Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. I'm Matt Miller and
Speaker 1: I'm Hannah Elliott, and this is hot Pursuit.
Speaker 2: All right, we have a guest that you, I think
Speaker 2: recently have interviewed. Yes, for your day.
Speaker 1: Job, for my day job writing about automotive things. Aaron Keating,
Speaker 1: who is the executive analyst for Cox's Automotive, is going
Speaker 1: to join us. And she's so informative and articulate about
Speaker 1: what is really happening on the underside of the automotive market.
Speaker 1: I thought she should come on and help us understand
Speaker 1: what's going on with these high prices.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm pretty excited to talk to her. She knows
Speaker 2: a ton about the industry because she has so much
Speaker 2: experience and so many different.
Speaker 1: Used to work it out.
Speaker 2: Ye positions, Yep. My first car was an auty by
Speaker 2: the way, the first car that I bought myself, Right,
Speaker 2: My first car was my mom's baby blue Volvo two
Speaker 2: forty station wagon. I put thousands of miles on it
Speaker 2: without ever changing the oil, and then at like two
Speaker 2: fifty the motor just seized.
Speaker 1: You know, I did that with the accurate legend. When
Speaker 1: I was in college, I didn't really know, you have
Speaker 1: to like check the oil.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I didn't really get that at the time.
Speaker 1: I didn't get that. No one told me. No one
Speaker 1: told me. And yeah, the same thing happened to me
Speaker 1: with my white accurate Legend with a phone in it. Unfortunately.
Speaker 2: Wow, cool car though, with the phone in it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was my uncle's. He was a corporate lawyer.
Speaker 1: He was like the only car guy in my family.
Speaker 1: He was cool. He's still alive.
Speaker 2: I fondly remember the first days of car phones. My dad,
Speaker 2: also a corporate lawyer, got one and it was in
Speaker 2: like a briefcase. Yeah, and I thought it was like.
Speaker 1: The curly cord.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yes, yeah.
Speaker 1: I thought it was extremely cool.
Speaker 2: It was pretty cool. I never had anyone to call,
Speaker 2: but I was always like I could call someone.
Speaker 1: If I wanted to in case of emergency.
Speaker 2: But yeah, that volvo into a lot of grateful dead
Speaker 2: shows and co and then didn't go to anymore. But no,
Speaker 2: my first car ever. When I first started working for Bloomberg,
Speaker 2: by the way, twenty five years ago this.
Speaker 1: Month, wild congratulations, I.
Speaker 2: Took my first paycheck and some money that I'd saved
Speaker 2: up in college for a down payment on an Audi
Speaker 2: A four station wagon because I'm not an idiot with
Speaker 2: a two point five liter TDI motor that I mean,
Speaker 2: it had one hundred and eighty horse power, but still
Speaker 2: I could pretty easily get it up to two hundred
Speaker 2: kilometers an hour on the Autobahn because I was in
Speaker 2: Frankfurt and it was like my Schemobile for the perfect
Speaker 2: next five years. It was such a great car.
Speaker 1: That's a really good choice, like very makes a lot
Speaker 1: of sense, very practical but also cool.
Speaker 2: Yeah, a stick shift obviously, you know, three pedals. It
Speaker 2: had like suede strips in the seats to hold you
Speaker 2: in place, kind of sporty.
Speaker 1: You know what color was it?
Speaker 2: Dolphin gray? I they didn't really have many choices. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know it was like three different shades of gray
Speaker 2: and then a bluish gray like what is this?
Speaker 1: This is pre married Matt obviously.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, no it.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: It was my first time, like you know, really living
Speaker 2: in my own apartment away from home, a real job
Speaker 2: after the record store, you know, and uh like a
Speaker 2: grown up.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I remember those days that I had, and it's
Speaker 1: just such a fun feeling for me, it sounds like
Speaker 1: for you it was.
Speaker 2: That's such a it was amazing. My first cell phone,
Speaker 2: you know, like with a monthly contract. Wow, and text
Speaker 2: messaging was like the newest thing. No one could believe it.
Speaker 2: I remember using the first BlackBerry that I ever had
Speaker 2: in that car.
Speaker 1: Is that a company BlackBerry?
Speaker 2: It was actually BlackBerry gave me a model to test
Speaker 2: out before they started really selling them. And my friends
Speaker 2: couldn't believe that you could send and receive emails with
Speaker 2: this cell phone. It was just amazing. That was before
Speaker 2: three g. Let's talk about new cars with our guest,
Speaker 2: Aaron Keating. She is out in San Diego at a
Speaker 2: Toyota event driving the Forerunner, the new for Runner. What
Speaker 2: a hot car, What a hot truck.
Speaker 1: Man. If you had that in high school when I
Speaker 1: was in high school.
Speaker 2: Oh yes, you were cool. I had a buddy who
Speaker 2: had one in college. It was sweet.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Aaron Keating from Cox Automotive.
Speaker 1: I have to say, the whole idea for this conversation
Speaker 1: with Aaron Keating, who is the executive analyst for Cox Automotive,
Speaker 1: I hope I got that right. Erin and of course
Speaker 1: Cox Automotive owns Kelly Bluebook, but Erin also has quite
Speaker 1: a long career in the automotive industry, and she has
Speaker 1: worked for automakers, with automakers and now she's an analyst.
Speaker 1: And what I was getting to is I called her
Speaker 1: last week because I really wanted to understand pricing. We've
Speaker 1: just seen all of the new average transaction pricing numbers
Speaker 1: come in for twenty twenty four and it was so
Speaker 1: insightful to talk to her about that. I said, you
Speaker 1: should come on the podcast and enlighten us both. So Erin,
Speaker 1: We're so happy to have you, of course, thank.
Speaker 2: You, thanks for joining. Yeah, you know, it's funny. I've
Speaker 2: been focused on pricing as well because with the threat
Speaker 2: of twenty five percent tariffs against Canada and Mexico, I
Speaker 2: saw an estimate that new car prices could rise by
Speaker 2: another three thousand I think that was Wolf Research that
Speaker 2: put that out, and so I looked back at Bloomberg
Speaker 2: Intelligence data, which I guess you must have the similar
Speaker 2: similar data, and saw that the average new car prices
Speaker 2: have gone up from I think it was thirty three thousand,
Speaker 2: five hundred in twenty fifteen to forty eight thousand, eight
Speaker 2: hundred in twenty twenty four, so a forty six percent
Speaker 2: increase already. And then the threat of another six percent
Speaker 2: on top of that seems crazy.
Speaker 3: We'll be crippling. And we think that's a fairly low number.
Speaker 3: Could be depending on which models we're talking about and
Speaker 3: how many you know. Again, I think Hannah and I
Speaker 3: were talking about the fact that tariffs, you know, will
Speaker 3: be impacted also just on how many times the cars
Speaker 3: or the component trees going back and forth across the borders.
