On this week's episode, after 30 years and roughly $6 million spent buying cars for Consumer Reports, Mike Quincy shares his best car-buying advice, worst dealership experiences, and the tricks and fees buyers should watch out for. Plus, a surprise guest drops in to help send him off before he takes one final ride into retirement.
Join CR at https://CR.org/joinviaYT to access our comprehensive ratings for items you use every day. CR is a mission-driven, independent, nonprofit organization.
SHOW NOTES
-----------------------------------
0:00 - Intro
00:41 – Mike Quincy's Last Ride
02:08 – 171 Cars and $6 Million: Mike's Car-Buying Career
04:48 – The Most Memorable Cars Mike Bought
08:27 – How Car Buying Has Changed Over the Years
13:28 – What's Better—and Worse—About Buying a Car Today
16:00 – How to Handle the Finance Office
20:27 – Mike's Worst Dealership Experiences
28:02 – The Best Car-Buying Experiences
33:23 – What Car Will Mike Buy for Retirement?
37:15 – Looking Back on 30 Years at Consumer Reports
37:29 – A Surprise Guest Joins the Podcast
43:56 – What Mike Will Miss Most
46:42 – Buying a New Car Should Be Exciting
51:10 – Mike Quincy's Final Sign-Off
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How to Spot and Avoid Unnecessary Car-Buying Fees
https://www.consumerreports.org/money/fees-billing/how-to-avoid-car-buying-fees-a7209896255/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT
What to Know Before Buying a Car: 7 Questions to Ask at the Dealership
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/buying-a-car/questions-to-ask-before-you-buy-a-car-a6387933582/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT
How to Buy a New Car in Today's Challenging, High-Priced Market
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/buying-a-car/how-to-buy-a-car-in-todays-challenging-market-a7648220054/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT
Which Brands Make the Best Cars?
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/cars-driving/which-car-brands-make-the-best-vehicles-a6159221985/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT
Who Makes the Most Reliable New Cars?
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/who-makes-the-most-reliable-cars-a7824554938/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT
Find an Efficient Vehicle That's Right for You
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/hybrids-evs/buying-guide/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT
00:00:00
If you're a Talking Cars fan,
00:00:01
want to see the Consumer Reports
test track in person?
00:00:04
Here's your chance.
00:00:05
On October 17th, Consumer Reports
is hosting a 5K run and walk fundraiser
00:00:09
here at our auto test center
in Colchester, Connecticut.
00:00:12
It's a fun way to get outside,
00:00:14
see the cars we talk about every week,
and support our mission all at once.
00:00:18
And if you can't join us in person,
there's a virtual option
00:00:20
to go to CR.org/5K to learn more
00:00:23
and register.
00:00:36
Hi, everybody.
00:00:37
Welcome to another episode.
00:00:38
I'm Mike Monticello, I'm Mike Quincy.
00:00:40
So today is going to be a little bit
kind of a different show.
00:00:45
But don't worry.
00:00:47
We're still going to have a ton
00:00:48
of car buying information,
ton of car information in general.
00:00:51
But we have some big news to announce,
which is that we're finally getting rid
00:00:55
of Mike Quincy.
00:00:56
I'm kidding.
00:00:57
But Mike Quincy is retiring
from Consumer Reports
00:01:00
after a long career
in the automotive industry.
00:01:03
Well-deserved.
00:01:05
But,
before he drives off into the sunset.
00:01:08
Now, don't think, like,
just going to be this old man
00:01:11
waxing poetic about his career.
00:01:12
That's actually not what
we're going to be talking about today.
00:01:15
We want to glean every last bit of car
buying advice out of this guy right here.
00:01:20
And we're going to do that today.
00:01:21
So buckle up and join us
for what I'm calling Quincy's Last Ride.
00:01:26
I don't know why
anyone want to take advice from me, but.
00:01:29
Okay, so, Michael Quincy,
longtime viewers and listeners
00:01:33
of this podcast know that you have bought
a ton of cars for Consumer Reports.
00:01:37
And just to remind people,
Consumer Reports, we buy every car.
00:01:41
We test anonymously.
00:01:43
It's bought anonymously
from local dealers.
00:01:46
So they're not handouts
from the manufacturers.
00:01:49
And that's a big part of what we do
is going to buy all these cars.
00:01:53
And you've bought a ton.
00:01:55
And because this guy is such a nerd
in the best way
00:01:58
possible, you kept a spreadsheet,
which I just think is so awesome.
00:02:02
Quincy,
you kept a spreadsheet of every car
00:02:04
you've ever bought, including comments
about how the car buying process went.
00:02:09
And we're going to, use
a lot of that information today from you.
00:02:12
So but first, before we even get
into all this good information
00:02:16
and the buying advice, you're going
to give people about how to do a better
00:02:19
job,
you know, with that dealership experience,
00:02:22
how many cars are we talking about that
you bought over three years here?
00:02:25
Consumer Reports?
00:02:26
And how much money, how much money,
how much of the people's money
00:02:30
they spent buying these guys.
00:02:31
A little footnote here.
00:02:33
It's more fun
spending other people's money than mine.
00:02:36
So, see, I've bought 171 cars since 2001
for the Consumer Reports test program.
00:02:41
That's a ton.
00:02:42
And, and you mentioned the spreadsheet.
00:02:45
The main reason I kept the spreadsheet
was I didn't
00:02:49
I wanted to make sure that I didn't
keep going back to the same dealers,
00:02:52
to be honest with you. Yeah.
00:02:53
I mean, what
00:02:54
if we're audited and it's like,
oh, Quincy keeps going to the same dealers
00:02:57
over and over and over, and, you know,
that would that wouldn't look good.
00:03:01
And, plus I just wanted to, you know,
spread the love around and make sure that
00:03:05
I hit a whole bunch of other dealers.
00:03:06
And and mostly
the deals were done in Connecticut, but,
00:03:11
I've also bought cars in North Carolina,
00:03:14
new Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island.
00:03:18
I went out to, to to, to to Long Island
00:03:21
in New York and bought, a Honda Fit.
00:03:24
That was a noisy ride home.
00:03:26
And, and, all together, I've spent,
00:03:31
about $6 million of consumer money.
00:03:35
Wow. And the 25 years
that I've been buying cars here.
00:03:38
Right.
00:03:39
And, super smart John Williams
00:03:43
took the spreadsheet and, kind of ran it
00:03:47
through your chatty ChatGPT.
00:03:51
That's the one.
00:03:52
And, and kind of deducted that,
00:03:55
of all the cars that I bought,
00:03:58
43% were Japanese, 24%
00:04:02
were American, 14% German, 17%
00:04:05
Korean, believe it, 2.9% Swedish.
00:04:11
And then, a little bit of, of British
and Italian
00:04:14
and mostly what I bought
were, were sedans and SUVs
00:04:19
and crossovers, not too many pickup
trucks, only three pickup trucks.
00:04:23
And I love having this piece of paper
here from my notes,
00:04:26
because it always drives
super producer Dave Abrams crazy.
00:04:29
Because we usually have
all the technology.
00:04:31
And I thought, my last one, I'm going
to put some paper on here just for fun.
00:04:35
You go, you get to do whatever you want.
So there it is.
00:04:37
Yeah, that's the part.
00:04:38
He doesn't like us having paper
for some reason.
00:04:40
I don't know why.
00:04:41
So, I took a I'll look at your list and,
00:04:46
and the spreadsheet,
which I get is just so neat.
00:04:48
You kept it?
00:04:48
I bought some cars. Nowhere near as many.
00:04:51
And I've kept.
00:04:52
I have zero spreadsheet
at this point, but,
00:04:55
of the of all these cars that you bought,
I kind of picked out a few that I thought
00:04:59
were particularly cool and interesting
and let me know if you agree with that.
00:05:03
So these are just some of the very cool
cars Quincy has bought.
00:05:06
Subaru, Rex, Audi.
00:05:09
It was the first Rex we tested.
00:05:11
And the first one you bought.
