Straight Talk and Honest Answers

CarPro Advice:
What To Expect In The Finance Office
At The Dealership

I made the decision to lead our newsletter this week with my advice column and to tackle one of the hardest topics someone who gives auto advice could possibly broach:
The Finance Office at a car dealership.

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  New CarPro Sweeps! Win A '26 Corvette or $40K!

We're excited to announce the launch of CarPro Sweeps - formerly Vehicle for Good!  

CarPro Sweeps was created to give everyday people a fun, exciting opportunity to win incredible vehicles and life-changing prizes through a sweepstakes experience they can trust.

You can enter now to win a 2026 Corvette Stingray or $40K cash! Our 20X bonus entries ends Sunday! Click here to enter! →

The sweepstakes began July 20, 2026 ends 11:59:59 p.m. CST on November 1, 2026!

Check out past sweepstakes winners here! →

  U.S. Auto Market  

Top 25 Best-Selling Cars
So Far This Year
Read more→

Used EV Prices Rise
Again - Led By Tesla
Read more→

Negative Equity Report: The Problem Worsens

Read more→

 Bloomberg:
Is Tesla Cybertruck The Next Edsel?

Read more→

 You Ask, CarPro Answers

Q: What Credit Score Do You Need To Buy A Car?

• For Jerry's Answer Click Here →

Q: Can You Trade In A Car You Still Owe Money On?

• For Jerry's Answer Click Here →

  Legal Matters

Suits & Settlements is a weekly feature highlighting recent automotive-related legal matters. Whether they impact customers and drivers, a specific automaker or have wider implications for the industry, they are important lawsuits and settlements I think you'll find as interesting as I do.

In this week’s Suits & Settlements, you’ll find the following reports:

• Lawsuit Claims Honda Camera Failure Disables Driver-Assistance Features
• Ford's 5.0-Liter V8 Lands in Federal Court
• Customer Wins Settlement After Technician Takes Mercedes to Sports Bar
• Judge Tosses Warranty Extension Class Action Against FCA

Read more→

Quick Shifts

ChatGPT Plus/CarPro.

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.

Stories you’ll find today:

• The Rats Are Winning the Urban Planning Debate
• Now With Optional Second Amendment Storage
• Please Take Your Trash With You
• The Vatican's Weirdest Fleet Expansion

Read more → 

  Weekly Recalls

• •  
    • Ford  **FIRE RISK**→    
      
    • Ford/Lincoln → 
    • Jeep **CRASH RISK**→ 
    • Land Rover **CRASH RISK** →    
      
    • Mercedes-Benz **CRASH RISK**→ 
    • Volkswagen **CRASH RISK**→  
     

 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 →

  Sell Or Consign Your Car For Top Dollar!

I hear from a lot of people who end up with an extra car for some reason. Sometimes it is due to a death in the family, or someone gets transferred overseas. I’ve seen many occasions where this happens. Well, now, we have two ways to dispose of a vehicle.

GiveMeTheVin has been with us for quite some time. In fact, GiveMeTheVin founder John Clay Wolfe and I have been friends for over 30 years. His team is made up of terrific buyers who make the transactions very easy. They have helped many of our listeners and I’ve had terrific feedback. They're great, too, if you need a good idea of what your car is truly worth and as I always say, a car is only worth what someone is willing to write a check for it. GiveMeTheVin writes checks, and lots of them.

Now, if you have more time, RetailMyRide.com is now an official partner of the Car Pro Show and they take cars on consignment. You’ve heard me recommend them in the past most likely, and they have helped many of our listeners. They market the car at all the right places, they get top dollar for it, take a little off the top, and you get the rest. It’s that simple. No people coming to your house, calling or texting, no worrying about how to complete the paperwork, they do all that for you.

So, the question is: Do you want quick cash or the most cash? We’ve got you covered either way with CarPro AppraisalPro OR CarPro ConsignPro.

It all starts at CarPro.com, click SELL A CAR at the top, or click here →

   Check Out Our Newsletter Archive Page!

Go to the Newsletter Archive →

  Classic Car Contest: Win An AutoHeatShield!

  Exclusive Approved Products & Services

  Get Your Car Pro Show T-Shirts, Hats and Mugs

  Subscribe to the free DFW Newsletter 

  Miss the Show? Catch Our Podcast!

