Why Families Trust The Car Mom More Than Their Dealer

@Benzsandbowties talks with Kelly Stumpe, AKA @the_car_mom about the mom audience on social media that turns to her for car buying advice for families. Kelly occupies a niche nobody else has ventured into, proving that Moms are "car people" and are some of the most important decision makers when it comes to buying a car.

Hosted by Doug Horner, General Sales Manager at Mercedes-Benz of North Olmsted and a rising voice in automotive social media, this new podcast brings a transparent, high-energy perspective to dealership operations, leadership, and digital engagement.

Known online as   @BenzsandBowTies  he has amassed 500K+ followers and 25MM+ viewers monthly across his channels where he often blends humor into content resonating with agents, operators, and customers alike with authenticity and real-world dealership insights. 

"We all are consuming social media all day long every day,” Horner shared in a recent Car Dealership Guy interview. “If everyone is doing this all day long, then that's where we need to be.” 

The Doug Horner Show dives into what drives dealership success today through candid conversations with respected industry leaders, performance coaches and digital creators shaping modern automotive culture. 

About Doug Horner

Doug Horner is General Sales Manager at luxury dealership, Mercedes-Benz North Olmsted, and the creator of @BenzsandBowties, a brand centered on real dealership culture and leadership perspective, and the joy of the work, as an auto industry influencer.

About CallRevu 

CallRevu is the leading communication intelligence platform built for automotive retail—empowering dealerships to take control of every conversation, from the first ring to the final result. Our holistic solution combines an automotive-specific hosted phone system, call monitoring, performance training, and reputation management­–fueled by AI-powered analytics that turn every customer interaction into actional intelligence. Founded in a dealership in 2008, CallRevu was created by the industry, for the industry to drive revenue, improve performance, and deliver exceptional customer experiences. 

Learn more at www.CallRevu.com

#cars #dealership #carsales #carshopping #cardealership #sales

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

On my worst day as an influencer, like if I share a top that you don't like, you're out$45.

SPEAKER_06 0:05

Right.

SPEAKER_02 0:05

On that influencer's worth day, you buy it, you buy that car and you hate it or it doesn't fit your family safely or whatever the case is, like you're out$50,$60,000,$70,000. Like I just take the level, I take the level that I'm influencing and how expensive the product I'm influencing is so seriously. It's why I've never taken money from a car manufacturer to promote a car. I will never do that. Even my favorite car in the world. Ford Expedition, my favorite car. I just ordered a brand new one. I would never, I bought it myself. Like I'm not doing that. I'm not playing those games with them because I just put families and their children's like safety like so high up. Like probably higher than I have to, but it's just really important to me.

SPEAKER_07 1:08

From their hosted phone system, an AI-powered attendant, to real-time analytics, coaching, and reputation insights. Call Review helps you capture every call, understand every interaction, and convert more opportunities. Call Review, where communication meets intelligence. For more information, visit www.callreview.com. And right now, Call Review is offering a free spam call assessment if you mention the code Bowtie when connecting with them to learn more. Welcome to the Doug Horner Show. I am here with Kelly Stumpy, better known as the Car Mom. Kelly, thank you so much for joining me today.

SPEAKER_02 1:44

Doug, I'm so excited to be on the Doug Horner Show. You have such a good talk show name. Well, I just sounds like someone who has a late night show, the Doug Horner Show. Like so good.

SPEAKER_07 1:56

I love that. You know, I always, it's funny you say that because when I was younger, I one of my earliest dreams was like, I want to be on ESPN, I want to be on Sports Center. But I was like, I don't know if I have like the name for it. You know, like you hear these people that are sports anchors or they have the talk show, and it just like sounded like, oh, that's that flows so well. And I never thought my name did.

SPEAKER_02 2:18

So oh, I think you totally have that name.

SPEAKER_07 2:21

I love that.

SPEAKER_02 2:22

I totally disagree. Um, yeah, and that's the fun part about being like a man versus a woman. I had to give up my amazing maiden name to adopt a last name Stumpy. And I don't know if you know this about me, but I'm six feet tall. So like it's tough. It's tough out there.

SPEAKER_07 2:37

Yeah. So exactly. The last name doesn't necessarily line up then.

SPEAKER_02 2:42

No, but my husband always reminds me, he's like, well, it's actually, he's like, it would actually be worse if you were like five feet tall. So like at least you're, you know, you're you're you're not stumpy in any capacity except for your last name.

SPEAKER_07 2:53

It's kind of like a rapper name where it's like the exact opposite of what you are.

SPEAKER_02 2:58

Okay, I love that. Yes.

SPEAKER_07 3:00

Yeah, yeah. It's like little tiny, but the guy's like 400 pounds, you know.

unknown 3:03

Right.

SPEAKER_07 3:04

So all right, awesome. Well, I love that. Well, you are um one of my favorite creators, actually, because you operate in a space in automotive that very few other people do, where you make content specifically for families and moms, and you kind of show a side of automotive that we don't get to see very often because you've got a lot of males that are out there that are showing sports cars and and um there's just not a lot of of mom content, but you have filled this amazing niche. How did the car mom come to be?

SPEAKER_02 3:39

So, first of all, thank you. Um, people don't always know this about me, but I actually come from a dealer family. So my family owns six car dealerships in St. Louis. I sold cars right out of college. I actually sold BMWs, so we definitely have some friction because I was given, I was trained by my managers all the lines to say against people who were cross-shopping against Mercedes. So that's kind of fun for us.

SPEAKER_04 4:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 4:01

Um, so I sold cars, I loved it. I got married, got pregnant, and I was like, oh my gosh, like being a mom and selling cars is just like not really compatible. Like the hours are long, it's a high stress job. I was like, this sucks. Like I love selling cars, I'm so good at it, I'm so passionate. I love working in my family's business, but I've always wanted to be a mom. So I remember being like, this is so crazy. Like, I can't be a car, I like cars and mom motherhood just don't go together. And it's so funny because it's literally in the name the car mom.

SPEAKER_04 4:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:33

Um, but I'll give the credit to my husband because he, I was really down on myself one day, just like having that realization I think a lot of women do when they're faced with like, okay, am I gonna give up my career to do this? Like, this is really, this sucks.

SPEAKER_03 4:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:45

And he was like, why don't you just focus on the moms? He's like, maybe you could just, you know, sell cars to moms, like by appointment, and just be like, you know, the mom who sells cars. And I was like, oh, that's a good idea. Like, I'm and this was at this time one of my children was already born. I was like, you know, I could like take the minivan to like the park play date, my mommy and me groups, and I could just try to sell cars to St. Louis moms. So I kind of sat with the idea for a little bit, and then I just started posting on Instagram, and I just chose Instagram because that was the platform that I was on. And I thought a lot of moms are probably like myself, scrolling their phone, rocking their baby to sleep. So I'm just gonna be where they are. Because at this, truthfully, at this point in 2020, when I started, all car content was on YouTube. Like the car reviewers were on YouTube. There people were not really doing short form car tours. And so I didn't really think that that it would work, but I thought the idea of starting a YouTube channel and filming long form and editing it was like way more than I could bite off at the time.