00:05:12
First car you bought the right, Audi
TT convertible, Mazda eight, Saab nine
00:05:17
three vector, Jaguar XE, J8, Honda
00:05:21
S2000, Dodge Viper knuckles for that one.
00:05:24
Okay, smart for two, I said interesting,
I didn't say cool, I said interesting.
00:05:29
They are interesting because you
you mentioned the Viper and the smart.
00:05:33
Yeah. And you know, working for auto test.
00:05:36
We're bringing home cars
all the time. Right.
00:05:38
But not every test
00:05:40
car brings neighbors out of their homes
to look at what I brought home.
00:05:43
The Viper and the smart part.
00:05:46
Okay. That's funny.
00:05:46
We're ones that people is like,
oh my gosh, what is that?
00:05:49
I wanted to look at this.
00:05:50
And, you know, of course is that my car?
00:05:52
So I always welcome my neighbors
to come over and,
00:05:55
and I said, you know,
if there's any car that you're interested
00:05:58
and you see it,
00:05:58
just come knock on my door
and we'll go through it,
00:06:00
we'll go for a ride or whatever, because,
you know, you share them with everybody.
00:06:03
But it's just interesting that you've
you and I both found that there were
00:06:08
a handful of the cars that I bought
that were kind of, kind of curious.
00:06:12
And, and my list is very similar to yours
in the audience.
00:06:14
You know,
we didn't always compare notes to that.
00:06:16
No, no, no.
00:06:17
And the other three that I have on
there are Volkswagen Tuareg TDI,
00:06:21
Maserati Ghibli and BMW 750.
00:06:23
And those are just a few
that stuck out to me.
00:06:26
So and the seven series
was the most expensive car that I bought,
00:06:30
was, 110, and the least expensive car
I bought was the smart car.
00:06:34
Funny.
00:06:34
Okay, so so again, it's sort of it's
sort of weird that it worked that way.
00:06:38
And I did mention
I bought the first that that car tested.
00:06:43
I bought the last Saab.
00:06:45
That car test. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:06:46
And one of the,
one of the funny buying stories was,
00:06:51
the, the, the Dodge Challenger
00:06:54
got a bunch of updates for 2011, and,
I was given the assignment to buy it,
00:06:59
but the way that that the options
and trimline were configured,
00:07:02
we couldn't find one on dealer lots
because that's what we usually do.
00:07:06
Right.
00:07:06
So I had to order it. Okay.
00:07:07
And, and, it was, it was an art.
00:07:11
And I chose, bright red color
with the white art
00:07:15
stripes to make it look like the Starsky
and Hutch and Hutch Ford Torino.
00:07:19
I know you love Starsky and Hutch. Yeah,
that's.
00:07:22
That's kind of red with the white stripes,
I respect that.
00:07:24
Let's do that. And what did folks here
think about that?
00:07:26
I think they picked up on the Starsky
and Hutch, theme.
00:07:30
And also what I bought,
the Ford Mustang was redesigned in 2005,
00:07:35
and when I, when I, when I bought it at,
I had a local dealer.
00:07:40
He told me that it was the first Mustang
GT sold in Connecticut.
00:07:44
I don't know if that's true.
00:07:45
That's what he told me it.
00:07:46
I thought, well,
that was kind of an interesting anecdote.
00:07:49
And I bought the last V6 versions
00:07:53
of the Toyota Camry, the the Nissan Altima
and the Honda Accord.
00:07:57
That's people.
00:07:58
People might realize, oh, yeah,
that that those mainstream
00:08:01
sedans were available with four cylinder
and and V sixes and and.
00:08:05
Yeah. We said goodbye to the V6. Yeah.
00:08:07
And that's you know,
00:08:10
I had I just a few little nuggets
said bits from that, from that spreadsheet
00:08:14
and we'll probably cover some others,
but so I'm glad you got it.
00:08:18
You got, you got a couple laughs.
00:08:20
I got a lot of laughs.
00:08:21
So let's, let's talk about, you know,
because you bought so many cars.
00:08:25
Let's talk about what you've learned
about buying all these cars.
00:08:28
And let's start with
00:08:30
how have things changed
with the way that people buy cars
00:08:33
and you buy cars over the years
since you've been doing this since 2002,
00:08:37
I guess. Yeah.
00:08:38
Well, I know
00:08:39
I no longer send a fax to confirm
the registration details for example.
00:08:44
That's that's how it used to go.
00:08:45
I mean, the the process for me
when I got a car buying assignment is
00:08:50
I would go to the general consumer
00:08:51
facing website,
you know, Honda or Toyota or whatever.
00:08:54
And I would configure the car
the way we wanted to test it.
00:08:58
And I would send the configuration to 3
or 4 dealers in usually in Connecticut.
00:09:04
And then I would wait for the responses,
and usually the manufacturer
00:09:07
would send
some kind of an automated response,
00:09:10
you know, so
and so dealers would be in touch. Yeah.
00:09:12
And what I've learned
was that not all dealers followed up.
00:09:17
So, as, as,
you know, to make the playing field level,
00:09:21
I would ask 2 or 3 different,
you know, like Honda dealers or Chevrolet
00:09:25
or whatever,
00:09:26
you know, do you have this car and,
the dealers that that were persistent,
00:09:30
that followed up over and over, they're
usually the ones I did business with.
00:09:34
Right.
00:09:34
Do you do you think that was because
the ones that didn't follow up,
00:09:38
it was like they either wanted you,
you know, boots on the ground there
00:09:42
or they weren't sure you were serious
00:09:44
about what you were,
you know, buying the car.
00:09:46
I know how do you think that was?
00:09:47
Yeah, I think selling cars can be tough
because you don't know what is a hot lead.
00:09:53
Right.
00:09:53
And when a customer might
just be waiting around time.
00:09:57
If you're a salesperson
and a lot of salespeople make their money
00:10:01
through commissions, and if a salesperson
spends a lot of time with you
00:10:06
and then you walk across the street
and you buy competing model
00:10:09
that that's our salesperson
probably won't get any,
00:10:11
any money for their efforts or just,
you know, kind of kind of a bummer.
00:10:14
But but because they don't know
00:10:17
what lead is good or what's hot,
they need to respond well to all of them.
00:10:22
Right?
00:10:22
And really, when I, when I look back on
on the times buying cars,
00:10:26
most of the dealers that I worked with,
they were honest.
00:10:31
They were hard working.
00:10:33
They weren't every single transaction
wasn't painful.
00:10:37
The majority of that,
I would say I've got plenty of stories
00:10:41
that were just nightmares
that normal people go through.
00:10:44
Right? But honestly,
most of them were pretty good.
00:10:47
And would you say that it's certainly
changed a lot more in terms of their most
00:10:52
dealers are much more open to you
approaching them, with an email or,
00:10:57
you know, you know,
instead of having to call them necessarily
00:11:01
or going to the dealer,
they're much more open
00:11:03
to starting that dialog and haggling
with the price that way rather than
00:11:07
the way you used to do it.
00:11:08
Well, yeah,
they every deal, even with the technology,
00:11:11
even with the internet and email
and cell phones and whatever,
00:11:14
the dealer still wants you
to be in the store, right?
00:11:19
Because that's where your emotions
can get the best of you.
00:11:23
And you see the car. Yeah.
00:11:25
Oh my gosh, that's so awesome.
I really want that.
00:11:27
I love the color blah blah blah.
00:11:29
And, and my approach to buying was
a little bit different than most people
00:11:33
because they would often say, well,
when can you stop by for a test drive?
00:11:37
And of course, we don't need a test drive
because we know we're buying it, right?
00:11:41
Right.
00:11:41
And I would come up with some story like,
oh, I was out
00:11:45
visiting my brother
in California, stopped by a dealer,
00:11:48
and I had a test drive,
so I don't really need one,
00:11:50
which was, you know, sort of a lie,
but it didn't really matter.
00:11:53
The point is, I don't need a test drive.
00:11:55
I only want to come to your store
once. Right?
00:11:58
That's a drop off the check,
sign the paperwork and get the car.
