Latest / CBT Live / Are Headlights Too Bright? Penske Going Private, Tesla Roadster (10.16.26)

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Are Headlights Too Bright? Penske Going Private, Tesla Roadster (10.16.26) · CBT Live

0:01
SPEAKER_00: Today is Friday, October 16th.
0:03
SPEAKER_00: I'm Jason Becknell sitting in for Jim and Bridget Fitzpatrick.
0:06
SPEAKER_00: They're on assignment in New York City this weekend, so we'll have to see them on Monday.
0:10
SPEAKER_00: But the show must go on, and we've got another great live show for you today.
0:14
SPEAKER_00: Joining me in just a few minutes is the car coach, Lauren Fix.
0:17
SPEAKER_00: You know, you can watch her segments, the Car Coach Reports, right here on CBTnews.com.
0:22
SPEAKER_00: She has new car interviews with industry insiders, including her most recent interview with Hyundai CEO Jose Munoz.
0:28
SPEAKER_00: You can check that out on cbtnews.com.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: And her latest articles on our website, all about being blinded by the light.
0:34
SPEAKER_00: You know, those super bright headlights that hit you in the oncoming traffic.
0:38
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, leaders in Washington are taking a closer look at that.
0:41
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna talk to her in a few minutes coming up about that.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: Plus, we're also gonna talk about privacy in your car.
0:47
SPEAKER_00: Lauren's big on this.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: She says, you know, your car could even be reading your texts.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: So we'll find out what that's all about with her in a few minutes.
0:54
SPEAKER_00: But first, today's automotive headlines.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: And we've got big news in automotive day.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: Everybody's talking about this.
0:59
SPEAKER_00: Flying cars are apparently here.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: Sort of.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: So after a decade of delays, Tesla has unveiled its new roadster, including a flying version.
1:09
SPEAKER_00: They call it the Rocket.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: Check this out right here.
1:11
SPEAKER_00: During last night's demonstration, it drove up a curved ramp, stuck to it, upside down, flipped through the air, and then landed under control, using these thrusters to jump over all of Tesla's fleet.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: Five Teslas.
1:24
SPEAKER_00: Now there wasn't a driver inside this car.
1:26
SPEAKER_00: It's fully automated.
1:27
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you want one, and I know I do, there's a problem.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: The rocket is, of course, not street legal.
1:33
SPEAKER_00: It's a demo, invitation only, not approved for public roads, not even offered to the public yet.
1:38
SPEAKER_00: So a little bit of eye candy from Elon Musk for us.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: Now there is a road ready version.
1:43
SPEAKER_00: It's called the Performance.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: Tesla says it goes from zero to 60 in 1.6 seconds.
1:49
SPEAKER_00: The price, not been announced yet, but a refundable$5,000 deposit is all it takes to get you a spot.
1:56
SPEAKER_00: Here's the catch.
1:57
SPEAKER_00: Ten days later, you've got to wire them another 45 grand.
2:00
SPEAKER_00: And then there's whatever it costs.
2:02
SPEAKER_00: We don't know.
2:02
SPEAKER_00: Then there's the second tier called the Thrust.
2:05
SPEAKER_00: It's race ready.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: Got some SpaceX inspired thrusters on it.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: Tesla says it goes from zero to sixty and get this less than one second.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: 0.9.
2:14
SPEAKER_00: That's it.
2:14
SPEAKER_00: Right there.
2:15
SPEAKER_00: We're watching it.
2:15
SPEAKER_00: Boom.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: Gone.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: 0.9 seconds.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: The final price on this one, of course, also not released.
2:20
SPEAKER_00: But just to reserve one, you'll need a quarter million dollars.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: So I'll take two.
2:25
SPEAKER_00: All right, production is set to begin in 2028.
2:28
SPEAKER_00: That's eight years after Elon Musk first promised us the roadster.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: So stay tuned and uh see if they deliver on that.
2:35
SPEAKER_00: All right, there's another big story in the automotive retail world this afternoon.
2:40
SPEAKER_00: Penske Automotive is going private.
2:42
SPEAKER_00: We broke this news yesterday on cbtnews.com.
2:45
SPEAKER_00: The dealer group agreed to a deal valued at about$16.3 billion.
2:50
SPEAKER_00: Now Penske Corp and Mitsui will buy out the other shareholders at about$200, exactly$212 a share.
2:57
SPEAKER_00: That's a 9% premium over Wednesday's stock price.
3:00
SPEAKER_00: Penske Corp says it will own about 64% after closing.
3:04
SPEAKER_00: Mitsui will own the other 36%.
3:07
SPEAKER_00: Closing is expected in the first quarter of 2027, pending approval, of course.
3:12
SPEAKER_00: And we have an update on Slate Auto.
3:15
SPEAKER_00: You know, the Direct to Consumer Electric Pickup Company has now opened its first showroom.
3:20
SPEAKER_00: Previously, you couldn't see one in person.
3:21
SPEAKER_00: They're getting ready to come out.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: So if you want to see one, you got to go to Chicago, go to this little store there, and you can see the electric pickup in person.
3:28
SPEAKER_00: You can check out the size, the interior space, the crank windows, uh the build quality, and they'll even let you test drive one.
