My Car Guru Podcast

Send us Fan Mail I'll admit it....I've never had the windows tinted on any car I have ever owned.   What the factory does has always been enough for me. Plus, If I need to flip somebody off, I want them to be able to see me do it. (just kidding) The truth is.... I'm old and in the minority on this issue...and thank goodness. Window tinting is a hot and growing business and definitel...

Send us Fan Mail This podcast is a reflection of the past. I just saw a name on Facebook that I haven't seen in 50 years. He was one of my brother's best friends, so I had to reach out to him and get reacquainted. I do that periodically...reach back in time to get reacquainted with history, including the car business. We have come a long way since Henry and his Model T (models A through...

Send us Fan Mail Our time is the most precious gift we can give to someone else. Spending time with my grandchildren can often be exasperating, but when we work on a project together and actually build something, a connection is formed that can last a lifetime....that's why I got into building LEGO cars. In addition to this familia advice, I talk about how car-tech may be making our car-life...

Send us Fan Mail We know, "opinions are like a_____, everyone has one", but in this episode, Lennie digs deep into automotive history and his driving experiences to pick his 10BEST vehicles to drive....(and he's driven them all).....And, as bonus offer, he includes the 10BEST vehicles of all time just to sit and look at. If you love cars, check out his list and then let him know wha...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lennie gives money saving advice to car owners....including when they get the "warranty offer of a lifetime" in the mail.  In addition, Lennie has narrowed down some key habits of car owners that cost them the most money on maintenance and repairs. Call this the "car-savings account" episode, because it will save you thousands if  you listen, a...

Send us Fan Mail On January 18, 2011, our lives changed forever. My son, Leonard Blaine Lawson, Jr. (Blaine), was killed in a car accident. He was 27 years young. Nothing in life has impacted me or my family more than that loss, but our mission as a family has always been to seek a ways to use our tragedy to help others....doing so was part of our healing process. Blaine had epilepsy, and in this...

Send us Fan Mail The short answer to that question is "maybe", but probably not. Especially if the car requires restoration. The truth is, most restoration intentions are never fulfilled. Life gets in the way and most well intentioned "restorers" never really have the stamina to make it to the finish line....plus they usually run out of money first. In this episode, Lennie offe...

Send us Fan Mail It's true....the actor who portrayed Tommy Boy, a Chippendale's Dancer and Matt Foley (who lived in a van down by the river) on Saturday Night Live IS NOT the CEO of Ford...No, Chris Farley is not...but his cousin Jim Farley is. (You could win a trivia quiz with that little tidbit).   In this episode, Lennie discusses even more relevant trivia and provides insight on get...

Send us Fan Mail The liberal media machine loves to talk about "carbon footprints" these days. I guess a good definition for a "carbon footprint" would be the amount of carbon dioxide you emit, and carbon-based fuels you burn, while doing what you do....like driving a car, heating your home or flying your private jet to Monaco. I'm NOT going to do my share when it comes to...

Send us Fan Mail "There's oil and gas in them there hills"...at least that's what my daddy told me when he instructed me to start paying property taxes on 1200 acres of land in West Virginia. Apparently, his relatives sold the land but kept the mineral rights, and maybe, just maybe, the gusher will happen. "In the mean time, there's a lot of real money sitting out the...

Send us Fan Mail All jokes aside, your ears are your best defense against a major automotive repair bill, but if you are not listening, your next call could be to the towing company. In the episode, Lennie discusses two money saving, and "car-life" enhancing strategies for every car owner: 1. How to listen to your car AND common things to listen for in order to prevent huge repair bills...

Send us Fan Mail Just like any business, the auto business requires certain fundamental skills, knowledge and experience in order for a dealer to be successful....and liking cars is not one of them. Some of the most successful car dealers in the country could care less about cars. They care about people (customers and employees), they know what it takes to make a business successful and they have...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lennie and the family are headed to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to go "Glamping".....better known as Glamorous Camping. The Margaritaville RV Resort is his destination, but he wants to be safe and get to watch Tennessee beat Florida.......So, towing considerations are on his mind as well as answering some serious questions from car buyers about avoiding some...

