In this episode of Drive Radio, we dive into a hot topic that’s generating buzz amongst automotive enthusiasts and fleet operators alike: the piling up of Ram truck inventory and why experts are advising against their purchase. Joined by professionals from Geno’s Auto Service and Alltech Automotive, we discuss the impacts of manufacturer policies on warranties and why fleet operators are turning away from Ram trucks despite significant discounts. It’s a conversation about performance, warranties, and consumer confidence. Listeners are also treated to an insightful session with Frank, a cross-country traveler who tunes in to discuss issues arising from
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s a mighty fancy automobile. Oh, she’s a real road king, all right. Zero to 60 in 7.5. She’ll do a quarter mile, 13.40. 390 horsepower, 500 foot-pounds of torque. Whatever that is. Performance and image, that’s what it’s all about.
SPEAKER 18 :
There’s no such thing as a stupid question. This is Drive Radio. All of your automotive questions are just one phone call away. 303-477-5600. Drive Radio is made possible by the member shops of Colorado Select Auto Care Centers. To find one near you, go to drive-radio.com. Now, Drive Radio on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 17 :
All right, Drive Radio, KLZ 560. Myself, Steve Horvath from Geno’s Auto Service with us today. Pat Schneid, also owner of Alltech Automotive up in Fort Collins. And, of course, Les from BG with us today as well. I got a text message. I’ve had several of these this week, actually. Several of you asking for various reasons, mainly because there’s some really, really deep discounts right now on Ram trucks, three-quarter ton, one-ton diesel trucks. So I’m not exaggerating. I’ll bet you I fielded at least five of those questions this week. And this is, again, not exaggerating. Asking would I personally, with the deep discounts, buy a Ram truck, diesel truck? And my emphatic answer back in all caps was no. And I should probably add an H-E double hockey sticks to that. No. And the reason is because right now Stellantis, as a corporation, doesn’t have the foggiest idea what they’re doing. And I don’t normally say that about manufacturers and so on because I want to be nice as much as I can. But honestly, folks, they don’t know what they’re doing. I feel really bad for their dealers. Because the dealers are taking the brunt of this because they are now sitting on inventory that just keeps piling up. And I’m not exaggerating. And the least when I say that, if you look at any Ram truck lot, look at the plethora of inventory that they now have. And no, it’s not just because we finally survived and got through COVID and all of that. No, it’s because of what I’m saying. There are more than enough people out there like myself in media, outside of media, fleet operators like myself that will tell you do not buy a Ram truck because they’re not standing behind the warranty. And it’s not the dealers that won’t stand behind the warranty. It’s the manufacturers themselves or the manufacturer themselves where if you go in with a problem, you got a DPF issue, you get an injector issue, an injector pump issue, they’re not warrantying and standing behind the product anymore. That’s why this inventory is piling up because there’s more than enough people like myself out there that know this, that will not buy their product, that are telling others not to buy the product. That’s why inventory is stacking up.
SPEAKER 08 :
Is it a policy problem or a parts problem or what do you think? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. They’re just not consistently able to address these trucks. No. And they’re not.
SPEAKER 17 :
In some cases, they’re coming up with every excuse under the sun as to why they’re not going to warranty that particular problem. And for us as fleet operators, we’re only going to put up with so much of that before you go buy something else.
SPEAKER 08 :
Which is what we’re doing. Your truck will be dead on the side of the road, and you’ve got nothing to do. You can’t get back to work.
SPEAKER 17 :
And I’m writing the check to fix it when I shouldn’t be. You spent $70,000 plus on a truck that they’re now not going to warranty. Well, what’s that old saying? Screw me once, and that’s on you. Screw me twice, that’s on me. Well, you’re not going to do that for very long. You’re just going to go buy other trucks instead, which is what a lot of fleet operators are now doing. That’s why Ram trucks, in my opinion, are stacking up on dealer lots. Sorry, dealers, if any of you are listening, I’m sorry, but this is a Stellantis problem that you guys as dealers should literally be raising cane over because you’re losing customers in doing this. Frank, you’re next. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 10 :
Hey, how are you guys doing?
SPEAKER 17 :
Good, Frank.
SPEAKER 10 :
I’m going cross-country from Bucks County to the Centennial area of Colorado. And I just happened to turn on the radio and I heard you guys. Thank you. I’m like, oh, this is interesting.
SPEAKER 17 :
We’re here every Saturday. I’ve been here for the last two and a half decades.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, I’m going to be here for approximately a month working.
SPEAKER 17 :
Even when you go back home, you can still listen to us online or on an app on your phone, Frank. Yeah.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay, great. Thanks. Hopefully there’s some BG products in Pennsylvania.