Speaker 3: You know, we don't yet know how they're going to
Speaker 3: solve for that challenge. If a part is going from
Speaker 3: here over to Canada or down in Mexico and getting
Speaker 3: put into a component, and then the component as a
Speaker 3: unit is being sent back over here or being assembled there,
Speaker 3: you know, if that's where it will add to the
Speaker 3: cost theoretically, you know, you'd hope that they'd think through
Speaker 3: that logistically, but how do they track the sheer logistics
Speaker 3: needs in the supply chain to manage that complexity.
Speaker 4: I don't have a ton of confidence.
Speaker 2: And let's talk about pricing though in general, because it's
Speaker 2: been a big issue, you know, especially during the pandemic.
Speaker 2: They just took off not just new cars but used cars.
Speaker 2: Is it just me or do automotive products just take
Speaker 2: up a larger share of our income now than they
Speaker 2: did ten twenty years ago.
Speaker 3: No, they for sure do, and there's a lot of
Speaker 3: reasons that they do. And there's the cost of ownership.
Speaker 3: Even though a lot of people Kelly Bluebook and other groups,
Speaker 3: you know, look at total cost of ownership, it's a
Speaker 3: little bit tough for consumers to understand because most consumers
Speaker 3: will look at their monthly payment. That's what's really helping
Speaker 3: them make their decision. But that monthly payment, which includes
Speaker 3: insurance and things like that, those prices are also blowing up.
Speaker 3: So it's not just even that the car itself is
Speaker 3: more expensive and taking up a bigger share of your wallet.
Speaker 3: Ancillary expenses that you have around that have also been rising.
Speaker 3: So it's not your imagination. It is happening.
Speaker 1: And I know we spoke about the reasons for this.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is not some arbitrary thing that automakers
Speaker 1: are deciding we would like to make more money there,
Speaker 1: We're going to up our prices. Can you just run
Speaker 1: down it's going to be a repeat of what you
Speaker 1: told me, But there are so many complicated factors. Can
Speaker 1: you run down for our listeners what goes into the
Speaker 1: pricing structure of why car is priced a certain way.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, and you know you mentioned Matt about COVID and
Speaker 3: how the cost went up. Yes, there was a supply
Speaker 3: and demand challenge within the market that did help increase prices.
Speaker 3: So some of that, some of that pricing did go
Speaker 3: up based on a supply and demand pure economics. But
Speaker 3: over the course of the years, I think what a
Speaker 3: lot of consumers don't necessarily understand or want to face
Speaker 3: about themselves as consumers, especially in the US, is that
Speaker 3: we're very picky in the US. I think I was
Speaker 3: working with one of my guys in Kelly Doulbook recently
Speaker 3: to see we have over six hundred and thirty variants
Speaker 3: of vehicles in this country, six hundred and thirty so forever.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, I'm here right now at the
Speaker 3: Forerunner launch and they have nine different levels of the
Speaker 3: Forerunner itself coming out just for the twenty twenty five edition,
Speaker 3: nine different variants and within that remember colors, interior, exterior,
Speaker 3: trim packages. These things get really expensive to have to
Speaker 3: come up with the right production planning to get the
Speaker 3: right amount of each type of vehicle that every American wants,
Speaker 3: and they want it just so and so the complexity
Speaker 3: that we've demanded as consumers in US certainly put the
Speaker 3: pressure on manufacturers to build to our specifications, so to speak,
Speaker 3: and that's done and planned, you know, as we know
Speaker 3: two to three years out from the product cycle. So
Speaker 3: those complexities start to pile on pricing, which is why
Speaker 3: you see a lot of companies trying to go towards
Speaker 3: you know, platforms that could be agnostic across a couple
Speaker 3: of different models and so forth. So the complexity, I
Speaker 3: think is a really big one that we just don't
Speaker 3: give enough credit to and the consumers, you know, to
Speaker 3: be a little harsh, don't take enough responsibility for why
Speaker 3: the cost has.
Speaker 4: Been driven up by a lot of that.
Speaker 3: Certainly, compliance and regulation complicates the cost structure of things.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: We know that even the most recent regulations that are
Speaker 3: coming through around the breaking being able to you know,
Speaker 3: your card needs to build a break over sixty miles
Speaker 3: an hour. Every new feature that we are putting into
Speaker 3: the complexity of the US market specifically, I've talked a
Speaker 3: lot about this with people who are looking at the
Speaker 3: Chinese market and saying, you know, the Chinese can somehow
Speaker 3: build cheaper cars just remember that a lot of the
Speaker 3: markets are selling those cars into don't have the regulation
Speaker 3: that we have for safety purposes and so forth in
Speaker 3: the America, in North America, and so therefore the home
Speaker 3: alligation requirements can become more expensive.
Speaker 4: So that's another reason.
Speaker 3: But we were also moving towards this transition with the
Speaker 3: power trade, and right now electric vehicles are not profitable
Speaker 3: for most auto manufacturers.
Speaker 2: You know what, I hate electronic parking brakes. I miss
Speaker 2: a handbrake in a lot of vehicles, and I think
Speaker 2: many fans of cars, like people who really love vehicles,
Speaker 2: miss the handbrake and don't like the button the electronic handbrake.
Speaker 2: Is that a regulatory thing?
Speaker 4: That's a good question, Matt.
Speaker 3: I can't imagine it is, because there's still plenty of
Speaker 3: vehicles that have the push brake for your foot.
Speaker 4: You know, the pedal brake.
Speaker 2: That's true.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So I'm not sure that the handbrake would have
Speaker 3: been thrown in there, but we want it, I would imagine,
Speaker 3: and I can't say this is for sure, but I
Speaker 3: would imagine we got rid of the handbrake because we
Speaker 3: wanted more space for bigger cup holders, and we wanted space,
Speaker 3: you know, women started asking can we have a space
Speaker 3: for my purse to.
Speaker 4: Go in between that center console.
Speaker 3: You know, there's there's different trade offs that a lot
Speaker 3: of manufacturers had to make based on again our very
Speaker 3: pickiness of the types of things that we want in
Speaker 3: our peoples. And you know it's not all that. But
Speaker 3: to your point, for those of us that are enthusiasts,
Speaker 3: we miss them all.
Speaker 1: You know what I think is has been And tell
Speaker 1: me if I'm wrong, Aaron, But my impression of some
Speaker 1: of these programs, like the Black Badge program and the
Speaker 1: Night series program Rolls. Royce has their Black Badge, Mercedes
Speaker 1: has a Night series that kind of group together some
Speaker 1: sort of special customization and in a way that makes
Speaker 1: the buyers feel that they are special and they can
Speaker 1: reflect their own personality in the cars. Is that the
Speaker 1: way that automakers are balancing being able to give customers
Speaker 1: something that feels special and customized, but also trying to
Speaker 1: manage efficiencies and the way that they implement some of
Speaker 1: these special touches for lack of a better word.
