"Toyota's New 4Runner vs Land Cruiser: A Deep Dive"

Music. Okay, today we're talking about two huge recalls, and one truck brand is now offering a 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty on all their vehicles.

Isn't that cool? I mean, that's putting their money where their mouth is. We're also answering a ton of your car questions today and looking at the new Toyota Floor Runner. How close is this to the Land Cruiser I had last week? We're going to talk about that. So buckle up for an informative and fun day. Welcome to your favorite auto show, Let's Talk Wheels. I'm Mike Herzing.

Every week, we bring you automotive and power sports news, interviews, car reviews, and of course, classic car information from my co-host, the brilliant Jeremy Bierenbaum, based right there in Southern California. Come on in, Mr. B. Out here cooking in Southern California. It's summertime, and it feels like it already. Well, here it's like 95 degrees, but it's got 94% humidity. You know, it's like you walk out, whoosh, sweat. I was going to go for a motorcycle ride, and I walked out and went,

No, I have to go. If I go, it's like seven o'clock in the morning to nine. And after that, I'm done. No, you can't ride a bike in this weather. It's like riding with a hairdryer in your face, sitting on a motor. You know, you got 200 degrees coming up your legs. Oh, it's terrible, terrible, terrible. But we've got a busy show today, and it's going to be fun. Let's get started with a news and notes segment and talk about another Ford recall.

What's up with this? I feel like I'm having a real one or is it kind of a new one? I feel like I'm having deja vu because we're talking about another Ford recall. 300,000 SUVs are being recalled for the rear seat moving forward while the car is moving. So that's no good. The vehicles were- Lots of adjustable seats and stuff that you can slide back and forth. All that kind of stuff is really cool until you have some kind of a glitch. Yeah.

And then the seat moves. The vehicles we're talking about are the 2020 to 25 Ford Explorer and its luxury sibling, the Lincoln Aviator, manufactured in 2018 to November 24.

And what it is is a trim piece around the latch lets the rear seat move forward so you can get into the third row and with that trim piece misaligned the latch can delatch while the car is in motion and i don't know it won't go into it won't won't lock into place i guess i don't know if you've ever been in one of these seats when they fold forward they fold forward with force because they have a bit of a spring to them because they're meant to like actually roll forward.

And I've seen it. If you're not expecting a kind of full to full size human in half and then they go forward, it's not really a comfortable thing. Yeah, it's spring loaded. So that way, you know, somebody that's 98 pounds. You know, some 98 crown grandma can actually do it. And guess what? That's all great to help people out and give them a little bit.

But we're not when you have something like this happen because it'll be like watching, you know, an old version, an old episode of Get Smart or something where they had the ejector seat or James Bond had the ejector seat handle on, you know, and they just jump, you know, shoot the mother-in-law out the sunroof, you know, but we don't want to do that. So look, one of the best ways to instill trust in a car company is to have a good warranty.

And stand behind it. And, you know, it worked for Hyundai when their sales were terrible and people just didn't want to consider them. And because they came in the market as really some problems, they got their stuff straight, but nobody would buy their car. So they came out with this 10 year, 100,000 mile powertrain warranty. Put your money in your mouth. Well, Ram has decided to do just that. Isn't that cool?

Yeah, all their 26 model trucks, anything except an EV will have a 10 year warranty, 100,000 miles.

The only caveat is it needs to be the original owner, which is not a big deal. Sure. So, you know, this is actually really cool. I think, you know, they're going to follow, they have to follow with some of the other brands. I would assume Jeep. I wondered if Chevy or Ford would do that. I mean, it's only a powertrain. It's not the end of the world.

Yeah. And the cool thing about this warranty is, you know, sometimes people get extended warranties and they don't really do much, this seems to really encompass a lot of the things that people with 100,000 miles have to work on. Engine, transmission, axles, transfer case, you know, key powertrain pieces. Yeah, it's actually more, it's usually just differential transmission and engine, but they're adding axles. And it's a really nice warranty.

And, And I'm so glad that they're doing this, but I am a little curious if it is them putting their money where their mouth is or some bean counter saying we can sell more cars and make more money than the cost it is to repair the cars. You know what I mean? Right. Well, that's what they're saying. Sure. Either way. And the bean counters are the smart people. But the point is truck buyers are the most loyal people in the planet.

