Latest / In Wheel Time Podcast / The Future of Cars: Student-Run Auto Shows and Luxury SUVs

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The Future of Cars: Student-Run Auto Shows and Luxury SUVs · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:00
  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.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: And welcome to the award-winning In Wheel Time.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Car Talk Show.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Just ahead we talk to Katrina Ness, the nation's largest student-run new car show.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Can't wait for that.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Also, I'll give you my thoughts on driving the new Lexus LX 600.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Not the LS, but the LX.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: And Jeff has the Motor Minute in this segment of the In Real Time Car Talk Show.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Howdy Along with Mike out of this world Mars.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: We always need more, Jeff Zekin.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Chief Engineer David Ainsley is here.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: I'm Don Armstrong, so glad that you could join us today.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: We're coming to you live from the Hemi Hideout out in the west part of the county, out in Brookshire actually.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: And this is our last weekend here, because next weekend we move into our new studio location out in Richmond, texas, which is another suburb of Houston, and it's going to be kind of a different thing because Mr Mars is going to stay in Neederville, so he won't have to make the 400-mile commute.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Yep and Jeff and I will be doing it.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Well, david, I think, will probably be there just to make sure that we don't screw it up, won't you, david?
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Yes, maybe that's a threat.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: I can tell already.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: All right, let's go to and talk to Katrina Ness, Northwood University.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Katrina, good morning, good evening, gentlemen, and thank you for having me on this morning.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us and getting up.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: Where are you located?
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: I am from Metro Detroit and I go to school at Northwood University, which is in the middle of Michigan, in Midland Michigan.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: So I'm in Eastern time, so it's about 11 o'clock, but it is still the morning and I'm happy to be on today.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: Well, you have a couple of Michiganders here on the dais.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: Jeff Zekin is from the Detroit area.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Where exactly in the Detroit area?
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Dearborn, Dearborn okay, and so, and David Ainsley has a nice summer place, a family place that's been up in the UP of Michigan for about a hundred years, so he goes there quite frequently and it's a pleasure to have you with us, all you Michiganders.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: Yes, I love it, the representation.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: We have metro detroit, we have the beautiful up.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: Very different, but that's what michigan's known for that's.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: That's exactly right.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Matter of fact, david invited me up and I visited him up at the up a couple of years ago and what a, what a spectacular place that is and, uh, it's like, it's like michigan's playground up there.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: It's, it's so beautiful.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: I except probably in about january and february, it's yeah no, I'm good.
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: Well, around october they start pulling people out of the up, the ones that are seasonal up there, like the, some of the marinas and things are going to shut down.
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: So they move down to.
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: Some of them go to florida and do the their trade down in florida with the boats and things.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: Gotcha okay well, that's not ready to snowboard or snowbird snowbird and leave michigan um in the winters and get out of there.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: But the summers are beautiful, but I'm with you now are you still in school there?
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: I am.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: I'm in my fourth year at northwood university, um, and I'm in my master's degree.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: So at the DeVos Graduate School I'm pursuing my MBA and my undergraduate degree was automotive marketing and management, which is a very niche degree.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: That is a very niche degree but it is very cool because, you know, here we are car guys, a gal now joining us here on the air on this Saturday morning.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: So tell us about this car show, and I assume that you have kind of probably spearheaded this thing and put it all together.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: Is that correct?
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I'm the 62nd general chair of the auto show.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: I always say this show is probably an organization that you can think of with the most turnover and employees.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: There's like no retention, because every year you know we graduate, we pass the baton.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: So for this year I've taken the lead on it, um, as the general chair.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: This is my fourth year doing it as well, but, um, it's a hundred percent run by students.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: There is little to no faculty involvement until it comes to legal issues, really, and it's the largest outdoor auto show in North America new car auto show and we also have expanded a lot recently into our aftermarket division, as well as racing and power sports this year and also heavy duty.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: So we have a lot going on.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: This year, our estimated total valuation is around $150 million worth of assets.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: Now think of that all put in the hands of 19, 20, 21-year-olds with no student involvement.
