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Buying A Used Car Should Not Feel Scary · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:06
  Don Armstrong: And welcome.
• 0:07
  Don Armstrong: From our Dual City Studios in Texas, USA, it is the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
• 0:13
  Don Armstrong: Just ahead, Jerry Emmons with the Emmons Autoplex in Webster, Texas, U.S.A.
• 0:19
  Don Armstrong: Plus, Jeff has a police car beauty content.
• 0:23
  Don Armstrong: And you'll never guess what state owns it.
• 0:26
  Don Armstrong: Mr.
• 0:26
  Don Armstrong: Morris has the Houston Heat Beat in this week's driving destinations.
• 0:31
  Don Armstrong: Howdy, along with Mike out of this world, Mars, there he is.
• 0:36
  Don Armstrong: We always need more Jeff Seeking.
• 0:38
  Don Armstrong: There I am.
• 0:39
  Don Armstrong: I'm not Don Armstrong.
• 0:41
  Don Armstrong: You just thought I was.
• 0:43
  Don Armstrong: Glad you could join us on this Saturday.
• 0:45
  Don Armstrong: Uh it's hot down here in Texas.
• 0:47
  Don Armstrong: Yep.
• 0:47
  Don Armstrong: Supposed to be up close to 100 degrees this coming week.
• 0:50
  Don Armstrong: Uh, and uh, we're just gonna be hydrating.
• 0:54
  Don Armstrong: We'll be hydrating.
• 0:55
  Don Armstrong: I'm gonna be sitting on the porch making some moonshine.
• 0:57
  Mike Marrs: Yeah.
• 0:58
  Don Armstrong: Really?
• 0:59
  Don Armstrong: No.
• 0:59
  Mike Marrs: And I'll be your quality control.
• 1:01
  Don Armstrong: There you go.
• 1:02
  Don Armstrong: I wouldn't even know how to begin to make moonshine.
• 1:04
  Don Armstrong: I've seen I've seen the show.
• 1:05
  Don Armstrong: You need a bathtub.
• 1:06
  Don Armstrong: And you need some of that Bucky's deer corn.
• 1:10
  Don Armstrong: Oh, yeah.
• 1:10
  Mike Marrs: See, over in here, we've kind of upgraded.
• 1:12
  Mike Marrs: We go to the liquor store and buy the bottle that says moonshine on it.
• 1:16
  Don Armstrong: That's right there now, I guess.
• 1:18
  Don Armstrong: Don't deal with the middleman, Mike.
• 1:20
  Mike Marrs: Yeah, we just cut all that out.
• 1:22
  Don Armstrong: What would happen if you actually use deer corn?
• 1:25
  Jeff Dziekan: I don't know, but I do know people that make moonshine.
• 1:27
  Jeff Dziekan: They can make it.
• 1:29
  Jeff Dziekan: It's it's yeah, you can't uh there's rules and regulations, I'm sure, but I know a couple of guys that make it, and I don't drink it.
• 1:35
  Jeff Dziekan: I've tasted it out.
• 1:37
  Mike Marrs: You make too much the revenuers, be after you've revenues.
• 1:41
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, there's that.
• 1:42
  Don Armstrong: Do we have our guest, Mike?
• 1:44
  Don Armstrong: Absolutely, ladies and gentlemen.
• 1:47
  Don Armstrong: From Webster, Texas, there he is, Mr.
• 1:51
  Don Armstrong: GQ himself.
• 1:52
  Don Armstrong: He kind of looks like a revenue.
• 1:53
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, a revenuer.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's Jerry Evans.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_02: Look at you, bud.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_02: Hey guys, how are you?
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: Happy Saturday, man.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_02: What's up, yeah?
• 2:00
  Don Armstrong: Happy, yeah, happy Saturday to you.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: Hot things in the cob business.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's actually pretty good.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we're the last probably month has been a little slower, but from like the first quarter, the first and second quarter compared to last year, uh, we're up four percent.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_02: So we wish that number was a little bit little bit better, but we're gonna we're gonna is always good.
• 2:23
  Mike Marrs: Yeah.
• 2:23
  Don Armstrong: Uh it's always good, right?
• 2:25
  Don Armstrong: Well, I have to I have to say to you that you know, there are lots of used car lots uh across America and in Houston, Texas.
• 2:33
  Don Armstrong: But I have to say you have probably one of the prettiest used car dealerships.
• 2:37
  Don Armstrong: It's a nice place.
• 2:38
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, it's a nice place, first-class operation all the way.
• 2:40
  Don Armstrong: Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less from you, sir.
• 2:44
  Don Armstrong: But uh, it's it is a first-class operation.
• 2:47
  Don Armstrong: And uh David Ainsley is a huge fan.
• 2:50
  Don Armstrong: I think he's bought a half a dozen cars from you.
• 2:53
  Don Armstrong: And you know, I I guess that one of the things is is that once you once you go to the Emmons brothers, yeah, you're gonna you'll never go anywhere else.