00:12:00
And not all dealers were cool with that.
00:12:02
But my my buying process
is different than regular.
00:12:08
But has that gotten better?
00:12:12
I would say it hasn't changed that much.
00:12:14
Okay.
00:12:15
They still really
want to get you in there.
00:12:17
Yes. Yeah.
00:12:18
The more times you visit the better.
00:12:20
And and that's can also be
sort of a tactic to kind of wear you down.
00:12:25
I still think that dealers have a way
of slowing the process down.
00:12:29
And you maybe you are feeling tired,
or maybe it's been a while
00:12:32
since you had some food.
00:12:34
And and you're,
you're not as on your game.
00:12:38
Maybe you're, you're more vulnerable
to be talked into something.
00:12:40
I'm not saying it happens all the time,
but I think it still does happen.
00:12:44
And and I think you have to be to be,
like, aware of that
00:12:48
when you're, when you're buying a car.
00:12:49
Another thing
that's funny and you'll appreciate this
00:12:51
because we're similar in age.
00:12:52
I know I'm much older but more blind.
00:12:54
They might I mean that's right,
they're both mechanical, like cars.
00:12:57
We have a lot in common.
00:12:58
I don't if you remember, in the 80s,
in the 90s, they said the computer
00:13:03
was going to make a paperless office.
Yeah.
00:13:05
I got to tell you, buying
cars, there's still tons of paper.
00:13:08
Yeah, they print out everything,
and you have to sign it over and over
00:13:12
and over and over. There's.
00:13:13
So that that also didn't change.
00:13:16
In fact, maybe it even got worse
because there's more regulations or more,
00:13:20
more things that more documents
that their lawyers are saying,
00:13:24
oh, make sure they sign this
and this and this and over and over.
00:13:26
So, so that again,
that it hasn't really changed that much.
00:13:29
Yeah.
00:13:30
So tell us what has gotten better
with the car buying experience
00:13:35
and what has gotten worse
with the car buying experience?
00:13:39
There's still
there's still too many games.
00:13:41
I think that consumers have to play buying
a car, dealing with a dealer.
00:13:45
I talked about how how
they kind of wear you down.
00:13:49
And, and
00:13:51
there's
some there seems to be a lot of like,
00:13:55
miscommunication or no communication
between the corporate
00:13:59
consumer facing website and the dealers,
because when I configure the car
00:14:05
and I send it to a few dealers
and the dealer contacts me and they
00:14:09
they start from scratch, it's like,
oh, so you want to buy a Ford Explorer?
00:14:12
Okay.
00:14:13
What trim line,
what what options do you want?
00:14:15
All that the whole configuration
that I did, I sent, they already have.
00:14:19
They should know that.
00:14:20
Yeah, but dealer after I was like, oh,
00:14:22
I didn't, I didn't,
I didn't really know what you wanted.
00:14:24
So that's, that's kind of weird.
00:14:26
And there's,
why have a configurator on a website
00:14:29
if the dealers can't
then take that information
00:14:32
and get a better idea
of what you're looking for?
00:14:33
Because I was always starting
from scratch. Right.
00:14:35
And that was that was always odd to me.
00:14:37
I think also that
00:14:39
the online inventories are only as good
as the person updating it.
00:14:44
Right. And the inventories
have to be constantly updated.
00:14:47
So when a car
00:14:47
sold, you don't want it on your on
your website thinking that it's available.
00:14:51
So it to be on top of that.
00:14:53
Other other websites.
00:14:55
And I hope I'm not to get in trouble
saying this, but you will.
00:14:58
You know, it doesn't matter.
You're leaving anyway. Who cares?
00:15:01
What do you want?
00:15:02
Going to AutoTrader, going to Cars.com,
00:15:05
especially when you're
looking for a new car, will give you
00:15:08
an idea of of of vehicles
that are available in your inventory.
00:15:12
You could do a search of, you know, the
within 50 miles or whatever, right.
00:15:16
Or 100 miles
if you want to get get more ambitious.
00:15:18
And and so that also give you an idea of,
of whether the cars in stock
00:15:23
or the cars in transit.
00:15:24
And oftentimes you can you can get a hint
because like an auto trader
00:15:28
might just have a stock photo
that the manufacturer puts out, right.
00:15:32
What always caught
my eye is a picture of the real car
00:15:36
where you,
you know, clearly on the dealer.
00:15:37
Yeah,
you can see the trees in the background
00:15:39
and you can tell that they just cleared
the lot from snow and stuff like that.
00:15:43
So it's a real, a real
like onsite car and, and that would,
00:15:48
that would give you an idea
what it looks like.
00:15:50
That one's available.
00:15:50
So that kind of might save you
a little bit of time.
00:15:53
Okay.
00:15:54
So, one of the toughest things
about buying a car
00:15:58
is, you think you're all set?
00:16:00
You've agreed on the deal.
00:16:02
You're agreed when you're picking it up,
you go in and you think everything's done.
00:16:06
I'm just dropping off this jack
or whatever, and I'm out of there, right?
00:16:10
Especially in our case, we are actually
just you know, pain with a check.
00:16:14
And, so there's no financing.
00:16:16
And yet, for some reason,
00:16:17
you still always have to go to the finance
and insurance, person or fi person.
00:16:22
And do you have any tips
for dealing with that?
00:16:27
Because that's that really that can be
brutal.
00:16:30
Can be brutal.
00:16:30
Any tips for us?
00:16:31
And and how we can deal with that better?
00:16:34
The first tip is don't fall in love.
00:16:38
And I don't mean with the F
and I personally.
00:16:40
Okay.
00:16:40
Because I know that did happen to me.
00:16:42
Was the guy the car? Yeah.
00:16:44
One of the reasons
that they want to get you in the store
00:16:48
is you might come in thinking,
I'm going to buy a Mazda three, okay?
00:16:53
Because it's sensible and it's affordable.
00:16:56
But you walk into the store
and there's a bright red Miata
00:17:00
on the showroom floor, and you go,
oh, I've always wanted one of those.
00:17:05
Oh, it's the right color.
00:17:06
And and then all of a sudden you're,
you're sensing you sensibilities.
00:17:10
You're paying your checkbook.
00:17:13
They just go right out the window and, and
and so you can't allow yourself
00:17:18
to kind of fall in love with the car
and make an impulsive decision by
00:17:21
more than you can afford.
00:17:24
But that's that's what the dealer's hoping
you'll do, right?
00:17:27
And another thing you don't want to say
to the salesperson and I person,
00:17:30
whatever I can afford X number of dollars
a month.
00:17:33
That's that is always that that will just,
bring out their, their fangs
00:17:38
because they'll find a way
to get you into that car for whatever
00:17:42
crazy number that you put out.
00:17:44
Of course, you might be signing up
00:17:45
for like a seven year car
loan, an eight year car loan.
00:17:50
Right.
00:17:50
And what we've found over the years
is that people get underwater
00:17:54
in their loans,
so they owe more than the car is worth.
00:17:57
Right. And you don't want to do that.
00:17:59
Right?
00:17:59
So, so definitely kind of
keep your emotions
00:18:04
keep keep that
hold them close to your to your chest.
00:18:07
And don't don't allow
that the love of your car to come out.
00:18:10
Which is sad because you and I love cars.
00:18:12
So so you have to kind of be a little
a little chilly about it.
00:18:16
And for the most part,
don't let the F and I person talk you into
00:18:20
any extra cost things that you hadn't
initially agreed to, right?
00:18:25
Oh yeah, whether it's an extended warranty
or anything like that.
00:18:28
Typically we recommend against doing that.
00:18:30
Correct. 100%.
00:18:31
In Connecticut
they have what's called Vin etching.
00:18:37
Right.
00:18:37
And that's where they take your car's
vehicle identification number
00:18:41
and they etch it into various
parts of the body or glass or whatever.
00:18:44
Connecticut laws
are that dealers have to offer it.
00:18:49
You don't have to pay for it,
though, right.
