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Unlocking Modern Vehicle Repair: Tech Solutions, Expert Support, and Industry Insights · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to another In Wheel Time podcast, a 30-minute mini version of the In Wheel Time Car Show that airs live every Saturday morning 8 to 11 am, central and online at gcautoshieldcom.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: The In Wheel Time Car Talk Show is on the air.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Yep Ahead, tech-focused repair solutions.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Later, jeff has this week's Motor Minute and I'll have the stories making automotive news headlines.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Howdy Along with Mike out of this world bars.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: We always need more, jeff Zekin.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: It genius David Ainsley is vacationing in the UP.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, good for him.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Took his boys out.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Pardon me.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Took his boys out there.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: They're having a blast.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: Good, you went up there last year.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: I did in August.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I had a blast.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: I remember you saying I don't want to go, I don't want to go and I had a blast.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: So there you go it's a great vacation spot.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: It's a great vacation spot.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: Who would ever think Michigan?
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: as a vacation spot I'll tell you what Great Lake.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: State.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: It's absolutely beautiful up there, especially the Upper Peninsula.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Well, thank you very much for joining us on this Saturday on our live version of the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: We live stream this every Saturday 8 to 11 am time and, of course, podcasts are everywhere.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: All right, let's get to our first guest today.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Uh, kevin fitzpatrick, with opus iv, not opus ivw.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Um, mr mars.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Uh, kind of threw me for a little loop there this morning and I'm glad that we caught that, so I didn't say ivw I'm glad you didn't say that either, or vw, you just said twice kevin, we apologize for being here, thanks for having me guys.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: So kevin, what does opus iv do?
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: well, I, it's actually opus ivs.
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: Intelligent vehicle support is what the IBS stands for.
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: So what we do is we support shops both in the mechanical and the collision space, both scanning vehicles, making sure collision vehicles are given back to their owners in the absolute pre-collision condition, and in the mechanical space what we're doing is we're remotely programming vehicles, remotely diagnosing vehicles.
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: We've got about 4,000 shops that we're connecting to on a daily basis and helping all of those technicians get through really tough diagnostic tasks every day.
• 2:43
  Speaker 4: So how does it work?
• 2:44
  Speaker 4: So what?
• 2:46
  Speaker 4: How it works is we provide the.
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: We provide the shop.
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: Speaking on the mechanical side for a second, we provide the shops, uh, and basically a scan tool.
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: It's a tablet pc and what the the technicians will do is they'll go about their usual, their diagnostics, and if they get to a point where they're not, uh, they're, they're not sure about what they're doing.
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: Let's say they got a mercedes in the shop.
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: They're to a point where they're not sure about what they're doing.
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: Let's say they got a Mercedes in the shop.
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: They're not a Mercedes technician, or a Volkswagen, they're not that familiar with Volkswagen.
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: They have the ability to push a button on the device requesting support from one of our master technicians in maybe a Huntington Beach call center or remotely around the United States.
• 3:23
  Speaker 4: And then what we do is we connect that shop, that technician, to a master level technician.
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: That technician is then able to see exactly what's going on with that vehicle.
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: If a module needs to be updated, we're able to connect to that module and put the latest software into it.
• 3:40
  Speaker 4: If the module needs to be replaced, we can code it, program it and bring it online.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: Very interesting.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: What about body repair?
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: Same thing in body repair.
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: In body repair, it's really important when a car gets into a collision, right, I mean all of these systems, right with what we call ADOS, when all of these systems, they have to be brought back into service.
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: Now, when a car gets into a crash, the shops have no idea which systems are down, which systems are up.
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: So what we do is we connect with a factory-level scan tool and we go into every single module, every single system in the vehicle and we're basically asking that system hey, do you have any trouble?
• 4:31
  Speaker 4: Codes, are you?
• 4:32
  Speaker 4: Are you ready for service?
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: And so basically that's what we do.
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: We go into every single system in the vehicle, making sure if it needs to be calibrated, we calibrate it and we make sure that that car goes back to that customer in a pre-condition, in a pre-collision state.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: I think that most people really don't understand the fact that there are sensors in certain body modules that you know tells the car, hey, I've been in a wreck, or you know, I popped the airbags in it, that sort of thing, and you know, especially if you have some sort of a front-end collision.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: I mean, there's a lot more to it than just unscrewing some bolts and taking the fender off and putting a new one back on there and painting it.
