U.S. Auto Market  

Average New Vehicle Prices Dropped In October

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  Straight Talk and Honest Answers

CarPro Advice:
Why Your Car's MPG Readout Is Seldom Correct

I get a lot of questions about fuel economy. It's helpful to remember this phrase: Your actual mileage may vary. Here I explain why.

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  Tariff Talk  

Auto Industry Faces New Tariff Pressure 

New trade policy and legal developments this week underscore how the auto industry continues adapting to a changing tariff environment, with clarity now emerging on key truck duties and judicial scrutiny of the broader tariff regime.

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  Toyota Deserves Credit For Handling Of Engine Recall

Many of you have asked me to report on Toyota's expanding engine recall. It involves its V35A 3.4-liter twin-turbo V6 due to  potential engine failure. While not good news, Toyota deserves credit for acknowledging the scope of the problem.

Read more about the recall →

  Tax Code 179, Plus IRS Loan Interest Update 

IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ALL CARPRO SHOW LISTENERS FROM
JERRY REYNOLDS, THE CAR PRO

Friends, we have been publishing the latest rules and eligible vehicles list for Tax Code 179 for over a decade. I encourage you to reach out to one of our Certified Car Pro Dealers at a CarPro approved dealership. They will help you figure out how to get the eligible vehicle you want.  Note:  Many automobile buyers will now be eligible to write the interest off on car loans, as a result of the “big beautiful bill” signed into law this July.  The details of the rules are at the link below along with the latest on Tax Code 179.

• 2025 Tax Guide and List of Eligible Tax Code 179 Vehicles →
• IRS Temporarily Simplifies Auto Loan Interest Reporting Rules →

  Incentives Guide

The holidays are here, so make sure you check out our vehicle incentives & lease specials page for info on understanding incentives, plus links to every major manufacturer's incentive page for the latest offers. Enter your zip code for current incentives in your area.

Current incentives By Automaker → 

  It's Time! Kevin's Famous Holiday Recipes!

  How To Safely Transport Your Holiday Meals

I’ve hauled a lot of things in cars over the years—sales reports, spare tires, even an occasional turkey dinner for the dealership potluck—but nothing travels quite like holiday food.

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  First-Ever Car Pro Christmas Song!

This is not something I had planned on, or ever thought would happen, but as they say, here we are!  I’ve always had a bit of a flare for writing, so I decided I’d write a poem based on The12 Days of Christmas since everyone knows that song. Last Saturday during the Car Pro Show, Todd and I got to talking about my poem and he said, “are you going to make a song out of it?”

That got the wheels turning in my head and I went to work. Not being a producer, I had to drag Todd into it to help me and I’m pretty sure he lost a full day of his life trying to make me happy.

🎶 🎄 So, you’ll want to tune in for the big reveal tomorrow on the Car Pro Show (Saturday 11.22.25) at 9:35 AM Central in DFW on WBAP 820 AM, 93.3 FM, and wbap.com.  For the National audience, we’ll play The12 Days of Car Pro Christmas at 11:35 Central/9:35 Pacific.  If the show is not on in your market, no worries, just click LISTEN LIVE at the top of CarPro.com to join in. 🎶 🎄

Here’s just a small segment from this song that is SURE to be a huge hit-at least with the car dealers!  Click on the arrow below for a preview:

The song features these 12 familiar automotive-themed days:

• Day 1:  Lexus December to Remember
• Day 2:  Happy Honda Days
• Day 3:  Toyota’s Toyotathon
• Day 4:  Subaru’s Share the Love event
• Day 5:  Stellantis’ Big Finish Event
• Day 6:  Acura’s Season of Performance event
• Day 7:  The Seasons of Audi event
• Day 8:  The Mercedes-Benz Winter Event
• Day 9:  The BMW Road Home Sales Event
• Day 10: The Unwrap A Jaguar sales event
• Day 11: Kia’s Light Up The Holiday sales event
• Day 12:  VW’s Sign Then Drive sales event

  Quick Shifts

Each week I bring you the top stories in the auto industry along with my commentary or sometimes amusing thoughts about the craziness that goes on in the world of cars. 

• When Your Explorer Goes Exploring Without You
• Half-Million-Dollar Flush
• From Hot-N-Ready to Booked-N-Processed.
• The Most Secure Car on Earth, Except for the Trunk

Read Quick Shifts →

  Weekly Recalls

• Buick/Chevrolet **ROOF RAIL AIR BAGS MAY EXPLODE**→
• Chevrolet  **CRASH RISK** →
• Ford **CRASH RISK** →
• Honda **CRASH RISK** →
• Jeep **FIRE AND CRASH RISK**→
• Kia **FIRE RISK**→

• Takata Air Bag Recall → 

   Win A 2025 Ford Raptor or $50,0000!

The holidays are here! Consider entering to win the 2025 Ford Raptor or $50K cash as an early present to yourself The Sweepstakes ends on December 7th, 2025 at 11:59:59 CST!

 Kim Komando's Quiz & Interesting Info

Kim’s Quiz:

Imagine this: a video game so infamously bad, they didn’t just stop selling it, they buried it. In the New Mexico desert. For real. We’re talking about the epic flop E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600. The gaming company dumped its dirty little secret in a tomb for unsold cartridges. It’s like a time capsule, if the goal was to warn future civilizations about what not to play. 

🎮 How many game cartridges do you think got the sandy send-off? Was it: A) 100, B) 1,000, C) 10,000 or D) Over 700,000? 

*The answer is under my closing message at the bottom.