00:18:52
And some dealers,
you'll see that the purchase order
00:18:56
and it has handwritten things in it
or whatnot, but there's
00:19:00
a preprinted section of some purchase
orders, say Vin etching, $250.
00:19:05
Right.
00:19:05
And you think, oh, gosh,
that's another fee that I have to pay.
00:19:09
Absolutely not.
00:19:10
You take a pen, you just cross it out.
00:19:12
So even though they've already done
the Vin
00:19:13
etching, it's not
you don't have to pay for that.
00:19:16
Absolutely.
00:19:17
In they say they said,
00:19:18
well, we've already we've already paid
somebody to put that in.
00:19:21
And I'm like, well that's your problem
because I'm not I didn't ask for it.
00:19:25
I'm not paying for it.
00:19:26
And it's it is one of many sources
of profit for the dealers.
00:19:31
Dealers
have to make money right? Absolutely.
00:19:34
But all the extras that they push,
the paint sealant, the fabric protection,
00:19:38
extra rust proofing, the van, etching,
all that stuff that they they,
00:19:42
they spend almost no money applying it
and they charge a ton.
00:19:46
Right.
00:19:47
So you should say
no to all of these things.
00:19:50
And if you're getting pressured
because they, they
00:19:54
this is another person making commission
probably trying to sell you this stuff.
00:19:59
You, you get up and you walk away.
00:20:03
And, when we get to some of my
00:20:06
more harrowing stories,
I'll tell you some details about that.
00:20:09
But but all you need to know
is that in today's automotive
00:20:13
consumer world,
there are so many good vehicles out there.
00:20:17
So if you have your heart
set on a Toyota Camry,
00:20:21
but you're getting all kinds of grief
from the dealer, you're getting a hard
00:20:23
sell from the funny guy at the toy dealer.
00:20:26
You just you get up, get up.
00:20:28
I'm going to go buy a Honda Accord.
00:20:29
Yeah,
because the accord is still a great car.
00:20:31
Yeah. And you have choices. So.
00:20:34
So use your feet
00:20:37
to make a statement by by walking out.
00:20:39
Right.
00:20:40
So actually let's, let's talk about
those bad experiences and good experiences
00:20:44
and let's let's go negative first
so we can end on a positive note.
00:20:47
Tell us about some of your absolute
worst experiences
00:20:51
you've had at the dealers buying
all these cars for Consumer Reports.
00:20:54
And I have a ton of them.
00:20:55
And this is when super producer
Dave Abrams starts glazing over.
00:20:58
And we'll try to keep everyone awake.
00:21:00
But anyway,
so that that story that I just mentioned,
00:21:04
I was, I was buying,
an infinity G35, right.
00:21:08
And the process that I would go through
every time we would buy
00:21:11
a car was I would be anonymous
up to the day of delivery.
00:21:15
So I used a non Consumer Reports email,
and my own cell phone or whatever
00:21:20
the morning that we're going to take
delivery, I would call my salesperson.
00:21:23
I'd say
by the way I work for Consumer Reports.
00:21:26
This is going to be a test car
and it's not going to be registered to me.
00:21:30
We're nonprofit organization
and yada, yada, yada.
00:21:33
So they'd have to change the paperwork,
but I'd give them hours,
00:21:36
lead time so they could fix it.
00:21:38
So I go into the Infiniti dealer
and they know I'm from Consumer Reports,
00:21:43
and I say to my salesperson,
as I'm waiting to do the papers,
00:21:46
I said, please
don't put me in front of the F.
00:21:48
And I got to do the hard sell, right?
00:21:50
Five minutes later, I'm in there,
00:21:52
I'm in his office, and he's like, yeah,
you gotta pay sale it.
00:21:56
Yeah, you
I everybody gets fabric production.
00:21:59
And I just looked at him, I was like,
oh my gosh, is this really happening?
00:22:02
And he kept it up right.
00:22:04
And I literally I stood up,
I walked out of his office.
00:22:07
I got to the door before the general
manager came rushing over and grab me.
00:22:11
He's like, he's like, it's like,
wait, what? Where are you going?
00:22:13
It's like I say, I specifically said,
please don't make me do this right.
00:22:18
And you did it
anyway, I looked at the General Motors and
00:22:21
this is why people hate buying cars.
00:22:24
That's why they dread it.
00:22:25
Okay? He's like,
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
00:22:28
I'm sorry for whatever I did turn right.
00:22:30
I did finish the deal
because we needed the test car. Right.
00:22:33
But but it's like car
dealers can complain that they
00:22:37
they get all kinds of grief,
but they're their own worst enemy, right?
00:22:41
Because they do these things now.
00:22:43
It didn't happen every time.
00:22:44
Thank you.
But what was so weird about that story?
00:22:47
Well, they already knew
I was from Consumer Reports, right?
00:22:49
Why would you do that?
00:22:50
To take a chance on and potentially not.
00:22:53
Not that we would do it,
but you're taking a chance
00:22:55
and you could get some bad press
out of that, right?
00:22:57
We could we might write a story
about how bad that experience was
00:23:00
and what they tried to do to you.
00:23:01
And, you know, listen, I'm not going to
00:23:02
I'm going to name the dealership
because that wouldn't be cool.
00:23:05
But but, I'm I'm sure it's not I'm
not the only customer that it happened to.
00:23:11
And when when I tell the salespeople,
like the morning of the delivery
00:23:14
that I'm from Consumer Reports,
00:23:15
most are pretty cool with, it's like,
oh, oh, that's interesting.
00:23:18
Right.
00:23:19
Other a few times they just,
they suddenly stiffen up like,
00:23:22
oh my gosh, we're going to get judged.
We're going to be in trouble.
00:23:25
I said, no, we're not rating the dealer.
00:23:27
We're not reading you. Right.
00:23:29
We just want to get the car
and we want it to be smooth
00:23:31
and blah, blah, blah.
00:23:32
So, so that was also,
you know, a collective, relief
00:23:36
when I tried to say, don't.
00:23:38
We're from Consumer Reports.
00:23:39
We're not out to get you or anything.
00:23:42
Right.
00:23:42
A lot of times that,
that people have trouble
00:23:46
obviously buying cars
is dealing with the price, right?
00:23:49
Right.
00:23:49
That's
always trying to negotiate the price.
00:23:52
Trying to negotiate. Yeah.
00:23:53
I have a salesperson, for I think it was
a, a Lincoln Navigator that was buying,
00:23:59
he said said we have very aggressive
pricing, but he wouldn't give me the
00:24:02
number between their price,
00:24:05
their,
their dealer cost and the sticker price,
00:24:07
because that's usually, you know,
if you're looking for a negotiation
00:24:09
tip, that's usually what I would do.
00:24:11
It's like, we've got your sticker price
and you've got your cost.
00:24:13
What's the number in between? Right.
00:24:15
And if they get the number in between,
you know, that's we can spend,
00:24:20
you know, less than five minutes
doing everybody wins.
00:24:22
So so the dealer was not giving me
the actual price of the car.
00:24:27
And, a day later,
a different salesperson texted me
00:24:31
a video of them walking around the car
and talking about how awesome it was.
00:24:35
But again, there was no price.
00:24:38
And so the I followed up, the salesperson
said, well, we gave you the
00:24:41
the owner's cell phone number
in hopes that you would contact him.
00:24:45
So so I wrote back, like,
why do I have to do the legwork?
00:24:47
Why do I have to contact the owner
to get the price of the car?
00:24:50
And, and finally
the owner called me and left a message.
00:24:54
And when I called it back,
00:24:56
he said the price it was $1 off
sticker, which seemed fine,
00:24:59
but then I hung up the phone with him
and I wanted the dealer website,
00:25:03
and it was $1 off of the sticker price
on their website.
00:25:09
So were they going to take that extra
700 bucks and hope I wouldn't notice?
00:25:12
Apparently.
00:25:13
So so I thought that was
that was the same.
00:25:15
But but it took
it took four people to get involved
00:25:18
with this transaction
just to get the price of the car right.
00:25:21
It's crazy.