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: We're talking hypercars, crazy expenses and just with our reputation.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: We've been entrusted with these and it's a really great privilege and learning opportunity.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: How fun.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: I can't even imagine something like that.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: I was all excited going to work for a Chevrolet dealer here in town.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: This would be like 100 Chevrolet dealers all in one.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: Yes, exactly, exactly.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: We have dealers from all across the state with almost every single OEM brand that you can think of, and they support us every year by, you know, providing vehicles.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: We'll have certified drivers that are students go out and pick up the cars and bring them back.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: Sometimes the dealers transport them.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: So the dealer connection is there for sure.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: But you are right, it is like working for you know know, 60 plus dealerships for the week so this is coming up, uh, in the uh, well, uh, just next weekend, is that correct?
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: yeah, the dates are september 18th, uh, which is the thursday, so we have some festivities going on then, but, um, the 18th through the 21st, so super exciting.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: We have people from all around the country really come up, from a bunch of Michigan locals, family, friends, et cetera.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: To you know, all around the U?
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: S we have alumni that come, people from when, people from within the automotive industry that have ties to Northwood that come.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: So it's a super exciting event and people come from all around and let me tell you, the hotels in Midland.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: It's not.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: It's a super exciting event and people come from all around, and let me tell you the hotels in Midland?
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: it's not, it's not, you just turned her off.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: You just turned her off, mike, sorry, sorry, katrina.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: Mike is over here playing with buttons that he can't hear.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: Anything that's going on, so hopefully we're going to get you back on here in just a minute.
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: No worries, okay, gotcha, please don.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: There he is.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: Gotcha, please don't touch that anymore.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: He's doing something that he has no business doing Technical.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: At any rate, thank you so much.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: We appreciate all of what you're doing up there.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: I have to ask you if I come up there next Friday, saturday or Sunday, what am I going to see?
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: How do I get in?
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: It's an outdoor event.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: Where is it held?
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's held on our campus at Northwood University, which you know, as we were just talking about, it's so seasonal here and it's a little bit earlier this year.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: So the weather I have been checking it.
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: I best believe I have been tracking that weather.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: We're not ready for an early snowstorm or anything.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: No, oh my god, my heart would break.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: But no, it is looking nicer than it's been this whole entire fall already.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: So we're talking mid to high 80s and beautiful sunny days, so I'm so grateful for that.
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: Usually it's in October so it can be a little bit colder, but coming on campus, it's free admission.
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: The show was started as a way to give back to the public and also kind of as a capstone learning opportunity for the students at the school and what you can kind of expect this year in terms of vehicle counts, like I was saying, or, like I was saying in terms of assets, we're having an extremely high number.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: Usually we're around 50 million.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: This year we're around 150 million, which is insane In terms of vehicles, some of these vehicles that are going to be bumping up this asset valuation.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: We just got a notification that one of our alumni received a Bugatti Mistral from Europe.
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: It was being held over there for the longest time, so he's bringing that along with a pre-owned LaFerrari that was owned by Drake, which is really cool If you all know the Drake and Migos kind of collab and they had the concert and the big inflatable that will be there as well.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: We have a McLaren p1 coming um, we have a gt mark 7, so we have a huge uh inventory of supercars, as well as every single oem brand that you can think of now the manufacturers, do they?
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: they bring displays or just supplying cars um, we do get some manufacturer support, especially from the aftermarket, but most of our support comes from our local dealers.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: But then sometimes they work with um.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: They work with their OEMs and their manufacturers to get new fancy cars on their lot which then they can take to the auto show.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: So it's kind of a win-win because you know it's like the manufacturer says to them hey, if you support these students, we'll give you whatever cars you want.
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: You know, and you know know that game that can be played with the manufacturers and the dealers.
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: So you recently, a few weeks ago, you just completed the woodward dream cruise out there down in detroit.
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: Uh, are you drawing any folks from that uh function or those, those, those folks up to midland to participate?
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: absolutely, absolutely.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: We do a lot of work down there.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: A lot of us are from the area as well, um, you being from Dearborn, we know that, um, that that's a huge event downstate.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: So we do a lot of outreach and publicity down there during the weekend of show and or during that week of show, um, and we try to recruit a lot of people, because a lot of people that like cars, they like cars and they want to go to all these different events.