SPEAKER_04 5:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:47

So I just started posting on Instagram, just truthfully, like the used cars and the new cars that we had on our dealers' lots, and I just shared why I think they could be or not be good mom cars. And I got humbled very quickly by the car seat community, which I'm very grateful for because um I didn't know what I was talking about. And I really take, I take this job so seriously. Like I have a lot of fun, but I also take it so seriously. So once I realized that I actually probably wasn't um an expert in the car seat space, I did everything I could to become an expert as quickly as possible. So then I went out and I got my CPST certification. So I felt like I could actually give car seat advice and so I could learn more about well, why doesn't this car work for three across? And like, so why didn't this car seat install properly in that third row? I wanted to learn all of it. I was very interested by it.

SPEAKER_04 6:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:35

So I was pregnant at the time when all of this was happening, and I checked my insights, like probably I don't know, six months into this, not even six months, about 10,000 followers into this. I checked my insights. And St. Louis wasn't even one of my top five cities.

SPEAKER_03 6:49

Really?

SPEAKER_02 6:49

So I was like, oh, this is like maybe, like, maybe I shouldn't just sell cars. Like maybe I should be like a real car reviewer.

SPEAKER_04 6:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:58

And from there I just kind of started making content to not sell cars, but just to really educate people on what makes a good family car.

SPEAKER_07 7:04

Okay. So at first, were you still on the sales floor and using it as a way to maybe bring people to you? And or was it just kind of like you were immediately off the sales floor and just focusing on the content?

SPEAKER_02 7:20

So, in between the the longer version of the story, is in between all of this, I tried to go work for a CRM company, or I did work for a CRM company for about 18 months, drive centric.

unknown 7:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:29

I liked that. It was fine. I liked working in tech. Um, I was an account manager there. And then after my first child was born, I went back to the dealership and I started doing direct mail and working in the BDC. And I hated it because I wasn't selling cars and I liked to sell cars. So I was still doing the direct mail and the BDC work. And I was working like semi-part-time at that time. Um, but then if I did have people come in, I would sell them a car.

SPEAKER_07 7:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:54

And it was that was fun.

SPEAKER_07 7:56

Okay. So that's very cool. I mean, I I knew based on some of your content that you had sold cars at one point in time. And I'm sure, but I'm sure a lot of people didn't know that. Um, being a kind of uh are you second or third generation in the car business? Third. Okay. So I think a lot of people assume that if you've got family in the car business, that you just automatically will also be in the car business. But I there's a lot of cases where that isn't true.

SPEAKER_05 8:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 8:26

Um what is it that you loved about selling cars? Because you you mentioned that you really enjoyed that.

SPEAKER_02 8:31

Yeah. Um I that's a good question. I thought it was really fun. And my dad always told me, like, you know, people have people have a bad people don't think they like to buy a car. They don't like the car buying process, like they love buying a new car. Like, this is so exciting, Kelly. You're gonna be here for one of the most exciting days of their life. And I was selling BMWs. So for some of my clientele, you know, it was like their fifth BMW, they're very successful. But for some people, like I was there when they were like, oh my gosh, I've made it. Like I can afford a BMW. And I found that really motivating and exciting to be there for that part of their life.

SPEAKER_04 9:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:10

And to make it fun. Um, and the money was really good. I mean, people like I was 22 selling BMWs to people, you know, three times my age, who I who had so much more life experience than me.

SPEAKER_03 9:22

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 9:23

And although I was working like a lot of hours, like the job felt easy for how much money I was making compared to what my other 22-year-old friends were doing at the time. Like they were making, you know, 30 grand a year working at working in a cube farm. And I was like beep bobbing around in a pencil skirt. Like, I just thought I thought it was fun at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_07 9:41

Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, it is fun. And I'm glad to hear that you had your dad said something to you that I agree with completely, which is people vocalize that they hate buying a car or that they, but really what they're saying is that most of they've had so many bad experiences with dealerships that like the process of it is what they hate. But people really, like Americans, especially, it's part of our culture. Like, we are a car culture. And even people who tell me they're like, Oh yeah, I don't care about cars. I'm like, but you do, right? And and it works its way into the like it. I can't go anywhere without people wanting to just talk about cars in some capacity.

SPEAKER_02 10:23

And he also told me kind of going off that, he he said, People don't people like to buy a car, but they don't like to feel sold. So I just always wanted to and I I just felt like I could really be myself. And of course, like, you know, was I a young woman selling cars? Was I met with like a little misogyny? Sure, but like not as much as everyone kind of like made it sound like I was gonna get. And I just kind of moved on really quickly from that. And I liked that some people saw me as an quote unquote underdog, and like I could felt like it couldn't be further from the truth. Like I was just like, this is not it's not that big of a deal. And my to my my I was the only woman on the sales floor, and I was also the youngest, and my co-workers took such good care of me, like they were so nice to me. And I never thought I could like be such good friends with like a divorced 55-year-old man at 20, but like we just were, we were family. Like, I just I loved my coworkers. It was it was some of the best times of my life, really. I loved it.

SPEAKER_07 11:25

Yeah, I I love that. And you're so right. It's funny to me how on in a dealership, you can have people that on their face on its face would not seem like they would be friends or compatible, but it is like a family, and you're with these people for so many hours a day that you become friends with people that maybe outside of the dealership you would never even cross paths with.

SPEAKER_05 11:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 11:49

But uh, but yeah, I do love that. It's it's always funny to me because I have a my sales floor, we have a very wide range of ages, and we've got men, we've got women, we've got a little bit of everything. And like to see kind of who becomes really close with one another, it's just you wouldn't think that these people would be like best buds, but they become best buds. So yeah, it's a lot of fun. Um so I have to ask you, you know, there's so many people out there that reach out to me, and I'm sure they do to you as well, about wanting to kind of get into social media, but they just find it so hard to start it or talk themselves out of it. And it's like, you can have this great idea, or you can have a conversation with your husband where it's like, hey, we should, you know, you should do this, you should make content for moms. And it's like, even in for a lot of people, they're like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it, I should. But most people just can never bring themselves to do it. How do you think that you were able to overcome that fear that so many people have of like, oh, I know it would be a good idea, but I just I can't do it, or I'm not ready or whatever. You did it.