3:35
SPEAKER_00: They'll have all those accessories and stuff on hand, so you can check that out too.
3:39
SPEAKER_00: The bare bones truck is priced at just under$25,000,$26,400 with destination.
3:45
SPEAKER_00: Now, Slate would not say when or where they'll be opening any other locations, so for now, you want to drive one, you're gonna have to go to Chicago.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: And before we get to our guest, I want to thank our sponsor, Radar by Auto AI.
3:58
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4:01
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4:26
SPEAKER_00: All right.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: So now it's time to bring in today's guest, automotive expert Lauren Fix.
4:30
SPEAKER_00: She is the founder of Car Coach Reports, co-host of The Drive with Lauren and Carl, and she's also a regular contributor to cbtnews.com.
4:39
SPEAKER_00: Her latest articles cover possible rule changes coming for headlights and privacy concerns in connected cars, including your car possibly reading your texts.
4:47
SPEAKER_00: Lauren, welcome to CBT Live.
4:50
SPEAKER_01: Well, thanks for having me, Jason.
4:52
SPEAKER_00: All right, we'll get to those privacy concerns in a moment, but I want to start with the headlights.
4:56
SPEAKER_00: Policymakers in Washington, they're taking a new look at rules for those bright headlights.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: What's the problem and what are they going to do about it?
5:03
SPEAKER_01: Well, we've seen headlights get brighter and brighter over time.
5:06
SPEAKER_01: And what no one talks about is why.
5:08
SPEAKER_01: Like there's no reason to make them brighter and brighter.
5:10
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, 80% of your driving decisions are based on disability.
5:13
SPEAKER_01: So we remember headlights when they used to be yellow, and then we got halogens.
5:17
SPEAKER_01: Well, now we're at LEDs.
5:18
SPEAKER_01: And actually, they're very smart.
5:20
SPEAKER_01: When you're in Europe, and I've seen this with Audi, who just showed us the new matrix system, BMW and Mercedes.
5:26
SPEAKER_01: Over 10 years ago, we were able to see that they could actually cut the lighting coming at the oncoming traffic.
5:32
SPEAKER_01: So instead of it being straight at you and blasting you, it literally curved.
5:36
SPEAKER_01: And it was cool because the light was smart enough to know to do that.
5:39
SPEAKER_01: Now that technology exists today, but not here in North America.
5:43
SPEAKER_01: So in the US, they decided back in 2022, we're going to look at this because a lot of people are complaining about bright lights, blinding oncoming traffic.
5:50
SPEAKER_01: What are we going to do?
5:52
SPEAKER_01: And there's been a lot of accidents too.
5:54
SPEAKER_01: And of course, you don't use the white line on the side of the road, but if you're being blinded, or you know, that's it's ridiculous, especially the different heights with a large SUV and you're driving a Miata, for example, you're going to get blinded.
6:05
SPEAKER_01: And so they looked at the differences.
6:07
SPEAKER_01: And in 2022, instead of saying, all right, there's technology that exists, let's use the existing technology that's been around at that time for 10 years.
6:15
SPEAKER_01: They didn't.
6:16
SPEAKER_01: They made a rule on top of the rule, on top of the rule, which is very typical of Washington.
6:21
SPEAKER_01: And car manufacturers here in the US said, uh, we're not going to make something special just for the US when we're a global brand like BMW, Audi, Mercedes, you know, any any brand, whether it be Ford GM or Toyota or Honda.
6:34
SPEAKER_01: So that sort of left them in a quagmire.
6:37
SPEAKER_01: And so now more and more people are complaining with the new administration.
6:40
SPEAKER_01: Uh the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, this is Sean Duffy's area, has said, we're going to look at this again because we've had way too many complaints.
6:47
SPEAKER_01: And now with even newer technology out that is so smart that it will light up the side of the road for animals, debris, uh, oncoming traffic, different heights that they're not using.
6:58
SPEAKER_01: So now they want to take these five different factors and find out what's going on.
7:02
SPEAKER_01: I say stop trying to regulate the regulation that's already that's already built.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: Use what's there that's being used in Europe.
7:09
SPEAKER_01: Although it's not perfect, it's certainly better.
7:11
SPEAKER_01: And what you're showing is a bright headlight now.
7:13
SPEAKER_01: Those are older headlights.
7:14
SPEAKER_01: So newer ones literally can carve the light around oncoming traffic.
7:18
SPEAKER_01: You could leave your high beams on all the time and it will not blind oncoming traffic.
7:22
SPEAKER_01: The problem is the other cars that are on the road, obviously.
7:25
SPEAKER_01: Older cars, aftermarket technology, because you can buy pretty much any aftermarket headlight bucket because they're so expensive.
7:32
SPEAKER_01: So you don't know what's coming.
7:34
SPEAKER_01: That's gonna take decades for that to unroll.
7:36
SPEAKER_01: But new technology, it basically they're looking at glare, brightness, they're looking at curving the light, they're looking at height because of the difference in the large SUV and a small car or a tractor trailer.
7:48
SPEAKER_01: So those are all gonna be factors that are involved.
7:50
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so go ahead.