SPEAKER 17 :
If not, we’ll figure out how to make sure that you can get some. We’ve got resources along those lines, so we’ll help you with that.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay, great. I was out with the kids in Lancaster County area, and just out of habit, I threw in the E85 fuel. Okay. That’s more or less for the newer vehicles.
SPEAKER 17 :
You have to have a vehicle that’s equipped for E85, actually. So, yes.
SPEAKER 10 :
Correct. Yeah. So, I just had a habit. I stuck it in the fuel tank, filled it up, and about 10 miles in, it tripped the O2 sensor. And what are you driving, Frank? 2010 Ford Sport Track.
SPEAKER 17 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 10 :
So… I didn’t think anything of it until it tripped and then it dawned on me that I stuck that gas in there and there’s nothing in the vehicle manual that says I’m allowed to use it.
SPEAKER 17 :
I don’t think, I’m trying to look up right now, I don’t think that vehicle is E85 compliant.
SPEAKER 10 :
And that’s what I’m thinking, too.
SPEAKER 17 :
And really quick, back in those days, they called them flex fuel vehicles. So in your owner’s manual, it will say this is a flex fuel vehicle. If it doesn’t, it’s not.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay, so I had to burn off that stuff, and then I stuck in the higher octane fuel.
SPEAKER 17 :
And really quick, Frank, looking up, just because everybody else listens as well, looks like, from what I’m reading, the XLT Premiums were a flex fuel. If yours is not that, it probably isn’t.
SPEAKER 10 :
No, that was a limited. It has the four-liter engine in it.
SPEAKER 17 :
Okay, okay. So, okay, continue on. Sorry, I just want to make sure everybody listening understood how that part works.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay. So the oxygen sensor trips, um, put in the, uh, higher octane fuel. I went to the, um, what do you call, uh, like an advance your competitor to get the, uh, what do you call it? Yeah. Yeah. And it’s, and it said, uh, rich fuel oxygen sensor trips. So I reset it. Um, And it came back about 10 miles later. So I thought these things would relearn, so to speak, after you got the old fuel out.
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, how much of the old E85 did you get out when you did the reset? In other words, how much E85 would have still been in it?
SPEAKER 10 :
I ran it pretty low down.
SPEAKER 17 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 10 :
And then I filled the whole tank back up with the higher fuel.
SPEAKER 17 :
The problem with the E85 and what it’s doing, and it may take a few loads to clean this up, is because it’s mostly alcohol, well, it’s 85% alcohol, 15% gasoline, so you won’t drink it. It’s grain alcohol literally is what it is, and they made them put 15% gas back in it so people wouldn’t go to the pump and drink it. I’m not joking when I say that because it’s literally grain alcohol. So that alcohol also, Frank, is doing a great job of cleaning all sorts of things up in the system to the point where, yes, it’s going to turn the light on, and it may take you several tanks to get all of that cleaned up.
SPEAKER 05 :
You know, the other thing about resetting the adaptives.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, that’s not a bad.
SPEAKER 05 :
Even though you’re clearing the code, you’re not resetting the adaptives.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, that scanner is not, that code reader is what I should say. I’m not saying that correctly. It’s not a scanner. It’s a code reader. That’s not resetting the adaptives, as Steve just said. The car will take a while to do that. So it still thinks. Right. With old data, I guess.
SPEAKER 10 :
I understand. It came back on, so it’s not really.
SPEAKER 17 :
Because the adaptives are still reading the old E85 at that point.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay, interesting.
SPEAKER 17 :
So that’s where a real scan tool can reset the adaptives. The code readers will not.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay, great. Well, thanks a lot. It was worth the 1,700 miles.
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, like I say, keep listening to us. We actually have several listeners around your area that used to live in Colorado that moved back that way. So the app, by the way, Frank, it’s just the KLZ 560 app. You can get that on the Google Play or the App Store for Apple, and it’s easy to listen to us all the time that way.
SPEAKER 10 :
All right, thanks, guys. You betcha, Frank. Appreciate you.
SPEAKER 17 :
Have a good, safe trip, and thank you for tuning in and listening. Pete and Steve, both guys, hang tight. We’ll come right back. Drive Radio, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 03 :
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SPEAKER 17 :
All right, we are back. Drive Radio KLZ 560. And for the last caller, too, I want to make sure that I added this. So, Frank, thank you for tuning in, driving out from Pennsylvania. Appreciate it. Keep listening to us. One other tip on flex-fuel vehicles, which I should have remembered, but it’s been a while since I’ve messed with anything flex-fuel-wise. When you open the gas lid… It will tell you on the inside of the lid if it’s a flex fuel vehicle. And they used to have a different colored fuel cap as well. I think they were yellow. Am I right? I think, yeah, I think they were yellow. Diesel was green, yellow’s flex fuel, and then black is a standard cap.
