The Straight Shift with The Car Chick

2025 Charlotte Auto Show: The Best, Worst, and WTF Cars You Need to Know About

• LeeAnn Shattuck, The Car Chick: Your Car Buying and Repair Expert • Season 2 • Episode 121

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Summary

In this episode of The Straight Shift, The Car Chick® shares her experiences and insights from the 2025 Charlotte International Auto Show. She discusses the latest vehicle redesigns from various manufacturers, highlighting the Nissan Armada and Murano, Toyota's Grand Highlander, 2026 Hyundai's Palisade, 2026 Subaru Crosstrek and 2026 Outback, and the 2026 Honda Passport. LeeAnn emphasizes the importance of usability testing for potential car buyers and shares her thoughts on the evolving automotive landscape, including electric vehicles and family-friendly features.

Takeaways

  • The Nissan Murano's new design is more appealing and less niche.
  • Toyota's Grand Highlander offers spaciousness and hybrid options, making it a strong contender.
  • The Hyundai Palisade's redesign has some usability quirks that may disappoint buyers.
  • Subaru's Crosstrek and Outback received significant updates, with the Crosstrek now offering a hybrid model.
  • The Toyota Crown Signia lacks the premium feel expected at its price point.
  • The Honda Passport's design is attractive, but it falls short in comfort and off-road capability.
  • Usability testing is crucial for potential car buyers to ensure the vehicle fits their lifestyle.


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Copyright ©2024 Women’s Automotive Solutions Inc., dba The Car Chick. All rights reserved.

LeeAnn Shattuck (00:00)
Hey everyone and welcome back to the Straight Shift, your favorite no BS car podcast. So grab a coffee or an adult beverage, no judgment, buckle up and let's talk cars. Today we are diving into my annual pilgrimage to the Charlotte International Auto Show. And yes, I go every single year because it is a critical part of my research process.

Now, if you're imagining the LA show or the Detroit show, just stop right there. That is not Charlotte. We're a smaller market and a smaller show. In fact, not every manufacturer even bothers to show up anymore, but it's put on by our local dealers and the auto show organizers do a fantastic job with what they have to work with.

They make it engaging, they make it very family friendly, accessible. It's honestly one of my favorite weekends of the year. So today I'm going to tell you about some of the newly redesigned vehicles that really stood out to me at the show and which ones had me kind of scratching my head wondering what the fruitcake were they thinking? Also, if you want to actually see the cars that I'm talking about,

head over to my YouTube channel and watch the video version of this podcast there where I integrated some B-roll so you can see the cars. So let's get into it.

I started out my tour of this year's Charlotte International Auto Show with the Nissans. And I started with the Armada. The Armada was actually redesigned in 2025. And I really like it. It's a lot more rugged. I really like what Nissan is doing with their styling now. They have always been very bold and never afraid to take risks.

Some have paid off, some of them have not. This is why we call Nissan the Jaguar of Japan. You kind of never know what you're going to get with them, but you can't fault them for their boldness. And I really like the new Armada. It doesn't feel like a truck anymore.

You definitely need running boards to get up into it because it is still large, but it just doesn't feel like you're getting into like a Tahoe or a Suburban or some of those that are very much truck based. It feels like you're getting into an upscale SUV. The interior is gorgeous and you have this huge center console with wonderful storage. I'm not getting my purse in there, but it is large. I had a small purse, it would fit.

But you have almost like this table between the driver and the passenger. And I think you could play poker on it if you were stuck in traffic. It's literally that big.

The car also has good cargo space, but not as much as you would expect for the large SUV category. It doesn't have the same amount as, a Chevy Tahoe and certainly not something as huge as a Suburban. And it actually is smaller than the Toyota Grand Highlander, which is technically a mid-sized three-row SUV. But if you are looking for a very comfortable vehicle to haul your family around, maybe you're doing a lot of

carpooling, need to get some people in a reasonable size third row. There's a lot of wonderful, very comfortable space in this car. Now, of course, they're having some reliability issues, but what manufacturer isn't these days? Particularly, they're having some problems with their ProPilot Assist technology. It gets a little overly aggressive with the steering assist, and I think it beeps at you entirely too much. And the wireless charger has been known to overheat certain models of iPhone.