7:52
SPEAKER_00: Well, you mentioned 2022 and when the NHTSA approved the smarter headlights, but so what happened with that?
7:59
SPEAKER_00: Why didn't they really take on?
8:01
SPEAKER_01: Because they made more rules on top of rules, which is so government, you know.
8:05
SPEAKER_00: That's all we need, right?
8:05
SPEAKER_00: More rules, more rules and regulations.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: That's what we pay our friends in Washington for.
8:10
SPEAKER_00: Now, a lot of uh if you're the driver behind the wheel, I love my bright headlights.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: I can see everything, but you know, when you're coming up over the over the hill and it hits you in the face, that could cause an accident.
8:20
SPEAKER_00: But there was a study that said that kind of glare is actually not responsible for as many accidents as you would think.
8:26
SPEAKER_00: Is there a disconnect there between what drivers think and what the numbers show?
8:31
SPEAKER_01: Well, there's a couple things there.
8:32
SPEAKER_01: Number one, um, believe it or not, to get a five-star crash test rating or a top IIHS crash test rating, the brighter headlights give them higher ranking.
8:41
SPEAKER_01: So you can say, oh, I'm a top safety pick plus or I'm a five-star.
8:45
SPEAKER_01: And so what they've done is all the brands have made the headlights brighter and brighter and brighter.
8:48
SPEAKER_01: That doesn't mean to make them dimmer.
8:50
SPEAKER_01: But I also think there's a fault of driver's education.
8:53
SPEAKER_01: So we all learn to drive differently for your age and mine versus the kids today are taught to pass the test.
9:00
SPEAKER_01: For you and I, we know that white line on the side of the road is where you look when oncoming traffic comes at you and it's bright, so you can see the edge of the road.
9:07
SPEAKER_01: And that because of what they call parallax, where you're sitting as the driver, uh, you know, on the left side of the car and the line on the right side will actually keep you in the center of the road.
9:15
SPEAKER_01: They don't teach it anymore.
9:17
SPEAKER_01: And so you've got a lot of, I can't help the education process.
9:21
SPEAKER_01: That I think there should be retraining anyhow.
9:22
SPEAKER_01: I'm a big fan of retraining because it also gives jobs when it makes it safer on the road and can lower insurance.
9:27
SPEAKER_01: But hey, that's just common sense.
9:29
SPEAKER_01: And we know how that goes with government regulations.
9:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, but as far as the brightness, it it's brighter because it they want to pass these higher rankings.
9:39
SPEAKER_01: But also, unfortunately, what happens is that people do end up looking into the light, sort of like a like a deer, you know.
9:45
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, a deer and headlights, exactly.
9:46
SPEAKER_00: And that that's why the deer freeze, and you know, we're just part animal too.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: So when a light shines in our face, it could it could catch you off guard.
9:53
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but from the dealer side, uh, if you have a customer coming in complaining that their headlights are too bright, is there's how should a dealer handle that uh when a customer comes in to buy one of these new cars, they're like, I love everything about it, but uh, these darn headlights are too bright.
10:07
SPEAKER_00: Is there is can they can they get a lower level?
10:09
SPEAKER_01: No, there really isn't.
10:11
SPEAKER_01: I mean, they can adjust the headlights to make sure they're leveled properly.
10:13
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's something that could be done in the service department, but truthfully, you can't reduce the brightness.
10:18
SPEAKER_01: And I will also inform you that these headlight buckets, if they get damaged like an offender bender, are really expensive.
10:23
SPEAKER_01: They're thousands of dollars.
10:25
SPEAKER_01: And they will be more expensive with these new LED matrix lights.
10:28
SPEAKER_01: But uh, these adaptive headlights really are the smarter choice, and you can't add them to an older vehicle.
10:33
SPEAKER_01: You can't add them to a vehicle that you just bought off a lot.
10:36
SPEAKER_01: It's either it has it or it doesn't.
10:37
SPEAKER_01: Uh, just like the cornering lights.
10:39
SPEAKER_01: You've seen you go around a corner, the it'll brightens up the corner where you're driving.
10:43
SPEAKER_01: They're great so you don't hit something, but again, they're expensive to replace and they can't be changed.
10:48
SPEAKER_01: You can't say I don't want to use that.
10:49
SPEAKER_01: It's part of how the vehicle's built.
10:51
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you you mentioned earlier uh for the older generation.
10:54
SPEAKER_00: I remember changing headlights out on my first car, a couple of bucks at AutoZone and maybe 30 minutes.
10:58
SPEAKER_00: I could do it myself.
10:59
SPEAKER_00: My new car, I looked at it, I said, uh, someone said if that headlight goes off, it's a$1,500 repair.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: So that can also be kind of on the back of an FI uh situation where they want to tell the customer buying the car, you know, and that's what they told me when I bought my car.
11:13
SPEAKER_00: They said, you know, you might remember working on your own car and changing the headlights, but do you really want to pay$1,500 to repair a headlight?
11:20
SPEAKER_00: Or do you want to go ahead and buy our warranty plan?
11:22
SPEAKER_00: I went ahead and bought the warranty plan basically because I knew the headlights would be so expensive.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: So is that another selling point?
11:28
SPEAKER_00: As cars get more complex, you can sell more FI product?