00:25:22
That was that was that was nuts.
00:25:24
I picked up cars that had no gas in them.
00:25:27
Really? I've.
00:25:29
I've picked up cars that were dirty.
00:25:31
I have picked up cars where the radio
was blasting when I turned it on.
00:25:35
Which I know
00:25:38
is something
you are very careful about here.
00:25:40
With your test cars.
00:25:41
You always turn the volume
all the way down.
00:25:43
Am I right about that? Absolutely. Okay.
00:25:45
Because we're sharing the car
and let's not, you know, impose.
00:25:49
That's a little Quincy ism.
00:25:50
Our musical tastes on people also,
or volume levels.
00:25:53
Another experience.
00:25:55
The dealer tried adding a $93 prep fee,
00:26:00
along with the $599 dealer
conveyance fee.
00:26:04
They overcharged the registration fee
and lost the original sticker.
00:26:08
Sticker?
00:26:08
The window sticker.
00:26:09
Oh, all in one transaction. Interesting.
00:26:12
Like, wow.
00:26:13
That's like, you know, hitting the Triple
Crown of baseball.
00:26:17
I mean, it was it was nuts.
00:26:19
Let's see, another time.
00:26:22
So you have an appointment
to take delivery of the cars, like,
00:26:24
show up at 3:00 on Tuesday. Great.
00:26:27
Somebody from the from consumer Reports
gives me a ride to the dealer,
00:26:30
and, I show up on time
00:26:33
and a bunch of times, like, people say,
oh, they're we're running behind.
00:26:38
There might be a 90 minute delay. Whoa.
00:26:40
And I'm thinking,
we have these things called cell phones.
00:26:43
You could have called me, right?
And I wouldn't have.
00:26:45
So a lot of times I would sit, I would go
to the dealer on the appointment time
00:26:50
and I'd wait. Yeah. Which is unfortunate.
00:26:52
Yeah. No,
they're just wasting your time. Yeah.
00:26:54
Absolutely. Let's see what what else?
00:26:57
Oh, okay. One final horror story.
00:27:00
Buying cars during Covid was tough.
00:27:02
Yeah, right.
00:27:03
So inventory is really low.
00:27:06
People are still need to buy cars
even with Covid.
00:27:09
Right.
00:27:10
So the dealers
were really taking advantage
00:27:13
and and marking up the price.
00:27:15
I mean I always thought it was a win
when I could buy a car
00:27:18
for Consumer Reports
somewhere under the sticker price.
00:27:21
So now we're dealing with with dealers
that are saying
00:27:23
it's going to be,
you know, 5000 above or something.
00:27:26
So it was like, how much little
can we get above sticker price?
00:27:30
So I was asked to buy a Lexus LX 600
during this time.
00:27:35
And the dealers were quoting me up.
00:27:37
Mark markups between
25 and $45 over sticker price.
00:27:43
Oh my gosh.
00:27:45
Needless to
00:27:46
say, we did not buy one of those tests,
right?
00:27:49
Right. Because that was insane.
Yeah, yeah.
00:27:52
So I, I know that
00:27:56
that I'm trying to, to be selective
in, in not telling you every single story,
00:28:00
but, but there are a lot of them out there
00:28:02
beginning to reiterate, most of the car
buying was, was really smooth.
00:28:05
So let's talk about those.
00:28:06
So let's talk about some of your absolute
best smoothest easiest
00:28:10
I mean did you ever just walk in
00:28:12
and you were out of there
in like ten minutes 100% really.
00:28:14
Oh tell us some of those best ones.
00:28:16
So if if the dealer would have
all of our paperwork ahead of time.
00:28:21
So it's registered consumer Reports.
00:28:24
Here's our non profit status.
00:28:26
We, we we know what what
how much to bring on the check.
00:28:30
And you get there
and the paperwork is all ready to go.
00:28:33
You just sign sign, sign, get the keys.
00:28:35
We're out. Yeah.
00:28:36
Other times I would get there
and they hadn't even started yet. So.
00:28:40
So, the the better experiences were,
00:28:44
I was buying a Lexus NX
that had change in the coin.
00:28:48
The coin holder, like a dime, a nickel
00:28:51
and a quarter, and all the heads were
in this straight line.
00:28:55
Oh, wow.
00:28:55
It was like this really interesting
attention to detail.
00:28:59
You know, coin holders now as much.
00:29:01
And you were like,
oh my gosh, look at that. That's so fun.
00:29:03
So you made money on the do I?
00:29:04
Yeah, I probably had to turn it into
to Mary Reed, our business manager.
00:29:09
I bought an Audi TT around the winter
holidays.
00:29:12
Again.
00:29:13
They didn't know
it was for Consumer Reports.
00:29:14
And and the salesperson, and I
00:29:18
and I, I played it up
because I was going to try to make small.
00:29:21
I was like, oh, is this car for yourself?
00:29:23
And I said, oh, it's,
it's a holiday present for my wife.
00:29:26
And they offered to put a big red bow on,
which was nice.
00:29:29
Yeah,
of course I didn't take them up on it
00:29:31
because that not my car. Right.
I would have been funny.
00:29:34
I bought a Cadillac CTS in 2002,
00:29:38
and my salesperson
had worked at the dealer since the 1970s.
00:29:42
Wow. So he saw Cadillac
during some tough times.
00:29:47
You remember the
the Cadillac Cimarron? Yes.
00:29:50
Based on the,
00:29:52
the,
00:29:57
I think my grandparents had.
00:29:58
I forgot what that car was a Chevrolet
Cavalier.
00:30:00
Yeah. Okay. Cavalier. Okay. Yeah.
00:30:02
So Cadillac was selling
basically a gussied up Cavalier, right.
00:30:07
Do you remember the modular displacement
00:30:10
V8, four, six, four engines?
00:30:13
Yeah.
00:30:13
Okay, so that was a reliability disaster.
00:30:17
Yeah. The technology was was not up to.
00:30:20
And it was
it almost like sunk the whole division.
00:30:23
So so this salesperson had to go through
those those dark days of Sally Cadillac.
00:30:28
Right. He kept with it.
00:30:30
But he, you know, he, he, he really liked
the brand the dealership treated him.
00:30:34
Well,
he made enough money to to keep it going.
00:30:37
But most salespeople don't last that
long at dealers.
00:30:41
In fact, when I'm sitting across a desk
from somebody
00:30:43
buying a car, I'll often say,
how long have you worked here?
00:30:46
Yeah, and more often than not,
that answers, you know, six months, right.
00:30:50
A year salespeople usually will go to
whatever is hot,
00:30:53
you know, whatever, whatever brand is hot,
whatever model is hot.
00:30:56
And they just
they might flip from dealer to dealer.
00:30:58
And it's a tough job.
It's it's a really tough industry.
00:31:00
I have no empathy for it. Yeah.
00:31:02
But that's awesome that that guy
had done it for all those decades.
00:31:05
Yeah.
00:31:05
And and it's been through the good
in the bad times.
00:31:08
It's rare to find somebody
that last that long.
00:31:11
Yeah.
00:31:11
That, like the,
the final real kind of good story
00:31:15
was when I bought the, the Dodge Viper.
00:31:18
It's very exciting. Yeah.
00:31:20
The delivery was on a Saturday.
It's really.
00:31:22
So my wife's like.
00:31:24
Yeah, I'll take you and we'll
bring the we'll bring the.
00:31:26
Both of my boys were younger,
you know, whatever.
00:31:28
And and so I had all the,
all the paperwork done and checking
00:31:31
everything and,
and we showed up at the dealer
00:31:34
and after we got the keys
and signed all the paperwork
00:31:38
that the car was on the floor. Yeah.
00:31:40
And the whole dealership crew
was like, lining around it
00:31:45
because Vipers were not something
you sold every day.
00:31:48
Right. And, let me guess.
00:31:50
And and they opened the doors and you did
a giant burnout out of the dealership.
00:31:55
Yeah, that would have been actually
kind of funny, but, no, I didn't do that.
00:31:59
But they did.