SPEAKER 16 :
I have a yellow one.
SPEAKER 17 :
So there you go. So if it’s flex fuel, it’ll have a yellow cap as well. Kind of another distinguishing mark on flex fuel specific vehicles. I just want to make sure that we got that out so that everybody had understanding. And before anybody texts me all of that info, which a lot of you will, there’s how you tell whether it’s a flex fuel vehicle or not. Pete up in Nebraska, what’s going on?
SPEAKER 06 :
Hey, I’ve got a couple questions for you. Sure. First of all, any feedback on that new Valvoline clean and protect oil?
SPEAKER 17 :
Never used it, so I can’t say.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. Second one, I’ve got an 04 Chevy SSR 5.3, and it has a, I think it’s a Maga charger, supercharger on it.
SPEAKER 17 :
A Magnuson supercharger?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. Have you guys ever had any working on that at all? You used to install them? Yeah. The question I have, does that have a separate oil sump? Yes. Any idea? Not sump.
SPEAKER 17 :
It’s got its own oil reservoir for the supercharger itself that needs to be serviced.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 06 :
So that place on there, you can drain it and fill it back up?
SPEAKER 17 :
The way we used to do those, again, I installed those back in the day, did a lot of them. The way we used to do it is rather than trying to drain the oil from that, we always had a machine, a sucking machine. We sucked all the oil out and put new in.
SPEAKER 06 :
Got you. Okay, cool. And also, for any listeners out there, if anybody has an auto parts store in a sweeping mountain town with no competition like O’Reilly’s, et cetera, I’d be interested to buy one. I sold auto parts for 12 years. It’s in my blood. Can’t get it out of it, and I’d like to continue on.
SPEAKER 17 :
Okay, so any of you out there listening that may be in the world of wanting to sell something, Pete’s your buyer. Yes, sir. Okay, so do this, Pete. So we can connect people. Just either send me a text message or an email, and then we can connect people that way. So any of you that are out there listening, just do it that way.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yep. Thank you, sir. You betcha.
SPEAKER 17 :
No, Pete, we’ll do what we can for you. Appreciate it very much. Thank you for that. And Steve up in Wyoming. Go ahead, Steve.
SPEAKER 09 :
Hey, John. In the process of helping a friend of mine clean out his father’s shop, We found a five-gallon steel can. It’s blue and white, and it says mobile super upper cylinder lubricant. Okay. What is that stuff, and what is it used for?
SPEAKER 17 :
Can you tell how old it is?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well… It’s been sitting in there so long it’s got about a quarter of an inch of dust on the top of the can, but it’s almost full.
SPEAKER 16 :
It’s used for nothing. They didn’t use it.
SPEAKER 17 :
Good one, Les.
SPEAKER 09 :
Good one.
SPEAKER 17 :
You know, and I remember some of the old stuff from back in the day, Steve, and have done a lot of clean-out even of my own father’s stuff here in this last six, seven months as well, and have found all sorts of stuff along those lines. And I’ll just be quite frank, Steve. What I will end up doing with anything that’s old like that, I’m literally dumping it into my waste oil tank, and I’m going to burn it and use it for heat because I won’t use it in anything.
SPEAKER 09 :
Right. Oh, okay. Because I don’t know what it is.
SPEAKER 17 :
I don’t know how old it is, how long it is. The modern engines of today, most of what that consists of is probably not compatible with what we’ve got now with our tight clearances and everything else we’re running on a modern engine. I would dump that into my waste oil and burn it.
SPEAKER 09 :
Sure, sure. Would that hold true for engine oil as well?
SPEAKER 17 :
If it’s older engine oil that doesn’t meet the new API specs, yes.
SPEAKER 09 :
The stuff, we found two cases of Quaker State 1030, and the date code on it was 1991.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, you’d want to burn that into waste. It will not be compatible with modern engines.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, if you have a vehicle that’s old enough from that era.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, if you have an old classic car or, frankly, Steve, where you could use that would be four-stroke lawn equipment. That stuff hasn’t changed in eons. Could you run it in some of our lawn equipment, those sorts of things, lawnmowers and so on? Sure, you’d be fine there.
SPEAKER 05 :
You could donate that to some car collectors setting up a little museum or something like that. Is it an old can?
SPEAKER 17 :
Are they the cardboard cans, Steve? No, these are plastic. They’re plastic cans, okay. Yeah, then anybody with a classic car could potentially still use that, but, yeah, you can’t use that in any modern car. I mean, in that world, Steve, even anything probably 1995 or newer, you would not want to use that in.
