Holiday Weekend Sales! New Weekly Auto Industry Roundup! Best Cars of 2025, Best Buys of 2025, See the Jeep Big Game Ad, Plus 2025 GMC Acadia and 2025 Toyota Crown Test Drives

February 14, 2025

Dear CarPro Family,

HAPPY Valentine’s Day to you! I hope it is a wonderful day. We’ve got a busy newsletter for you as we enter the halfway mark of February, including a new feature we are considering making a regular thing. Check out the Auto Industry Roundup below. If you like it, we’ll do it weekly. I give you a recap of the big stories in the world of cars for the week and offer up some commentary to go along with it. There is a short survey that will determine whether we do it weekly or scrap it. Please take a moment and vote.

DFW friends, the North Texas Auto Expo is next week! We’ll give away the final 4 pairs of tickets tomorrow. This is the only auto show we’ll have in the DFW area this year except for the State Fair, there will not be one in Fort Worth, so don’t miss this show. We’ll be broadcasting live there from the Expo February 22, 2025 from 9 AM to 2 PM. Below you will find more info, the automakers that will be there, ticket prices, and show times.

Presidents' Day is Monday, so this is a great weekend to get a new set of wheels if you’ve been thinking about it. I give you the rationale below on why you should look at numbers with a Car Pro Certified Dealer! The Super Bowl was last Sunday and if you missed the Ram truck commercial, and especially the Jeep commercial, we’ve got both for you. PLUS, we look back at the car commercials from 2022, when there were a lot of them. Also below, we’ve got details on the new 2025 Subaru Forester hybrid many have been waiting on, and more details on the beautiful new Lucid Gravity all-electric luxury SUV.

Ford pickup owners, watch out for your taillights! A Houston-area police department busted a ring that stole $92,000 worth of Ford truck taillights. Those things are expensive as you’ll see, courtesy of our friends at FOX26 TV in Houston. I have the history of Cadillacs used as Presidential limousines, and for you list lovers, the Cars.com “best of” awards and the KBB Best Buy awards.

Don’t miss Kim Komando’s Tech Tips & other useful info today. In advice, I give you all the reasons why you should lease or buy your next vehicle. This will help you make an informed decision on which way is right for you.

In car reviews, I had the beautiful 2025 GMC Acadia Denali 3-row SUV. Our Amy Plemons gives you a full and complete review of the 2025 Toyota Crown Platinum.

Check the recall section to see if you may need to take action on your vehicle. Miss a radio show? Below we tell you how to get the podcast, and if you missed a newsletter, we tell you how to find the archive page where you can see the last 10 editions. The incentives have gone up lately, but our Incentive Guide is always 100% up to date.

Plus, lots of other information you will enjoy, including my video of the week we talk about on the air all the time! If you have never been to our FAQ page, take a minute and peruse the categories, something there will interest you for sure → FAQ.

We so appreciate all of you who take this newsletter and listen to the show every week. We know that without you, there is no Car Pro Radio Show. So always let us know when we can help you. If you have not been there lately, take a look at our website, carpro.com, it changes all the time!

Have a terrific week. See you on the radio!

presidents day- car-canvapro Automakers, mattress stores, and car dealers always look for a reason to have a sale, and Presidents' Day is no exception. It is not uncommon to see a short-term spike in factory incentives during holidays like the one coming up this Monday. Usually when this happens, incentives go up on the Friday before the holiday, and last until the Tuesday afterward.

Car dealers always gear up to sell cars on holidays. When a lot of people are off work, they tend to shop for a new car. In the Texas market, Truck Month has now kicked off for Ford and Ram, so we have already seen truck incentives go up as the other truck makers match the rebates.

Although Presidents' Day is not a major holiday, all the holiday rules apply; a volume mindset that means lower prices, higher trade values, better interest rates, and quick deals. Even if the dealer doesn’t have the vehicle you want, they’ll work hard to find it.

As I have been telling you, new vehicle inventories are huge and the dealers are paying a lot of interest on all those vehicles. These dealers actually need to sell cars and are offering really nice discounts.

If you are going to do something about a new set of wheels, consider doing it this weekend, you could save money. If you have a trade-in, used prices are still sky-high and you should take advantage of that now, before it changes.

Click here to connect with a CarPro Dealer →

I get a lot of questions from listeners and media outlets about things going on in the auto industry. I thought maybe a weekly feature with a recap of things happening, and of course, my thoughts on them could be something you’d like. We judge content in this newsletter by clicks, meaning I get a report before Saturday’s radio show on which stories you clicked on the most. Unlike the Internet, we don’t give you misleading subject titles to get you to click. If this shows well, I’ll do my best to continue it. If not, I’ll have one less thing to do. Let us know below what you think in a super-quick survey!

