Hey, guys, welcome to Good News York. It's, um,
what day of the week is it? It's a Wednesday.
It is. Mike knows. At least Mike knows. What
I do know, though, good morning, Mike, by the
way. Good morning, buddy. Can't even introduce
you. That's OK. Horrible this morning. Shot out
of a cannon. Don't need to introduce me. It's
fine. We got some great new coffee in the other
room. Yes. After I finish this, I'm going to
be hitting that up. I'm excited about it. And
there's, off air, remind me, there's something
interesting brewing. About the coffee? Yeah.
Should I not drink it? No, no, no. Oh, okay.
This is a good thing, bro. By the way, there's
poison in it. Oops, I didn't tell him. I wouldn't
tell you that first. Right. We haven't scared
him away yet. Right. Joining us is my good buddy,
Dan Garcia. Let's go. What's going on? Hello,
Dan. Hello. Dan is the car guy that you want
to know. and he's got a couple of businesses
here in central New York. He sells cars and he
fixes them. And it's the most important thing
to have. And you can clean them? I tell people
all the time when they, you know, friends, I
say, when you move to a new town, I said, there's
like, there's three things you got to figure
out, right? Ask people, good dentist, good doctor.
Reliable mechanic and if you can throw sales
car car dealership in there Yeah, and you got
two -for -one with Dan. I mean that's that's
it. It's really important because there's a you
know I'm assuming there's a lot of people out
there who are not the most honest when it comes
to it's It's important Dan Garcia of a bed car
guy has got to be horrible. Before we even get
into that though, Dan, let's talk about, give
them the details. What are the businesses, where
are they located, and give us the spiel. Yeah,
so I have the garage at 3100. That's our newest
expansion to, you know, a little portfolio of
automotive enterprises. That's down in the valley
in Syracuse, and that's a newer business. help
facilitate the car dealership, which is in Chittanango.
So it's a little bit, they're all separate businesses,
but they all come together as one. The car washes
all the way out in Phelps. That's a self -serve,
self -sustained kind of thing. I always forget
you had the car wash. Yeah. It's more of like,
it's a little own little dormant business. It
runs itself. You go out there twice a week, check
on things, make sure things are clean and refill
soaps, stuff like that. But the garage is where
we're looking to really grow that more. It's
hard to find a reliable, trustworthy shop. Growing
up, we always had issues trying to find good
mechanics for our family. And once you found
one, it was usually a smaller facility. They
weren't ripping you off. You didn't go in for
an oil change, and they were selling you four
tires and brakes when you just had brakes done
six months ago. So when you find that, you kind
of cherish it. So that's what we're trying to
build, is that reputation that we're going to
sell you what you need. not what we want to sell
you today. Yeah. You know, and we always give
our customers the options, you know, what looking
they're looking at in the future, especially,
you know, as repair wise, like the brakes are
getting low. If they're half worn, tell them,
hey, you probably got, you know, eight months
on these brakes. If we know they're putting four
thousand miles a month on the car, we're like,
you're going to need brakes in two months. Be
prepared. Here's what it might be. You know,
and then we hope that they come back because,
you know, we didn't sell them that brake job
today when they're only half worn. Right. Right,
that's what I'm talking about in terms of the
honest car guy. That's exactly what I meant.
And I can personally attest to it. I think at
this point, we've brought in all of my family's
vehicles, plus some every time I turn up with
some new thing. Where the fuck did you get this?
But he's done a great, especially with my daughter,
my 20 -year -old, he's taken care of her vehicle.
That's not something that I would... want any
schmuck to work on, you know? And what I love
about it is I bring it to him and afterwards
he goes, you know, we went over this and, you
know, this was a little iffy but it's your daughter,
we want it to be extra safe so we made sure that
we put in the right one and we took care of it
right now and, you know, it's that type of kind
of just real human service. So I'm just a fan
of in all businesses. And that is the one industry
I feel where the generational thing happens.
It goes back to what I talked about. It's important
to find that person that you can trust. And once
you do, though, in the car business, I feel like
it's a family, like my wife's family. we go to
the same salesman every year, not every year,
every couple years, whatever it is, and we go
to the same repair shop because it's been in
the family. That's something that, do you see
that a lot, a lot of loyalty that kind of passes
on through generation? Yeah, so. We do have a
lot of repeat customers that send like family
and friends on the sales side We're more of a
niche dealership. We sell stuff that's affordable,
right? You know, we're nowadays everything is
you know, 50 60 thousand for a new car That's
niche, you know, we're selling, you know primarily
under 25 ,000 awesome and then our main market
is anywhere between 8 and 15 thousand to keep
those payments a little bit more affordable for
sure on that kind of stuff so we do once that
word gets out especially in that customer base
they spread the word to the people in their neighborhood
and they tell somebody a cousin and a sister
i mean a couple months ago i think in like two
weeks i sold like a whole neighborhood of you
know that's ours that's great and it helps you
know what i mean word of mouth is the biggest
thing for any business sure so you know you can
spend as much money as you want in advertising
but word of mouth is going to get you a better
ROI than anything you take care of that customer
and you know We always go above and beyond to
do our best to take care of our customers So
and you know what's wild is? When you take a
look at the inventory that he's got on that car
lot you talk about the affordable car You think
oh, this is gonna be some old, you know junk
rust bucket. Yeah They're beautiful great vehicles
in great shape that you're like damn why am i
yeah spending all this money on these uh overpriced
you know other things are these all pre -owned
vehicles yeah they're all pre -owned but we source
a lot of them from out of state um new york rust
will eat anything yeah i mean i i have some newer
vehicles personally You know, we maintain them
very well. We oil coat them and stuff like that.