• 3:01
  Don Armstrong: Well, my granddaughter bought one, too.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: I sure hope so.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know, but we try to make every experience the only one you want to have from you know from that point moving forward.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and it's a challenge every day, right?
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you uh you're in the the car business, right?
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_02: So you don't necessarily have uh the industry as a whole, and there are a lot of good car dealers, and there are some bad ones.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: So we try to try to change the industry.
• 3:26
  Mike Marrs: Well, you know, retail customers are another thing, though.
• 3:29
  Don Armstrong: Well, that that's true.
• 3:30
  Don Armstrong: And but this is a business that your dad started.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: 1972, him and a very good friend of ours, Mike Trumbull.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um that's a great story.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_02: I'll have to tell you guys uh the next time I'm on.
• 3:43
  Don Armstrong: Well, you can you make it short, make it short and tell us?
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so okay, so Mike Trumbull uh was so it was called Teeny Used Cars back in the day, right?
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_02: So it was Trumbull and Emmons.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_02: So Mike Trumbull and my father worked at a company called Brown and Root.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: So Mike Trumbull was the boss, right?
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_02: The foreman.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: So he would clock my dad in at Brown and Root, and then my dad would go run the car lot during the week.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_02: True story.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_05: He worked, yeah, true story, man.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: It's really good success.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: So we really enjoyed, and this is all we've ever done.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, when I was a little kid, we started washing cars, and uh, I mean, you know, we were making 25 cents a day and free hamburgers, and then we thought we were rolling.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_02: So and and actually, so uh it's kind of a funny story.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, as the years went on, and my brothers and I graduated school, uh, my dad and Mr.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: Trumbull uh you know went their separate ways.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_02: They were both you know still in the car business.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_02: And uh and I remember I won the U.S.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: Nationals, which is the is for the NHA drag racing world, that's like the NFL 500.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_02: So I won that race when I was 21 years old.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: I was washing cars, selling cars, uh, you know, light mechanic work, whatever.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_02: We we still had people that would do mechanic work, but I was doing Jack Vault trades everything at my dad's car.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_02: And when I won, it's gonna sound so bad.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: This I don't want this to sound as bad as it's gonna sound.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: When I won, I told my my dad and I we were all going home from the U.S.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: Nationals and I'd won that day or that weekend.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_02: And I put my arm around my dad as I'm driving the truck, and I said, uh my days of washing cars are over.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: I'm the U.S.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: Nationals champion.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_02: And I we laugh about that, right?
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like that was the last time.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I've washed the car every now and then, but that's when we kind of like change, right?
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: We start, okay, we're gonna race the lot, we're gonna, we're gonna we're gonna really uh make ourselves known in the car business.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_02: So every year we just try to make make good strides.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you want to do good business.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: So if you do good business, you guys know if you do good business, um it should take care of itself.
• 5:38
  Don Armstrong: Well, you know, people come back.
• 5:40
  Don Armstrong: If they have a great experience, they're gonna come back to you.
• 5:44
  Don Armstrong: And they don't have a great experience, they ain't coming back.
• 5:49
  Don Armstrong: The fact that you know you guys have been in business as long as you have speaks volumes about the way that you conduct business there.
• 5:56
  Don Armstrong: And you obviously are very competitive on the used car lot uh across lots, across the uh uh Houston and across the United States.
• 6:05
  Don Armstrong: You can't compete unless you compete price-wise as well.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: So I I was just doing a little bit of research uh before I went on.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_02: So our uh average car to market, so the average length of time a car is online before it sells is is 39 days.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_02: So when it's online with photos, on the average, it takes 39 days for us to sell it.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: So that I hope that that can kind of give you some insight on how aggressive our pricing structure is.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_02: Because we want to all like it doesn't matter, like for example, we had a very nice young lady come in.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_02: I said young lady, she was 59 years old.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: It was the first time she had purchased a car since she was 18 years old, and she is she's going through a change of life, unfortunately.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: And man, I really I really felt for her.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: So she was referred to us by a friend of ours, and it felt really good to know because I could tell the the the man, it gets me choked up thinking about it.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_02: I can tell the worried look she had on her face about not, you know, are we gonna push her into something?
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_02: She didn't know who we were.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: Are are we gonna push her into something?
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_02: Are we that car guy that's gonna push her into something that she may not want, but as long as it fits the bill, you know, fits her monthly payment, what she was trying to do.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: And we're not like that.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_02: We want to make sure that she's happy.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, and when I told her, I said, look, I don't want you to feel like you have to purchase today.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_02: I want you to go home and think about it.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: And but I think this is the best option for you.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_02: She drove it, she loved it.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_02: We talked about the numbers, and and she she ended up buying the car yesterday.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_02: So that's awesome.
• 7:37
  Don Armstrong: Well, I mean, it speaks volumes for you and your family.