The Honda/Nissan merger: It's official, the deal is off, kaput, finished. It's just as well, no car company mergers are ever a true merger, in spite of what they say. Mergers end up being takeovers, and it looks like Nissan figured that out just in the nick of time. I said on the radio show that I could not figure out what Honda thought they were gaining. Full control of Nissan was the plan all along, and without that, there was no deal. It was also complicated by the fact that Nissan owned a good chunk of Mitsubishi, and they didn't want to play with Honda. Nissan announced yesterday it would close three assembly plants, make cuts in shifts on the assembly line, and lay off more white collar workers.

WHY Ford, why? The Blue Oval boys had a good year in 2024, making 5.9 billion dollars. However, that number includes a loss of 5.1 billion dollars producing electric vehicles. I don’t know about you, but 11 billion looks better to me than 5 billion, but I’m no math major. The 2024 electric vehicle loss was up from 2023, but wait! There’s more! Ford says the 2025 loss will be even greater on electrics than 2024 was. So, let’s recap the losses incurred from building electric Ford products recently, shall we? 2023 (-$4,700,000,000). 2024 (-$5,100,000,000) and the projected loss for 2025, according to Ford (-$5,500,000,000). Total in 3 years: (-$15,300,000,000). Yes, there were losses before 2023, but I think you get the idea here. Has anyone at Ford noticed that EV sales are still only 8% of the total sales and doesn’t appear to be gaining momentum, in fact, quite the opposite, and the next four years under the Trump Presidency, is not going to help EVs. ABORT. ABORT.

The lawsuits are flying against Scout: We’ve told you here about the new Scout electric SUV that Volkswagen wants to sell direct to the public, sort of like Tesla does. There has been a lot of buzz about the vehicle, which is prompting lawsuits all over the place. Cue the Florida VW and Audi dealers. They are filing a lawsuit to prevent the direct-to-consumer model. It is sticky, however. Tesla and Rivian both sell direct in Florida now. The difference? Tesla and Rivian did not have a parent company already in place like VW does, they were startups. Even EV-crazy California is seeking to stop Scout direct sales. For those who think the direct model sounds good. It is, if you don’t mind paying MSRP for your vehicle. Also, if you have a problem with your vehicle, who do you call? Ghostbusters? You’ll have a better chance of getting something done. Remember kids, competition between new car dealers lowers prices and they compete for the best service after the sale. For consumers: WINNING!

Stop with the alphabet soup car names already! Your humble radio car show host gets tired of trying to memorize letters and number combinations of vehicles. Some make sense, most do not. Turn on the applaud now light for Audi. After just a year of weirdo number and letter combos (even numbers for EVs, odd numbers for gas engines) Audi is throwing the shifter into reverse. From now on, the number will tell you about the size. For instance, an A6 is bigger than an A5, but not as big as an A7. The vehicles will be labeled with identifiers for the power train: TFSI for gasoline, TFSIe for plug-in hybrids, TDI for diesels, and e-Tron for EVs. OK, I can work with that. One of my favorite all-time sedans was an A8 TFSI.

The Michael Jackson Moon Walk is alive and well: Yep, automakers are backing up on EVs, not just hitting the brakes, but slamming them to the floorboard. The VW ID.7 was a huge deal. It was an all-electric sedan that was going to rule the world, we were supposed to see it six months ago here in America, but they announced it was delayed. Now we find out, it is canceled. It is done and gone, sort of like Ram did recently with its Ram 1500 all-electric pickup that was shot in the head. There are plenty more examples of automakers running backwards from EVs. Dodge appears as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs about the new Charger all-electric. In the Northeast, you can lease one for $299 per month with TT&L down, and it’s a damned good-looking car. Over seven years ago, I wrote about EVs in an article titled “Stop the electric car insanity”. The automakers apparently did not read it.

That’s all folks, for today. Perhaps more next week, depending on the results of this poll

Cast your vote in our quick survey! →

The 2025 North Texas Auto Expo is just a days away! It kicks off next Thursday, February 20, and runs through Sunday, February 23, at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in downtown Dallas.

The Car Pro Show will be there on Saturday, February 22^nd from 9 AM to 2 PM Central broadcasting LIVE. Come by and say Hi to Todd Chambless and me, and our Amy Plemons will be taking pictures and video. Also there will be the engineering staff and the promotions team from WBAP.

Remember, we are giving away FOUR PAIRS OF TICKETS on the WBAP Car Pro Show tomorrow!