But this is why I say don't buy the first year of a major redesign, especially with a company like Nissan that takes a little bit more risks, but it's a damn comfortable, really beautiful vehicle. I also looked at the Nissan Murano, which was also redesigned in 2025, but I had not had the opportunity to see one in person. The Murano is a vehicle that

most people forget even exists. It has a very niche market and part of it was because of the previous styling. It was a little unusual and it definitely did not appeal to everyone. It was very slopey, a little bit funky, but it's a two row midsize SUV. People either loved it or they hated it. And most people forgot that it even existed. but the new one is a little more boxy. This is the direction that every manufacturer is going. We're going back to

boxy. And I think the Murano does it very, well. It still has the sleek styling and the slopier roofline that it's known for, but I think it looks a little more futuristic. They really did a good job with it. The only thing that I don't like is that they have plastic wheel covers over the aluminum wheels. And don't get me wrong, they look good.

And they did it to lower the weight and lower the drag coefficient because you know, we've got to squeeze every ounce of fuel economy we can out of these things, but it's a little bit weird. And I'm really worried that they're not going to hold up. You knock on them you're like, Ooh yeah, that's plastic. That's probably going to break. So trade off there, but it's a beautiful, good size, midsize SUV that still only has two rows. So if you don't need that third row, you need some cargo space and you want to be very comfortable,

it's definitely one to consider and it's not as funky as it used to be. The Nissan that impressed me the most was the new all electric Nissan Leaf. The Leaf was one of the first all electric vehicles that came out years and years ago, but it looked a lot like a lunchbox on wheels. Granted, I drive a Mini, so I can't really talk about that, but...

It was not exactly a wonderful vehicle. It did a lot of good things, but it was not going to win any style competitions. But now it's gone full on crossover. It's not just a little hatchback anymore. It actually reminded me of a smaller Nissan Ariya, which was their more midsize electric SUV, which sadly they have discontinued, but it makes the Leaf a lot more sporty. It actually looks really cool. And the interior

is what you would expect from a good EV. It's very clean, it's very simple, it's ergonomic. I love that it has a flat bottom steering wheel, which makes it a lot easier to get in and out of, because it is a small car. It's got a nice fixed glass roof. Rear visibility is not awesome, but that's also not unexpected for smaller cars with a slopier roofline. Similarly, second row legroom is not generous, but...

This is a commuter car. This is not a people mover. If you are the one hauling your coworkers to lunch, they're just going to have to suck it up and squeeze into the back seat because it's still going to be a nice ride. But the best part is the seats are so comfortable. Nissan has the best seats in the entire automotive industry. They used to call them zero gravity seats. I'm not sure if they're still using that term anymore, but they are so comfy. Like seriously.

Your butt has never been so spoiled. They're cushiony, there's good back and lumbar support, good side support. They are just the best seats ever. So if you spend a lot of time in your car, they are so, so worth it. The New Leaf also has a lot of great standard safety features, great standard technology. It actually comes with a dual charging port, so it'll work with the two most common charger types. And it has a longer range. It can get over 300 miles to a charge now, which is great

because the fast charge on this thing, not exactly fast. So you want to have some good range to it. The best thing is it's still relatively affordable, at least by new car standards and certainly by EV standards. It starts in the low thirties. That is actually what is considered cheap for an electric car. But this car is not cheap. It is economical and inexpensive. It's actually a really nice car. And so the Nissan Leaf,

wins my most improved award for this year and really kudos to Nissan overall. They need to fix some of their reliability issues and certainly the company's financial but I really like the direction that Nissan is going. Then I headed over to Toyota because I wanted to see the Grand Highlander in person and I know that's weird because they have actually been out since 2024.

But they have been super hot. Toyota has had inventory problems. They've had supply chain problems. They had the stop sale on these cars, which lasted for a good five months because there was a defect in the way one of the airbags deployed and they're still getting caught up. And of course the demand for the Toyotas, especially the hybrids is so high. And the Grand Highlander was really a missing piece in Toyota's lineup

because the regular Highlander was nice, but again, when you try to cram three rows in a midsize SUV, it gets really cramped really fast. The Grand Highlander solves that problem. It is so roomy. You can actually get adults in the third row without them hating you. And it comes in a hybrid version. I think the hybrid version is definitely worth getting.