• 7:40
  Don Armstrong: You know, I'm I'm I'm I met Jerry and and the boys uh on the drag racing circuit back when I was doing uh uh David Powers marketing in PR.
• 7:50
  Don Armstrong: And that's where I met Dale Hulk and of course Stan Holt.
• 7:54
  Don Armstrong: And so there's this yeah, there's this there's the this circle of people that you know you know, you trust, and they become your extended family.
• 8:05
  Don Armstrong: Um I I know that I could come to you and say, Jerry, you know, I I only have this much money to spend, but I need a car that I can depend on.
• 8:14
  Don Armstrong: You're gonna say, Don, spend the extra five dollars and get that one, as opposed to that one over there.
• 8:19
  Don Armstrong: They're both on the same lot, they're both being sold by you.
• 8:22
  Don Armstrong: They got the same, you know, Emmons guarantee, if you will, behind it.
• 8:27
  Don Armstrong: But uh, you tell me that I can go and buy this car and it's gonna be a better buy for me.
• 8:32
  Don Armstrong: I'm gonna trust you to do that.
• 8:33
  Don Armstrong: And I think that that speaks volumes for you uh and the boys.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you so much for saying that.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_02: We I mean, we're here every day unless we're off racing, and I'm and but we very we always try to improve the experience.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_02: And the most important thing is like when you go home, I don't want that that person to go home and and when they lay in bed at night, put that on the pillow, and they're thinking about man, did I did I really get a good deal?
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, buyers remorse.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_02: And you're you're buying quality that I feel like is unmatched.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_02: I may be a little biased, but I feel like our quality is at a top tier.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_02: I know our pricing structure is exactly what it needs to be.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_02: We're we're we're the lowest price within 300 miles.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_02: And we really try to make sure that when you leave and you're having a conversation with Billy Bob or you know, you're having a beer with someone, or you're sitting down having lunch or dinner and you're talking about the purchase you just made.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: I want that conversation to turn into maybe a possible, hey, you know what?
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: When I need a car, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go check out Emma.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_02: That's what we hope to do.
• 9:32
  Don Armstrong: I have let's change gears here for just a second and talk about what's selling on the car lot these days.
• 9:38
  Don Armstrong: What's your number one seller?
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: Right now, like the last 30, probably 45 days, anything, of course, Toyota, but anything Toyota.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: We sold a lot of Toyota Camries and a lot of Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: Now they always sell, but for some reason, it seems like everything that keeps going through is a Toyota, yeah, Toyota Tacoma, uh, Toyota Sequoia is a very hot seller.
• 9:59
  Don Armstrong: That's interesting.
• 10:01
  Don Armstrong: That thing is huge and gets terrible gas mileage, but you're gonna buy it anyway.
• 10:05
  Don Armstrong: But they drive great.
• 10:07
  Don Armstrong: Well, they do, and they're got a great interior.
• 10:09
  Jeff Dziekan: Here's here's something we've been bantering back on the show.
• 10:11
  Jeff Dziekan: I don't know if you've been watching, but Don is actually considering another vehicle besides the Corvette.
• 10:17
  Jeff Dziekan: So he might be interested.
• 10:18
  Don Armstrong: Don't don't yeah.
• 10:20
  Don Armstrong: Do you want to go there, Mike?
• 10:22
  Don Armstrong: Is that true?
• 10:22
  Don Armstrong: He's been talking about it.
• 10:23
  Don Armstrong: I have so uh it's a 2001 black-on-black Corvette, the 36,000 miles on.
• 10:28
  Don Armstrong: It's a six-speed manual transmission.
• 10:31
  Don Armstrong: Uh, actually, I bought the car from Greg Enders, who I'm sure that you know very well.
• 10:35
  Don Armstrong: Oh, absolutely, yeah.
• 10:36
  Don Armstrong: And you so you probably have seen the car at one point in your life.
• 10:39
  Mike Marrs: Yeah, he knows where it came from.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, like you're the one who saw it.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_02: You're the one that bought it out from under me.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, did I really?
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_02: You wanted back, I did not.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: Him and I were talking.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_02: How long have you owned that car?
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_02: Three years.
• 10:52
  Don Armstrong: Uh, how many?
• 10:53
  Don Armstrong: Uh no, I bought that car in 2017.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_02: It's been a little bit longer.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, good.
• 10:59
  Don Armstrong: So you want it back, Jerry?
• 11:00
  Don Armstrong: You want the car back?
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh yeah.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_02: Well, he was showing me a Corvette one time.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_02: I can't remember.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: This has been three or five years ago.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that you've only had one since 17.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_02: I'll say I think it's time for you to trade it in.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_02: That's what I've said.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_02: I do too.
• 11:11
  Don Armstrong: And I I have to I have to confess to you on the air in front of the millions of people that are watching right now.
• 11:18
  Don Armstrong: That I've at yeah, that I've actually kind of been leaning toward looking at a Cadillac four-door sedan.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_02: Great choice.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: I think you need a V series.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_02: So that way you don't miss the performance.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_02: No, Jerry.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, no.
