the 765 and the 750 and the 740 and they're going to be super into that and we're going to be like, yeah, we never cared about those cars. We still don't care about those cars. But I think the next gen, especially now that McLaren F1 team is doing well, are going to be like super into McLaren and think this was the golden age of McLaren and you guys were all just ignoring them in two into your Lambos.

[Doug DeMuro]

That's an interesting take. Could be true.

[Filippo]

I think that generation is still into Lambos. Huracans, twin turbo Huracans still, still big.

[Nick]

Is anyone going to get a poster of the Temario? Temario, whatever. How you were saying, it's like kind of a forgettable looking car.

[Doug DeMuro]

It's the Lamborghini. John Temarion, come on. All right, interesting, interesting points from Nick there on an interesting question. Next question from W. Storg. W. Storg, what are your thoughts on ppf? That's paint protection film. The little clear film over the paint. Does it add value in the second hand market? Do you guys have it on your personal cars? I will tell you this, I do. I wanted to get this question because I wanted to make a point. Had a guy recently, a friend of mine, try to sell a car on the site, didn't sell and he was upset about the number it was bid to. And I looked at the auction and it had a raft. And one of the things I've learned in this business is PPF is beneficial if it's clear and if it's installed well and if it's installed recently, it's beneficial. I don't think you get dollar for dollar back, but you get money back. Wraps are different, wraps are tough. You show up at the PPF installer, right? And the PPF installer is like, we can do clear and you can keep your car silver or you could make your car yellow with a wrap. And. And a lot of people who are not very sophisticated I think say, oh, I want Yellow, and then they try to sell the car with the yellow wrap, and you have two problems that come out of that. One is the car, the wrap color you've selected may not be a desirable color to other human beings. And I would argue that most wraps that I see are not desirable colors to other human beings. Nick, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Then you have the issue of everybody is afraid of the paint condition underneath the wrap, because the presumption is one of the reasons you may have wrapped the car is that the paint is messed up. And so you bidding basically with the assumption that you may have to do paint work. Now, we've counseled people on cars and bids to take the wraps off before they sell the car, but that's costly and time consuming, and not everybody wants to do it. And so a lot of times cars go up and we send them and we say, hey, it's got a wrap. And, and it has an impact.

[Filippo]

Has, like a real impact, doesn't do.

[Doug DeMuro]

As well as it should. And then the person who's selling it is like, why didn't my rep do well? It's, it's, it's matte black. And it's like, yeah, well, not everybody wants that on that car.

[Nick]

I will say the, the person who asked said PPF specifically and not rap. I think they probably know the difference. To me, yes, I, I, if I see a car listed with ppf, I, I'm more interested in it for two reasons. One, the paint's probably in good shape underneath, because you usually only do that when the car is in good shape to begin with and you want to preserve it. It truly does prevent damage. There's tons of things on that. But it's also a signal that the seller is someone to spend five to ten grand getting their car protected. That has no aesthetic benefit otherwise, and tells me they're the type of person who really took care of their stuff and were meticulous about keeping it up.

[Filippo]

It does feel like the real benefit of PPF is not in the resale value, which maybe a little bit, but marginal. It's really, you're protecting yourself while you own the car because you're not going to get the same stone chips. It can prevent damage if you run into something slowly. Like there are ways that it protects.

[Nick]

Your investment and you can drive it harder. I, I, I wouldn't say the engine just pulls harder. I follow people a little closer, especially like Matt in the GT3RS, who slings rocks. I don't care. I even had my windshield ppf. Because a mercy windshield is allegedly a ten thousand dollar piece of glass.

[Doug DeMuro]

That's the question. The question. The second part of the question is, do you have it on your own cars? My Ford GT is full ppf, including the windshield. My Carrera GT is full ppf, including the windshield and the countach. The paint work is not good, so I didn't bother ppfing it because, I mean, either it has to be repainted like there are chips and it's no big deal, but the windshield is PPF on the countach for the same reason you were just explaining. I will say I ran my 4 GT into my house a couple weeks ago. This didn't make the podcast. Couple weeks ago.

