What Safety Recalls And Auction Prices Reveal About Modern Car Culture

Welcome And What’s Coming Up

Don Armstrong 0:03

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is the one and only in real time car talk show. It's award-winning. Just ahead, what the Hemings auction car sold for. And recalls. Later, Jeff has the racing calendar, Mars has This Week in Auto History, and I'll have the stories making automotive news headlines. Howdy, along with Mike out of this world, Mars. We always need more Jeff Zeke and I'm Dot Armstrong. Glad you could join us today. David Ainsley taking a little break. He's gearing up for our big remote broadcast coming up in Granbury, Texas. That's our next remote. That's coming up in June. So we're about to let's see, next month. One month away. There you go.

Mike Marrs 0:45

Yes. Almost exactly.

Weekly Recalls And VIN Lookup

Don Armstrong 0:47

So let's start with the recalls, shall we? Because um there are always enough recalls every week to fill up an entire library. And uh it's not just one automaker, it's a lot of them. Mercedes Benz, front passenger seat belt may not fasten. I guess you'll know that pretty quick, huh? CLA 250 Plus, that's an EV, and the CLA 350 formatic, also an EV for 2026. A rear bench seat may be missing seat legs. Well, I guess you'd know that pretty much once you sat down on it, you're sitting on the floor. Missing seat legs on the Ram ProMaster Van 2026. Okay.

Jeff Dziekan 1:29

Okay, you got your back seat, you got your back bottom seat. Okay, ship it.

Don Armstrong 1:32

Yeah, that's it.

Jeff Dziekan 1:33

Where's the legs?

Don Armstrong 1:34

There's no legs. No legs. Um blank instrument panel display. Every Mercedes Benz known to America, 25 and 26. There's too many to go through. Look at this. Look at how many there are.

Jeff Dziekan 1:47

You said blank, I thought it was a swear word you were blanking out.

Don Armstrong 1:50

No.

Jeff Dziekan 1:50

How they do that blank.

Don Armstrong 1:51

Look at that. How many is that? 50? Something like that. Anyway, so my recommendation is if you own a Mercedes-Benz from the 24 to 26 model years, I would suggest that you go to safercar.gov, put in your VIN number. Yep. And if you don't know where to find that, it's in your wallet or online with your insurance man.

Jeff Dziekan 2:11

Yep.

Don Armstrong 2:11

And it's got the VIN number there, and you plug that in and it'll tell you what is recalled and what is not. Now, rear view camera image may not display in the Tesla, Model 3, SX, and Y. Those are several of them. From 717 and also 21 to 23 miles. And um the vehicle can exceed the speed rating of the tires. In the RAM 2500 for 23 through 26.

Jeff Dziekan 2:39

2500, that's an E-rated tire. There could be an E-rated tire for commercial. Anything over 2500, we would have a heavier built tire. That's strange.

Mike Marrs 2:48

What kind of speed would that be rated for, Jeff?

Jeff Dziekan 2:51

I I that I don't know. I don't know what the latest is, but if you got a big 250, you know, 2500 truck, you're gonna have a stout, more meaty tire, thicker, harder drive. To hold all the cargo. Yeah. So uh gosh, I don't know.

Mike Marrs 3:06

So you're saying the tires aren't rated for 200 miles an hour on that truck? Probably not.

Don Armstrong 3:11

Probably not. Yeah, I don't think the truck can do 200 miles an hour. So get did you hear anything there that was missing?

Jeff Dziekan 3:17

Yeah, uh the F-word.

Don Armstrong 3:19

Yes, the F-word was missing out of that. Ford did not have a recall this week. It's a miracle.

Mike Marrs 3:26

Their internet's down.

Jeff Dziekan 3:28

Uh that's it. That's fake news.

Don Armstrong 3:31

That is fake, that's fake news right there.

Jeff Dziekan 3:35

Okay. He didn't use the F-word.

Don Armstrong 3:37

Let's let's move on and let's do this week's sold cars from Hemming.

Hemmings Auction Price Guessing Begins

Jeff Dziekan 3:43

Let's get everybody uh gathered up. Gather around, everyone.

Don Armstrong 3:45

Gather around. So uh first one up today. Now you're gonna guess the price at what this thing sold for at Heming's online auction. Okay?

Mike Marrs 3:53

Okay, look at that.