Interesting items I found in this week’s Kim Komando newsletter:

• Hyundai’s data spill: Drive a Hyundai? There’s a small chance (OK, not that small) your personal info took a road trip without you. Hackers hit Hyundai’s IT arm back in February, scooping up the names, driver’s licenses and SSNs of up to 2.7 million people. The company’s only now sending out the “oops” letters. 
  
  
• Flat tire? Don’t panic. Snag a cordless inflator (35% off) that hits 150 PSI and fills your spare tire in about a minute. Works on cars, bikes and motorcycles.
  
  
• Carjackers hate this: Anti-theft steering wheel lock (20% off). Four locking hooks and twin bars make this a cheap insurance policy for your peace of mind.
  
  
• Stay rolling: Click here to see the rest of my favorite car gadgets while they’re still on sale.

• Tell your story: The Library of Congress Veterans History Project gives a permanent digital home to our veterans’ voices. It was created so future generations can hear directly from those who served to understand the true price of our freedom. It relies on volunteers, family, friends, you, to record an interview, capture their voice, their letters and their memories for all time. Because every vet’s story is a national treasure.

• 🎖️ My dad’s medals: These treasured possessions hang in my office. If a loved one’s medals have been damaged, lost or stolen, the U.S. military offers free replacements. Visit the National Personnel Records Center and click on your veteran’s branch to learn more.

   Check Out Our Newsletter Archive Page!

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  Classic Car Contest: Win An AutoHeatShield!

  Exclusive Approved Products & Services

  It's Here! The CarPro Merchandise Shop!

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  Miss the Show? Catch Our Podcast!

  Searching For A New Or Used Vehicle? 

  FAQ: Research Your Questions Before You Shop

  You Have 5 Hours To Call The Show! 

  Where to Find Us 

 My Must-See Video Of The Week!

  Todd's Video of the Week! 

 Closing Message: Buildings Don't Sell Cars, People Do

Ford recently announced a new retail showroom design concept that promises to “enhance the customer experience.” It’s modern, flexible, and full of ideas about how a dealership should look and feel. You’ve probably seen this kind of thing before — sleek glass, open layouts, digital walls, and hospitality counters meant to make you think you’ve just stepped into a tech startup instead of a car showroom. I’m sure it’ll be impressive. But here’s the thing: I’ve never seen a building sell a car. 

I’ve been in this business long enough to know what makes a customer come back or send their neighbor your way. It’s not the size of the service lounge or whether there’s a latte machine next to the parts counter. It’s the people inside that building — the ones who greet you with a smile when you walk in, listen to what you need, and actually care whether you drive home happy. You can’t design that into a floor plan.

A clean, well-kept, friendly showroom is all you really need. Beyond that, customers don’t care if the walls are painted Ford blue or neutral gray. They care about how they’re treated. They care about whether someone follows up after the sale, whether the service department remembers their name, and whether they feel respected when they sit across from a salesperson. You can’t build trust into a building — it comes from people doing the right thing, one customer at a time.

When I bought my Ford dealership in Garland, TX, it looked like they hadn’t been updated since the Kennedy administration. The showroom was old and tired, it only held 3 cars, and we had to move the cars off the floor on Saturday and bring in portable tables. But we sold cars — lots of them — more than anybody in DFW because we had people who knew how to connect with customers. They treated folks fairly and they kept their promises. Nobody ever drove home thinking, “Boy, I love that ceiling lighting.” 

That’s not to say image doesn’t matter. You can’t sell cars out of a dirty, disorganized showroom any more than you can sell them from a mud lot. But there’s a big difference between clean and professional and corporate and cold. The best dealerships I know feel like an extension of their community. They’re places where the manager still walks the floor, where a handshake means something, and where people can still talk about cars — not key performance indicators.

I understand why Ford wants its stores to have a consistent, polished look. Every big automaker does. It helps with branding, and it’s easier for the factory to show investors that the company’s “enhancing the retail experience.” But what the customer wants isn’t an experience — it’s a fair deal and a friendly face. The magic of this business doesn’t happen under fancy lighting; it happens across a desk when someone earns a buyer’s trust.

Every automaker wants their dealers to build huge shrines of dealerships.  OR they want them all to be cookie-cutter alike.  Mazda and Volkswagen are famous for this, but as you see, neither are leading the Winners & Losers update I give you every month.  Genesis ALMOST tanked their whole car company making dealers commit to outrageous building designs and size requirements.  I know Hyundai dealers personally who said: “No thanks, keep your franchise and put it where the sun don’t shine.”  It delayed the Genesis rollout in America for years.

Dealers know you can invest a fortune in architecture and still lose customers if your people don’t believe in what they’re doing. Or you can have a modest, spotless building full of folks who genuinely enjoy helping people — and you’ll never run out of business.

At the end of the day, a new showroom design might impress a few visitors. But it won’t greet a customer by name. It won’t stay late to finish a deal or go to bat for someone’s warranty claim. Only people do that.  If you are a customer entering a Taj Mahal of a dealership, does it cross your mind that you might just be paying for the big crystal chandelier in the middle of the showroom?

And that’s why, no matter how modern, how big, or how fancy the buildings get, the heart of this business will always be human.

Straight Talk and Honest Answers — always.

Kim Komando Answer: 

D) Over 700,000. Yep, Atari’s E.T. game were dumped in a New Mexico desert in 1983, turning an industry flop into an urban legend, and later, a confirmed fact. They made a documentary about the whole thing: Atari: Game Over. It’s a good watch!  

The moral of the story? If your project goes south, remember that someone once literally buried 700,000 of their mistakes in the desert. Incredible, right?