SPEAKER_02 12:52

Yeah. So a couple of things. And I hate to sound overly confident when I say this, but when people always say, like, oh, Kelly, did you ever think it would get here? I'm like, yeah. Like this was an amazing, like, truthfully, yeah, this was an amazing idea. And I I had a great support system. My husband was a great support system, and I have a sister who is who's my partner with the car mom. And she was like, the three of us were just like, this is an amazing idea. So we started it, you know, in the beginning, we thought, like, yeah, maybe we we'll just sell cars to moms, but I think we always knew it could and would be bigger, and especially once we checked our insights and realized this was past St. Louis. Although we were making no money and we didn't know how we were gonna make money, we treated this like a startup business. Like, and every day I've treated it like the like the beast that it is. So I have just really always believed in it. And I think it never bothered me to post on Instagram. Like I almost don't have advice for it because I was like, if you think of an idea, if you have an idea you're that passionate about, like you'll make it, you'll just make it work. And it's been, I think just treating it like more than just like a little passion project, I think gives it a level of seriousness that that's very motivating. Like I really, I really, we really bet on ourselves. And what's great about starting a social media page before a business is there is no startup cost. I mean, you know, whatever. We got the trademark, I bought a new camera, like there was a little startup cost, but this isn't the same thing as like starting a this isn't the same risk as starting a business. Like it's really just such a low risk with so much potential. Um I truthfully, I know like it's more saturated even than it was when I started, but I truthfully can't believe like that more people are still trying to do this. And I hate when I hear you know, I have some school-aged kids now, so I hate when people are like, oh, you know, they just want to be YouTubers or influencers when they grow up. And I'm like, right, well, it's an excellent career path. So you should probably be encouraging that. And my son wants to be a YouTuber, he likes reptiles, so he wants to be a reptile YouTuber. So I told them all the time, I'm like, George, that's such a good idea. But if you want to be a YouTuber, you have to do well in school, you have to become really good at public speaking, and you have to take good care of your reptiles. So, like those are three skills that I gave him that he's working on every day. So now he does presentations with me. I have to sit down all the time for this different reptile presentations. He wants me to film him. But I'm looking at these as like such transferable skills that also, okay, YouTubers make a lot of money. Like they're very successful, they work a flexible job. So I I I'm hoping that more parents kind of see the potential here. And of course, there's you know, there's threats on the internet, but there's also threats in corporate job. Like, I mean, have you seen AI? Like, I just I think that sorry, that was kind of a tangent to go on, but no, it's it's such an excellent career and it's so much fun that it's just it's worth any sort of like hesitant, it's worth any awkward moments or oh, I would hate to film myself, like respectfully get over it because it's the best.

SPEAKER_07 16:04

Yeah. No, it's I mean, I love how how real you you just were about all of that. And it was a great idea, and I'm glad that you saw that and went after it. Um and you're right. I mean, I guess I've never really thought of it in this way, but there are people that kind of talk about being a YouTuber or being an influencer as this negative thing. And I have to admit, even when I was younger, before I started doing this, I thought the con the uh concept of an influencer was a little bit silly. Yeah. Until I realized, oh no, actually, there's a lot of hard work that goes into this. And if you've made it to that point where somebody could call you an influencer, it's because you are at least sharing something that is valuable enough that people want to watch it and engage with it. And I think that anybody, whatever their niche is, whether it's reptiles or cars or uh fashion or whatever, if you've got people that want to show up and interact and watch, then yeah, that is there's a lot of work that goes into it, and you're most likely sharing something very productive with the world.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

And I wouldn't be when people ask me for advice on social media, and I think this goes for maybe a lot of your listeners who are curious about starting. Um, I think you should get as niche as possible. And people think like, well, if I niche down too much, then no one's gonna relate to my content. And I don't think that's true. I think that the more niche you are, the more interesting you are, and people like to follow interesting people. So if I think about like some of my favorite creators on Instagram, they're so random. I follow this one girl, she's allergic to all but eight foods. She can only eat eight foods. I have nothing in common with her. I find her fascinating. I follow this other guy called the Orca Man, he loves Orca whales.

SPEAKER_03 17:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:43

I don't really give a rip about orca whales, but I love his passion. Now I know way more about Orca whales. I follow this guy named Doug Horner. He's like obsessed with Mercedes-Benz. I don't really like Mercedes-Benz, but I find that interesting, his passion for it. So, and the same thing, like I talk about mom cars. I have a lot of first-time car buyers, I have a lot of men, I have a lot of non-moms who follow me because they think my content's interesting. So, niche down, so specific, so you can be as interesting as possible. You're not gonna shut out, people are not gonna not follow you because they don't relate to it. They're gonna follow you if you're interesting.

SPEAKER_07 18:14

I I would agree. And you'd be surprised that people that maybe don't realize that they if if they're you're interesting and you're very niche, people might discover, you know what, I actually find that that very niche thing actually somewhat interesting. Or I've had people all the time, and I'm sure they've said said this to you, where they're like, look, I don't I don't really like Mercedes, but I like watching your videos. Yeah. And this is what I hear more often than not is I don't know how I got here. And I don't really know, like, I don't really know why I find this so interesting, but I do. And to me, I'm like, hey, uh I'm good with that, right? If you're here and you're enjoying it, then how how you got here doesn't matter to me.

SPEAKER_02 18:57

And you know, I think I will like Mercedes. I actually do like the GLS, and I know because I listened to your solo episode that the what is it called, the VLE is coming. I that has Carmom written all over it. So I do think my best Mercedes days are ahead of me.

SPEAKER_07 19:11

Yes, I'm so glad you brought that up. I was waiting for the right moment to get to this because pretty recently you had a post that was saying there's only four minivans really currently available for sale.

SPEAKER_05 19:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 19:25

And I I know I don't really have a lot of evidence to support this, but people who know me, I've been with Mercedes now for coming up on 16 years. Since the almost very beginning, I have been begging for a Mercedes minivan because I believe that we would sell it just in massive, massive numbers. Because the way I look at it is that and this is my take. I'll see what you think. I think the minivan is generally accepted to be the most versatile family car. I think a lot of people prefer SUVs because they look better and they they just like being a little higher off the ground, whatever the case might be. But generally, minivans are extremely versatile, and there's a lot of people that just don't drive them because they're like, I just I don't want to drive a Honda or uh I don't want to drive a Chrysler. But now we've got a Mercedes minivan coming, and I am like over the moon because it looks amazing.

SPEAKER_02 20:21

So here's what Mercedes needs to get right with it, because the most functional parts of a minivan are not always the sliding doors. The sliding doors are great, they they serve a purpose, but you've got to bring the razzle dazzle on the interior. And what I'm worried about, and my prediction, yeah, is that they are gonna do they're gonna cater too much to the people who are being quote unquote chauffeured and they're gonna be car seat compatibility nightmares. And that's what I'm worried about for Mercedes-Benz. Um like I would just love them to take the GLS bench and put it in this and the VLE. Like, that's all they have to do. And then focus on the mother and focus on the driver and passenger comfort because I really don't give a rip about the kids. I like the screen, I like the ceiling vents, give me some sunshades, but like I hate when sometimes I get in these luxury cars and they're like putting all the features in the wrong places for these family cars. So I agree with you. I do think it will do well. I do think there's a market for it. I just need them not to do too much in the second row.

SPEAKER_07 21:24

Okay. So you're saying, and I think that's a very fair statement. And it's it's kind of hard to tell exactly what it will be like because Mercedes, like most manufacturers, when they announce a new car, they sort of debut it in some of its most like dressed up guises and like features that are gonna ultimately have very low take rates. And you know, they show you like the coolest possible version of it that may or may not even be realistic. Like I look at some of the pictures and I'm like, I'm not sure how many of them will actually look like this when they start showing up to dealerships. Because if I can tell you, you know this from BMW, that the amount of configuration available to you is sometimes overwhelming.

SPEAKER_05 22:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 22:10

I tell people I could put a thousand white GLSs next to each other, and they could all be different in some way. It might be a small way, but they could all be that's how crazy it can get. And so yeah, I I do hope that they because they're definitely gonna have the variant that's meant to be driven in, but I hope that they get it right for the family.

SPEAKER_02 22:29

And and there's totally uh there's totally a a market for that as well. It's just some of the minivans, if I can just harp on them for a second. I love I something I like to talk bad about cars, but I just like to point out like how I think sometimes manufacturers just miss the ball so majorly on what makes a good family car.