[Filippo]

I was trying to find a nice way to say if you run into something slowly, but I meant your house.

[Doug DeMuro]

I should have talked about this on the pod, but it wasn't a big deal. I ran into my house with my 4 GT and. Hey, folks, haven't we all, at one point or another, crashed Ford GT into a house?

[Filippo]

No, but you have crashed a G wagon cabriolet into my garage door.

[Doug DeMuro]

Yeah, so I hit stuff and Anyway, I ran the 4 GT of the house and I was. I was a little bit anxious, although not particularly. And then we looked, we took off that section of PPF and the PPF had completely protected. Even in an impact such as running into a house, it had completely protected the car. I'm dead serious. We re PPF the area and it's fine. Like, there's not even an indent in the. In the bodywork. It's incredible.

[Nick]

Stuff's magic. It is.

[Filippo]

Yep. I will say I have very poorly installed PPF on the gti. I didn't do it. Just I came with some really bad PPF and I made bivalent about it.

[Nick]

Elite Finish is a detailing shop we go to, and Kevin, their. Their manager, he's like, the contractors are with other people. Oh, all these other installs are crap. And this is the way you do it. And like all the other guys, he is right.

[Doug DeMuro]

My courage was done so poorly and I had him clean it up and he did it.

[Nick]

They hide all the little seams. Like you really can't tell it's there unless you look. Unlike a wrap where it's matte black or yellow or whatever undesirable color it is. Starburst.

[Doug DeMuro]

All right, next question, Next question. Next question. From minivan and Miata lover, would you, Kenan and Filippo, or at least let's say, would you Nick and Filippo, ever consider doing a Top Gear Grand Tour style video special trip across a state or country? We would love to watch the three of you drive across some beautiful parts of America and the world. We did. We did. And people watched, sort of. But not enough for us to justify doing it again. Actually, Nick and Kenneth were both part of it. We drove out to the desert. I had a Cayenne Turbo, for God's sake. Whatever happened at Cayenne Turbo, he did.

[Nick]

Say beautiful parts of the country. And I'm not sure. A dry lake bed in the middle of California.

[Doug DeMuro]

The desert is incredibly beautiful. It makes you. It makes you dream like the ocean. Look at this. Go watch our.

[Filippo]

That's gorgeous.

[Doug DeMuro]

Listen, I'll tell you something, folks. If our video here gets 20 million views, we'll do another one of these.

[Nick]

I would like to do one in Wyoming. And we all buy muscle trucks. So you can have a Typhoon or Cyclone all get an SRT10 RAM each person, maybe an SVT Lightning. The real ones, not the electric ones. And we can do real American trucks in real America.

[Filippo]

Look at this shot.

[Nick]

Yeah, the cinematography was great. And all the comments were either you ripped off Top Gear badly or you really upped your production value and there was nothing in between.

[Doug DeMuro]

Anyway, we did. And Doug Cheetah, I loved these videos. I thought they were funny. I actually watched them. I thought they were cute. And Nick was in them. And Nick. Nick was problematic. Honest. I'll tell you, we were out there for two days.

[Filippo]

Oh, we have some stories.

[Nick]

My attention span doesn't fit for two days. Like that's.

[Filippo]

That doesn't fit 20 minutes.

[Doug DeMuro]

Yes.

[Nick]

We learned this podcast is a stretch in terms of how much quality interaction you can get with me.

[Doug DeMuro]

All right, next question. We got two more. Two more questions. Two more questions. Two more questions. Maybe three from. Oh, no, no, let's do this.

[Nick]

Doug, I got a question. Do you want to split Gohazi's with me in that B5RS4 that was just in the car?

[Filippo]

Have you seen this?

[Nick]

I want it so badly.

