2024 top trucks, SUVs we drove this year

it’s Tim pickup truck plus as should we talked join by the five for one in the world Jill

simel who’s here which by the way we’re a few minutes late because I told Jill I said live in four minutes she goes is

that how a clock Works question mark this is the stuff I get this is

this is I’m just I’m just telling you I’m pour my heart out to you guys this is the stuff I get yeah oh uh Tyler who

I I I’m Tyler Tyler Tyler is a big fan of live streams he was ask me a little

bit in the comments he says side know the back thumbnail background is cool but the trucks are a little old news now

all right all right for 2025 go Jesus CHR 2025 I vow to update

our our thumbnail screen okay and people

think that Consumer Reports whacked you so just so you know the consumer reports you consorts Mafia

you I I was trying new headphones and um I don’t know I I hopefully the sound um

Jim says I sound underwater so sorry well you’re a little toned down so that’s that’s actually not a bad anyways

moving along to the topics at hand tonight you up but I’m like I know what

the thumbnail is gonna be so I’m not gonna do it um I I should tell people we haven’t

done a live stream for a while and it’s all my fault um behind the scenes Jill and I do enjoy

these live streams we do this is like one of the this is this may surprise people but this is one of a few times a

week that Jill and actually see each other person yeah we do a lot of messaging back and forth back and that

kind of deal we don’t actually talk in person and I have been reluctant to do Liv streams because the last coup live

streams I made um $5 and it’s a little hard to not have family time like

they’re all outside they’re all sitting at table right now eating and talking and stuff not to have family time when it’s like five bucks uh uh by the way

the question in the room is going to be when does my RL arrive good idea and question yeah I have no

idea it’s not but my theory is is on a rail car right now going across the

Indiana border down through Arkansas on its way to Houston so apparently it goes

to Houston and then they use the small transport truck to get dealerships from Houston so uh yeah that’s when it

arrives but uh it’s coming so I I but I thought we’d end the year off of

24 with the top trucks we drove all year trucks nvws so I I have asked Jill to create a

list did she create the list yeah I I did create a list and iist

I even added extras on the bottom because I figured you and I would probably overlap and wanted to make sure

we had 10 okay so we’re saying top 10 but could be more like top 25 it’s fine

so I wanted I thought about you’re going to go more than 10 I I just added a few extra because I

figured there’s probably going to be at least two where you and I were overlap uh yeah fossil so you get to fly

Louisiana during the crazy holiday travel yes yes every year it seems like I buy a new truck when it’s the last

part of the year like last day uh yeah the good news I can still buy it because it’s in transit I theoretically I can

still buy it I I don’t like that I like to be in person when I buy the truck so anyways um that that’s enough R you

first time in the podcast first time live stream first time whatever I’m buying an rcho this year and it’s last day of the year I’m going to get it and

then I’m working with XEL right now to do wrap and stuff so trust me my inbox is just too full all right but let’s get

back to topic hand the top five so top 10 trucks and SUVs that Jill and I have

driven this year because this is a good arguing discussion discussion point between us I thought we’d go kind of

back and forth okay okay so I I’ve written down my so should I go

first you should go first what do you want ladies first okay so I’m I’m number five my list so

I’m gonna do 5 4 3 2 one I’m going to do the I’m GNA do the the I’m not gonna do backwards I’m going to do front words

you can do front words yeah because my the three that I have extra are like my last okay so I guess we’ll go we’ll go

front we’ll go top five down to top

10 top one to top 10 okay my top truck and suv I drove

this year it’s probably not gonna be surprised it’s got be the RL that thing is my number one too it’s

really freaking good Jill yeah it is it’s it’s like I know people are like

it’s not a T-Rex it doesn’t have the sound I I totally get it but on road

it’s silky smooth and that hurricane it’s going to be a pain in the butt when I fill it up because it gets like 15

miles per gallon which is actually better than TRX by the way it’s going to suck because of premium fuel as well as

TRX but man is it good and you drove it Offroad you have so much more off-road experience than I do and I’m well you

drove it off-road and you Rod it off-road you you just you killed me on that one but it’s so good you know it

really is and I it’s funny because I thought it was good and then we did the media drive

and I was like no this is better than what I thought it was because you know I spent 10 days in the desert in this

truck it did not overheat the air filters did not like you know get dust

in them and believe me it was re I’ve never been dirtier in my life during the eight days I spent during the Reel I

mean it was so dusty and the silt was just so fine like I was so surprised

that we did not have to whack out our air filters or or change them or anything but we didn’t and uh the

massaging seats at the end of the day were amazing and we had enough space

that we could carry a cooler this year which was awesome awesome so we’d be rolling across the Finish Line in our

like massaging seats with a chilled drink it was so that was great and you

know and and it took a beating and it was eight days of like over 10 hours

eight days so 80 hours of just you know beating the out of

this truck and it did so well um you know we did have a flat tire at the end

but um other than that like we didn’t break or hurt anything then we went

off-road during the ram program and jumped it and I like immediately texted

my partner uh Kristen Shaw and when I came off the first Loop of going Offroad

I was like oh we totally could have pushed this so much harder you know I I know Ram takes a lot

of crap in the comments about being reliability and they’ve had some issues in the past for sure there’s no argument

there but their new lineup of trucks are really good and they beat the SN of

these things and Jill beats them up I beat him up and they do really well are there are there going to be issues with

new rcho yeah we’re gonna lose a turbo here and there we’re gonna have a a repair here and there we’re just gonna the odds are GNA have it but I’m I’m

super excited for it I I am actually really excited I’m buying United States I don’t know if you saw this Joel but this is the Canadian pricing for the ram

R I’m going to zoom in because I know it’s kind of hard to see I’m like whoa

but let me zoom in let me let me let me see if I can’t uh where’s my my bars here I’m I’m going to scroll over so I

want you to focus on the total price yeah 18

138,000 76 in Canadian money it turns out to be 90 96,000 in US

Dollars yeah but here’s the crazy part I’m I’m I’m I have this window PL because I want to see your face you

could Finance for $391 per week weekly payment at 5.49%

for 96 months with $7,300 in Ram discounts from dealer or he can lease it

8.69% at first I was like monthly that’s not bad but I’m like weekly weekly

weekly financing yeah weekly financing 4 $100 a

week yeah no I don’t I don’t got that that’s yeah and that that’s

actually somebody sent this to me it’s actually the same truck I’m buying with the rho level one equipment group and

all kind of stuff but yeah and then what destination fee I was look destination fee is

