California requiring 100% of cars sold to be zero fossil fuel emissions by 2035
Quote:
The rule, issued by the California Air Resources Board, will require that 100 percent of all new cars sold in the state by 2035 be free of the fossil fuel emissions chiefly responsible for warming the planet, up from 12 percent today. It sets interim targets requiring that 35 percent of new passenger vehicles sold in the state by 2026 produce zero emissions. That would climb to 68 percent by 2030.
Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept. It has fake "exhaust" noises and a gearbox, maybe? I'm by no means a Dodge fan, but I'm not sure I hate what they are going for. They've gotta try something to be relevant in this space.
The part I couldn't get past was the total second hand embarrassment I was feeling for that poor woman that was forced to sit in the passenger seat during that whole presentation. "Sit here Toots.... I'm gonna go brag about the Doosh-o-tron 3000 for 20 minutes."
The only 'German auto specialists' I would take my car to is Sheni's. They've been my off-warranty service center for two BMWs, a Merc, and two Astons.
Funny how it goes, as my one and only experience with them was terrible. I took my BMW to Vitek's (on a Bill Bumface tip) several times and had a much better time. Smaller shop, but much better experience overall.
Other than that, it's Alpine Autowerks for anything Porsche related. Although their owner sadly passed away from Covid a few months ago, so hopefully it hasn't changed things.
The Following User Says Thank You to Table 5 For This Useful Post:
Anyone been to Shadow Tint lately? Going to get the windows done on my new Sentra but haven't been there in 10 years, wondering if it's still one of the better places to go or if I should be headed somewhere else
Anyone been to Shadow Tint lately? Going to get the windows done on my new Sentra but haven't been there in 10 years, wondering if it's still one of the better places to go or if I should be headed somewhere else
I think they are still pretty good. I believe the are now owned by XPEL as they now only offer XPEL tint and PPF as they used to offer 3M. Curtis at Tint Tech has always done good work and he also offers XPEL tint and PPF.
With the writing on the wall for gas cars now, I decided to do one last super stupid car. I really like the GT500, but I had a couple issues. No stick available, and the car borders on exotic territory when it comes to some of the body work and drivetrain components. It kinda lost the plot of a Pony car and I wouldn't really consider it a Mustang per se.
So I did the next best thing....
I ordered a 2021 GT Premium 6 speed in Anti Matter Blue and went to work.... OK I paid the dealer to get to work. Optioned it out with every single performance goodie. Magneride, Active exhaust, Performance Pack (Brembo's / 3.73's / staggered 19" wheels), Carbon sport interior (Alcantra seat inserts/Carbon dash). For comfort goodies when I take this thing on a road trip I also got the adaptive cruise, BLIS B&O sound...
I wanted this car to still feel retro, so what I did not do, was get the full digital dash or blacked out badges. Great, ordered to my exact spec, now the wait.
I ordered this car in May, and it FINALLY arrived in November after a million COVID delays, and then the fun started. I had the dealer install:
- Ford Performance/Roush Phase 2 super charger kit (750 HP / 670 TQ) Because it was dealer installed, the car maintains it's factory warranty, and Roush takes over the powertrain portion. Even in the chance you blow it up, who cares. A 5.0 Coyote Long block is only 9 grand.
- GT350 springs (lowered the car 1 inch and made it handle waaaaaaay better)
- Michelin Pilot S4 315/30/20 in the rear 275/35/20 front.
- Had the car skunk striped and Expel wrapped by James at Victory Vinyl who does our dealerships cars.
-Tinted by Curtis at tint-tech, a
-My contribution was gluing the lovers to the rear 1/4 windows....lol.
After waiting 8 months for it all to get done, the car was Flat decked to my house on Dec 20th. Merry Xmas and Happy Hanukkah to me!
After everything was said and done I was in for $73,000. Which is insanely cheap for a 750 HP car that has a 3 yr warranty from Ford, and will and has absolutely destroyed cars that cost 5X the price.
The hole shot from this thing mill make you wince as the driver, and more than a few passengers have almost lost their lunch. But the combination of Magneride and the GT350 springs.... I grips way beyond where I'm comfortable pushing it, and lets just say, that isn't taking a corner slow.
Anyway, here's a few pics of my last stupid Dinojuice burner. This one will be with me until the end, as it kinda falls into that final-boss territory of performance. I see absolutely no reason to buy anything faster. Apologize for the lack of quality, but I've been more interested in finding the limits of this thing, than staging it for photos.
