April 28, 2025 • 44 mins
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A digital doppelgänger might be stealing cars in your name right now. The automotive industry is facing an alarming new threat as sophisticated scammers deploy deep fake technology to defraud dealerships and manufacturers. These criminals create convincingly realistic digital personas—sometimes mimicking actual customers—to orchestrate vehicle thefts worth tens of thousands of dollars each.
What makes this particularly chilling is how they might be using your own social media videos as raw material. That innocent Facebook update or Instagram reel could provide everything needed to clone your digital identity for fraudulent purchases. In response, dealerships are now requiring at least one face-to-face meeting before completing transactions, even for home delivery services like Carvana and Vroom. F&I professionals are becoming the front line in a sophisticated technological battle against fraud that grows more advanced by the day.
Meanwhile, common assumptions about transportation safety are being challenged by hard data. Scientific American reports that contrary to popular belief, public transportation is significantly safer than driving personal vehicles. The numbers are striking: bus transit experiences just one-eighth the fatality rate of personal cars, and communities centered around public transit show approximately one-fifth the overall traffic deaths compared to car-dependent areas. These findings might make you reconsider your commuting choices.
The F&I department at your local dealership is evolving too, with expanded product offerings beyond traditional financing and service contracts. From tire protection plans to cybersecurity packages, these additional products represent new profit streams for dealers—but savvy consumers should know they're typically highly negotiable and often available elsewhere at better prices. For instance, gap insurance that covers the difference between your car's value and what you owe might be substantially cheaper through your regular insurance provider.
On the lighter side, Gen Z is revolutionizing coffee culture, preferring cold, sweet beverages loaded with creamer—so much so that Nestle has invested $675 million in new production facilities just to meet demand. This shift has companies scrambling to innovate with cold-dissolving instant coffee and liquid espresso concentrates as younger consumers transform a centuries-old ritual.
Ready to dive deeper into these fascinating intersections of technology, transportation, and consumer trends? Subscribe to the TechMobility Podcast and join our community of forward-thinking listeners navigating this rapidly evolving landscape.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the TechMobility Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm Ken Chester On the docket why public
transportation is safer, moreF&I products at the dealership
and how Gen Z is changing ourcoffee habits.
To add your voice to theconversation, call or text the
Tech Mobility hotline, thatnumber, 872-222-9793, or you can
(00:34):
email the show directly.
Talk at techmobilityshow.
Also, be sure to subscribe,like and follow us on social
media, our YouTube channel andour two podcasts, the Tech
Mobility Podcast and TechMobility Topics.
And, by the way, if you're asubscriber to Substack, you can
(00:56):
also find us there too, at KenChester or my handle at Ken, the
letter C, the word Iowa,i-o-c-a, so that's at Ken C,
iowa.
You can find me there also Fromthe Tech Mobility News Desk.
With all the challenges ofpersonal identification used to
(01:23):
be in the good old days.
People would just you know kindof steal your identity.
They'd go out and they'd stealyour social security number or
your credit card numbers, orthey'd hack something and get
that information.
Those were the good old days,if you can believe it, and it
caused people a lot of problems.
Identity theft was a big dealstill is, with a lot of a number
(01:46):
of companies that have steppedup to protect quote, unquote
your identity for a fee.
What happens if you are tryingto buy a vehicle and the
dealership is trying to proveand this is real that you're a
real person and not a syntheticidentity or worse, that you are
(02:09):
really who you say you are, thatit's really you?
Recent automotive news articletalks about avoiding deep fakes
in the dealership.
And the question that I ask foryou to consider are you a deep
fake?
Auto dealers want to know.
Let me give you some context.
(02:30):
Typically, this has a lot to dowith online or digital
communications between thedealership and the prospective
vehicle buyer, between thedealership and the prospective
vehicle buyer.
They have a way, with all thetechnology that's available now,
(02:52):
to totally create a fakepersonality, down to looks,
words, voice, likeness,everything, the whole purpose.
As always, it's all about money.
It's all about stealing thevehicle and defrauding the
dealer or the manufacturer.
That's always been the thing.
But let me take this one stepfurther.
(03:14):
That would be very chilling andthe article doesn't quite go
this far.
But with technology and we talkabout technology here on the
show every single week We'vetalked about deep fakes.
We've talked about week.
We've talked about deep fakes.
We've talked about AI.
We've talked about agentic AIas opposed to generative AI, the
next level of AI sophistication, the increasing sophistication
(03:39):
of chat, gpt and their ilk,mid-journey and others.
What if because they said thiscould do it if a criminal wanted
to impersonate you?
Okay, most people have Facebookentries where maybe you've even
(03:59):
recorded a little video talkingabout a major achievement or a
trip you've been on, sharingfamily news or anything.
They got your face, they gotyour voice.
What if they took thatinformation and created a
digital copy of you?
Sounds like you, looks like you, but you had no knowledge, no
(04:25):
authorization Did you give tothese people or anything.
And somebody's out there takingyour credit in your name to
defraud a dealership for avehicle they plan to disappear
with and stick you with it, andyou you're saying, oh no, that
could never happen.
Let me talk to you about thisarticle.
(04:47):
Modern scammers are usingartificial intelligence to
replicate voices and faces andcalls and videos, opening up a
new realm of auto finance fraud.
Scammers are employing deepfake technology for off-site
deliveries.
That means delivering it to asite off the dealer property.
(05:08):
These scams on off-sitedeliveries of vehicles are
costly to a dealership.
In a deep fake video, a scammerswaps one person's face for
another using a facialrecognition algorithm and
machine learning.
Everyday, videos and photosposted online and in social
media can be used by scammers tocreate deep fakes.
(05:31):
Scammers who create the deepfake identities then use the
video technology to communicatewith the dealership during the
off-site delivery process.
In other words, if they coulddo this completely digitally and
deliver the vehicle, thatvehicle is going to disappear.
The person doesn't exist andthey have no way of tracking who
(05:55):
it was.
Particularly, if they do alittle digging and they find out
, either that person doesn'texist or the person that they
replicated has no knowledge andcan prove it.
That's the scary thing going on.
You used to believe that youbelieved everything you saw and
(06:16):
only half of what you heard.
In today's world, you can'tbelieve anything digitally that
you see or hear, even if it's inthe voice of somebody that you
know and trust.
It may not actually be them.
Dealerships and cybersecurityprofessionals in the automotive
(06:39):
industry are sounding the alarmto dealerships around the
country and, unfortunately,finance and insurance people are
the first and last line ofdefense in trying to figure out
if this deal is legitimate, ifit's real, if this person is who
(06:59):
they say it is and they'retraining them, if they're in
action with somebody online,even in a video chat, what to
look for?