28 well almost $3,000 yeah and then that luxury tax search charge like that’s crazy what the

hell is that that’s a mandatory search charge everything over $100,000 in

Canada move mandatory wow so yeah I just uh yeah uh

RAM Ryder I live in Canada and it sucks how much of a price difference there is stupid actually so somebody challenged

me on Facebook I put this out there and like well that’s only $96,000 American and the normal price $84,000 I’m like no

no no $84,000 for mine plus $11,000 off 73 96 versus

73 that’s a big difference I’m not great at math but 25% kind of my throw out

number would be my guess um yeah I don’t know it’s that’s a lot of money uh link

says I can get on board with the r for about 55,000 yeah good luck um I’m not trying to be a jerk link but I’ve seen a

comment elsewhere and you can’t even buy a loaded up Big Horn 55,000 it’s just it’s not the

marketplace right now so I just it’s it’s the r i get it that people are like oh it’s overpriced it’s it’s basically a

TRX without the The Supercharged V8 that’s what it is and um it’s $30,000

less than the TRX that finished up pricing yeah initially TRX was cheaper

but as you got done it was towards the end yeah oh yeah and Rick biig Smith

says if you buy this year there’s thousand rebate yeah 138,000 minus a th000 woohoo super excited okay that’s

by one Jill’s heard number one so I I’ll give on my list um number two number two and and I said i i a very

strong video on this I actually uh I don’t know about you Joe but I had to go back into our YouTube videos and like spend like a good 20 minutes cycling

through stuff to kind of remind myself what I drove this year okay 370 some videos in YouTube channel and the

reviews and things it took me a hot minute I know you have spreadsheets because you’re a spreadsheet Queen and

you did Nat toy Voice voting based on spreadsheets but I have number two

okay Ford Ranger Raptor okay I just I just think for

$55,000 you get that Ranger you get that the Raptor kind of feel to it it’s it’s

a good truck for me to get out of it’s usable bed space it looks really cool

and that that green the shelter green exterior color it just Nails it for me so I just think out and the only thing I

thought was weird with that truck is it had no um was it heated or cooled seats one of the two it didn’t have heated to

cooled seats um it’s got to be cooled seats everything has heated seats yeah it was cooled seats which I thought was weird with a with a rally kind of truck

like it would be in a desert but overall for the price point for what you got

from it how cool it looked for the graphics and things $55,000 Ranger Raptor it thing ripped uh it’s got with

a three lit uh V6 in it it it it’s just it’s fantastic it’s absolutely fantastic

I I just everything about it I just loved everything about it I might have the I might have the power train wrong I apologize about power train wrong but I

think I do I have it right but yeah that thing is just it’s just it’s just cool

just is cool and I will say I really liked it um but I I just it to me Ford

had not that I don’t want to say quality issues but um they just like the

materials to me just feel a little cheap yeah I can see that it looks good

that’s that that is for sure yeah so that’s my number two so Jill what is your number two my number was actually

the Toyota Tacoma okay I I really really liked the Tacoma I liked how it drove

and I remember when I had it I had a like a pretty blue one um when I was driving it in Chicago and I drove it to

Indianapolis I have a road trip video and I just remember thinking this not

that it drives like a car but it was very maneuverable for a truck and the um

the engine I thought was really good and it just like like it just was so I thought it

was just so much fun to drive and it didn’t to me um like a lot of times trucks

feel like they’re um loping like they they Lumber and they’re just kind of

like and they just feel like big and you know living in a city like I do um I

have to do a lot of quick Maneuvers I have to parallel park I have to back into my garage I have little tiny like

parking spaces that I have to get into and that Tacoma for me I was just like

this this is a truck I could live with I’m surprised you didn’t say like a Ford on ton

Dy well you know I I I don’t think it was this year but I feel like it was last year I had that um GMC Sierra 2500

and that was a nice truck and I even managed to kind of get it into my garage but the nose like even backing it all

the way up until I was like this far from the back of my garage the nose still stuck out over the end there was going to be no way I could open the door

into my garage there’s going to be no way I could shut the garage door um and

but I liked that truck I not one I could live within the city but I liked it so um to Tacomo Tacomo is my number two

yeah if you haven’t seen Jill’s fitting in the G series that’s part of her uh Instagram

and Tik Tok and stuff and also on on her YouTube channel we shared stuff over there um it’s quite hilarious and yes

Joel for the record one more time tell the audience you do share a garage with your neighbor I share a garage with my

neighbor so I live in a city and um I I’m trying to remember of

having a garage space that I didn’t share with somebody else and so you’re very dependent like even if you’re

parking like in an underground garage or whatever you’re still sharing your garage you’re still going to be parking next to somebody else and so um you are

very dependent upon um how the other person parks and the person in my

neighborhood that parks next to me they have a Hyundai like Santa Fe an older Hyundai Santa Fe and there’s two people

that drive that car and I can tell which one drove it by how they parked in the garage because one Parks as far over

next to the wall as possible to give you know as much space to both of us to get in out of our vehicles and the other one

parked right on the line so yes I’m just making so it’s it

is the number one response to anytime Jill posts a video of her parking in the garage living in the city people’s minds

are blown about the fact that she shares a garage space so she does yes all clear

and I mean if if I was if I owned my own house and I had a two-car garage I’d be sharing the space with my husband who

would probably Park a little bit better than my neighbors but um I would still be sharing garage oh a top question from