And still, you know, my girlfriend's got a 19.
I've had it for since 19 and we oil coat it.
We, you know, wash it on a regular basis and
still the rust is getting to it. So we try to
source a lot of the used stuff out of state.
If I may, I apologize. I just, I just thought
of this. I've always wondered this is the perfect
time to add. I noticed like in Pennsylvania,
they, I think they use sand instead of salt.
Um, and that's what you, you hear the old thing
like, Oh, I go down south to the. and get my
cars down south because there's no snow. Why
is it because it's such a huge, especially in
Syracuse, such a huge resource here? Is that
why the state won't switch to sand? I feel like
at this point - Well, it works better. Well,
it does work a little bit better, but I think
sand does the job, doesn't it? Yeah, so it's
the biggest problem that we are seeing in central
New York from the state is they're using more
brine. It's not just the salt. It's the brine
that actually is the corrosive. If you don't
wash that brine off, and that's what you see,
they'll pretreat the roads and that's brine so
that they don't ice over. And that brine, just
like if it's raining, it gets up underneath the
car and it's, you know, it's liquid. So it's
literally just coating the undercarriage. And
that's what's causing the rust. Granted, if you
don't wash the salt out of the wheel wells after,
you know, it warms up a little bit. You know,
people think that winter is when the rust happens,
but it's the polar opposite. As soon as the weather
starts to get warm, The rust starts. Oh, shit.
Yeah. Wow. Wow. It doesn't start in the winter
when the snow is frozen up underneath your car.
It's not hurting it. Right. But it's when it
starts to thaw out and you don't go get an undercarriage
wash or you don't spray your wheel wells. Don't
wipe it out on your door jams. It starts eating
through. That's incredible. Yeah. And they don't
use that brine or with with the sand. It's only
pertains to salt. So the brine is like the pretreatment.
The salt. Doesn't help but a lot of the states
use sand. I think it's cheaper to be honest with
you than the salt is yeah But why would we want
to do anything cheaper? Why would? Right, I know
a lot of like the northern areas they do use
a sand base but They don't scrape the roads clean.
I mean you go up towards like Camden or anything
like that and the roads are evidence No, you're
driving on snow coated with sand. Yeah, you got
to have snow tires and then that's my biggest
thing, too I mean this year I we did a lot of
snow tires for people who normally wouldn't do
snows and I had a personal friend Wanting brand
new tires for winter all seasons. Yeah, I'm like
we did your tires not that long ago and she's
like no no They're bad already. I want good traction
for winter. She came in, her tires still brand
new. I go, they were 80 ,000 mile tires. You
put 20 ,000 miles on your car. You don't need
tires. We need good snows. Right. That'll last
you multiple seasons. You're going to get the
most bang for your buck with a brand new set
of all -seasons, which you already have, and
then the set of snows. So we do the snows. She
texts me first snowstorm we had. These tires
are amazing. And she drives. Yeah. Everybody,
I even run snows. I mean, everybody I know should
run snows. I do. And it's beneficial, right?
Huge. You're going to get the most life out of
the tires that you're all seasons now. Yep. And
you're going to grip. All seasons can be great
if you don't go out when it's snowing. If you
get caught in the snow, maybe. Fair. But if you
want to be able to go through the snow and have
that peace of mind all winter long, you're going
to want snow tires. Absolutely. Absolutely. What
about studs? We still doing the studded snows?
I'm right here. I'm right here. I'm biased about
that. Normally don't recommend studs. Okay, we'll
do a lot of highway driving sure this year. I
ran studded snows on my car and It was a monster
and with it with the ice I could tell I did love
it. You love I did love it, but they're obnoxious
because they're noisy Yeah, so like the average
person who's just gets caught on the way home
in a snowstorm, they don't need studs. But if
you're doing a lot of driving and you like skiing
and stuff like that, absolutely get the studs.