This is true. Toyota people drive Toyotas, you know, Chevy people have Chevy, Fords and Fords, you know, and Ram people love Rams. And, you know, and this will maybe conquest a few people. And it might help. You've got somebody that maybe had a bad, maybe had a Toyota that they've had to replace the engine in it. Even though it was under warranty, it's maybe stranded them and then they're

kind of irritated and mad. So we're going to go back to Ram or they'll go, you know, so it might sway some people. But, you know, at worst case, it's a good thing for the industry because now other people will be forced to do it. And I think that's, I think it's great. Now, here are our buddies at Honda. By the way, if you just tuned in, Mike Herzing and Jeremy Bierenbaum, Let's Talk Wheels, if you just tuned in. And we welcome. Let's talk about this Honda recall. Honda's got brake problems.

Yeah, 259,000 vehicles. The ones we're talking about are the 23 to 25 Honda Pilot. The 21 to 25 Acura TLX, and the 23 to 25 Acura MDX. And it's not anything to do with the brake pads or rotors or anything. It's the brake pedal pivot pin. So that's inside the cab. That's the assembly that actually holds the brake that you step on with your foot. Yeah. And it pivots. It pivots. And it can become improperly secured and move in a way that is not, you know, designed.

They didn't put the C-clip on it or they didn't put the cotter pin in it. They didn't secure it and it can come loose because once that comes off, the pedal just falls off. You can't hit the brake then because the brake pedal is laying on the floorboard.

I've had that happen to me. That'll solve the problem. once but it was an accelerator pedal so it's a little bit better than a brake that wasn't quite so bad a brake pedal oh that would suck but i've had accelerator pedal brake before and i had to reach down there and and uh wedge my shoe underneath there to try to get it to make it was just weird but it was it was a terrible thing but uh either way contact contact your dealer

technicians will inspect your vehicle replace the brake assembly if needed free of charge.

All right. All right. One quick story we wanted to get into. This was something we actually revisited from about a year, year and a half ago is, and I always call it, you know, snitches get stitches. But there was a guy in New York, you know, New York has this law. It's pretty weird. I thought California was a little strange, but New York is, is, is weirder. They have the, the, the, you can't let your vehicle IOL for more than a minute or two minutes. Three minutes.

Anything after three minutes, you'll get fined between $350 and $600 if someone records and proves the amount of time that you've been idling. And the reason that people are making so much money is they get a quarter of the fine that's issued to the car. So there are people that they make this their daytime job and they ride around the city on their bicycles, they walk around and they record cars idling.

And you look at the length of the video and you can send it in to the city and they will give you a commission when that person gets a ticket. Isn't that wild? It's wild. You know, I kind of chuckled when I saw one of the people that says they do it is because of the pollution of the vehicles and the health concerns to the individual people. And I'm thinking to myself. They don't need to take the money then. What about your health concerns standing next to the idling vehicle for up to

30 minutes? That's right. I never thought about that. Yeah, you're right. But I just don't like, I mean, it's like turning everybody against you. I mean, UPS guy stops the truck and he runs in and drops a package off, runs back out or something, you know, there's always somebody idling. There's something, you have a starter problem, this or that. All of a sudden, you've got people looking around you. It's kind of like,

I'd hate to be a police officer. I know your dad was a police officer, but I hate to be a police officer now. Every time you pull somebody over, they're videoing you. That would make me crazy. In a city like New York, I'm more worried someone's going to just jump in and take my car. No kidding. All right, we've got a busy show today. We're going to review the sixth generation Toyota 4Runner coming up next, and we'll be right back after this quick break. Music.

Let's talk wheels. Mike Herzing and Jeremy Berenbaum, this is our car review segment. And this week, I'm going to talk about the new, and it is new, believe it or not, that's kind of cool. After about 15, 14, 15 years, they come out with a new version of it, Toyota 4Runner. You know, Toyota's one of those, if it isn't screwed up, let's not mess with it. And that's one of the reasons they're so reliable, because they don't change a lot.

You know, think about all this stuff. Every time somebody upgrades a car, then they have problems. Well, this one is it. This is either a five or seven passenger SUV, basically a four-door station wagon. Everybody knows the 4Runner. They've been around forever. This is the sixth generation of it. And it's the first change they've made 200 about 14 to 15 years. And this is a very close cousin of last week's Land Cruiser and the Toyota GX and also the Tacoma.