Alo have you ever had an instant accident parking I have not okay there

you go people so and and so far nobody has hit me so at least that I know of um

but uh I I see some people hating on my Tacoma Choice oh yeah people hate

everything this new all right my number three so I’m going so you did one we did

one together you did we wed two my number three is going to be the Chevy

Taho okay I haven’t driven that in the Duramax Diesel with the Z71 in that

they’ve improved the seats okay oh good lord that was the

worst part of those vehicles and they’ve done I don’t say I don’t I’m not going to say the seats are perfect but they’re

wider they have long they have more padding much better my son’s and I drove that in Texas they did a family trip and

we drove the heck out of that thing and I I just love that vehicle now I mean if

if I need more space do spron but for me Tahoe is just perfect and so I was a big

fan of that big fan of the fixed mistake they put the durmax diesel in there I like new LZ zero durmax diesel I talked

blot about that as well and uh I just I thought it was really good I thought it was really well done and uh now so as

you on na toy which is North American Car Truck of the Year Awards so you have to are you going to have to drive this

is it up for voting no it’s not up for voting because it was just a refresh we didn’t de it to be significant enough

yeah wasn’t really yeah yeah I mean I mean then that’s the same reason why the Ford Explorer wasn’t on the list is

because it was just a refresh so we didn’t deem it significant enough okay yeah if you haven’t seen the new it is a

refresh Jill’s completely right at being refreshed um there’s not a lot that’s

new there’s I I want to say the infotainment system has changed because it the interor Dash got changed dramatically which it should have been

from start they blew that and they blew the fact derx dies could been Z71 so

they fixed those two issues and the field economy and the I just I I just

like it it just I don’t know just something really about that shy Tahoe that I really like this year and and

this is going back again I scrolled through a bunch of videos we put out tons of stuff so that’s my number three

so Jill what is your number three I feel like we’re playing like Go Fish here I know and what do you say what do you say

two fish um my number three um our number four is the Volkswagen ID bus oh

yes so I so Jill has a video I need to edit I have just haven’t got to that but the VW ID Buzz is the return of the uh I

don’t want to call it a wagon I want to call it a bus the VW bus the the West fia the the those type of area of stuff

full electric and there was a lot people liked it just because um it’s Unique

it’s different and it’s a throwback in a way but also electric power train but I think what’s interesting with that was

you were talking about how much you got waved at in Chicago I I mean literally everywhere I

went people were like you know wanted to like wave at me

and like say hi and I mean it was just I mean I got so many looks and I it was

certainly the only ID buzz in Chicago at the time that I had it um and I know

that there is um like certainly some um Kickback on

the price and on the Range because you’re looking at I want to say it’s like

2 like 40 miles of range and then um

it’s it you know base price is $60,000 and people are like he you know $60,000

that’s a lot for a minivan it’s like okay if you would comparably equip a

Pacifica hybrid plug-in hybrid or you know the Toyota Sienna hybrid you know

that the prices aren’t that far off and if you look at three row SUVs that are

electric so the Kia ev9 um and the rivan r1s and you know

you look at other vehicles that are three row SUVs and they’re electric like this is

pretty comparably priced I think I think the price is certainly tough to swallow just because it’s an electric vehicle

and it’s High um but when you look at vehicles that are comparably equipped um

you know it it I don’t think the price is Off the Mark um the biggest complaint you’re going to hear is going to be

about the range and you know when you talk to Volkswagen so I I had we had

Mark Gillies on um the other the podcast that I do with Tom Appel Cara and um so

if if you want more of a deep dive on the ID Buzz definitely go listen to that episode um but he was saying that the

people who drive this vehicle you know it’s going to be more of the people who are doing carpool the people you know

it’s going to be more of a family vehicle it is not going to be your road trip vehicle which is I mean in some

ways kind of defeats the purpose because the old VW bus was the road Tripper um

but I I saw point and I understood what he was trying to say the idea that you

know this is this is you know the the car that you’re running errands in this is the car that you’re going to the

grocery store in this is the car that you’re running around town and when you come home and you plug it in like it has

plenty of range so yeah no I I I don’t think this is a road I I know the PRI

generation is a road trip vehicle but I don’t think this is I think I’d absolutely agree to me this is a lifestyle vehicle it’s something you

drive around and you have a good time with um and fluffy has a bunch of these

do you know the comedian Gabriel glacius not so Gabriel glacis is also

known as fluffy he’s a big man and he plays it up he’s freaking hilarious my kids and I love him um I’m not

gonna I’m not gonna force you to watch him but he is really hilarious and he has some really funny stories but he has

a massive VW bus compound collection he’s got over 80 of these VW buses

and you can see pictures of him I’m scroll through on the Google images and he bought one because he’s just a

massive fan he’s been on he’s been on Jay Leno’s Garage he’s a big big time comedian and so um it’s just that to me

is about the VW Buzz the ID Buzz excuse me is it’s got that cool Factor like

celebrities want to buy it people want to be seen in it it’s not something you think about like oh well it’s got just

Roi as far as price and field econom and range go out the window on that thing

it’s about the coolness of it it’s about having something that’s that’s fun that’s different and the ID Buzz For

Better or Worse is a very different vehicle and that’s fine um yeah there are some questions Gene wants to know

what do you think of the the dash design I wasn’t I haven’t seen your video yet so I’m not sure if you talked about that

um I I mean I I I think I do I I I I didn’t mind the dash design and I have

to admit I’m getting used to the Volkswagen infotainment system um you know at first I didn’t

like it but the more I’m around the Volkswagen infotainment system the more sense it makes and I think it’s a really

good integration of apple carplay as well because I I’m sick of Apple carplay

when you have to hit an icon on the dash you know on in apple carplay to go back

to the native system like I want Apple carplay to be better integrated with the

um vehicles um Native system and I think Volkswagen did a really good job of

integrating the Apple carplay features with the native system features and you could be like scrolling through your

home screen and you know there’s your your podcast right there that’s in apple carplay and you can click on that and

then you know you click on the home screen and you go back to your your native stuff so I I thought that was

really done well done I see Dave asked me how it was looking over the steering wheel um it doesn’t have as high a belt

line as you think you know it feels um to me a little bit lower um I’m I don’t

know that everybody knows what the ID Buzz is I’m just pulling some photos on the screen excuse me okay yeah so I had I had really good

visibility out of all the windows the weirdest thing for me was um the fact

that your front end is like this big compared to like having a very long hoodline and so it was a little bit of a

