Auto Collabs
Collaboration through connection.
Hosted by Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier, and Michael Cirillo, Auto Collabs is your connect point to the human side of the retail automotive industry: what motivates its leaders, how they navigate change, and what keeps them pushing forward. It’s beyond-the-business-card conversations with real people powering dealerships, technology platforms, and everything in between.
From the team behind the More Than Cars movement, this podcast is built on one big belief: thriving people create thriving businesses. With candid conversations, industry insight, and just enough unfiltered banter to keep things interesting, Auto Collabs delivers authentic stories that inspire real collaboration.
// Auto Collabs is produced by Automotive State of the Union (ASOTU). Learn more at https://www.asotu.com
Auto Collabs
Why The F&I Office Feels Like A Timeshare Presentation with Robert Steenbergh, Esq. | Auto Collabs
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As auto loans stretch longer and negative equity piles up, one former prosecutor explains why transparency—not pressure—might be the most profitable move dealers can make.
Robert Steenbergh didn’t come up through the showroom—he came from the courtroom. After years as a prosecutor and later representing dealers as an attorney, Robert saw both sides of the auto industry’s biggest tension point: compliance versus profitability. What surprised him most wasn’t dealer intent, but how over-regulation, fear-based selling, and rushed F&I processes quietly eroded trust with customers.
In this conversation, Robert breaks down why today’s affordability crisis isn’t just about higher prices—it’s about longer loan terms, growing negative equity, and decisions that feel “possible” today but hurt both dealers and customers tomorrow. From bi-weekly payment acceleration to why fully compliant dealers actually see higher penetration, this episode challenges some of the most common assumptions in modern F&I—and offers a practical path forward that benefits everyone in the deal.
Timestamped Takeaways
00:00 – You Were There, But You Weren’t There
01:44 – From Prosecutor to the Car Business
03:26 – Why Compliance Feels Impossible for Dealers
04:10 – Transparency Is More Profitable Than Fear-Based Selling
05:56 – Training, Tracking, and Firing to Protect Trust
06:45 – Customers Don’t Say No Because of Information
08:06 – Why F&I Feels Like a Timeshare Experience
10:07 – The Case for Putting F&I Education on Dealer Websites
12:18 – The Real Risk of 84- and 96-Month Auto Loans
13:38 – The $6,500 Negative Equity Wake-Up Call
14:00 – How Bi-Weekly Payments Accelerate Equity Without Pain
17:49 – Using AI to Design the Next Product, Not Just the Next Feature
18:49 – Turning Affordability Into a Retention Strategy
22:10 – Trust Isn’t a Buzzword—It’s a System
Connect with Robert Steenbergh, Esq. at https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertsteenbergh/
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