I mean, basically, if you shut your eyes, and I don't recommend doing that when you're driving, But if you shut your eyes, you're looking at, you could be in Tacoma and you open it up and you go, look at the dash and the seats and everything. This looks like a Tacoma, which is a great thing. It's a good thing. And these are great vehicles. I mean, they've been building these things forever.

I mean, to me, the 1998, 99, 2000, 2001, 2003s were the best, some of the best vehicles ever built, period. Because they're just like a Tacoma, you know. The only thing they didn't get was good fuel economy. But they make this thing in so many different ways. I mean, some people will put this up against a Jeep Wrangler or a Bronco, although it's really a little bit bigger than those guys.

But, I mean, I'm questioning Toyota because the Land Cruiser and this 4Runner, they're priced about the same. This thing had a sticker price after tax title. The price on it was, I had the hybrid TRD Pro, which is all the off-road goodies, just like the Land Cruiser last week, is $66,900. And after some extra goodies, skid plates and trailer balls and accessory LEDs and cargo mats and floor mats and all this other stuff, it ends up to be, and the roof rack, which is $1,710,

ends up to be $70,598 plus $1,450 to ship it. So you're looking at $72,000.

I'll argue with you for a second though because you and I were going back and forth last week about how we couldn't figure out why they did both but when you look at the TRD Pro 4Runner versus the new Land Cruiser the Land Cruiser is a very let's say civilian car city car that is very off-road capable but is not like the new TRD Pro because the TRD Pro comes with skid plates It comes with, you know, I think it's Fox branded shocks. You know, that's very off-road focused.

Where the Land Cruiser is off-road capable, this is off-road proficient. And I think if you compare it to maybe one of the more middle models, like a limited, a high option limited, they're not sure why you'd go with the Land Cruiser over the 4Runner. And I think it's just looks. But when you're going for the true off-road, you know, the Trailhunter or the TRD Pro are going to be the go-to over the Land Cruiser, I think.

Yeah, but Land Cruiser has always been a little bit more luxurious and everything, and it's really not. Not on this one. This thing is, this is everything nice inside is the Land Cruiser. You know what's wild is... Toyota has succumbed to everybody else. They have a digital key. It requires remote connect trial subscription for that's $275 for the digital key. That way I can say, Jeremy can say, Mike, I need to get into the 4Runner.

Can you open the doors for me? And I can be across the nation and or across the world and open it up for you or let you send you a special link where you can actually start it with your phone and drive the car away.

That's all cool, but that's also $275 and that's for the first year subscription after that it's going to cost you i don't know what it's going to be 10 15 20 bucks a month so that's toyota and that's this is this is what's this is the future it's what's going to happen you know what though it saved me it saved me the other day the other day i i locked i was borrowing a friend's truck a new gmc sierra i locked the With the car running, I had the key inside the car.

I closed the door and it was locked. I didn't know it. And I figured I could just push the button on the door to unlock it. But it wouldn't. I had to call my friend and say, hey, can you unlock your car with the digital app? I locked the key with the car running inside. I felt like a dummy. Well, anyways, TRD Pro. I didn't think it. There's a little thing you can slide over where it won't allow it to lock it with the key in it.

That's what he probably didn't do that because there is an adjustment. But this thing has everything. heated and cooled seats. Got a big 14-inch screen. It's got a huge screen. This one does have Sirius XM and all those neat things like that. But this being a hybrid, it's got 326 combined horsepower, just like the Land Cruiser last week. Just like the Tacoma does, got the A-speed transmission. But this is a hybrid, which is heavier.

I mean, it runs good. The hybrid's not even as fast as the standard model. I mean, this thing starts in the low 40s. Think about it. And you can load it up, this one up. I don't know if you can load it a whole lot more, but it's $72,000. So think about that. You can add $30,000 worth of stuff to this car. I mean, they make this thing any way you want to make it. Land Cruiser, two ways. You know, they make the base model and they made a super loaded one.

This thing, they make it all these different ways because people love this car. You know, as much as everybody loves the Land Cruiser, people love this thing as much as the Tacoma. I mean, people own 4Runners forever. Actually, the other day, I almost had a chance to buy a 98 4Runner with 300,000 miles. I was going to jump on it because it was in really nice shape and somebody bought it before me. I mean, who would think about buying a car with 300,000 miles on it?