• 11:34
  Jeff Dziekan: No, not only a V, but a Blackwing.
• 11:36
  Don Armstrong: No, I know.
• 11:39
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, and I know that if you don't have one on the lot, you can find one.
• 11:42
  Don Armstrong: He'll come up with it.
• 11:43
  Don Armstrong: He'll make it absolutely.
• 11:44
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 11:45
  Don Armstrong: Because you do that, don't you?
• 11:46
  Don Armstrong: I mean, if somebody comes in and you don't have something on the lot that they want, yeah, you you'll you'll find it.
• 11:51
  Don Armstrong: Absolutely.
• 11:52
  Don Armstrong: How long does it usually take you to find something like that?
• 11:54
  Don Armstrong: A week?
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: Uh maybe two weeks max, I think, because we're, you know, there's four brothers total, so we're spread out from buying, you know, we uh we buy a little bit in Florida, but mainly it's you know from the Texas all the way to the West Coast, right?
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_02: So rust-free kind of thing.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_02: But generally it takes no more than two weeks to find what you're looking for.
• 12:11
  Jeff Dziekan: Okay, so today's the 18th, so we'll hear from you back in a couple of weeks.
• 12:15
  Don Armstrong: I'm not ready quite yet.
• 12:17
  Don Armstrong: But you know, I every once in a while, every once in a while that left clutch knee says, you know, you need to start looking at something else, brother.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_02: Don, don't let the don't let the old man in, right?
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_02: Well, good point.
• 12:32
  Don Armstrong: But you know what?
• 12:32
  Don Armstrong: Dale Hullquist has taught me these things, and so I'm just kind of passing it along.
• 12:36
  Don Armstrong: There's a lot.
• 12:39
  Don Armstrong: You take our advice from Dale.
• 12:41
  Don Armstrong: So so uh as far as SUV, of course, SUVs, it's it's the it's the big big thing.
• 12:46
  Don Armstrong: That's the big seller.
• 12:47
  Don Armstrong: Everybody wants an SUV.
• 12:49
  Don Armstrong: And and I am driving currently a new uh 2026 Lexus IS 350 F Sport.
• 13:01
  Don Armstrong: And let me tell you something.
• 13:02
  Don Armstrong: That is one sweet ride.
• 13:04
  Don Armstrong: And I am very critical of use uh new cars as pardon me?
• 13:09
  Don Armstrong: Two-seater?
• 13:10
  Don Armstrong: It's not a two-seater, it's a four, it's a four-seater, it's a four-door.
• 13:14
  Don Armstrong: But boy, is that thing sweet.
• 13:16
  Don Armstrong: It just if I could afford it, it's 60 grand.
• 13:19
  Don Armstrong: If I could afford it, I'd buy it.
• 13:21
  Don Armstrong: But uh it's a little bit out of my price range.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_02: You only live once.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_02: I knew you would see something.
• 13:30
  Don Armstrong: Easy terms.
• 13:31
  Don Armstrong: Easy terms.
• 13:33
  Don Armstrong: That's it.
• 13:33
  Don Armstrong: And speaking of that, so do you guys have you can you get me financed?
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_02: We have we're set up with lenders uh that you know, obviously, people with good credit can easily can get financed here at the credit union.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_02: We're offering, you know, we have very competitive rates, and yeah, we can do, we even are able, uh, we're we just hooked up with another company uh that can do a little bit of a little bit of subprime financing.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: So, but yeah, we we have a good a good set of finance crew.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_02: We have good guys that are always in touch with the banks, and we have a good pulse on on what we can do with people, and we're buying the right inventory to get those finances as well.
• 14:12
  Don Armstrong: Right.
• 14:12
  Don Armstrong: And what what is the main year models of cars that you have on the lot, the ones that sell the most?
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_02: Well, uh, I think it's for us it's just not price point, right?
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_02: But we like to have you know five anything five years older, it's like for 2020, I think it's good, but we don't let that keep us from buying a low mileage 2010, 2008 Camry or a pickup truck, something like that.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: So we like to have you know a good selection of 2020 and above.
• 14:43
  Don Armstrong: How many, how many cars do you have on the lot right now?
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh currently we're at 770.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we're you know, it's just always a trouble.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's uh we're trying to get them online, right?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_02: So uh we have I think 770, so 601 is what we have online.
• 14:58
  Don Armstrong: So what what what what you're telling me is is that you're buying acreage all around the Emmons dealership.
• 15:06
  Don Armstrong: I need some in real time money.
• 15:07
  Don Armstrong: We can we can keep it standing.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: How about that?
• 15:09
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah, okay.
• 15:10
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, we don't want to go down that rabbit hole.
• 15:13
  Jeff Dziekan: Out of those, out of those 660, how many are Cadillacs?
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: Oh gosh, that's the ugly.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: I bet there's at least 20.
• 15:20
  Jeff Dziekan: I'm still poking the bear.