SPEAKER 09 :
The API on that was SFSG.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, that’s old. We’re way beyond that now.
SPEAKER 09 :
But if we had a vehicle that was from that specialty.
SPEAKER 17 :
Sure, yeah, you know, like my old, you know, my old, I don’t know, I’ve got some older cars that I still use, you know, some old small blocks and things like that. You could theoretically run it in, although even those, you usually ran a heavier oil than the 1030. So even some of the classic guys are, you know, not necessarily going to use that. But, again, for lawn equipment, things like that, Steve, it would work fine for.
SPEAKER 09 :
Great. Well, that’s my question. Thank you kindly.
SPEAKER 17 :
No, and, you know, I know the work you’re going through, and that’s never an easy task to go find places and homes for a lot of that old stuff, because as much as… Some of us, make sure I clarify this correctly, want to hang on to those things because there’s some sentimental value and so on there. The reality is most of those items have become outdated, lubricants especially. And by the way, folks, this is true unless you can speak to this. It’s not just engine oil. We can go through and talk diff oil, 90 weight. We can talk transmission fluid. We can talk power steering fluid, even brake fluid. I mean, the reality is a lot of that stuff from the early 90s has changed dramatically. dramatically.
SPEAKER 16 :
I’ve been with BG for 10 years, and I think I’m on my fourth formulation of MOA.
SPEAKER 17 :
So that’s just in 10 years. And for those of you listening, you may not know this, but go look this up on YouTube. Go look up some of the zero-weight oils that are now in the marketplace. Toyota and some others are now requiring like 0.8, for example. I think I’m right on 0.8. Is it 0.8 or is it 0.10, guys? I can’t remember. Anyways, it’s 0.8. I think it’s 0.8. So go look up and watch them pour. zero eight out compared to even like 520 and look at the comparison between the two it’s almost like you’re pouring out water and i’m not exaggerating when i say that unless you’ve seen it yeah the thing you gotta think no or at least take into consideration many of these things are coming about because of cafe standards yep uh
SPEAKER 16 :
Not because it’s the best thing for the car, but because it gives them a little more gas mileage so they can keep selling cars in America.
SPEAKER 17 :
And what most of you will notice is that’s probably going to be Toyota first, and then that will populate out into some of the other brands and manufacturers that are out there. But, yeah, I’m looking it up now, 08. And literally when you watch them pour it, you wouldn’t hardly – if it didn’t have color to it, you wouldn’t know it hardly from water. It’s literally that thin. And that’s the idea is they want that – that thinness with all of the protection inside of it at the same time. This is where, again, you’ve got to be careful. Just a side note, unless this is where you come into play. You’ve got to be careful the additives, you know, the motor oil additives in a can that you’re pouring into some of these late model vehicles. And that’s where if you’re not using something like BG with the proper formulation, you could actually be doing damage to your engine and not helping it. Am I right, Les? Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, that’s true. And not being a radio guy, I’m holding back on things I’d like to say.
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, and I’m trying to be as nice as I can there.
SPEAKER 16 :
No, I don’t want to get in trouble.
SPEAKER 17 :
There’s other manufacturers of products out there that, again, some of these late model products or late model cars, you take a vehicle that’s requiring 0.8 and you go put in some heavy oil additive into that, you’ve just ruined what they want you to do on that particular vehicle and that engine, correct? Correct. True. So be careful is my point on other brands of additives that are out there because, no, they are not all created equal. Not even close. And some of them, and I think I’m fair to say this, Les, some of them aren’t even made by the people that have the label on the can. True. Right? True. In other words, there’s a lot of marketing that goes on in that world. Just like, for example, not every motor oil is made by the company that’s label is on the can.
SPEAKER 16 :
We were talking about this earlier. We make additives for ACDelco and Motocraft currently. We put their labels on our product. Prime example. So if you go to the dealer or if you go to an independent, independents can get these. If you’re that funny about your 44K that you want it to say Motocraft on it, we can get those for you. But we make them. They don’t. Okay.
SPEAKER 17 :
So there you go. Great example, folks, of where just because a particular label is on the can of something doesn’t necessarily mean that’s who it’s made by. So watch that. And I will just tell you, when it comes to – I’ll just say it straight up. I don’t care – less whatever radio doesn’t matter if you’ve got a late model vehicle and you’re looking to put an additive in it there’s only one brand i would use and that’s bg they have gone through all of the testing necessary to make sure that that additive meets all the specs for that particular vehicle make model year and so on and i can’t tell you that everybody else is doing the same thing so only use a bg additive on a new late model vehicle in my opinion period i’ll leave it at that we’ll come right back drive radio klz 560.