You know, my son's Tacoma's got 370 or something. Since the one you had was the TRD Pro, did it have the red camo seats? Yeah, I think it did. Yeah, it did. It had the little camo thing on it. Yeah, it has all that. You know, it's got all the lane divergence, and it's got all of the safety goodies, and all the airbags, and the adaptive cruise control, and, you know, you get in traffic, it'll help route you around it. I mean, it's loaded with everything you could ever get.

I would think that this is the way the Land Cruiser would be. But honestly, the Land Cruiser is not any fancier than this. No, and you don't have as many options or possibilities where the 4Runner is almost endless. I think they have seven different models. Yeah. All the way from two-wheel drive to four-wheel drive. Just with the four-cylinder all the way up to the I-Force Max. Granted, this is three rows. This is three rows. And the Land Cruiser is only two.

So that could be- But you can get the 4Runner in two rows as well. Yeah, you can. You're right. But, you know, it's just really kind of a great vehicle. Man, I tell you what, folks, if you haven't gone and looked at the 4Runner, it's one of those cars that you buy and you have it for 20 years. It's just the way it is. Built very, very well. I think if I was going to buy one, I wouldn't buy the hybrid. I'd buy the standard. It's lighter.

And the powers are close to the same. And I'd be really curious how a four-cylinder in that big-sized car works. But I'm sure the 8-speed transmission is geared well. Yeah, because once you get on the freeway, the hybrid part doesn't really help much. So, but boy, it's really, it'll tow 6,000 pounds. It's got, this one had even had the camera review mirror, which is one of my favorite thing. It is a great vehicle.

This thing is a beast and you need to go check it out. So be sure to check out the Floor Runner from your local Toyota. I promise you, you may have. If you want something more streetable, get the Highlander. You know, Highlander is an awesome vehicle too. So, all right. So coming up in just a second, we're going to answer a bunch of car questions. We've got car questions, motorcycle questions, RB questions. We've got all kinds of questions.

And by the way, if you missed part of the show or you ran it late, don't forget you can always find us as a podcast on all the podcast platforms. Let's look for Let's Talk Wheels. Be right back after this quick break. Music.

Welcome back. Let's Talk Wheels. Mike Herzing and Jeremy Berenbaum. All right, folks, we're going to open up our mailbag and answer some car questions and motorcycle questions. So let's get started. You ready? Yes. OK, first question. Diane wants to learn to ride a motorcycle. She doesn't want a cruiser. She wants something that she can learn to ride and decide whether she wants a street bike or a trail bike. How should she start?

You know, that's really smart, really. Because, you know, I had some friends that you got to buy, ladies, and the wives get bikes and it's all great. Or sometimes it's not a wife. It's just a girl that's adventurous. And they end up getting a Harley or something that, you know, start small. Learn. And also, when you take the AMA test, take the motorcyclist, what do they call it? The training course. Yes. And the other one is that the best, you know, a Motorcycle Safety Foundation

course is really good. Don't get me wrong. But to me, the best writing course on the market was the one that Harley puts on. Oh, interesting. They do a fantastic job. So I've got friends that do it and they just, it's a little bit more intense. And you don't learn on, you learn on a Harley, but it's a little 350 or 400cc thing, you know, but it's a dual sport bike. Like, you know, really the best thing to get a little dual sport, something that's maybe 250. 230, something like that.

Kawasaki makes a 230 that's KLX 230 that's street legal. And you can take your riding test on it and things like that. They're a little tall, but you can drop them down a little bit so you can fit in it. And it has good suspension. It's light, you know, about 300, 200 pounds, 300 pounds. And it don't have a really, the learning curve is very slow. You can even get a scooter or something like that. You may decide, I want a scooter. I want a motorcycle. I want a cruiser. I want an off-road bike.

These things are easy to learn. They're real torquey. They're real handle real good. You're not going to hurt yourself on them. And, you know, they'll go on the freeway, not for miles. It's like I can't go to Los Angeles and one without killing it. But you can go on the freeway for short sprints and things like that. That is a really good way to learn. And then you can say, all right, what do I want to do now?

And then you can pick up something. You can actually pick these dual sports up for a couple thousand. You get one that's like one or two years old where somebody else learned on it.