There are two hybrid versions. There's the regular hybrid and then the hybrid iForce Max. The iForce Max is a hybrid system that's designed to give you more torque and more towing capability, not the fuel efficiency. So if you're buying the hybrid because you want to maximize your fuel economy, don't get the iForce Max. Get that one if you're going to be towing something and you need that extra torque, because it actually does not get great gas mileage at all. But the regular hybrid,

is getting 35, 36 miles to the gallon, which for a very roomy midsize SUV, three row, that is huge. It's a game changer in the industry. And otherwise, this is just something that you would expect from Toyota. It's comfortable, easy access to the third row. The third row even reclines. So you can put your drunk friends in the third row and let them sleep on the way home if you're the designated driver.

Overall, I would say this is arguably the best midsize three row SUV

on the market, especially the hybrid version, which explains why they're really hard to get. Now, if you want something swankier, but still has that practical roominess, take a look at the Lexus TX. It is the swankier older sibling to the Grand Highlander. They're built on the exact same platform.

This is not just a rebadged Toyota. It is definitely a Lexus. It gives you power folding second and third rows, which are great. And they are smart enough to know that if you're pushing that button and power folding the third row, the headrests automatically flip over and tuck in so that the seats can fold in behind the second row. You're not going to have that

third row headrest banging into the second row, which you do get on a lot of other power folding third row SUVs. And if there is something in the way, say the driver's seat, if you're folding the second row it's going to stop and it's going to beep at you. It's like, Oh, wait, I can't do this. There's a problem. Something needs your attention before I can continue. It doesn't just try to jam itself in there.

The Chevy Traverse, even the new Hyundai Palisade, which I'm going to talk about a little bit later in this episode, they get jammed up. You can actually wedge the headrest into the seat in front of you and it actually gets stuck and that mechanism is going to break. The Japanese engineers are a lot smarter than that. They anticipate this. They kind of know that people are in a hurry. They're not thinking through these things. So they're just going to prevent you from having these problems in the first place.

And it's really relatively quick for a power mechanism. So you can get in and out of that third row really easily, really fast, which if you've got people, especially kids in the third row that are running to school, kids move fast and they want to be able to get in and out quickly. So really practical. And in the TX, you just get so much car for $65000 - $70,000. That's actually a really good value for a luxury midsize SUV. And again, there's a hybrid version.

Speaking of midsize hybrid three-row SUVs, I was so excited to finally get to see the brand new, fully redesigned Hyundai Palisade. I have been waiting for this car to come out for so long and in a hybrid version, and I really thought that this was going to be my pick of the auto show. Don't get me wrong, I liked it. It's absolutely...

gorgeous inside and out. I'm gonna have to get used to the exterior styling. It's very futuristic and I really liked the old classy styling of the Palisade, but I'm sure it's gonna grow on me. But there were some things that when I really looked closely at it, I was like, hmm, that's actually a little disappointing. First thing, the sleek new design of the grille. Everything is just fully integrated, but it's a lot of plastic

covering things like the headlights in the full grille. That's gonna crack. It's probably gonna shatter in an accident. I haven't seen the crash test results for this, so I need to look up the data, but just feeling it and touching it It's like that's a lot of plastic and my other concern is how well is it going to age? Is it going to crack? Is it gonna fade?

Is it going to yellow like my kitchen appliances did over time, like your headlights do on a car over time? this is just something that once these cars have been out for five, six, seven, eight years, it's going to be interesting to see how well all of that stuff ages. Now, again, if you get into an accident, I'm sure it's going to be extremely expensive to get repaired. But, again, that's the reality of the cars being so technology heavy and so

over-engineered these days. Over-engineering no longer just applies to the German cars. Speaking of that over-engineering, let's talk about the power folding seats in this car. In the Toyota Grand Highlander and the Lexus, everything was very smooth, very quick, very intuitive. Not so much in the Palisade, which surprised me because Hyundai's technology is normally very intuitive. I love their user interface, their infotainment system.

But the way the power folding second and third rows work is not at all intuitive. And this was the calligraphy, the highest trim level. So of course it has all the bells and whistles. And I do realize that there is probably a certain amount of user learning curve involved, but I'm usually pretty good at figuring these things out because I'm a bit of a nerd.