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SPEAKER 17 :
All right, somebody just sent in, before we go to the phones, a Black Friday Home Depot deal. You can buy the M18 18-volt cordless inflator with two batteries, two 5-amp batteries, and a charger for $200. That normally is a $500 value, so you’re saving $300 close to buying the inflator. two batteries, and the charger for $200. That’s a good deal. Whoever sent me that, by the way, thank you very much. I appreciate that. The rest of our listeners do as well. Mike in Westminster, you’re next.
SPEAKER 12 :
Hey, John. Hey, Mike. Can you hear me?
SPEAKER 17 :
Yes, we can hear you loud and clear.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yesterday, I just got out of the movie and turned on the radio, and you’re talking about Red One. Yes.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 12 :
That was a fun movie. The only thing that bothers me about it, when the reindeer antlers, well, the reindeers are like 12 feet tall, and their antlers glow when he starts flying. That might scare the, you know what, out of some child.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, and then Andy was saying yesterday the only other thing about a kid movie is they swear quite a bit, which, I mean, I guess for a kid movie, it’s sort of like, why? Right.
SPEAKER 12 :
True. I agree. But the kids here today, as it is, regardless.
SPEAKER 17 :
Probably. That’s probably true, too.
SPEAKER 12 :
Last week, you were talking about the pickups in Europe.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 12 :
The only thing I could find is they’re importing a bunch of GM trucks.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, that country, as you know, Mike, and I think this is part of the problem that Stellantis is having in owning the Ram brand is that’s an American thing. There’s not trucks like that around the world. They do things differently, as you know, Mike, in other parts of the world. They’ll use even things like Fuso, which is, you know.
SPEAKER 12 :
uh toyota mitsubishi’s uh even mercedes and so on and they’ll do a cab over weird looking truck thing and so on they don’t do trucks like we do here at all yeah and what’s funny is but yet they you’ll see them pushing in motor train and stuff the european uh uh uh not not frame on unibody pickups They’re like, those aren’t pickups.
SPEAKER 17 :
Those aren’t pickups.
SPEAKER 12 :
They can’t haul anything.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, no, yeah. Again, they don’t do the same things. I mean, first of all, to my knowledge, maybe I’m wrong in this, but they don’t have 38-foot fifth-wheel campers that people haul from coast to coast and or hot shotters and or I can go down the list, Mike. They don’t do that stuff over there.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, and I can’t wait until I get a chance to go over there just to see what’s going on because it looks like they have a really – Indoor life.
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, they do. I mean, it’s not that there’s not outdoors and open spaces and so on, but it’s a different lifestyle. And I talk about this on The Daily Show. Frankly, it’s a lifestyle I don’t want. I like my American lifestyle. I like being able to drive coast to coast, up and down, back and forth, wherever you want to go on a moment’s notice. I don’t want to be told by big government what I can and can’t do when it comes to travel. That’s what they do over there.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, and even some of them that do travel, they do it with less stuff.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, they minimalize everything. We’re not that way in America. And frankly, that’s fine by me. You know, do what you want. I could care less.
SPEAKER 12 :
I have enough room on my bike just for me and my luggage. No room for a wife or anything like that.
SPEAKER 08 :
Now we’re getting political. Yeah, I’m not going there, Mike.
SPEAKER 17 :
No, but to your point, Mike, things in the European and other countries are – different than what we do here. And then this is my feeling on the fundamental flaw of Stellantis is they don’t understand how that heavy duty or even the light duty truck market is done here in America. And they don’t realize, number one, how many people they’re ticking off by some of their own internal policies in regards to fixing some of these trucks. and then on top of that, they’re losing ground against Ford and Chevy and GMC, Ford and GM, I guess is what I should say, when it comes to that whole market. It’s just stupid on their part. It was a brand that was built very, very strongly for years that they’re destroying.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, and it falls into the same thing, getting a little political here, is you can’t have a director of defense saying, without having some sort of defense history.
SPEAKER 17 :
I agree.
SPEAKER 12 :
And the guy we’re going to have does. The idea of these politicians being put into these bureaucrats, being put into these positions that have never worked in that area is why we’re in such a bad shape as we are now.
SPEAKER 17 :
Mike, I’m going to go one step further. And again, that’s more of daytime than it is weekend, but I don’t care. I’m going to say it anyways. We are going to go from people that have literally probably never had a real job in their life to guys that now have. And I mean that sincerely. I’m sorry. If you’ve worked government all of your life, I’m sorry. You’ve never worked a real job in your whole life.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, I mean, let’s see. Obama never had a real job in his life. No, neither did Biden. I mean, Biden.