Then you can go learn on but you make you know 350s 450s 650s any of those things will be just fine to learn on then you could decide what you want i mean how did you learn jeremy on a 1998 harley davidson soft tail oh see that's a big bike to learn on you know that's a hard thing to learn i had some dirt bike experience but that was the first street yeah but that was the first street bike I rode. And you learn a lot of things going between different motorcycles.

And for a female rider, the tough thing is a lot of females aren't tall and they don't have a particularly wide wingspan. So some of the bikes are a little bit of a hard fit. They go to like a Harley or a Honda Rebel style bike, which is lower, easier to get on, lower center of gravity.

But they got these really wide handlebars and it's really hard to manipulate them and then the flip side you go to the dual sport small cc and you get a much easier bike to ride but it's a little top heavy and if you're short it makes it hard to ride you know i've seen some girls though that are amazing riders riding on real tall dual sports and when they get to a light they can't even stand on two feet they one side the bike and then when it's time to go they they push themselves up

and then once they're upright, they kind of just go and it's pretty cool. Gas it and go. Yeah. Yeah. By the way, if you just tuned in, Mike Kersing and Jeremy Berenbaum, Let's Talk Wheels. We're talking about learning to ride a motorcycle. I learned to ride on a Yamaha 80, and they didn't have rider's courses and stuff when I was a kid, so I ended up learning by crashing. But that was my transportation through high school. Then a Yamaha 305 Big Bear Scrambler, then a Honda 450, then a Honda 750.

It's what I ended up all riding through all through high school. And I haven't been on, never not owned a motorcycle since. My one suggestion is over the KLX 230, I would maybe bump up to a DRZ 400. The 400cc is not going to be that much more noticeable when you're learning, but you're going to have a little bit more. Electric start anyway. And you're going to have a little bit more room to grow. And the other thing is you can get it with a super moto tire, which is basically a street tire.

And if you're planning to do street riding, you're just going to get a lot better traction than a Navi dirt tire. Right, right. Yeah, absolutely. But dual sports have gotten really nice. They call them now adventure bikes. And they've got a low center gravity and they've got good ground clearance. And if you do something stupid, they handle good enough where it's not a problem.

You know, and one thing about riding dual sports, you kind of use your body and your legs as kind of a change in your riding style. And your riding position, it makes the bike steer better and ride better. But there are several dual sports out there. And like I said, I wouldn't buy a new one. I'd buy a used one. You're going to drop it. You're going to drop it. Don't be mad. And the best part is all the pizzas are plastic. You break something, you can go buy a new one if vanity is your concern.

But, you know, the dual sport is definitely the way to go. And maintenance-wise as well. Yeah, even a scooter is fun. I mean, a little 125 or 250, those scooters and stuff, you know, they go on the freeway and they're spun. You don't get wet. You know, you stay pretty dry and it's this nice seating position. So, you know, they're fun too around the town, especially.

Especially if you're trying to go back and forth from college or work and you don't want to, it's nice when you have to park in a parking garage and this kind of stuff. You can park these little bikes anywhere. That's the cool part about them. So be sure to check that one out.

I mean, that's what I would do. that's that's the other the other thing you know but riding motorcycles is it's so freeing and so nice and everybody's so friendly they'll help you out but it's all it's always fun to ride with two people at least you always want to ride with a friend and just read up on it and and get one with the right tires and the right everything else and you'll really love it whether you're male or female it doesn't matter

women some of the best riders i've seen you know they're great I'm going to be mother for a second, though. You're learning to ride. Definitely wear gear. Dress like you're prepared to fall. You know, I see these people all the time, just jeans and flip-flops, and it drives me crazy. Idiots. I know. I know. And it's when you, it's just, even if it's just fall over, that thing is hot. You know, you don't know. Wear long pants. You know, I wear a vented jacket with shoulder pads and elbow

pads and all this other stuff. So when you fall, always wear a helmet. But wear the gear. It's easy. You know, nice boots, this kind of stuff. It makes it so if you do fall over, you're not really hurt. It's like watching a football player, you know? He gets hit so hard. You're like, oh, my God, how's that person? And they jump right up. You're going, hey, I didn't even feel it hardly. So same thing on a motorcycle. Then you look cool. You get off your bike.