SPEAKER_04 22:48

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 22:49

And if you look at so the the two minivans that offer like a lounge experience are the Siena and the Carnival. And they have like these VIP lounge seats. And like all these other car reviewers are like, look at how comfortable your kid's gonna be on a road trip. And I'm kind of a savage. So like, what do I do? I know, I know how this works. So I go to the owner's manual and I pull out the owner's manual and I say, do not drive with this VIP VIP lounge seats recline because it puts you in an unsafe seating position. Like you are gonna torpedo out of the seatbelt if you're reclined like that. So, and it's borderline irresponsible, I think, for the manufacturers to put it in there, truthfully. And especially, I mean, whatever. Like if you're a grown adult and you want to recline your seat, like that's fine. Like that's your cross to bear, not mine. But like to put it in a family car where you know kids are gonna be in the back. No one's buying a carnival to get chauffeured in. So, like, you're gonna have kids in the back seat of your carnival. You put these VIP lounge seats in, your owner's manual says you can't do it while you're reclined. So you're having parents spend an extra$5,000 so they can recline when they're parked. Like, be so for real. Be so for real. Yeah, it's unsafe, it's irresponsible. They're doing it for clicks, and I don't like it.

SPEAKER_07 23:54

Yeah, isn't it interesting how it seems like automotive companies in general have gotten like they have gotten heavy into the social media space themselves, working with influencers and these big reveals. And it seems like, yeah, sometimes they're they're showing you things that are probably not a very realistic use case for the car.

SPEAKER_02 24:13

And an unsafe use case for the car. Yeah. Like I mean, uh really, like if no one else is gonna hold their feet to the fire, I will, because I think it's borderline your I think it's irresponsible. And you know, I have a very um, I don't have the best relationships with the car manufacturers for I think a reviewer of my size. Like Volkswagen doesn't know I exist, or they know I exist, but Volkswagen doesn't have me to events. I've never been invited to a Honda event. Like, there's a lot of manufacturers who just won't invite me. And I'm so lucky that like I actually don't give a rip because I have such good dealer support from not even just my family's dealerships, but all like there's not a dealer I couldn't call who would let me do a video on their lot in St. Louis, and I'm sure if I went to other states the same. And they understand that like I might call a car out, but I'm not saying don't buy the carnival. I'm c I'm calling Kia out for making that irresponsible. Don't do that. Yeah. But it's still a really it's still one of my favorite cars and one of my most recommended cars. So I'm I'm so grateful. And I think what puts me in a very unique position from other car reviewers is because I have really good dealer support, I just don't need it. Allows me to make my reviews so much more unbiased and honest because I just don't need the manufacturers to send me press cars. I really don't.

SPEAKER_07 25:28

Do you ever get press cars or or pretty much never?

SPEAKER_02 25:33

No, I do. I normally no, I get about two, I have about two press cars every week. Um and they're fine.

unknown 25:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:41

I mean, no, I I like how I like having them. I have 65 car seats in my collection. So when they're at my house, it's very nice for me to be able to try out all these different ones. Yeah, but just sometimes they're like random cars. Like my press card this week is a Nissan kicks. Like, what am I supposed to do?

SPEAKER_07 25:54

Right. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 25:55

With a Nissan Kicks, and it's fine.

SPEAKER_07 25:57

Yeah. So I uh my thought was I wonder if your dealership affiliation was part of the reason why some manufacturers might not. You know what I mean? Because it's I don't yeah. Yeah, I've just I've just noticed that dealer-affiliated um people tend not to really get direct support from the manufacturers. They kind of like it's like this line they don't want to cross where it's like some random person that just loves cars and has zero ties to a dealership. It's like they'll, hey, let's fly you out to you know, wherever and and show you.

SPEAKER_02 26:32

Yeah, for sure. And I think it's it's been really interesting to see it like since even 2020. Because when I and I do, I do there are some brands who invite me to their events, and if I like the car and I'm available, like I'll go to them.

SPEAKER_03 26:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:44

Um, when I first started, it was like me and like a bunch of guys in khakis with like pen and paper who were like journalists. Right. And now it's like now it's like all people who some people know, it's not not everybody, but sometimes it's the people who like actually know nothing about cars. And then I struggle a little bit because it's like, okay, now this brand is flying out this influencer, and this influencer is like, you know, what and this is no shade influencer because I work with a ton of paid companies too. But then they're like, this is such a good family car. And I'm like, you didn't point out anything that's you have no experience with that car, you didn't point out anything that's like wrong with that car. And I take that so seriously because on my worst day as an influencer, like if I share a top that you don't like, you're out$45.

SPEAKER_06 27:28

Right.

SPEAKER_02 27:29

On that influencer's worth day, you buy it, you buy that car and you hate it, or it doesn't fit your family safely, or whatever the case is, like you're out$50,$60,000,$70,000. Like I just take the level, I take the the level that I'm influencing and how expensive the product I'm influencing is so seriously. It's why I've never taken money from a car manufacturer to promote a car. I will never do that. Yeah, even my favorite car in the world. Ford Expedition, my favorite car. I just ordered a brand new one. I would never, I bought it myself. Like I'm not doing that.

unknown 27:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

I'm not playing those games with them because I just put families and their children's like safety like so high up, like probably higher than I have to, but it's just really important to me.

SPEAKER_07 28:10

I love that that's important to you. And uh yeah, it's funny that you bring that up because I've noticed, and I don't want to be this guy because I've only been doing this for a short time, and I don't feel like I've really earned the right to say this, but I have noticed that it seems like there's the two kind of different people in the automotive space, and these manufacturers, they tend to bring out for their unveilings people that are making car content, but like you said, know nothing about the cars. It's like they're they just sort of whether it's like unveiling videos or just sort of kind of like silent walk-arounds or or showing features of the cars, but like it's hard to explain the difference between somebody that like is let me teach you about this car, like what you do, and like I really know about it, and then somebody else that's like just kind of standing next to it and pulling a curtain off of it, and probably couldn't tell you anything about the car at all.

SPEAKER_02 29:00

No, but has and you know, I I think I think the manufacturers are still just a little too new to social media to understand there's a difference between um uh views and influence. And I think that I don't have a bot I don't have an audience of just even vehicle enthusiasts. Like I would put my audience, I have the biggest audience, I think, of like mothers looking to buy a car. Like I have an audience of buyers, like they're coming to me to buy. Yeah, and again, I I I just take that very seriously. So I think that sometimes people look at my account, I don't I don't know, like, yeah, you make sure it doesn't have like the views or the followers. And that's crazy because I still have like a lot of views and a lot of followers. Sure. But I promise you, like, they're going to watch my stuff before they actually buy.

SPEAKER_07 29:49

Yeah. Now trust me, I've I've learned that as well. It's it's easy to get caught up in the vanity metrics, so to speak, right? How many views, how many followers, and everything else, but really it is about influence at the end of the day. And I learned early on that, hey, I might not be uh George Saliba level uh views on my videos, but I we get a lot of people, a lot of people calling in to do business with us because they like what they see and they feel like they know the experience they're gonna get uh when they work with us, you know, me and my team, and then we deliver on that. And so it's you know, I for me the content is more meant to be educational than entertaining necessarily, right? I mean, some entertainment is good, but it's uh yeah. So anyway, totally you mentioned you have 65 car seats. How many of those were you given, and how many did you buy yourself?

SPEAKER_02 30:38

So that's so funny. Actually, this year is the first year I started accepting gifted car seats. Really? Before that, I would always buy them myself. Kind of the same reason I was like, I just don't want to do this.