Key earlier renditions of AIgenerated videos.
Usually the gimmick is the hands.
It doesn't have the hands quiteright, or the backgrounds are
(07:21):
not quite right.
There are tricks, but these aregetting better and better and
better with each iteration.
And if you're a scammer bent ondefrauding a dealership, you're
spending the best money to getthe best iteration, or you've
got programmers yourself thatyou're paying to develop this
(07:41):
stuff in real time.
And, yes, this is turning intobillions of dollars worth of
theft if the dealers can't catchit, not to mention the people
that they're mimicking, maybesomebody in their own community,
maybe even somebody that adealership has done business
with before down through theyears.
That's where this is going.
(08:05):
And with off-site companies likeCarvana, vroom, others Drive,
where they specialize inbringing the dealership to you,
the risk for them isexceptionally high because they
have to develop a whole group oftechnologies and cybersecurity
(08:31):
protocols that they didn't haveto even three, four years ago.
But now, because the averageprice of a new car is 50 grand,
somebody decides to defraud youout of one or two Escalades.
You're 200,000, you're almost aquarter of a million dollars.
You replicate that over thecountry and it gets to be
millions of dollars really fast.
(08:52):
And it doesn't take all that.
And the worst part about it,you don't have to buy the most
exotic, expensive vehicles toget to those numbers.
If you are going to be buying acar SUV, minivan, ev, doesn't
matter in the next few years.
And you don't like dealershipsand most people hey, I'm strange
(09:14):
.
I love to go to the dealership,but most people don't.
Don't be surprised if, in fact,if one, the dealer still allows
off-site delivery.
Number two one of the big waysthat they will check this is
they will require at least onein-person visit.
They want to see youface-to-face, nose-to-nose.
(09:36):
It's one way that they can putthe scammers in check.
There has to be at least one.
So even if you have nointentions of availing yourself
at the dealership, you want todo it at your home, far away
from the dealership.
Just remember this the dealeris going to be, if they've got
the training right, adamantabout you showing up at least
(10:00):
once, particularly if they don'tknow you, and anymore, even if
they do.
That is how good the scammersare getting.
This is how good the technologyis getting.
Despite what you may have heardit's actually safer to ride
public transportation than todrive.
You are listening to the TechMobility Show.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
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Speaker 2 (10:57):
Social media is the main place to be these days, and
we are no exception.
I'm Ken Chester of the TechMobility Show.
If you enjoy my program, thenyou will also enjoy my weekly
Facebook videos, from my latestvehicle reviews to timely
commentary of a variety ofmobility and technology-related
topics.
These short features aredesigned to inform and delight
you.
Be sure to watch, like andfollow us on Facebook.
(11:19):
You can find us by typing theTech Mobility Show in the search
bar.
Be sure to subscribe to ourFacebook page.
Social media is the place to bethese days.
We're no exception.
I'm ken chester, the techmobility show.
If you enjoy my program, thenyou will also enjoy my weekly
instagram videos, from thelatest vehicle reviews to timely
(11:41):
commentary on a variety ofmobility and technology related
topics.
These short features aredesigned to inform and delight
you be sure to watch, like andfollow us on Instagram.
You can find us by typing theTech Mobility Show in the search
bar.
For those of you that listen topodcasts, we have just the one
for you.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester.
(12:01):
Tech Mobility Topics is apodcast where I upload
topic-specific videos each week,shorter than a full show.
These bite-sized programs arejust the thing, particularly if
you're interested in aparticular topic covered on the
weekly radio show, from ApplePodcasts to iHeartRadio and many
podcast platforms in between.
We got you covered.
Just enter Tech Mobility Topicsin the search bar, wherever you
(12:23):
listen to podcasts.
Speaker 5 (12:30):
Looking for high performance Any way you want.
Escort, gt, pro Mustang,thunderbird, taurus, sem, sho
All priced to move Any way yougo.
The hottest performance carsaround, like Ford Mustang, can
only be found at your local Forddealer Any time, any way, any
how, and right now you can leasea 95 Ford Thunderbird for only
(12:50):
$247 a month, and it's loadedwith extras Just $247 a month.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Ford was trying to turn every passenger car that
they had into a sports car.
Obviously Mustang, yes, thatmakes sense.
T-bird well, considering theframe it was on at the time,
okay, I'll, I'll even let yourun with that.
It's a big platform, okay.
But honestly, escort, the FordEscort, no.
(13:24):
Ford built the Escort in 1981.
It was designed to be what theycall their world car.
It was supposed to be theirworld economy car that they
could build for every marketacross the world.
Didn't work out that way.
They ended up, actuallyglobally, with two different
Escorts, one for the UnitedStates and one for the rest of
the world.
But to take that littleplatform and think that somebody
(13:46):
is actually going to pay moneyfor a performance version of it
Not as far-fetched as you think,because they were doing that to
dodge, omni's and PlymouthHorizons, which, literally, when
you say the word econobox,these things were econoboxes and
that was the big deal.
You know, everybody wanted alittle taste of performance.
(14:07):
So the automakers dressed themup and tweaked them a little bit
and got a lot more money forhim.
So it's something theautomakers have always done and
continue to do, but that wasfrom 1995.
I want to leave you with thethought of a Ford Escort GT.
Just put that in your mind fora minute, because it just
(14:29):
doesn't work out, trust me.
It just doesn't Now for thissegment.
It comes by way of an articlein Scientific American magazine.
The title of the article isthese Charts Explain why Public
Transit is Safer Than Driving,and the opening statement is,
(14:50):
quote the rates of fatal crashesand crime are both lower on
public transportation than onroadways.
Even if you were willing to gowith the first one, you're going
to argue with me and say maybethat second one's a reach, but
this is Scientific American.
Argue with me and say maybethat second one's a reach, but
(15:13):
this is Scientific American.
We investigate the claim.
This is topic A.
Let's keep things inperspective for a moment.
In public transportation,whether it be a trolley, a bus,
a subway, it's going accordingto an established route, day in,
(15:34):
day out, on a schedule.
How it does, what it does andwhen it does, it doesn't vary
much.
When you get into your vehicleand you get into traffic with
other people in their vehicles,you may attest for your driving
professionalism and proudness,but you can't speak for
(15:56):
everybody else around you.
You got to take that on faith.
You got to take number one,that they're paying attention.
Number two, that they know howto drive.