Unlike in the Toyota, which up and down switches, think seat up, the button goes up. It's kind of like a light switch up and down, on and off. Hyundai decided to do it more sideways. And so you have to push them forward and backwards. And what they did was they gave you one set of buttons to control both the third and the second row power folding seats.

So there's a toggle switch that you have to shift it between if you want it to function for the second row or you want it to function for the third row. Once you kind of get used to that and figure it out, that's not a big deal, but they were so painfully slow. I mean, a tortoise could get out of the third row faster than your kids in this thing. And the mechanism that handles those power folding rows

in the seat rails that are attached to the floor, that attach the seats to the floor, they're exposed. Normally those things are covered, but it was just right out there for you to see, which means that debris is going to potentially get in there and damage these mechanisms. Because you're buying these cars for the most part to transport kids. Kids come with things like dirt, mud, goldfish crackers, just things that make a mess in your car,

especially in the floorboards. So I'm just a little concerned that debris is gonna get caught in those mechanisms and that's going to cause problems. The other thing was that it gets a little finicky with like sometimes I was pushing the buttons and was it working, was it not working? In the Toyota and the Lexus when you push the button and held it, when it engaged and started working, it beeped at you. It said, okay, thank you, I heard you, I'm working now. And then when it completed,

it beeped at you again to say, okay, I'm done. You don't get that feedback with the Hyundai, or at least I didn't hear anything like that. I am definitely going to have to go over to my local Hyundai store that I work with all the time here in my neighborhood and have Cindy walk me through it in a little bit more detail. But again, it wasn't something that I could just easily figure out. I probably played around with it for good 10 minutes and finally kind of got the hang of it, but it was a little bit finicky.

There is an all button that just says, fold everything down. I'm about to load up the car with a bunch of crap. And that was really nice, but it didn't work consistently all the time. But my biggest peeve with it was it was just so slow. So you are not going to be the fastest parent in the carpool line there when you're dropping off

all the kids from school because it's going to take them time to get in and out of the vehicle. So just get the captain's chairs and let them walk through the aisle in the middle. Don't worry about power folding the second row to get the kids out. Just make them crawl over. They won't mind. So that is just my biggest complaint about that vehicle. But otherwise it was absolutely gorgeous. The one they had at the auto show had some stickers on it for one of the charities that they're involved with. So that was kind of cute, but...

The interior was very, very white. And this is a trend that I am seeing across the market. There's a lot of very white interiors, super, super light. They are gorgeous for about the first 30 seconds. And then they're going to get dirty. And especially in a three row SUV. You buy three row SUVs to haul around children. Children are messy creatures. So I don't really know who's going to keep this clean.

Personally, I think that family-oriented vehicles should come with interiors called things like goldfish cracker. That would be a great interior color because it would blend in. A darker interior, something that's gonna hide a little bit of that dirt, those scuffs, those goldfish crackers, whatever your kids are doing in the car, is probably going to be a little bit better. Now, if you have older kids or teenagers or you're getting a vehicle because you're gonna be hauling adults around, maybe you're a real estate agent.

Just keep in mind, you're gonna be spending a lot more on that monthly detail to keep it clean. But they are really, really beautiful. My other advice with the Palisade specifically and the hybrid version is if you plan to keep it more than five years, which is what the factory warranty is, get the extended wrap warranty. That takes the full coverage, out to the 10 year 100,000 powertrain. So it's gonna cover all those

high-tech electronics and all those mechanisms that are probably gonna fail at some point. That is worth the cost especially if you can get it at dealer cost. Don't pay retail.

The next vehicles that I was super excited to see because I was surprised - I was not expecting to see these. If a vehicle is brand new or just coming out or is going to be coming out soon, we usually don't get it at the Charlotte auto show because the cars there are provided by the dealers. They come out of the dealer inventory. So it means you have to have one to bring it to the show, which is why I never got to see a lot of these Toyota's in the past. But Subaru had not only

the brand new redesigned 2026 Crosstrek, but also the Outback. I'm so excited, but let's start talking about the Crosstrek, because these are starting to hit dealer lots. And the biggest upgrade, so to speak, with the new Crosstrek is the release of a hybrid model. Remember, Subaru has a partnership with Toyota, so all their hybrid technology is Toyota's hybrid system, which is great. It's the best system there is. It's reliable. And they have just married it to

Subaru's powertrain and they're doing a very good job with it. They released the Forester earlier this year as a 2025 model in the hybrid and it has been fantastic. So same thing in the Crosstrek. I actually have the hybrid model on order for a client up in Boston. We ordered it in August and it should arrive in the next couple of weeks. I'm excited. The hybrid will get about 36 miles to the gallon, but don't worry if you don't want the hybrid or maybe you can't get the hybrid. The regular gas model in the Crosstrek still gets

28 - 29 combined. It's the best fuel economy of the small SUVs on the market.

And at the auto show, had the wilderness edition, I just love. It gives you a little more ground clearance, a little more capabilities to take the car off the beaten path. And it just looks awesome. It just looks like what a Subaru was designed to do, which is take you on an adventure. But then I looked over and I saw the new fully redesigned 2026 Outback.

These things are not even due to hit dealer lots until probably later in December, towards the end of the year. Some dealers might not get them until early January, but one of the dealers here in Charlotte apparently got one early and they brought it to the auto show. So I'm thrilled. And this is a full redesign. Subaru doesn't normally do radical redesigns. So if you look at the new Crosstrek, you're going to be like, oh, okay, I see some differences, but it's not like, holy cow, what is that? They went full bore on this Outback.

It actually looks like an SUV now, not the illegitimate love child of an SUV and a station wagon. Now, some people are going to be sad about that because they liked the unique wagony look of the Outback. That's what it has always been for Subaru and it's always been a very distinctive vehicle. But other people are going to be like, ⁓ okay, I actually like it now because they didn't like the kind of grungy, outdoorsy hippie look of the Outback before.

It's much more boxy, which actually gives you more headroom and more cargo space, which it already had a good amount of, but yay, now you get more. It is still a midsize two row SUV. So if you don't need that third row, but you do want the cargo space for hauling hockey equipment, golf clubs, all the junk that comes with kids, strollers, your camping equipment, your bike, whatever you are hauling for your family adventures, you can haul in the Outback. It's wonderful.

The interior is still very Subaru-ish, but it is a little nicer than it was before, and they have a new infotainment system. The screen is actually horizontal, not vertical like on the most of the Subarus, but it just, it's very ergonomic and everything is very easy to reach. It's very easy to use. The only downside that I see with this is that it is also more expensive. It's about $3,500 more than the previous model.

But even so, even the top trim level is under $50,000, which is the average new car price now. So for a midsize SUV,

with a good amount of space, good amount of functionality, a good amount of technology, that is a good value for the money and less than most of its competitors on the market. This is the thing that excited me most at the auto show because I just so was not expecting to see it. And I'm so glad that I did.

Going back to the Toyotas for a minute, another vehicle I wanted to see was the Toyota Crown Signia. Again, out last year. It replaced the Venza. So they basically redesigned the Venza completely and also rebranded it because Toyota is kind of bringing out this new Crown line that's going to supposedly be a little more upscale than your average Toyota. I don't know if they'll ever spin it off as a full brand the way Hyundai spun off Genesis,

but they might. It's just kind of designed to sit between the Toyotas and the Lexus. So I wanted to see the Crown Signia, that's my crossover version. The regular Crown has a sedan, the Signia is an SUV. It is based on the RAV4 platform, just like the Venza was, but it is a little bit longer, yet somehow you get less cargo space because of the slopier roofline.

I have to say I was disappointed in this car. It wasn't as special as I thought it would be. The seats were okay. Not great. Granted, my butt was used to the Nissan seats at this point in the day. You do get a nice big sunroof and the second row is generous, so you will be able to take your coworkers around in the car for lunch. But it didn't feel premium. I mean, I wasn't expecting a Lexus, but I was expecting something a little bit more

than a Toyota, and it just didn't stand out to me in any way. But one deal breaker, there was only one cupholder up front. One cupholder. Totally unacceptable. You should not have to choose whether the driver or the passenger is properly caffeinated. So they screwed up And for, a $50,000 price point, personally, I think I would rather get a gently used Lexus RX hybrid.

All of the Crown vehicles are hybrids. This is what Toyota is doing. Toyota is moving to an all hybrid model and then we'll also be coming out with pure EVs. But when they bring something new out, it is hybrid only. You don't get a choice anymore. And I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing because they do it well. But I just, didn't love it. I just didn't love it. Next to it was the new Toyota Camry. Now that came out in 2025. So they've been out for a little bit and it is hybrid only now.