Don Armstrong 3:55

This is a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro. Now, I don't know whether this is a resto mod because I what is 578? 578. There let me tell you something. The Z28 in 19 uh 69 did not have a 578 offering.

Mike Marrs 4:16

So this is a nor did it have a six-speed manual.

Don Armstrong 4:20

So this is a resto mod. Okay. Um it's got the body, but it ain't got the guts. Now, if I'm gonna spend any kind of money on a 1969 Chevy Camaro, it's gonna have the DZ engine in it with a four-speed manual transmission because that's the way the Z28 came back then. But that's just me. This is this. So how much do you think that the 69 Camaro Resto mod sold for?

Jeff Dziekan 4:44

$72,000. Jeff Heisman says $65,000.

Don Armstrong 4:49

Anyone else? Anybody else want to join in or earlier?

Mike Marrs 4:53

I I don't know if uh we've lost him or not. But yeah, this is a pretty bad car.

Don Armstrong 4:59

I mean bad meaning good.

Mike Marrs 5:01

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, you're talking about a monster big block, you got a six speed, and uh let's twist that body round.

Don Armstrong 5:08

Good looking car. Yeah, it really is. I'm not a I'm not gonna stick. Okay, well, yeah, well, I know. So the sold car price was sixty-three thousand dollars.

Jeff Dziekan 5:16

Oh, Jeff, got it. Yeah, we'll give it to Jeff.

Don Armstrong 5:19

Yeah, Jeff Heitzman uh did very well on that one. All right, next up. The 1986 Jeep CJ7, and I bring this up because it's got the square headlights, that everybody threw a fit over, and Jeep said, Oh we're so sorry, we messed up, we're not gonna make those anymore. But I thought that it was interesting that this one is up for sale and uh obviously it's modified, you know, no stock wheels, nothing stock on this.

Jeff Dziekan 5:47

And I'm sorry, what year again?

Don Armstrong 5:49

This is a 1986, okay.

Mike Marrs 5:51

But it's that's not the eighty-six front end on it. They changed that front end to put those square headlights on it intentionally.

Don Armstrong 5:57

Okay, well, whatever the case may be, I'm just telling you that uh this one has the square headlights.

Jeff Dziekan 6:03

17 grand. Jeff says 55,000. I say 17.

Don Armstrong 6:08

Really? Yeah. Okay.

Mike Marrs 6:10

V8 conversion and everything.

Don Armstrong 6:12

Does it have a V8 in it? Yeah, it looks to be Oh my. Yeah.

Jeff Dziekan 6:16

Hellcat maybe in a throttle bottom. I think it's an LS. LS.

Don Armstrong 6:19

Yeah. So it sold for $33,075. Wow. Uh, it looks good.

Jeff Dziekan 6:25

Yeah.

Don Armstrong 6:25

If you're into that sort of thing. But um, I thought it was kind of interesting that they had the square headlights on it that everybody threw a fit at when they Jeep put that on there. Next up 1967 Ford Mustang. Now, this is a fastback model, and it looks stock like it is stock. Yeah. Okay. Now, we don't know whether the car has been racked or in the the many years on it and probably all those miles on it, I would imagine that it has been refurbished at least once or twice. So, um, and I tell you that on purpose because uh the price may reflect that.

Jeff Dziekan 7:04

21,000.

Don Armstrong 7:06

21,000. Yes, sir.

Mike Marrs 7:08

It is, it is. If you look at the engine there, it is an S Code 390 in that car.

Don Armstrong 7:13

Oh. That was that offered in 67, a 390?

Mike Marrs 7:18

Yes, yeah, yeah. That's good. The bullet Mustang was a 390. It was built off.

Don Armstrong 7:23

It says 60,000. Jeff says 60,000.

Jeff Dziekan 7:26

I say 21.

Don Armstrong 7:27

Jeffman.

Jeff Dziekan 7:29

Jeff Heisman says 60,000.

Don Armstrong 7:30

Okay. And you say 21?

Jeff Dziekan 7:32

Right. Anybody else, maybe?

Don Armstrong 7:34

I don't know if anybody else is on online with us today, but I will tell you that it sold for $80,050.

Jeff Dziekan 7:41

Wow.

Don Armstrong 7:42

That's a nice looking car. Yeah. I'm not a big Mustang guy, but boy, I like that.