And number three, there's noteither a medical condition or a
mental condition that may color,shade or impact their responses
to things that happen on theopen road which could escalate
(16:18):
into some sort of violence, ieroad rage Kind of hard to get
road rage in publictransportation.
I mean relative to where itwould impact you.
When I was going to college inBoston I didn't own a car for my
whole college career.
(16:39):
Didn't need to.
If I had to travel anywherewithin 40 miles of Boston and
their network is considerablylarger now than it was then all
you needed was the right levelof pass and you could ride just
about anything, go just aboutanywhere, and the schedule was
realistic enough to where youcould get there and back.
(17:00):
And I got to tell you for allthe miles that I rode and this
is back in the 70s for all themileage I rode on the
Massachusetts Bay TransportationAuthority as a country boy,
including when I was workinglate and falling asleep on the
train.
I mean how cold I was, neverbeat up, I was never robbed.
(17:23):
I never had either one of thoseproblems.
And this is late 1970s inBoston, in the city, just so
we're clear.
So I can attest to some of this.
Now, according to the article,there's a common perception in
the US that taking publictransit is dangerous and you
(17:44):
hear about the exceptions.
But what the article says iswhat you hear about in the media
is the exception, not the rule.
And if you look at thethousands, if not millions, of
people I mean just take Boston,washington, new York and Chicago
just those four cities thethousands of people in the tens
(18:05):
of thousands, in the millionsover a course of a year that
take it to work, home, familyaffairs, going to visit folk
every single day, there's a lotless of crime, accidents and
problems.
In reality, a closer look showsthe safety risks of taking
(18:28):
public transportation arerelatively low.
According to the data, drivinga car in the United States is
far more dangerous than takingpublic transit in terms of crash
risk and crime.
Let me give you a numbers, andthey've equalized these numbers,
so it's more apples and applesbetween cumulative mileage and
(18:50):
public transportation andcumulus mileage driven Motor
vehicles and rural areas.
They're looking at 2022, bothvehicle occupant and
non-occupant 16.8 fatalities perbillion passenger miles.
Motor vehicles in urban areassame year, 11.5 fatalities per
(19:16):
billion passenger miles.
Rail transit these numbers area little older for rail traffic
5.9 fatalities per billionpassenger miles and it comes
with a note which I thought wasa little odd, so I'll read you
(19:36):
the note.
The majority of non-occupantrail fatalities represent people
who died by suicide, people whomaybe willingly walked off a
platform, sat on the traintracks.
Yeah, bus transit.
This number is from 2021, fouryears ago 2.8 fatalities per
(20:01):
billion passenger miles.
One-eighth of car fatalities,one-eighth by bus, one-third by
rail.
And again, this is not somefluff, liberal magazine, this is
(20:21):
Scientific American.
I'm reading this straight outof their.
Research puts public transitdeath or injury rate at about
one-tenth that of car trouble,car travel one-tenth, and the
neighborhoods oriented morearound public transit have about
one-fifth overall trafficdeaths per capita of car
(20:45):
oriented neighborhoods.
One important factor is thatcommunities with better public
transit often tend to be morecompact and walkable or cyclable
, which makes them safer.
Also, if you're on publictransportation, you don't have a
problem with texting whiledriving, driving while drunk,
(21:07):
all that stuff.
You're on public transportation.
Someone else is doing thedriving for you.
Food for thought the F&IDepartment of the local new car
dealer is offering additionalproducts to part you from your
money.
We discuss.
This is the Tech Mobility Show.
Do you listen to podcasts?
(21:29):
Seems that most people do.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host ofthe Tech Mobility Show.
If you've missed any of ourweekly episodes on the radio,
our podcast is a great way tolisten.
You can find the Tech MobilityPodcast just about anywhere you
can enjoy podcasts.
Be sure to follow us from ApplePodcasts, iheart Radio and many
platforms in between.
We are there.
(21:49):
Just enter the Tech MobilityPodcast in the search bar.
Wherever you listen to podcasts,social media, it's the place to
be.
We're no exception.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host ofthe TechMobility show.
Several times a week, I post toTikTok several of the topics
that I cover on my weekly radioshow.
(22:10):
It's another way to keep up onmobility, technology, news and
information.
I've built quite a library ofshort videos for your viewing
pleasure, so be sure to watch,like and subscribe.
That's the Tech Mobility Showon TikTok.
Check it out.
(22:30):
When it comes to purchasing avehicle at your local car
dealership, usually the onlyinteraction with the
dealership's F&I department andthat stands for, in case you
didn't know it, finance andinsurance is usually once the
deal's been made and financingis being discussed, after you've
met the manager and theyshepherd you into a room and the
person usually fills out thepaperwork and let you know sign
(22:52):
here, sign there.
People handling that level ofthe paperwork are usually the
finance and insurance folks.
They're also the folks that, ifyou finance through the
dealership, those are the peopleyou'd be working with.
Fun fact, 85% of all car loansare actually written at the
dealership.
A lot of people do that.
(23:14):
However, there are new productsavailable that they want to
discuss with you at vehiclepurchase.
They're driving a new profitstream.
They want to push it.
We review some of thoseofferings.
This is topic B.
Let me start with the two usualthings.
(23:35):
There are three things normally, and that's still their big
push.
Number one they want to go tothe bank for you and see if they
can get you a better rate,lower down payment, better terms
and, as I've always told folks,you shop the money just like
you shop the vehicle, so thatwhen you get to the dealership
(23:57):
you already got an approval inyour pocket.
However, if the dealership,either through their
relationships with the bank ortheir captive finance company
from the automobile manufacturer, can offer you a better deal,
at least you'll know it and beable to take it.
But if they don't, if you'vegot a better deal from your bank
or credit union, you can dothat.
(24:17):
The difference is that theloans they write at the
dealership they make money on,there's an additional pocket of
money for originating that loan,as opposed to you bringing a
loan in or paying with cash.
That's money not on the table.
The second way they make moneynormally is called the service
(24:37):
contract.
They want to sell you some sortof maintenance contract or free
.
You know, oil changes for lifeor something like that.
Here's my beef with that.
In most cases, it is almosttotal profit for the dealership
and, if you hadn't noticed, ifyou haven't bought a car lately
when I talk about these,suddenly those numbers are
(24:59):
extremely negotiable.
Yeah, anytime that happens, youshould be warned.
My take is very simple try tobuy the highest quality,
cost-effective price vehiclethat you can afford.