But the downfall to the studs is they can rip
out, stuff like that. And then you're kind of
losing that extra traction. So interesting. It's
a personal preference. I would usually not recommend
it. And then I'm like, well, let me be the judge
because I've never had studded snows. So he did
it this year. And yeah, I mean. my plow truck,
we, I could climb the snowbag after I plow it.
So maybe, maybe for the everyday person, if they
have like a long driveway, you know, they live
in like rural area, they got in the snow, they
gotta climb a long drive. Maybe that's where
you would use it. Yeah, absolutely. You gotta,
you really gotta make sure to get those off when
the season's over quick. The other ones you could,
you can get away with running for a few extra
weeks, but when it's time, it's over, it's over.
You gotta get those off. Yeah, for sure. Do you
uh, you typically have a whole set of wheels
and tires that you can bolt on or do you do the
the mountain balance every time it depends if
you can get a decent set of rims cheap enough
a lot of the times like You know for my girlfriend's
car. We have it's a whole set of rims Yeah, and
we just happen to get lucky and find a set of
wheels for like, you know 400 bucks and With
the sensors so we just you know put the snows
on boom. Yeah, and like I said, she's been running
we've been switching back and forth since 2019
and We just put a fresh set of all seasons on
last year. She doesn't drive as much, but that's
what I would recommend. It's cheaper to do it
that way. If I'm remounting and balancing, it's
a little more if I'm just essentially taking
rims on and putting them off. But it's not that
much of a savings. But a lot of people do continue
to keep the same vehicle maybe for five to 10
years. Then yeah, I would recommend getting.
Both sets of rims and tires, but if you're only
gonna lease it Don't waste the money. Yeah, you
know, especially the tire size has changed constantly
now yeah, maybe you have been leasing let's say
rav4s since 2019 and Every year they change the
size 18 this year could be 19 this year could
be a 20 inch rim and tire So I got you Let me
ask you a little bit about the car market, if
I could. So we're hearing a lot about tariffs
and all this. And recently, there was a story
that the tariffs are driving up the price of
the new cars. So the used car market is getting
hot and driving up the price of that. Is that
a true assessment? You seeing that? Yeah, there
is always a trickle down effect. It takes a little
bit longer. I mean, we saw the same thing during
the pandemic. Used car prices shot up. It's it's
hard to know right now because they keep changing
the tariff whatever you're doing with it at that
moment, right? You know, some manufacturers aren't
gonna be charged some are you know, so And then
some of the manufacturers like Mercedes -Benz
announced like they were gonna eat the tariffs
this year Oh, I think that was already manufactured.
They weren't gonna charge tariffs on it. So It
all depends on the manufacturer the brands. That's
a great pitch. Honestly. Yeah good on them. Yeah.
Yeah, I mean Think there's a lot of like fear
in it. Yeah, I mean the first week we heard about
like these tariffs, especially on the cars We
were getting we saw an influx of traffic, especially
Yep, normally where we wouldn't at that time
of year Yeah, and then like the big car dealerships
are advertising like pre tariff pricing and it's
like alright calm down These are on the ground
be granted like some of them are shifting their
prices already To anticipate because their next
load of cars is gonna cost them more money. So
right some of them were increasing the prices
But not all so you will see a little bit just
like when there's a chicken scare Yeah, go up
or if there's you know bad batch of chickens
the chicken goes on and so forgive me if this
sounds a little selfish I love but I Have a lease
that's coming up and I remember during the pandemic
when this happened, the prices of everything
and people were buying out leases for way more
than they owed. Am I gonna be able to do that?
Is there any chance of me being in that situation
again before I gotta turn this thing in? Yeah,
it depends. I mean, it really depends on the
lease contract too. I mean, I had friends that
they had equity during the pandemic in their
vehicles. So I think I helped probably four different
people. buy out their lease and then sell it
back to the dealership and get a new car and
they had you know anywhere between five and fifteen
thousand dollars in equity yeah situation um
in your circumstances you might have equity you
might have negative equity yeah it all varies
depending on the contract how much you put down
how much your monthly was gotcha and it's depreciation
sure um i know you drive a nice car so they tend
to depreciate a little less at that lease phase
so you might get lucky um Not sure but fair enough.
They're always gonna give you the loyalty, you
know They want you to keep coming back. So you
might get lucky there with the program This is
this is good news York and we focus on positivity
and out bashing anything So I won't go into details
other than I would never buy another vehicle
from that particular dealership Fair enough.
Yeah I mean, I think gloves are off when it comes
to that. I mean, well, that's not negative. That's
positive. You're looking out for the general.
It's true. You know, the good news is there's
other dealerships of that manufacturer that I
can turn it into and and do that, which I don't
know. And Dan, tell me if you you know anything
about this. Obviously, you're in the used car
market. But if I was to look at a new car at
one of these other dealerships, would they traditionally
be able to take my lease in? Absolutely. So it's
not based upon which dealership you buy it from.