Jeff Dziekan 7:47

Yep.

Don Armstrong 7:48

Next up. A 1969 Pontiac Firebird.

Jeff Dziekan 7:53

Uh-oh.

Don Armstrong 7:54

Not a big fan, but I will tell you that I think that this is an all-original.

Jeff Dziekan 8:00

I'd take this over there, Mustang.

Don Armstrong 8:02

Okay.

Jeff Dziekan 8:02

Absolutely.

Don Armstrong 8:04

Well, um, I will tell you that um it looks like it's an all-original car.

unknown 8:09

Okay.

Mike Marrs 8:10

If you look at that that top left-hand picture, you can see it's got a functional RAM air setup on it. Yeah, I see that.

Jeff Dziekan 8:15

With all the foam on it.

Don Armstrong 8:16

That would be one of the first ones, wouldn't it?

unknown 8:18

Yeah.

Mike Marrs 8:18

Yes, it would be. Uh so it's a 400 cubic hitch engine on it, too, then.

Jeff Dziekan 8:23

I'm gonna go 55,000.

Don Armstrong 8:29

Let's see if uh Mr. Heitzman.

Mike Marrs 8:31

Yeah, he is. I'm just I'm I'm taking notes and he's got sixty-four thousand.

Don Armstrong 8:36

Well, guess what? Neither one of you guys came anywhere close because it sold for $159,600.

Jeff Dziekan 8:43

I didn't have $50,000 to spend anyway.

Don Armstrong 8:45

Well, I wouldn't have even made a down payment.

Mike Marrs 8:48

One of the notes, which I don't know how you'd tell that from the pictures, but it this is one of five hundred and five cars made like this. So that's what drove the price up.

Jeff Dziekan 8:57

That's a good looking, good looking uh bird.

Don Armstrong 8:59

Yeah. Well, I'll tell you what, I don't know as if I'd even pull it out in the sunshine, I'd be with that kind of money invested in.

Jeff Dziekan 9:05

Look at this.

Don Armstrong 9:06

Okay, next up, a 1948 Lincoln Continental. This would be one of those uh May West or uh or uh yeah. Yeah, yeah, there's famous movie star cars in like a May West. May West, I think was before this, but whatever. Yeah, one of those. This is a movie star car from the late 40s, so this is post-World War II, 1942, Lincoln Continental convertible.

Jeff Dziekan 9:35

42,000.

Don Armstrong 9:37

42?

Jeff Dziekan 9:38

Jeff says 90,000.

Don Armstrong 9:41

You may be surprised. This car sold for $29,400. Wow.

Mike Marrs 9:50

This original flathead V8. I mean that's cool. To me, that's a deal.

Don Armstrong 9:56

Look at the chrome on the dash. This buttons the front bumper. Golly. That's pretty cool. All right. Next up.

Jeff Dziekan 10:06

This is for Jeff Zeke. Oh, yeah. What do you think that is? I think that's amazing. Yeah, besides that. That's that's a uh is it a fairlane? It is a Ford Falcon.

Don Armstrong 10:16

Falcon. I did not know that Falcon came in a in a wagon.

Jeff Dziekan 10:21

Gorgeous, gorgeous.

Mike Marrs 10:22

It's all right. They had a wagon. The panel truck, though, is what makes this really unique.

Jeff Dziekan 10:28

Yes, yes.

Don Armstrong 10:30

Yeah, that's right. That is a panel.

Jeff Dziekan 10:32

I'm not so keen on that uh building there on the side. All right, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna I'm gonna stick in the uh the $40,000 range. Really? Yeah. Hot dog. I I just don't see it. I I I can't get the number in my head. Jeff says $20.

Don Armstrong 10:49

20. It's sold for $8,100. Yeah. You know it's got a straight six in it.

Jeff Dziekan 10:55

Yeah, it doesn't matter. I'd drive it.

Don Armstrong 10:57

I just think that's uh the chrome on the top, between the top and the body, it it's distracting. Yeah. That's uh I'm not a big fan of the color.

Mike Marrs 11:07

It's a modified wagon that they took and made a slow panel out of it.

Jeff Dziekan 11:11

But we don't see the suspension, so that could be hacked up too.

Mike Marrs 11:14

Well, if you really want to know the truth, it's riding on a Lincoln Continental chassis with a 50 V8 on it, which you can't see in the pictures by any means.