mind adjustment like when you’re rounding a corner like you want to round the corner at the like B pillar and if

you run the corner of the be pillar you’re like hang you’re gonna like cut off the back half of your vehicle and so

um that to me was like a little bit of a like a mental adjustment that I needed to do like the first time I was trying

to get out of my alley I was just like oh I need to back that up a second because it’s just it’s just a

different you know feel in terms of um how it drives and how you’re um

maneuvering the vehicle but I I don’t know I just I I liked it for the kitch factor and um I took it over to a

friend’s house and they are a house of tall people and they have you know large

sheep dogs like Old English sheep dogs like they they’re just and so it was um you know my friend her husband you know

their nephew and my friend is like 5’11 her husband is 6’4 you know the nephew

is 6’4 um you know her brother I want to say is like 61 or 6’2 they all had to

come over and look at this vehicle and they were able to put like a six4 person behind a six Flor person behind a six FL

person and I don’t know that I’ve ever seen that in a three row vehicle again shorty here so um like me behind me

behind me like I I have like Lounge like room but um you know six4 behind six4

behind six4 like all people could sit in the third row and have plenty of room and so that to me was really impressive

because I think even in minivans like it tough to adjust you

know the first seat behind the second seat behind the third seat to have enough room in all of those seating

positions for 12 people so that I thought was really impressive I think that’s what made the VW bus such a big

hit in the years past too is it just you had a lot of room like utility utility

utility aspect of that vehicle was so massive oh and by the way Jean there is a Tic Tac of my friend um as he’s

getting into the third row so if if that’s if that’s what you’re ask you know commenting on like that the

top person and I did put um a picture of him in my stories I’m trying to think if

I put it in I I don’t have I I think I’m waiting for the video to post from

Tim before I post my Instagram um and Facebook stuff so I’ve been there’s some

uh the year is ending and there are some legislation coming through there are

things happening that I just I have to prioritize at the moment I’m sorry there’s a lot going on uh politics wise

so meanwhile he’s had this video for like a month and it’s still sitting in a PO there I’m just going to put that out there okay so I’m gonna recap here we

went one and one a one B with rho Y did

I did you come back with Tacoma or I come back with Ranger Raptor you came back with Ranger Raptor so Ranger raptor

is two Tacoma for you is three I said Tahoe for four we did ID Buzz for

five well but I I mean I guess what I’m counting is I’m like Ram is one yeah um

I would say um you’re T Ford Ranger is

going to be two right yeah I think that’s how it worked out then and then um I feel like you and then my um the

Tacoma was three I’d say Tahoe was four and then the ID Buzz was five right so

I’m on I’m on number six then yes yeah six then seven to you then

yeah so uh six for me and I just had this conversation the other day with a

guy at the bar cuz the best stories I have happened to the bar um watching the turet Lions Go Lions although they got

beat by the Buffalo Bills um I have no Sunday tickets I had to go to the bar here in town uh at Barnet with chili of

all places um but anyways I talk to this guy who actually owned one I haven’t looked at it outside yet

again Ford F-150 trimmer okay I don’t I don’t care what engine you put thing although I do love

the power boost and I love the power on board we’re talking about that quite a bit as well he said yeah he goes a lot of oil guys he works with are he he’s an

energy field so a lot of energy field people work with had the power boost because the 7.2 kilowatts on board Z

lighting don’t care about field economy it doesn’t matter it’s about the utility of that vehicle and I love the orange

accents of the Tremor and it’s still this day one of my favorite trucks out there now I know the Tremor doesn’t come

with I don’t think it comes with a power boost or something like that I just I I like the F150 tror I think they did a

good job with that I think it’s great that the Explorer is uh no was Explorer

Expedition switching from Timberline to Tremor Tremor name is a good name for Ford I just think they’ve done everything right with that yeah Tremors

do look sharp as link says F-150 250 I think it’s just it’s just perfect I just think the Tremor is not the Raptor

doesn’t need to be a raptor it’s not pretending to be a raptor it’s not it’s not the FX4 package nobody knows what

the hell that means it just has a cool name and I I think marketing does have a

place in automotive I think people get excited about trimmer I think they they get excited about the name and they like the idea of than driving a trimmer I

think the rats are the Raptor Sello well I think TRX sold well R sold well I think people like that stuff and I think

that that’s something GM and Toyota can take you know TRD Pro Z71 but I think

more longer names yeah yeah yeah it’s just give me a better name yeah I just I like the way

it drives road trips even those the off-road tires I think it’s just just a great just a great truck and um big fan

of that one so that that’s going to be my number that’s going to be number six as Tremor so Jill number

seven all right I’m going back to the SUV real um and um I’m I I’m going back

to the easy Ro and I I know my choices are not going to be the popular choices here but um I really liked the Volvo

ex90 and that is the new all electric three row um SU from Volvo it it’s kind

of like the paternal twin maybe if you could say of the ex90 um the gasoline model um I I

really liked the um I liked how it drove I liked the power I like you know I like

the fact that it doesn’t look weird uh I like the the safety one of the things that Volvo has really been on the

Forefront of in their vehicles is safety

Tech and one of the things that they’re really starting to implement with their vehicles is safety that is not obtrusive

I don’t know about you but I am really effing sick of like all of that and the

automatic brakes like when you’re trying to like maneuver and back it like I was I was I’m driving the Kell ride right

now and I’m trying to back into my garage I’m like this far from my garage and the vehicle slam on its brakes and

I’m like oh my God what did I hit you know and um I hit nothing I did not hit

anything it was just the automatic Brakes in play because the vehicle thought it knew better than me and so I

just get really ticked off with all of these safety systems that make you want

to turn them off and Volvo you know in kind of like a contrast to that has

really implemented safe safety systems that like watch what the driver is doing

and if they see that you’re paying attention and you’re making a maneuver that’s maybe a little bit tighter than

the car would think you should do it’s not going to intervene because it understands that you’re in control and

so it’s going to only intervene at the very last minute if if it’s just like oh no you you’ve just completely lost you

know you’ve lost it um and and so I’ve never had a Volvo safety system like

kick in on me because it thinks I’m not like paying attention or doing my doob

like Subaru Kia um Dodge Chrysler um uh Jeep like all of

those systems like I go in and I turn them off because they drive me crazy um

with their automatic breaking and beeping and you know you know and it just I and so I one of the reason I know