00:32:00
They did open the doors in my my
00:32:03
my my oldest son,
who was probably like 8 or 9 back then.
00:32:07
He wanted to ride home in The Viper.
00:32:08
Yeah.
00:32:09
And, I think I think the Viper had
a, had a either a sensor so it,
00:32:14
it knew that he was light enough
or there's,
00:32:16
it was actually a button
probably that you could twist
00:32:18
to turn off the front airbag.
So it was safe. Right.
00:32:21
But but to, to have the whole,
00:32:24
the whole dealer like grinding the car
and stuff fired up and.
00:32:27
Yeah, how loud they are. Lights
my son is just great.
00:32:30
That's awesome.
00:32:30
From ear to ear driving out
and this bright blue
00:32:34
viper with white stripes,
going down, going down the middle.
00:32:39
It was that was
that was definitely one of my what?
00:32:42
And I never thought in a million years
Consumer Reports would test a Dodge Viper.
00:32:47
Right.
00:32:47
We test that Maserati Ghibli, a maserati?
00:32:50
Yeah.
00:32:51
Are you kidding me?
00:32:52
I don't know, it's it's it's kind of.
00:32:55
It's kind of fun
because you and I grew up,
00:32:57
you know, reading
all the enthusiast magazines and see,
00:33:00
our didn't have a, like, a history
of doing crazy stuff like that.
00:33:04
Right.
00:33:04
And and I think the, you know, the,
the management that, that they saw,
00:33:11
you know,
00:33:11
the collective wisdom of let's, let's,
let's also buy and test some really fun.
00:33:16
Right.
00:33:17
Silly enthusiast cars
because we love cars.
00:33:19
And let's tell our audience
how much we love cars, right.
00:33:22
So that's some good stuff. Quince.
00:33:24
So since you're retiring,
no more different test car overnight.
00:33:30
You actually have to buy your own car
for the first time in a long time.
00:33:34
So what? Where are you with that?
What are you.
00:33:36
What are you thinking about buying? Like,
what's on the list?
00:33:39
I'm Stan, how can I help you?
00:33:41
He's been bothering us, folks for months,
00:33:44
asking everyone what he should buy, and,
he always turns us down.
00:33:49
Whatever we come up with is not good
enough.
00:33:51
It's not the exact perfect car.
00:33:52
Okay, so what's on the list?
Where are we? We're going to have.
00:33:55
We're going to speak truth here.
00:33:57
Everyone is asking me what I'm buying,
okay?
00:33:59
I'm suffering from information overload.
00:34:02
I'm suffering from being surrounded
by people that are so smart
00:34:07
where I, you know, I'm surrounded by
00:34:10
some of the smartest minds
in the automotive world.
00:34:13
So it's it's it's not an easy decision.
00:34:17
And we had a great podcast
talking about the Volkswagen
00:34:21
Jetta Gli manual versus the DSG.
00:34:25
And so and that was one of my suggestions,
I have to say that
00:34:28
it's, it's on my short list.
00:34:29
I do like the Gli. Yeah.
00:34:32
I'm also thinking about fuel economy.
00:34:35
Right.
00:34:36
And boring I know, I know, it's but
you and my oldest son feel the same way.
00:34:41
Yeah, but it's like one of the things
I want to do when I stop working
00:34:46
full time is I want to go on an extensive
road trip, on a trip around the country
00:34:50
I want to catch up with, with friends
that I've known either from high school,
00:34:54
college in,
you know, in the auto industry or whatever
00:34:57
I want to go to, like, a
as many baseball stadiums as I can.
00:35:01
And what I've learned in 25 years
of driving cars
00:35:04
is the things that are important to me
on a long road trip.
00:35:08
Right. And that's good seats. Yep.
00:35:10
Pretty quiet interior, a comfortable ride,
00:35:13
a good sound system
and just a robust cruising range.
00:35:19
And, that's one of the things
that we had to do during the during Covid.
00:35:23
We weren't coming in and out to
to the track all the time.
00:35:26
People weren't supposed to go anywhere.
00:35:27
People didn't drive as much. Right.
00:35:29
And and just to give our audience
a protocol,
00:35:32
we'd have to put about 2000 miles on a car
before we test it.
00:35:35
Right.
00:35:36
And they weren't.
00:35:37
The new test cars
weren't being driven as much.
00:35:39
So I would take a day and just drive,
drive up into New Hampshire,
00:35:43
drive it to Vermont, Maine,
New York, Pennsylvania.
00:35:47
I would I would drive for eight, ten,
11 hours to put miles on the car.
00:35:52
So I really got an idea
of what was important to me.
00:35:55
Right.
00:35:55
And, and so,
you know, with that in mind, a sports
00:36:00
car probably isn't high on my comfort
list.
00:36:03
Maybe down the road in retirement, but
not for this initially, this road trip.
00:36:08
Do you want to do spend a lot of time,
possibly a couple months on the road,
00:36:11
right? Is that what we're thinking?
00:36:12
Yeah, a couple of years ago,
we tested that that yellow Mustang GT.
00:36:16
Yeah.
00:36:17
And I took it up to Maine
and it loved enjoy it.
00:36:20
It's actually way more comfortable
than you think.
00:36:22
Really was surprising.
00:36:23
Yeah, yeah.
00:36:24
But fuel economy isn't awesome. No.
00:36:26
And seeing that as I have
friends in in Minnesota,
00:36:31
Montana, Utah, I don't want to be.
00:36:34
I caught it like a snowstorm.
00:36:36
Fair enough.
00:36:36
Yeah, yeah.
00:36:37
Driving a rear wheel
drive car with performance tires.
00:36:40
So I'm, I'm leaning heavily toward,
like a hybrid SUV.
00:36:45
Yeah.
00:36:46
And, one of the ones that I really like
is the Hyundai Santa Fe hybrid. Yep.
00:36:50
I have not signed any paperwork yet,
but time is.
00:36:54
Time is of the essence.
So I really got to get moving on that.
00:36:59
Well, we'll see.
00:36:59
I mean, if only super producer Dave Abrams
had a at a video question of somebody
00:37:04
that had the same kind of dilemma,
you know, was like, oh my gosh, I'm
00:37:08
going to get a car.
00:37:09
And what do you think I should get?
00:37:11
If only if only that question existed.
00:37:13
Hey, talking cars.
00:37:14
This is Mike from Marlboro, Connecticut.
00:37:16
I'm thinking about winding down my work
life, and I need to get a new car.
00:37:21
Now, what's I'm most interested in is good
fuel economy, comfortable
00:37:25
seats, a decent sound system,
and a robust cruising range.
00:37:29
And I'm wondering what you guys think.
00:37:31
Should it be a fuel efficient hybrid SUV,
00:37:34
a sedan, I don't know, crazy sports car?
00:37:37
Let me know.
00:37:37
Thanks so much and keep on talking cars.
00:37:40
So, let's let's talk about,
I mean, that's the car buying stuff,
00:37:45
but I want to talk about now
you the person like how
00:37:49
how did this is such a unique industry,
such unique field that we're in.
00:37:53
And I know you and I have talked about
this, and we're both feel incredibly lucky
00:37:57
that we were able to. We did,
00:38:00
we. Oh my God.
00:38:02
Ha ha ha ha ha. What is she doing here?
00:38:05
She doing here?
00:38:06
This is what you call
this is a podcast takeover.
00:38:11
It's like a bar.
Am I getting kicked to the curb?
00:38:14
This is. This is.
00:38:15
Oh. Hey, man.
00:38:16
Oh, not. Ha!
00:38:19
Super producer Dave Abrams.
00:38:20
You are a piece of work, man.
00:38:23
Oh, hello. Talking cars, friends.
00:38:25
And for those who can't see me,
it's Jennifer, stockbroker here.
00:38:29
We know from your race.
00:38:31
They all know from your voice.
00:38:32
I don't know if those things on those
00:38:33
who haven't watched in the past
and may not have seen me.
00:38:37
It's a return engagement.
00:38:39
How are you doing? Did you know?