They won't tell you that, obviously, because
they want your repeat business. I wish I had
known that a few years ago. Nope. It's actually
based on the manufacturer. So the manufacturer
wants you to keep coming back. That dealership
wants you to come back. That's why they give
you incentives to bring it back to that dealer.
But no, you could bring it to any manufacturer
affiliated dealership. So a lot of the times,
in that case, during the pandemic times when
I was helping people get their leases bought
out or get the equity out of them, you wouldn't
get the best deal from the dealer they bought
it from. They say, oh, I've always gone to this
guy. Gotcha. And that guy, they weren't helping
people. They wanted to maximize on profit at
the time. where some of the dealers out of state
were willing to play ball because they wanted
that used inventory and because they know what
it's worth. I see. So we are in a free market.
Yeah. And that's the nice thing about it. But
they won't tell you that when you get your lease.
Sure. You don't have to bring it back here in
six years. I know people who didn't even bring
their cars back to trade to turn them in for
leases because they didn't want to go through
the whole spiel of pressure and all this. And
they'll just come and they'll do it. They'll
actually come to your home and do an inspection
on the lease. Oh, wow. And then pick it up. Wow.
Yep. So they're making things easier, especially
with the digital era now. Yeah. You know, you
could release a car online. They're trying to
find ways to cut out the storefronts for the
dealerships and mainly use them as hubs of repair.
Yeah. What do you think of the companies like
it was at Carvana and stuff like that? Is that
a threat to your business or is it just more
of a sign of the times? It's. So I love their.
idea for Carvana. It's a great idea and they
have a market because people like online shopping.
I mean, you buy everything online. Their retail
prices are insane, though. They are. Right. They're
making their money on the finance. They don't
really care what they're selling the car for.
They they take humongous losses on the car up
front because they're holding part of the payment.
So they do the financing as well. They they're
they're partnered with. That's the money. And
that's where they make the money. It's not for
them. It's not the sale of the car. They. Their
price may be high. It may be low. They might
have paid too much They'll they're willing to
take a loss because they're looking at at the
long term not the short interest. Yeah Yeah,
so at a 14 or 18 percent interest rate belief
when they're only paying, you know, seven Yeah,
they're holding that percentage. That's crazy
long term and now these loans I mean, they're
going 50 60 80 months on some of these terms.
Yeah nuts I used vehicle on a used vehicle. So
they're holding, you know XYZ percentage for
the term See, that's why I asked I knew you would
know I love the idea though. I mean we it is
a great idea We buy a lot of cars from Carvana.
Uh -huh. They do buy I mean, they're they're
advertising constantly, you know, we buy cars
best price best of this But literally I've seen
what they've offered people. I tell the people
sell to cover on I can't compete I didn't know
they were died commercial soul I've sold a used
car to them and I'll be honest with you. They
paid me way more than I would have gotten from
anybody and It was the most painless thing ever.
Yeah. Oh sure guy showed up on a flatbed And
I thought he was gonna like nickel -and -dime
me. I thought he was gonna walk around and go
Oh, it's not actually this condition. You got
a ding here. No, the check was already printed
Yeah, bro was just there to pick it up. Yep,
and hand me the money and is gone. It was Incredible
these guys are in the era of where you can just
go on Kelly's blue book, right? Like you can
see its value. Why would they pay you more? It's
amazing They paid me I want to say necessarily
more but sort of top dollar on that. That's great
That you know any any dealership any even private
deal would have busted my chops to pay anything
near that, you know And what's wild is they'd
take that crazy price and like double it as they
flip it for sale. It's not always Well, at one
point, and maybe they've come around on that.
Sometimes they'll keep them. If they're decent
and they can recondition them well, they'll keep
them. But what they're also doing is they're
trying to control the wholesale market. So Carvana
purchased a big auction franchise, Odessa. Ah,
I see. And they're trying to now, so not only
did they figure out a way to get the consumer
end, they're trying to control the wholesale
market as well, which is a billion dollar industry.
Yeah. So they may have paid you top dollar, and
they'll list it and hope that they make money
on it. But they're willing to take a loss on
that car just to get the buyer there in that
loyalty. I mean, at one point, we were probably
buying 200 cars, 300 cars a year just from Carvana.
Wow. Just from them. No kidding. And now it's
less because they've got the buyer base now.
So they stopped doing. Fire sales. Gotcha. That's
what I would call them. Sure. They would start
the bidding at zero dollars on all the cars on
the platform. Wow. Now they start them at what
they paid you for it. Gotcha. And then if it
doesn't get a bid, they bring it down a little
bit the next day. I see. They bring it down a
little bit the next day until somebody bites
on it. Wow. So it's a great business idea, but
it's a venture capitalist backed thing. And that's
those things, is those guys can just pour so
much cash into it without an immediate return.