List of brands slated to attend!→

harrison-ford-jeep-super-bowl-ad-credit-stellantis (1)

Did You See The Ram and Jeep Spots in The Big Game?

As we told you, car commercials were absent this year from the Super Bowl, except for Stellantis which featured new commercials for Ram Trucks and a very special 2-minute commercial for Jeep. I pay attention to commercials, and for me, the Jeep commercial stole the show, with a patriotic message for America that was timely and needed. If you missed them, we have both commercials for you below. Big applause to Stellantis for the Jeep commercial they called “Owner’s manual.”

Watch the Jeep and Ram commercials →

Besides the Car Pro Show and our weekly newsletter, my other favorite radio show and newsletter is Kim Komando’s. We're on many of the same radio stations across America. She does for her listeners and newsletter subscribers exactly what I endeavor to do: Give you useful information to keep you up to date on the latest in cars, only she does it with technology and there is nobody who does it better. Not sure how she puts out a top-notch newsletter seven days a week, but she does.

Here are a few tips from Kim in the past week:

No denying this Tex appeal: Texas just banned Chinese-backed AI and social media apps from all state-issued devices. That means employees and contractors can’t download or use apps like DeepSeek, RedNote, Lemon8 and others. Before you say it's overkill, DeepSeek’s iOS app is literally sending unencrypted data to ByteDance-controlled servers. That’s a national security risk, plain and simple. Expect this at the federal level soon.
Can’t make this up: LG is recalling 500,000 electric stoves after 28 house fires and several injuries. Full list of affected models here. Now, they aren’t offering refunds. No, not exchanges, either. Instead, customers get warning stickers to remind them to push a lock button to prevent “unintentional activation” of the front-mounted knobs. Kids and pets totally read warning labels …
I’m a dog person: My Abby makes life better. It turns out that’s true even if the pet isn’t real. Ageless Innovation makes meowing cats, wagging dogs and chirping birds that respond like the real thing, minus the walking, feeding or litter box duty. Now they’re all over assisted-living facilities and even hospice care centers. Some 93% of folks say they feel more joy after getting one. They’re for sale on Amazon.
Free money, because I care about you: Progressive Insurance is paying out a $3.25 million class-action lawsuit for exposing data. If you suffered a data breach, you can get up to $5,000. No word on how much you’ll get if you didn’t, but it’s worth registering. Deadline is Feb. 18!
480 People have died trying to capture the perfect selfie. The most common ways people meet a tragic end? Drowning or falling off a cliff. But sometimes, it’s just not paying attention. A woman just died in Japan because she was so focused on getting the perfect picture, she didn’t see a train coming. No photo is worth your life.

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.

Best of all, it’s 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.

Recent additions to our affiliate family include:

KLXX 1270 AM Bismark-Madan North Dakota
- Saturday 5p to 6p CT (Replay)
KKTK AM 1400/FM 97.1 in Texarkana, TX
- Saturday: 12 noon to 3 pm CT (Replay)
KQEW 102.3 FM in Fordyce, Arkansas
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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: KRLD 1080 AM, Saturday 2pm to 4pm Central (replay)
Granbury, TX: KPIR 1420 AM, Saturday 11am to 2pm Central
Listen to the WBAP Podcast (up every Tuesday)→

Presidents' Day Sales Run Through Monday!

Straight Talk and Honest Answers

CarPro Advice: The Basics- Should You Buy or Lease?

North Texas Auto Expo: Win Tickets Tomorrow!

Highboy For Heroes Sweepstakes!

Join us in the "Highboy for Heroes" sweepstakes!

The Big Game Ad Recap

Did You See The Ram and Jeep Spots in The Big Game?

On The Road: Test Drives

2025 GMC Acadia Denali

Find out why the GMC Acadia is one of Jerry's all-time favorite 3-row SUVs!

2025 Toyota Crown Platinum

The top-range 2025 Toyota Crown adds a few standard goodies this year.

Bumper to Bumper: Industry News

All-New 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid Details

Only 100 Of These Mercedes-Benz Will Be Produced Worldwide

New Lucid Gravity Electric SUV Details

Fun Look Back: 2022 Super Bowl Auto Ads

Ford Truck Taillight Theft Ring Busted Near Houston

Cadillac & The Beast: A Look Back At Presidential Limos

Weekly Recalls

Our Incentive Guide

Kim Komando's Tech Tips and Useful Info

Check Out Our Newsletter Archive Page!

Classic Car Contest: Win An AutoHeatShield!

Jerry's Video Of The Week

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

Closing Message From Jerry Reynolds

CarPro Advice:
The Basics- Should You Buy or Lease?