Do the research, check consumerreports, go out to the Google,
(25:23):
go out and find out what kind ofproblems, if any, that
particular make and model andyear may have that you need to
be aware of and you try to avoidthis.
Stuff is problematic.
Most vehicles today and I domean most, regardless of who
made them if you take care ofthem from the day you buy it.
If you buy a 2025, anythingtoday, there is no reason why
(25:48):
you can't still be driving it2040.
And I'm talking 250, 275, maybe300,000 miles on it and still
driving it and done, been paidoff for years.
Vehicles are exceptionally wellmade today.
Don't let anybody tell youdifferent.
Don't get scared by theseaftermarket service contract ads
that you see on TV.
(26:10):
It's a scam.
They want your money and,honestly, if the vehicle is that
defective, it may qualify for abuyback under a lemon law If
you're blowing an engine ortransmission, or there may be a
technical service bulletin,unless you are just hard on
vehicles.
Now here's the last one.
(26:30):
It's called gap insurance,guaranteed asset protection, now
gap insurance.
In case you don't know how thatworks, gap insurance is usually
for the first two to threeyears of your car payments.
You owe more than the vehicle'sworth On average, and we're
(26:50):
talking a five-year loan onaverage, it takes three years
for you to cross the line towhere what you owe is less than
what the vehicle's worth.
For the first couple of years,you're going to be what they
call technically upside down bybuying gap insurance.
What happens is if, a year anda half from driving it off the
lot, you're in an accident,vehicles total, your insurance
(27:14):
company pays actual cash value.
In other words, you had 25,30,000 miles on it and the
condition of the vehicle.
That's what they pay you, butyou can't replace it.
There's still a gap betweenwhat they paid you and what you
owe, and it could be $3,000,$5,000, $10,000 difference.
Well, guess what You're liablefor that, even though your
(27:37):
vehicle's been totaled and eventhough the insurance company
paid you.
If there's a gap between whatyou owe and what it's worth,
that's on you.
Here's something you didn'trealize.
The dealerships will gladlysell you gap insurance and I
love the principle of gapinsurance but here's something
they won't tell you.
(27:57):
I'm going to.
You can probably get it forless money Wait for it from your
insurance agent who is insuringyour vehicle.
If you're considering gapinsurance and if you're buying a
new car today, you should beget the price from the dealer,
get the price from yourinsurance agent.
Find out who's got the betterdeal.
Like I said, shop everything.
(28:18):
These are the typical threeitems that f and I typically
goes for.
But in addition to all of that,they will make a pitch for
prepaid maintenance.
Key, key, pair of replacementhere's one that's really popular
Tire and wheel protection andthis is over and above the
warranty that the tiremanufacturer gives.
(28:41):
And this kind of depends whereyou live.
If you live in a deep countryand you are way, way off road
and tires get beat up and rimsget tore up, that might be money
worth spending.
Get beat up and rims get toreup.
That might be money worthspending If you drive 12,000
miles a year on relativelydecent roads, then probably not.
(29:02):
But you have, that is onethey'll gladly sell you.
But you have to look at whetheror not it makes sense for you.
Really makes sense.
They'll scare you but you needto determine.
You know, if I'm driving onnormal roads, highways and stuff
, you know, and the potholesain't too bad, not so bad but if
I'm in Chicago or Boston Imight do this because the roads
(29:24):
are horrible and I bent a rim.
In Chicago I came around acorner, hit a pothole, bent the
rim.
By the grace of God it stillheld air, but bent the rim.
The rim was no good.
When I got it to where it wasgoing and they took a look at it
, they said, ken, you bent therim.
What you bent the rim?
What Blew my mind.
(29:45):
I haven't done that in years.
Security, all kinds of security,extra systems, extra protection
, cybersecurity stuff.
Again, check with yourinsurance agent.
Here's a thing that they maytry to get around this and
they'll use colorful names.
You know the Patriot package,the Freedom package, the, you
(30:08):
know bumper-to-bumper protectionpackage.
They like bundling which wouldcontain several of these
different products all in abundle.
But let's be real here.
What you're talking about per.
These contracts are thousandsof dollars.
Now the way they'll try to easethe pain for you oh, we can
roll that into your car loan andup your payment.
(30:29):
You don't feel the pain as muchand they walk away with big
time profit because these arenew profit streams for them.
I'm not saying the products arenot worth considering.
I'm saying get all the factsand maybe shop them too.
Or, if you feel the dealer'sgot the best deal, guess what?
All of those, all of them Ijust mentioned, are negotiable,
(30:51):
all of them.
So if you want to do it at thedealership, don't be afraid to
negotiate Just because they tellyou it's X.
You might press them a littlebit.
You might find you could savetwo, three, $400, $1,000 on the
package at the dealership.
If it's something you feel youwant and it has certain
attributes, you feel it worthyour time.
(31:13):
So how do you like your coffee?
Gen Z is flipping the script onhow coffee is consumed.
We are the Tech Mobility Show.
To learn more about the TechMobility Show, start by visiting
our website.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host ofthe Tech Mobility Show.
(31:34):
The website is a treasure troveof information about me and the
show, as well as where to findit on the radio across the
country.
Keep up with the happenings atthe Tech Mobility Show by
visiting techmobilityshow.
That's techmobilityshow.
You can also drop us a line attalk at techmobilityshow.
You can also drop us a line attalk at techmobilityshow during
(32:09):
my weekly radio program.
I've designed these videos tobe informative and entertaining.
It's another way to keep up oncurrent mobility and technology
news and information.
Be sure to watch, like andsubscribe to my channel.
That's the Tech Mobility Showon YouTube.
Check it out.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Are you tired of juggling multiple apps and
platforms for meetings, webinarsand staying connected?
Look no further thanAONMeetingscom, the all-in-one
browser-based platform that doesit all.
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(32:47):
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Aonmeetingscom, where innovation meets connection Get
started today and revolutionizethe way you communicate.
Social media is the place to bethese days, and we're no
exception.
I'm Ken Chester of the TechMobility Show.
If you enjoy my program, thenyou will also enjoy my weekly
Instagram videos, from thelatest vehicle reviews to timely
commentary on a variety ofmobility and technology-related
topics.
These short features aredesigned to inform and delight
(33:17):
you Be sure to watch, like andfollow us on Instagram.
You can find us by typing theTech Mobility Show in the search
bar.
Coffee, regular, decaf, black orwith cream and or sugar, hot,
(33:38):
iced my word, frou-frou or not.
First, full disclosure my nameis Ken.
I'm a coffee snob, but I'm anold school coffee snob.