Endless. Endless. And you see crazy stuff. What's
wild is, for I don't know how many years I've
been hearing, any day now they're going to go
under, any day now they're going to go under,
and yet they are still here. They're above. It's
it's interesting. But what's what's the name
of your your we haven't even said the name of
your business. Yeah, we did. We mentioned the
garage at thirty one hundred. It's done that.
Oh, it's called the garage. So that's my that's
the repair facility. Yeah, I thought you were
just the garage. Say the name. Yeah, catchy.
I got you. It is catchy. Yeah. So that's the
repair and the garage at thirty one hundred LLC.
Gotcha. And then the dealership. The website's
cash car cny .com. Oh, I thought it was called
the dealership. I was like this guy This guy
loves the garage the dealership. I live at the
house. That's great idea No, it's on my change
now. Yeah Great name. Yeah, the dealership. I'll
tell you loyalties on it. We'll figure it out
But you make the the like all caps like because
you're you know, the one the dealership the garage
anyway, sorry and then So just to wrap up the
Carvana situation. Yeah. Yeah like Matt was saying,
they have just abundance amount of money to dump
in it. And honestly, my biggest thing with Carvana,
what I'm more mad at myself about is, like Matt
said, they weren't going to go, people will say
they're going to go under, they're going to go
under. The stock went down to like under $10
a share. And I literally said, I text my guy
and I'm like, Can we buy like 200 shares of this
and he's like you're out of your mind. It keeps
coming down It was that like 200 and something
300 at one point. Yeah, and I'm like You're my
advisor do what you will, but I think we should
buy it and we didn't and now it's back up to
like We could have doubled it at the same thing
happened mine's less cool the same thing happened
to me with WWE like ten years ago We met with
my friend. I told my wife I go they just opened
the women's division. I go it's really building
I want to buy she's like we're not gonna buy
WWE then, you know, the McMahon family just sold
it Yeah, I know I know what you were feeling
man So to make this all about me again, yes,
I love you Talking about my car my lease is up.
I don't think I want another of the same vehicle
I need a bigger one. I think I want like a full
-size SUV. I am Genuinely unsure. I don't have
a particular one that I'm Sold on any advice
any input on what I might like along those lines.
Yeah, I mean going from what you're currently
driving It's just too small yeah, probably it's
I would recommend like a BMW, maybe X7. Little
bit bigger, roomy, but similar creature comforts.
Am I a BMW guy though? I don't think anyone's
ever a BMW guy. I gotta get different shirts.
I think you work into it. You become the BMW
guy. And then I gotta cut people off in traffic
and shit. Not use your blinkers, especially.
You gotta definitely sip lattes in traffic. I
have to, yeah. I don't know if I'm ready for
all that. It's gonna be a lifestyle change, but
you know. What else you got? Maybe a Land Rover,
even worse. All right, so here's the thing. I
genuinely love a lot of those Land Rovers. The
look of them, they look super, super slick. But
all I've heard excessively is that they are junk
in... and safety mechanical problems. Mechanical.
Yeah. That's what I heard, too. You watch those
TikTok videos where they interview mechanics
and they're like, which vehicle would you never
want? Yeah. So many of them say Land Rover. I've
also heard the opposite with Kia, where they
went from like, stay away to now. They're like,
no, they're they're respectable. Yeah. I still
wouldn't drive one, but neither. The friend of
mine had his Land Rover lemon lard. It had really
they kept. They could not fix the issue. He had
issue after issue. Aren't they a brand of Toyota?
I don't know they were BMW affiliate Toyota owned
them if they'd be more reliable that's what I
was thinking of Toyota's I mean you could always
go Lexus if you want luxury or even like the
new The new Toyota Like the big one the Sequoia.
Okay, super baller. I mean, they're they're wicked
nice and then I mean, but that's something In
my opinion, if you were to buy it, you keep it
for 10 years. Yeah. Tahoe would be good on you,
I think, too. I kind of like the idea of a Tahoe.
The problem is the brand new ones are still more
than I want to pay. They're over a hundred grand.
Yeah. I just I can't bring myself to do that.
I mean, I love the I love the GM platform personally.
Yeah. I mean, I run the Escalade. I love it.
Yeah. On a new one. But like you said. Peaking
over on peaking well over a right on the escalate
now Tahoe's follow right behind it not far behind
Yeah, you know so and in my opinion like I know
a Toyota or a Lexus Value you keep it for 10
years put a hundred thousand miles on it Yeah,
versus a Tahoe the value that it holds sure two
different animals, you know, I hear you I hear
you I'm gonna have I might even have to test
drive things. I normally don't even do that.
Yeah Yeah, I'm the last car. I had it all picked
out. I had the whole thing, and I was just ready
to go. You know what's funny? The first brand
new car that I ever bought, I bought a Honda
CR -V, and I had done all the research. And I
had owned 100 Hondas before that. I was a hardcore
Honda guy at the time. Knew what I wanted. It
was time for a brand new vehicle. Did the research.