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: Well, that's how it used to be right Lots of welding, lots of paint, lots of straightening.
• 5:19
  Speaker 4: It's not like that anymore at all.
• 5:21
  Speaker 4: You know, now it's a lot of calibrations.
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: It's not like that anymore at all.
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: You know, now it's a lot of calibrations.
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: I mean, these guys are true, true technicians.
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: I mean, if you've ever spent any time in a collision shop and saw what's going on, I mean it's engineering, chemistry and technology.
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: That's what's going on.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: So what happens when a shop you know now today, many people say, okay, well, well, I want the original vw fender on it, but you have an option, you could get a chinese fender and we can give it to you at half the price of the factory fender.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: Do you run into issues with that, or are those options that the repair guy has?
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: now mostly like if you bring your if you bring your vehicle to a quality collision shop, they're going to make sure that, like I said, that car is given back to that customer in a pre-collision state.
• 6:14
  Speaker 4: They're going to make sure that the car gets quality parts put back on it.
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: There's always going to be those shops that are looking to buy less than quality parts, put them on your vehicle and charge accordingly.
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: But again, it's up to the consumer and your insurance companies.
• 6:33
  Speaker 4: Your insurance company wants to make sure that they're giving back to their customer a quality repair.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: Well, that's interesting because I took a tour of the plant that built this is several years ago Toyota Corollas.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: And yes, they were building the doors and the surrounds of the doors in one stamping function that goes on to the assembly line.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: But they also made extra sets to go out to all the dealers.
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: So that's the same pattern, the same stamp, if you will, for the doors for all of the Toyota Corollas.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: It comes out of the same machine, whereas if you go to an aftermarket like a Chinese knockoff, chances are that it's not going to fit exactly right and they're going to have to do more body work, the surrounds, the doors themselves, to make the thing kind of pass, if you will.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: And not only that, but if you use knockoff parts and you're going to go and trade your car in or sell your car outright, it actually doesn't get as much money as the original parts because you can tell oh, you can absolutely tell.
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: I can tell you as a matter of fact, a lot of again, on the mechanical side as well, a lot of the quality parts places that you would buy parts from World Pack Advanced Auto Parts.
• 8:00
  Speaker 4: These guys have actual metal urges on staff where they, when, when they purchase rotors because they buy a lot of parts from china I mean, this is this is the world we live in but when they buy a part from china, they actually make sure that the alloys that are in that, in in that brake rotor, for instance, are exactly the same as or in the or in part you know what I mean.
• 8:24
  Speaker 4: And they spot check every order that they get to make sure that nobody's pulling the old switcheroo on them.
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: They make sure that what they're buying is what they're.
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: You know what they're contracting for is what they're getting.
• 8:36
  Speaker 4: So there's DOT regulations on the road because there's DOT regulations on tires that come over from different parts of the world Are the same thing for dot on certain parts well, I don't even know if this dot regulations I mean it's a little bit looser on the road is like I said, if you look, if you look at a brake rotor, like if you, if you go to price a brake rotor, you're going to see a like a european brake rotor.
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: It'll be priced anywhere from 19 to 300, right?
• 9:02
  Speaker 4: So I mean the, the consumer in the shop has a choice and, and you know what I mean, do you want, do you want, oe level or do you, uh, do you want to save some bucks and, you know, be shaken down the road?
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: I mean.
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: So I mean you, you, you have options.
• 9:17
  Speaker 4: I'm not, I'm not to be honest with you, I'm not sure how regulated it really is so what kind of?
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: what kind of what is the most sought after repair from your shops?
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: the thought where you need somebody ask you for help.
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah, are we?
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: oh, it's all.
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: It's vehicle programming.
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: Like I said, most of everything that we're doing is is because the oe software is is so costly and oftentimes difficult to handle.
• 9:46
  Speaker 4: Most of the independent repair shops will only handle one or two of the brands.
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: So at Opus, like I said, the main thing that we're doing is coding and programming vehicles, where, again, if a module is purchased from a parts outlet, we're remoting it and programming.