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: So Northwood being kind of the cap of the summer for the automotive lovers, it's a great event.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: We do definitely bring up a lot of people from Metro Detroit.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: I want to go into, if you don't mind, just for a second here, your degree and the degree that you got there from Northwood and the one that you're working on DeVos Graduate School of Management, and how it's focused on the automotive industry.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: Tell me a little bit about that.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, like I was talking about earlier, my degree is in automotive marketing and management and I'm pursuing my master's now and I'm pursuing my master's now.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: So on my undergraduate degree I I took a.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: I took this course and we basically learned every single department of the dealership, along with history, culture, customer service.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: So we had sales classes, fni classes, financial statement analysis classes all of that.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: That was really cool.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: And now my grad program it's more of a general business graduate program but there's still a lot of automotive focus, just because of Northwood, its ties and its connections and the continuous case studies that we do.
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: But my biggest takeaway from Northwood is the learning that you get outside of the classroom, not necessarily within, you know, sitting down in those four walls.
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: So, talking about outside of the classroom, we have the events like the auto show and the career fairs and other signature events that are put on by the students, like the auto show, where we get to really not only learn about putting on an event but also we learn people skills.
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: Trust me, I've learned anxiety management because I've been the most out of my mind these past 12 months.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: So you know coming into the real world after this with this much experience and this much you know, personal intelligence I've gained about myself and managing my life and my emotions and stuff like that has been absolutely incredible.
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: But yeah, northwood itself within the curriculum does take a strong foundation and strong almost theme of the automotive industry in terms of our coursework and also our classes.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: How did you get into the automotive thing?
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: Was it dad that kind of propelled you into this?
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: Actually it was my mom.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: I know that we hear a lot of like Northwood can be a dealer.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: Baby school for sure.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: I didn't come from a dealer family but my mom has worked in the automotive industry her whole life and her company, cox Automotive, is one that the relationship with Northwood and Cox Automotive.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: So when I was looking at colleges she was like you got to check this school out, like you can be a big fish in a little pond, and I was like no, like I want to go to a big crazy school where I can get lost and I can just have fun and whatever.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: But I toured Northwood and I really got involved from stepping on campus with all the different events and it was almost kind of just like a well, I guess I'm going here like I didn't commit to the school but I committed to all these different people about these clubs I would join and these roles I would do and I was like okay, I guess I'm going here, so what is?
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: so what is?
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: it.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: What is it like to have a car sorority?
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it's basically what it feels like, but it's what I say.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: Like the auto show, we really are like a sorority or a fraternity as a whole and it's amazing.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: I mean, we operate in meetings and stuff like that and we're just a large group of a student organization, but we also do have sororities and fraternities on campus, if that's what you're referring to but, they practice, you know, and do events just like every other sorority at a larger school.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: But, like I was saying earlier, I mean it's a smaller school, so it's smaller numbers of everything okay.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: So I have to ask you let's get back to the car show next weekend.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: Is there going to be video available?
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: I mean we're going to be able to see any of this.
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: How's that work?
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: We'll make sure to push out a lot of content not only on our social medias, but also on our website, and we also have a lot of photographers and influencers that come up that weekend.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: We haven't been invited yet.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: Oh no, We'll invite you Okay.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: Thank you, I appreciate that, so we'll be able to.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: Is it going to be a live stream?
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: Just a still camera something?
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: That would be an amazing idea.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: Thank you, I really, really love that I didn't charge you a dime for that and we could do that.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: So I'll tell you what?
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: I'll go down to the Greyhound bus station and see how we can get some tickets to get up there.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you do that and you take the equipment and you go and we'll sit back here in Houston and then you can do all the work up there.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: I love it.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: I'm writing down in my notes right now live stream.
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: Live stream, yeah.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: All it would take is just, you know, a still shot of the grounds looking at all the stuff that you got going on there.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: And you could do, and you could do the play by play.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: Exactly the next play by play, coming to you in about an hour or so, I'd love that, I love it.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: So what website do we go to to to get any of this information?
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: You can go to the Northwood university international auto show website.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: If you just type in NU Auto Show, you can type in N-U-I-A-S, so many different other things that you can kind of search up and it'll pop right up.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: But we also are very active on our Instagram as well, which is just NU Auto Show, which I think is where we would host a live stream and try and tie it to the website, now that I had this idea pop in my head from you guys and your brilliant animation, so I really appreciate that.
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: Is it all org or edu?
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: I believe it is.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: Let me see.
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: Probably edu.
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: That's what I would think, but I just thought I would check.
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: It is edu.
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: Ah, I got something right in my life once I know.
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: It's autonorthwoodedu or NU Auto or anything along the lines of that, somehow it ends up taking you there.