11:32
SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm very hit and miss on this extended warranties.
11:34
SPEAKER_01: If they come from the factory, then I'm good because you're you're buying a Toyota, you get a Toyota extended warranty, great.
11:40
SPEAKER_01: But if you're buying any of these aftermarket companies and I know there's money to be made there, the fact is the customer never gets the best deal on those.
11:46
SPEAKER_01: Um, you're better off putting the money in an envelope every month that you were gonna spend and come back to the dealer and say, hey, listen, I need a new headlight bucket versus uh these warranties.
11:55
SPEAKER_01: And you can pick any brand.
11:56
SPEAKER_01: The problem is when those brands go out of business, it falls on the dealer when you say, Hey, I bought an extended warranty from XYZ brand, and XYZ is no longer a business, or they change their names.
12:06
SPEAKER_01: And the dealer's like, I don't know what to tell you.
12:07
SPEAKER_01: You bought that from them.
12:08
SPEAKER_01: We just sold a service, and that doesn't look good for the brand, doesn't look good for the customer.
12:13
SPEAKER_01: Nobody wins in that case.
12:14
SPEAKER_01: And that's happened in the past.
12:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, I know there's a few of them that have been around for a while, but I truthfully tell people if it comes from the factory, worth buying.
12:22
SPEAKER_01: If it comes from an aftermarket company, put the money in an envelope, you'll be in better shape.
12:26
SPEAKER_00: Is there anything if you have a few years older car that has these super bright headlights?
12:30
SPEAKER_00: They don't have the smarter headlights, they're just bright.
12:32
SPEAKER_00: You're your neighbors and everyone's complaining to you, hey, you got your high beams on.
12:35
SPEAKER_00: You're like, no, no, I don't have my high beams on.
12:37
SPEAKER_00: Those are just my my lights.
12:38
SPEAKER_00: Anything those owners can do aftermarket to tone it down?
12:41
SPEAKER_00: I think putting tint on your headlights is frowned upon in most states.
12:44
SPEAKER_01: Yes, it is.
12:45
SPEAKER_01: And it's probably illegal in many states as well.
12:47
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and you can't even tint the windows in many cases.
12:50
SPEAKER_01: Like I'm in New York State.
12:51
SPEAKER_01: You cannot have a heavy tint on your windows.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: I have a vehicle that I bought out of state that had a heavy, heavy tint on it, and I was already pulled over saying you can't have that because it's obviously for the security of the police officers as well as your vision.
13:03
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but in Florida, that's pretty normal or Georgia where it's really hot.
13:07
SPEAKER_01: People who have the heavier tints they keep the heat out of the vehicle.
13:10
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but there is nothing you can put over the headlights legally.
13:12
SPEAKER_01: Right.
13:12
SPEAKER_01: And if you try to put lenses over it or something aftermarket, you have to be really careful to follow the regulations within your state.
13:19
SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, let's hope they they get these new rules in and drivers will stop complaining about being blinded by the light.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: I want to switch gears now, talk about another issue I know you're really passionate about, and that's data privacy in these fancy new connected cars.
13:33
SPEAKER_00: We know they share data with outside companies.
13:35
SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm okay with them sharing things like my, well, actually, my driving habits should be private, but engine performance and things like that.
13:41
SPEAKER_00: If it wants to check in with the maker on that, I'm okay with that.
13:44
SPEAKER_00: But a new federal lawsuit asked if cars are actually storing your personal text messages.
13:49
SPEAKER_00: It was tossed out of court, but it is that a real concern?
13:53
SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's it's a serious concern.
13:55
SPEAKER_01: So I had no problem like you did.
13:57
SPEAKER_01: You're checking the uh carburation or in this case, fuel injection, or the, you know, some sort of a way to make the vehicle run properly.
14:05
SPEAKER_01: Great.
14:06
SPEAKER_01: I have no problem with the manufacturer knowing that information, especially if they can help make my vehicle better.
14:11
SPEAKER_01: I bring it back to the dealer.
14:12
SPEAKER_01: The dealer's like, oh, yeah, you know, we've got a technical service bullet, and we we can make your car perform better, get better fuel economy.
14:18
SPEAKER_01: No one's gonna be upset about that.
14:20
SPEAKER_01: What we don't like, and this is not necessarily the brand, but it's part of the software.
14:25
SPEAKER_01: So many of us have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which I use, uh, but the Bluetooth technology is now connecting everything that's on your phone, including your text messages, your phone log, and everything, through the center stack.
14:36
SPEAKER_01: Where is that information going?
14:38
SPEAKER_01: So somebody took it to court in the state of Washington, and the state of Washington has a privacy law, but it has to show that it harmed you personally, your business, or your reputation.
14:48
SPEAKER_01: And since it didn't in this specific case, they threw it out of court, which means the car manufacturers can still collect that data and sell that data.
14:56
SPEAKER_01: The question is, where does that data go?
14:58
SPEAKER_01: But also a lot of these apps that you install, whether it be Facebook or Google, all the normal things, Netflix, things you use in your car where the car is parked, not driving, hopefully.
15:08
SPEAKER_01: Um these are these are the problems.