Speaker 3: Sure, I mean, you're talking of course about brands that
Speaker 3: are very high luxury and so you know, their profit
Speaker 3: margins are a little bit bigger and allow them to
Speaker 3: do a little bit more customization or create more specialness.
Speaker 4: In their products.
Speaker 3: But we're seeing that also carried down down market into
Speaker 3: more affordable lineups as well. So for sure, I think
Speaker 3: it's a matter of helping customers to feel more special
Speaker 3: especially in the luxury market.
Speaker 4: The more you go down market, it's.
Speaker 3: Likely that people are believing that the younger generation wants
Speaker 3: that type of specialization. And you know now that you
Speaker 3: can yeah, customize your environment anywhere you are, I think
Speaker 3: that they're and I'm not sure it's true. I'm not
Speaker 3: sure that the next generation needs that type of specialness,
Speaker 3: but I think we've all convinced ourselves, given the proliber
Speaker 3: of all of our connected devices, that we need those
Speaker 3: types of things everywhere. And you know, maybe if we
Speaker 3: didn't give them to people in vehicles, we'd still be
Speaker 3: dealing with cars that were a little bit more affordable,
Speaker 3: and probably everyone would still love like.
Speaker 1: Windows that you have to crank to roll up rather
Speaker 1: than right exactly.
Speaker 3: I've got my nineteen eighty three BMW three eighteen.
Speaker 4: N and it's got its stitch shift and roll.
Speaker 3: Down windows and non power steering, and I am teaching
Speaker 3: my children to embrace you know, this is what a
Speaker 3: car used to feel like.
Speaker 2: That's awesome. I think part of that is a padding
Speaker 2: margins because I noticed recently Harley Davidson now charges if
Speaker 2: you want black finishes instead of chrome on you know,
Speaker 2: your forks and your exhaust and so forth, they charge
Speaker 2: you one three hundred fifty dollars extra. That's not because
Speaker 2: it costs them more in Milwaukee to put black finishes
Speaker 2: than it does chrome finishes. It's because they know everybody
Speaker 2: wants the black finish and it's an opportunity for them
Speaker 2: to raise your price. Yeah.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, for sure. I think you're dead on there.
Speaker 3: I mean, the manufacturers have to look for ways in
Speaker 3: which to keep the profitability at a reenable level for
Speaker 3: them to be able to continue to move into the
Speaker 3: next generation again of power trains and so on and technology.
Speaker 3: That for sure, if there's an area where you think
Speaker 3: that there's consumer demand for a specific specialization that you can,
Speaker 3: you know, charge a premium price for that, of course,
Speaker 3: will always help them with their margin market numbers.
Speaker 1: One thing that you mentioned we spoke about that I
Speaker 1: thought was so interesting is how you really emphasize that
Speaker 1: the more expensive cars are gaining ground. I think you
Speaker 1: said that cars that cost at least eighty thousand dollars
Speaker 1: increased thirty seven percent in December compared to the previous year,
Speaker 1: and the average price of a vehicle in that segment
Speaker 1: was over one hundred thousand dollars. So that to me
Speaker 1: says and I think you touched on this, people either
Speaker 1: want the most expensive all of the options, or they
Speaker 1: want a very very basic minimum move and not not
Speaker 1: sure this middle ground. Is that what you're seeing?
Speaker 3: Yes, and yes for luxury, for sure, we're seeing that
Speaker 3: all the bells and whistles are now just an expectation,
Speaker 3: and so typically people will go for the higher trims.
Speaker 3: I think it certainly continues to speak to the vibrication
Speaker 3: of our market. Also, you know, we've seen this trending
Speaker 3: for the last couple of years, and so the rich
Speaker 3: keep getting richer and it is becoming less less affordable
Speaker 3: for lower to mid income. But we did see, you know,
Speaker 3: inflation did drop a little bit for the lower quintile.
Speaker 4: I think last year we.
Speaker 3: Got to a gap of over twenty percent gap where
Speaker 3: the lowest income quintiles we're feeling inflation at as high
Speaker 3: of a twenty two percent rate versus the highest income quintiles,
Speaker 3: who were you know, floating there around the three percent.
Speaker 3: So it really does depend on what part of the
Speaker 3: market you're in, the income quintile you're in, with how
Speaker 3: inflation actually feels to your budget. So those lower trim
Speaker 3: cars are going to always be more attracted to individuals
Speaker 3: that really just need a mode of transportation as opposed
Speaker 3: to looking for a car that they're you know.
Speaker 4: Loving and living.
Speaker 3: Luckily for them these days, even the lowest trim of
Speaker 3: most models are really superior cars and great.
Speaker 4: Great modes of transportation.
Speaker 3: You know, you're really hard pressed to find a car
Speaker 3: that's just a complete you know, like their bones, not
Speaker 3: worthy of having. But that's I mean, part of the
Speaker 3: reason you see interest in China is because you know,
Speaker 3: they reportedly can build a car.
Speaker 4: For fourteen thousand dollars and again one seconds some alligator.
Speaker 4: For the US, it will be different, but there's.
Speaker 2: Also a very healthy US market. And you know, I
Speaker 2: hate to keep bring up Harley Davidson, but I've been
Speaker 2: kind of obsessed lately, and to be fair, you know,
Speaker 2: they sell forty five thousand dollars bike. So we're talking
Speaker 2: about the same price level, but I've heard that they're
Speaker 2: reducing their models offering and taking out some of the
Speaker 2: mid tier price options because they just say, look, if
Speaker 2: you can't afford to step up to the big boys,
Speaker 2: we want you to buy used.
Speaker 4: And yeah, is that?
Speaker 2: I mean? I for a long time, I know Portia
Speaker 2: has been a big supporter of their used market. It
Speaker 2: makes a lot of sise to me. Does that Do
Speaker 2: you hear that from executives as well?
Speaker 3: You know, I haven't heard that specifically from executives, but
Speaker 3: it makes perfect sense.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: The only challenge, of course now that we're going to
Speaker 3: have in the next year or two is that we're
Speaker 3: actually running.
Speaker 4: Fuel on fumes here.
Speaker 3: With used cars, because we did miss that gap of
Speaker 3: about ten million units during the supply chain snarl and
Speaker 3: the COVID crisis, and so interestingly enough, we are going
Speaker 3: to face a little bit of a crunch and used
Speaker 3: cars and use cars may in fact get more expensive
Speaker 3: because of the supply demand issue there. But definitely we've
Speaker 3: seen a lot of manufacturers hold on to their CPO programs,
Speaker 3: and more than that, a lot of them, as you've seen,
Speaker 3: are starting to put even older vehicles into their CPO programs.
Speaker 3: It used to be held, you know, CPO used to
Speaker 3: be relatively held for the one to three year old vehicles,
Speaker 3: and now I think bomb that goes up to ten
Speaker 3: years to keep a.
Speaker 4: Car in the Certify pre owned.