You walk away, and someone sees you. You go, that guy was just on a motorcycle. He looks cool, you know? Ooh, yeah, he's cool. I want to be that guy. He's badass. Oh, yeah. It's like all the movies, you know? But it's... You don't need a big bike to start, whatever. I highly recommend it because, you know, like you get a Honda Goldwing, they're 900 pounds, and that's great. But now the other side is some people want the trikes. Some people also like those, you know, the bikes like the slingshot.

My sister is 5'0", 100 pounds, and she rides one of those Can-Am Spiders, and she absolutely loves it. She tried a bike. She just doesn't have the personal strength, but she loves the wind in her face and being on the open road. And she'll do two, three hundred miles on that Can-Am just because it's so easy. Yeah, but it's like driving a car, a sports car. A little bit, yeah. You know, really.

Yeah, it's got three wheels and it's technically a motorcycle so that helps you a lot with insurance and it's helped you in a lot of ways. And you stay pretty dry on it and it's got a sound system. Sound system, heated grips, heated seat. It's probably safer than your dune buggy. Oh, definitely. It's actually made of metal, not fiberglass. Yes. Yeah. And so, you know, you can't you can't beat this kind of stuff.

So I would I would buy all by all means, I would go ahead and check out any of that stuff. All right, guys, coming up next, more car questions.

We're going to be actually caught up after this week. So we'll be right back with more Let's Stock Wheels finishing up the mailbag here. We'll be back. Music. Thank you. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. Let's talk wheels welcome back to let's talk wheels mike herzing and jeremy berenbaum all right folks jeremy got a couple car questions we all love classic cars but gerald was asking me about classic cars, about buying parts for some.

He wants to buy a classic car and he's looking at this and he listens to us and he's in Phoenix or something and they're there. And it was talking about, I was talking the other bit about how expensive the parts were for my Corvette that I'm working on. And they are stupid expensive. I mean, just little things are just obscenely expensive. What about finding parts for classic cars? You know, it's little things.

It's so tough sometimes, and it really comes down to the year, make, and model that you choose. You know, rule of thumb, the older it gets, the harder it's going to be to track down parts. And because of that, they're going to be a little bit more expensive. You know, the cars in the 40s and 50s, they were changing designs every year, every other year sometimes. So, you know, you get a part that might have been on a car for one year,

two years. You might get lucky if it was on a Ford and a Mercury or a Lincoln and a Zephyr or excuse me, a Lincoln and a Ford. But it gets tough. And so the newer cars get parts are a little bit easier to come by and a little bit cheaper. But then we get models like the Ford Mustang or the Volkswagen Beetle, where there are so many made and there are so many in the collector car world that companies, all they do is sell aftermarket or reproduction parts for those cars.

And so it's a lot easier to find those parts. It's a lot cheaper. You know, there's companies for Volkswagen called Wolfsburg West. All they do is make, I'll call them repop parts, but they're much better quality than, you know, the connotation of repop parts. And they're a little bit less than going out and finding that vintage parter piece. But, you know, if you buy a Porsche and it's some special model like an RS. You know, those cars are so specific.

To the year and how they're made with their parts and pieces. There may only be few hundred other cars that were made with those parts and pieces. So it's really hard to get. The benefit we're seeing now is some of the manufacturers of these original cars. Honda's the newest one in the game are jumping in and they're reproducing parts that have been unavailable for many years. And it's helping in twofold.

It's helping the collector, you know, restore their car and you know, Honda's making some money on it and they're providing parts that are decent and- Yeah, I was reading that Honda came back and they're building parts for the NSA. I mean, you can go out there and get all your parts for your 85 Civic, you know, which was a classic little car or maybe an 84, 85, 6 Prelude, you know, or something like that.

Integra's, all those kinds of things. So they're building all these new parts for these things and the factory is doing it. That's really cool. But, you know, for example, all my Willis, my 46 Willis. That thing is 80 years old, and I could buy every single nut or bolt for it. And they're not horribly priced. I mean, the carburetor's $150, $200. Radiator's like $200. You know, I could buy everything, stuff like that.