15:10
SPEAKER_01: These apps take your information off your phone anyhow, but now they're taking it through your text messages and everything else through your center screen.
15:17
SPEAKER_01: Now you cannot connect through Bluetooth, you can do a wired connection as well as another way to get around it.
15:23
SPEAKER_01: But people always say, well, what am I supposed to do?
15:25
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to put my phone at my ear.
15:26
SPEAKER_01: Well, get an earpiece like I have.
15:28
SPEAKER_01: This is one thing you can do.
15:29
SPEAKER_01: I know it's inconvenient because when you're driving, you want your hands on the steering wheel, and that's smart, your eyes on the road.
15:35
SPEAKER_01: But this technology has gotten to the point it's gotten bad.
15:38
SPEAKER_01: For car manufacturers, this is not a fault of any dealer, but the car manufacturers have to make up for the losses they had from the electric vehicles that they were forced to make that did not sell well.
15:47
SPEAKER_01: We know that, we can see that everywhere.
15:48
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you're talking about maybe 6% of total sales being that they are EVs.
15:53
SPEAKER_01: So what do what happens now?
15:54
SPEAKER_01: They collect the data and they can sell the data and make money.
15:57
SPEAKER_01: And that money can be sold, or that data can be sold to anyone, a three-letter agency, uh, an extended warranty company, your insurance company, uh, the police department, whoever wants to buy it.
16:09
SPEAKER_01: And the thing is, you don't know that because they keep it forever, much like Flack cameras.
16:13
SPEAKER_01: So you're being exposed from the outside with all Flack and Accent and all the Motorola cameras all over the place, but also now it's inside your car too.
16:21
SPEAKER_01: And now with uh the signal trace, they can also take your Bluetooth signal.
16:24
SPEAKER_01: And even if you're in the passenger seat, your phone's not connected.
16:27
SPEAKER_01: You and I decide to go to lunch, and it knows that, hey, Jason's got his iPhone, his iPad, and his laptop with him in his backpack.
16:35
SPEAKER_01: I'm now getting information off of that too.
16:37
SPEAKER_01: And I know every single location that you ping.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: So I now have tracking of where you go, what you do, how long you were there, and you think, well, I'm not gonna drive, I'm gonna walk.
16:46
SPEAKER_01: Don't worry, they're taking it off the sidewalks too, because you have to go through an intersection when you're walking.
16:50
SPEAKER_01: So, this is a how far do we want to go to give this up?
16:54
SPEAKER_01: And this all comes under that 2021 infrastructure bill that also had the kill switch in it.
16:59
SPEAKER_01: And that's what no one realized because we were all looking for car information, like, oh, we don't want those kill switches.
17:04
SPEAKER_01: Nobody wants that.
17:05
SPEAKER_01: And we've got November of next year.
17:06
SPEAKER_01: It it has to be mandated unless someone strips out the policy.
17:11
SPEAKER_01: We're all pretty upset about this.
17:12
SPEAKER_01: This is not um something that we wanted, nothing we asked for, but the Biden administration thought it was smart to do that, and they put it within that infrastructure bill.
17:21
SPEAKER_01: And of course, very deep, deep, deep down, like the kill switches, and no one will see it till it's too late to undo it.
17:26
SPEAKER_00: Now, the you mentioned sharing that data with things like the police.
17:30
SPEAKER_00: Would they share that data with your insurance company?
17:32
SPEAKER_00: Could that even affect your insurance rate?
17:34
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they see, oh, Jason was texting while he was driving, which I don't do.
17:38
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's illegal here in Georgia.
17:40
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but you know, if they but and how would they differentiate between me typing a text?
17:45
SPEAKER_00: You know, a lot of times I do text while I'm driving, but I'm speaking to Siri.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: Hey, Siri, tell my wife I'm five minutes late.
17:51
SPEAKER_00: Send it.
17:52
SPEAKER_00: That's gonna look like a text.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: Is there a way that it knows that it was a voice to text?
17:56
SPEAKER_00: Because that's legal and safer.
17:59
SPEAKER_01: Well, that is a good question.
18:00
SPEAKER_01: That we don't know, and it's an excellent question.
18:02
SPEAKER_01: What we do know is that it will increase your insurance trace.
18:05
SPEAKER_01: There was a lady who had purchased OnStar, and that's just I happen to love their service, but um, it happened to be her specific case.
18:13
SPEAKER_01: This is what she's claiming, so we'll leave it at that.
18:15
SPEAKER_01: But she said that her insurance rates went up 80%.
18:18
SPEAKER_01: So she contacted the insurance company and they said, Yep, yeah, based on your driving record, where you're driving, when you're driving, what you're doing while you're driving, we've increased your insurance rates by 80%.
18:27
SPEAKER_01: So she thought, well, I'll just shop around, like you and I.
18:29
SPEAKER_01: We will find another company.
18:31
SPEAKER_01: And she did.
18:32
SPEAKER_01: And then she got a letter in the mail from her current insurance company saying that you need to get a Lexus Nexus report before you because everyone was denying her insurance or making the rate too high.
18:43
SPEAKER_01: And she said, This is so weird.
18:44
SPEAKER_01: Like, how do they know?