I know got all of the the sound effects and and uh special special mov for ton

but um but but no I so I just I in addition to really liking the Volvo ex90

and you know their new power you know the powert trains obviously it’s it’s an electric car and the um New infotainment

systems the Google buil in um I I I like I like the safety technology that’s also

there so yeah and and by the way to answer those comments on YouTube no Jill

cannot talk without moving hands just so you know she cannot sit in her hands she can’t she has to use her hands so that’s

what’s going to happen um but no jo Joe brings a good point with a Volos ex90 I when I saw a video too and I’ve been in

the Volos over the years Volvo I didn’t grow up with them as a brand it’s not something people ever talked about um in

Michigan if you had a Volvo like people you were the odd person in the neighborhood you were the weirdo so I

haven’t I’ve actually spent more time in this job driving Volos and having years past and overall they’re really good and

so it yeah it’s it’s going to be something that’s going to happen as far as moving forward you’ll see BOS keep

winning Awards and things they’re very safety focused I really want to try out their um large animal detection s uh

feature so apparently in V of vehicles they allow you as you’re driving along they will pick out like deer or like elk

come through the wood through the woods whatever and I’ve been really curious about testing it out I just had never had a chance to it doesn’t line up well

um Volvo doesn’t really give me Vehicles because they have Jael Gil’s a lot easier to get vehicles to so that’s how things work out I live in Chicago yeah

so it’s bigget it’s cheaper you get a bigger Fleet so everything works out that way but I I would love to try that

at that large animal detection because I’m just really curious how that works

okay yeah well so here’s the thing about safety is you hope you never actually have to test it yeah yeah yeah no I I’ve

ridden a Jill we’ve tested it quite a bit so number

eight uh number eight which by the way it’s actually nine because we did the rh’s one 1 a 1B no we did not do it so

Ram r one Ford Ranger two right Tacoma three

uh idy Buzz 4 um oh oh yeah Tahoe four um ID Buzz

five F-150 Tremor six bua weeks 97 so we’re on eight right so I guess I’m I’m

eight is my last one unless I come up something on my my um no you get 10 as well I get nine I know that’s I’m look

I’m running out of options here I’ve only WR down five and I’ve already burned through um four well this is why

I wrote down extras at the bottom because I knew that you and I would have some same right so yeah so apparently I

need to I have I have actually one more in back of my head uh number eight for me is going to kind of go back to to

Jill’s comment earlier however specific trim level of

this Toyota Tacoma Trail Hunter I don’t know that you can do that

but okay I like it $65,000 I don’t like the

price at all but it is just cool it’s just cool power on board the air down

system with the built-in in the bed to air down tires there a look of it the bolt-on um features the LED lights in

the front that you can change the light or Amber depending on your choices the power train like you said is good

the seating position is the number one question I get all the time seating position with the Tacoma it fixed fixed

period move on like it it the new generation has no qualms like the last generation did you don’t feel like

you’re sitting in a bathtub all that stuff’s been fixed and so um yeah I I I

think I don’t I didn’t like so much the double cab um like the TRD off-road or

the TRD Pro I just I wasn’t a big fan of that stuff but the trail Hunter for me is really freaking good I would never

buy one just cuz it’s too much damn money I’d probably buy a lower trim level Tacoma but I just thought it was

really I thought it was really good I thought the other thing with with that that I want that pointed out I want to point out is that I think TOA really

really paid attention to the audience I I know the chief engineer um I can see

his face Escape my mind moment but he spent a lot of time on toy of forums he spent a lot of time on the weekends like

reading watching videos and watching stuff people were doing in Tacomas he spent a lot of time Sheldon Sheldon

brown so he spent a lot of time looking at the Tacoma from a customer point of view and I think that was so refreshing

Brands tell me all time we listener customer listener customer listener customer and I just I finally frankly

find it a little of crap I don’t I don’t think they do I don’t think they pay atten that much attention you know how

many years Jill and I talked about GM seats being terrible and they finally were like oh yeah in the new Acadia we’

made the seats more comfortable well about L dah about damn time and so I don’t think they listen to

customers they don’t definitely don’t listen to as many journalists out there and uh I thought that was a really

clear time really clear time that they listen to customers yeah and and that was one of

the reasons why like Tacoma was on top of my list is because you know even in

the base like you know SR5 trim like they listened to their customers and

they’ve got not like the the details and the um finishing touches like in every

trim is just a little bit different and they still have a manual transmission available in that vehicle which is again

why I could own the Toyota Tacoma it’s the only truck the only truck in 2024

that still or well going into 2025 that’s still going to have a manual transmission and you know I like the

details I liked the um and and you know speaking to the trail Hunter specifically I like all of the

aftermarket features that are factory installed I think they did a really good job of reading the room and adding the

features to the truck that they know their customers are probably going to add anyway and so again while the price

is high the fact that you know you have all of these extras on

there already I think balances things out because I mean somebody’s going to buy that truck and spend $220,000 to

outfit it the way that they want to so I you know I mean if you’re saying it’s $65,000 I’m like it’s actually a