Jeff Dziekan 11:21

And it went for eight grand?

Don Armstrong 11:22

81. Yeah, 81, $8,100. All right, next up, kind of a cousin to this one. This is a 1962 Ford Ranchero. Oh, the SA. And it's got it also has a straight six in it. Um, it's petty blue, and I'm sure that Ford has a uh uh paint color for that, but whatever, you've seen them a billion times.

Jeff Dziekan 11:46

All right, since the other one went, and there was a little bit better pick on this, is more original. I'm gonna go six grand.

Don Armstrong 11:53

Six grand. So there you go. What is what does Mr. Heitzman say?

Mike Marrs 11:57

Uh he's uh coming in at 11 grand.

Don Armstrong 12:01

11,000. Okay, you ready?

Mike Marrs 12:03

Yeah.

Don Armstrong 12:04

This would be something that Heitzman would.

Mike Marrs 12:06

112,000.

Don Armstrong 12:07

It sold for $8,500.

Mike Marrs 12:10

And it's an automatic. Thank you.

Don Armstrong 12:12

Is it an automatic?

Mike Marrs 12:14

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I had to look really close at the pictures, but it's there's not a third pedal in there.

Jeff Dziekan 12:18

And there's this uh so it's not like a three on a tree then. No.

Mike Marrs 12:22

It's automatic. I'd drive it.

Don Armstrong 12:24

So that would be a two-speed automatic.

Mike Marrs 12:28

Oh, I I'd be pretty sure. I'm not sure about a Ford in 63, two or three.

Don Armstrong 12:34

Yeah, 62. Yeah, it'd be a two-speed automatic.

Jeff Dziekan 12:36

It's probably the same out of the Mustang.

unknown 12:39

Yeah.

Don Armstrong 12:39

Um, yeah, you're probably right. But this Mustang didn't come along until 64.

Jeff Dziekan 12:44

Right, but it's yeah.

Don Armstrong 12:45

It's the same setup. Yeah. All right, and finally, our last car today is going to be a 1997 Mercedes-Benz SL 600.

Jeff Dziekan 12:59

Check that against your recall. Oh, it's got a phone in it. Ooh. Isn't that a phone? It's got a fun.

Don Armstrong 13:08

Oh, yeah. A built-in fun in the uh and the center console. Now, what kind of intake manifold is that?

Mike Marrs 13:16

That is a V12, 6.0 liter V12 engine.

Jeff Dziekan 13:21

My God. And a year again?

Don Armstrong 13:23

This is a 1997. That thing's got some torque.

Mike Marrs 13:28

Got drop top on it.

Jeff Dziekan 13:30

21,000.

Don Armstrong 13:32

21,000. I'm not a Mercedes fan. I'm not either. But see, here's another one that we're trying to get Heitzman to spend 42 for Jeffrey. Get get get into the uh into the car business. He'd look good in that. He would. He would. And he'd be the talk, he'd be the talk of NASA. Yeah. So uh, and he says 42,000.

Jeff Dziekan 13:54

Yeah.

Don Armstrong 13:54

Well, guess who won this bid? Uh nobody. That would be Jeff Zeken for the price of $20,475. So you're almost spot on.

Mike Marrs 14:07

Almost there. But can't you just see Heisman rolling down NASA Road 1 with that phone cord hanging down while he's talking to nobody but looking cool with a drop top?

Don Armstrong 14:17

Yeah. Talking about his investments.

Mike Marrs 14:19

Yeah.

Don Armstrong 14:20

Yeah. And uh buy-sell stuff.

Jeff Dziekan 14:22

Well, when you drop the top, it's got like a tonneau behind it or the the windscreen. Oh, yeah. Yep. The windscreen, yeah.

Don Armstrong 14:28

You gotta have all that. You know, it'd be it'd be really cool if that was a like an estate sale and the car only had like 12,000 miles on it or something. And it was full of it. It looks like it's all stock. Yeah.

Mike Marrs 14:39

Oh yeah, yeah, it is. It's uh what I remember reading in the notes. You know, that's the reason the phone and all that stuff's still in it.

Don Armstrong 14:46

That's very cool. All right. Just ahead. We got the racing calendar, and Mars has this week in auto history, and I'm going to bring you some more of these auto news headlines that I think that you'll enjoy. The Unwheel Time Car Talk Show is back in a flash.