18:46
SPEAKER_01: Well, they all talk to each other.
18:47
SPEAKER_01: So you can get it's called Lexus Nexus.
18:49
SPEAKER_01: You can apply for it for free.
18:50
SPEAKER_01: In 10 days, you'll get a letter in the mail and don't leave it on your desk like I did.
18:54
SPEAKER_01: Because I said, Oh, I'll get to it.
18:56
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
18:56
SPEAKER_01: But you want to get on it right away because you have like 10 days to use it.
18:59
SPEAKER_01: When you do, download your report, it's gonna blow your mind.
19:02
SPEAKER_01: Mine had stuff that was accurate and inaccurate.
19:05
SPEAKER_01: It said that I had a speeding ticket in Indiana.
19:07
SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking, no, no, I definitely don't have that.
19:11
SPEAKER_01: I don't think I've ever been pulled over, and I rarely in Indiana.
19:14
SPEAKER_01: And it lists like where I went to college, it had so much information.
19:19
SPEAKER_01: Every house I've ever lived in, phone numbers, social security number.
19:22
SPEAKER_01: It had everything where I've worked, what I mean, it had it was scary.
19:26
SPEAKER_01: It was probably about 32 pages, and I read through all of it, and it was one of those things that's like forget the the the short reading.
19:32
SPEAKER_01: This was like you read every single word about yourself.
19:36
SPEAKER_01: And to get it corrected is the problem.
19:37
SPEAKER_01: That's you have it there on the screen.
19:38
SPEAKER_01: It's Lexus Nexus.
19:40
SPEAKER_01: You can sign up for free.
19:41
SPEAKER_01: Highly recommend that everyone do it.
19:43
SPEAKER_01: Do it for yourself, do it for your spouse.
19:45
SPEAKER_01: I saw my kids to do it, they haven't done it yet.
19:47
SPEAKER_00: They're adults on what's typical of kids.
19:50
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of info on there, and it can affect your insurance, your life insurance, it can affect your your credit report, everything.
19:57
SPEAKER_01: And you're using this information, not necessarily for you, but it could be inaccurate and it could be against you.
20:02
SPEAKER_00: So, what did you do after you found some of that false information?
20:05
SPEAKER_00: There was a different Lauren Fix that got that ticket.
20:08
SPEAKER_00: Were you able to remedy that?
20:09
SPEAKER_00: Were you able to call Indiana and say that wasn't me?
20:11
SPEAKER_01: I tried.
20:12
SPEAKER_01: Believe me, I spent quite a bit of time making phone calls.
20:15
SPEAKER_01: And at some point I I kind of tossed my hands in there because it was a speeding ticket, and I'm like, well, it wasn't me.
20:20
SPEAKER_01: And there's probably other people with my name.
20:22
SPEAKER_01: It's not, it's not that unusual of a name, but um, but it wasn't like it was affecting my my insurance.
20:28
SPEAKER_01: But if there was, and I'm gonna go back and do it every year now because I want to know what's going on.
20:33
SPEAKER_01: What kind of information are they getting that's right or wrong?
20:35
SPEAKER_01: If it is wrong, correcting it is a challenge.
20:37
SPEAKER_01: Credit reports, you can change, you can adjust.
20:40
SPEAKER_01: But when it's something as as minimal as a speeding ticket, and I wasn't even there, it's much like fighting a flat camera system.
20:46
SPEAKER_01: You got to take it to court and you're gonna have to fight it.
20:48
SPEAKER_01: And if it affects you and your credit rating and your insurance, it's worth the time.
20:53
SPEAKER_00: And if uh data savvy customers like you that are aware of all this and concerned about this, go in to buy a new car, there what should they be asking the dealer?
21:02
SPEAKER_00: And then what should the dealer be telling them about what the cars are collecting on them?
21:06
SPEAKER_00: Should the dealers be trained on this as part of the sales process?
21:09
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
21:10
SPEAKER_01: I mean, anyone who's an FI, which is the only job I would ever take in a dealership, it's it's the best job, in my opinion.
21:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, but the FI guys should know that you run a credit report on someone, you're gonna get some information.
21:21
SPEAKER_01: If you see something that throws a flag and says, geez, this is kind of odd.
21:24
SPEAKER_01: And maybe you give someone their interest rate and they say, This is ridiculous.
21:28
SPEAKER_01: This is so high.
21:28
SPEAKER_01: Well, hold on, let's look at the report together.
21:30
SPEAKER_01: So, what you're doing is creating a business relationship.
21:33
SPEAKER_01: They're now saying, Wow, you took the time to look at this and show this to me.
21:36
SPEAKER_01: This is inaccurate.
21:37
SPEAKER_01: I need to correct it.
21:37
SPEAKER_01: Or, oh yeah, you're right.
21:38
SPEAKER_01: You know, I didn't pay a lot of bills, and that's why my interest rate is high.
21:42
SPEAKER_01: But at least you're being honest with them.
21:43
SPEAKER_01: And I think when you open up a conversation, um, not to be invasive, but to say this is why your rate is what it is.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: I think people appreciate it, especially if there's a mistake.
21:52
SPEAKER_00: And do you think do you think this could in the future become a selling point?