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: That's the biggest thing we're doing on a daily basis.
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: So I'm a small shop and I don't want to spend the thousands of dollars every year to get the updates on the hardware I mean the software and the thing so I can subscribe with you I guess it's a subscription type thing so that whenever that, if BMW comes in once a year that I need some help on, I don't want to turn the customer away because he's a good customer with his other vehicles.
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: I can go as far as I can go, but then I can contact you and get support.
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: How is there a way I can tell that shop works with you?
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: And the reason I'm asking is okay, I'm looking for somebody new to work on my cars.
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: So I and I'm looking for references and, and I know it's a small shop, there's only five or six techs in there, but you know, and I I wonder about how well they keep up their software and things in this modern world that I don't keep up with.
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: And I'm just wondering if there's a way that I can tell that, yeah, they, they at least try to work with you.
• 11:07
  Speaker 4: Well, you would ask them.
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: All you would ask the customer, all you would ask the shop is.
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: You know what I mean.
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: If just you want to ask them that they're using factory software to program the vehicle, you know what I mean.
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: So it doesn't necessarily have to be Opus.
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: I don't want to over pump Opus.
• 11:21
  Speaker 4: They're really going to use factory software on their own.
• 11:23
  Speaker 4: Or if they're going to remote it, it's most likely going to be on company that's doing it.
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: Okay, so that would be the question Are you using factory software?
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: And if they are, they're either getting it from the factory or you or somebody like you.
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: I think what you're saying is when you walk into a shop, you want to look at something and say this is who we have behind us.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: You want the window sticker on the front door.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, this is who I am.
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: We don't do a lot of the window sticker stuff.
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: But I'll tell you this, the OEs, they have been gotten much better over the years.
• 11:59
  Speaker 4: Like I said, it used to be this kind of butting head things with the aftermarket and in many cases the OEs are partnering with us.
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: You know what I mean Real, realizing they can't fix all of the cars that are out there and, like I said, they've, uh, they've, they've come around quite a bit and they've mailed, they've made, they've given us a lot more access to, to what we need in order to uh, properly fix the vehicles that they're, that they're turning out what do you what?
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: how do you price your service?
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: Is it by contacting you and then you helping them with this certain car that they're calling you about?
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Or is it just a general monthly fee?
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: How do you do that?
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: Our programming is basically by the vehicle.
• 12:41
  Speaker 4: So, on a European vehicle, we charge $199 to program a module.
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: On an Asian and domestic vehicle, it's $159 to program a module on an Asian and domestic vehicle it's $159 to program a module and that's just simply because of the time it takes.
• 12:53
  Speaker 4: European vehicles have a lot more data that we're pushing into the vehicle and the time it takes that's why there's a little bit of a price variance.
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: But no, we try to keep it really easy for the shops and we leave them plenty of room so that they can uh, they can, you know, mark it up and make a make a few shillings for themselves but there's also the consideration that if I'm running the shop and I've got a tech and he and he's got a problem, he can either reach out to you and get you to to do the module update or he can spend hours trying to go on google and figure out and trying to find something that he can do and that's costing me money and that, oh, and that's exactly it.
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: You know, we we've always, like we were one of the first, we built a really great tech support team and you know, the most important thing is having a friend in this industry with something.
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: It's something we really kind of built our business on.
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: You know, these cars are so technical.
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: Today, I mean, we were, I think, the first in the country to launch an aftermarket Tesla support group.
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: You know, because they're so technical, I mean they're rolling computers, they're rolling networks and to have a technician, I mean you used to listen to the vehicle right and tell if the vehicle was running lean right.
• 14:14
  Speaker 4: You don't do that anymore.
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: You know what I mean.
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: When you plug into these vehicles, they're going to give you 15 different, 15 different trouble codes.
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: They light up like a christmas tree when there's something wrong and they take it.
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: It takes a bit of a technical edge, you know to, to fix them.
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: So you need a specialist per brand and that's that's what opus offers.
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: We give that.
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: We give them that that level of of expertise and we want to make sure that whatever rolls into any shop in the country you know what I mean that that shop can connect to the, to the person and the technology that they need to fix the vehicle.