$45,000 truck with $20,000 worth of aftermarket parts added on so um really

good Viewpoint it’s really good the solid Viewpoint yeah and I mean I think I so I think that your point about the price is not spot on there because of

all of the the features that they’ve added I mean like I I don’t have it off the top of my head but there’s like

lights there yeah there’s the ARB lighting there is the old man emu suspension there is the bed the the bed

rack on the sides there are I mean there’s a variety of things they’ve done to

improve the usability of the truck and one of the things you notice my list is I’m a big guy for utility and how much

you can make utility work your your stuff can you imagine a rebel rally with a trail Hunter how great it would be to

have all those features right there and have all the stuff equpped in the truck yeah it would be amazing I mean that’s

why the r is amazing is because of you know we we ran bone stock and we we

didn’t need like any anything else I mean we had to have our own air compressor but um you know everything

was was bone stock so yeah no I I think it’s you’re right I mean it’s got a

bunch of stuff bolted on to it I just it’s a tough price for me to swallow but it is really damn good and I I love the

overall look of it I know bronze Wheels gets a bunch of crap and in today’s online world but I liked it I just like

the green I like the like the I like the I was talking to Ram the other day about this and I said what happened to a really good forest green color in a

truck like I’m a big green truck kind of guy too I green and blue those are my two big things and you used you used to

be able to find these dark forest green trucks it may a little white line here and there maybe little Chrome here and

there it just would really pop and so so I just that to me makes a lot of sense I

really like that way to look at that that truck is all right so that Jill that’s my number

eight yes yeah all right what’s your number nine so I have four remaining vehicles

on here and they kind of all hit about the same for me um

uh and so I’m I’m just going to go with the one that I originally put on there um because I thought it was really fun

to drive but still has some good functional utility and that’s going to be the Genesis gv80

Coupe okay the Genesis gv80 Coupe which uh I’m gonna pull some photos because

again uh Jill like and people are probably not gonna be familiar I think only a

thousand people watch my video so no no no but I think it’s good that you point this stuff out because you’re picking out things that this is the inside

baseball stuff this is stuff that people may not be looking for and is this the one all right I know

golf the coupe one not the um so Type Coupe in the

yeah okay this one yeah okay um was it the gv70 that tiger crashed or gv8 80

gv70 I think G yeah so this is the GV 880 Coupe so I so those people don’t know no

like I’m my brain is a little bit messed up the moment but not very clear at the

moment so what is the gb80 coupe so I mean it’s essentially the coupe version

of the um SUV so this is the the SUV um

gv80 has optional three rows this is only a two row and it has um really

puppy powertrain it is um high-end lug y

esque so the finishing touches are really nice on here one of the models that I drove during the Press preview

had a navy blue interior with orange accents that I thought was just it was

stunning I thought like I think it kind of um no it was like I think up um but

uh yeah like with the orange seat belts and that I mean it didn’t have those seats in it um but it was kind of like

that color pattern with the orange seat belts and you know just some really nice nice orange stitching and so this is the

concept the magma um concept I think right but um but I just I don’t know I I

was a little bit put off by the shape initially I generally don’t like egg shaped vehicles but I think that uh

Genesis just really pulled off this shape better than other um automakers

have done I I really thought it was very sporty it was fun to drive it was um I I

don’t know for me like I just I really like this vehicle I like the the grill I

like the you know the little um two slat for the uh headlights I like the extra

utility in the back I I just I liked I liked this car I thought they did a

really really good job with it and it when you look at comparable vehicles

from BMW or Mercedes or um you know just a love luxury grade like this has all of

the safety features all of the you know high-end materials heated in ventilated seats the um you know nothing is an

option it’s kind of a wizzywig it’s what you see is what you get and that is what I really liked about this now calling it

a coupe irks me I think I mentioned that in my review because as somebody points out foro coup bordo coups just kind of

annoys me but um but the vehicle itself I really liked and I will say I have not

spent enough time in Jes vehicles at press events or say uh at uh Association

drives where Jill and I get together and there’s like 20 30 Vehicles Genesis one those Vehicles Brands I actually walk

more towards I want to spend more time in they have really done a good job and if you so they’re there’s a luxury brand

of Hyundai and Hyundai like sundai Hyundai and Kia and uh Tia likes to on

an island but but if you know much about Hyundai’s they have really improved

their quality they’ve really improved their the best warranty in the business they have really improved everything about it and so they really have done it

set up job so I think that it’s a vehicle that maybe gets overlooked by

the BMW mercedesbenz crowd of the world that has have that name plate but yeah

the rais noses but if you’re looking for a value and you want that luxury experience which frankly if you haven’t

been a luxury vehicle you have you have no idea what you’re missing ing um one the luxury experience it really is a

good brand and uh I I’ve been paying attention quite a bit they’ve really done a lot of good launches lately a lot

of good vehicles and they have a good lineup it’s just a matter of getting people to desire to want a Genesis yeah

but I I just I I don’t know it was one of those vehicles that was just kind of a standout for me um and and I drove the

gv80 SUV as well earlier this year and because they they refreshed it but I

just I I I don’t know I there something about Genesis that whenever somebody’s asking me for you know two Row three row

SUV I’m like would you look at Genesis would you just consider it yeah because

they’re just really really nice yeah no they really are um so I’m going to go

let’s see I’m a number 10 now eight nine 10 yeah um and we’re

going to do some bonus ones I have bonus on my head as well that Jill um has bonuses um I’m going to go with the Ford

Bronco Everglades I you know I people talk to me all the time about Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Wrangler sales ding down there’s a

variety of reasons for that there’s a tovaris issue and stuff we’re learning that you’ll hear the news recap that

this week as far as uh Jeep restricting the number restricting automatic transmissions only to 4 bye there’s L

reason for that but the Bronco Everglades I took took the doors off and uh we drove it around I want to say I

had a I had a birthday party in September I turned old and we drove around the monument and stuff with it

and I took multiple people in the vehicle and just drove around the monument is a big rock by my house there’s a little um uh uh about a

quarter mile maybe a half mile road that goes on the top you do a circle come back around and so did you see your

little H hand thing came up oh yeah it did yeah so I have a new update I new

update on my Google or my uh Apple computer and it makes little emojis at times which is really weird but I drove

actually to give it a thumbs down I I did a let me do a thing like this see if it does what do anyways um I I drove it

around quite a bit with the F with different family members and friends and things and everybody had the same thing to say they’re like man it’s even with

the doors off it’s quiet inside I had doors off top off all that kind of stuff

and it was enjoyable it wasn’t weird to drive around and it felt enjoyable and then there’s a there’s a one of the

highlights of my ear which I still will’ll check about for years later was I took it out to my friend’s Ranch and

was trying to film with it and the horses would not leave me alone so it turns out that the horses there are no

Broncos in the horses there I talked to my friend he’s a horse person and we talked about different things but there

was no Broncos but it was kind of funny how the the horses that could be considered Broncos won’t leave the