[Filippo]

Have you seen this? It is a true European market. B5R4.

[Nick]

No, they're legal now. They're 25 years.

[Doug DeMuro]

B5Rs4s are legal. People have gone through so many hoops to get these cars legal. There was a company that actually went through the process of getting them federalized and jumping through all those governmental hoops. And a few of these cars came over legally, and now they are legal. The earliest ones are 25. And this one is here from France. And they're coming.

[Filippo]

We've auctioned a few previously.

[Doug DeMuro]

Yeah, but they were all converted. Yeah.

[Filippo]

Yeah.

[Nick]

This one's in Jersey, so it's right across the pond from you, Doug. Let's do this.

[Filippo]

Look at this car.

[Doug DeMuro]

Okay, I forgot. There are some actually legit good ones from Sternberger. What vehicle modification do you generally agree with or find appealing and would recommend for most vehicles? What modification do you think people generally do that they shouldn't because of reliability, appearance or performance reduction?

[Nick]

I'll take this for you because I think we're gonna see eye to eye here. Please. Big brake kit, coilovers, exhaust, downpipe or headers. We recommend race cats and not a full wheels, obviously. You know, cat delete. Yes. Wrap airbags.

[Filippo]

XD wheels, do you think, or something?

[Nick]

Yeah. Bags and coilovers, actually. Some redundancy just in case one fails.

[Filippo]

It's really a reliability model.

[Nick]

BBS LMS.

[Filippo]

Oh, well, that's classy.

[Nick]

Actually, there's a set of E88s for sale that are Murcielago Fitment and. Oh, I want them so badly.

[Filippo]

What is stopping you? Just the fact that you will be removed from our group.

[Nick]

They want ten grand and I would never hear the end of it from the group. So that's two good reasons not to.

[Doug DeMuro]

The answer to the question from a personal perspective and from a cars and bins perspective they align, is that the mods that actually add value are the ones that improve reliability or usability. And my cars are all modified, but they're modified.

[Filippo]

Making news. Well, what's the Mercedes? What's the Mercedes E450 mod EC?

[Doug DeMuro]

YouTube deleted the tent. Also, that car has been hit multiple times. And so there's. There's a lot of body work on that. It's on the carfax, by the way. Clean. Clean. It hit a. They told me it hit a Marmot when I bought it, but I think it hit like an elk or a moose. Anyway, none of this is fake anyway, so I do reliability. My cars are all modified. I got a tune on one of my cars. I got forged pistons on another car. I got real stuff.

[Filippo]

I think that there are mods that generally help. They're very model specific. There are certain cars where specific ECU tune is accepted as like. Yep, everybody does that. There's a lot of cars where specific brake updates or brake pads or suspension whatever is like fully accepted as long as they're from high quality reinforcements.

[Nick]

On an E46 rod bearing replacement.

[Filippo]

Yeah. And those are the ones that I think are value additive for ims.

[Nick]

RMS and a Porsche also like specific.

[Filippo]

Exhaust on specific cars where like it's accept like it's well reputed it's a brand that everybody likes. It's a the outcome is known things where people can immediately know exactly what the outcome is of adding that mod generally do well.

[Nick]

Yeah we've talked to off road mods often you can go where they're not helping the reliability or their performance other than an off road capability but like a mild lift or like a cayenne off road build. Maybe you don't get dollar for dollar back but you might get more than a normal example. The biggest thing that I see people screw up that is a plea to you all is if you have two sets of wheels the stock wheels and an aftermarket set of wheels and you're including both in the sale. Do the pictures with the stock wheels. That is 95% of people would prefer and then the 5% of people that like the non ones.