For example, on my Corvette I've been working on, folks, I've got a C2 Corvette, and it's like anywhere from 63 to 68. And I mean, the top, if I bought a top, convertible top with all the framework and everything, we're talking five or $6,000. Now, if I had a C3 the year after the C2, I mean, the one after the C2, that would probably cost me $2,500 or $3,000, you know, so it'd be not half the price, but close. The stuff is so, I mean, door handles and window regulators are so expensive

for this car, But the five years after that, they're half the price. It's nuts. It's really nuts. And then you talk about the C2 Corvette. You're talking about window regulators and whatnot. Those windows had wing windows. So that window system is even more complex and it's got more trim and more chrome. And so you talk about trying to find those pieces after the fact, if they're not remade by, you know, a third party or the manufacturer, all you're left with is the used parts market.

And the problem with that is if you're buying used parts to go on your newly restored car, I think you probably want the chrome to look pretty good. So now you're into it for a new chrome job. If you can get something chrome. So, you know, it's just like... Yeah, you know, in California, you can't. You have to send it to Mexico. But it doesn't look as good as some of the other states. Yeah. So, you know, there's all these little things that go into it, and you have to weigh it.

And some people go pennywise, pound foolish, and just get the cheapest weigh, and it doesn't work because the part wasn't manufactured by the original manufacturer. And you have to do some modifications here and there. It's tough. There are companies out there that make nothing for parts for old Ford trucks or Chevy trucks or Dodge trucks. They make GM parts for the Tri-5 Chevys, you know, 55, 56, 57s. And the parts are not expensive. Like Mustang, you can buy floor pans.

You could buy every parts of the body. You can buy an entire body for it. Like I can buy a whole tub for my 46 Willis. It's basically the entire body. I can buy that. You know, they're like $3,000 or $4,000. It is nuts. It really depends on what you want to do for your build. You know, some people say they can identify re-pop panels and whatnot. But for a driver, it's not a big deal. If you just feel the spot. Yeah. But for a driver, it's not. I want a car just to drive and have fun with.

Exactly. That's what we're getting at, you know, and you're not concerned about those sort of things. Then I would say go for the Mustang over the Mercury Cougar because you're going to be able to get those type of parts easier and a bit. Yeah, Firebirds, Camaros, their parts are a little bit higher than the Mustang because they just didn't build as many of them. Well, I would argue it's easier to get a Camaro part over a Firebird part. Some of the parts are the same.

You know, floor pans and stuff like that. A lot of the mounts and doors and things like that, they're basically, they were the same car, it's just a different grille and tail section. I just had a friend that was restoring a 64-66 Cadillac, and it had vacuum-actuated headlight doors. And for the Cadillac, you go to that part. It was like over $1,000 for each one. The mechanic he knew said that exact part was available on a different Chevy car and it was a few hundred bucks. Yeah.

And so once you learn them, so before your Uncle Bob or whatever gives you his classic car, I mean, it's like Model A parts, Model T parts are still reasonably priced. Actually, they're getting cheaper because then the demand isn't there. But I mean, you'll see a lot of these cars, guys, the parts are not bad at all. I mean, they're probably sometimes cheaper than a new car bumpers and stuff like that.

By the way, if you just tuned in, Mike Herzing and Jeremy Bierenbaum, we're just talking about classic cars, let's talk wheels.

And we think we're glad you tuned in and hear about this, but it's so different. Now, the fact that, you know, Ford has the Ford Heritage Vault. You can go there and pull up build sheets. You can go on there for free at FordHeritageVault.com. You need a brochure from a 65 Mustang or a, you know, a 70 model Torino or any of this kind of stuff, any kind of information on them, stuff like that. They've got it right there and it's free. You can download it, print it out, high quality downloads.

I mean, they really help the people. But I mean, like you've got a Mercury, right? You and your dad have a, was it a 49? 55. 55, okay. But it's so custom that looking at any sort of dynamic schematics aren't very helpful. Yeah, but the more of the cars they built... The cheaper the parts are going to be, like Volkswagen. Oh, my God. I mean, you can be used to buy a whole engine for $400.

That's why I'm a Volkswagen guy. I mean, now it's definitely more expensive, but we're talking $4,000 for a Volkswagen engine versus probably $8,000 for a V8, like a 350, something like that. But you can buy all the cylinders and pistons and heads and all of this stuff at really reasonable prices. Doors, fenders, you know, shock suspension. It's really great. People still race, they still race Beetles in the Bah 1000. There's a whole class for them. Oh, yeah, there's a whole class.