Bronco alone and I literally had to yell at the horses to leave to to be able to film I drove like way I drive away to

get away from these horses and then I completely messed it up I forgot to do the walk around exterior so about a week

later I had to drive to Cheyenne to my friend Place Aaron Turpin and he had gotten that Bronco the week after I had

it so we had to go up on a a piece oft and do a walk around so it took me um an

hour and a half of driving to do a 4minute exterior video cu the horse has totally screwed me up so damn horses but

I I just I just think the Ford Bronco it just is so well done and I

know the Everglades came away and went back and they brought it back again whatever you don’t have to go to Everglades packaging but I just like the

the the wind chall I love I like everything about it like it’s really good I think for what the done with that

$ 55,000 the price point my friends and my family were like wellow that’s it they thought they assumed to be a lot

more is what I want to say so it it was to me that was a that’s always a big hit and in my area especially during

summer as soon as I get it I clean part of the garage out and I take the doors and stuff off immediately because just it’s so much fun I just it’s such a good

lifestyle vehicle in that I enjoy driving around for lifestyle but I also like the fact it’s

not tough on on driving on the road and and things like that it’s as far as the

um drivability of it so I want to get to two things I so David K wants to know if you ever watched the show called

Yellowstone I’m going to go with no I know Jill’s TV watching habits and she’s not a big TV Watcher uh Roy’s Place

wants to know about he’s got a Chevy 2500 diesel durmax love it any issues on LW with engine issues or concerns

online you know what I’ve had friends have had those no problems I’ve had friends that have those have tons of

problems they really to me they’ve if you look for problems to find the problems I don’t see anything with that

I will say do not do a tractor pull with that that has some I want to say the

front Knuckles or something like that are not very strong I see a lot of people that actually destroy the the the

tire rod ends and the tire goes like this when they’re going through a uh yeah it’s not a very strong vehicle for

that so just don’t do that but just do your maintenance you know the biggest thing I tell people all time is just do the maintenance and don’t overthink the

maintenance don’t overthink that I know better than that was I know better than that engineer does and all kind of stuff see all time and then they have a

problem with it so just do your recalls do your maintenance and you’ll be fine just watch make the biggest thing with

that is just make sure you watch your regen and your stuff you can get a Banks Eye Dash which goes in the corner it’s a

little small circle that goes in the corner has data built into it it’ll tell you how long between regen that kind of

things how much de you have how much using because the biggest thing with durmax diesels and any diesels is the

emissions equipment so just make sure keep an eye on that make sure you do a full Regen and the big the other thing

too is don’t idle that thing it’s a big issue with my area I see a lot of guys idling the Diesels and I talk to diesel

mechanics all the time and they tell me the number one problem they have with diesel the DPF plugging up it doesn’t get hot enough because people sit and

idle it so just drive it drive it and like it and love it don’t Idol it don’t

do the old school diesel things don’t listen to the old guys and treat as new diesel that’s what to say with that okay

so we did those so that was that was our top 10 so we’re doing bonus round okay bonus round we have uh six minutes so

you got what’s your bonus round bonus round is uh do you do you want me so I

have three more vehicles that I had on my list you want me to just say them and we discuss them or do you want me to like oh go go one at a time whatever you

want to do go all three let’s do it all right so honorable mentions on my list

were um The chevrol Equinox EV oh yeah you know what if you don’t if that thing

doesn’t sell EVS don’t sell exactly $40,000 was it some miles of range

really well done the the only reason why that was off of my top five was the fact

that it doesn’t have apple carplay and I’m still pissed off about it Jill did a variety of vehicles of

videos on this that may may or may not get us invites GM events in the future may never get us invited back to GM

events again um and she’s absolutely right all right so what else you got um

then the Lincoln Nautilus um yeah you did a road trip with that I well I I did a road trip

with it and I was at the vehicle launch and I really like that screen I feel

like you had some issues with it maybe um reflecting was that one of the ones you had no no I the the Buick Enclave

had a problem with that and then I just recently had GMC no what I just I just recently

Happ the same problem anyways yeah I I’ve had problems with these new screens reflecting in the in the the the

windshield and on the side the side wind so Nas I’ve not had I’ve not had a Lincoln okay um but I I love that

vehicle and everybody’s like well aren’t you distracted by all the screens and I’m like no no I think they are really

well done I don’t think they’re distracting at all they’re you know just the right height so that they don’t

block anything and they um I I like the

content contained in in the screens I like you know this the the screen right in front of you cannot be really be

reconfigured but the screens um to your right you have the ability to like swap

a few like things in and out um so I really like the technology I like the blue cruise I think it you know while

super cruise from General Motors Vehicles is still my favorite handsfree highway driving system I think blue

cruise is starting to come along and I think they’re doing a really good job with it so that was um the the second um

vehicle on my in waiting list and then um the other vehicle that is on my in

waiting list is the inos Grenadier quartermaster I just I there’s just

something about that vehicle that I think is super cool and I mean it looks

cool looks old school it it’s a little bit quirky in terms of like how it steers but like once you get into the

steering uh that vehicle is amazing Offroad and you know the the quartermaster and then the just the

regular Grenadier you know they are um just I mean they they do an amazing

job off-road they do a you know really good job on road now the tech I mean the

tech is just like it’s like Frankenstein together but um I I don’t know I just I

like the vehicle and I thought it was really cool so so Grant who’s a farmer

friend of mine wants to know what vehicle is inous is this so if you haven’t seen it it comes

an SUV and a truck there’s two of the there’s two options uh unfortunately the truck gets hit by the chicken tax which

means 25% increase in price so the SUV is like 76,000 trucks like what 96

something like that it’s it’s yeah it’s it’s significantly more expensive it’s a very Niche vehicle it’s very old school

it uses a BMW inline uh V6 engine inline six engine excuse me not V6 um it is it

inline or V inline I’m pretty sure inline it’s been a while since I’ve driven it yeah

it it’s just it’s a fun different vehicle um the interior is what has always got my attention on this I’m let