Love this pic, as it shows how dramatic the stagger is....
Cheers
Last edited by pylon; 08-24-2022 at 02:42 PM.
The Following 29 Users Say Thank You to pylon For This Useful Post:
I ####in love it pylon, I was actually thinking of doing something similar and just throwing all sense out of the window and having some more dumb fun before going electric. Much like your jeep, I find myself living vicariously through you here, but I've been thinking of selling the 'vette and just doing something stupid with that money.
More importantly though, it's been awesome to see you posting again here and there lately.
The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to btimbit For This Useful Post:
I ####in love it pylon, I was actually thinking of doing something similar and just throwing all sense out of the window and having some more dumb fun before going electric. Much like your jeep, I find myself living vicariously through you here, but I've been thinking of selling the 'vette and just doing something stupid with that money.
More importantly though, it's been awesome to see you posting again here and there lately.
LOL thanks.
That was exactly my train of thought. I know the GM of a Ford dealer, set a budget of 80k and said how frikking stupid of a car can I put together. In fairness being in the business, I saved about 13k on the build, but anyone could build one in the 80-90k range. Heck find a nice used low km 2018+ and just add about 20k to that and you can have the same performance.
The acceleration of the thing is absolutely terrifying, and passengers either start laughing hysterically, or never want to get in it again. With the built in track timers the best I've managed is a 3.5 sec 0-60 and a 11.6 1/4 mile. The problem is getting the car to hook up, because with the stick, you have to turn off all the traction aids to get un-neutered power. The car spends a good second getting grip when you drop the clutch and when it does hook up, you damn near pass out as your more or less covering the 5-60 in about 2.5 seconds.
Roll on performance though, simply unreal and drama free. Just feels like a jet.
The Following User Says Thank You to pylon For This Useful Post:
Low profile street tires make it so hard to get good 1/4 times, you really need to be able to drop the pressure and get some squishy grip.
Beautiful car. I have been yearning for a GT350 but not in the cards yet, and they seem to be appreciating on me.
Yeah I get that, I was looking for a balance. Plus with true drag radials usually the wheel diameters require smaller brake components, terrible rain performance etc. They're just not street friendly. I've seen the odd donkey run them on the street, and sometimes these guys are running without rear brakes. LOL
I went as wide and sticky a physically possible with low profile, and the everyday drivability and handling Trump light to light acceleration for me. The car is more of a "Because I can" car, than one I'm trying to prove a point with. I ran enough cars the first month trying to figure out where it stands in the hierarchy, that I'm kinda done with the block to block aspect. I'm willing to accept some wheel spin at a dead stop, to get all the other benefits of low profile.
No matter how powerful the car is, no amount of driver skill can overcome these newer automatic and DSG transmissions, and I knew that when I bought it. However, a manual gearbox in a car at this power level, just makes it so squirrelly and obnoxious... in a good way. I wanted to keep the car as analog as possible, and a 10 speed programmable auto just didn't fit the bill. Thankfully I've managed to not 'cars and coffee Mustang guy' a bunch of pedestrians, but that one the edge of control feeling... it's not for everyone, but man is it exhilarating.
As far as appreciating used cars.... just wait it out. The market is on the verge of a catastrophic collapse. There's going to be a window of time in the next 6-12 months where everything is going to be ridiculously cheap. From classic cars to Minivans. Hopefully I'll be able to finally land a nice 99-02 WS6 Trans am when that happens. There's a few beauties in Alberta that pop up from time to time that will be ridiculously collectible in about another decade.
The Following User Says Thank You to pylon For This Useful Post:
Yeah I get that, I was looking for a balance. Plus with true drag radials usually the wheel diameters require smaller brake components, terrible rain performance etc. They're just not street friendly. I've seen the odd donkey run them on the street, and sometimes these guys are running without rear brakes. LOL
I went as wide and sticky a physically possible with low profile, and the everyday drivability and handling Trump light to light acceleration for me. The car is more of a "Because I can" car, than one I'm trying to prove a point with. I ran enough cars the first month trying to figure out where it stands in the hierarchy, that I'm kinda done with the block to block aspect. I'm willing to accept some wheel spin at a dead stop, to get all the other benefits of low profile.
