Los Angeles KNX Programming Note

  Straight Talk and Honest Answers 

CarPro Advice:
How Long Should You Keep Your Car?

One of the most common questions I hear isn’t about brands, engines, or deals. It’s much simpler than that: “How long should I keep my car?” The answer matters, because keeping a vehicle too long can quietly drain your wallet, while trading too soon can cost you thousands in unnecessary depreciation.

  U.S. Auto Market Insights

2025 Full-Year U.S. Auto Sales Report
Read more→

Tesla Loses Global EV Crown In 2025
Read more→

Tricolor Bankruptcy Now Involves Criminal Charges
Read more→

ID. Buzz: We Waited On It For Years - And It Is Gone For Now

Read more→

RIP: Vehicles Going Away In 2026
Read more→

  A Look Back: 2025 Year In Review

  Quick Shifts

Stories you’ll find today:

• Zero to Arrested in One Hour Flat
• Rest in Peace to the Guy Who Stopped Us From Guessing Our Fuel Side
• Those Weird Road Stripes Are Trying to Trick You
• Stop Signs Are Not Suggestions South of the Border

Read more→

  Weekly Recalls

• • Audi (2) **CRASH RISK** →
  • Ford **CRASH RISK**  →
  • Lamborghini **CRASH RISK** →
  • Porsche **CRASH RISK**  →
    
  • Rivian **CRASH RISK** →
    
  • Volvo **CRASH RISK** →
  • Evenflo Car Seats →
   
• Takata Air Bag Recall → 

  Incentives Guide

Here you'll find our incentives and rebate guide which includes a link to every major manufacturer’s incentive page. Just enter your zip code to find the current incentives offered in your area. 

Current incentives By Automaker  

  Enter To Win A 2026 Corvette Or $40K Cash!

Imagine winning a brand-new 2026 Corvette—or choosing $40,000 cash instead. Now is your chance in our new sweepstakes in partnership with Vehicle For Good! 

Our latest giveaway supports Hope Local, a nonprofit dedicated to walking alongside foster and adoptive families so children can experience stability, belonging, and hope. When you enter, you’re not just entering to win—you’re helping kids move one step closer to home.

  Kim Komando Quiz and Interesting Info  

Besides the Car Pro Show and our weekly newsletter, my other favorite radio show and newsletter is Kim Komando’s.  We are on many of the same radio stations across America.  She does for her listeners and newsletter subscribers exactly what I endeavor to do:  Give you useful information to keep you up to date on the latest in cars, only she does it with technology and there is nobody who does it better.  Not sure how she puts out a top-notch newsletter seven days a week, but she does.

💡Kim’s Quiz: 

Two clever college dropouts were writing a letter to a calculator company to buy their software. One of them had huge help from his mom. Before they put it in an envelope, they had to decide what to call the company. Which of these was the original, hyphenated name of their business? A) Soft-Ware, B) Micro-Soft, C) Macro-Logic or D) Altair-Bits?

*Answer below my closing message at the very bottom of this newsletter

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

• Hands-on: Mercedes wants you to open your car like a Jedi. Their new patent uses infrared palm scans to verify you by your vein pattern. It’s apparently super secure, doesn’t drain EV batteries and resists spoofing better than faces or fingerprints. Plus, it can adjust your seat and temp on entry. No keys, no fobs, only your circulatory system and a wave. Next up: controlling acceleration by your eye dilation. 

• Peak drama: Ever climbed a really tall mountain and thought, There’s no way this is 14,000 feet? Me neither, but the Gilbertson brothers are built differently. These twin engineers scale mountains with GPS gear to prove we’ve been measuring them wrong(paywall link). Eric climbed 100 of Colorado’s tallest, then realized one might not be the tallest after all. Now, the duo is remeasuring mountains worldwide. I like mountains. But volcanoes are ash holes.

• For years, the main knock on electric cars has been the battery. That changes this year. Major automakers like Mercedes-Benz and Toyota are slated to move solid-state batteries from the lab to the production line in 2026.  These batteries are a game changer. They don’t catch fire, they charge in about 10 minutes, and they can go up to 1,000 miles on a single charge. That’s New York to Florida without stopping for a charge. The electric car finally becomes more convenient than the gas car.

• Hit that fitness goal: No need to sign up for an expensive gym membership. Fire up your favorite AI chatbot and type in your age, height, weight, activity level and what you want to achieve. Ask for a workout plan you can do at home and a meal plan that fits your calories. You got this!

• Forget fumbling with cables. Plug this little dongle into your car once, and boom, wireless CarPlay or Android Auto. Connects as soon as your car starts. Lazy? Yes. Brilliant? Also, yes.
  