21:55
SPEAKER_00: Maybe a manufacturer takes notice and says, hey, our customers don't like us really looking into To every detail of their life.
22:01
SPEAKER_00: Here's uh maybe it's one of their cars, or maybe it's they just take a whole brand approach and say, we're not gonna do that, or is there just too much money to be made?
22:08
SPEAKER_01: I think there's too much money to be made.
22:10
SPEAKER_01: There's billions of dollars changing hands.
22:13
SPEAKER_01: All that information in your center screen, think about your phone, everything you keep on your phone, your text messages, your phone logs, your pictures, every we all keep everything on it.
22:22
SPEAKER_01: People keep passwords on it.
22:23
SPEAKER_01: Of course, I have mine locked down, but um, I know my son uses like proton emails and stuff like that.
22:29
SPEAKER_01: You can go crazy and really lock your phone down so that no one has access to anything.
22:33
SPEAKER_01: But anytime you connect that Bluetooth, you're automatically accepting.
22:37
SPEAKER_01: And no one reads the with the print.
22:39
SPEAKER_01: The big print, give it the small print.
22:41
SPEAKER_01: Take it off.
22:41
SPEAKER_00: Just scroll through it and agree because who has time to do that?
22:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we all do.
22:44
SPEAKER_01: I do that too.
22:44
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm not gonna, I'm not an attorney, and I'm not gonna sit there and read all that.
22:48
SPEAKER_01: And you know it's pages and pages and pages of it.
22:50
SPEAKER_01: It's like F and I, same thing.
22:52
SPEAKER_01: You get this long document, and they give you the highlights of it.
22:54
SPEAKER_01: You're like, I don't even know what the heck I just signed.
22:57
SPEAKER_00: You know, well, and speaking of that, I want to get an update from you.
22:59
SPEAKER_00: Last time you were on, you were talking about, I believe it was your Bronco.
23:02
SPEAKER_00: You had some settings turned off because you don't want to share any of your data, but then you got an over-the-air update, and you noticed that some of those had magically switched back to on.
23:11
SPEAKER_00: Have you have you been able to turn those back off?
23:13
SPEAKER_00: Any updates on that?
23:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I have a Bronco Raptor.
23:15
SPEAKER_01: I bought it brand new when they first came out, and and uh one night it was doing all that z in the garage, and I thought, geez, that's weird.
23:21
SPEAKER_01: Must be a software update.
23:22
SPEAKER_01: And in the morning, I got in.
23:24
SPEAKER_01: It's a just a second, just a little split second.
23:27
SPEAKER_01: It's it said, Oh, everything's been updated.
23:29
SPEAKER_01: And I went, hmm.
23:30
SPEAKER_01: So I started looking and I realized everything that I shut off, the tracking, all that information had turned back on.
23:35
SPEAKER_01: So I went back in and took the time, very unhappy about that, and shut everything off.
23:39
SPEAKER_01: And it's not just Ford.
23:41
SPEAKER_01: This is the software companies are working with the car manufacturers.
23:45
SPEAKER_01: They want this data, they can sell this data.
23:47
SPEAKER_01: If you miss it and you don't know if your car's been updated overnight because you don't get a notification, you've been updated.
23:52
SPEAKER_01: It could be any brand, literally any brand, high trim level, low trim level.
23:57
SPEAKER_01: If that happens, go and check it.
23:59
SPEAKER_01: Hey, you know what?
24:00
SPEAKER_01: They say it's updated.
24:01
SPEAKER_01: You might get that on your phone, you might not.
24:03
SPEAKER_01: So it's important that you go through and check it.
24:06
SPEAKER_01: You could do it once a month, you could do it every quarter, but you might be surprised that they're tracking where you go and you allowed it.
24:12
SPEAKER_00: So it's not a set it and forget it.
24:13
SPEAKER_00: It's not enough just to do it one time.
24:15
SPEAKER_00: You got to go check it every now and then, especially if you do know you got an over the air update.
24:19
SPEAKER_00: Definitely check it.
24:19
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
24:19
SPEAKER_00: And if you don't know, like what like when you get your oil changed or something, maybe check it and change your oil and make sure your privacy settings are where you like them.
24:26
SPEAKER_01: 5,000 miles, yeah.
24:28
SPEAKER_00: All right, Lauren, do you have a few minutes to stick around with us for uh another segment?
24:31
SPEAKER_00: Uh good, because uh I'm flying solo today since Jim and Bridget took off.
24:35
SPEAKER_00: And if you've watched the show, you know Jim loves these funny social clips that the dealers are making.
24:40
SPEAKER_00: And so if you have time, I'm gonna show a couple of them, see what you think about them.
24:44
SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, Halloween's coming up around the corner, and we're seeing a lot of videos from dealerships getting into the spirit.
24:48
SPEAKER_00: So check out this video from Sarasota Ford.
24:54
SPEAKER_01: Don't get wrapped up in car buying games.
24:57
SPEAKER_02: Beware of prices, they'll bleed you dry.
25:00
SPEAKER_02: Our prices will have you hooing at the moon.
25:05
SPEAKER_00: Find a vehicle doesn't have to be scary.