• 15:21
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 15:22
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, exactly.
• 15:24
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, because I mean, uh I think that my next car is probably gonna be an Emmons car.
• 15:28
  Don Armstrong: Oh, I and my my vision is something about five years old or so, fairly low mileage, but not crazy low mileage, because I don't want to pay the upcharge for some car that's only got 20,000 miles, you know, and Aunt Mary drove it for five years going back and forth to church.
• 15:46
  Don Armstrong: That that'd be great, but I don't have to have that.
• 15:48
  Don Armstrong: I want something that's reliable, that's clean, um, that's been treated right, hasn't been wrecked.
• 15:54
  Don Armstrong: Speaking of wrecked, you know, we had a long conversation with our buddy uh Patrick up there at uh uh Carfax, and uh I assume that uh your cars come with a Carfax.
• 16:05
  Mike Marrs: Every car comes with a Carfax.
• 16:07
  Mike Marrs: That's correct.
• 16:08
  Mike Marrs: I think that's a great thing.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it is absolutely yeah, back in the day, like when I was a kid washing cars from my dad at the at the car lot, so you know the our our go-to find would be you would run to the glove box and open it, and you'd have a stack of receipts, right?
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_02: Where they have oil change receipts.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but you know, and in today's world, you don't see much of that.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_02: You mainly see you have to rely on the Carfax, and it's really good to see how you know the intervals or the oil changes.
• 16:34
  Don Armstrong: Absolutely.
• 16:35
  Don Armstrong: It's really a nice, clean uh when you guys go out and buy those cars.
• 16:39
  Don Armstrong: Do they do they look at that?
• 16:40
  Don Armstrong: Do they know that?
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: We're the only buyers, we don't have outside buyers, it's just uh my brothers and I.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: And we run a Carfax on every car before we purchase it.
• 16:49
  Don Armstrong: Got it.
• 16:49
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 16:51
  Don Armstrong: Well, you know, as always, it's great to talk to you, and uh we thank you and we love our relationship with you guys down there.
• 16:58
  Don Armstrong: And how's the racing doing?
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's really good.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: So we've only been to actually before the races, but NHRA's been doing a thing called double event.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: So you're like two events in one weekend.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: So we've been to four events, four races.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: Companies are doing really good.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: We started up very heavily uh the week before the U.S.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: nationals.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna go to a uh Lucasville division, and then also it's called the Sports Nationals.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what that is.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: That's a that's a national event, but without the pros, but without the the runforce.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the big boys, right?
• 17:31
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, big team.
• 17:32
  Don Armstrong: Your audio has gone to hell, I have to tell you that.
• 17:35
  Mike Marrs: Yeah, we need to, but we do need to get back with you and talk drag racing because there's a lot more stuff.
• 17:40
  Mike Marrs: I got lots of questions.
• 17:41
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, and so so let's schedule that.
• 17:44
  Don Armstrong: Uh are you gonna be available in the next month?
• 17:47
  Mike Marrs: Absolutely.
• 17:49
  Don Armstrong: Mike's gonna get a hold of you and guide you in audio technology.
• 17:53
  unknown: Okay.
• 17:53
  Mike Marrs: You know, something is just fading out here.
• 17:56
  Mike Marrs: So okay.
• 17:58
  Don Armstrong: Probably that high dollar microphone you got there.
• 18:00
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: I spent all night testing it, so I'm sorry.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: It started out good.
• 18:06
  Don Armstrong: That's it.
• 18:06
  Don Armstrong: Don't worry, Jerry.
• 18:07
  Don Armstrong: We love you, Jerry Emmons.
• 18:08
  Don Armstrong: You take care, brother.
• 18:10
  Don Armstrong: Thank you.
• 18:14
  Don Armstrong: It's always fun to talk to them.
• 18:16
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, my my drag racing friends, I'll tell you what.
• 18:18
  Don Armstrong: There's that.
• 18:19
  Don Armstrong: Hey, just ahead in Jeff's Car Culture Police Car Beauty Contest, and Martez driving the Houston Heat beat.
• 18:28
  Don Armstrong: When the in-real-time car talk show continues after this, stay with us.
• 18:32
  Don Armstrong: The Texas Max dining experience is defined by Lupi Tortilla, your destination for Texas's best beef, the heatest, and frozen margaritas.
• 18:41
  Don Armstrong: Since 1983, Lupi Tortillas has served authentic and time-tested recipes made with the freshest ingredients.
• 18:51
  Don Armstrong: All developed in a little house near Highway Sticks and I can have used before.
• 18:55
  Don Armstrong: Visit any of the Lupi Tortillas, and you'll see the staying attention to detail at each and every location.
• 19:00
  Don Armstrong: Start your Loopy experience with Questo Flaviato and Guacamole, along with a classic frozen margarita, dine on famous loopy beef and chicken tomatoes, four pepper strip process, or a fashion vegetarian entree, and finish with a scrumptious flan for dessert.
