🚨 CAN'T-MISS Commentary! SPECIAL GUEST: Mecum Auctions CEO! PLUS: What To Do If You Can't Afford Your Car, AND 2026 Mercedes-Benz EQE 320+ and 2025 Toyota 4Runner Test

October 24, 2025

Dear Car Pro Family,

Too soon to say Merry Christmas? The fat man comes down the chimney two months from today, so I don’t think it’s too soon! Wow, do we have a ton of information for you today! Don’t miss a single headline to see if it might be of interest or help to you. We start today with the fact that this is the end of the month already, and this one is different than most. I explain below.

I have another commentary this week that deals with California’s CARS Act, intended to bring more honesty to car dealerships, but will it? I follow that up with my closing message at the very bottom that I titled: Doing the right thing even when nobody is looking. We’ve got details of next week’s Mecum DFW auction, and WBAP listeners can win our final two pairs of tickets tomorrow.

In other stories, new vehicle prices hit $50,000 average for the first time, but don’t panic, I explain why. We have MotorTrend’s 2026 Car of the Year, Ford and Stellantis are scrambling not to lose vehicle production due to a fire at an aluminum plant, could this be the next shortage of vehicles? Subaru’s Share The Love Event is almost here again, and if you have a budding automotive artist in your life, make sure they get an entry in to win the Bill Neale Award, a passion of our Amy Plemons and the Texas Auto Writers. We also have a serious warning from emergency room doctors about a dangerous habit some people have when riding in a car. Hint: It’s not texting and driving or drinking and driving.

Kim Komando had a ton of interesting tidbits in her newsletters this week and I plucked a half dozen of them for you. Also, don’t miss Kim’s Fun Quiz, the answer is at the very bottom of this newsletter, under my closing message. I have a whole new batch of quirky and funny Quick Shift stories for you today, and don’t forget to go shopping in the Car Pro Merch shop, lots of good stuff there. Get caught up on the tariff news! In advice, I discuss the best things to do if you find yourself unable to make your car payments. A repossession will haunt you for years and in most cases, this can be avoided.

In car reviews, I have the beautiful 2026 Mercedes-Benz EQE 320+ electric SUV. Amy Plemons brings you a review of the 2025 Toyota 4Runner Limited.

If you have never read my True Stories from a Former Car Dealer series, may I suggest you do so. People have loved this for a lot of years now. You’ll learn more about me than you probably want to know, you’ll roar with laughter at some, and you’ll likely get a tear in your eyes on others. They are all right here, 40 of them, carefully written by yours truly.

If you haven’t perused my FAQ page, please do. There are likely multiple articles you can use, every one of them written by me.

All of our other regular features are below including the Classic Car Contest, our radio station listings, how to connect with us on Facebook and call the show to talk directly to me, and much, much, more.

We very much appreciate you being part of the newsletter family. Without you, there is no Car Pro Show. Let us know how we can help you, and if you haven’t been to our website lately, check it out at CarPro.com. It changes daily.

Have a terrific week. See you on the radio!

Officially, this is the last weekend of October. Besides Halloween, next Friday is the 31^st and the dealers begin November the following day, on Saturday!

How have things been for October? Fairly quiet to be honest and many of the dealers are anxious. As I talked about on the air last Saturday, most dealers are officially overstocked, which means the interest charges on the cars in inventory is mounting up every day, and some of my dealers are completely out of room. The slowdown must be nationwide, because I saw incentive enhancements from most automakers this week, which is unusual in the first month of a new quarter, especially the 4^th quarter. Most automakers save their money until the middle of November and December for the big year-end push.

I also mentioned I am seeing signs of used car values dropping. It hasn’t changed much yet, but I can certainly see a trend coming and before it really affects your trade value negatively.

So, bottom line: There are bargains to be had for those who follow my process by choosing a dealer at CarPro.com. Interest rates are dropping, and incentives and lease specials are getting better. I tell you when it’s not a good time, and I’ll always tell you when it is. Any time dealers are overstocked and nervous, the deals get better.

If you’ve put it off, look at numbers now, it’s easy if you follow my instructions and it won’t cost you anything to find out what you are looking at.

Find a Certified Car Pro Dealer

jerry-california-capitol-sacramento-shutterstock

California CARS Act:
Political Theater or Real Change?

Sure, it sounds great. California's new CARS Act is designed to crack down on unscrupulous car dealers who engage in shady tactics that hurt consumers. But will it work as designed? How about enforcement? And what about the negative impacts to fantastic dealers like Car Pro Certified Dealers who are already doing the right thing? Read my thoughts on the subject in my new commentary!

Read my commentary→

FYI-I expound on this in a personal way in my closing message at the end of this newsletter.

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 →

Kim’s Quiz:

AI’s been used for everything but predicting your death? Forget step counters and sleep scores. In one experiment, researchers trained an AI model to predict how long someone would live based on their health data. No crystal ball, no palm reading … just machine learning.

Q. You know demand is through the (sun)roof when you find out this particular buyer is placing bulk orders. Elon Musk says the Cybertruck has “a gigantic” backlog, but who’s buying them all?