Speaker 3: Yeah, a couple of manufacturers are doing that, so one
Speaker 3: hundred percent. It is always good for dealers and automakers
Speaker 3: to have a healthy used market, for sure.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about the new vehicles. As we enter a
Speaker 2: new year. You're out there looking at the new four Runners,
Speaker 2: So yep, what do you like? What's exciting?
Speaker 4: Well, I will.
Speaker 3: Say, having just driven this Forerunner, it is amazing. I
Speaker 3: forgot how much I love them. I've had two of
Speaker 3: them in the past, and honestly, talking about budget, I
Speaker 3: drove the SR five today, the lowest of the trims,
Speaker 3: and it was fantastic. So I'm excited about that. I'm
Speaker 3: excited about them coming out. This is I think the
Speaker 3: sixth generation, and so they don't they don't come out
Speaker 3: with them too often totally revamped and it's still the
Speaker 3: same old good fore Runners.
Speaker 4: So I'm excited about that.
Speaker 2: The back windows still does the back windows still go down.
Speaker 3: Not only does it still go down, that but they
Speaker 3: told me it's on for a permanent it will always
Speaker 3: be a power back window.
Speaker 2: Yes, I love that fantastic. I love that truck. I
Speaker 2: mean it's I think it's sort of underrated. You know,
Speaker 2: people don't mention it a lot when you're talking about
Speaker 2: you know, SUVs, and one of the issues has been
Speaker 2: that it's chronically underpowered, like they always offer it with
Speaker 2: that yeah three hundred horsepower V six and I think
Speaker 2: it's yeah, now it's a four right.
Speaker 4: Yeah, they're going up to I think the top line.
Speaker 3: I should remember this because they literally just gave us
Speaker 3: the walk around. But the top line I think.
Speaker 4: Is yeah, over four hundred, but it's it's real powerful.
Speaker 3: I mean, admittedly I was driving the I was taking
Speaker 3: the Forerunner into ego mode and it still was, you know,
Speaker 3: zooming along. And also, you know, you guys might do this.
Speaker 3: I don't know too many carnerds that do this, but
Speaker 3: I consistently drive my automatic and manual.
Speaker 2: Oh you do.
Speaker 4: I have taught my kids.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I've taught my kids how to drive sure
Speaker 3: automatics and manual because they not only do you need
Speaker 3: to know how to like if you need to get
Speaker 3: out of a situation. Quickly you can go down into
Speaker 3: a lower gear. But also if you lose your brakes,
Speaker 3: you need to know how to.
Speaker 4: Get in a lower gear. And so I love you.
Speaker 4: As in the manual mode on automatics, I like.
Speaker 2: It too, and I like to shift with the stick,
Speaker 2: not with paddles, so exactly the shifter down next to
Speaker 2: my right.
Speaker 1: On those yet, Aaron.
Speaker 3: I think the SR five they said is in the
Speaker 3: low forties. Okay, yeah, but yeah, so that's exciting.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: I always love seeing a good old vehicle that's been around,
Speaker 3: you know, and talking about keeping their used car rates around,
Speaker 3: you know, I mean the foreigners especially to hold their
Speaker 3: value for so long.
Speaker 1: So it's a sweet, sweet use truck.
Speaker 4: Yeah exactly. But you know, I'm not an.
Speaker 3: Electric vehicle adopter just yet, but I am interested to
Speaker 3: see some of the new models that are coming out
Speaker 3: this year. So that's kind of nice to see that
Speaker 3: the power train is continuing to come into a variety
Speaker 3: of manufacturers, given Tesla a little bit of a run
Speaker 3: for their money.
Speaker 4: So I'm excited about that for this year. Let's see
Speaker 4: what else is coming out this year? Are your favorites?
Speaker 2: I mean, well, I mean if I talk about the SUVs.
Speaker 2: I'm thinking about it a lot because I'm I'm currently
Speaker 2: driving a GMC Yukon to Nally Ultimate.
Speaker 4: Okay, jeez, yeah, do I love it?
Speaker 2: I mean I was telling Hannah coming home from the
Speaker 2: airport the other day, my heart just connected with that
Speaker 2: six point two liters V eight and I kept sending
Speaker 2: myself voice memos trying to put into words what I
Speaker 2: was feeling. It was just pure bliss. And the ten
Speaker 2: speed transmission, I couldn't even feel it changing gears. It
Speaker 2: was just giving me exactly what I wanted when I wanted.
Speaker 2: And I love it so much. And it's obviously huge.
Speaker 2: It's a body on frame truck. There are not many
Speaker 2: of those left. You got the Ford Expedition and Nissan
Speaker 2: Armada and that's pretty much it.
Speaker 4: And it's the only one.
Speaker 2: But this is the only one of the V eight, right,
Speaker 2: They've all done away with their V eights. And the
Speaker 2: only problem I have with it is the thing has
Speaker 2: It's so luxurious, right, but it has twenty four inch wheels,
Speaker 2: which is just so stupid because you want to be
Speaker 2: able to drive over curbs and you're gonna pop a
Speaker 2: tire as soon as you get anywhere near a bump
Speaker 2: in that thing because the tires are so low profile,
Speaker 2: it doesn't make any sense. But I love the VIA.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, did it fit in your garage?
Speaker 2: I didn't attempt to put it in my garage. The
Speaker 2: GLS fits in our garage Mercedes GLS, which is not
Speaker 2: quite as big, but yeah, I mean it's just for me.
Speaker 2: It's another level the body on frame trucks, because you
Speaker 2: feel like you can really abuse them in an urban
Speaker 2: environment and you can't with the Mercedes GLS. This suspension
Speaker 2: on that is shot after a couple of years.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3: I'm in the phase now where I have a seventeen
Speaker 3: and a fourteen year old, so I'm kind of going,
Speaker 3: do I want another SUV?
Speaker 4: I don't really need it anymore. I kind of want
Speaker 4: a sports car.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, come over to the dark side.
Speaker 4: Yeah, the dark side.
Speaker 3: You know, I love a wagon. I love a wagon.
Speaker 3: I'm not gonna lie. There are there are six of
Speaker 3: course is my dream. But you know, until I can
Speaker 3: get one of those, uh you know, for a baby,
Speaker 3: those are just my favorite.
Speaker 4: But but yeah, so I do love a wagon. I
Speaker 4: think we should really normalize.
Speaker 1: Those locer there's such a mystery because everybody who works
Speaker 1: in cars loves a wagon, every block, for every YouTube
Speaker 1: content creator in fluid, yeah, everyone and auto make me
Speaker 1: say they can't sell them.
Speaker 2: I don't get it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't get it either.
Speaker 2: If I'm buying an M three, I want it in
Speaker 2: a wagon, right right? Who would ever choose the sedan
Speaker 2: when you can get the wagon?
Speaker 4: Agree?
Speaker 1: Why would you ever buy a minivan? Just get a wagon?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Right, exactly, I know.
Speaker 3: But you know, I've I've heard from many van lovers,
Speaker 3: especially men who love them.