Send us Fan Mail I wasn't feeling well. I had a slight cough, body aches and the sniffles...."Have you had a covid test?", the strange lady in the elevator asked as she looked at me with disdain.  "No, I have not....have you?", I replied, slightly insulted by the question She replied, "NO! I'm not the one coughing in the elevator..." Maybe someday, we won&ap...

Send us Fan Mail "One day I figured something out. After suffering through everything from minor setbacks to the loss of a child, I came to the conclusion that a big part of living is learning to live with loss" "We lose our youth. Some of us lose our cognitive abilities, some find ingenious ways to throw away money and lose homes, cars,  investments, and ultimately, their lifestyle...

Send us Fan Mail "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive"...Sir Walter Scott. Traditional dealer advertising is loaded with half-truths and outright falsehoods. Unfortunately, these practices have endured because they work.  The most important thing a buyer can do is to not fall for the wrong things....fall for a beautiful car that fits your lifestyle AND NOT f...

Send us Fan Mail Ethics matter...but they don't to a lot of people in the car business, especially the ones in the high pressure sales departments at a lot of dealerships today. There is a strategy that will defeat even the worst "bandits" in our industry. In this priceless episode, The Car Guru explains how to WIN in the negotiation game and keep the wolves at bay. Some (not all) j...

Send us Fan Mail I read a book several years ago titled "The Myth of Excellence" written by Fred Crawford and Ryan Mathews. At that time, I was struggling during a difficult period in the car business and was trying to figure out how I could change my business plan to differentiate it from my competitors. Everyone advertised "price, price, price" and the customers just weren&ap...

Send us Fan Mail Lennie has sold a lot of cars.....well over 75,000 over his career as a car dealer. Most of his sales were to strangers, who later became friends and repeat customers. But none of that would have happened if he had taken a lot of shortcuts, not been reliable and/or not bothered to follow-up when he had a new opportunity. The number one reason salespeople fail is because they fail...

Send us Fan Mail "Occasionally, I am wrong....but, I am a big boy and I am willing to eat my crow in public." "I thought Ford was out to get their dealers and turn them into dinosaurs." "But...I was wrong, and it took an incredible experience in Las Vegas to find out the truth." ----Lennie Lawson, The Car Guru In this episode, Lennie talks about the future of the car...

Send us Fan Mail Too many car buyers settle for TOO LITTLE. One of the reasons for that is that they don't treat their car with the respect that a seller should. If you were putting your car in the front yard with a "For Sale" sign in it, wouldn't you wash it first? Well....why don't customers do that when they try to trade at a new car dealership? In this episode, Lennie...

Send us Fan Mail Few things are more frustrating than owning a problem car. We rely on our cars for so much in modern society, that when they break, our lives breakdown too.  The purpose of this episode is to make sure you know what your rights are when it comes to problem vehicles and to make sure you understand the limitations of different kinds of warranties and service contracts.  Email Lennie...

Send us Fan Mail Learning to listen....its always been a problem of mine. Just ask my wife.  But something that I have always listened to (and never intentionally ignore) is my transportation. Yes...I listen to the sounds my car or truck is making because I know that abnormal sounds can strand me by the side of the road and cost me a lot of money....even if I do own a car dealership. In this episo...

Send us Fan Mail Just who do you thing you are? Well, when you are paying the repair bill or getting warranty service, you are the most important person in the world to that business....at least at that particular moment.  YOU are the customer...and If you aren't treated right, you will defect. Just what are you entitled to? In this episode, Lennie discusses what happens, vs what should happe...

Send us Fan Mail From Ransom Olds to Henry Ford....from John DeLorean to Lee Iacocca....the men behind the cars of the last 100 years turned ideas into a new realities for American drivers. Sometimes, their new creations led to societal changes beyond any reasonable expectations. The Model T started out as an appliance you could buy from a catalog and became a symbol of freedom and personal mobili...