While my daughters and my wifelike some of the frou-frou stuff
, my wife hasn't wrapped hermind around iced coffee.
My daughters, however, have.
(33:59):
I can't.
I mean, iced coffee for me isright up there with decaf.
Like why, just why?
No, no, no.
And as far as creamer, I lovemy creamer, but keep the
hazelnut, keep the Frenchvanilla, keep all that other
weird stuff you got.
I just want half and half, halfand half.
(34:19):
I do like a lot of sugar.
My kids will say oh my God, yes, I do so, as you can tell with
me and we won't even talk aboutthe different coffees I have at
home everybody's got apreference and I just spoke with
mine.
And speaking of preference, itseems that Gen Z is on a totally
different page.
(34:40):
These kids just weren't raisedright as a group.
They like it cold, sweet andloaded with creamer.
I got a question Is nothingsacred?
I got a question.
Is nothing sacred?
Coffee, really.
This is Topic C.
I thought, with everything goingon, we could kind of use a
(35:00):
topic as kind of a mind cleaner,kind of get away from some of
the typical tech mobility stuffwe talk about.
I wanted to do something fun.
I love my coffee and I got intothat habit in college and yeah,
I'm one of those.
I need my cup in the morning.
I don't drink a lot of coffee.
I drink maybe one cup a day,two at the most.
(35:24):
I've got friends of mine thatif they could get it inveniously
, if somebody could start acoffee drip directly in the vein
, they're all in.
And I've got some of my friendsthey drink it black, they drink
a lot of it.
I'm not that way.
My stomach would rebel if Itried to drink it black and
tried to drink too much, but Ido love the taste of coffee.
(35:45):
Still do not understand decaf,I'm sorry, and half-calf.
Why, why, please, why, why,please, why, makes no sense.
This article is, I believe, fromFast Money, and let me get to.
(36:06):
Yes, it is Fast Company, I'msorry.
And it starts with if you wantto instantly reveal your age,
just order a hot black coffee.
It talks about how Gen Z isflipping the script.
For a lot of young drinkers,that very first cup of coffee
was just as likely to be iced asit was hot.
(36:28):
And here's the thing 85% of GenZ coffee fans are adding
creamer, compared to just 70% ofcoffee drinkers overall.
That shift in taste is makingwaves in the industry.
Nestle, for example, has beenrolling out new products just to
keep up, from cold-dissolvinginstant coffee to liquid
(36:49):
espresso concentrates and allkinds of flavored toppings.
Let me stop you.
If it ain't half and half, I'mnot interested.
I'm not down with all the fruit.
In fact, I get frustrated.
Go to a restaurant and they gotall these single servings.
All I want is half and half.
I don't want hazelnut, I don'twant French vanilla.
Can I get some half and half,please?
And in a perfect world.
(37:14):
If you had straight cream, I'deven be there.
Nestle spent $675 million tobuild and open a new plant just
to make creamers and right nowthey're grappling with grocery
stores because grocery storesoften have creamer in one place
and coffee in another place.
Now, full disclosure.
(37:36):
If you are buying a liquidcreamer, chances are, if it's
dairy based, it's in the dairydepartment and it is chilled.
Meanwhile your coffees aregoing to be in your breakfast
aisle.
So I don't know how Nestle isgoing to make that conversion.
Now, if they want to dry, likenow, your dry creamers or your
(37:58):
non-dairy creamers are therenext to the coffees.
But where Nestle is going, theywould have to develop a
shelf-stable non-refrigeratedcreamer if they're going to do
liquid.
But what they're talking about,gen Z is even going back.
Instant coffee is enjoying arenaissance and instant coffee
(38:20):
for those of you that may notknow what it is is actually
freeze-dried coffee, which was abig deal, and one of the big
names back in the day wasTaster's Choice.
They talked about.
It was Taster's Choice,freeze-dried coffee.
But your average coffee snobtoday would turn their nose up
at freeze-dried coffee.
Nestle's embracing it becausethey can add flavors to it.
(38:40):
They can manipulate it, like wetalked earlier cold-dissolving
instant coffee, liquid espressoconcentrates.
I've had espresso in Italy.
I was up for three days.
No, I'm good, I'm good, do notneed that.
No, I don't do lattes, that'smy wife, I don't do that.
I don't do all this crazy stuffwith a pump of this and dash
(39:03):
almond milk and two pumps ofthat and, yeah, I will take a
nice, smooth cup of coffee, dashof creamer, lot of sugar.
I'm good, it's all I need.
But they're not building thesefactories for me.
(39:25):
They're saying Gen Z's takingthe whole industry into a
different direction.
And the article goes on to saywe've done a lot of things in
cold coffee the last two yearsto really meet this need of Gen
Z and young millennials.
And this is Daniel Jehung,president of Nestle's USA
Beverage Division.
This is a big trend that we'repushing into and, whether you
(39:48):
know it or not, right now,according to the industry, the
coffee world is booming and theopportunity to innovate while
still providing value for abroad spectrum of consumers
makes it a fun time.
They say to me in the industryNow, I do have my own coffee
grinder and, yes, I do use Curegcups and in fact I have
(40:11):
reusable ones with disposablefilters.
That's how much of a coffee snobI am, and I have three
different kinds of regularcoffee sitting on my shelf in my
kitchen that I will drink fromregularly, and my favorite one
is actually minority roastedhere in Des Moines, called Black
(40:31):
and Bold.
That is my number one go-towhen I want a smooth cup of
coffee, and it's amazing.
If you haven't had it, you needto try that.
And no, they're not paying me,so that's just an unsolicited
endorsement.
One of the reasons it made sensefor Nestle to unite coffee and
creamer under one team isbecause there's such a natural
(40:51):
connection between theseproducts.
Now, or, as the president ofNestle USA likes to quip, what's
more Americana than peanutbutter and jelly or milk and
cereal?
It's actually coffee andcreamer and, according to the
article, data from an industrycompany backs this up.
Coffee and creamer arepurchased together 60% of the
(41:15):
time, versus 40% of the time formilk and cereal and 20% of the
time for peanut butter and jelly.
Be still my heart.
Peanut butter and jelly onlygets bought together 20% of the
time.
Where have we gone wrong?
While it's easy to offer coffeeand creamer bundles to online
shoppers in bricks and mortarand we just talked about this.
Grocery stores.
(41:35):
Coffee and creamer offeringsare often found in far-flung
aisles.
This is the point of frictionbetween Nestle's heard about
from consumers.
Okay, nestle, what you need isto do something else.
We've come to the end of ourvisit.
