Auto Buyers Guide Podcast

After a brief hiatus for a new baby and some globe-trotting, the Auto Buyer's Guide crew is back with a deep listener Q&A session. Things kick off with a surprisingly entertaining look at repo car auctions — what actually ends up there, why the demographics of default make those lots rough, and the unexpected plot twist that the show's own old Blazer EV turned up at a Subaru dealer in Tacoma for $29K after originally stickering at $54K. From there the hosts run through their most and least favorite vehicles reviewed and owned, delivering genuinely candid takes on the Honda Prelude's pleasant surprise, the Fiat 500E's disappointment, Mercedes' infotainment frustrations, Honda's slow decline from packaging innovator to average, Hyundai's styling direction, and GM's baffling CarPlay-free EVs — a manufacturer-by-manufacturer tour that holds nothing back. The second half is both technical and personal. A listener's question about the Kia Telluride's dual 12-volt battery setup opens a thorough explanation of why every hybrid and EV still needs a 12-volt system, how DC-DC converters work, and a real-world comparison of vampire drain across a Rivian, Ford Lightning, and Kia EV6 left parked for two weeks. Then the show gets personal: Alex is car shopping for a growing family with very specific requirements — CarPlay, big rear seats for extended rear-facing, and plug-in or full EV power — leading to a four-way shootout between the Volvo EX60, Acura ZDX, Hyundai Ioniq 9, and the intriguing wild card of the Grand Wagoneer EREV, which could potentially replace both the family Durango and the beloved Grenadier in one shot. A full breakdown of Volvo's overseas delivery program rounds out a wide-ranging, genuinely useful episode. #RepoCars #UsedCarBuying #BMWiX #MercedesEQS #CadillacLyriq #AcuraZDX #GrandWagoneerEREV #VolvoEX60 #HyundaiIoniq9 #Polestar3 #KiaTelluride #12VoltBattery #EVVampireDrain #FordLightning #Rivian #VolvoOverseasDelivery #FamilyCar #CarShopping #AutoBuyersGuide #CarPodcast #AutoNews #EVCharging #HondaPrelude #RamREVE #ExtendedRearFacing 00:00:00 - Welcome Back: New Baby & Life Updates 00:00:38 - Q&A: Are Repo Car Auctions Worth It? 00:07:29 - Our Old Blazer EV Spotted at a Subaru Dealer! 00:10:21 - Best & Worst Cars We've Reviewed: Brand by Brand 00:33:21 - Q&A: BMW iX vs. Mercedes EQS SUV for a Family 00:40:24 - Kia Telluride's Dual Battery & Why EVs Still Need 12V 00:48:26 - Vampire Drain Test: Rivian vs. Lightning vs. EV6 00:50:27 - Alex's Family Car Search: EX60, ZDX, Ioniq 9 & More 00:56:07 - Grand Wagoneer EREV: The Wild Card That Replaces Two Cars 01:13:39 - Volvo Overseas Delivery: How the Process Actually Works

This week's Auto Buyer's Guide comes to you from Bogotá, Colombia, but the questions are as grounded and practical as ever. The episode is driven almost entirely by listener Q&A, covering everything from the perennial "when do you stop throwing money at a used car" debate — anchored by a real Ford Focus DCT horror story and a fleet-management philosophy that reframes how you think about repair economics — to whether buying an EV actually saves you money versus a comparable gas vehicle. The surprising answer: almost never, with one notable exception being the Subaru Trailseeker versus the Outback. Along the way, the hosts debunk the persistent myth that back seats drive up your insurance premiums, walk through the real factors that determine your rate, and weigh in on whether keeping a spare vehicle around is actually worth the carrying cost. The back half gets into listener SUV recommendations for a small family with a large dog — where the Chevy Traverse earns a strong nod for its Super Cruise availability and real-world practicality — plus a look at rust risk when buying a used car from a salt-belt state. From there it's on to the news: Ford's Fathom EV truck arriving for under $30,000 with Blue Cruise standard and Apple Maps baked into the hardware, the Kia EV3 coming to the US in 2027 to undercut the Leaf and Bolt, a heated Apple Maps vs. Google Maps vs. Waze debate, and a broader conversation about the slow, inevitable death of the manual transmission — and why fake EV gear shifts are mostly a parlor trick. 00:00:00 - Intro: Broadcasting from Bogotá, Colombia 00:00:38 - Q&A: When Should You Stop Repairing a Used Car? 00:06:38 - EV vs ICE: What's the Real Financial Break-Even? 00:11:02 - Insurance Myth-Bust: Do Back Seats Raise Your Rate? 00:14:46 - Is Keeping a Spare Vehicle Worth It? 00:20:54 - SUV Help: Best Pick for a Small Family & Large Dog 00:27:00 - Should You Buy a Used Car from a Salty State? 00:30:13 - Ford Fathom EV: Under $30K with Blue Cruise Standard 00:39:29 - Apple Maps vs Google Maps vs Waze: Which Wins? 00:52:54 - Manual Transmissions Are Dying & Fake Shifts Are Dumb #CarRepairAdvice #UsedCarBuying #EVvsGas #FordFathom #FordMaverick #KiaEV3 #SubaruTrailseeker #ManualTransmission #EVCharging #SilveradoEV #AppleMaps #GoogleMaps #Waze #CarInsurance #SaltyStateCar #ChevyTraverse #DodgeDurango #OutlanderPHEV #RAV4Prime #AutoBuyersGuide #CarPodcast #AutoNews #NewCars2027 #EVTruck #BlueCruise