Speaker 4: It's like the captaincies. They're all, They're all that's.
Speaker 1: What it's about inside them.
Speaker 2: Any van also.
Speaker 1: Actually met had an experience with a minivan in recent Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just and you did. Like it was the seat, it's.
Speaker 2: A seating position, and yeah, you can kind of move
Speaker 2: around more inside them than you can in a station wagon.
Speaker 2: It's not the same as a car, but they're.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I get it.
Speaker 3: I mean, you couldn't pay me to drive one, but
Speaker 3: I get it. I can see the appeal. But O,
Speaker 3: thank you. So yeah, So I'm in the car buying
Speaker 3: mode right now. So it's kind of interesting in the
Speaker 3: position that I'm in knowing the cost, the affordability like
Speaker 3: we're talking about and how expensive these things get and
Speaker 3: and interest rates and everything, and trying to navigate like, oh,
Speaker 3: what is it that I want to do? I might
Speaker 3: even go back to leasing. I know that's crazy.
Speaker 4: It's a word.
Speaker 3: I think for a lot of people, it's a bad
Speaker 3: word because you know, we've convinced ourselves that it's it's
Speaker 3: a way more expensive way to purchase a car. But again,
Speaker 3: that monthly payment, right, but the monthly payments what most
Speaker 3: people are shocking by. And you can just simply now
Speaker 3: that leasing's coming back, you can simply get a more
Speaker 3: expensive car for less money per month. And with the
Speaker 3: pace of change of technology, Yes, to me, it just
Speaker 3: seems to make a lot of sense, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, if you've got a battery, if you're like Hanna
Speaker 2: and I were talking with in our last podcast with
Speaker 2: Alex Royd about battery degradation, and I don't know the
Speaker 2: exact figures, and maybe my fears are a little bit overblown,
Speaker 2: but I just think I want someone else to own
Speaker 2: that problem. So if I'm getting a hybrid or god forbid,
Speaker 2: a fully electric vehicle, and there are some out there
Speaker 2: that I do like I like the key of EV nine, for.
Speaker 4: Example, fantastic.
Speaker 2: I would lease that, you know, because then yeah, at
Speaker 2: the end of the lease, I can get whatever the newest,
Speaker 2: better thing is. And also I don't have to worry
Speaker 2: about the possibility that the battery lost fifty percent of Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, we have an we have an
Speaker 3: EV Battery Solutions group with Cocks Automotive, and I will
Speaker 3: give you some assurances that what we've seen from a
Speaker 3: degradation perspective, it's so low that the batteries really are
Speaker 3: integrating very much. So it's really not something to be
Speaker 3: worried about. Neither is range, of course, but a lot
Speaker 3: of people still, you know, I think most people's anxiety now,
Speaker 3: I like to say, is charge or anxiety.
Speaker 4: It can't be ranged.
Speaker 3: We can go just about as far on an EV
Speaker 3: as we can on an ice vehicle, and the degradation
Speaker 3: really is proving not to be that big of an issue.
Speaker 3: But more importantly, I think the leasing makes sense also
Speaker 3: because it's just such a new technology. Still, We're going
Speaker 3: to see such advances that you're going to want to
Speaker 3: be able to switch out quickly, you know, and we've
Speaker 3: kind of exhausted the advances that we're making in combustion
Speaker 3: power trains, so we need to recognize that. You know,
Speaker 3: for me, at least, leasing an EV makes sense because
Speaker 3: of that, because in three years it might just be
Speaker 3: a very different car.
Speaker 2: By the way, on that note, Aaron, we've Hannah and
Speaker 2: I have been emailing back and forth with a listener
Speaker 2: who is wondering about buying a slightly used luxury EV.
Speaker 2: So you know, everyone wants to get like a twenty
Speaker 2: twenty range Rover, right because then you don't take the
Speaker 2: initial hit somebody else eats the depreciation. But the worry is,
Speaker 2: as soon as they're out of warranty, is it going
Speaker 2: to become a money pit? And I think it's a
Speaker 2: valid concern for not just a Range Rover, which obviously
Speaker 2: they're notorious for that, but also for you know, a
Speaker 2: Mercedes GLS, a BMW X seven, any.
Speaker 1: Of these big SUVs.
Speaker 2: Yeah they have they have the expensive air suspension and
Speaker 2: if something goes wrong with that, you're out five grand,
Speaker 2: you know, And they're all of these electronic systems are worrying.
Speaker 2: What do you think about a gently used a luxury suv?
Speaker 2: What would you.
Speaker 4: Choose as far As an ev or just any.
Speaker 2: No, any any luxury SUV, you know, any luxury trust
Speaker 2: but we meant SUV.
Speaker 4: I meant yeah SV. Oh that's a good question. I mean, yeah, Range.
Speaker 3: Rover, I wouldn't mind. I wouldn't mind one of those
Speaker 3: for sure. And I agree with you. It's nice to
Speaker 3: have someone else capture the depreciations that you don't have to.
Speaker 4: Gosh, that's you're asking me to pick my favorite baby.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I think the question about the range Rover specifically, too,
Speaker 1: is they do have a certain reputation for being very
Speaker 1: reliable from that era and just for always being in
Speaker 1: the shop. And I'm curious is that a earnest earned reputation.
Speaker 4: That is a good question.
Speaker 3: I don't know that I have any data in my
Speaker 3: back pocket to tell you.
Speaker 4: I haven't looked at.
Speaker 3: The range Rover recently all that much, because it is
Speaker 3: a fairly low volume model for what we look at
Speaker 3: at Cox Automotive. But uh, you know, I think most
Speaker 3: cars these days are a heck of a lot stronger
Speaker 3: and better.
Speaker 4: Built than we.
Speaker 3: You know, then we function our memory of how vehicles
Speaker 3: used to be. I mean, even if you think about
Speaker 3: the fact that when the minute you mention a luxury,
Speaker 3: especially perhaps a German luxury, you know, everyone's like, oh,
Speaker 3: I'd love to have one, but the expense of fixing it,
Speaker 3: you know. And it's like, are we saying that because
Speaker 3: we've been conditioned to remember that it was always so
Speaker 3: expensive to bias?
Speaker 1: I think it is. I think it's people who don't
Speaker 1: actually own and know, and they just repeat right, what
Speaker 1: the popular wisdom is, which is not actually accurate.
Speaker 3: Right exactly exactly, you know, And the warranties are lasting
Speaker 3: so much longer, and there are plenty of you know,
Speaker 3: I mean not to give a little boost to the
Speaker 3: F and I office, but there are plenty of you know,
Speaker 3: products that you can purchase if you're so.
Speaker 4: Worried about the quality of the vehicle, that aren't.
Speaker 3: Terribly expensive and would ensure you against any of that
Speaker 3: kind of stuff happening. And again, with regulation and recalls
Speaker 3: and things like that, a lot of times the manufacturers.
Speaker 4: Can be put on the.