Knew exactly what I wanted. Knew I wanted to
lease the whole deal. Go to this car lot. The
guy comes out, I tell him, hey, yeah, I want
that. I want a lease. All right, let's go for
a test drive. I'm like, I don't really need a
test drive. Just write it up. Make sure you can
get me approved for the right amount. And it's
done. I needed a fucking cashier, not a salesman.
Oh, no, no, no. We got to try. All right, so
we fucking drive the thing. OK, still want to
buy it. Now, have you thought about finding it?
Yes, I want to lease it. Write it up. Oh, well,
what do you got for a trade? The motherfucker
wouldn't do it. this guy he literally like oh
why don't you come back on monday and and we'll
we'll go over whatever oh you gotta be fucking
kidding me you were the dream customer you're
like i want it give me the keys i left i went
home i got online to another local honda dealership
i went online said this is what i want these
are the terms he emailed me back the next morning
come in and pick up your car like What is wrong
with people, you know, I get my wife gets mad
at me because that's how I am with clothing Like
I don't try pants on I just hold them up to myself.
They look they fit and then they never do Shop
in the doll section. There aren't too many sizes.
Anyway, I'm too big for kids too small for adults
I'm in this weird window enough about me. I actually
well if we have time, I have like three questions
I'd love to go for it. I want to do a little
it's a small game of Mythbusters. Okay, I like
this these I like the three things maybe I thought
there's probably more, but I think it's important
for the people listening and watching to know,
okay? Is it a myth that you need to have an oil
change at every, yeah, you can hit this one.
You can buzz it if it's a myth. There you go.
If it's a myth. Do you need to have an oil change
every 3 ,000 miles? Because I've heard it's actually
five. Am I gonna ruin your I'm gonna ruin his
business because now he's like I just put well
many stickers on those windows It's it's controversial
right so like a full synthetic. They tell you
it's good for 10 ,000 miles bullshit I would
not recommend no way when going 10 ,000 miles
an oil change now a car that says ten absolutely
five Got a car that says five I recommend three
especially as they get up there in the miles
so like the more miles it gets Yeah, so like
on a brand new car honestly if it calls for ten
yeah you could probably go 10 the first run sure
the first one yeah then you've got 10 000 miles
now you might want to drop it to eight and then
i really recommend three to keep it in top condition
okay so like my mom had alexis with 280 on it
you pull the dipstick out the oil is still crystal
clean 3 000 mile oil changes its whole life we
bought it at like 180 000 she put the other 100
on it but we 3 000 mile oil changed it every
time you pull the stick out oil is brand new
still yeah keeps the engine clean. I mean, you
don't drink enough throughout the day, right?
You're tired and you're dehydrated. Sure. Yeah.
You don't pee. Cars got to pee out something
clean. It's sort of in the manufacturer's best
interest to not extend the life, right? Is that
kind of why your life go better than they tell
you? Absolutely. And that's what I'm seeing is
like, my sister has a 2023 Honda, and she runs
this thing hard. Miles, and they call for like,
Think of 5 ,000 mile change. Yeah, we do it every
three. They consume oil the new cars They have
it with inspect how much oil they're allowed
to consume. Oh, wow Older cars if you were consuming
oil, there was a big problem. Yeah, right now.
There's like Manufacturer guidelines that say
it can consume a quart every you know, four miles,
but the oil change is good for ten, right? Mmm,
that's incredible. Okay, so all right Not a myth.
All right. Okay. This is a deep one If you see
a car dealership that has a gravel or loose stone
lot, stay away. They have that so in case there's
any leaks or anything wrong with the vehicle,
you don't see it. I've never heard this. You've
never heard that one? This is... I love it. I'm
going to go with myth on that one. Alright, it's
a myth. Are there many... Lots of them have such
a it was actually I thought it was brilliant
advice But I'm like, but is that a thing sounds
more of a conspiracy like in other words, you
can still see an oil leak on stone Yeah, you
would definitely honestly, I think you wouldn't
pull on the stone. You could actually pick the
stone up. Yeah All right, right, right. You're
right. So or if you're crazy, you could taste
it. Yeah Wow I guess my last one would be once
a car like a hundred thousand miles seems to
be like the death mark Cars are are not reliable
at 100 ,000 in pass and just a little bit past
that I was hoping you'd say that big math on
that one, but it also comes down to maintenance
of course like a Lot of the a lot of the cars
we work on We do see that car that the the consumer
just bought and they're coming in and going well
it's only got 40 000 miles on it and i'm telling
them well it needs ten thousand dollars worth
of work because it sat sure you know it's a 15
16 year old car with low miles but it wasn't
maintained it you know nana let it sit in the
yard yeah she was getting 10 000 mile oil changes
didn't get the brakes done didn't get the calipers
you know checked it's you know sure it's just
like cars are like humans if you're not exercising
them or working them and maintaining them They're
going to deteriorate more work to, you know,
I mean, I know 80 year old people who are in
great health, right? And I know 65 year old people
who are on their deathbeds. So it's kind of like,
you know, if you take care of it, it takes care
of you. And that's my firm belief on a lot of
things. You know what I mean? Not just cars,
not just humans, but just everything. Is there
a mileage mark that that scares you or is it
really more of forget about that and look at
the overall vehicle? Yeah. It's condition. I
buy on condition. I don't buy on miles. Gotcha.
