Auto Buyers Guide Podcast

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

This week we diagnose Toyota's identity crisis — after the CEO admitted the lineup is "out of control," we go model by model through what should stay, what should die (Crown, Land Cruiser, Supra, GR86, the plug-in hybrid), and where Toyota needs more options in the middle of its SUV range. Plus, first impressions from spending real time with the new Slate electric truck, including configurator surprises and who it might actually make sense for.

 

Toyota lineup, Toyota CEO comments, Land Cruiser, 4Runner, Crown Signia, Lexus, GR86, Supra, Prius, Corolla, Camry Hybrid, RAV4 Hybrid, Slate electric truck, Slate truck review, hybrid explainer, Atkinson cycle, regenerative braking, hybrid transmission, hybrid reliability, hybrid battery replacement cost, used car vs new car, car buying advice

#Toyota #HybridCars #SlateTruck #CarNews #AutoBuyersGuide #CarBuyingAdvice #ElectricTruck #ToyotaHybrid #CarPodcast #4Runner #LandCruiser

 

0:00 Intro: the laryngitis edition
0:20 Shameless plugs: the new novel and Kiva microlending
7:23 Slate electric truck: first impressions
17:34 Diagnosing what's wrong with Toyota's lineup
29:12 What we'd cut from Toyota's lineup
34:38 Listener Q&A: best hybrid SUV pick
46:33 How hybrids actually save fuel (Atkinson cycle)
55:19 Hybrid transmission changes explained
59:34 Hybrid reliability and battery replacement costs
1:04:22 Why your current car is the cheapest car you own

Spare tire or no spare tire? After limping the last 50 miles of a 1,000-mile road trip home on a donut, the crew digs into whether the spare still matters in 2026 — the Consumer Reports data behind what new cars actually carry, why Honda and Subaru hybrids bury the spare-tire well under a battery and waste the space entirely, what a replacement donut really costs, and the safety reasons you should almost always mount the spare on the rear axle. Along the way: a listener voicemail making the case for aftermarket modern-spare kits, the truth about whether AAA brings you a tire (spoiler — they don't), the right and wrong way to use fix-a-flat, and how often you should really be checking your spare's pressure. Then it's on to the 2027 Chevy Silverado refresh — the surviving 2.7L turbo now bolted to the 10-speed, the new 5.7L and 6.6L V8s replacing the old 5.3 and 6.2, a detour through the wild history of the segment's diesels (Cadillac, Fiat, and Land Rover all make an appearance), the new triple-screen interior, and why a GM sport truck could give the Ram Rumble Bee a real run for its money.

 

0:00 Intro: spare tires and what's ahead
0:22 Limping home on the donut after a 1,000-mile trip
1:50 Glad I skipped the Blazer EV (no spare)
3:00 Voicemail: John from Philly on modern-spare kits
5:44 Spare tires, regions, and brand culture
8:18 The AAA myth: do they bring you a tire?
9:14 The data: Consumer Reports spare-tire stats
14:27 Spare categories and donut limitations
16:47 The five-tire rotation philosophy
20:10 Honda & Subaru hybrids: batteries in dumb places
24:43 What a replacement spare actually costs
26:31 Is fix-a-flat an okay compromise?
28:31 Checking spare pressure & air compressors
31:20 Where do you even put the full-size spare?
34:55 Front vs. rear: mounting the spare safely
38:14 Upgrading: modern-spare universal kits
41:55 The 2027 Chevy Silverado refresh
44:01 Engines: 2.7L turbo, new V8s, and the 10-speed
48:19 Diesel history: Cadillac, Fiat & Land Rover
50:24 Power estimates for the 5.7L & 6.6L V8s
53:33 New triple screens & smartphone integration
55:12 Sport truck speculation vs. the Rumble Bee
59:11 Torque-split 4WD and why it matters
1:02:24 Wrap-up