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: You know, because when you talk about technician shortages, right, we don't want to see shops going out of business and you can't possibly put the number of technicians you would need to fix every make and model into your service base.
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: You couldn't do it, so you have to leverage technology.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: Do you supply the education for your software to these technicians?
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: We do, and we go a little bit deeper than that.
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: We do webinar training on the actual vehicles and the brands you know we're doing on the 13th of July, for instance, we're doing a training event in our Huntington Beach location.
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: We're going to be doing another one in Florida, another one in New York coming up, where we invite all of our customers in and we take the support technicians, the master technicians that they have access to.
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: You know what I mean when they're diagnosing a vehicle we actually stand those technicians up in front of the customers and say, hey, why don't you come in on Saturday?
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: You know we're going to do an eight-hour class, you know we're going to do you know I'll pick a subject variable valve timing and we kind of educate the customers.
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: So we try to give them everything that they need the tooling, the technology, the education.
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: We try to give them everything that they need to be successful.
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: It's a complete package.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: Is what you offer?
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: We're trying, yep, yep, I got it.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: Well, listen, it's great to talk to you and sorry about screwing up your name.
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: No worries, yeah, opus IBS Intelligent Vehicle Support, there you go.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: VS Mars.
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: I wrote it down already I already wrote it down.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: He wrote it down, kevin, it's great to talk to you, my friend.
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: You take care, and thanks so much again for joining us today.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: Appreciate it as always, guys, you bet friend, you take care.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much again for joining us today.
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: Appreciate it as always, guys.
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: Thank you Bye-bye.
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: These cars are getting complicated.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: Get it, they are.
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: My youngest bought a new car, brand new, off the dealership.
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: Seven weeks it goes nuts on her.
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: I mean lights flashing wipers, all kinds of stuff.
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: She takes it back to the dealer.
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: Actually it gets towed back to the dealer.
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: Took them four days to go through it and one of the computers one of the computers was impacting five other computers and they had to work their way through the computers to get down to that sub-computer to find it, to figure out what was wrong with it and then the part was on back order.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: It sounds like the In Wheel Time show.
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: Wow, technically speaking, technically speaking and we're on back order.
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: We're on back order this is actually a show from like two weeks ago.
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and this is actually not a car show.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: We specialize in brown water.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: And food From Niterville.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: Recipe places.
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, buddy, okay, you and your friends can get this award-winning In Wheel Time Car Talk show 24-7 through the iHeartRadio app.
• 17:31
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• 17:41
  Speaker 1: The In Wheel Time Car Talk show continues after this quick break.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: Pro-am Auto Accessories has been serving Houston's auto enthusiasts since 1984, providing world-class products for sports cars, european sedans and American muscle.
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• 19:52
  Speaker 1: Time now for Jeff's Motor.
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: Minute.
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: Have you ever wondered what it takes to drive a school bus?
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: Never.
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: Or maybe an ambulance or a fire?
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: truck Ambulance.
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: Well, today we're going to learn how to drive a hearse.
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: So what you need for a hearse Don't go fast around the corners.
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: You should have a high school diploma or a GED as far as a regular driver's license.
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: After getting a regular driver's license, you can start out as a chauffeur or a taxi driver instead of jumping right into being a hearse driver, mike.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: So in many states there are requirements to obtaining a license.
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: It's called a for-hire endorsement.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: For that license, you need to gain knowledge of funeral services to enhance your career and prospects.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: So from there, the skills you need.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: You need more than excellent driving skills, don.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: You need to be alive.
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: You need, you must have, you must be empathetic, you must have compassion, you must be able to relate to the relatives of the deceased.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: Emotional resilience is essential as well, because you need to quickly adapt to stressful situations and focus on the driving and observing motor vehicle laws.
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: First, drivers should relate well with people from diverse cultures, backgrounds, dead or alive, so you need excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: Why did?
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: you look at me that way why did you look?
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: You just can't go to a funeral home and get a job, so the places that you can find a job as a driver of a hearse are hospitals.
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: Some companies are have companies that do commercial funeral transportation services.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: Now mike had a question for him before the show about going across state lines.
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: There's some regulations for that.
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: I didn't get into it, but you don't need much to be a first driver?
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: Well, not even that.