[Doug DeMuro]

Maybe people want aftermarket wheels but they probably don't want your the aftermarket wheel that you selected probably doesn't. Look, you're trying to reach the whole point of cars and bids. You can sell a car in Facebook marketplace locally to some guy who comes by and lowballs you. The whole point of cars and bids is you're trying to broaden your audience and get more money and you can't broaden your audience by selling a car with a bad rap or bad wheels. That's the whole point. You're missing the whole point. You get the car back. Like that 3000 GT is a great example. That is a nice stock looking 99 with the big old wing like that car is going to bring more money because it's stock even though there's a big tuner culture for those cars. And I completely agree with that Nick.

[Nick]

That E46 wagon that you guys had was another example. He R and m' ed it with the mods. He put it back to stock and got more money for it.

[Filippo]

Yeah it's back to stock as E46 and 3 build touring which didn't exactly.

[Doug DeMuro]

But yes, that's right. He rnn that car on a different a competitor's website for a lot less money and then he made it better by making it stock. He was like but I built it out. Well people don't want they want it to look a certain way and I think that's a. It's a broader swath of buyers you're going to reach that way. Yep.

[Nick]

After. After not money shifting my TTRs sure sure. I sold it. And I. I sold off $8,000 of aftermarket parts. I then sold the car for what I had listed it as is with all the mods installed. So, like, it's interesting.

[Doug DeMuro]

It's also what you just takes a lot longer and requires a lot more effort, but you can really do okay financially if you're willing to do it. Like, if you're willing to pull stuff off. And most people get to that point, they just want it gone. And I get it. But I was there when Nick was selling seats to guys in Arizona and, like, doing the whole thing, and he made money on that stuff.

[Filippo]

Yeah, eight grand's a lot of money.

[Nick]

Driving to the Arizona border was a little tedious, but otherwise, it was worth.

[Filippo]

An hour and a half.

[Doug DeMuro]

Okay, last two questions. Last two questions from ultratech. Doug, how often do you look through your own Wikipedia page? Is it accurate? Filippo? Is it? Have you been on there?

[Filippo]

I have not. What do you find out?

[Doug DeMuro]

Oh, look, there's me. Nick. Ken. Nick is me.

[Nick]

My child saw a photo of me without a beard. And now that you're a bearded guy, too, and she said, oh, you're like a tall baby. And that's. That's what I see when I see that picture. I don't tall baby very often, but.

[Doug DeMuro]

There'S probably some misinformation.

[Filippo]

I didn't know this. In 2024, you were named winner of Emory's 40 under 40. Congratulations.

[Doug DeMuro]

Let me thank you so much. Thank you so much.

[Filippo]

Years ago, years ago, there was a profile written of you in whatever Emory student newspaper was called, and I am quoted because I was interviewed for that, for that article.

[Nick]

You know, there's like, a thriving black market for Wikipedia editors. So now it's become so hard to edit pages because people think you're manipulating it for commercial purposes. That basically you find who's a super editor and has a long history, and you pay them, like, a bribe, and they will edit what you want it to say for you, and it'll get accepted versus that. So if you need a guy, just let me know and I can. I can get some stuff.

[Doug DeMuro]

I don't. I don't really care. Like, I don't have anything that needs to be, you know, changed. I'm looking through it like it's fine. And most of it, there's some inaccuracies, but.

[Filippo]

But yeah, I mean, that's a little out of date. We've. We've now hosted, just for Everybody knows, over 29,000 cars sold, $650 million in vehicles, you know?

[Doug DeMuro]

Yeah, but I don't know. I don't really look at it all that much. But, but like, what's this section about Jay Leno, you know. All right, last question from Goldpay in 94. I'm a sentimental guy and driving my own car on a Grand tour of Europe is one of my bucket list items only.

[Nick]

Is this Canon?

[Doug DeMuro]

No, it's just some guy, but it's me. Honestly, I've always wanted to drive one of my cars in Europe. Only Volvo and Porsche still do European delivery. Buying a new Porsche is not practical for me. I don't have any interest in a Volvo. I would do a BMW, but they don't do it. How hard is it in practice to ship my Miata to Europe, do a two week trip and then ship it back? Okay, here's the deal. This is a, this is a thing that I spend an enormous amount of time on. First off, if you're rich, you can fly it and the car will arrive the next day. It's about 15 grand one way. So 30 grand, is that it? A lot of money, but it's not.

