In my over 20-years on the radio, I can count the number of products I have endorsed on one hand. I have had many opportunities, but after much due diligence, I usually end up saying no.
I won't recommend a product or service unless I have tried it myself and feel good about recommending it. It is the same with the car dealers on the radio show and website.
Here are companies I wholeheartedly endorse and personally use:
Tiger Diminished Value
In 2003, when I was still a Ford dealer, but also on the air in Dallas, I teased this subject by saying "coming up next, I'll tell you a dirty little secret your insurance company doesn't want you to know about". I went to break, came back, explained the theory of diminished value, and the phones went crazy. A month later, that was still all anyone wanted to talk about. The Dallas Morning News picked up on the story and ran with it. One of the major insurance companies was so angry with me, it refused to let its insured customers use my body shop.
Since then, insurance companies have continued to fight people on diminished value claims. That is why you need professionals like Tiger Diminished Value.
AutoHeatShield
For years, I did not use a sunshade even though I have lived in Texas my whole life. They were a pain, fell down all the time, and only covered part of the windshield. They all let the sun in and to be honest, they look like crap.
Then I discovered the AutoHeatShield. It is laser cut for the exact windshield of the vehicle you own. It's easy to put up also, stick it in the windshield and pull your sun visors down and you are done. You might see just a crack of light where it goes around the rear view mirror, but even that is doubtful. Roll-up is easy, too. There is a Velcro strap to roll it up tight until you use it again, or they now offer a nice carrying case for them.
CarPro listeners receive a 10% discount with the code "CarPro10".
AutoCheck Vehicle History Reports
I've shared the story on the CarPro Radio Show a number of times, but about a decade ago I was looking for a one-year old Range Rover in white with a tan interior and the V8 supercharged engine. This vehicle was difficult to find.
I had set an alert with AutoTrader.com to tell me if one showed up anywhere that fit the criteria. One day, I got a hit from a highline used car dealer in Chicago. I looked the vehicle over, it had everything I wanted and only had 5,000 miles. The dealer had a link for a free CarFax report, which was 100% perfect, no prior wrecks or other issues. We made a deal over the phone, the dealer arranged shipping, and told me as soon as my bank wired the money, it would be on the way. All this happened in under an hour.
I called my bank and gave them wire instructions to send the full amount. As soon as I hung the phone up, I had a gnawing feeling in my stomach. I had often told listeners I had no faith in CarFax, but had a lot of our dealers who used AutoCheck and swore by it. I decided to spend the money on an AutoCheck.
Imagine my shock and horror when the AutoCheck showed a right-side impact with airbag deployment resulting in frame damage. I immediately called my bank and frantically asked if they''d completed the wire transfer. Her words were "just about to hit the button." I yelled STOP and just in the nick of time, AutoCheck saved me thousands of dollars and a lot of headaches.
Over the years, I've had countless listeners thank me for recommending AutoCheck. It's simply a better choice before you spend your hard-earned money for a used car.
The website: www.AutoCheck.com. You can get one report for $24.95 or if you are looking at numerous cars, get 21 days of unlimited reports for just $49.99. It is the best money you can spend.
NuVinAir
A dear friend of mine named Alan Brown worked for me for many years. He started washing cars for me when he was about 16-years old. He was the hardest working guy on the wash rack and, to be honest, I saw a bit of myself in him. When he was 18, I promoted him to the finance department and brought him up through the different departments.
After I sold my dealerships, he moved on to enjoy a long and successful career in the car business, becoming the partner in a DFW dealership, and served two years as the Chairman of the VW National Dealer Council during the VW emissions crisis.
When Alan got out of the car business to be a Partner and Global Vice-President of NuVinAir, it got my attention. I was even more intrigued when he said this company had developed a process to rid cars of interior smells. What?
I have pretty bad allergies, so this was of interest. Also, as a former car dealer, trying to sell a used car that had been smoked in was a real deal killer. The only thing worse was the products that tried to cover up the smells, those made me sick to my stomach.
How they came up with this is proprietary, all I can tell you is it flat works. Before I brought them on the show, I had several listeners with severe interior smells try it and they were amazed.
They work through dealerships and authorized distributors. The products are safe, eco-friendly, and effective. It's great if you have any kind of odor, have spilled food in your car, or if you have a pet.
Take a look at this video I did for NuVinAir.