  Searching For A New Or Used Vehicle? 

  You Have 5 Hours To Call The Show! 

 The Car Pro Show Now Airs In 180 Markets!

  Jerry's Must-Watch Video of the Week! 

  Todd's Video of the Week! 

  True Stories From A Former Car Dealer 

  Closing Message From Jerry

 The Song I've Been Writing My Whole Life

Over the past couple of years, a lot of people have asked me how I got into songwriting. It's a fair question because, after spending most of my life in the automobile business and the last twenty-five years on the radio, writing songs probably seemed to come out of nowhere.

The funny thing is, I don't think it did.

In fact, the more I've thought about it, the more I've come to believe I didn't really start writing songs a couple of years ago. I think I've been writing them my entire life. It just took me a long time to figure out that they were songs.

When I look back at the ones I've written, none of them are really about the subjects in the titles. Black Tape On My Badge isn't really about a police uniform. It's about sacrifice. Still Worth Fighting For isn't really about a flag. It's about the people who have defended it. They Came Here For The Soccer isn't really about a sporting event. It's about opening our country to the world and discovering that, despite our differences, people aren't all that different after all.

Even Why Can't Everybody See It? wasn't really about America. It was about hope.

That got me thinking about something else.

For years, you've been kind enough to read these closing messages, and before that, you've listened to me on the radio every Saturday. Looking back over those stories, I realized they all seem to circle back to the same place. Whether I was writing about selling my last dealership, Saturdays on a showroom floor, Alan Mulally, BJ, a water well in India, or a listener who simply needed someone to answer a question, the stories were never really about cars.

They were about people.

More specifically, they were about people who quietly make the world a little better without asking for recognition. I've always admired those people.

The salesperson who stays until midnight because a customer needs to finish a deal.

The technician who catches something nobody else noticed because he refuses to let an unsafe car leave his shop.

The widow who summons the courage to buy a car by herself for the first time.

The young couple trying to do the responsible thing instead of the exciting thing.

The listener named Rusty, whom I've never met, who helped drill a water well halfway around the world in memory of my Son BJ. Rusty didn't do it because anyone asked him to. He certainly didn't do it for recognition. He did it because kindness was simply the right thing to do. I've been fortunate to know a lot of people like that.

Joe, who taught a young kid what treating people with respect looked like.

Dick, whose quiet leadership influenced everyone around him.

BJ, my Son, who understood that customers never cared how much you knew until they knew how much you cared.

Alan Mulally, who proved that leadership isn't about having all the answers. It's about creating an environment where people can succeed together.

If you think about it, every one of them was singing the same song. Not with music. With their lives.

Maybe that's why songwriting has become so meaningful to me. It isn't because I suddenly discovered a hidden talent. It's because I finally found another way to tell the kinds of stories I've always wanted to tell. A three-minute song and an thirteen thousand-word newsletter article aren't all that different. Both try to remind us of something worth remembering. Both try to celebrate the people who don't always make the headlines. Both try to leave the world just a little more hopeful than they found it.

I've never been interested in writing songs about celebrities or politics or the latest controversy. Those things come and go. What lasts are the people who keep showing up, keep doing the right thing, keep serving others, and keep making a difference when nobody is watching. Our first responders do this every single day.

Those are the stories that deserve to be told. Maybe that's because they're the stories that have shaped my own life.

The older I get, the less interested I am in telling people what to think and the more interested I become in reminding them what really matters. Hard work. Integrity. Kindness. Faith. Family. Service. Those values have been at the center of everything I've ever done, whether I was standing on a showroom floor, sitting behind a microphone, or now, trying to put those thoughts into a song.

So, when someone asks me how I got into songwriting, I think I'll answer a little differently from now on. I'll tell them I didn't.

I've been writing the same song my whole life.

I just finally started putting it to music. 

Straight Talk and Honest Answers — always.

Kim Komando's Quiz Answer:

B) People earning $100,000 or more. Yep, 40% of six-figure earners in that survey admitted intentionally taking an item without scanning it, versus 17% of people making less than $30,000. So much for stealing to survive.

Overall, 27% of self-checkout users copped to filching goodies, up from 15% in 2023. Millennials and Gen Z led the pack, while only 2% of boomers fessed up.