Speaker 3: Spot to have to pay for the specific repairs or
Speaker 3: recalls that happen. So I don't know, I don't know
Speaker 3: that it's a bad idea. Used is always going to
Speaker 3: be a good choice.
Speaker 2: I think it's funny because because all right, I giggle
Speaker 2: a little because Doug DeMuro bought the previous generation range Rover,
Speaker 2: the L I think three twenty two, and he got
Speaker 2: a bumper to bumper warranty from CarMax back in the day, remember,
Speaker 2: and like then everything went wrong with his truck and
Speaker 2: CarMax ended up paying out like fifty or sixty grand.
Speaker 2: I like the just to point out that I like
Speaker 2: the I think it's the L four h five generation
Speaker 2: of range Rover, which is the just until twenty twenty one,
Speaker 2: because it's the last generation with the supercharged five Leader
Speaker 2: that that Jaguar Landrover is famous for. And the new
Speaker 2: ones look a little too spacey for me. And they
Speaker 2: have a turbocharged four point four Leader BMW motor, which
Speaker 2: just isn't in the spirit of it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I don't have a problem I mean with
Speaker 1: the German motor in a British vehicle, to be quite honest,
Speaker 1: I feel like that would be an upgrade, right, Eric,
Speaker 1: what do you think?
Speaker 4: I don't know that I have a problem with that either.
Speaker 4: I mean, if you you know I'm a big racing fan.
Speaker 3: If you look over to F one and the pinnacle
Speaker 3: of racing to see, you know, which you know a
Speaker 3: lot of people who don't know about racing, they don't
Speaker 3: recognize that.
Speaker 4: Oh well, the.
Speaker 3: Ferraris what's powering the haus you know, or the Mercedes
Speaker 3: is what's powering the Williams. And yeah, you know there's
Speaker 3: I don't have a problem with people leveraging better power
Speaker 3: units if that's what you if that's what you need
Speaker 3: to make the car where it needs to go.
Speaker 2: Well, remember when BMW bought Earls Royce, they swapped out
Speaker 2: the six and three quarter lead motor and and and
Speaker 2: even Bentley for a while had like the rnage red
Speaker 2: label and green label. Remember they put a BMW motor
Speaker 2: in those and.
Speaker 1: The Anage is as you know, I think highly desirable.
Speaker 2: Me too, but I would rather have one with the
Speaker 2: six point seventy five liter V eight than the BMW
Speaker 2: power plant.
Speaker 4: You guys know you're stuff impressed. Hey, flying above my head?
Speaker 2: Well, well you mentioned racing, and I was on the
Speaker 2: radio show with Tom Keen earlier this week. He put
Speaker 2: me on the spot and asked me what I thought
Speaker 2: Lewis Hamilton was going to do with with Ferrari. I
Speaker 2: have no clue because I watched Motor GP.
Speaker 1: I'm loving all of the images they've released this week
Speaker 1: of Lewis and a double breasted, amazing suit at the
Speaker 1: home of Ferrari looking like a boss.
Speaker 3: I mean, yeah, I think he's gonna I think he's
Speaker 3: going to do well. I think he's going to go
Speaker 3: out on top.
Speaker 4: Why not?
Speaker 1: It seems so fitting as this top of his career
Speaker 1: to cap it to me, it just seems very fitting
Speaker 1: and to be honest, and I'm not going to air
Speaker 1: anyone out specifically, but I had, you know, on certain
Speaker 1: Ferrari press launches, I've like, you know, asked the guys
Speaker 1: handling the cars, Hey, what do you think of Hamilton joining?
Speaker 1: And they, like, honestly, some of them were turning up
Speaker 1: their nose a little bit, saying he's old, it's a
Speaker 1: PR stunt whatever, But hey, car doesn't know how old
Speaker 1: you are.
Speaker 3: He's still precisely and were they watching the twenty twenty
Speaker 3: fourth season?
Speaker 4: Are you kidding me? Like, Alonzo's even older and.
Speaker 3: He's still driving like a bat out of hell with
Speaker 3: amazing racecrafts.
Speaker 4: Shut up, people, come on back, give the guy a
Speaker 4: t's my world champion.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure he's a child too. He's only like
Speaker 2: forty years old.
Speaker 4: Yeah right, I know that's crazy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a kid.
Speaker 4: I mean it is a kid. For those of us
Speaker 4: over our fifties, you know, that's a kid.
Speaker 1: I have a question for you, Matt. Yes, would you
Speaker 1: drink Lamborghini coffee?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Sure, Lavataza and Lamborghini have just come out with a
Speaker 1: Lamborghini themed coffee blend.
Speaker 2: Definitely, I would get my motor running.
Speaker 1: I'm kind of like, I don't know if I'm imagining.
Speaker 2: Like motor oil.
Speaker 1: Yeah exactly, I don't know if the coffee and Lamborghini.
Speaker 2: Is I want it to taste a little bit like
Speaker 2: I feel like a garage.
Speaker 1: I feel like it's going to I mean, it'd be
Speaker 1: kind of a cool gift.
Speaker 2: Are you a coffee drinker? I have?
Speaker 1: I have a coffee a day. I have one in
Speaker 1: the morning.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: See, I never drink no, I will. I will only well,
Speaker 2: let's say I don't like the way it makes me
Speaker 2: feel for the most part, but I will have a latte,
Speaker 2: you know, something weak with a lot of milk.
Speaker 1: When I say coffee, I really do mean most of
Speaker 1: the time a latte. I'm using coffee colloquially.
Speaker 2: I have gone to I used to go to, like
Speaker 2: when Italy was hosting the G twenty. I would go
Speaker 2: there in my other job and got hooked on drinking
Speaker 2: the Espress there. I love an Espress, but it just
Speaker 2: really got me wired. Oh yeah, I know.
Speaker 1: I know I can feel.
Speaker 2: I show that I can.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's all fuel you for quite a.
Speaker 2: While, you know, I stay away from that, but I
Speaker 2: would definitely try one if it was from because Lamborghini
Speaker 2: is one of my all time favorite brands. I asked,
Speaker 2: I love Lamborghini.
Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe someone needs to send you a pouch of it.
Speaker 2: Well, I would pay for it myself as a journalistic integrity.
Speaker 1: No, I meant me. Yeah, that was That was a
Speaker 1: memo to myself. And speaking of memo, I would like
Speaker 1: to hear you play your voice memos that you took
Speaker 1: for yourself.
Speaker 2: Okay, So I so I didn't Actually they weren't voice memos.
Speaker 2: What I did is I said, hey, Siri, write me
Speaker 2: a note. So you know Apple iPhones have notes, yes,
Speaker 2: and I will. I mean, I was just okay, this
Speaker 2: car is an absolute pleasure to drive. The six point
Speaker 2: two liters V just provides effortless power combined with this transmission,
Speaker 2: you honestly don't even notice it shifting, and it gives
Speaker 2: you everything you need when you need it. Obviously, it's
Speaker 2: not a sports car. It's a very large truck, and
Speaker 2: there are very few other vehicles that are this big
Speaker 2: on the road. This only compares really with the Vord
Speaker 2: Expedition on our model. Blah blah. I was kind of
Speaker 2: like writing myself notes, yes, but it really the vibes,
Speaker 2: the warmth of the engine. I kept thinking about what
Speaker 2: Alex Roy said about how it kind of matches your heartbeat.