[Filippo]

Wait, sorry. That feels cheaper than you'd expect, right?

[Doug DeMuro]

It's a lot of money, but it's not like, like a private plane flight to Europe like where the three of us would be $250,000. Flying a car cargo is like $15,000. Maybe it's a little more now I was looking into a few years ago, but regardless, it's not crazy. Okay, so, so that if you're, if you're, if you. The kind of person asking this question is probably barking up the tree of maybe doing something like this. So 15 grand especially because if you put the car on the water, it's probably about 1500, two grand each way. So there's a cost to that. And you lose the car for six weeks to two months. Whenever this question gets asked on travel forums because there's always people who are like, we're going to spend the summer in Europe and it would be a lot cheaper to just send our own car instead of rent a car. The people on travel forums freak out. That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard. It's going to be so expensive to send a car. It's actually not every car around us more or less has been shipped.

[Filippo]

Shipped.

[Doug DeMuro]

Right. Like, like all. I mean, obviously some cars are built in North America, but you know, cars come from overseas. My car is my G wagon.

[Filippo]

Right?

[Doug DeMuro]

They get on boats. It's not that expensive. Those Manufacturers have got the shipping cost, the destination charge down to 1000 bucks or 1500 bucks. You as a person pay a little more because you're not doing in bulk, but it's not substantial. The real issues are it's a logistical challenge because the shippers are not used to dealing with individuals. And there are some things you have to do. I've heard you have to own the car outright. You have to make sure your insurer is aware of it. There are specialty insurers who will handle this. You want to make copies of your license plates because people in Europe see you American colorful license plates and sometimes they have a tendency to find their way away from the car. And if you live in a one license plate state, you have to get a front plate made because even though it's technically legal, you'll get pulled over all the time in Europe. But it's possible and it's not that expensive. If you're willing to put in some legwork and if you're willing to pick up the car like an Emden in northern Germany, which is not like ideal. This is, this is a totally doable thing and it is a dream of mine. And I tell my wife whenever our kids are really bad, really hard, that like someday post children we're going to ship the G Wagon convertible to Europe and spend the whole summer kidless when they're off at college, driving through Europe in the gcat. That's like my North Star that I, I like it. So it's possible. Now this person specifically is asking about a two week trip and I think that that's probably not a good thing because you'd lose the car for two months on the front end, two months on the back end, just for two weeks. And that's assuming that the boat arrives correctly, that all the paperwork is correct, etc. But in Europe you're allowed to drive around in a foreign plated car for this period of time.

[Filippo]

It saves in the US, by the way.

[Doug DeMuro]

Yeah, also true in the US and every time I go to Europe, I see at least a couple cars with American license plates.

[Nick]

I tried to, I think the easier move would be to buy a car in Europe hard that's over 25 years old. So this, this multiplier that I'm into that has all the red flags a used car could possibly have is in Stuttgart. And I tried to get Kenan or Sam to go look at it, drive it while they're there, and then just.

[Filippo]

It is notably harder because registration insurance are really tough if you're buying the car in that country.

[Doug DeMuro]

I have looked into this in. I only have looked into it in Italy, which is where I'd be interested in doing it. And in Italy you have to be an Italian citizen or permanent resident to purchase a car. Car. You can't just like be an American on a dream and like buy a car willy nilly. Like in order to register the car, like you have to have the documents, which I think is insane, by the way, because that prevents like British people who want to have a, like a holiday home in Italy from buying.

[Filippo]

They find a way, by the way, there are cars that are. I will also know it's not just being a citizen. As an Italian citizen, you also actually need to be a resident of Italy, which has a bunch of. If you're from the us, Taxi.