I don't buy on year. I buy purely on condition.
And you mean under the hood? I buy honestly a
lot of stuff online, so I don't even look under
the hood. It's all blind, but just genuine condition.
If the car has 120 ,000 miles on it, but it's
got brand new tires on it, you know somebody
maintained it. If it's got 80 ,000 miles on and
all four tires are bald, they didn't maintain
it. I mean, Tires are a big expense. Brakes are
a big expense. So if they weren't doing the tires,
you know they weren't doing the brakes. And that
means then they weren't getting the suspension
serviced or fixed when it had issues. It also
greatly depends on area. Some of our roads are
decent. So if you don't drive in the city, then
you might have better luck with your car for
a longer term. But if you drive in the city like
I do every day to get to work, I mean, you probably
need the recommended shocks at $60 ,000. It all
really depends. Syracuse roads will destroy shocks
like nobody's business. Jesus Christ, yeah. Sometimes
I think it'd be better if they just ripped them
up and let us drive around on dirt. Yeah. Might
be better off. Do you, I mean, I feel like the
only time you know when to do brakes is when
you start hearing them grind. Is there a marker
before that that say, like, when should you change
your brakes? So a good shop checks the brakes
when it comes in for an oil change. Right. Not
only for an upsell. A lot of people would say
in debate, oh, that's to upsell you. Yeah. Yeah.
A bad shop will absolutely upsell you brakes
when you don't need them. Sure. So like if you,
but if you get your, you know, oil change that
valvaline only, they're not checking the brakes.
So you wouldn't know until they're grinding,
right? You know, so like you said, you know,
you find a good doctor, you find a good dentist,
you find a good repair shop and you trust them.
And you know, when they're giving you a recommendation,
you know, you hope it's true. Honestly, a lot
of the times when we pull pads out, I leave a
pad on the counter to show the customer just
to give them that peace of mind. I'll show them
the rotor. A lot of the times, there's systems
now where you can do visual inspections and take
pictures and stuff. We haven't gotten to that
point yet. It's another expense. And we try to
keep the expenses low so we can keep our costs
down. Also, the system would tell you how far
that pad is sort of thing? Yeah. And you can
do a whole visual inspection, 360 on the car,
do a video, and you can send it to the customer.
a lot of the big places do it, but you know,
their labor rate is $200 an hour. Sure. You know,
where ours is $135. Yeah. When the when the repairman
comes out and says, oh, look at your filter.
We've got to get rid of it. Is that is there
a filter they keep back there that's dirty and
they say that's another one I've always wondered.
Honestly. In the repair industry, especially
at like a lot of the fast lube places, 100 %
there's absolutely that dirty, nasty filter that
they keep in the basement that they whip out
and go, this is your filter. Cause you're thinking
to yourself, wait, how'd you get the filter out
so fast? I've seen them pull the filters sometimes,
but then you got to wonder like if, you know,
just like when they pull the dipstick out to
show you the oil, they come right to the window.
Why would you pull the filter out? And now you
got to... You haven't come back yet. You know
what I mean? But here's the other filter. But
there's also good places that don't do that stuff.
Sure. So it's definitely something that's done
in industries. But once again, that's bait and
switch. Sort of along those lines, Dan, was my
kind of final question for you, which is there
a common scam I guess I would say a common thing
that some of these not so great shops are easily
pulling on a lot of people that they can look
out for telling women they need their blinker
fluid filled now that you mentioned fluid yes
so like they sell brake fluid exchanges coolant
exchanges transmission exchanges it's not a huge
necessity you know and a lot of people will you
know, okay, you know, a lot of the places will
advertise like, you know, brake special, you
know, pads, you know, 59 .95 installed. Then
you get there and you need calipers and you need
rotors, but they got you in the door thinking
that you were going to spend $59 on brake pads.
Yeah. And now they got it apart and they're telling
you, well, I can't put it back together. It's
not safe. Right. You came in with the mindset
that you were spending $59, but in the fine print,
it said does not include calipers, does not include
this, does not include that. And they do Lot
of places upsell the brake fluid flush which
Unless the brake fluid you can see when it breaks
down and it yeah change color. Yeah loses its
value Doesn't have the right properties anymore.