SPEAKER 17 :
And let me make sure I add something so I don’t make too many people, Mike, mad is, you know, there’s a lot of blue collar government jobs that work really hard. I’m not talking about those guys. I’m talking about the higher ups, the bureaucrats, the folks that have had a desk job, you know, most of their life, the politicians who, by the way, have never had a real job either. I mean, there’s very few of those guys that have ever held a real solid job where they worked 60, 70 hours in a week.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, they can’t even work 52 weeks in a year. What are you talking about?
SPEAKER 17 :
That’s another conversation, yeah.
SPEAKER 16 :
All right. I am not saying so many things.
SPEAKER 17 :
Les just is waiting to, but I need to have Les on during the week. Excellent restraint. Anyways, no, Mike, I know where you’re going, and it’s a great statement. The reality is, yes, Stellantis doesn’t know how to build trucks, and unfortunately they’re making a lot of the truck market mad in what they’re doing. And if that thing doesn’t get sold and bought by somebody that knows what they’re doing, they’re going to ruin it. Yeah, very true. So I’ll leave it at that.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, guys.
SPEAKER 17 :
No, Mike, appreciate you very much. And yeah, I mean, do I have anything against all government workers? No, there’s some good government workers and there’s some good things that need to be done on the government end of things. Military, for example. I mean, yeah, those are government workers. That’s a whole different world. I’m not talking about those guys. I’m talking about those bureaucrats that Mike was mentioning a moment ago and And frankly, even a lot of the guys that are in the upper echelons of these corporations, Stellantis, GM, I can go down the road, folks, or down the line, I should say, very few of them have ever even worked at the dealer level to know what goes on on the working of vehicles, working on vehicles, taking care of the customer, doing all the things that we talk about on this show. The majority of individuals, even inside of General Motors and so on, that are at the upper end, Have never done any of those things. And in my opinion, they’re completely out of touch with what actually happens on the day to day driver in that day to day truck user. These guys in the upper echelons of these companies have no clue how some of this stuff works. And how can I say that? Because I’ve met some of these guys over the years. I’ve had conversations with some of these guys over the years. They live in a whole other world, even living-wise, than what we do. The houses they live in, the cars that they drive, the people they rub elbows with, and so on. They are literally in a whole different world than the customers that are buying their products are. Sorry, I have a problem with that. We’ll be right back. Drive Radio, KLZ 560.
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SPEAKER 17 :
All right, we are back. Drive Radio. Great day here today, by the way. Patch Knight with Alltech Automotive in Fort Collins with us. Steve Horvath, Geno’s Auto Service over in Littleton. And, of course, Les from BG Products with us as well. And any of the folks that you hear here on air, whether it’s today or any other day, just go to the website, drive-radio.com, and find them there. Now, one note, and I forgot to mention this coming in today. If you go to the website today or tomorrow, it will look different because we’re doing a big server upgrade. And, yes, I host all my own stuff. I don’t rely on Google or anybody else to host my websites. I do all of that on my own. And it’s been a few years since I did any major upgrades. So this is the weekend for updates. a big John Rush Media server upgrade. So we’re doing that this weekend. And so if you notice things looking a little different or if an email bounces back, you’ll know that’s the case. Probably we’ll be back up and running mid-afternoon on Sunday. So if you’re listening to the replay, may or may not affect you. But today, yeah, you may notice a few funky things going on that will be changed and back up and running and going by tomorrow. But, you know, things need upgrades from time to time. And this happened to be our weekend for that. So if you notice some funky things going on with our websites, there’s your answer as to why. So, Jeff in Montana, what’s up?
SPEAKER 11 :
Hey, I was listening to you talk about trucks in Europe. Yes. We were over in Italy about a year ago, just over a year ago, and I noticed an upsurge in trucks over there. And I think most of them were Chinese brands. I couldn’t tell if they were unibody or frame. The bed looked like it might be frame, but, you know, that can be just an appearance. But I noticed that it’s – and they were all small trucks. They weren’t anything big. But I did notice an uptick in the number of pickup truck vehicles over there. So I think there’s kind of an envy, or maybe the Chinese are just much more savvy than we are and looking and saying, hey, there’s a niche, and let’s make it, and we’ll make them cheaper than Americans because we don’t have all the DOT stuff that we have to comply with. Very true.
SPEAKER 17 :
Very true.
SPEAKER 11 :
So I just wanted to let you know that I did see smaller trucks, much more. One of the things, though, I have driven both in England with a full-size E150, and I drove in Malta, which is also… left side of the road driving. And if you’re going to compete in some of those markets, you know, it’s little things like right-hand drive vehicles. You know, can you modify an American vehicle to be a right-hand drive versus a left-hand drive? Size is a big deal over there. It is. It is. I mean, driving in Scotland, there were a lot of roads that were one lane with passing places. So… You don’t want to do that in a full size.
