We know it's coming every year, but it doesn't make it any easier. This weekend, we all lose an hour of sleep as we spring forward. This means Saturday night you'll need to turn your clock ahead one hour before you go to bed.  Here are some fun facts you may not know about Daylight Saving Time.

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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.  Here is this week’s edition:

To tariff or not to tariff, that is the question!  If you follow the auto industry at all, you know that the topic of tariffs on Mexico and Canada have been a roller coaster ride.  Somewhere around 35% of the vehicles sold in America are assembled north or south of our borders.  Let’s face it, many automakers have moved production out of America as a way to avoid the steep demands of the United Auto Workers union.  We know the current President loves to use tariffs as leverage to try to get industries, including car companies, to invest in America.  It is hard to argue with the rationale.  However, the thought of vehicles getting even more expensive sends a shiver up the spines of automaker CEOs worldwide.  The automakers are trying to figure out if prices can indeed increase, or if they will have to adjust prices down to counter the proposed tariffs, resulting in hits to the bottom line.  Almost immediately Honda stepped up and said it would build a new plant in America, and Stellantis said essentially the same thing.  Of course, that takes years.  In a moment that caused me to shake my head in disbelief, the UAW President-the colorful Shawn Fain, who actively campaigned against Donald Trump said he was in favor of the tariffs.  Wait, what?  The UAW agreeing with this President?  In a statement, the UAW said: “we’re glad to see an American president take aggressive action on ending the free trade disaster that has dropped like a bomb on the working class.”  So, the end game for the UAW is more jobs in America and more opportunity to gain membership in the union.  My, how things change.  Fain was quoted last year as saying that Trump would be a “scab” who would be “a complete disaster for the working class.”  As of yesterday, the auto industry got another 30-day reprieve from tariffs on cars coming out of Mexico and Canada, so we’ll see where this goes in the future.

Electric car woes for Elon.  Mixing business with politics can be risky business.  Indications are that sales have fallen off for Tesla since he and President Trump forged a friendship. It seems Elon publicly endorsed Germany’s far right “Alternative” party in last months election there.  End result is Tesla sales fell 76% in February versus a year ago, while overall electric sales were up 31%.  Tesla sales in France are off 44% through the first two months of 2025.  On the plus side, Tesla sales in the U.K. are up 11% so far this year.  Here at home, things haven’t been great for the world’s richest man.  Tesla sales have been falling in the United States steadily, the Cybertruck has slowed to a screeching halt, and Tesla stock is down 30% in 2025.  Mr. Musk has resorted to *gasp* incentives to help move the needle on the popular Model 3, offering zero down and 0% APR, and some super low lease rates.  This isn’t just an Elon problem, however, all automakers that sell electrics are looking for ways to move the needle on sales.  The bigger problem for Elon is that slower Tesla sales mean he is earning fewer carbon credits from the government, which he has sold to other automakers in the past.  Last year alone, Musk sold 2.76 billion dollars’ worth of carbon credits to other automakers.  While many people support Mr. Musk for taking on the task of cutting waste in Washington, other people in our deeply divided country are protesting in front of Tesla dealerships and trading their Teslas for other brands.  Earlier this week, Tesla Cybertrucks were booed as they drove in a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans.  I will say it again:  Mixing business with politics can be a risky business.

“I have bad credit, and it’s the dealership’s fault!”  Let’s face it, if you have bad credit, you usually are well aware of it.  Those annoying calls from debt collectors are certainly a clue, or perhaps it is the threatening letters and emails.  Whatever the case, you just know, right?  A few weeks ago, we told you about a guy who drove his as-is purchased used car through the front glass of a dealership and found himself in a mess of trouble.  I hope this is not a trend, because someone is going to get killed, but it happened again this week.  The circumstances were different this week in Gainesville, Florida when Kevin Leiman, who apparently doesn’t have good credit went to his local BMW dealership and wanted to test drive a $110,000 BMW M4.  The dealership did its due diligence and wanted to make sure the 20-year old could purchase a vehicle like this.  They ran a credit check and denied him the test drive.  He tried to grab the keys to the hot rod M4 but was stopped by dealership employees and he was asked to leave the premises.  But the story doesn’t end there.  The youngster went out to the parking lot and sat in his Hyundai, mulling things over, and apparently getting himself worked up to the point of driving his Hyundai through the front of the dealership.  Still wanting that test drive, he went on a hunt for the M4 keys but was unable to find them.  He fled on foot, but was picked up and arrested a short time later.  Besides his trouble with the local police, he is also on the hook for $60,000 in damages to the dealership.  It is doubtful he will be able to borrow the money for that.  Maybe he thought BMW stood for Break My Windows.

It's a crappy place for a car dealership:  You’d think the owners of a Syracuse, New York dealership group would have gotten a commendation from the city, but instead they got a lawsuit.  The Maguire Family of Dealerships, who owns 18 dealerships in the area, took it upon itself to clean up a vacant lot they owned where they had plans to build a luxury car dealership later.  The property was an eyesore, had been vacant since 2011, and previously was used by a sewer service company.  Yes, sewer.  The dealership removed debris and vegetation along an adjacent creek, regraded the land, spruced up a vacant building, and planted grass and trees.  I would guess the neighbors were thankful for the mess being cleaned up, and likely the smell in the area improved.  The transformation of the property was so different that a city inspector took notice and apparently had a lot of time on his or her hands and checked for permits.  There were no permits, the dealership employees did the work themselves, and did not use contractors.  HOW DARE THEM!  So, the city filed a lawsuit against the dealership for multiple violations potentially adding up to thousands of dollars.  After a year of back and forth talks, the dealership got the proper permits, even though the work was completed, in exchange for the city dropping the lawsuit.  All’s well that ends well, I suppose, but in my opinion, that was a crappy thing for the city to do.

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