SPEAKER_04 30:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:48

But I have really enjoyed the the more that I'm able to like come to the tables, and like I've been able to talk to like some real decision makers of both the car brands and the car seat brands, and I really value those relationships. And they send me the seats because they want my honest opinion on them. So now I would say probably in my current collection, probably 40% have been gifted, and the rest I've all bought.

SPEAKER_07 31:12

Okay. Um that's a big investment. They are not cheap.

SPEAKER_02 31:15

No, they're not cheap. They're not cheap. Um, but I like I like having a good combination. I do people are like, why do you have so many to use them all? I do use them all. If one does not serve me for whatever purposes, if I think it's not just like a car say I'm gonna reach for, I donate it to um a foster care organization. And then I have so many though, because we have a big auto show coming up, actually June 13th in St. Louis. If I can do a shameless plug.

SPEAKER_07 31:40

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 31:41

And it's a one, it's the only event like this in the country. It's a auto show for families. I run out an ice skating rink on the off season. We park 35 family cars on the interior. We install car seats in every single one of them, and we have a ton of kids' activities. So we have face painters, we have a bubble bus, I have all the Disney princesses come to walk around the auto show. What cotton candy, snow cones, the works, and all the family cars are there. So it's a really fun event. It's like your one-stop shop to see all the cars next to each other and have a good day out with your family. So your car seats.

SPEAKER_07 32:13

Okay. Is this the first time you've done this, or is this like you know, this will be our fourth year? Wow. Okay, cool. So this is not like a kind of traditional, hey, St. Louis has an auto show and I'm gonna be there. This is like I'm putting this on.

SPEAKER_02 32:25

This is the Caram Auto Show brought to you by Capital One Auto Navigator. And it's seriously a really incredible event. Like, there's and you've never seen so many pregnant people in a room. Like everyone's pregnant and expecting, and everyone, like they're so into the cars. I wish more car manufacturers would like come and support the event because I think they would be so surprised to see like there will be a line out, there will be a line in front of a car waiting to get in the third row. Like these people are not just like window shopping, like they're like, no, I need to get in the third row of that Chevy Traverse, and they'll be a line seven people deep to wait. Like it's insane.

SPEAKER_07 33:00

That's really cool. That's amazing. What is one of the biggest mistakes that you see families make when buying a car?

SPEAKER_02 33:12

I would say one, I think families rush the car purchase. And like the car salesman in me doesn't people are surprised that I give this advice, I guess. Yeah, but like you don't need a new car when you're pregnant with your first. Like your Toyota camera you've had since college is just fine. Ride it out. Because what happens is families don't always forecast their family's growth.

SPEAKER_03 33:33

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 33:33

And I really sympathize with families with my followers who are trying to buy a car because if you're a growing family or like you're just starting out your family and you're trying to buy a car right now, you really have no idea what your needs are gonna be. And you're also trying to buy a car that works for you're also trying to buy a car that basically needs to perform differently every single year you own it. Because as soon as you add another kid, as soon as the kid goes forward-facing, as soon as you need access to the third row, as soon as you need a kid with a booster, like there are different cars that do all those things very, very well. So to buy one car when you're pregnant with your first and keep it for seven years is like a really tall order to ask a car to do.

SPEAKER_04 34:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:09

And if I take my personal example, I had four kids in five and a half years, like whirlwind.

SPEAKER_04 34:14

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 34:15

And I have a Ford Expedition Max. Like, you think I would have bought a Ford Expedition Max and I was pregnant with my first? Like it would have felt like such overkill. But what, four years later or five years later, I would have been expecting my fourth child. So families need to delay the purchase for as long as possible. Okay. Or they need to shop in the short term. Like, I'm a really big fan of leasing for families because I'm like, let's just like see where we're at in three years. What if it's twins? What if you don't want to have more kids? What if you want to have five more kids? So I like I like leasing, or I like buying pre-owned cars with the intention to only keep them for three or four years. I think when I have a family, a young family, who's like, I want to buy a car and I want to keep it for 12 years, I'm literally like, wait, why?

SPEAKER_03 34:57

Right.

SPEAKER_02 34:57

Like there's why? That's that's actually probably not the smartest way to do it, in my opinion. Um so I think it's either delay it's delaying the purchase, it's buying a car in the short term. And it's not like sinking your teeth into your quote unquote family car until your family is done growing and until you have thought about what every year you plan to own the car is gonna look like.

SPEAKER_07 35:19

Yeah, it's smart advice. I I agree. I think that not enough, not enough thought goes into looking ahead, right? In general. I think that people get emotional about a car purchase and they're thinking about like right now and they don't realize that, oh, in the very near future, that isn't gonna make sense. But uh but yeah, there's nothing worse. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 35:40

Yeah, they they just don't know what they don't know. And you know, people look at a car like the Kia Telluride, and they're like, well, it's got a third row, I only have one kid. But then, okay, logistically, you want to have three kids though. Okay, so then you're gonna have two kids. They're both gonna be rear facing. Well, then how are you gonna get to the third row? Okay, and then like with a third row up, can you still fit your double stroller? It's like you can't like, but they're just not thinking about, they think, oh, it has a third row, it's it's a family car, it's gonna fit my three kids. And it it will, but there might be better options.

SPEAKER_07 36:09

Sure. Yeah, it's not just about how many rows does it have, how many seats does it have. You've got to think about accessibility and trunk space and everything else. Like I totally get it. Yeah, and you'd be surprised. I learned uh, I learned myself that you know, strollers, bags, everything, they take up a lot more space than you think they will. And right, so we we ended up in a GLS pretty quickly, even though you know we've got two kids now, so we could have probably made a GLE work, but it was like, you know what, let's just get that extra space and uh but in the same but but also on the reverse, you know, okay, Lisa GLS for two years while you're in the stroller or three years while you're in the stroller phase, once you're out of the double stroller phase, then downsize.

SPEAKER_02 36:52

I just think like families are trying to they're putting too much pressure on one car to meet all of their needs for like the next, you know, seven. It's just it's a lot for a car to do.

SPEAKER_07 37:01

Okay, that's fair. So you have you have admitted that the Ford Expedition is your favorite car. Yes, and the max, right?

SPEAKER_02 37:12

So that's the well, I actually I actually just ordered a short wheelbase.

SPEAKER_07 37:16

Really? Interesting.

SPEAKER_02 37:17

I'm kind of crazy like that. I know I'm kind of crazy like that, but we are kind of out of the double stroller phase, and my husband drives a big F-250 truck, and we're kind of just a two-car family a lot of the times. Like we have a nanny too, so like by the time we take the nanny and the dog, and if we were packing up for somewhere, like we're just kind of taking two cars.

SPEAKER_07 37:38

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:39

So I did go, I ordered the short wheel bus, and I'm very excited about it.

SPEAKER_07 37:42

Okay, when is it gonna be here?

SPEAKER_02 37:44

I don't know. I just got my confirmation, probably like hopefully August.

SPEAKER_07 37:48

Okay. Well, yes, I'm sure there'll be a lot of content when that time comes. What is a car that you didn't have high expectations for that really pleasantly surprised you? Like what's kind of like a maybe a top three?

SPEAKER_02 38:03

Oh, that's fun. Um, sleeper cars, I'll call them.