SPEAKER 17 :
That’s a great point, too, Jeff. They have some size constraints for obvious reasons. I mean, people don’t realize this, but we have states like Texas that are like the size of Europe. So people tend to forget that sometimes, Jeff.
SPEAKER 11 :
Oh, yeah. I drive from where I live here on Flathead Lake to Billings. That’s going to be a seven-hour drive. Where can you get to in Europe? You can get from Turkey to Germany in seven hours.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah. Anyway, good show. I had not heard you talk about that before. Well, thank you.
SPEAKER 17 :
No, I appreciate that, Jeff. No, thank you very much. I appreciate that. J.R., you’re next. Go ahead, J.R.
SPEAKER 14 :
I had a quick question about BG Products. Yes. I heard on the radio that Advance Auto Parts will be closing some of their stores.
SPEAKER 17 :
Advance is closing, I think, 700 stores, which will have an impact. And just as a side note, I have a little bit of insight on that because of owning one of their properties that they lease from me. So I have a little bit of an insight on that. Yeah, they’re going to be closing. Nobody knows exactly where, but up to 700 stores. Which, by the way, I think is really stupid. You’ve got NAP on one side who’s trying to buy… out some of the independent stores to make what they do more consistent, bigger, better, and so on. And then you’ve got Advance on the other side that’s going to close stuff. Tell me what’s wrong with that picture, JR. What I’m saying is it doesn’t mean that there’s less sales out there. It’s a running of the operation problem on Advance’s side, if you ask me. Yeah, who’s got the vision? They sell a lot more parts than they did five years ago. It’s just stupid. Whoever’s running that right now, total moron.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, I’ve seen BJ products in advance. Is that correct?
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, I think some of them do stock some, yeah.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yes, they do. So that might, as far as him going, delivering that product, would it be less products now for him or less?
SPEAKER 16 :
It’ll crop. I mean, if it’s not being sold in one hand, it’ll be in the other. It’ll go somewhere else. I’m not going to endorse anyone over there because I service all these in my territory.
SPEAKER 17 :
I can, and I will, JR. And here’s what Advance doesn’t understand. And this is where I think even Napa will be sharp enough to pick up on this. As some of these stores close, it’ll take some time. It won’t happen overnight. Some of these stores will close six months, eight months, a year. Who knows? It depends on the lease and the arrangement and all of that that they make. Advance doesn’t own any of their properties, by the way. They’re all… have another owner that owned the property that leased back to Advance. So there will be some negotiating that has to happen on that end of things. But trust me when I say this. You will see a certain amount of those Advance stores turn to something else, Napa or O’Reilly, if Napa and O’Reilly are smart. It’s really dumb on Advance’s part, by the way.
SPEAKER 14 :
So is that price of BJ locked in? Did the dealers too?
SPEAKER 17 :
There’s a suggested retail price that most of the parts stores are going to follow. Yes, J.R. Okay, all right.
SPEAKER 14 :
Okay, thanks a lot.
SPEAKER 17 :
You’re very welcome. And sorry to get off on a tangent on Advance, but Napa is our main sponsor, and I love them dearly. And, yes, I think they’re much smarter than Advance. Advance and what they’re doing right now with the closing of these stores and trying to regain some of their net profit. What they need to do is revamp their stores. put people in there that know how to actually handle products, sell product, and do the right mix of product, they’re working on the wrong end of it. They’re cutting expenses to spite themselves, and that’s never a good business model, by the way. So would I advise you to buy advanced stock? No, I would not. Mario, you’re next.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you, sir. Enjoy your show greatly. Thank you. I’ll listen to you during the week as well.
SPEAKER 17 :
Thank you, Mario.
SPEAKER 07 :
I just wanted to share a poor customer experience I just had, which I am guessing may or may not end up in small claims court.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
So I have a 2019 Frontier that I bought basically two years ago. I think I put about 10,000 miles on it.
SPEAKER 17 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
And it was still under warranty up until actually probably like two, three weeks ago.
SPEAKER 17 :
I was going to say just recently from being a 2019. Exactly. So…
SPEAKER 07 :
I, of course, figured, well, I’ll just get, you know, an oil change special at a dealership. Figuring, well, it’s under warranty, so if they see some kind of an issue when I take it there, you know, it’ll be taken care of. They’ll address it or at least inform me what’s going on. So I just got to my third oil change in an 18-month period. I specifically told them every time I’ve been there, do not remove the wheels, do not rotate the tires. You know, I’m very specific.
SPEAKER 17 :
Right.
SPEAKER 07 :
Correct? Correct.