Yeah, I mean, and people think, well, I haven't built that car in 25 years. Well, I'm only like 30, but guess what? They've got a class for them. It's really kind of cool. But, you know, before you go out and buy a classic car, before you consider one, look around at how much the availability of parts and what you want to do with it and this kind of stuff like that. It makes a big difference. Some of these cars, the parts are just stupid expensive.

All right. Thank you for joining us today. And if you enjoyed the show, tune in to the station next week for the next episode. And if you missed part of the show, like we said earlier, you can catch it as a podcast on all major podcast platforms. Just look for Let's Talk Wheels. The podcast contains this show and a bonus segment with an extra car review. So be sure to subscribe so you don't miss out. It's free.

And if you have any topics you want us to cover or questions you need us to answer, email Mike at letstalkwheels.com. He'll always respond. We'd love to hear all your car questions. He shares them with me. Absolutely. On behalf of Jeremy Bierenbaum, Matt Perot, and myself, thanks for joining us today on the Talk Media Radio Network. Have a great week, folks, and enjoy your time. Thanks for joining us on another edition of Let's Talk Wheels. We'll see you next week. Music.

The machine of a dream Such a clean machine, Hey guys, this week I was driving a 2025 Toyota GR Corolla and every once in a while I get a gift. I get something that's very unique and very fun and very cool. And that was this week. The Gazoo Racing Entity, the 2025 GR Corolla flies. Guys, this vehicle was so much fun to drive. Part of the problem with this vehicle is it's not easy to get.

But if you are looking for a high performance, small vehicle that you can do things to, this is a car driver's enthusiast vehicle. And my gut tells me that if you really love this car, you probably are not going to go stock. You're going to do a bunch of different things to it because this thing can absolutely fly. And it is super, super fun to drive. The price tag on this vehicle, it's not cheap.

$47,000 plus, that's not a typical price tag for someone buying a Corolla, but this is a five-door premium plus vehicle with a 1.6 liter three-cylinder turbo engine with 300 horsepower and 295 pounds of torque. Six-speed manual, and it was fun. This is one of those vehicles that when you get them, you have to go on certain roads. So I go to my go-to, I go into the mountains, I go up into Vegas and there's mountains all around the Vegas Valley and you

go into the winding roads and you just let the car eat the road every single gear. It's so fun. I loved the driving experience. This is not for somebody with a family of six people. OK, this is not a big vehicle. This is not meant for somebody who is trying to, you know, this would be your commuter car if you want. This would be your one car. This is your secondary car. This is your weekend car.

This is your for fun car. If you can afford to buy something like this for fun, because if you can, it's worth it because it's really, really fun. There's great safety features on this vehicle, but I was more concerned with just the look of the vehicle. And I had it in what they call heavy metal, which was a really cool color. I really do think this vehicle needs to be looked at and driven to really understand

the capability of this vehicle. But. For a car enthusiast, for a driver enthusiast, I loved driving a manual. I don't get to drive manuals very often, but it flies off the line. It is one of those vehicles that just, it's super quick, super responsive, and really makes it fun to drive as you rip through the gears. This is where, if you haven't driven stick before, this is why I love driving a manual transmission because you can race this thing up.

You can not redline the vehicle, but you can get this thing into a place where you're really feeling the torque and feeling how it grips the road and the way the car performs. Really, really fun. 12.3 inch digital cluster was easy to see and very easy to figure out. Eight inch Toyota audio multimedia with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability, which is great. The JBL eight speakers, subwoofer and the amp. when you're driving through winding

roads and fun environments. The tunes are important and the radio, the stereo definitely delivers everything that you would want on that. The front seat with the GR headrests, heads up display, which is needed because driving stick. So you want, it can catch you if you're going a little bit too quick, going through an area, maybe you want to be slowing down a little bit. You can go ahead and see that. That's nice.

I got decent gas mileage, about 25 miles per gallon, which for a manual transmission, You expected maybe a little bit more than that, but that wasn't horrible from a gas mileage perspective. But this is a vehicle that I think if you do like cars, if you do like driving, you could drive manual and you like a responsive vehicle. I think you got to check this thing out. Look at the pictures to go online. Look at the pictures of this thing. The Toyota Corolla GR, the GR Corolla, the 2025.

What a fun vehicle to drive.