00:38:42
Oh, yeah.
00:38:43
Let's see. Hi.
00:38:44
And for those of you who don't know,
00:38:45
when I left in January or December,
Mike did a final wrap up.
00:38:49
I did Mike Quincy. Yeah.
00:38:51
Mike Quincy did a podcast takeover.
00:38:53
So back at you, Mike Quincy.
00:38:56
Oh, man.
00:38:56
So I have a congratulations.
00:38:59
Thank you. Congratulations. Not you came.
00:39:01
You paved the way in more than one way.
00:39:03
And I was looking
for, words to describe Michael Quincy.
00:39:07
And the best one I came up with
was stalwart.
00:39:11
Stalwart.
00:39:12
And I looked up.
00:39:13
Producer Dave Abrams
said. Exhausting. Yeah.
00:39:15
He just said about
00:39:18
what was the
00:39:18
working title of the podcast
originally written, good riddance.
00:39:21
Oh my God, no, he's not always
the nicest person to us.
00:39:26
I thought it was.
00:39:27
I thought it was really funny,
but stalwart was stalwart and long serving
00:39:32
and unshakable, dependability unshakable.
00:39:36
And for those of you who don't know, he's
not only super dependable,
00:39:40
he's the guy who says, can I help you?
00:39:43
That's true. Do you need anything?
00:39:45
And probably to your own detriment,
we use it all the time.
00:39:49
We use it all the time.
00:39:51
It made the days go by very, very fast.
00:39:55
Well, you kept it.
00:39:56
You made yourself busier.
00:39:57
Then you probably had to be.
00:39:59
Not. I'm not good at saying no.
00:40:00
No, that's not good at saying no
to to more work.
00:40:03
That's smart, I know.
00:40:05
So you asked me some wrap up questions
when I was here.
00:40:09
What do you what are you most proud of?
00:40:11
What do you leave a process thing?
00:40:14
I'm proud of being part of a collective.
00:40:18
The people here.
00:40:19
I was just telling Monty
those are the people here are just there.
00:40:25
They're so smart.
00:40:27
I mean, the minds that that we work with
from the engineers
00:40:32
to the statisticians, the people crunching
data, the facilities, people
00:40:38
that take care of these grounds,
they're just the best of the best.
00:40:42
The video guys,
I joke with them all the time.
00:40:45
I give them all nicknames. It's
very well deserved.
00:40:48
But they're they're awesome.
00:40:50
Yeah. They're creative.
00:40:51
So, I thought,
I guess I'm, I'm proud of that.
00:40:56
I was,
00:40:58
I guess I made the cut.
00:40:59
I somehow convinced the powers that be
00:41:02
to keep me around because I never,
I never thought I was.
00:41:06
I never thought I'm. I'm
not as good as these people.
00:41:08
Oh, you know,
you were a part of something.
00:41:12
I, I, I loved being up.
00:41:14
I didn't want to be like the machine
that drove everything.
00:41:18
I just wanted to be a part of it, and
and just just
00:41:21
just one of several that that that made it
go forward.
00:41:25
And I'm proud that
that we really, genuinely, honestly
00:41:30
try to help people make good decisions.
00:41:33
And, whether it's you're,
you're focusing on reliability,
00:41:37
safety, fuel economy or you like the car,
the way the car looks or feels, the, the,
00:41:43
the intangibles that you and I feel
so strongly about, why we love cars. So.
00:41:50
So how can we help people
figure out what to buy?
00:41:52
And I think, I think I think we did
I think we've done a pretty good job.
00:41:55
I feel like you.
00:41:57
That means more to you
than just about anybody I know here.
00:42:00
Like in terms of how important it is
to you, like, it's not just a job for you,
00:42:04
is what I see.
00:42:05
In working with you every day, it's
that you so believe
00:42:09
in the cause of delivering unbiased,
00:42:12
road tests
and testing on all these vehicles.
00:42:16
Without you know, any,
advertising from any automakers.
00:42:20
You're just.
00:42:21
This is you believe in.
00:42:22
We're telling it how it is
and trying to help consumers, buyers
00:42:27
be able to make those good decisions
on our based on our unbiased testing.
00:42:30
I feel like you really believe in that.
00:42:33
Like it's part of who you are. Thank you.
00:42:36
You and I grew up reading
00:42:39
every car magazine and loving them,
and some were better than others.
00:42:42
Yeah.
00:42:43
One of the things
00:42:44
that Consumer Reports will do is tell you
what's what's not so good about a car.
00:42:48
It's like if you ever read,
00:42:51
you know, restaurant reviews or movie
reviews and the reviewer loves everything.
00:42:55
Yeah, it's the great everything's
00:42:58
there's, there's there's nothing
there's there's no substance there.
00:43:01
Yeah.
00:43:01
So, so I thought we always gave substance
because we would talk
00:43:05
about what the car didn't do.
00:43:07
Even cars that we loved that scored well.
00:43:10
They have flaws in them.
00:43:11
And we're going to
we're going to talk about it.
00:43:13
So and not every writer will do that.
Yeah.
00:43:16
And I think that's where this podcast,
00:43:18
the, the the intangibles is
where the podcast plays.
00:43:22
Because there's going to be a rating.
There's going to be a score.
00:43:24
That is all those hard facts
and hard test data.
00:43:27
But we can get here and say,
I just don't like it.
00:43:30
You know, personal opinion or that rather
than just what someone's going
00:43:34
to relate to each of us, of what we like,
if we sit around the table and
00:43:38
and just say, yeah, yeah,
this one didn't do this for me, right?
00:43:41
And that's okay.
00:43:42
Next to somebody is like,
oh, this was the best car ever.
00:43:44
Yeah. And and I think that's but that's,
00:43:49
that's how I think
00:43:49
CR has evolved
instead of just the car is this.
00:43:53
And there was just
a kind of a cold rating.
00:43:55
Now you're getting the, the human part
of it, the warm and fuzzy part.
00:44:00
And, and because,
because cars are emotional for people.
00:44:04
Some people make decisions just the way
the car style, just the way it looks.
00:44:09
It's an identity.
00:44:09
And it isn't just an appliance.
00:44:13
And I think Consumer Reports
has suffered for, for decades.
00:44:16
All you do is
you're just appliance people.
00:44:19
And and the podcast thinks
that's how people thought, yeah, yeah.
00:44:22
And ended up in the podcast
and how our writing has evolved is showing
00:44:28
the that we're we're all hot
and passionate about these things.
00:44:32
Yeah.
00:44:32
And and as, as, as consumers are.
00:44:36
And you've already conveyed,
I think to Mike, your great advice for
00:44:41
what to buy, how to buy it. Oh, yeah.
00:44:43
We went through all that long before you
got here, blah, blah, change of the curb.
00:44:47
I feel like, yeah,
it feels like a Seinfeld episode.
00:44:50
Like when remember when Kramer like,
put the all Merv Griffin
00:44:53
set into his apartment
and he'd have, like, Jerry and Elaine over
00:44:56
and then the interviewing George shows up
and he's like, oh, it's our good friend
00:45:00
George Costanza.
And then he's down like everyone down.
00:45:02
That's what just happened to me.
00:45:03
What they do, what we have to get Jen up
to speed as usual.
00:45:06
Right? Right. As usual.
00:45:08
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:45:09
So I know I miss it already, but
everybody's here is going to miss the bad.
00:45:13
That looks so bad.
00:45:15
So bad.
00:45:15
They're good listeners.
00:45:17
You may be missing the bad dad jokes.
00:45:19
The nicknames Anatoly the Great.
00:45:22
Oh, super producer
Dave Abraham, 100% Andrew.
00:45:25
I still pay to play hockey, but at least
because there's many, many more
00:45:29
young kids are either in your stalwart
00:45:33
niceness that can't be
or were not that nice to that.
00:45:37
You say it. It's a word.
00:45:38
Monty and I work with words like,
what's my Quincy gonna miss?
00:45:41
Other than the class,
as you said, I'm going to miss
00:45:44
all you you lunatics that I work with you.