No matter how powerful the car is, no amount of driver skill can overcome these newer automatic and DSG transmissions, and I knew that when I bought it. However, a manual gearbox in a car at this power level, just makes it so squirrelly and obnoxious... in a good way. I wanted to keep the car as analog as possible, and a 10 speed programmable auto just didn't fit the bill. Thankfully I've managed to not 'cars and coffee Mustang guy' a bunch of pedestrians, but that one the edge of control feeling... it's not for everyone, but man is it exhilarating.
As far as appreciating used cars.... just wait it out. The market is on the verge of a catastrophic collapse. There's going to be a window of time in the next 6-12 months where everything is going to be ridiculously cheap. From classic cars to Minivans. Hopefully I'll be able to finally land a nice 99-02 WS6 Trans am when that happens. There's a few beauties in Alberta that pop up from time to time that will be ridiculously collectible in about another decade.
Wicked build. Any interior photos?
Why do you think catastrophic collapse? Is that what the industry is talking about?
Why do you think catastrophic collapse? Is that what the industry is talking about?
I haven't taken any interior shots... I will and upload a couple.
I believe your looking at a 30-40% decline when the bubble bursts. 100k cars will be 60-70k. 50k cars will be 35-40k. At the bottom end with the 20-40k cars, it will likely be 10-20%.
I'll explain what has happened. When new cars couldn't be produced with any volume or predictability during the meat of Covid, all us dealers were buying any used cars we could to fill our lots. We were sourcing them out of our service drives, privately from Kijiji/Trader/FB Marketplace, and just getting in contact with existing clients. The private owners basically said "Pay up." and we did.
We needed inventory to keep our doors open, service and parts departments running, and sales people paid. With a lot of families in Canada/US having 2-3-4 cars, some people were cashing in and getting what they paid for these cars a couple years ago and basically refunded in full. So instead of a 3-4 car household, they were now 1-2 car households. The high prices on the street, also drove up prices at the auction, and subsequently prices on the lots.
Well, it's hit a point where more people were selling to dealers, than dealers were selling to their customers, and the market is currently in a decline, as there is now a massive glut of used cars for sale. It's basic supply and demand economy stuff, and it crept up on the dealers FAST. we went from a shortage to a glut in about 90 days based on current market data.
Most dealers finance their inventory on what's called a floorplan. It's basically a line of credit, and after a car is in stock for 6-9 months depending on the agreement, that car has to be paid off. Once that happens, and the bank starts calling in these loans, a lot of dealers will be forced to liquidate.
I'm not worried for our dealership, I've seen this coming for 6 months, and have been running pretty lean, and staying away from the luxury stuff. But there are some dealers out there with hundreds of aged cars that are going to be absolutely boned.
The Following 12 Users Say Thank You to pylon For This Useful Post:
I believe your looking at a 30-40% decline when the bubble bursts. 100k cars will be 60-70k. 50k cars will be 35-40k. At the bottom end with the 20-40k cars, it will likely be 10-20%.
I'll explain what has happened. [snip!]
Awesome insight from someone in the know - thanks for sharing (and welcome back!)
What about the new car market though? Not sure if the 'floorplan' you speak of would affect new cars the same way as the used market. Can you foresee a return to sub-MSRP pricing? (heck I'm happy if it's *just* MSRP now with no BS $7,000 mandatory dealer package). I'm hearing chip shortages may ease by 2023. But I'm also hearing of various excuses or conscious decisions by the manufacturers that might constrain production levels.
So I should probably sell my GMC Sierra 1500 now instead of next year, pylon? I might catch the tail end of higher prices?
You could but you've already missed a bit, trucks have slid back about 7% from peak. If you are serious about selling you should've in June. The export market is still strong but new inventory is starting to build in the US and bring down demand on the used side. The used truck market runs a bit differently then the used market as a whole.
__________________
The only thing better then a glass of beer is tea with Ms McGill
The Following User Says Thank You to Derek Sutton For This Useful Post:
Truck market really cooled when gas prices took off, people started to downsize. When I bought my car last month the used lot was full of trucks that got traded in
The Following User Says Thank You to btimbit For This Useful Post:
Awesome insight from someone in the know - thanks for sharing (and welcome back!)
What about the new car market though? Not sure if the 'floorplan' you speak of would affect new cars the same way as the used market. Can you foresee a return to sub-MSRP pricing? (heck I'm happy if it's *just* MSRP now with no BS $7,000 mandatory dealer package). I'm hearing chip shortages may ease by 2023. But I'm also hearing of various excuses or conscious decisions by the manufacturers that might constrain production levels.