• 19:14
  Don Armstrong: Find Loopy Tortilla in Houston, College Station, Beaumont, Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas, Fort Worth.
• 19:20
  Don Armstrong: There's a Texas location near you.
• 19:22
  Don Armstrong: The recipes are authentic and time-tested.
• 19:24
  Don Armstrong: The ingredients are always fresh.
• 19:26
  Don Armstrong: Loopy Tortilla.
• 19:27
  Don Armstrong: It's pretty good.
• 19:33
  Don Armstrong: Apple or Android In Wheel Time Podcasts can be found everywhere, on the stream and through downloads.
• 19:38
  Don Armstrong: Whether you're on the road or at home and searching for a fun car talk show, give In Wheel Time a try.
• 19:43
  Don Armstrong: Honest new car reviews, fun, informative interviews with real car people, weekly automotive news, features like Jeff's car culture, Mike's driving destinations, all on In Wheel Time.
• 19:53
  Don Armstrong: Check us out on Sirius XM Podcasts, iHeartRadio, or while you're shopping on Amazon through Amazon Music.
• 19:59
  Don Armstrong: Inwheel Time.com has a list, so check us out.
• 20:13
  Don Armstrong: Time now for Jeff's Car Culture, American Police Car Beauty.
• 20:17
  Jeff Dziekan: Okay, here we go, Michael.
• 20:18
  Jeff Dziekan: So each year, state troopers from across the nation compete to see which has the prettiest police car.
• 20:24
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, the American Association of State Troopers, which is called the AAST, announced the results of the 13th annual best-looking cruiser contest after more than 360,000 votes poured in from supporters around the country.
• 20:37
  Jeff Dziekan: Go, Mike.
• 20:39
  Jeff Dziekan: So that right there, uh I don't have any specifics on the cars or because there's a lot of them, obviously, there's a whole bunch, but I'm going to give you the history and the way they brought it up.
• 20:48
  Jeff Dziekan: It looks like like Mississippi because it's got a Mississippi uh map.
• 20:53
  Jeff Dziekan: State.
• 20:53
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah, there you go.
• 20:54
  Jeff Dziekan: So over the past three years, Florida's become the top cat or the top car uh for the past oh I don't know, three years.
• 21:03
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh this year it appeared though as a streak would end.
• 21:06
  Jeff Dziekan: But the late in the game, the Sunshine State stormed back to a fourth consecutive.
• 21:12
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, we I just know we're gonna go through showing you what the other cars look like.
• 21:17
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh we don't get down to the nitty-gritty till the end.
• 21:19
  Jeff Dziekan: So Michigan spent much of the competition in first place, but Florida Highway Patrol's communication team mounted a late push that ultimately propelled propelled the state's black and tan Mustang to win.
• 21:31
  Jeff Dziekan: That's not it.
• 21:32
  Jeff Dziekan: That's not that's not a Mustang.
• 21:34
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh but uh the Troopers Association has some fun with the dramatic finish, joking that it must be hunting season in Florida because they managed to shoot down the blue goose, which is referring to the Michigan State Police car.
• 21:46
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh is also equipped uh by hanging chads or late night ballot dumps from Florida, emphasizing the good natured rubber ribbing as part of the contest of friendly rivalry.
• 21:56
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, Florida finished with fifty two thousand two hundred and forty nine votes.
• 22:00
  Jeff Dziekan: Ahead of Michigan's 37,654 once the polls were closed.
• 22:03
  Jeff Dziekan: Georgia secured third place with 34,000 plus, followed by Ohio, Kentucky to round out the top five.
• 22:09
  Jeff Dziekan: Overall, 360 plus thousand votes were cast along all participating states.
• 22:14
  Jeff Dziekan: Oregon received the least with just 185.
• 22:17
  Jeff Dziekan: So that right there shot is the Michigan car.
• 22:20
  Jeff Dziekan: That's the uh what they call the blue goose.
• 22:23
  Jeff Dziekan: And I think if you look on that boat, I think that's David Ainsley floating by on that boat back there.
• 22:27
  Don Armstrong: No, no, no, no, the sky's too clear.
• 22:29
  Don Armstrong: It's all uh smoky up there where he is.
• 22:31
  Jeff Dziekan: And then the victory means Florida will once again uh receive the best looking cruiser award.
• 22:35
  Jeff Dziekan: There's Florida, uh, and the winning photo will appear on the book.
• 22:38
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, how about their Mustangs and Camaros?
• 22:40
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah.
• 22:40
  Jeff Dziekan: Best well, that in uh Chargers.
• 22:43
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh so the Troopers Wall Calendar, sales of the calendar support the American Association of State Troopers Foundation, which awards educational scholarships to the dependents of the troopers.
• 22:52
  Jeff Dziekan: Now I've got the list right here.
• 22:54
  Jeff Dziekan: So Florida and Michigan are first and second, Georgia was third, Ohio is fourth, Texas came in ninth with 11,164 votes.