Be sure to join me again nexttime, right here.
This has been the Tech MobilityShow.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
The Tech Mobility time right here at this had been
the tech mobility show.
The tech mobility show is acopywritten production of tech
mobility productionsincorporated.
Any rebroadcast, retransmissionor any other use is prohibited
without the written consent oftech mobility productions
incorporated.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
For those of you that listen to podcasts, we have
just the one for you.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester.
Tech Mobility Topics is apodcast where I upload
topic-specific videos each week,shorter than a full show.
These bite-sized programs arejust the thing, particularly if
you're interested in aparticular topic covered on the
weekly radio show.
From Apple Podcasts toiHeartRadio and many podcast
(42:39):
platforms in between, we got youcovered.
Just enter Tech Mobility Topicsin the search bar.
Wherever you listen to podcasts, social media, it's the place
to be.
We're no exception.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host ofthe Tech Mobility Show.
Several times a week, I post toTikTok several of the topics
that I cover on my weekly radioshow.
(43:00):
It's another way to keep up onmobility, technology news and
information.
I've built quite a library ofshort videos for your viewing
pleasure, so be sure to watch,like and subscribe.
That's the Tech Mobility Showon TikTok.
Check it out.
Watch, like and subscribe.
That's the Tech Mobility Showon TikTok.
Check it out.
To learn more about the TechMobility Show, start by visiting
our website.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host ofthe Tech Mobility Show.
(43:23):
The website is a treasure troveof information about me and the
show, as well as where to findit on the radio across the
country.
Keep up with the happenings ofthe Tech Mobility Show by
visiting techmobilityshow.
(43:44):
That's techmobilityshow.
You can also drop us a line attalk at techmobilityshow.
Do you listen to podcasts?
Seems that most people do.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host ofthe Tech Mobility Show.
If you've missed any of ourweekly episodes on the radio,
our podcast is a great way tolisten.
You can find the Tech MobilityPodcast just about anywhere you
can enjoy podcasts.
Be sure to follow us from ApplePodcasts, iheart Radio and many
(44:06):
platforms in between.
We are there.
Just enter the Tech MobilityPodcast in the search bar
wherever you listen to podcasts.
Welcome to the TechMobility Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm Ken Chester On the docket why public
transportation is safer, moreF&I products at the dealership
and how Gen Z is changing ourcoffee habits.
To add your voice to theconversation, call or text the
Tech Mobility hotline, thatnumber, 872-222-9793, or you can
(00:34):
email the show directly.
Talk at techmobilityshow.
Also, be sure to subscribe,like and follow us on social
media, our YouTube channel andour two podcasts, the Tech
Mobility Podcast and TechMobility Topics.
And, by the way, if you're asubscriber to Substack, you can
(00:56):
also find us there too, at KenChester or my handle at Ken, the
letter C, the word Iowa,i-o-c-a, so that's at Ken C,
iowa.
You can find me there also Fromthe Tech Mobility News Desk.
With all the challenges ofpersonal identification used to
(01:23):
be in the good old days.
People would just you know kindof steal your identity.
They'd go out and they'd stealyour social security number or
your credit card numbers, orthey'd hack something and get
that information.
Those were the good old days,if you can believe it, and it
caused people a lot of problems.
Identity theft was a big dealstill is, with a lot of a number
(01:46):
of companies that have steppedup to protect quote, unquote
your identity for a fee.
What happens if you are tryingto buy a vehicle and the
dealership is trying to proveand this is real that you're a
real person and not a syntheticidentity or worse, that you are
(02:09):
really who you say you are, thatit's really you?
Recent automotive news articletalks about avoiding deep fakes
in the dealership.
And the question that I ask foryou to consider are you a deep
fake?
Auto dealers want to know.
Let me give you some context.
(02:30):
Typically, this has a lot to dowith online or digital
communications between thedealership and the prospective
vehicle buyer, between thedealership and the prospective
vehicle buyer.
They have a way, with all thetechnology that's available now,
(02:52):
to totally create a fakepersonality, down to looks,
words, voice, likeness,everything, the whole purpose.
As always, it's all about money.
It's all about stealing thevehicle and defrauding the
dealer or the manufacturer.
That's always been the thing.
But let me take this one stepfurther.
(03:14):
That would be very chilling andthe article doesn't quite go
this far.
But with technology and we talkabout technology here on the
show every single week We'vetalked about deep fakes.
We've talked about week.
We've talked about deep fakes.
We've talked about AI.
We've talked about agentic AIas opposed to generative AI, the
next level of AI sophistication, the increasing sophistication
(03:39):
of chat, gpt and their ilk,mid-journey and others.
What if because they said thiscould do it if a criminal wanted
to impersonate you?
Okay, most people have Facebookentries where maybe you've even
(03:59):
recorded a little video talkingabout a major achievement or a
trip you've been on, sharingfamily news or anything.
They got your face, they gotyour voice.
What if they took thatinformation and created a
digital copy of you?
Sounds like you, looks like you, but you had no knowledge, no
(04:25):
authorization Did you give tothese people or anything.
And somebody's out there takingyour credit in your name to
defraud a dealership for avehicle they plan to disappear
with and stick you with it, andyou you're saying, oh no, that
could never happen.
Let me talk to you about thisarticle.
(04:47):
Modern scammers are usingartificial intelligence to
replicate voices and faces andcalls and videos, opening up a
new realm of auto finance fraud.
Scammers are employing deepfake technology for off-site
deliveries.
That means delivering it to asite off the dealer property.
(05:08):
These scams on off-sitedeliveries of vehicles are
costly to a dealership.
In a deep fake video, a scammerswaps one person's face for
another using a facialrecognition algorithm and
machine learning.
Everyday, videos and photosposted online and in social
media can be used by scammers tocreate deep fakes.
(05:31):
Scammers who create the deepfake identities then use the
video technology to communicatewith the dealership during the
off-site delivery process.
In other words, if they coulddo this completely digitally and
deliver the vehicle, thatvehicle is going to disappear.
The person doesn't exist andthey have no way of tracking who
(05:55):
it was.
Particularly, if they do alittle digging and they find out
, either that person doesn'texist or the person that they
replicated has no knowledge andcan prove it.
That's the scary thing going on.
You used to believe that youbelieved everything you saw and
(06:16):
only half of what you heard.
In today's world, you can'tbelieve anything digitally that
you see or hear, even if it's inthe voice of somebody that you
know and trust.
It may not actually be them.