Floor planning is different for new cars, but you still want to sell them as fast as possible, as you do pay monthly interest to carry inventory. There is a million variables though as all brands are different, all banks are different and and most dealers keep that close to their chest. But I believe you can carry them for a year, so they rarely age out.
As for the rest....this is a tough question to answer, but I have a few theories.
First I have to put on my Company hat and say that MSRP is an acronym for Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price. Not NMRP Manufacturers Mandatory Retail Price. When demand outstripped supply for the first time pretty much ever on new cars, most dealers were handcuffed and had to add market adjustments to their prices to balance their books.
Just to frame it, most people do not realize how slim car margins actually are. On something like a Toyota Corolla or a Honda Civic, VW Golf.... cars like that have an average margin of around $600. That's it. At one point in time Hyundai Dealers lost money on every single Accent they sold, because after you paid your shop to PDI and detail the car, the $290 Margin from Hyundai was gone and then some. Dealers do get a Holdback from the manufacturer, and it's typically 2-3% The more expensive SUV's and Trucks at the top end tend to have a margin of 7-9%, those are the cars that pay the bills. And I don't think it's unrealistic or greedy to make $5000 on a $50,000 product of any kind. Most people would agree it is reasonable. Of course you make money on your back end products like warranties, Insurance, 3M, accessories etc. That's no secret.
Also a lot of people don't realize, car dealerships are no different than any other franchise model. We have a license from the brand to sell their product under their rules. Also they dictate how many cars each dealer gets based on performance metrics and you plan your year based on how many cars you expect. And you will never get more than your yearly allocation outside of buying allocation from another dealer. And no dealer was giving up anything as everyone had a backlog of customers.
This was the problem, when you have a business model mandated by the manufacturer that says you need to sell say 80 new cars a month to break even, and you planned and forecasted by that model and then the manufacturers can only supply you with 25 cars, something had to be done so the Dealers could turn a profit and pay their people. A lot of dealers yes... they got way too carried away, I've seen $20 and $30K adjustments on certain vehicles. Not naming any names, but that was out there.
However, there is a second component to this. Deals with Trade-ins. People were complaining about the extra couple grand the average dealer was asking over MSRP, but nobody was complaining about the extra 10-15k they were were getting for their truck they traded in. Or extra 5k for their Corolla. The Delta/difference in cost on most deals, was actually a lot smaller, than it was pre-Covid. So yeah, you were paying a couple thousand over list, but you were also getting 5-10k more for your trade. So Trade-in transactions were typically win-win.
Where do I see it going? I think water will find level somewhere in the middle. I think the days of $10-15k rebates on trucks/SUVs are gone forever. I also believe that auto manufacturers are going to go away from trying to be the 'biggest manufacturer in the world' to becoming 'the most profitable manufacturer in the world'. Biggest doesn't always equate to most profitable. Ask 80's/90's GM how that worked out for them.
I also see a more bespoke/build to order model coming in. Gone will be the days where there is 300 F150's on one dealers lot they have to give away, and the manufacturers has to incentivize the dealer to sell. The last 2 years gave businesses of all kinds opportunities to lean out their operations, trim a lot of useless fat, and as much as a lot of people don't like to hear it, weed out dead weight employees. I kinda chuckle at 'The Great Resignation' as I am sure, a huge portion of those resignations were "Resign and get a package, or your position will be eliminated." Covid forced business to analyze their models for any areas where efficiency could be improved, and I have no doubts the Auto sector used it to dramatically lean out as well. If you can make the same money, and increase your share price on 40,000 vehicles instead of 60,000, why wouldn't you?
I think you'll see cars selling a lot closer to MSRP. Dealers carrying a lot less inventory, and used cars will balance out eventually. The biggest thing that hurts used car values are factory rebates. Whenever I appraise a truck, the first thing I do is check the manufacturers site for rebates. So if I am appraising a 2020 RAM and a new 2022 equivalent has a $8000 rebate and 0% financing, well you've gotta factor that in right off the top. If the crazy rebates go away, then the values come up.
At the end of the day, for most people, it's all about the difference in cost. And no matter how many wrinkles you throw in there if Jim and Nancy can come into the dealership with their 5 year old SUV and walk out of here with a new shiny SUV for a $20k difference, like most people, they don't care how you get there, they are just focused on that difference in cost. And I don't see that changing over the long haul.
Water will find level as it always does.
The Following 8 Users Say Thank You to pylon For This Useful Post:
