Auto Repairs About To Increase, EV Ranges By Month, What The Public Really Thinks About AI

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Episode #1013: We cover the impact of upcoming tariffs on auto repair and insurance costs, seasonal shifts in EV range, and a new Pew survey revealing a major divide between AI experts and public opinion.

Show Notes with links:

• Auto repair bills are on the verge of a sharp climb, and the clock is ticking. A 25% tariff on imported vehicles and auto parts, recently enacted by President Trump, officially takes effect May 3 — and it could add hundreds to even routine repair jobs.
  • Roughly 44% of OEM parts are imported, many from Taiwan and other countries not exempt under USMCA, according to Cox Automotive.
  • Experts say a standard brake job could jump $150–$200 per axle as parts hit with tariffs filter into the supply chain.
  • Many shops have just 4-6 weeks of parts inventory and dealerships like LaFontaine Auto are proactively contacting customers who previously declined service to lock in current prices before the May 3 deadline.
  • Insurance premiums may increase later in 2025 as claims costs go up, though experts say stolen vehicle rates and personal injury remain the bigger drivers.
  • “Go get it done today because we could be having some different conversations in a couple of weeks,” said Skyler Chadwick, director of product consulting at Cox Automotive.

• If you're planning a road trip in an electric vehicle, do it in July or August. A new report from Vaisala Xweather shows those are the best months for EV range across the U.S., with average distances peaking at 267 miles.
  • From June to September 2024, average EV range topped 250 miles in all 48 contiguous states and D.C.
  • In contrast, January 2025 saw every state fall below the 250-mile median, with North Dakota at the bottom with 171 miles.
  • Factors like air density, cabin heating, wind, and snow contribute to winter range dips.

• A sweeping new Pew survey highlights a major disconnect between AI experts and the general public. While most experts see AI as a personal and societal benefit, the average American is more worried than excited — and trust is in short supply.
  • 76% of AI experts believe AI will benefit them personally, while just 24% of the public feels the same.
  • Only 11% of Americans are more excited than concerned about daily AI use; 51% are more concerned than excited.
  • Both groups agree: the government can’t be trusted to regulate AI effectively.
  • 83% of Americans say AI won’t make them more productive, and 94% say it won’t make them happier.
  • I asked ChatGPT what it thought of this article: “The gap between how experts and everyday people view AI isn’t just about knowledge — it’s about experience. I can process data and generate insights, but I don’t live in a world where AI decisions impact my job, privacy, or sense of a

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Episode Transcript

Kyle Mountsier (00:00):
All right. Good morning. Paul did some

(00:01):
remodeling on his backgroundright there. It's Wednesday,
April 9. This is the automotiveState of the Union. I'm Kyle
Mountsier With co host PaulDaly, and we're talking about
stuff here I go, auto repairs.
EV ranges, when they see me, andwhat the public really thinks
about AI? What do they reallythink about AI? What does the
public think the what? Let usask this question, what is

(00:25):
quote, unquote the public? Whatdoes that even mean? Right?
Because everyone's like, yeah,the public over there. I know
I'm not a part of that, but

Paul J Daly (00:33):
it starts with people that don't listen to this
show. Is the first group? Yeah,I think it's public, people that
generally don't watch that kindof news or content, right? Yep,
that's right. It's justwhoever's not paying attention
to this article right now is thepublic, the uninformed public,
the uninformed public, I don'tknow well right now, you and I

(00:54):
get so excited when we get to bein in stores and you're going to
join me here in a little bit andjust, man, always when I'm
around beaver Toyota and comingGeorgia, like you and I come
here, usually about once amonth, and I was just kicking it
with a couple sales people. Andthey had an insane month last
month. And then it was springbreak here, so they had a little
bit of a slower weekend. Butthen Monday, the the flood gates

(01:17):
opened again. Oh, I'm sure. AndI was asking, were people
talking about tariffs and allthis? And he's like, you know,
he's like, we, we're not, we'renot really even going to play
that game. We're just doingbusiness the way we've always
done the business. And thatcomes right from Patrick a bad
right? We didn't do it duringCOVID. A lot of dealerships are
like, bumping and starting to dostuff. It's like, we don't play
that game. We never have. Andit's hard to argue with one of

(01:38):
the best performing Twitter look

Kyle Mountsier (01:39):
when when you say we don't play that game, it
means you're playing a game allout on your own. That's right.