It's still a Camry. You can't go wrong with a Camry. They're stupid reliable. They get great gas mileage. It's the perfect commuter car. But they had some weird things. The glove box has all but vanished. I mean, it's tiny. If it looked like, there even a glove box in there? And it's actually a glove box now because a pair of gloves is all you're going to be able to fit in this thing. I guess it's a good thing that all the owner's manuals are online now because you're not fitting owner's manuals... You're not fitting anything in there

except a pair of gloves. What it did was create a much bigger opening for the passenger. So they have a ton of leg room. And it creates this kind of cockpit wall along with a high center console that very much separates the passenger from the driver. I'm not really sure why they made this design decision. if they had a lot of feedback of drivers complaining that

their passengers were touching me while they were driving. keep them away from me. Maybe it's because Toyota has always been about safety. So now they're actually building birth control into their cars. Cause let me tell you, there is going to be no hanky panky going on in the front seat of that Camry with that big barrier between the passenger and the driver. So, hey parents, maybe this is a good car for a teenager because they're not going to be making out in that car, at least not in the front seat. But

It's still a fantastic vehicle. I love the new styling. It's starting to get much more aggressive. It's not boring Toyota anymore. And the one at the auto show is this deep "Reservoir Blue" that I really, liked. It was a surprisingly elegant, but still kind of badass looking color. I really liked it.

Then I headed over to Honda because I really wanted to see the new redesigned Honda Passport. It was a 2026 model, but it came out much earlier this year. I think it was out by February of 2025. It was the first of the 2026 models of anybody that was out. And they had the Trail Sport Elite Edition. And I really wanted to love this car. I so did not.

It looks great. Don't get me wrong. The styling is fantastic. They had a blue one and it had orange tow hooks. Some orange trim on it. It just looks really cool. But it was all looks. You get inside and the seats were absolutely horrible, which surprised me because it's supposed to have comfy seats. I don't know whose butt tested that out. It was not mine. They were flat. They were hard. It was kind of like sitting on a piece of wood covered in faux leather.

If you're going to be in a vehicle that's supposedly designed to take you off road, I want the seats to be comfy because you're probably going to be bouncing around a lot. And that's just not going to feel good on hard seats. So I don't know what's up with that, but it does have a nice big sunroof. Rear visibility is perfectly decent and mechanically it still has Honda's pretty much bulletproof, naturally aspirated V6 engine.

It's a fantastic engine. It makes good torque because you're not waiting for a turbo to spool up. Everybody else is going to the four cylinder turbos and there's just a trade off with that. So you're going to get more consistent performance out of that V6, but the trade off is it gets really crappy gas mileage. I mean, we're talking low twenties, which if you compare that to the Outback, which gets nearly 30,

and actually has higher ground clearance. I'm like, okay, there's definitely a trade off there and there's no hybrid option for this. The other thing that really annoyed me is they're really touting this as an off-road vehicle. They want it to compete with the Ford Bronco, with the Jeep Wrangler. I suppose that depends on your definition of off-road.

Make no mistake, this is not a competitor to a Bronco or a Jeep in the off-road category, not even a Toyota 4Runner. It's going to do a great job on gravel roads, packed dirt, but you are not going rock crawling in this thing. It has a relatively low ground clearance for a vehicle that's touted as off-road. It's even less than the Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness Edition. It does not have a good approach angle.

It doesn't have the articulation in the suspension that is needed for true off-roading. It would be great for camping because one thing it does do very well is tow. It will tow up to 5,000 pounds when properly equipped. And that's unusual for this size. Normally the smaller mid-size vehicles, your Outback, like the Hyundai Santa Fe, those are only going to tow 2,500, maybe 3,500. You can tow 5,000 pounds with the Honda Passport. So...

If you want to go camping, not truly off-roading, you have a good size, good camper trailer, this could be a really good vehicle for you. Under the hood, there's some weird things going on here. Like I said, I like that V6 engine, but it still has a timing belt. Like seriously, we have a timing belt in 2026 when everybody else is with timing chains. I mean, it's not a huge deal, but it does mean that there will be maintenance. You'll have to change that timing belt

every 90,000 miles, and it's an expensive service. But what I couldn't figure out was there's this weird round large air hole at the very front of the engine bay with a tube going to the engine. It's for extra cooling.