SPEAKER_03 38:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:08

Um, Honda Passport, the redesign, I'm sorry, it's excellent. It's such a fun car. Let me try, let me always try to switch to luxury because I feel like that'll be more your audience. Um, I think the Lexus TX was a home run from for Lexus. They needed that car so bad. Their LX is sorry, such an abysmal fail for families, in my opinion. Like, I just don't know why. I don't know who's buying an LX because you can't really fit, it's not very family friendly. So save your money and buy the GX. Like, I the LX is a ridiculous car. I don't enjoy it at all. But the TX is wonderful. Wonderful. Um, and then what should be my last one? A car that surprised me. Oh, the Buick Enclave. I'm sorry, she's so underrated.

SPEAKER_03 38:55

Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 38:56

Buick, that's a hot take. I like I it is a hot take. But the Buick Enclave is so pretty, in my opinion. It's huge. It's one of the largest of the mid-size SUVs. So, like the Traverse, the Enclave, the and the Acadia, they're all the same car, obviously. And they're like the last step before you reach the full size market. So though they're a car that I always tell families who are between the full size and the mid-size market. I say, well, go look at one of those cars first. If you can't imagine being smaller, go to the full size. If you would like to be smaller, look at the rest of the mid-size. But I think the enclave is just it's unique. I think it's pretty, it's functional, total sleeper car.

SPEAKER_07 39:33

Okay. Yeah, I have to say that I have noticed a few Buick's out on the road as I'm just driving about, and from a distance, I'm like, I can't exactly tell what it is. And then I get up and I'm like, oh, that looks nice. And then I get close and I'm like, wow, it that's a Buick. I'm I'm impressed by their styling.

SPEAKER_02 39:50

No, I'm impressed by their styling too. And I actually went to, I've been to a couple Buick events, and they're they're always so proud that so many of their buyers are females. And they've kind of just like decided to lean into that and just really just make really cute, like to me, the Buick and Vista, which is like their smaller little five passenger thing, like that's like every grandma car's dream. Like I think it's just like the perfect little like older lady car to zip around town with. And I think the enclave is like I think the enclave really competes with like the QX60, the Q7, the XC90. Like it's not really, it's not like a TX GLS kind of level, but like it competes with those cars, I think, in terms of luxury.

SPEAKER_07 40:33

Okay. That's that's a hot take for sure. I think uh Buke's one of those brands that has had a hard time sort of shaking their their reputation.

SPEAKER_02 40:42

Uh yeah, they probably don't like that I just said old ladies to drive them.

SPEAKER_07 40:46

Well, who knows? Maybe they're look at the end of the day, I think that uh what what I hear when you say that is kind of the way that I look at like the GLC. I feel like the GLC for us is extremely adaptable, where you've got a lot of maybe younger people buying their first luxury car, and then you have a lot of like empty nesters that are like, all the kids are out of the house. I want a car that's at that height that I just slide in and out of it. Like it's like almost like exactly at hip level. And uh, you know, so it is adaptable in that sense. Like where you see a lot of younger people getting GLCs, we see a lot of older people getting GLCs that are like, I want something nice, but I don't need the expedition anymore or the GLS anymore, you know, something of that size. So um but yeah, all right, very interesting. I I want, since you're a car seat expert, this is I'm I'll never cease to be amazed at and I've had to learn this myself, and I had to go to YouTube, I'll be honest, to learn how to put a car seat in a car properly. What are the mistakes that you see people making with car seats? And would you recommend using seat belts or the little kind of anchor systems, the latches?

SPEAKER_02 41:56

So such a good question. Um, and just by that question, I can tell how little you know about car seats, no offense.

SPEAKER_04 42:02

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 42:03

So when it comes to lower anchors or a seatbelt installation, there's two things you need to know. One, lower ankles, lower anchors have weight limits. So you need to check your car seat and your car's manuals to determine what those weight limits are. Typically, it's about 35 pounds for the child where they no longer can use the lower anchors. You have to do a seatbelt installation.

SPEAKER_03 42:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 42:19

Car seat brands are always going to have a recommended installation that they do. So, like BryTax, for example, they always recommend their seatbelt installation.

SPEAKER_03 42:26

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 42:27

I more times than not just it, well, it depends. I normally do a seatbelt installation because seatbelt installations are significantly easier if you're trying to do three across. However, I do a latch installation if I'm utilizing a car that has the car seat tilt and I want to be able to utilize that because with a car seat tilt, you have to use the lower anchors, but of course, only if that child is still within the weight limits. But it is, let me just like sympathize, it is the biggest. It sucks. It's so complicated, it's so confusing. I'm so mad at the car seat brands and the car manufacturers because like I think I don't think they're talking at all.

SPEAKER_04 43:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:04

And the fact that we have all these cars that we have these cars, and then like I'll get a car seat, and I'll just be like, this car seat is just completely incompatible with this car. Like I was in a Toyota Sienna freaking minivan last week, and I did 40 installations in this one minivan because I was like, I gotta crack this thing. It was exhausting all week. And the Sienna seat in the third row is at an angle it it like angles off. So then the car seat was overhanging by about 20%.

SPEAKER_04 43:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 43:31

And I was like, hmm, well, this car seat doesn't allow that kind of overhang. And this Sienna decided to cut out half the seat. So like if families are just like buying, you know, trying to install this, and like it's just it's unsafe.

SPEAKER_04 43:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:44

And I don't like it. So there's so there's a lot of it's something that I've I've been a CPST now for five years. It's something I work on every single day. I have a team of CPSTs to double check all of my work because accuracy is so important to us.

SPEAKER_04 43:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:56

It is the biggest hurdle ever. My advice is to. You know, take your time researching. My advice also is to like the car comes first. Don't be afraid to get in a new car seat. Like people are always like, I need a new car. I have these two car seats. And I'm like, okay, well, I don't really care what car seats you have because like we're gonna buy the best car for your family. And if you have to go buy another$300 car seat, I'm sorry, but you're looking at$60,000 cars. So like just level with me for a second.

unknown 44:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:22

And people are so funny. They fight me on that. They're like, no, no, no, but I love this car seat. I'm like, I don't give a rip. It's not good, like, it doesn't matter. So I think I think it's choosing your car and then being open to getting the car seats that fit that car the best, although annoying is kind of the best way to do it.

SPEAKER_07 44:37

Okay. No, that's smart advice, though, because buying a car to fit around a car seat is not a good idea. Right. I agree with you. The car is the much bigger expense, the much bigger purchase. It's more important. Yeah. There's other options. But I have been very surprised myself to see just one, how different car. I mean, there's like so little in common from one car seat to the next. It often you have Nunas.

SPEAKER_02 45:03

Aren't you a Nuna guy?

SPEAKER_07 45:04

So that was the, yeah, we got the Nuna because you know, we got to put that on the uh the registry, right? So we were like, hey, let's let's go for the Rolls-Rice of car seats. Um, but the most recent one that I bought was actually from a video of yours, uh a BritAx that you recommended highly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:23

Love the Poplar.

SPEAKER_07 45:24

Yes. Such a good seat. Yeah. And it's fantastic. That is um, you know, basically when we were, my wife was like, You you handle this. Like she was like, I don't want to do the research on this. You like you figure it out. And I was like, Well, Kelly says this is one of the best ones. It's a great one. That's what I'm doing. Because I'm a big social proof person. I want to see what other people believe in that I trust, and I trust you. So I went with it and we've loved it.