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: The Internet's a brilliant place.
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: Well, katrina, it has been an absolute honor and pleasure to talk to you.
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: We wish you the best of luck next weekend and I have a good therapist for you so when the show is over with you can go and visit for a couple of hours to get back to normal.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: I will need that.
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: I will definitely need that because the stress and anxiety this show has put on me has been insane.
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: But you know, I'm a student, I've learned a lot, so that's what I'm taking away Generally a bottle of tequila, yeah, a good bottle of tequila, we'll send that with some tamales or something.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: There you go, All right.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: Katrina, thank you again so much and best of luck to you next weekend.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: Thank you, have a good day, katrina Ness, bye-bye Northwood University and the big student-run car show next weekend.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: Sounds like just an absolute ton of fun.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: All right, just ahead we're going to have a review of Lexus' big SUV, the LX600, plus Jeff's Motor Minute.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: That's when the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show continues right after this.
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• 18:43
  Speaker 1: Hey, welcome back.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: We invite you to join us for our live In Wheel Time car talk show every Saturday 10 to noon Central Time on InWheelTimecom.
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  Speaker 1: Do it and you'll be glad you did.
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: Oh boy.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: Time now for Jeff's Motor Minute.
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah, kind of dovetailing in on what Katrina was doing with Midland.
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: Up there with the students in the car show, there's Automotive Boot Camp opening up in Detroit, so it's kind of keeping the theme here.
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: Not every dream has a yellow brick road and the automotive capital of the world.
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: The National Motorsports Association is creating a pathway to have Detroit youths build their careers and dreams in the automotive industry, sort of like what they're doing there in Midland.
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: Carmen Carter, the president and CEO, says it's a nonprofit goal to expose Detroit youths to motorsports and automotive manufacturers with hands-on experience building engines, participating in a stock car pit crew challenge automotive dealership opportunities.
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: So they're giving these folks, these youngsters, these kids, these young adults a lot of opportunity to do something in the industry.
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: Some young men, some young women, their folks have all been in the automotive industry with Detroit Ford, chrysler, dodge.
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: In that area this has been started by Curry Motorsports, which is partnered by NMA Detroit.
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: Julius Curry is a former NFL player for the Detroit Lions.
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: I remember that name.
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: He was also a player on the University of Michigan and he founded Curry Motorsports to provide access and opportunity with diverse backgrounds for these kids and I say kids, they're young adults, they're in their teens and early 20s.
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: But it's called Grow Detroit and that's what the name of it is.
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: It's a boot camp to provide structure and stability that gives participants an advantage in the job market.
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: It's a program that gets folks to get ready for adulthood.
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: Participants walk away with more than just theory and you know theories, Mike they gain fundamental and foundational skills Well theoretically.
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: He does With knowledge and familiarity, familiar with precision tools, that they can take that information throughout their career and whatever they decide to do.
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: So good.
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: We support a lot of the colleges and what they do for the youngsters and things.
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: Mainly, this is an individual, this is a private entity that's doing this.
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: So kudos to them up in Detroit and hopefully you have great success.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, theoretically everything will be turning out just fine.
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: Got Jeff tongue-tied there for me.
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: Yeah theoretically, I was Theoretically.
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: Time after this hour's car review, I had a chance to drive the 2025 Lexus LX600.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: Final assembly location Toyota Aichi, Japan.
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: Available trim levels the premium, the F-Sport handling and luxury.
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: I had the premium.
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: It is a standard SUV body on frame, Seven passengers including the driver.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: Exterior changes Well, it was redesigned in 2022.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: This is the first opportunity I've had to drive this great, big, beautiful SUV.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: Exterior features Overwhelming sized spindle grille.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: Takes the entire front fascia.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: If that's your thing, then you can just go for it.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: I would like a little bit more design, but it is what it is.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: It kind of is the face of the entire Lexus lineup Over-pronounced front wheel well, openings, Bulges, if you will.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: Wheels are matched to the trim level that you get.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: The rear tailgate and lighting is conservatively styled.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: What I liked about it?
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: The overall look is high zoot, Zoot Look that word up.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: Like a zoot suit, the zoot suit.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: What could use improvement?