I'm not sure how much airflow though, given where it's positioned, it's actually going to give you. But what it actually is, is it is a black hole into which the mechanics are going to drop tools. They are going to lose their beloved 10 millimeter sockets in this hole all the time. I can just see it now.

But the worst part about this car is that it's $55,000. It was not impressive for $55,000. I I know the cost of everything is going up, but when you think that you can get an Outback fully loaded with more off-road capability for under 50. This is even getting into the starting cost of a Land Rover Defender.

Now granted, it's going to be a lot more reliable than a Land Rover. It's going to be more reliable than the Jeeps. But just the price point just kind of shocked me for what you actually get with this vehicle. So the winner of my infamous WTF award this year goes to the Honda Passport Trail Sport Elite, which is not really trail sporty and it's not really elite. Sorry Honda, not impressed.

So finally, for my Pick of the Show this year, like I said, I thought it was going to be the new Palisade. And it might've been a toss up between the new Palisade if it didn't have some of those usability quirks and the Subaru Outback, which I was so excited to actually see. I wasn't expecting it, but this year was a little unusual. There wasn't one vehicle that I went, oh my god this is it. I love it. This is my favorite thing here in the whole show. Nothing stood out. And maybe it's because a lot of things are really starting to look

so much alike, but nothing stood out. But I still had a favorite pick of the show. It was the EV test track. Not the regular EV test track, which is for people over 18. You can sign up and you can do a cool little ride along in a variety of different electric vehicles. Last year it was all the European vehicles. So the BMW, the Mercedes, the Porsche.

And course, Ford had their little corner with the Lightning and the Mach-E. This year, Ford still had their corner, but it was all about the General Motors vehicles. There was even an electric Hummer there, which I still have to laugh about. But this year, they added a kids EV test track.

All it was was a little area sectioned off with some little toy vehicles. There was a little pink SUV and there was a little sports car. You these are the toys that you can buy at the toy store, the ride alongs for kids. But it was just adorable and they called it the kids EV test track and they kind of handled it in the same way. So it just makes this auto show very, very family friendly.

And I'm not even a big fan of small humans like at all. I don't have any. I never wanted any, but this was really adorable and all I could think was that my kind of pseudo goddaughter, Marissa, who's three, she would have absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, they live in Tennessee, so I couldn't share that experience with her, but it was just really cute. Again, kudos to the Charlotte Auto Show organizers for including that and having something for the kids to enjoy. And they were having a blast with it.

Now, if they'd had something like that when I was that age, I probably would have gotten thrown out. So yeah, anyway... Well, I hope this has been helpful to you to learn a little bit about some of the brand new redesigned vehicles that are out there, what I liked, what I didn't like. And I want to stress the importance of when you are looking for a new car, it's not enough just to be blown away by how pretty it looks, how gorgeous is the interior, even how comfortable it is. You need to do

usability testing for your lifestyle. You need to come up with use cases. What am I going to do on a daily basis with this vehicle? So if you have sporting equipment, bring that with you to the dealership to test fit in the car. If you are going to be loading and unloading children on a regular basis from the second and third rows, bring some of them with you or at least test it out yourself as an adult. How easy is it to access that third row?

How fast is it? You need to make sure that the car really supports your lifestyle because it's those little things that you normally don't look at in detail on a test drive, but that you will find out later when you actually own the car and they will drive you bat shit crazy and will make you hate the car. So when you go into a test drive, you do your homework and take some time to write down a couple of use cases for your family.

Think through your day. What do you do? What do you need this tool to do for you and your family? And then walk through those use cases, test them out, because that's gonna give you a more realistic view of how this car is actually going to work for you, not just how pretty and comfy it's going to be. So that is my car buying tip for the day. And if you are thinking about buying a car by the end of the year, please don't wait until December 26th.

You're gonna drive yourself crazy and I'm not gonna be able to help you that late in the year if you need something by the end of the year. If you need something by the end of the year and you would like my help, please go to my website, TheCarChick.com and fill out the contact form and let's have that conversation now so that we can figure out what is gonna be your strategy and make sure that I have enough room on my plate to be able to help you get that perfect car by the end of the year.

Thanks for listening folks. I appreciate you guys as always and until next time, drive safely. I'm out of here.