Speaker 2: It just can't be replicated by a V six. All
Speaker 2: of these manufacturers, most notably well for me as a
Speaker 2: fan of the Ford Motor Company. You know they've gone
Speaker 2: away from their six point two liters V eight. They
Speaker 2: used to have that in the Raptor. Now they have
Speaker 2: the eco boost in it, and it just it can
Speaker 2: never be as good they I'm sure they're doing it
Speaker 2: to be better for the planet, and I applaud that,
Speaker 2: or to meet regulations, and I understand that, but it's
Speaker 2: just not something that I would want to spend my
Speaker 2: money on, even in the high output form like the
Speaker 2: the Bronco raptor. It's a great moment, like the power
Speaker 2: delivery is awesome, and it also you're never lacking, but
Speaker 2: it doesn't give you the same feeling of luxury, you.
Speaker 1: Know, no, no, But but I'm okay with that, honestly.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm all about the right tool for the job.
Speaker 1: And you can't expect luxury from a non luxury vehicle.
Speaker 1: And that's not a value judgment. That's just a horse
Speaker 1: of a different.
Speaker 2: Color, Yeah for sure. But so if when I'm driving
Speaker 2: home on an empty highway in the middle of the night,
Speaker 2: you know, listening to a little dead and Cornell, I
Speaker 2: just want that V eight there. You know, I'm not flying,
Speaker 2: I'm not in a race, but I just want that.
Speaker 1: You're a simple man power come.
Speaker 2: On and that fullness, you know, just to make my
Speaker 2: chest feel good.
Speaker 1: I have no comeback to that other than I wish
Speaker 1: that for you. I do really wish that for you.
Speaker 1: Met It's so great, sounds like a great happy place
Speaker 1: for you.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And this truck, by the way, it is I
Speaker 2: keep trying to think of. On the one hand, there's
Speaker 2: a lot of other stuff you could buy for less,
Speaker 2: because how much does it cost over one hundred thousand dollars,
Speaker 2: of course, And I guess you know, there are many
Speaker 2: things that are more expensive if you buy a range Rover,
Speaker 2: for example, you're gonna pay more if you buy a
Speaker 2: fully loaded you know, Cayenne Turbo or even the GTS
Speaker 2: that you drove. I would guess it was more option
Speaker 2: to the way it was. But then there are a
Speaker 2: lot of you know, a bmw X five. It's not
Speaker 2: the same thing, right, it's so much smaller, but it
Speaker 2: is an suv and it's luxury. You can get it
Speaker 2: for less a Mercedes GLS or you know, even up there,
Speaker 2: it's it's less.
Speaker 1: Prices are so weird these days.
Speaker 2: It is weird. But these these body on frame trucks
Speaker 2: that are SUVs, they're essentially pick up trucks that are
Speaker 2: you know, covered in the back. They're so expensive. I know,
Speaker 2: even the starting price is eighty thousand for the Yukon,
Speaker 2: maybe seventy for the Tahoe. I just don't know when
Speaker 2: did we get this?
Speaker 1: Do you guess? The automaker with the highest average price
Speaker 1: per vehicle in twenty twenty four, and this is coming
Speaker 1: from Erin from Erin data.
Speaker 2: Let's see highest average price per vehicle.
Speaker 1: Not including exotics like Lamborghini.
Speaker 2: Ferrari, not including Rolls Royce.
Speaker 1: Not including Rolls Royce, not including Bugatti.
Speaker 2: Uh well, if it's if Porsche is allowed, I would
Speaker 2: choose Porsche.
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, you're right, ding ding ding. Apparently their their
Speaker 1: average transaction price per vehicle is one hundred and fifteen
Speaker 1: four hundred and seven dollars. Do you want to know
Speaker 1: the second highest?
Speaker 2: By the way, I can figure a carera tee and
Speaker 2: I don't get close to that low, So I understand
Speaker 2: totally right. Even even for the careerra tea, I'm always
Speaker 2: ending up at like one, which is crazy.
Speaker 1: She's just crazy because the t is supposed to be
Speaker 1: sort of the thinking man's n affordable one exactly that
Speaker 1: you don't have to get all of the other stuff
Speaker 1: that you don't actually need. Yeah, I know that is wild.
Speaker 2: What did you What was your other question?
Speaker 1: Do you want to know the second?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 2: The second highest?
Speaker 1: Ummm it's I was surprised by this one, actually, but
Speaker 1: we've mentioned it on this show. We've mentioned this brand.
Speaker 2: Is it Mercedes? No, BMW, Nope? What is it out?
Speaker 1: Land Rover? It's land Rover. Oh, isn't that interesting?
Speaker 2: That's crazy.
Speaker 4: I know.
Speaker 1: Land Rover is also over one hundred thousand dollars averaged
Speaker 1: per vehicle. It's at one hundred and two thousand, seven
Speaker 1: and three dollars.
Speaker 2: I guess that's because they don't have many lower prices.
Speaker 1: I think that is. It's all SUVs. They're all big,
Speaker 1: they're all heavy, they all have a bunch.
Speaker 2: Of there's no mix. Like even Porsche. You can get
Speaker 2: at the box Star or that cam.
Speaker 1: In and BMW. You know, you can get some true
Speaker 1: a lot and that pulls their number down.
Speaker 2: You can get a ton of lower price BMW's. And
Speaker 2: that's the same for Mercedes. Yeah. For a land Rover
Speaker 2: you can only get basically after the discovery you get
Speaker 2: like a range Rover Sport and a range Rover.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, Defender, I always.
Speaker 4: Forget it.
Speaker 1: Completely. Yeah, I know, isn't that wild? I mean, this
Speaker 1: is why I in my own personal life, I I
Speaker 1: was today, I drove a three thousand dollars Rolls Royce.
Speaker 2: To work, three thousand dollars.
Speaker 1: Drive plus a trade.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well plus a trade.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's the fine, Prince. It was three thousand plus
Speaker 1: a minor trade. But you know, yeah, I mean I
Speaker 1: was very happy.
Speaker 2: You are very brave and have also been very lucky
Speaker 2: when it comes to buying, you know, classic cars and
Speaker 2: not having massive repair bills.
Speaker 1: I was thinking yesterday, I don't need to gamble. I
Speaker 1: drive an old card.
Speaker 2: And you haven't had You've never had, like all of
Speaker 2: a sudden, a ten thousand dollars bill for that car.
Speaker 1: Not a ten thousand no, no, no, But.
Speaker 2: Is it a nineteen seventy one?