Sponsor Break And Announcements

Don Armstrong 15:00

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Jeff Dziekan 16:43

Anytime.

Racing Calendar From Mowers To Indy

Don Armstrong 16:44

Time now for the racing calendar sponsored by the Texas Muscle Car Club Challenge.

Jeff Dziekan 16:48

And thank you for that. We're starting out with lawnmowers. It's the season opener. Regular racing season has started in Gun Barrel, Texas.

Don Armstrong 16:56

Gun barrel.

Jeff Dziekan 16:56

Gun barrel. It starts today. It's the Lone Star Mower Racing Association.

Don Armstrong 17:00

By the way, I've been sending you these lawnmowers. We need to send those so everybody can get a look at see what so Mr. Mars. I'll send them to Mars.

Jeff Dziekan 17:08

Send them to Mars. You can post them up. There you go. NASCAR. We got the Craftsman Truck ran yesterday. Kyle Bush won that race. He's won like he's actually the leader in laps in uh truck racing. Over a thousand laps led. So that was yesterday. And then you've got today uh at 4 p.m. on the CW. The CW channel is uh Dover. That would be the O'Reilly.

Don Armstrong 17:33

Correct, correct.

Jeff Dziekan 17:34

And then tomorrow you've got the uh All-Star race, the 17th. It's also uh 3 p.m. And that's on FS1. Not many people have that, so take a look at that if you got it. NHRA, I I saw a little bit of the uh qualifying yesterday. It was okay, I guess. Uh the Gerberg Collision and Glass Route 66, NHRA National, presented by Peak. Route 66, that's up in the Chicago. Yep, that's in Joliet. Joliet. So after the rest, you can go visit the prison. Uh competing categories a bunch. So go ahead and take a look at that if you've got that channel. Formula One. Formula One is actually next Sunday. It is the Canadian Grand Prix. So that's gonna be in competition with the California. Oh, yeah.

Don Armstrong 18:18

The Canucks are gonna be watching the Formula One, yeah.

Jeff Dziekan 18:20

Formula One, eh? Uh all that good stuff. And of course the big one. Woohoo! Indy next weekend. I love it. I'll be there watching it in front of my TV with bells on. So there you go.

Don Armstrong 18:32

Bells on. What time does it go?

Jeff Dziekan 18:34

Uh it doesn't say here, but I'm gonna be uh say what one o'clock? Yeah, probably cover starts at noon or something. I'm not sure. We'll I'll check with you.

Don Armstrong 18:42

Okay, you'll let us know. Yeah.

This Week In Auto History

Don Armstrong 18:45

All right. Uh Mr. Mars, it's time now for this week in auto history.

Mike Marrs 18:49

Yes, sir, it is. We've got a few stories that we found that were really interesting. And uh gonna start out with this week in 1947. Tucker, Preston Tucker, publicly demonstrated the Tucker 48 center mount cyclops eye. You know, that was the headlight right in the middle of the grill area there, and it turned as you turned the steering wheel, which was very innovative. Didn't Ford have that option too?

Don Armstrong 19:17

Studebaker uh actually built a car.

Mike Marrs 19:19

There you go. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So there was there was a it it was very considered very futuristic, and it was before all the adaptive headlights and stuff that we've got now, and a lot of cars we have now will do that something quite similar. Uh but it was they wouldn't couldn't get it approved in several states that wouldn't sell because of the safety features of it. They didn't like it, they said it wasn't good, they couldn't use it. Uh some of the other things that he came up with were the uh seat belts, padded dashboards, a lot of concepts that we now have that we take for granted that came out of that Tucker process. Then in this week in 1962.

Don Armstrong 19:57

Great year.

Mike Marrs 19:59

Parnelly Jones hit 150 miles per hour at the Indianapolis 500. Now, this was considered a a sound barrier for race cars. They just couldn't get any faster than that. But he was driving the legendary Watson Offenhauser Roadster, and he actually went through and qualified at 150.370 miles per hour. Now it proved that front engine roadsters still had a lot of life in them because everybody was starting to move towards the mid-engine type cars. And uh it was the first one to do that, and now it's pretty common, but it did change fundamentally the geometry of indie car racing forever. Also, this week, 1969, the shore Chevrolet Corvair made its official end after a turbulent decade. Uh it was really launched as an engineering marvel, and it quickly became a political fault target. Everybody was after it for a lot of different reasons. But it was American-designed, mass-produced passenger car with a rear-mounted air-cooled engine. It's the only one. It could not overcome the stigma that was created by Ralph Nader's Unsafe at Any Speed book.