That's on a hundred plus thousand mile car. Yeah,
they're selling I don't know that I've ever heard
that actually happen miles. Yeah, it does. It's
it's very uncommon See if you'll top off right
now Right. Absolutely. So when they when they
do say, oh, but your rotors are because I've
gotten that one a lot. Your rotors, your cap.
Are they I mean, I can't say everyone, but for
the most part, are they telling the truth on
that or is that also an upside? Unless you get
your pads done way ahead of time. Like I have
a customer, she's got a twenty twenty three or
no, I'm sorry. It's a twenty four Mazda SUV.
OK, and. She came in early for her pads and literally
we call the dealership to find out how much for
pads They were four hundred and eighteen dollars
my cost for pads the front. Oh, yeah, and Apparently
these pads are wearing out She only has like
26 ,000 miles in the car and she said she could
feel a difference in the pedal and I'm like So
my guy measures them out and they were about
they were getting low already at 20 something
thousand Wow And I'm like, wow, but because the
car is under warranty still for powertrain But
brakes aren't covered. The master cylinder would
be covered. Not the rotors and the pads. That's
where. And so that's where the manufacturer makes
up their money. Four hundred and something dollars
for pads. We got them aftermarket, substantially
cheaper, and she was happy as can be. It took
two days to get them because it's such a new
vehicle. Sure. You know, we had to get them out
of another hub in like new jersey or something
But they came and we put them on the next week
and she was happy as can be Wow, but she would
went to the dealer For service and they would
have said, oh, yeah, those pads are pretty low.
Yeah And they probably would have charged her
500 something for the part and then another 200
something 300 for the labor And probably sold
their rotors and she didn't need the rotors right,
but she got ahead of it. So You don't always
need rotors if you get ahead of it I have people
that run them until they're metal on metal then
it Scuffs the surface or the rotor might be delaminated
not picking on you. Oh, no No, this all go. No,
I'm just shaking my head because this all goes
back to what I said in the beginning Which is
this is why that's why you have a good car guy.
You got to find a good car guy The garage is
the name of it Dan Garcia Dan. Let's Before we
dip let's give people the plugs again. If you
want to start with the car lot Where is it and
then the website again? Yeah, so the car lots
in Chitinango. It's cash cars cny .com awesome
RCA services LLC ARCIA um and like I said we
got right on the main track can't miss it right
if you head to the casino stop here first before
you spend your money there that sounds great
love that and then and if you win big stop back
at the car right absolutely and we've had that
happen too it's that's awesome yeah a woman bought
two cars for her grandkids that's awesome she
hit at the casino two days later she came back
she said Told you I was coming back. I want it.
You know, you can't you never right, right? You
know what I mean? Like and she bought two cars
for her grandkids That's in kind of one last
myth for you both to bust or maybe not bust.
This is an argument with again I'll bring my
wife up. We had this argument the other day.
Is it Audi or Audi? I Drive one And I've said
it both ways. Yes. I feel like it's very accent
based. I would say Audi But in Northern, I feel
like, you know, I have somewhat of a downstate
accent, people tell me. And some people would
say, Odie. I'd probably say, Odie's not even
running for me. I'd probably say Odie more than
anything. But if you watch any of their commercials,
they pronounce it Odie. Oh, see, I haven't even
think of that. Why don't I just look up a commercial?
That's more fun to do with this one. Yeah, absolutely.
So the other plug, the Garage at 3100. Dan, quick,
where is it? And then can you also just the rundown
of the typical services that you have there?
Yeah, so that's on Midland and Ballentine and
Syracuse. We're at the beginning of the valley.
If you pass Gannon's Ice Cream, you went too
far. Gotcha. We do pretty much all your general
services. The only thing we don't get involved
in is transmissions. You know, engine repairs,
brakes, tires, wheel bearings, alignments. I've
got all the newest equipment. We just purchased
a new AC machine. So we're ready for the heat
wave to hit. So we do all the AC servicing. It's
going to be a solid week. Yeah. Hopefully a little
chilly. But yeah, I mean, we do it all. All right.
Awesome. The garage at 3 ,100. Our friend Dan.
C -A -R -C -N -Y -A -R -C -I -A. How do we pronounce
that one? R -C -A. R -C -A. It's like Garcia
without the G. Holy cow. That just blew my mind.
That's what we do here. We blow Mike's mind.
Guys, this has been Good News York. We appreciate
you joining us. We will definitely have Dan back.
And because we got a lot to learn about cars.
This was honestly one of my most one of my favorite
interviews because it's one of those things that.
You wonder all this stuff, but you never really
get in yeah, and and this is our first time I
got to really sit down with with a guy in your
industry And I just really preach I think you
did a service for everybody listening and watching
it's important Yeah, we got some great information
out, and that's that's what we're here for right.
Thanks, man Hey guys. We'll see you tomorrow.
Thanks