This week the guys dig into why used EV prices are climbing back up now that federal tax credits are gone, why the Dodge Durango just posted its best sales in two decades, and whether crash test scores actually move the needle for shoppers. They also break down Polestar's decision to walk away from the US market instead of appealing its sales ban, GM's plan to bring the XT5 and XT6 back to Cadillac from China, and the wave of battery recalls hitting the Volvo EX30 and VW ID.4. From there it's a deep dive into car features that quietly became essential (smartphone projection, ventilated seats) versus the ones that aged like milk (giant glass roofs, CD-based nav), plus why car theft rates keep falling despite hacker-level Bluetooth exploits. They close out with a full breakdown of the "almost-luxury" brand wars — Genesis, Lincoln, Infiniti, and Acura — and where each one is headed next.

 

0:00 Intro – what's on deck
1:18 EV resale values rebound as tax credits vanish
5:43 Dodge Durango's record-breaking sales year
13:27 Do crash test scores actually matter?
19:09 Polestar quits the US market
29:27 GM revives the XT5 and XT6 for Cadillac
34:09 Battery recall fears: Volvo EX30 and VW ID.4
40:44 Honda's new US factory and EV strategy
47:19 Why car thefts are plunging
49:51 Car features: essential now vs. aged like milk
1:14:15 Quirky luxury market: Genesis, Lincoln, Infiniti, Acura
1:29:27 Listener mail and sign-off

Travis returns from a sweaty Kia Seltos first drive — bigger, bolder, and available with a 1.6-liter turbo that makes it genuinely fun through the hills — but the story isn't the car itself, it's the incoming hybrid everyone's actually waiting for. The guys dig into Kia's curious trim-level decision (1.6T only at the very top of the X-Line), what the Seltos hybrid might actually deliver in fuel economy versus a Corolla Cross, and the bigger strategic question it raises: if the Seltos gets a great hybrid system, what exactly is the Kia Niro for anymore? The comparison to the Trax/Trailblazer split is floated — different shapes, different buyers — but the Niro's remarkable fuel economy might be the only thing that saves it.

From there the conversation covers the serial vs. parallel hybrid debate (Honda's system as the test case, Nissan's incoming serial system as the punchline), what the Honda Prelude should've been if they'd just added a PHEV battery and a bigger electric motor, whether the Honda Element is really coming back or just generating SEMA concept buzz, and how integrated Honda and Nissan should actually get before the partnership stops making sense for customers. The episode closes with the Mitsubishi Eclipse Sportback EV arriving on a Leaf platform (more differentiated than the Rogue Hybrid, at least), a breakdown of the Toyota-Subaru partnership and who's really steering it, a listener's fully electrified Volvo household singing the praises of the XC90 Recharge PHEV system, a viewer's first-ever new car purchase (a Mini Countryman S All4), and the story of a colleague who found themselves surrounded by police at a grocery store because a FLOCK camera flagged their press car as stolen.

A listener wants a fun weekend car with supervised self-driving that is not a Tesla, which sends us down a rabbit hole on when Ford, GM and Rivian might actually ship level three autonomy, and whether Tesla has quietly turned into a legacy car company. We dig into Tesla's R&D spending per vehicle versus GM, why the charging and range crown has slipped to Hyundai, Kia and Lucid, and what we would actually do to fix Tesla's product lineup and priorities.

From there we cover GM's Ultium charging push, the strange story behind Volvo getting a connected-car waiver while Polestar did not, and whether EV road trips make sense with young kids in the car. We also talk through GM's heavy but practical EV trucks, why a hybrid or gas Silverado EV would be a game changer, and settle the debate between the Ram 1500 TRX, Rumble Bee and Ford Raptor R.

 

0:00 Intro: winging it this week
0:22 Listener question: a fun, self-driving car that isn't a Tesla
4:16 Has Tesla become a legacy car company?
11:07 Tesla's R&D spending compared to GM
20:56 How we'd fix Tesla
29:31 GM's Ultium push for faster charging
32:15 Volvo's connected-car waiver and Polestar's problem
37:27 Road tripping in EVs with young kids
43:08 GM's EV trucks, the mid-gate, and wanting a hybrid Silverado EV
47:48 Ram TRX vs Ford Raptor R showdown