Don Armstrong 21:06

And that was the version one car that uh they stopped building in 1965 and moved to this particular body style. Just thought I'd throw that in.

Mike Marrs 21:16

Okay. Well, by May 69, sales of the Corveyor itself, that they just they just couldn't sell them, and they're Gore Conventional Camaro was really taking over the spotlight anyway. Sales were blowing and going on that. So, one thing about the final 1969 models, they're they're really considered prize collectibles for several reasons. There was only 6,000 of them made. They were hand several of the last cars were hand built because they already took them off the production line, but they were still building them in a special area offline at the Willow Run plant. Those are the cars that are really collectible.

Don Armstrong 21:51

Okay.

Mike Marrs 21:53

Then in nineteen seventy three. Oh yes, getting into the interlock. And I did not know this, but they started doing the testing of the federally mandated seatbelt ignition interlock systems in the United States. So, in other words, the safety feature was that if you didn't have your seatbelt on, you couldn't start your car. And and it created a lot of problems. A lot of people thought, oh, it's a great safety idea, you know, but uh they didn't work real well fundamentally in the real world, if nothing else. For example, um a mechanic that needed to start the car so they'll work on it under the hood. Well, there was a button under the hood, so you could push it one time to start the motor from under the hood. If it died, then you were SOL. You had to get in the car, buckle up, and all that. Yes. So it got to be a very controversial aspect of it because people were trying to buckle up the seat belts and set on them, and there was just all kinds of workarounds they were trying to do. And so they finally overturned it. That's why I guess I never heard of it because it didn't last very long. I think it was about a year, 18 months that they actually had this out there, and it just never did really get pushed out into the main market. Then in uh 2004, the Mustang actually, the Ford Mustang left the Ford River Rouge complex. That's where it had been built forever and ever and uh since 1964. And it'd been that's where everything was built with the Mustang. But however, they took the final 2004 GT convertible, rolled off the line, and then they moved it over to the modern flat rock assembly plant. So 40 years the Rouge plant had been defined as Mustang's blue-collar performance identity, and it it just changed. They moved it on. And that was just some couple of things that we found interesting. There is one more thing, though. This right here. Jeff, this is for you. Thank you. This is a Buick white job. Yes, it is. So it was a convertible car that Buick made as one of the first concept cars that was ever built. It was designed by Harley Earl, uh, had the hidden headlamps, had a gunsight hood ornament, electric windows, wrapper, it had a lot of stuff on it, and he actually drove one of these until he replaced it with a 1951. But I just thought that that is is there's a lot of different things on that car that looked really good as far as the the lines on it, much like a cord possibly, the front end. It just I just thought it was a gorgeous car. And then whenever I found the name of a it was a Buick Y job, I just figured that was just right up your alley.

Jeff Dziekan 24:31

Right up my alley. Yep.

Mike Marrs 24:32

That's the thing we found this week in automotive history.

Don Armstrong 24:36

Well, I will tell you that there is uh some video or film of Harley Earle driving it. Yeah, and he drove that thing back and forth to work.

Jeff Dziekan 24:44

Did I didn't he have it made for himself? Yeah. I thought he had it made for himself. Could could I add interject one

Indy Carb Day Wiener Mobile Talk

Jeff Dziekan 24:49

thing? I missed something in the racing. Uh next Thursday is carburation day for Indy. And carburetor mobile race. So it's gonna be the Wiener 500 tomorrow of next Thursday on Carb Day at Indy. Uh it'll be telecom. Carburation Day is what they call it. It's where they test and get their cars tweaked out, but they're gonna have the Oscar Meyer Wiener Mobile 500. They did it last year, it was a great hit.

Mike Marrs 25:18

How many Oscar Wiener mobiles do they have?

Jeff Dziekan 25:21

I think there's four. There's either four or five mobile. Is it six? It might be six. I think it's six. Yeah. And I think it's sponsored by like Bob's Mustard Emporium. Uh and you could get like a slather, a dollop, or a squirt of mustard uh free or something.