Speaker 1: The one today is eighty three.
Speaker 2: Okay, you have multiple rolls choices.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but seventy five. Yeah, this is the other other one.
Speaker 1: I should stop talking now because I sound really snobby,
Speaker 1: but these are not expensive cars.
Speaker 2: No, it's awesome. I mean crops respect, but.
Speaker 1: Yeah it is. It is a little bit of a
Speaker 1: gamble for sure. You know, we've talked about it before.
Speaker 1: Sometimes you think why am I doing this? But it's
Speaker 1: fun and.
Speaker 2: It's also it's not as much of a gamble as
Speaker 2: it turns into when you get a late eighties into
Speaker 2: the nineties.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, to get out of a car from
Speaker 1: the seventies and into a car from the eighties, depending
Speaker 1: on the brand, is a world of difference. And the
Speaker 1: seventies to me at least in Rolls Royce years, feels
Speaker 1: very closely connected to the sixties. The minute you get
Speaker 1: into something in the eighties, it feels very modern compared
Speaker 1: to the others, and.
Speaker 2: It can be much more expensive to repair.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I still want a Corniche or a Camarge, and
Speaker 1: those are more expensive. They're out of my price range
Speaker 1: and they're later models.
Speaker 2: So yeah, all right, what do you got coming up? Anything?
Speaker 2: Anything good?
Speaker 1: No? What? No? I have nothing good? Everything is everything
Speaker 1: has been delayed, postponed or canceled because of the fire.
Speaker 3: Ah.
Speaker 1: Yes, so you know, I do have an electromiccon electric
Speaker 1: Macon coming. I do have an electric escalade coming. Still
Speaker 1: got that vanquished coming, But they've all been kicked down
Speaker 1: the road a little bit because we are still sort
Speaker 1: of digging ourselves out of fire stuff, which is right
Speaker 1: and completely understandable. But I know you're going to Indonesia.
Speaker 2: I have an eighteen hour flight to Singapore and then
Speaker 2: from there to Jakarta, from there to Sarong and then
Speaker 2: I take a boat about five hours towards Papua New Guinea. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's a long trip.
Speaker 1: Hey, how can you explain the genesis of this trip?
Speaker 2: So I am going to Raja Ampat, which is in
Speaker 2: between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, and it's probably the
Speaker 2: best diving in the world. And I've been there already
Speaker 2: many times with my wife. In fact, we got engaged
Speaker 2: there and it's just our favorite place to go. But
Speaker 2: it takes forever to get there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's very dedicated.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so you can make a choice like, well,
Speaker 2: first off, which direction you're gonna fly, and then break
Speaker 2: up the trip a little bit to make it more bearable.
Speaker 2: So last a year we went via Tokyo and we
Speaker 2: stopped in Tokyo for a couple of days to recuperate.
Speaker 2: And this fun. This year, I'm gonna go to Singapore
Speaker 2: and we're gonna hang out there for a couple of
Speaker 2: days before we go on to ind Ani show. But
Speaker 2: right now I'm looking at an eighteen hour flight, like NonStop,
Speaker 2: and that's like what nine movies?
Speaker 1: What's your coping mechanism for an eighteen hour flight?
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't really have a coping mechanism. I've
Speaker 2: never been on an eighteen hour flight before me neither.
Speaker 1: The farthest I've gone as Cape Town and that's and
Speaker 1: from from Paris that's a long one, but that's not
Speaker 1: eighteen hours.
Speaker 2: I don't know. I guess I'm just gonna I bought
Speaker 2: The Power Broker, which is a very long book, and
Speaker 2: I'm gonna download a bunch of movies. I guess I'll
Speaker 2: have internet access.
Speaker 1: So now I didn't realize you were a your scuba diver. Yes,
Speaker 1: well we have that in common too. I love Patty Certified.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 1: Are you're not traveling with equipment.
Speaker 4: Are you?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Bring all my gear with me, not the tanks.
Speaker 2: I just I want my own BCD so that I
Speaker 2: am familiar with it. And you know, I'm an odd shape.
Speaker 2: I'm very long and lanky, so I won't fit into
Speaker 2: a wet suit whatever they no matter how big a
Speaker 2: selection they have. Yeah. I mean I don't need much
Speaker 2: of a wetsuit because it's going to be very warm water.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I like to be familiar with my own gear.
Speaker 2: You know, my wife doesn't, so she, you know, with
Speaker 2: other than wetsuits. She she takes their stuff.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I get it.
Speaker 2: It's an amazing place. It's called Missoul m I S
Speaker 2: O O L and I highly recommend it. But they're
Speaker 2: booked out like.
Speaker 1: Years this is the name of the hotel, the resort.
Speaker 2: So there were a couple of very cool, like punk
Speaker 2: rock kids on a live aboard in the nineties who
Speaker 2: were diving in Rajan Pot in the time. The coral
Speaker 2: was getting bleached out and they found a bunch of
Speaker 2: shark fins on the beach and they were super bummed
Speaker 2: about the sort of state of the sea there and
Speaker 2: came up with an idea too, and it was fished,
Speaker 2: you know, almost two extinction. Came up with an idea
Speaker 2: to start, you know, kind of a luxury resort and
Speaker 2: use the proceeds from that to basically buy off the
Speaker 2: local fishermen. And so they said, hey, we'll split you know,
Speaker 2: the revenue with the local communities there. There are not
Speaker 2: many people that live in that area and if you
Speaker 2: agree not to fish. So now they have like a
Speaker 2: twelve hundred square mile no kill zone. All the life
Speaker 2: has come back. I mean tons of mantas, I mean
Speaker 2: fifteen twenty foot wingspans and they're all just happy to
Speaker 2: swim along with you. A lot of reef sharks, a
Speaker 2: ton of colors. I mean, it's like being at a
Speaker 2: grateful dead show in the best wave possible. Yeah, it
Speaker 2: really does. And you know Jerry was a big diver
Speaker 2: as well.
Speaker 1: I didn't know that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, was he really with special he had a beard.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he could get the mask over.
Speaker 2: Kind of hard to create a seal, but yeah, you know.
Speaker 1: That's where my mind goes. Wow, I didn't know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 1: Oh, that'll be really lovely. Well, I hope you have fun,
Speaker 1: and I hope you can endure the flight because it
Speaker 1: seems like it'll be worth it at the end when
Speaker 1: you get there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I'll be okay. Yeah, it's it's a legitimately
Speaker 2: first world problem, isn't it.
Speaker 1: Yeah it is. No one's feeling that bad for you.
Speaker 2: No, all right, cool. Well, I guess I'll see you
Speaker 2: back here, same time, same place. Can't wait, February sixth.
Speaker 1: I cannot wait. I'll see you in New York.
Speaker 2: Actually awesome. That's going to be great.
Speaker 1: I can't wait. The best city in the world.
Speaker 2: I'm Matt Miller, and
Speaker 1: I'm Hannah Elliott, and this is Bloomberg