Dealerships and cybersecurityprofessionals in the automotive
(06:39):
industry are sounding the alarmto dealerships around the
country and, unfortunately,finance and insurance people are
the first and last line ofdefense in trying to figure out
if this deal is legitimate, ifit's real, if this person is who
(06:59):
they say it is and they'retraining them, if they're in
action with somebody online,even in a video chat, what to
look for?
Key earlier renditions of AIgenerated videos.
Usually the gimmick is the hands.
It doesn't have the hands quiteright, or the backgrounds are
(07:21):
not quite right.
There are tricks, but these aregetting better and better and
better with each iteration.
And if you're a scammer bent ondefrauding a dealership, you're
spending the best money to getthe best iteration, or you've
got programmers yourself thatyou're paying to develop this
(07:41):
stuff in real time.
And, yes, this is turning intobillions of dollars worth of
theft if the dealers can't catchit, not to mention the people
that they're mimicking, maybesomebody in their own community,
maybe even somebody that adealership has done business
with before down through theyears.
That's where this is going.
(08:05):
And with off-site companies likeCarvana, vroom, others Drive,
where they specialize inbringing the dealership to you,
the risk for them isexceptionally high because they
have to develop a whole group oftechnologies and cybersecurity
(08:31):
protocols that they didn't haveto even three, four years ago.
But now, because the averageprice of a new car is 50 grand,
somebody decides to defraud youout of one or two Escalades.
You're 200,000, you're almost aquarter of a million dollars.
You replicate that over thecountry and it gets to be
millions of dollars really fast.
(08:52):
And it doesn't take all that.
And the worst part about it,you don't have to buy the most
exotic, expensive vehicles toget to those numbers.
If you are going to be buying acar SUV, minivan, ev, doesn't
matter in the next few years.
And you don't like dealershipsand most people hey, I'm strange
(09:14):
.
I love to go to the dealership,but most people don't.
Don't be surprised if, in fact,if one, the dealer still allows
off-site delivery.
Number two one of the big waysthat they will check this is
they will require at least onein-person visit.
They want to see youface-to-face, nose-to-nose.
(09:36):
It's one way that they can putthe scammers in check.
There has to be at least one.
So even if you have nointentions of availing yourself
at the dealership, you want todo it at your home, far away
from the dealership.
Just remember this the dealeris going to be, if they've got
the training right, adamantabout you showing up at least
(10:00):
once, particularly if they don'tknow you, and anymore, even if
they do.
That is how good the scammersare getting.
This is how good the technologyis getting.
Despite what you may have heardit's actually safer to ride
public transportation than todrive.
You are listening to the TechMobility Show.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Are you tired of juggling multiple apps and
platforms for meetings, webinarsand staying connected?
Look no further thanAONMeetingscom, the all-in-one
browser-based platform that doesit all.
With AONMeetings, you caneffortlessly communicate with
clients, host virtual meetingsand webinars and stay in touch
with family and friends all inone place and for one price.
Here's the best part you canenjoy a 30-day free trial.
(10:47):
It's time to simplify your lifeand boost your productivity.
Aonmeetingscom, whereinnovation meets connection.
Get started today andrevolutionize the way you
communicate.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Social media is the main place to be these days, and
we are no exception.
I'm Ken Chester of the TechMobility Show.
If you enjoy my program, thenyou will also enjoy my weekly
Facebook videos, from my latestvehicle reviews to timely
commentary of a variety ofmobility and technology-related
topics.
These short features aredesigned to inform and delight
you.
Be sure to watch, like andfollow us on Facebook.
(11:19):
You can find us by typing theTech Mobility Show in the search
bar.
Be sure to subscribe to ourFacebook page.
Social media is the place to bethese days.
We're no exception.
I'm ken chester, the techmobility show.
If you enjoy my program, thenyou will also enjoy my weekly
instagram videos, from thelatest vehicle reviews to timely
(11:41):
commentary on a variety ofmobility and technology related
topics.
These short features aredesigned to inform and delight
you be sure to watch, like andfollow us on Instagram.
You can find us by typing theTech Mobility Show in the search
bar.
For those of you that listen topodcasts, we have just the one
for you.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester.
(12:01):
Tech Mobility Topics is apodcast where I upload
topic-specific videos each week,shorter than a full show.
These bite-sized programs arejust the thing, particularly if
you're interested in aparticular topic covered on the
weekly radio show, from ApplePodcasts to iHeartRadio and many
podcast platforms in between.
We got you covered.
Just enter Tech Mobility Topicsin the search bar, wherever you
(12:23):
listen to podcasts.
Speaker 5 (12:30):
Looking for high performance Any way you want.
Escort, gt, pro Mustang,thunderbird, taurus, sem, sho
All priced to move Any way yougo.
The hottest performance carsaround, like Ford Mustang, can
only be found at your local Forddealer Any time, any way, any
how, and right now you can leasea 95 Ford Thunderbird for only
(12:50):
$247 a month, and it's loadedwith extras Just $247 a month.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Ford was trying to turn every passenger car that
they had into a sports car.
Obviously Mustang, yes, thatmakes sense.
T-bird well, considering theframe it was on at the time,
okay, I'll, I'll even let yourun with that.
It's a big platform, okay.
But honestly, escort, the FordEscort, no.
(13:24):
Ford built the Escort in 1981.
It was designed to be what theycall their world car.
It was supposed to be theirworld economy car that they
could build for every marketacross the world.
Didn't work out that way.
They ended up, actuallyglobally, with two different
Escorts, one for the UnitedStates and one for the rest of
the world.
But to take that littleplatform and think that somebody
(13:46):
is actually going to pay moneyfor a performance version of it
Not as far-fetched as you think,because they were doing that to
dodge, omni's and PlymouthHorizons, which, literally, when
you say the word econobox,these things were econoboxes and
that was the big deal.
You know, everybody wanted alittle taste of performance.
(14:07):
So the automakers dressed themup and tweaked them a little bit
and got a lot more money forhim.
So it's something theautomakers have always done and
continue to do, but that wasfrom 1995.
I want to leave you with thethought of a Ford Escort GT.
Just put that in your mind fora minute, because it just
(14:29):
doesn't work out, trust me.
It just doesn't Now for thissegment.
It comes by way of an articlein Scientific American magazine.
The title of the article isthese Charts Explain why Public
Transit is Safer Than Driving,and the opening statement is,
(14:50):
quote the rates of fatal crashesand crime are both lower on
public transportation than onroadways.
Even if you were willing to gowith the first one, you're going
to argue with me and say maybethat second one's a reach, but
this is Scientific American.