SPEAKER_02 45:53

My daughter drives in my youngest daughter's in one, a Poplar right now. But tell me you have a seatbelt installation. Please go check after this and let me know.

SPEAKER_07 45:59

Of course, no, I do. I installed it. Okay, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:02

Okay. Good.

SPEAKER_07 46:03

I've only ever done seatbelt installations, but it's funny because I get a demo, uh, you know, one of the one of the perks of the jobs, right? And every time that the sales team sells the demo that I'm in, my lot team will take my stuff out of that demo and put it into whatever new one I've told. I'm like, hey, go, this is what I'm gonna drive, go put it in there. And they always do this. Like, I know I never ask them, hey, don't install the car seats, I'm gonna do that. But they like try to do it anyway. And it's like the most haphazard installation of like the seatbelt, but it's not, you know, the slack hasn't been taken out of it. And then they always do the latches, but those aren't tightened down. I'm like, I don't know, I don't know what this was, but they like they don't know what the right way is. Right. So they've they've done both incorrectly, and I always have to go in and redo it. But I've always been of the the mind that the seatbelt is the most secure way most of the time. So just do that. So but uh but yeah, we we are definitely liking that that car seat. So uh tell me this. You've done you've been doing this for coming up on six years now. You look five years ahead. What's the car mom doing then? What does this brand become for you at that point? Or what do you want it to become?

SPEAKER_02 47:20

Well, a household name, first and foremost. Like we're really just working towards that. I want to help every family make the best car buying decision. I want to make real change in how vehicles are built so that they can be safer for families. I mean, we didn't touch on it because it's like a soapbox for another time, but I'm really passionate about what the IAHS is doing for their second row crash testing. And I want to see a lot more improvement. And I want to like help champion that and make families aware of which manufacturers are cra are are prioritizing the second and the third row because I think the way the cars are made right now, it would shock people when they see how much safer actually the driver and passenger seat are than the second and the third row.

SPEAKER_03 48:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 48:01

And like as a parent, I'm like, listen, if you're gonna be that cheap and only put pretensioners in one seat belt, put it in the second row. Like, take it out of mind then. Like this is insane that you're selling family cars that are not maybe that are less safe in the second and the third row than in the passenger and the driver. And I think that's just like insane. So I I I really want to see that change. Um, on the car mom side, we're doing really big things. We're about to launch a platform, and it's gonna be something I've always been passionate about is not just amplifying my voice, but other mothers' voices, because at the end of the day, like I'm just one mom's opinion. And like I like the Ford Expedition, but there's a lot of moms out there who like their Tahoe better. And I want people to hear from them. Like I want to, I want to platform other voices. So we're building this platform where it's it's it's basically a website. It'll have all like all of my reviews and everything, but it'll also have a logged-in experience, and people will be able to leave reviews and rate that all not only the cars that they have, but the other cars they test drove. And then families will be able to go to like, you know, my Honda Pilot page and they'll be able to read my review. And then they'll be able to go down and they'll be able to filter by how many kids and their experience with the car, and they'll be able to read reviews from other moms of three kids who test drove but didn't buy a Honda Pilot and find out why. And I think that's really just going to light my community on fire and help families make really good buying decisions by just like hear, just like hearing from everybody and hearing from from families that look like theirs, which is also important to me. Because again, I had four kids in five years and my needs are vastly different than for someone who had two kids in five years. So I just want to make sure that that everyone, everyone has, you know, their voice is heard. So I'm very excited about that. Um, and we want to bring our auto show on the road. So we're currently looking for dealer groups who would like to host and basically just provide the cars because I just can't trust the manufacturers as much as I can trust the dealers. So that's that's also a big goal of ours to get the auto show on the road to other cities.

SPEAKER_07 50:00

Wow, that's a hot take right there. I don't think anybody would ever expect anyone to say that you could trust the dealer more than you could the manufacturer, because consumers tend to believe the exact opposite of that.

SPEAKER_02 50:12

But uh You know, it is so funny, like, because I am working with some of the manufacturers for the auto show, and they're being generous, like they're bringing their cars. But the amount of questions and hoops I'm having to go through, where it's like I called the Hans dealership, I know, and I texted him. I was like, I need a pilot and an Odyssey on June 13th. He's like, Okay. Like you just have to be back with a K, and I know I'm gonna get it. And with these other manufacturers, they're like, send us the like it's like I'm trying to convince them to come. I'm like, you know what? I'll just call the Chevy dealer. Like, this is oh, I shouldn't mean to say it was Chevy. That's okay. This is too much work. It's fine.

SPEAKER_07 50:46

Yeah. No, that that's uh we'll we'll leave that topic for for another day. But uh so that's that's awesome. So you really have big plans and and you want to make this a household name. And and what a great name, by the way. I mean, the Car Mom, that's like such an epic name.

SPEAKER_02 51:01

Snatched it up and uh snatched it up, got the trademark, paid way too much for the uh the you uh uh the the domain name, but it's mine.

SPEAKER_07 51:12

Yeah. Well you know what though, but it it's you'll look back one day and probably be glad that you did that. And and the investment will seem small, I'm sure, at some point. It probably wasn't when you when you had to go through it. But I mean, for a name that like that, I mean, it's just so memorable and really fantastic. One thing I thought I'd bring this up just because I thought it's funny. Is it true that you are a huge fanatic of fountain diet coke? Is that true?

SPEAKER_02 51:40

I was, and then I gave it up for Lent and I haven't gone back.

SPEAKER_06 51:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 51:46

Which was like so I know I gave up all sugar for Lent, artificial, and like all sugar.

SPEAKER_07 51:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:52

Um and I really like how I feel. So I haven't gone back to eating sugar yet.

SPEAKER_07 51:56

That's good. Yeah, that's good. I only bring it up.

SPEAKER_02 52:02

There was nothing better.

SPEAKER_07 52:03

My wife is the same way. She swears up and down, and I tend to agree that that a fountain soda pop is just worlds better than any other variation of it.

SPEAKER_02 52:14

So good.

SPEAKER_07 52:15

I don't know why that is.

SPEAKER_02 52:16

I will go back. Um this is not a lifelong thing. I'm just kind of like testing the wall. I'm just I'm just seeing what happens. But yeah, those I do miss those.

SPEAKER_07 52:22

So you in your videos, I think you do an amazing job of just reviewing cars, reviewing car seats, just on their individual merits. Do you find it hard not to let any kind of bias creep in towards one brand or another? Do you try to be as objective as possible, or do you find that sometimes it just you have bias towards certain brands or certain cars?

SPEAKER_02 52:43

No, I really don't find it hard at all.

SPEAKER_07 52:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 52:45

Because I think that every car, like what and sometimes my dad would be like, because I hate the Nissan Armada. Sorry. Sure. I don't hate it, it's not my favorite. And my dad owns a Nissan store, and he's like, Gally, like you're so mean about the Armada. And I'm like, Dad, I'm not saying the Armada is a bad car. I'm saying it's a bad car for families of kids in car seats. Like, and that is objective. Like, I can tell you why the Ford Expedition with is better. And that's not even my opinion. Like, that's just a fact because I know how these cars operate. Sure. So, and the same thing with car seats. Like, I'm not saying it's bad, and people really like to center themselves and like saying, like, well, I love that car. It's like, well, I wasn't talking to you because you don't have that situation. Like ding dong. Like, come on. But no, I don't, I really don't find it hard. I actually find Toyota people, Toyota owners to be the most insufferable, if I'm being honest. And I do like Toyota. Like, I'm gonna say this again. I like Toyota. But I, if I ever even criticize a Toyota, the Toyota owners are like, you hate Toyota. How could you say this? It's like, okay, do you want me to criticize my expedition? I think it's ugly, first of all, but I drive it because it's a very car seat friendly and I like it. So no, I I don't find it hard to be objective. I can say honest things about I think every car has their Achilles heel and every car has good things about them. But people don't always like to hear that.