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: But like the funeral I went to last night, this morning they're having the service up in Lufkin from Port Nature, so it's a two and a half hour drive.
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: So somebody has got to transport that body up there to there and have it there for the burial site by the time the family gets there, and I would assume it would be the funeral home.
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: But like what you're saying, they may contract it out.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: I have to tell you that, from my experience, you realize that there are all sorts of different kinds of body wagons, most of which you don't even know it's a body wagon.
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: Well, there's vans, there's SUVs, there are traditional Hearst-looking vehicles, wagon-type station wagons.
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: So yeah, you don't need much, I guess.
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: So I mean, like if you were like, say, taking his mother up there to Lufkin, you know, I don't know what kind of vehicle it's in, it could have been in a van, could I don't know what kind of vehicle it's in, it could have been in a van.
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: Could have been A nondescript, non-labeled van.
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you don't know, that's true.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: And I will tell you that years ago I did a series of instructional videos for a very large funeral company.
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: It has many funeral homes and I gained quite a bit of knowledge, most of which I think I've forgotten by now.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: But I will tell you that most, if not all, of the hearse drivers are very well schooled in all of the things involved in a funeral Not just driving the hearse, right right, right.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: You have to be involved and know what to do, when to do it, how to do it.
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: That sort of thing.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: You can go to take a college course on that, because they do offer that Like a training thing.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: It's a very interesting industry.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: The kicker on this is it doesn't pay very well.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: It's like under $30,000 a year.
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's not very much, but you don't do very much.
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: I mean you crank the radio up.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: Is that too loud for you back there?
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: I mean, you know what do you do?
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: Hey, that subwoofer back there.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: Boom, boom, boom, boom.
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: There you go.
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: You know, if it's rattling the license plate, it's probably rattling your cargo yeah.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: The handle's on the casket yeah.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: All right, let's look at some of the stories making news this morning.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: We kind of touched on this earlier.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: Hacking group called Black Suit is behind the cyber attack on CDK Global its paralyzed car sales across North America.
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: According to Alan Liska, a threat analyst at the security firm, recorded Future Inc the story from Automotive News the cybercrime group has demanded an extortion fee in the tens of millions of dollars from Hoffman Estates-based CDK, which plans to make the payment.
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: According to Bloomberg, a black suit appears to be a group of Russian and Eastern European hackers with a history of working with a group known as Royal Ransomware.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: According to John Clay, a threat intelligence researcher at the cybersecurity firm Trend Micro, it functions as a ransomware as-a-service gang in which members lease their technical tools to affiliates and demand a cut of any extortion payments.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: Really so they basically have an agent to extort people, kind of like lawyers.
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: They get a cut if you get any money.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: I'm sure that we have lawyers listening to the program right now, so it's kind of a blanket indictment there, isn't it, Mr Morris?
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: No, I just meant the way they kind of do the commission thing.
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, sure that's what you meant.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: Royal Ransomware targeted at least 350, and demanded more than $275 million in ransom fees in 2022 and 2023, according to the FBI and CISA, a unit of the Department of Homeland Security.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: So it is a big ugly, ugly mess.
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: Tony Gullo, Founder and owner of.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: Gullo Auto Group in Conroe Died June 16th in Tomball.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: He was 90.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: Born in Houston to Italian immigrant parents, dominic and Jeannie Gullo, he was the youngest of seven.
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: He graduated from St Thomas High School here in Houston in 1953.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: Through an introduction by his colleague, don McGill, tony met Fred Haas, who became his longtime business partner.
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: They founded Gullo Haas Toyota together in 1970.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: Since its inception in 1983, gullo also was chairman of the Houston Auto Show.
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: So our condolences.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: It was a great guy.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: I got a chance to meet him.
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: The nicest guy you'd ever want to meet.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: Always had a smile, almost as if he knew me.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: Don, how don?
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: How are you guys?
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: It's good to meet you.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: He didn't know me from adam, but he felt like that.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: Anyway, it was a great guy and, uh, it's a sad day.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: And he had a great car collection too, from what I understand, although I never visited it.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: Did you ever go?
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: out there.
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: I've heard a lot about it, though mars is in another world right now.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: He doesn't have the headset yeah, okay, but uh, at any rate.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: Uh, great guy.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: Um, I think I'm going to save this story for later.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: Um, I, I really didn't have my act together this morning.