it looks like a a airplane cockpit if you’ve ever been inside of it

it’s it’s very unique very quirky uh Jill is a huge fan huge fan of the toot

button oh yeah the toot that was so much fun toot it’s got

two horns and it’s got a a regular horn and it’s got a tooth button and the

tooth button is literally designed for cyclists it’s l designed it’s like excuse me and

then yeah hi watch over here I’m here yeah

yes what jean said yep you got the Hi and then you’ve got the

moo yeah so yeah so that’s that’s the one that you will see I’ve seen them

here and there a little bit more there’s a couple I think in Cheyenne now um it’s it’s just it’s a unique Choice it’s the

old school it’s just and it’s got what we call it was it a knob and something

for the steering wheel whatever it’s it’s as far as steering uh oh yeah yeah

yeah and it’s the same kind of steering that you actually have in the in the Wrangler um but it needs to be tightened

up I think just a little bit but um I forget I forget I forget that that yeah yeah the actual yes so the bonus one for

me is Lexus rx450h okay the RX is just such a great

size vehicle and I really like what they did with the the the the RX for this generation I had the 450 a couple weeks

ago and reliability quality price point um but it’s expensive 7 I think it was

$76,000 for two row SUV okay that’s a lot in my opinion but I just I found it

very functional I thought it was really good and I really enjoyed my time with it uh honorable mention would be the GMC

Acadia big fan of that and the Buick Enclave although I did have the issues the reflecting on the dash and so the

story is the dash reflected up on the windshield and also on the driver’s side

window yeah recirculating ball steering that’s what it was um da thanks Dave um

so it bothered me and my dad actually is looking at the Buick Enclave and he’s like asked me to publish a video which I

again it’s in the queue I’m just I haven’t been very good about publishing last as far as editing I have two videos

actually in the in the queue I just need to publish um but yeah I just I I I thought those were honorable mentions I like the way that GMC kadia is is the

setup the interior better the seats are better the bu onclave the same idea The Bu Enclave was really

pretty uh Jill and I for a couple years ago we talked about difference between like men being like cute or handsome or

something yeah and I feel like the Buick Enclave is just pretty if that makes sense it’s not I

wouldn’t call it cute it’s just it’s pretty the way it looks and the way I had this really interesting like purple

color to it and just like the song that’s going through my head right now is all the pretty girls walk like this

this this so it just was it just was pretty so those are kind of my honorable

mentions um I’m thinking about the year overall though like you went to goodness you went to Sweden and then you were in

Denmark were you in Denmark or I was I flew to Copenhagen and we drove over to Sweden yeah right so and Sweden’s still

on my bucket list but I need more than a couple days I need to be there for about a month um so you have done what did you

do two International trips this year just one just one I flew I took a

vacation internationally that was my second trip yeah so um yeah you’ve did a

lot of a mes I didn’t do as nearly as many which I’m fine with too um R is

coming next year will be more epic as Jean says um I have some big thoughts

for next year I’m hoping that some technical issues and the website gets has have been fully resolved still deal

with some issues with the Googles and things we’re doing um the YouTube channel is is strong and the business is

good I feel like I’m doing a State of Union address with the president or something you need to be a little bit

more like this with your hands if you’re doing a state of the union then yeah yes and and hats are coming hats are coming

Tim talk about the hats hats are coming I do need to um there’s a new company I want to try

out and I just need to pull the credit card out and just buy a bunch of hats and they’re going to be expensive I’m

probably take a bigger loss in these hats than I have my other hats I bought over the years but there’s some flat bill stuff quality is really good um

they do have Gill sizes which I checked with and so um what style do I pick I

I’m gonna I’m I’m GNA I have a couple different uh versions I’m going to probably order probably order two or

three different versions of this so can I go from there yeah I’m G to go from there um but that’s kind of what we have

for you tonight um this yearend recap of the pickup truck plus SUV talk business

stuff top 10 things all right Joe what else do you have to wrap with the year

up um golly I’m just I you know I feel like I so I’ve been essentially sick for

the last two weeks and I just want to sleep all the time so I am so far behind

on pretty much everything in my life at the moment um but I have a Mustang Maki

coming next week for Christmas and um so I’m going to do a cold weather range

trip in the Maki so um look forward to that and you know there’s a vehicle that

I wanted to put on our list but I haven’t had the opportunity to drive it yet um but I think it would have been on

my list if I had had the opportunity to drive it and that’s the Nissan kicks and I have that for New Year’s there you go

I have a 10day press loan of a Mercedes-Benz E-class Wagon in

Brown I asked him if it was a manual because that is the trifecta of the auto journalist yeah wagon Brown and manual

that would in fact be the auto journalist trifacta so if you don’t know this it’s a joke with auto journalist

that a lot of people a lot of journalists love this wagon idea with a manual transmission and brown there’s a whole like brown cars appreciation

thread on different things and so yes I just was laughing about that so I have that for 10 days till I fly to uh Texas

or Louisiana hopefully to get my truck that’s kind of where I’m at start so hopefully next year we have new truck we have new hats I will be sending a hat to

Ford the there people have said to me I need to send Jim Farley a hat and I think that that does make some sense I

just got to buy some hats it’s gonna take some time to get that going so I’m a little behind the ball in that one because I’ve well year end I have family

I have Christmas I have stuff going on and things like that Happ life I don’t believe you I know I know I just deer

hun all the time that’s what that’s all to do so so all right there you go that’s what we have for this this week

on our live stream we’ll do more live stream next next year I know that Jill’s a fan of them and I just need to get over it so I I will do that I will man

up take that to the team we will have more live streams next year we’ll have one more news recap happening probably

this Friday and then that’ll be it for the year which sounds weird to say but

that’s know like where did this year go I know I’m like I can’t believe Christmas is next

week are you are you done with your shopping I am everything is wrapped in the

tree um yeah I just got my wrapping paper today

so there you go from all of us to you again thank you for watching 50 million

views this year was a huge milestone for both of us and Jill was a big part of that uh and I appreciate coming to the

website appreciate being in the Forum appreciate everybody doing to support channel it’s been a great year it’s been

a great uh time to keep things going and yeah go Lions of all things uh Merry

Christmas everybody out there Happ happy New Year and and uh we will see you down the road