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: Nothing.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: This is one good looking car SUV.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: Interior highlights separate instrument cluster, pod with infotainment and four wheel drive control screen.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: Below that screen controls are relatively easy to use and understand.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: The center storage doubles as a refrigerator.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: Let me tell you something.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: It works so well.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: I've forgotten and put I don't put something in their headset.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: I put something in there and I went and opened it up.
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: It was ice cold.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so there was that.
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: Uh, you know you could either have it cold.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: You'd hit the button and the green light will come on that says he uses a refrigerator.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, keep my lunch in there.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: Among other things.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: Among other things.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, cargo Small area with the third row up compared to some of its competitors.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: What I liked about it?
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: The reserved opulence of the interior.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: It's not overdone, but boy is it nice.
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: What could use improvement?
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: The rear seat entertainment system is a $2,700 option.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: Just thought I'd throw that in there, but when you're spending this kind of money, eh, what's $2,700?
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: Here's something that was really surprising to me.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: It has a 3.4-liter turbocharged V6 that turns out 409 horsepower in 479 pound-feet of torque Wow.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: It has a 10-speed automatic transmission that will tow 4 tons, 8,000 pounds Wow.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: So clearly this V6 is different than other V6s that I'm familiar with.
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: Something is.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: It acts.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: It feels like a V8 under the hood 17 miles per gallon, city, 22 on the highway for a combined of 19.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: I got 17.3, and no, I did not hot rod it.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: Drove it for 444.2 miles.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: Again, it feels like a V8.
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: That's what I really liked about that engine package.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: What could use improvement?
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: Nothing.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: I think that they scored a big hit with the v6 in this because remember that used to have a v8 and the v8 was extremely thirsty.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: I think it got 13 miles to the gallon, so they've made some significant there.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: You can see if you're watching on video, uh, you can see how big the grill is big like a snowplow.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, kind of what I liked about it.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: Uh, the as far as ride and handling is concerned, very compliant ride and uh feels a little bit top heavy in the corners.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: But it is a luxury suv.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: I don't know who would buy this and take it off-road.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: I'm guessing that there's some people that would do that.
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: I think it's more about bragging rights that you've got an off-roader maybe they're going to a ranch or something they own well, that could property, you know.
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: I don't know how many they sell to ranchers and stuff, but I'll tell you what.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: It is.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: One nice vehicle.
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: What could use improvement?
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: I think that they should consider an F-Sport version or an over-trail trim package, something like that.
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: Here we go, pricing Base trim price $114,500.
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: Prices tested, tested right up your alley.
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: David 121 211 the base model price if you just want to get in the stripper version 107 450.
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: I think david prefers a stripper version.
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: Well, not that kind of stripper that you're talking about.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: I rode in that car with Captain.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: You did yeah.
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: It is a nice car.
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: Holy Toledo is nice yeah, plush luxury.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: Okay, so here are some of the competitors Mercedes-Benz GLS starts at $89,200.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: Bmw X7 starts at $84,300.
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: Cadillac Escalade Escalade for most people $87,595.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: I get an A-plus on this one, and I want to thank Lexus and the fine folks at DriveShop for letting me have this thing for a week, because, boy, it was really, really nice.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: Next week, we're going to review the new 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: You'll hear my review next week on that one and that's this week's review of the 2025 Lexus LX 600.
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: Very cool.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: It is.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: It was nice.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: Can I just have that permanently?
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: It was a nice car.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, please give it to me.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: Long-term loan, long-term loan, research.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: Hey, if you'd like to get in touch with us, send us an email.
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: The address here is info at inwheeltimecom.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: We'll be right back.
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: After this brief break, you own a car you love.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: Well, why not let Gulf Coast Auto Shield protect it?
• 27:11
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• 27:19
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• 27:34
  Speaker 1: Curbed your wheels.
• 27:35
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• 27:37
  Speaker 1: How about a professionally installed radar detector?
• 27:40
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• 27:47
  Speaker 1: Better yet, stop by their facility at 11275 South Sam Houston Tollway, just south of the Southwest Freeway, and get a personal tour.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: Gulf Coast Auto Shield is your place to go for all things exterior.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: Call them today, 832-930-5655, or gcautoshieldcom.
• 28:06
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• 28:11
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• 28:22
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• 28:40
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• 28:41
  Speaker 1: That's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show.
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: I'm Don Armstrong, inviting you to join us for our live show every Saturday morning on Facebook, youtube, twitch and our InWheelTimecom website.
• 28:50
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• 28:59
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