Can you guess who reportedly plans to buy a whole fleet of Cybertrucks? Is it: A) The Marines, B) SpaceX, C) Ford or D) The city of Los Angeles? Scroll to the end for the answer, and no peeking, backseat driver!

The answer is under my closing message at the bottom.

Interesting things I found in Kim Komando’s Newsletter

Amazon’s hiring 250,000 U.S. workers for the holidays, nearly half of the nation’s entire seasonal workforce. Competitors like Target and Kohl’s are keeping quiet, maybe because they’re not hiring much at all. Average pay? Up to $23 an hour. If you’re interested, apply before the jobs are all scooped up.

Free AI classes from Google: Google’s got an AI learning hub that’s worth checking out. Learn prompting basics, how to use chatbots like Gemini effectively and ways AI can help with marketing and automation. There are mini guides on getting your business on Google for more visibility. And yes, it’s free.

Home invasion, Apple edition: This is scary. A Florida couple got ambushed in their garage at gunpoint after suspects taped an AirTag under their car to track them. Two men have been arrested, facing charges from armed burglary to kidnapping. So yeah, maybe check your car before your next Target run.

Look out, lawyers: Staci from New Mexico got sued over a $5,200 debt and fought back with ChatGPT. She told it to act like a Harvard law professor. The result? A $2,000 win. Hear how she did it in this episode.

Miami-Dade just debuted the nation’s first autonomous patrol vehicle, the Police Unmanned Ground (PUG) Patrol Partner. Miami’s newest high-tech assistant doesn’t need lunch breaks and is loaded with AI brains, 360° cameras, thermal imaging and even a drone launcher to keep an eye on things while the human officers handle, well, the humans. It’s got a max speed of 25 mph, so it’s more of a mall cop than highway patrol. For now, PUG’s job is to roll around like your nosy HOA president with a badge, logging suspicious activity and feeding intel to deputies.

Robots on the rocks: While bourbon brands collapse left and right, two Kentucky vets just opened Whiskey House, a five-story robot-run distillery that tracks 1,500 sensors per barrel. They make whiskey for everyone else’s labels, like a ghostwriter with a drinking problem. The crazy part? Only seven people run the whole plant. The story about it is really interesting.

classic-carThis 1969 Mercury Cougar Coupe will cross the block at Mecum Auctions

1969 Mercury Cougar Coupe
Photo Credit: Mecum Auctions, Inc.

We have had a lot of fun with our classic car contest on the Car Pro Show Facebook page. We post the photo of a classic vehicle every Saturday morning and invite people to guess the year, make, and model. The prize: an AutoHeatShield. Official contest rules →

This 1969 Mercury Cougar Coupe will cross the block at Mecum Auctions Dallas Fort Worth 2025 on November 1st!

Our Facebook winner this week, and winner of an AutoHeatShield, is:

CarPro listeners receive a 10% AutoHeatShield discount with the code "CarPro10".
Visit AutoHeatShield here →

If you are searching for a particular new or used vehicle, we can help you! The best news is, if you use CarPro to search, when you find the car of your dreams it will be at a CarPro approved dealership.

Our search feature is simple to use. Choose new, used, or certified. You can select the make and model, or find a price range you are looking at. Choose the number of miles you are willing to travel and enter your zip code. From there, you can look through all your matches, knowing you are shopping at a dealership I have handpicked that adheres to the high standards I require.

Start your search on the front page of CarPro.com. If you don't find the car of your dreams, check back regularly.

have 5 hours to call the show! From 9AM- 2PM Central, 7AM-Noon Pacific, and 10 AM to 3 PM Eastern, the phone numbers are:

DFW Show: 9 AM to 11 AM Central,
- 1 (800) 288-9227
National Show: 11 AM to 2 PM Central,
- 1 (800) 926-7777

Add the numbers to your cell phone; you never know when you are going to need straight talk and honest answers about everything automotive.

So, what is the CarPro Radio Show?

Confused about the car buying process? Worried you won’t get a fair deal? Wondering about which vehicle is best for you? Then tune in to the CarPro Radio Show every week where Jerry Reynolds and Todd Chambless will guide you through the car-buying process with confidence.

No matter where you listen to the show or which station you listen to, you have five hours to call in and ask your questions. We take calls every Saturday from 9 AM-2 PM Central time, 7 AM to Noon Pacific. The phone number is different the first two hours, then changes, so keep that in mind.

We would love to help you in any way possible! Keep in mind, we don’t take mechanical questions, but everything else is great!

The Car Pro Radio Show is heard every weekend all over the United States, and every weekend we deliver straight talk and honest answers about everything automotive. We would greatly appreciate it if you would take a moment and tell a friend about the show.

Most of our listeners tell us that they never thought they would look forward to a show about cars. You may have friends or relatives who feel the same way in the cities below, please make them aware.

Here are the DFW markets the show airs in, times, and stations, and don't forget you can now listen to WBAP on the FM dial at 93.3 FM!