SPEAKER 17 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 07 :
So this time, I take it there. Earlier this morning, of course, I told him the same thing. Do not rotate the tires. Do not remove the tires. If you want to inspect the brakes, you can obviously just look through the wheel. There’s no concern. I specifically advised them not to do it. And I, of course, I carry a protector socket with me along with the wheel lock. And I did not give that to them because I specifically told them not to remove the tires, not to rotate the tires.
SPEAKER 17 :
Gotcha.
SPEAKER 07 :
So then, of course, when I get it back, the wheels are gouged out.
SPEAKER 17 :
Oh, geez.
SPEAKER 07 :
Because they don’t use projector socket.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah. Crap.
SPEAKER 07 :
And then, of course, I addressed it to the service advisor, and then he brings out the other service advisor. And I think the second service advisor, I think he – I said something about the wheels being new and he like took that to meant or maybe just incompetence. He took that to meant that they had been like newly refinished and I’m like, no, it has 40,000 miles on it. There’s still sticker residue on the wheels. And, uh, I specifically asked them, so hopefully, uh, hopefully in some, uh, shape of way, shape or form, but, uh, I’m going to demand that they, uh, replace the wheels, and cover the cost of the installation.
SPEAKER 17 :
Ken, are you in? No, that’s not too much. Now, there are some companies out there that can fix those wheels. I don’t know, and I’ve had some fixed Mariota where you can’t tell they’ve been fixed afterwards. But one way or the other, either fix and or replacement, and that’s really your call as a customer. I mean, what I would do, if they want the option of trying to fix them, have them fix them, see how well they look. If they pass inspection at that point, you’re good to go. If not, then demand replacement of the wheels.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes. Now, I am guessing refinishing, I obviously don’t know how much it would cost. Doesn’t matter.
SPEAKER 17 :
I mean, at this point, it’s on them anyways. It would be cheaper for them to fix the wheels than to buy new ones and replace them. And the way these guys do the refinish, and it’s really not even refinish. The way these guys repair wheels, Mario, I’m not joking. You won’t know they were fixed.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, no, no, yes. I’m a do-it-yourselfer myself, if that makes sense. So, no, I completely understand that. But my point is that if just taking it to, I could have done it myself. Obviously, I’m busy with a lot of other things, of course, as a lot of people are. But I could have just taken it to the quick-loop place, and we would have completely avoided it because they don’t take the tires off.
SPEAKER 08 :
No, this was just a breakdown in communication somewhere inside that organization. Yep. That you should not have to pay for or be responsible for.
SPEAKER 07 :
And I, of course, ask the service advisors, why don’t they use protector sockets? You can buy… I, of course, have expensive sockets. I even use one on a car that has 230,000 miles on it. But my point being is that… between them not following instructions and between them not using the proper tool for the job, it just seems in the information age, I’m guessing they’ve probably had, they’ve been using protector sockets probably like for 15 or 20 years.
SPEAKER 17 :
You would hope so.
SPEAKER 07 :
Hard to say.
SPEAKER 17 :
Hard to say what text bay that went in.
SPEAKER 07 :
And I don’t understand why something that is cheaply and readily available isn’t utilized for a really obvious repair.
SPEAKER 17 :
Great question.
SPEAKER 07 :
And something that they do repeatedly on a daily basis.
SPEAKER 17 :
Can’t argue that. Yeah. Can’t argue that, Mario, at all. Really quick, I’ve got like 30 seconds left. Do you need any help from us, or what do you need from me, Mario?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, no, I just basically wanted to warn other consumers, make sure you’re very clear, make sure you take pictures before and after. Absolutely. Great advice. I understand this is not the end of the world. Yeah, but you want it fixed.
SPEAKER 17 :
You want it taken care of.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes, I want it taken care of.
SPEAKER 17 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 07 :
Because they were in condition.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yep. Nope. Mario, I’ll let you go with that. I appreciate that very much. Les from BG, thank you, by the way, as always. Oh, you’re welcome. Always a joy having you. Thanks for having me. Pat Schneidt, same, Alltech Automotive up in Fort Collins. Thank you. Happy to be here. Thank you.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right.
SPEAKER 17 :
Pat’s number, 970-482-3971. Steve from Geno’s, give me your number as well. Oh, 303-794-6700. Guys, with that, have a great rest of your day and weekend. This is Drive Radio, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 18 :
Still haven’t had enough? Go to drive-radio.com, email your questions and comments, download previous programs, and find lots of useful information, including your nearest Colorado Select Auto Care Center. That’s drive-radio.com. Thanks for listening to Drive Radio, sponsored by the member shops of Colorado Select Auto Care Centers. On KLZ 560.