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: Um, this is a story that I want to read and, uh, you can't interrupt me here because we're kind of short on time.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: Former employee of a Vermont Nissan dealership pleaded guilty to committing mail fraud on June 18th, according to the U S attorney's office.
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: Again from automotive news, robert McLean, who served as service and parts director at formula Nissan, was employed at the dealership from March of 19 to September of 22.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: He also was once the dealership parts manager.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: In his roles, mclean would order parts from Nissan North America using the dealership management program.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: Starting in January of 2021, authorities said McLean began to order vehicle suspension lift kits, which cost from $2,300 to $2,900, that were not needed at the dealership.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: He would order them without using the management software so they would not show up in the dealership parts inventory.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: Nissan would bill the dealership, which would pay.
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: Authorities said McLean sold more than 200 kits on Facebook, accepting payment on his personal PayPal account.
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: He shipped the kits out using the dealership's FedEx account PayPal account.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: He shipped the kits out using the dealership's FedEx account, formula Nissan and its insurance company suffered an out-of-pocket loss of $575,000.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: According to authorities.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: Mclean now faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to twice the loss caused by his fraud.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: His sentencing is scheduled for October 31st.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: Halloween Boo, how many did he sell?
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: 200.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: 200 kits Lift kits At $1,500 a pop.
• 28:16
  Speaker 3: Well, he's got to sell a little bit of a discount so he can sell them.
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah, because it's not his money.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: It was all nothing but profit for him Like $300,000.
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: Mike's on Facebook right now looking for a lift kit.
• 28:28
  Speaker 3: Apparently he is.
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: I want to see if mine's shipped or not.
• 28:30
  Speaker 3: Quick back order.
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: Quick break now We'll be right back.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: You're on the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: The original group of Loopy Tortilla restaurants will have you telling your family and friends just what the original recipe means when it comes to the best fajitas in Southeast Texas.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: Founder Stan Holt invites you to visit the first Loopy Tortilla near I-10 and Highway 6.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: Here is the original house that inspired the design of all the rest and the original charm that helped make Loopy Tortilla the go-to destination for Houston Tex-Mex.
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: Nothing can compete with the original lime pepper marinade.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: That everyone will agree, makes Loopy Tortilla award-winning beef fajitas the best anywhere.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: Loopy Tortilla Katy is another location that gives you the same quality and service Houstonians have come to expect at Loopy's.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: It's located on 99 the Grand Parkway at Kingsland Boulevard in Katy.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: Find yourself in Aggieland Head to the Loopy Tortilla in College Station.
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: Located just around the corner from Kyle Field, it's a great place to enjoy those famous frozen margaritas before or after the game.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: Going to Louisiana, the Loopy Tortilla in Beaumont is on I-10, so you can't miss it.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: The original group of Loopy Tortilla restaurants has the best Tex-Mex anywhere and you are invited anytime.
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: Your car is a direct reflection of you, so don't be satisfied with color fade or a dingy, dull appearance?
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: Get rid of those terrible automated car wash scratches.
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: Gulf Coast Auto Shield is your save-the-paint company.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: John Gray and his team of detailing experts can help your car cars finish without a full repaint.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: Searching for the real experts in window tender?
• 29:54
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• 29:56
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• 30:01
  Speaker 1: Get that thing protected as soon as you take delivery.
• 30:04
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• 30:12
  Speaker 1: John will help you understand the many options and pricing right on the spot.
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: He's your guy to have your ride looking its best and protected too.
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: See the state-of-the-art shop yourself.
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: Free tours anytime.
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: Gulf Coast Auto Shield is easy to get to, located just south of the Southwest Freeway on the Sam Houston Parkway.
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: Gulf Coast Auto Shield full service luxury car care today and online at gcautoshieldcom.
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: That's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show.
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: I'm Don Armstrong, inviting you to join us for our live show every Saturday morning 8 to 11 am Central on Facebook, youtube, twitch and our inwheeltimecom website.
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, spotify, stitcher, iheart Podcast Podcast Addict TuneIn, pandora and Amazon Music.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: Keep listening and we'll see you soon.