• 23:03
  Jeff Dziekan: So good.
• 23:04
  Jeff Dziekan: We got made a top ten, which is good.
• 23:06
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh but Michigan and we need to do better before to battle it out.
• 23:09
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, we need to know what we need the sergeant to get out of the room.
• 23:12
  Jeff Dziekan: Woodard.
• 23:12
  Don Armstrong: It's all well, I know.
• 23:14
  Don Armstrong: Uh we need Woodard to be our spokesperson.
• 23:16
  Don Armstrong: He got a new car too.
• 23:17
  Don Armstrong: He showed it to us the last time.
• 23:18
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, as a matter of fact, I saw a brand new state trooper SUV.
• 23:23
  Don Armstrong: Whew.
• 23:24
  Don Armstrong: Nice.
• 23:25
  Jeff Dziekan: Oh, yeah.
• 23:25
  Jeff Dziekan: They're nice.
• 23:26
  Jeff Dziekan: So maybe next year we'll we'll get them next year.
• 23:28
  Jeff Dziekan: I want to know how much they cost.
• 23:29
  Jeff Dziekan: A trooper car?
• 23:31
  Jeff Dziekan: A lot.
• 23:31
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, I think it's all the add-ons because there was there was a dealership when I worked for ATD.
• 23:36
  Jeff Dziekan: There was a dealership in South Texas that did the uh Border Patrol vehicles, and they put the radios and the gun racks and all the stuff in them, the stickers and all that.
• 23:44
  Jeff Dziekan: And that was a process.
• 23:46
  Jeff Dziekan: You had to be licensed to the state to work on those particular vehicles for the state, the vehicles in the dealership.
• 23:52
  Jeff Dziekan: So there's a little bit of regulation to go on with that, but I'm sure they're expensive and it's all the add-ons.
• 23:56
  Don Armstrong: Mr.
• 23:56
  Don Armstrong: Mars has four minutes to complete his driving destination: the Houston Heat and the Driving Beat.
• 24:03
  Don Armstrong: Go, Mike.
• 24:04
  Mike Marrs: Where am I?
• 24:05
  Mike Marrs: It's beat the heat drive.
• 24:06
  Mike Marrs: So coming up here, it's summer's coming up.
• 24:08
  Mike Marrs: It's going to be plenty hot.
• 24:10
  Mike Marrs: So we've got a few things you can do.
• 24:11
  Mike Marrs: Number one, you can head off to the Bluebell Creameries.
• 24:15
  Mike Marrs: And this is about 75 miles from Houston.
• 24:17
  Mike Marrs: Summer ice cream go together.
• 24:19
  Mike Marrs: Bluebell Creamy Creameries Vistor Center in Brenham is a great road trip.
• 24:24
  Mike Marrs: You can tour the facility, you can tour their museum, and you can also try out some of their different flavors of their ice cream.
• 24:32
  Mike Marrs: Then, if that's not what you're what you're looking for, number two, go to the Bryan Museum down in Galveston.
• 24:37
  Mike Marrs: Now, this is fairly new.
• 24:38
  Mike Marrs: It opened in 2015 and it's in the old historic Galveston Orphan's Home.
• 24:43
  Mike Marrs: Now, if the beach is too hot, this is where you want to go because it's all inside, air conditioned.
• 24:48
  Mike Marrs: There's over 70,000 artifacts from the American West and Texas to go in and look at uh restored galleries, interactive exhibits, and it's all air conditioned, and it's nice to go along the Galveston seawall to kind of make your way back to Houston whenever you do that.
• 25:06
  Mike Marrs: Number three, a lot of people know it.
• 25:08
  Mike Marrs: We've been there a couple of times, the Lone Star Flight Museum in Houston.
• 25:12
  Mike Marrs: Now there are 24 historical aircraft here, and kids are fascinated by airplanes.
• 25:17
  Mike Marrs: We are fascinated by airplanes.
• 25:20
  Mike Marrs: So this is a great museum to go visit out at Ellington Airport.
• 25:23
  Mike Marrs: It used to be down in Galveston until Hurricane Ike came in and forced him to make a move.
• 25:28
  Mike Marrs: But they've got historic aircraft, they got interactive flight simulators, and they got a lot of aviation history from World War II through the space age.
• 25:36
  Mike Marrs: Now, number four, Brazos Benn State Park Nature Center.
• 25:40
  Mike Marrs: This is up in Neadville.
• 25:41
  Mike Marrs: This is 4,897 acres.
• 25:44
  Mike Marrs: You don't really want to go out midday walking around, but they do have the George Observatory Fenner Visitor Center that I didn't know existed.
• 25:53
  Mike Marrs: Now this provides a cool introduction to the wildlife and the ecosystems of Brazos Benn State Park.
• 25:59
  Mike Marrs: You get there early, get a little bit of shade, do a short walk around the alligators, and then go inside and check out all the exhibits that you got.