• A first for Tesla: A Tesla Model 3 owner completed the first fully autonomous coast-to-coast drive across America. David Moss drove 2,732 miles from Los Angeles to Myrtle Beach in two days and 20 hours with zero human interventions using FSD v14.2. That includes parking at 30 Supercharger stops. Elon Musk’s reaction? “Cool.” Back in 2016, he promised this would happen by 2017. Eight plus years late, but finally delivered. Remember, before you say “Tesla” backward, make sure everyone’s ready. All set?

• Eye in the sky: Your next ticket might come from a police drone. Florida cops are using drones to yell at beachgoers after hours. No joke, they even blast a “leave now” recording from above. Around 6,000 police units nationwide have drone programs (paywall link), and some are even issuing fines. Elk Grove, CA, pulled in $300K+ from drone-driven fines on July 4 alone. Looking forward to the next episode of COPS: Sky Edition. 

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  Jerry's Closing Message: Listening Still Matters

One of the things that has always struck me about the car business is how much talking goes on — and how little listening sometimes happens. Advertisements talk. Websites talk. Salespeople talk. Automakers talk. Everyone has something to say, something to sell, something they want you to believe.  A Mentor and my Premier Show Sponsor in DFW is Mr. Sam Pack.  He’s said 1000 times:  “Listen to the voice of the customer.”  So true.

But listening? That’s hard for many people. And it’s rarer than it should be.

Most people don’t walk into a dealership wanting a lecture. They don’t tune into a radio show hoping to be talked at. They want to be heard. They want someone to understand what they need, what worries them, and what they’re trying to avoid as much as what they’re trying to buy.

I learned that lesson a long time ago, back when I was on the showroom floor. The customers who left happiest weren’t the ones who got the longest explanation or the flashiest presentation. They were the ones who felt understood. Someone asked the right questions. Someone paid attention. Someone listened instead of waiting for their turn to talk.

Somewhere along the way, listening became undervalued. Technology didn’t help. Algorithms tell us what we might want. Pop-ups tell us what we should click. Chat windows start talking before we even finish typing the question. Efficiency replaced conversation, and speed replaced understanding.

But here’s the thing: listening still matters.

It matters when someone calls the Car Pro Show nervous about making a mistake. It matters when a listener emails with a long story about a bad experience and just wants to know if they’re crazy for feeling the way they do. It matters when a first-time buyer asks a question they think everyone else already knows the answer to.

Those moments aren’t about cars. They’re about trust.

The show has never been about having all the answers. It’s been about asking the right questions — and then actually listening to the responses. What’s your budget? How long do you keep your cars? What do you hate about the one you have now? What keeps you up at night about this decision?

If you listen carefully enough, the right advice usually reveals itself.

The auto industry is full of noise right now. EVs versus gas. Subscription features. Incentives coming and going. Interest rates, tariffs, and predictions about what buyers will do next. It’s easy to get lost in the chatter. But when you strip all that away, people still want the same things they always have: fairness, clarity, and someone in their corner.

That’s why listening is still at the heart of what we do. We listen to consumers. We listen to good dealers who are trying to do the right thing. We listen to the frustrations, the confusion, and sometimes the anger — because all of it matters.

And I’ll tell you something else: listening changes you. You don’t stay in this business for decades without being shaped by the stories people share. The mistakes they regret. The decisions they’re proud of. The relief in someone’s voice when they realize they’re not alone in a process that can feel intimidating.

As we move deeper into this year, my commitment is the same as it’s always been. We’ll keep listening first. Talking second. Advising carefully. And remembering that behind every car question is a person trying to make a good decision for their life.

If you’re shopping, ask questions — and make sure the people advising you are listening. If they aren’t, find someone else. You deserve better than a script.

And if you’re a longtime listener, thank you for trusting us enough to speak up. The Car Pro Show works because it’s a conversation, not a monologue.

In a world that never seems to stop talking, listening still matters. And it always will.

Straight Talk and Honest Answers — always.

💡Kim Komando Answer:

B) Micro-Soft. On Jan. 2, 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen officially used the name Micro-Soft in a letter to the makers of the Altair 8800. It was a mash-up of microcomputer and software.

Fun fact: A well-placed mom changed the course of tech history. Bill’s mother, Mary Gates, served on the board of United Way with IBM’s chairman. She’s the one who made the warm intro that helped Microsoft, a tiny unknown startup, score a deal with the biggest tech giant on Earth. Microsoft is now worth over $3 trillion. If you had invested $1,000 at their IPO in 1986, your shares would be worth roughly $5 million today. Don’t feel bad. I didn’t either.