Dallas, TX: WBAP 820 AM/93.3 FM/99.5 HD 2, Saturday 9am to 11am Central
Dallas, TX:
➡️ NEW!!! KRLD 1080 AM, Saturday 1pm to 2pm Central Dallas Show Airs LIVE
KRLD 1080 AM, Saturday 2pm to 4pm Central - Pre-recorded National Show
Granbury, TX: KPIR 1420 AM, Saturday 11am to 2pm Central
Listen to the WBAP Podcast (up every Tuesday)→

Screen Shot 2025-10-02 at 12.33.43 PM

This week I’ve been thinking a lot about integrity — not the kind you post on a facebook meme, but the kind that happens in quiet moments when nobody else is around to see it. I wrote today about the new California CARS Act, which promises to crack down on shady dealer practices. The intent is good — make sure car buyers get a fair shake and stop the bad apples from taking advantage of people. But as I said in the article, the good dealers don’t need a new law to tell them how to do business. They’ve already been doing the right things all along.

That discussion reminded me of one of the earliest lessons I ever learned in the auto industry — something I wrote about years ago in True Stories from a Former Car Dealer #14: I Quit. Back then, I was a young man working for someone else, still learning what it meant to be a professional. One day, I was asked to wash a truck for an elderly couple that wasn’t quite the one the customer ordered. “It’s close enough,” the salesman said. “Nobody will notice.” But I noticed. I knew it wasn’t right. So instead of going along, I turned in my keys, gave up my job, and walked out.

That decision didn’t make me rich, but it made me sleep well that night — and every night since. It taught me something I’ve never forgotten; doing the right thing doesn’t always come with applause, but it always comes with peace of mind.

The reason laws like the CARS Act get written is because some people in the car business have forgotten that lesson. They look for shortcuts — tacking on unnecessary add-ons, hiding fees, or slipping extras into contracts hoping the customer won’t notice. And to be fair, some do get away with it for a while. But the truth has a way of catching up. The public has a way of catching on.

What doesn’t make headlines are the thousands of dealers and managers and salespeople who handle every transaction honestly, day after day, not because anyone is watching, but because that’s who they are. Those are the men and women who make this business respectable. They don’t need a legislative reminder to treat customers right; they already do it instinctively, because integrity isn’t a sales strategy — it’s a personal standard. Not to mention, that is what repeat business is built on.

I’ve seen this industry from just about every angle, and I can tell you, integrity is what separates the ones who last from the ones who burn out. You can fake enthusiasm, you can fake confidence, but you can’t fake character. The dealers who build their reputations on honesty, transparency, and fairness aren’t worried about the next regulation or investigation. They’re too busy doing things the right way — not because they have to, but because they want to.

That’s what keeps customers coming back. That’s what builds a brand you can be proud of. And that’s what makes me proud to still be part of this business after all these years, except instead of selling cars and running dealerships, I help people find the good dealerships and get a fair deal.

When I think about the CARS Act, I hope it does some good. I hope it weeds out the few bad actors who give everyone else a black eye. But I also hope people remember there are far more honest folks out there — the ones who’d rather lose a deal than lose their integrity. They’re not perfect, but they’re consistent. They do what’s right even when it’s hard, even when nobody’s looking.

That day I quit wasn’t my proudest day as an employee, but it might’ve been my proudest day as a person. It reminded me that sometimes the best way to stand up for what’s right is simply to walk away from what’s wrong. And if you’ve ever been in that position — whether in a dealership, a boardroom, or anywhere else — you know how good it feels to drive away with your conscience clean. My hope has always been to put myself out of a job, that car dealerships were all honest and good and the Car Pro Show was needed no more.

Why This 'End of The Month' Is Different!

My Must-Read Commentary! CA CARS Act

California CARS Act: Political Theater or Real Change?

U.S. Auto Market

Tariff Talk: A Dual U.S Strategy

New Vehicles Average $50K For First Time Ever

Stellantis To Invest $13 Billion In U.S. Plants

Ford, Stellantis Production Hit Hard By Aluminum Plant Fire

TV Segment: New Vehicle Prices Hit $50K

Straight Talk and Honest Answers

CarPro Advice: What If You Can't Afford Your Car?

Legal File

VIN Etching Class Action Lawsuit Hits A Roadblock

Former Dealership Employee Sentenced To 7 Years & $1.3M Fine

On The Road: Test Drives

2026 Mercedes-Benz EQE 320+

2025 Toyota 4Runner Limited 4WD

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.

Bumper to Bumper: Industry News

MotorTrend Names 2026 Car Of The Year

The title goes to the VW Golf.

2026 Bill Neale Award Is Taking Entries Now!

ER Doctors: Don't Do This In Your Car

18th Annual Subaru Share The Love Event Kicks Off Soon

Toyota Introduces Enhanced Multimedia System

Weekly Recalls

What's New For Tax Code 179 and More!

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

Our Incentives Guide

Win A 2025 Ford Raptor or $50,0000!

Kim Komando's Quiz & Interesting Info

Check Out Our Newsletter Archive Page!

Classic Car Contest: Win An AutoHeatShield!

Exclusive Approved Products & Services

It's Here! The CarPro Merchandise Shop!

Subscribe to the free DFW Newsletter

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!

Doing the Right Thing When Nobody’s Watching

California CARS Act:
Political Theater or Real Change?

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