25:08
SPEAKER_00: Come stop by our dealership and let's talk about it.
25:11
SPEAKER_00: Let's taco about it.
25:12
SPEAKER_00: Did you get that?
25:13
SPEAKER_01: That's cute.
25:14
SPEAKER_01: I like puns and I do love Halloween.
25:16
SPEAKER_01: I like the fun side of Halloween.
25:18
SPEAKER_01: No, that was very creative.
25:19
SPEAKER_01: I have to give them credit.
25:20
SPEAKER_01: Hopefully, they spread that all over social media because that's the kind of thing that causes people to go into a dealership they may have not even thought twice about.
25:26
SPEAKER_00: Right.
25:26
SPEAKER_00: We're seeing more and more dealerships doing it in Jim and Bridget, and everybody's encouraging to do it.
25:29
SPEAKER_00: We show it on the show because it's a very low-cost way to advertise your dealership.
25:35
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to buy a TV ad, you just put it out there.
25:37
SPEAKER_00: Some, maybe it goes viral, maybe it doesn't, but uh, they say keep keep producing, keep producing, keep creating that content.
25:44
SPEAKER_00: And we have another clip here uh from this is from Fairway Ford in Henderson, Texas.
25:49
SPEAKER_00: No, this is a haunted house for salespeople, so check this one out.
25:52
unknown: Okay, cool.
26:04
SPEAKER_00: So maybe this is more funny if you're you said you're not a car, you're not in sales.
26:08
SPEAKER_00: But uh, let me talk to my wife.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: I know you know that's something I would say.
26:12
SPEAKER_01: So I've seen all this before.
26:14
SPEAKER_00: So that I mean those are those are several things I would say when I go, I gotta sleep on it, I gotta talk to my wife, and uh scary things.
26:20
SPEAKER_01: Let me talk to the manager, yeah.
26:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
26:23
SPEAKER_00: All right.
26:23
SPEAKER_00: Have you made your Halloween plans yet, Laura?
26:25
SPEAKER_01: Pardon me?
26:26
SPEAKER_01: Have you made your Halloween plans?
26:28
SPEAKER_01: I dress up every year as Maleficent.
26:31
SPEAKER_01: Uh I have the old school Disney costume, and I've already decorated the house with pumpkins, and I hand I'm the person on the street that hands out full-size candy bars.
26:39
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm coming to your house.
26:41
SPEAKER_01: Favorite holiday.
26:42
SPEAKER_01: I've got the house all decorated when the kids are, my kids are in their 30s, but when they were younger, we always had a Halloween party.
26:47
SPEAKER_01: We created the garage into a haunted house.
26:49
SPEAKER_01: So it's one of my, I make it the fun side of Halloween.
26:52
SPEAKER_01: I know there's a scary side, but I like to keep it fun.
26:54
SPEAKER_01: And now that I have grandchildren, I have all the costumes of Winnie the Pooh and the Cinderella still all hanging up in the closet.
27:00
SPEAKER_01: My daughter comes over and picks the ones she wants.
27:02
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
27:03
SPEAKER_00: Well, we hope you have a happy and safe Halloween, Lauren.
27:06
SPEAKER_00: And thank you so much for coming on the show today and talking to us about all these important issues.
27:09
SPEAKER_00: Don't forget, you can read Lauren Fix's car coach reports right here on cbtnews.com.
27:14
SPEAKER_00: We're looking forward to that.
27:15
SPEAKER_00: Lauren, thank you so much for coming on the show.
27:17
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
27:18
SPEAKER_01: Anytime.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: All right.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: Now, we also want to let you know about uh our newsletter that comes out twice a day.
27:24
SPEAKER_00: So be sure to go over to cbtnews.com, sign up for our daily twice-a-day newsletter.
27:29
SPEAKER_00: You'll get great stories like the ones we just talked about here on CBT Live and deliver to your inbox every day.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: And we also want to remind you about used car week that's coming up in November.
27:40
SPEAKER_00: Jim and Bridget are gonna be there.
27:42
SPEAKER_00: CBT News will be broadcasting live.
27:43
SPEAKER_00: We're a media partner with Cherokee Media Group.
27:46
SPEAKER_00: That's coming up November 16th in San Diego.
27:49
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be a wonderful time.
27:50
SPEAKER_00: If you're involved in the used car business at all, you're gonna wanna be there to learn everything you need to know about the used car business prices and all the products coming out right now.
27:58
SPEAKER_00: So that's it.
27:59
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for watching.
28:00
SPEAKER_00: Jim and Bridget will be back on Monday.
28:02
SPEAKER_00: So tune in then, and we'll see you right back here at noon Eastern, 9 a.m.
28:06
SPEAKER_00: on the West Coast for another edition of CBT Live.
28:09
SPEAKER_02: CBT Live.
28:13
SPEAKER_02: CBT Live from Page Live, breaking news with the conste shrine.
28:17
SPEAKER_02: Interviews in the glass wall, boom, price tags up in the laptop full.
28:21
SPEAKER_02: Leaders talk when the margins breeze.
28:23
SPEAKER_02: Supply chain choking the buyers freeze.
28:25
SPEAKER_02: New car left, used car bite, every number of things on the Thursday night.