Paul J Daly (01:45):
That's exactly what you're building your own game.
It's like Jesse Cole will gaderaand just playing in their own
field play. We're playing thisgame. And the nice part about
this game, in air quotes, isthat you don't have to change
it, no matter whatever's goingon. No, right? That's right.
Consistency part of it look, oneof the things that we're talking
about a ton is getting togetherwith other people who are are

(02:05):
solving problems, are figuringout how to do business in a way
that's consistent and steady andsuccessful. All those people are
going to be gathering at a sodacon in just a little over a
month from now. It's coming in.
Hannah Hanover, Maryland, topicsincluding AI, compliance
culture, fixed ups, globalindustry dynamics, obviously,
leadership, marketing, multirooftop and group conversations,

(02:27):
lots of lots of tech, a lotmore, including pitch tank. We
talked about this yesterday, andthis is kind of your baby.

Kyle Mountsier (02:37):
I'm really excited about pitch tank this
year. The the the thesubmissions are flowing in, so
you've only got three days leftto submit, plus it's about to be
closed. That's it. Three daysleft. Once that's closed,
whoever gets in, they're goingto go through the judging cycle,
and we'll get the top nine tothe event. So make sure that if
you want to be a part of thepitch tank, ASOTU CON com,

(02:59):
forward slash pitch tank, andyou can do that, and myself and
some friends will be judge. And,yeah,

Paul J Daly (03:04):
oh my, some friends, he says, some friends,
some friends. Greenfield, BillCarr as Chase Frazier, you know,
just a couple of noobs.

Kyle Mountsier (03:14):
Put noobs got him. Hey, ticket prices
increase. Uh, Sunday, so don't,don't miss out on the what on

Paul J Daly (03:21):
the better reason, if you're dancing around it like
just finish the dance by theticket and let's get going.
Let's talk about some news.
Let's talk fixed stops. A lot offixed stop stuff recently, I
think it's a great place to befocusing right now, and a lot of
dealers are but auto repairbills are on the verge of a
sharp climb, and the clock isticking as a 25% tariff on
imported vehicles and autoparts, recently enacted by
President Trump, officiallytakes effect may 3, and it could

(03:44):
add hundreds to even routinerepair jobs. Roughly 44% of OEM
parts are imported, many fromTaiwan and other countries not
exempt under usmca, according toCox, automotive experts saying a
standard break job could jump150 to $200 axle as it parts, as
parts hit with tariffs, theyfilter through the supply chain.

(04:09):
Many shops have just four to sixweeks of parts inventory and
dealerships like La Fontaineauto or proactively contacting
customers who previouslydeclined service. This is really
clever to lock in prices. So May3 deadline, yep, insurance
premiums could go up as well.
And here is Skyler Chadwick,Director of Product Consulting

(04:30):
at Cox automotive, says, go getit done today, because we could
be having some differentconversations in a couple of
weeks. So I

Kyle Mountsier (04:36):
have a good buddy. I've talked to him about
him before. He is an, I justlost the word, but he's with
Geico. He does claimsadjustment, right? Just
adjuster. He's an adjuster. Andthey are like, hot on the trail
of this right now, trying tochase down, getting everything
done in the in in certaintimelines pull forward. Yeah,

(05:00):
because, like, if, for somereason, they can't get the parts
at the prices, and they'retrying to, like, manage whether
the availability the adjustmentswill change over the next 60 to
90 days, because there's alreadypart supply issues with some
manufacturers that they'rehaving to deal with. So this is
a great shout. I love what LaFontaine is doing, going back to
decline services over the lastthree to four months, because by

(05:23):
the time that person may beready to come back in and spend
that money, it may be a littletoo late.