• 26:08
  Mike Marrs: Take a picnic and you've got a full day of a family trip there.
• 26:13
  Mike Marrs: Then I wanted to bring up that's with a family.
• 26:16
  Mike Marrs: Now, if you've got your car and you want to go on a road trip, so you need a road to go drive on.
• 26:22
  Mike Marrs: So FM 149 in Montgomery to Anderson through the Sam Houston National Forest.
• 26:27
  Mike Marrs: Now, this is 48.3 miles, so it's not real long down Highway 149, goes through the Towering Pines of the Sam Houston National Forest, and you goes off to you got beautiful old historical courthouses on either end of it that you can go in and visit.
• 26:43
  Mike Marrs: I've been to the Anderson a couple of times, and uh it's great, nice drive after you've been with the family all day, and you just want to sneak out for a quick drive, tackle this one.
• 26:53
  Mike Marrs: So that's a few things you can do out of Houston to beat some of the summer heat coming up.
• 26:58
  Don Armstrong: So I have to ask you, uh Jeff and I were just sitting here looking at that courthouse thing, and you said you've been there several times.
• 27:03
  Don Armstrong: Were you in handcuffs?
• 27:04
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, was it uh was it for a misdemeanor or no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
• 27:09
  Mike Marrs: It was actually on uh doing some family research actually up in Anderson County.
• 27:13
  Jeff Dziekan: So you're visiting an inmate.
• 27:15
  Jeff Dziekan: Yes, a distant, very distant cousin.
• 27:18
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah, the question I have, you said you walk along the alligators, a short walk.
• 27:21
  Jeff Dziekan: Walk along near the alligators, you can see the always.
• 27:23
  Jeff Dziekan: Oh, short walk.
• 27:24
  Jeff Dziekan: Okay, because it could be you could have to run real fast.
• 27:26
  Mike Marrs: Well, you don't want to get that close.
• 27:28
  Don Armstrong: Have you ever have you ever been there?
• 27:29
  Don Armstrong: No, I don't have you know it it's right down the street from uh where we are, and I will tell you that I have been there, and there is a lookout over a swamp, and uh you cannot believe the number of alligators that you can see.
• 27:44
  Don Armstrong: Walk across on alligators.
• 27:45
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, and uh you you definitely don't want to take a small dog and you don't want to take children off the leash because uh they listen, those things are faster than you think they are.
• 27:56
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, yeah.
• 27:58
  unknown: Anyway.
• 27:59
  Don Armstrong: All right, thank you, sir.
• 28:00
  Don Armstrong: The in-wheel time car talk show will continue right after this quick break.
• 28:04
  Don Armstrong: Stay with us.
• 28:11
  Don Armstrong: The Tex Max dining experience is defined by Lupi Tortilla, your destination for Texas's best beef fajitas and frozen margaritas.
• 28:20
  Don Armstrong: Since 1983, Lupi Tortilla has served authentic and time-tested recipes made with the freshest ingredients.
• 28:26
  Don Armstrong: Atmosphere is part of the award-winning experience of Lupi Tortilla, all developed in a little house near Highway 6 and I-10 in Houston.
• 28:33
  Don Armstrong: Visit any of the Lupi Tortillas and you will see the same attention to detail at each and every location.
• 28:39
  Don Armstrong: Start your loopy experience with queso flammiato and guacamole, along with a classic frozen margarita.
• 28:44
  Don Armstrong: Dine on famous loopy beef and chicken fajitas or pepper strip crochet, or a fish or vegetarian entree, and finish with a scrumptious vlog for dessert.
• 28:53
  Don Armstrong: Find loopy tortilla in Houston, College Station, Beaumont, Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas, Fort Worth.
• 28:58
  Don Armstrong: There's a Texas location near you.
• 29:00
  Don Armstrong: The recipes are authentic and time-tested.
• 29:02
  Don Armstrong: The ingredients always fresh.
• 29:04
  Don Armstrong: Loopy tortilla.
• 29:19
  Don Armstrong: Then it was a move to the digital world and social media, and you followed.
• 29:23
  Don Armstrong: Thank you.
• 29:24
  Don Armstrong: We continue to build and grow our fan base, and it's all because of you and your auto-enthusiast friends.
• 29:29
  Don Armstrong: We appreciate your support.
• 29:30
  Don Armstrong: It's always great to see you at our remote broadcast, too, and we hope you'll continue to stop by and say hello.
• 29:35
  Don Armstrong: It's been a great ride, and we hope to bring you more fun and adventure right here on the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
• 29:42
  Don Armstrong: That's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show.
• 29:46
  Don Armstrong: I'm Don Armstrong, inviting you to join us for our live show every Saturday morning on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and our InWheelTime.com website.
• 29:56
  Don Armstrong: Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartPodcast, Podcast Addict, TuneIn, Pandora, and Amazon Music.
• 30:05
  Don Armstrong: Keep listening, and we'll see you soon.