[Nick]

Right.

[Doug DeMuro]

Presumably like the whole. Yeah, it's more complicated than it might seem. It's actually less complicated to ship over your car.

[Nick]

Yep. There are.

[Doug DeMuro]

Remember, ship over an ornage.

[Nick]

Be sweet.

[Doug DeMuro]

Remember, almost every US serviceman does this. Like when they're stationed in Germany or Spain, they ship their cars. Now the government takes care of it for them but like it happens, they do it all the time.

[Filippo]

It is doable, to be clear, to buy a car there, register title, but it requires a lot of footwork.

[Doug DeMuro]

It requires some footwork and some enjoyment of. Involved of, you know, regulations and rules.

[Filippo]

In countries that are necessarily famously good at doing that.

[Nick]

The European equivalent of a Montana llc.

[Doug DeMuro]

You shift a car to Germany where this kind of stuff happens and you start there and after, once you're in Europe, it's. You really don't. You're not going to get hassled. You just kind of need to carry some paperwork. And what else do you need to carry with you, Filippo, at all times when you're driving in Europe, you need.

[Filippo]

A safety vest, obviously, and a warning triangle and flares maybe. I can't remember. If you need flares, you definitely need a warden triangle.

[Doug DeMuro]

I think it depends on the country. But you need a safety vest in a triangle and flares and you actually.

[Filippo]

Need a safety vest per occupant that could be in the car. Someone keep on. I. I will say Volvo's European delivery, which is an incredible deal because you start at 10 below MSRP or something around there. I want to do desperately, unfortunately. I don't have a plan to buy a new car at any point, but I really want to do the European delivery.

[Doug DeMuro]

You know what you do?

[Nick]

Flippo?

[Doug DeMuro]

Do it with a C30.

[Filippo]

That's not a car that's sold by Volvo currently. But, yeah, if I were buying a new Volvo legitimately, I would find a way to do European.

[Doug DeMuro]

You know, I bought a new Volvo, like, 10 years ago and I was too busy. And I have a suspicion that's true of a lot of people. And, you know, the real problem with Volvo Euro delivery is that trip has to start in Sweden, in mid Sweden. And so you're like two days on the road before.

[Filippo]

You're not going to Italy from there. No, no, you're. You're staying there, but in your own car.

[Doug DeMuro]

So. So you're driving around a country you don't really want to be. I mean, I love. I actually liked Scandinavia, but, like, if I want to do this trip, I want to drive on, like, the cool thing. You're in a country you don't want to be in, in a car you don't want to be in. Right. It's not like you're a Porsche. You're driving an XC60 and you're driving around Norway like, ooh, a moose.

[Filippo]

And you gotta assume. You gotta assume that most are doing it in the wagons because they're true enthusiasts. The real. The real benefit is that actually a good way to get a discount on a Volvo, because their pricing is quite appealing for that price.

[Nick]

It's like driving all the way across town for 10 cents off your per gallon. You know, it's like. Which ask for 10%.

[Doug DeMuro]

Yeah. But if you're going to Europe anyway, the Porsche one is really cool. Because the cool thing about the Porsche one is you can drop off the car not in Stuttgart. So you could pick up the car in Stuttgart and then take a big trip and drop off the car like in Nice or something like that.

[Filippo]

And also driving your personal Porsche, especially if it's 911 Boxster Cayman around Europe is a little bit cooler than driving your XC60, which you could also get at the local Avis counter.

[Doug DeMuro]

Yes. Although I do think that the coolest part would be driving your own. Like, Nick, imagine shifting gears near mercy on the Autobahn would be cool.

[Nick]

Yeah, I'm here for that.

[Doug DeMuro]

Okay, that's our pod. Nick, you got any parting thoughts for us?

[Nick]

Thank you for tuning in Nice.

[Filippo]

Best pod ever. Or something like that.

[Doug DeMuro]

Goodbye, everyone.