Paul J Daly (05:29):
Yeah. So, I mean, that's a great way to push
forward business, obviously, butalso a great customer
experience, like, you know,cheap insurance, as Jim cook
would say against that, becausethe customer comes back in for
something. You quoted them 150200 300 $400 less, just 90 days
ago, they're not going to behappy. They're going to be
thinking that you're probablyjerking them around. So it's a

(05:51):
way ensure against that. Anotherdynamic I just thought of as you
were talking about that I spent,you know, the better part of 15
years in the collision side ofthe business with my first
company, RIM, doctor and imageauto. I'm thinking about, like,
everybody's people win, peoplelose. And if parts are going to
be 20, 30% more expensive, it'sliterally going to be like, a
little bit of a windfall forcollision centers who mark up

(06:14):
parts based on a percentage. AndI wonder how that's going to get
affected. Yeah, right. I wonderhow they're going to like, yeah.
So like, lock markup margins in.
That's that's going to be whatI'm going to I'm going to ask
Patrick a bad about that,because he meant he's general
managers collision center heretoo. Yep, yeah.

Kyle Mountsier (06:31):
I will say, I think. And because manufacturers
are So paying attention to rightnow, you're seeing a bunch of
them saying, like, Hey, we'relocking prices. We're not going
to move prices for the next 90days. We're going to see how
this all shakes out. They've arelike manufacturers have already
come out and said that on newvehicle sales, what's not going
to happen is they're not goingto let up on on the low price

(06:52):
sales. And we're going to seethese, these body shops, service
lanes, things like that, beimpacted probably more quickly
than people will be on the salesside, so being program proactive
about that communication issuper high importance right

Paul J Daly (07:05):
now. Speaking about being proactive, this one's
close to my heart. If you'replanning a road trip in an
electric vehicle, do it in Julyor August. The new report from
Vasia ex weather shows thatthose are the best months for EV
range across the US, withaverage distances peaking at 267

(07:27):
miles from June to Septemberthis year, our last year, 2024
average EV range top to 250miles in all 48 states. In
contrast, January 2025 saw thestate fall below the 250 mile
median with North Dakota, nosurprise, with an average of 171

Unknown (07:48):
miles, which is basically the distance from your
house the post office, factorslike air density, cabin heating,
wind and snow contribute towinter range dips. And here's a
quote from x weathers less Lumile snow is worse for rolling
resistance than water. Itremains on the surface for
longer, for a longer time. Inever even thought of that.
Yeah, so just like snow on thesurface, no resistance in, in,

(08:12):
you know, just keepingmaintaining speed, it's, it's
interesting. Like, you justhaven't seen this type of study
come out with, you know, gaspowered vehicles in their
particular range. I wonder ifthere is some variance in, like,
hot weather. Oh, that does itevaporate things, you know,
like, I don't think we see thatas much, but it is still funny

(08:35):
to see like, oh, you know, theseare the good states. These are
the good times to travel inthese in these cars. Other than
that, it's not gonna be sogreat. I don't know what else to
say

Paul J Daly (08:44):
about funny part about this, that he's like, I
don't think anyone's makingtheir decision, you know what?
Yeah, if we were gonna go inAugust, but we better do July,

Kyle Mountsier (08:52):
I know right?
Well, if you're gonna rent one,you know, you want to see what
it's like, maybe that's when youdo it. I honestly think you're
not gonna notice that? Yeah,speaking of not noticing,
most of the world doesn't evennotice that AI exists, a
sweeping new Pew surveyhighlights a major disconnect

(09:15):
between quote, AI experts andthe general public, while most
experts see AI as a personal andsocietal benefit, the average
American is more worried thanexcited, and trust is in short
supply. 76% of AI expertsbelieve that AI will benefit
them personally, while just 24%of the public feels the same.
Only 11% of Americans are moreexcited than concerned about