SPEAKER_07 54:02

No, they definitely don't. And you and I, I guess uh we we'll stand on that hill together uh with Toyota because I have very famously they make content about this too, Doug.

SPEAKER_02 54:13

I do people need to calm down.

SPEAKER_07 54:17

Toyota people are vicious, they really are. And I'm with you. Let me be clear. I like Toyota, I have a ton of respect for them, and they make great products. I do. I do think that. But I do think that people vastly overpay for used Toyotas. And and when every time I say that, people all they hear is that I hate Toyota, which is not what I'm saying. I'm just saying buy a new one, not a use one for right, because that when I see people paying MSRP for a three-year-old Toyota with 50,000 miles on it, I'm like, what on earth are you doing? Right? Just get a new one.

SPEAKER_02 54:53

You know, and it goes back to like people are just so obsessed with the idea of reliability. Sure. Like that's like the biggest buzzword. And like they get so mad if I talk about any car that isn't a Toyota or Honda because they think it's not reliable. And I'm like, one, like, define reliability. And two, this is why I say not everyone needs to buy a car and drive it for 300,000 miles. Actually, most consumers won't. So, like, I love the Volkswagen House. I think it's one of the best family cars out there. People are like, but it's now unreliable. Well, it's not. They've actually improved it a lot. And also, you've traded in your last three cars at 36 months. So, like, calm down.

SPEAKER_06 55:27

Right.

SPEAKER_02 55:28

Like you're gonna be like literally calm down. You don't keep cars 10 years. What do you care?

SPEAKER_07 55:32

No, you're exactly right. And that that is, I think, what um that my the biggest source of controversy with any content I make is exactly around that, where I tell people, I guess it's just that the people that keep their cars forever are the loudest people on the internet by far.

SPEAKER_02 55:47

Why are you always watching my content? You're not buying a car.

SPEAKER_07 55:50

I know. I it almost to me is like the way they cope with not buying a car every three years. Right? They're like mentally, I'm just not gonna do it. So I'll get my fix by just watching car content because that's so funny. I was like, listen, I've been doing this for 16 years. Every lender I talk to, every piece of data I've ever seen, most Americans, I hate to break it to you, no matter how you feel about the issue, are getting a new car or a car that is new to them every three years. That's just the data. So yeah, don't if it if you don't think that a Mercedes-Benz or a BMW could reliably drive to 300,000 miles, which they can, but if you believe that they can't, probably not gonna be an issue for you if you're getting a new car every three years.

SPEAKER_02 56:36

Totally.

SPEAKER_07 56:37

Right.

SPEAKER_02 56:38

And yeah, yeah, and that's why I want people to be more honest with themselves because like you're probably not gonna do that. So if you know, like if deep down you know you're not gonna do that, then like let's just buy a car that's gonna make sense for the next three years. And like, let's probably lease, or let's buy pre-owned so you won't like you know, lose all of your equity. Yeah, it's just yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 56:58

And think it through, like you said earlier. People, you know, don't and another thing, don't buy a car that solves an extremely specific and anecdotal need. Like, I like don't buy a pickup truck because you got to move a couch this weekend.

unknown 57:09

Right.

SPEAKER_02 57:10

So I always tell people, do not buy cars, buy cars for your everyday, not the once in a while. I do I do weekly consultations, and these people are always like, Well, we need the third row because twice a year my mom comes in town and we want to ride together. And I'm like, So we're gonna up your price point by 20 grand because your mom doesn't want to take her own car. Like, we're not doing this. I'm sorry, I'm not doing, I'm not playing this game with you. You could rent her a car. Sure. You could pay for an Uber black and you would come out vastly ahead. Like, calm down. We're not doing it. We're buying a car for you every day.

SPEAKER_07 57:41

Yeah, I think.

SPEAKER_02 57:42

We're buying a car for your every day.

SPEAKER_07 57:43

100%. Well, Kelly, this has been a lot of fun. I just want to say that I absolutely love what you're doing. You're and I've in preparation for this, I've listened to um, you know, a couple of your podcasts. You and your sister have a very hilarious dynamic. You two are are funny to listen to. So I I don't know how often you you film it, but um, I think that huge potential for your podcast as well. I don't know if you have big plans for that or if that's just sort of something you do for fun.

SPEAKER_02 58:14

No, we love our podcast. Um, podcasts are interesting. We we love our podcast. I actually want to get you on the podcast because I want you to do, I want you to spill all the tea about so we have a segment called Industry News, and we talk about cars, but like we're gossiping about cars. Like like we're gossiping about pop culture, like the Kardashians. So I want you to come on, I want you to spill all the tea on the I want you to tell me everything you know about the van.

SPEAKER_07 58:35

Yeah, I I would love to do that. I would love to do that.

SPEAKER_02 58:38

That's hot tea. That's interesting.

SPEAKER_07 58:40

It is, and I am again, everyone thinks I'm crazy. They're like, why won't you stop talking about a minivan? And I'm like, listen, you don't understand. Like the amount of people over the years that would come in to look at a GLS, it was a GL really at the time, and be like, oh man, does Mercedes make a minivan? And we we used to have the R class. People are like, oh, Mercedes tried that, it didn't work. I'm like, first of all, the R class looked like the mini a minivan, but it was not a minivan. It didn't have sliding doors, it didn't have really any of the functionality that most minivans have. So the fact that we're doing a proper van, I'm like so screwed.

SPEAKER_02 59:12

And I mean, you guys have a sprinter van. So like you're I mean, you're you're in you have the you have the vibes. I'm excited.

SPEAKER_07 59:18

Yeah, I don't think that people realize that overseas Mercedes-Benz like dominates vans, trucks, things that we don't have unimogs. I don't know if you've ever seen a unamog, but no, but yeah, you're right.

SPEAKER_02 59:29

That's that's interesting.

SPEAKER_07 59:30

Yeah, imagine if like a G-Wagon was like a a farm tractor, like a oh yeah, I'm looking at I'm looking at a Unimog right now.

SPEAKER_02 59:36

Interesting.

SPEAKER_07 59:37

Yeah, there's tons of variations. I mean, imagine if we sold that in this country. How many people with lots of money that wanted a some kind of crazy off-road vehicle for their ranch would buy that? But anyway.

SPEAKER_02 59:46

Yeah, that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_07 59:47

So well, awesome. Well, Kelly, this has been a real pleasure. Thank you again.

SPEAKER_02 59:51

Thanks so much.

SPEAKER_07 59:52

Waiting for my uh podcast interview.

SPEAKER_02 59:54

I'll get it on I'll get it on the books.

SPEAKER_07 59:57

Beautiful. Well, thanks again. We'll talk to you soon.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:00

See ya.