00:45:47
Yeah.
00:45:47
I, I am where we
00:45:51
how we operate here is we laugh every day.
00:45:55
We do.
00:45:56
We really. Hilarity ensues.
00:45:58
That's what he and I say a lot.
00:46:00
I mean,
whether it's joking with with Monty,
00:46:03
this is the adage,
if you don't laugh, you cry. Yeah.
00:46:05
It's it's it's not.
00:46:07
Everybody gets to have fun at work
through and
00:46:11
and listen every day wasn't fun here,
but the vast majority of fun.
00:46:16
Yeah.
00:46:17
That's the, the
the times that I could look forward to.
00:46:20
Super producer Dave Abrams
coming in and busting my chops.
00:46:24
It just again, it made me laugh. Right?
00:46:26
And and we still got a lot of work done.
00:46:30
So, so that, you know, being
00:46:33
being part of the team,
I this that. Yeah.
00:46:36
Driving different cars
every night. Oh, I miss that.
00:46:39
I when you're, when you're, when you're,
when you're planning a vacation.
00:46:42
Right.
00:46:42
And you're going to be on the road and
you look at which vehicles are available.
00:46:45
Can I find that out?
00:46:47
And, you know, I'm, I'm carrying
three people.
00:46:49
I gotta get enough stuff for that,
or it's just a date night with my wife,
00:46:53
and we've got a convertible,
and I want to sign that one out.
00:46:56
Yeah. We're good. So.
So that that's that's.
00:46:58
Those are fun time.
00:46:58
That's a pretty cool
part of working here. Absolutely.
00:47:01
And and just the theme of the show was,
00:47:06
was what I've learned buying 171 cars.
00:47:09
I still find new cars exciting.
00:47:12
Yeah.
00:47:13
That's why it hurts me when the,
00:47:16
the vast majority of the public
would rather have root canal
00:47:20
than go to the car dealers,
so car buying should be exciting.
00:47:24
I remember the first car
I bought for myself.
00:47:26
It was a 1987 Honda Civic Si.
00:47:29
I didn't get air conditioning
because it was a dealer install option.
00:47:32
I didn't have any money.
00:47:33
I didn't get a radio
because I was going to put one for myself
00:47:36
when I was saying what I want,
right, right, right.
00:47:39
Because that's what you and I do all day,
loudly, cause the windows were down.
00:47:42
You would oh, I was, I said, not
my kids are like, okay, enough.
00:47:46
But when I, when I signed the papers
00:47:50
and dropped off the check
for my little Honda and I drove it home
00:47:54
and I just laughed hysterically,
that was a cool little bit.
00:47:58
But like the new car smell. Yeah,
00:48:02
everything
is like the tires are brand new.
00:48:04
Everything is new.
Any feature you wouldn't that.
00:48:06
Now you know that
00:48:08
when you buy this new car that you now
have to buy, that it has to have.
00:48:12
Oh, no, that's a good question.
00:48:13
Outside of the safety, it has to have.
00:48:17
Well, I mean, I use adaptive
cruise control all the time.
00:48:20
Okay, I love that. Yeah.
00:48:22
I have found that
00:48:25
when we get a car that has, upgraded
speakers, They're better.
00:48:29
I want a good sound.
00:48:31
Music, man,
I love listening to audio files.
00:48:33
Yeah.
00:48:34
What I was telling me
is, is what's important
00:48:37
to me is just a massive cruising range.
00:48:40
Okay.
00:48:40
Would be an inch of that when you
when you, when you look at, at the cars,
00:48:44
some of the hybrid cars that we've tested,
whether it's, like a Toyota Camry,
00:48:49
Subaru Forester
hybrid, the Toyota Sienna minivan,
00:48:52
or one of the ones that I'm interested in
is the Santa Fe hybrid.
00:48:56
They all have like 600
plus miles, like in do such.
00:48:59
Yeah, yeah.
00:49:00
Diesel ranges.
00:49:01
Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I remember the last Passat diesel we had.
00:49:04
That was correct. Yeah. Crazy highway.
00:49:07
How far you could go without.
00:49:08
Yeah I, I miss those.
00:49:10
Yeah.
00:49:10
So, so yeah, there's but but it, it is,
it is a, it is a
00:49:14
tough it you seem to come to your decision
pretty easily.
00:49:18
Pretty quickly.
00:49:19
Yes. Based on what I needed to do with it.
00:49:23
And it's been perfect.
00:49:25
The ridgeline has been perfect
for what I need to do.
00:49:27
And Marty said it does not have a long
cruising range, and I just put that out.
00:49:31
But mine is like, well,
you should get a cruising rate.
00:49:33
I mean, a ridgeline,
just like just like defended.
00:49:37
I just said at this point I'm like,
just buy a ridgeline.
00:49:39
That's the agenda.
00:49:40
Cruising round.
00:49:41
Peterson did before you, who used to be
in charge of the tire program.
00:49:45
So so it's
00:49:46
it's probably not going to be a ridgeline,
but that does not take away my love
00:49:49
for that truck. It's a great truck. Great.
00:49:52
And I and I would be remiss
00:49:54
that, yes, you're a great writer. Yes.
00:49:57
You have a bank of knowledge.
00:50:00
Yes. You are stalwart, but I think
00:50:03
I am not alone in saying
you are a great human.
00:50:08
Don't make me cry.
00:50:08
And I might,
because you are a great human.
00:50:11
You said to me when I was leaving,
who's going to ask people how they are?
00:50:16
Who's going to go around
and make sure everybody's okay?
00:50:18
And what was my answer to you?
00:50:20
You will it to you? Duh.
00:50:22
It would be you.
00:50:23
I could never fill your shoes, though.
00:50:26
I mean, no one,
no one could fill your shoes.
00:50:28
Well, I thank you, but I think you could,
because you're a good human.
00:50:33
And don't let anybody ever tell you
different
00:50:36
and keep that,
because sometimes you do question yourself
00:50:40
and you should not,
because that is what matters most.
00:50:44
I think this group here will miss you.
00:50:47
Missed that aspect.
00:50:49
Who are you going to ask people
how they are?
00:50:51
Yeah, well,
certainly not producer Dave Abrams.
00:50:54
He's not going to be the kind
one asking people how they're doing,
00:50:57
but I think that's got a job to do.
00:50:59
That will be
that will be felt in a few weeks
00:51:02
when when Mike Quincy is no longer saying,
how's everybody doing?
00:51:04
Oh, we're going to miss you big time.
00:51:06
Yeah. Big time.
00:51:07
So and I bet
this audience will miss the jokes.
00:51:11
Maybe not, but they'll miss your
your take miss the mike.
00:51:16
Quincy.
00:51:17
The manual transmission.
00:51:19
Jetta gli
I'm not neutral on that transmission.
00:51:21
Oh my gosh. Okay.
00:51:23
Please.
00:51:24
Is it your retirement day yet? Yeah.
00:51:27
It can't can't come soon.
00:51:28
Soon enough
according to you. Get an answer.
00:51:30
Yes. No, no thank you, thank you.
00:51:32
Your words mean a lot to me. Yes.
00:51:35
So for those of you, this will be Mike's.
00:51:38
As. As Mike mentioned,
this is his final episode.
00:51:41
Please keep watching and keep listening.
00:51:43
Regardless of the fact
that Mike Quincy will not be here.
00:51:46
And when Mike Monticello retires,
we'll come back.
00:51:48
Oh yes, I do.
00:51:49
I take this and oh boy.
00:51:51
And Super Tuesday, Abraham said.
00:51:53
I could I could do one final signoff.
00:51:54
And honestly, it's
been my genuine pleasure
00:51:58
to commute to talk cars with everybody.
00:52:02
And I'm going to take a liberty
with the lyrics from the grateful song.
00:52:06
Brake broke down Palace.
00:52:09
Fare thee well, fare thee well.
00:52:11
I love you more than words can tell.
00:52:13
Thanks so much for tuning in.
00:52:15
And we'll see you down the road.