(09:37):
daily AI use. 51% are moreconcerned than excited. 83% of
Americans say AI won't make themmore productive, and 94% percent
say it won't make them happier.
This was in response to thisarticle. We dropped it in GPT,
and GPT wrote back and saidthis, you ready? Said the gap
between how experts. Yes, andevery day people view AI isn't

(10:00):
just about knowledge, it's aboutexperience. I can process data
and generate insights, but Idon't live in a world where AI
decisions impact my job, privacyor sense of urgency. That's why
human perspectives, especiallydiverse ones, matter so much in
shaping the future of this tech.
Oh, that is very nice. Whoeverwrote that into the algorithm
for GPT has got it nailed. Very,very

Paul J Daly (10:22):
nice look. I think this is just typically, like all
new technologies, the firstlizard brain reaction is going
to go to fear, oh my gosh,something's going to bad's going
to happen. And I think this isvery clearly and obviously a
matter of experience. I have notshown anyone simple AI tools
like chat, G, P, T, I have notshown anyone that tool without

(10:44):
them spitting out two or threethings that they wanted to
deploy it on, not one. And I'lljust personally saying like we
use we've been using AI for along time. A lot of our peers
and friends use AI because we'verun with that kind of pack. And
everyone that does realizes thatthis frees you up to make faster
progress, to actually get a lotof the ideas and thinking out of

(11:05):
your head faster. And I mean, Iused everything from cooking to
behavioral diagnoses to writingsocial media posts to I actually
diagnosed this morning, Idiagnosed my dishwasher leak
successfully.

Unknown (11:22):
That's unbelievable.
No, I actually, I actually usedit to repair my dryer, like, a
couple weeks ago. So, wow, yeah,

Paul J Daly (11:30):
I mean, the it is.
It's all about experience. It'sall about use, understanding it,
utilizing it. I've shown it tomy wife, who was completely
skeptical, and now she's like, adaily user, right? My wife too.
It's unbelievable. Yep,literally, the same story. My
wife uses it to study. No thismorning, I should have made a
video about it. Literally, mydishwasher has been leaking. And
I've been like, we've just beenkind of limping along. But like,

(11:51):
what do you do in yourdishwasher is leaky? I gotta
call the dishwasher guy. Like,no, I'm not calling the
dishwasher guy. I'm taking apicture of the of the label of
the model label. I'm saying thisis leaking from the bottom left
corner. And it's like, oh,typically, the thing is this,
there's these little, tiny $8part that you put in the corner
that could be worn out ormissing, you know, from use and
wear. And guess what? It'smissing, just not even from

(12:14):
Amazon. It'll be here tomorrow.
There goes the dishwasher. Leak.
Sorry. Maytag, man, you're gonnahave to sit around

Kyle Mountsier (12:22):
a little longer.
Wow, that's nuts. Well, I wouldsay, like, get around if you're
not familiar with it, if you'renot using it, if you're not
experimenting with it, getaround people that are because
it is making people moreefficient and providing results.
If you listen to SteveGreenfield, he's like, no,
there. There will be AI agentstaking over significant levels
of jobs in the automotiveindustry, it'll be the people
that can curate and craft thoseagents that win. We'll be

(12:43):
talking a lot about the at ASOTUCON, about this, people that are
really using it. I mean, peoplethat I know that have like, five
or six tabs of AI open at alltimes trying to figure out how
to integrate them and work workin between them. So you got to
try it out, but the quote,general public, they'll know
soon.

Paul J Daly (13:03):
Yeah, they don't know. But you're, you're running
an automotive business, so youneed to be the best at this
stuff, because it actually freesyou up to spend more time with
the people. Yep, right. Bottomline, alright, I think we've
done enough damage for today.
You got a flight to catch, and Ihave some service lanes to walk,
because I love servicedepartment in the morning. Get

Kyle Mountsier (13:19):
down fresh now.
Yeah, absolutely change

Paul J Daly (13:22):
some oil. See some people. Show people AI and care
about some people. See youtomorrow.

Unknown (13:40):
You.