Don Armstrong 25:35

You know, on the inside. And I know this for a fact, I got pictures actually. In the middle, they use like vinyl linoleum down there in the in the middle of the the wiener mobile, and they have a mustard thing down the middle of it. Yeah.

Jeff Dziekan 25:53

So very the Bob's must mustard thing is a thinking about buying a new car?

Don Armstrong 25:58

Instead

Car Loans And Negative Equity Pressure

Don Armstrong 25:59

of auto loan terms, we're expected to keep customers out of the market longer. Instead, they're doing the opposite, accelerating return cycles and creating tougher deals for finance and insurance offices. New data from JD Power shows twenty percent of all new car buyers return to market within three to four years. For buyers who financed with 84 month loans, the figure jumps to 45%. The dynamic is boosting showroom traffic, but it's also increasing the number of customers arriving with little or negative equity. Not good. For dealerships, that trade-off is paying out unevenly, depending on brand and customer base. 2025, 26% of used vehicle trade-ins carried negative equity, up from 24% a year earlier. Average trade-in equity slipped to $7,099, down six hundred and sixty dollars from a year earlier, according to JD Power. The decline is now the biggest driver of higher monthly payments and a key pressure point for finance offices, according to JD Power. March twenty-sixth, eighty-four-month loans accounted for thirteen percent of all new vehicle financing, reflecting how common extended terms have become as affordability pressures persist. We've got more coming up on the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show. We're going to uh say goodbye right after these brief messages. Your car is a direct reflection of you, so don't be satisfied with color fade or a dingy dull appearance. Get rid of those terrible automated car wash scratches. Gulf Coast Auto Shield is your save the paint company. John Gray and his team of detailing experts can help your cars finish without a full repaint. Searching for real experts in window tent or windshield protection, Gulf Coast Auto Shield. Dash cams, radar detectors, Gulf Coast Auto Shield. Got a new car? Get it protected as soon as you take delivery. If you don't know which of the multitude of protection products to go with, John Gray will give you an honest opinion and won't sell you something you don't need. John will help you understand the many options and pricing right on the spot. He's your guy to have your ride looking its best and protected too. See the state-of-the-art shop yourself, free tours anytime. Gulf Coast Auto Shield is easy to get to, located just south of the Southwest Freeway on the Sam Houston Parkway. Gulf Coast Auto Shield, full service luxury car care today and online at gcautoshield.com. Gift giving should be meaningful, and we have an idea. A hand-painted custom illustration of your car from one of the nation's leading artists. Now you can get one or a car show poster customized for you, a friend, or a loved one. Bill Sites will be happy to guide you through the process. No matter what the day, birthday, anniversary, or any day, an autographics custom illustration adds an extra touch of class to any home. Call Bill today, 832-922-0963. That's 832-922-0963. Guess

Wrap-Up And June Remote Invite

Don Armstrong 28:53

what? That's all for this week's In Wheel Time Car Talk Show. Be sure to check us out online at InWheeltime.com. We're always looking for new, informative, and great automotive things to bring to the global audience. If you have an idea, event, road trip, or tall tale you'd like us to feature, let us know. Our email address is info at inwheeltime.com. The NWL Time Video Coordinator is We Need More Jeff Zeken. For booking agent, video editor Mike out of this world Mars, and Chief Engineer David Aingsley. I'm Don Armstrong. Thanks for our weekly show contributors, Jeff Heitzman and George Skelton. And be sure and join us for the 51st annual Lone Star Street Rod Association State Running Show, June 13th in Hewlett Park in Cranbury, Texas. In real time, we'll have a bonus hour show that weekend. It's always fun. We hope you join us again next week for another live edition of the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show from our dual city studios, 10 to noon Central Time. Mark it down on your calendar.

Jeff Dziekan 30:01

Check it off there.

Don Armstrong 30:01

Hey, have yourself a great, safe weekend. So long for now, and we'll see you next weekend.

Jeff Dziekan 30:06

Thank you.

Where To Watch And Listen

Don Armstrong 30:24

Inviting you to join us for our live show every Saturday morning on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and our InWheelTime.com website. Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartPodcast, Podcast Addict, TuneIn, Pandora, and Amazon Music. Keep listening, and we'll see you soon.