Argue with me and say maybethat second one's a reach, but
(15:13):
this is Scientific American.
We investigate the claim.
This is topic A.
Let's keep things inperspective for a moment.
In public transportation,whether it be a trolley, a bus,
a subway, it's going accordingto an established route, day in,
(15:34):
day out, on a schedule.
How it does, what it does andwhen it does, it doesn't vary
much.
When you get into your vehicleand you get into traffic with
other people in their vehicles,you may attest for your driving
professionalism and proudness,but you can't speak for
(15:56):
everybody else around you.
You got to take that on faith.
You got to take number one,that they're paying attention.
Number two, that they know howto drive.
And number three, there's noteither a medical condition or a
mental condition that may color,shade or impact their responses
to things that happen on theopen road which could escalate
(16:18):
into some sort of violence, ieroad rage Kind of hard to get
road rage in publictransportation.
I mean relative to where itwould impact you.
When I was going to college inBoston I didn't own a car for my
whole college career.
(16:39):
Didn't need to.
If I had to travel anywherewithin 40 miles of Boston and
their network is considerablylarger now than it was then all
you needed was the right levelof pass and you could ride just
about anything, go just aboutanywhere, and the schedule was
realistic enough to where youcould get there and back.
(17:00):
And I got to tell you for allthe miles that I rode and this
is back in the 70s for all themileage I rode on the
Massachusetts Bay TransportationAuthority as a country boy,
including when I was workinglate and falling asleep on the
train.
I mean how cold I was, neverbeat up, I was never robbed.
(17:23):
I never had either one of thoseproblems.
And this is late 1970s inBoston, in the city, just so
we're clear.
So I can attest to some of this.
Now, according to the article,there's a common perception in
the US that taking publictransit is dangerous and you
(17:44):
hear about the exceptions.
But what the article says iswhat you hear about in the media
is the exception, not the rule.
And if you look at thethousands, if not millions, of
people I mean just take Boston,washington, new York and Chicago
just those four cities thethousands of people in the tens
(18:05):
of thousands, in the millionsover a course of a year that
take it to work, home, familyaffairs, going to visit folk
every single day, there's a lotless of crime, accidents and
problems.
In reality, a closer look showsthe safety risks of taking
(18:28):
public transportation arerelatively low.
According to the data, drivinga car in the United States is
far more dangerous than takingpublic transit in terms of crash
risk and crime.
Let me give you a numbers, andthey've equalized these numbers,
so it's more apples and applesbetween cumulative mileage and
(18:50):
public transportation andcumulus mileage driven Motor
vehicles and rural areas.
They're looking at 2022, bothvehicle occupant and
non-occupant 16.8 fatalities perbillion passenger miles.
Motor vehicles in urban areassame year, 11.5 fatalities per
(19:16):
billion passenger miles.
Rail transit these numbers area little older for rail traffic
5.9 fatalities per billionpassenger miles and it comes
with a note which I thought wasa little odd, so I'll read you
(19:36):
the note.
The majority of non-occupantrail fatalities represent people
who died by suicide, people whomaybe willingly walked off a
platform, sat on the traintracks.
Yeah, bus transit.
This number is from 2021, fouryears ago 2.8 fatalities per
(20:01):
billion passenger miles.
One-eighth of car fatalities,one-eighth by bus, one-third by
rail.
And again, this is not somefluff, liberal magazine, this is
(20:21):
Scientific American.
I'm reading this straight outof their.
Research puts public transitdeath or injury rate at about
one-tenth that of car trouble,car travel one-tenth, and the
neighborhoods oriented morearound public transit have about
one-fifth overall trafficdeaths per capita of car
(20:45):
oriented neighborhoods.
One important factor is thatcommunities with better public
transit often tend to be morecompact and walkable or cyclable
, which makes them safer.
Also, if you're on publictransportation, you don't have a
problem with texting whiledriving, driving while drunk,
(21:07):
all that stuff.
You're on public transportation.
Someone else is doing thedriving for you.
Food for thought the F&IDepartment of the local new car
dealer is offering additionalproducts to part you from your
money.
We discuss.
This is the Tech Mobility Show.
Do you listen to podcasts?
(21:29):
Seems that most people do.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host ofthe Tech Mobility Show.
If you've missed any of ourweekly episodes on the radio,
our podcast is a great way tolisten.
You can find the Tech MobilityPodcast just about anywhere you
can enjoy podcasts.
Be sure to follow us from ApplePodcasts, iheart Radio and many
platforms in between.
We are there.
(21:49):
Just enter the Tech MobilityPodcast in the search bar.
Wherever you listen to podcasts,social media, it's the place to
be.
We're no exception.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host ofthe TechMobility show.
Several times a week, I post toTikTok several of the topics
that I cover on my weekly radioshow.
(22:10):
It's another way to keep up onmobility, technology, news and
information.
I've built quite a library ofshort videos for your viewing
pleasure, so be sure to watch,like and subscribe.
That's the Tech Mobility Showon TikTok.
Check it out.
(22:30):
When it comes to purchasing avehicle at your local car
dealership, usually the onlyinteraction with the
dealership's F&I department andthat stands for, in case you
didn't know it, finance andinsurance is usually once the
deal's been made and financingis being discussed, after you've
met the manager and theyshepherd you into a room and the
person usually fills out thepaperwork and let you know sign
(22:52):
here, sign there.
People handling that level ofthe paperwork are usually the
finance and insurance folks.
They're also the folks that, ifyou finance through the
dealership, those are the peopleyou'd be working with.
Fun fact, 85% of all car loansare actually written at the
dealership.
A lot of people do that.
(23:14):
However, there are new productsavailable that they want to
discuss with you at vehiclepurchase.
They're driving a new profitstream.
They want to push it.
We review some of thoseofferings.
This is topic B.
Let me start with the two usualthings.
(23:35):
There are three things normally, and that's still their big
push.
Number one they want to go tothe bank for you and see if they
can get you a better rate,lower down payment, better terms
and, as I've always told folks,you shop the money just like
you shop the vehicle, so thatwhen you get to the dealership
(23:57):
you already got an approval inyour pocket.
However, if the dealership,either through their
relationships with the bank ortheir captive finance company
from the automobile manufacturer, can offer you a better deal,
at least you'll know it and beable to take it.
But if they don't, if you'vegot a better deal from your bank
or credit union, you can dothat.
(24:17):
The difference is that theloans they write at the
dealership they make money on,there's an additional pocket of
money for originating that loan,as opposed to you bringing a
loan in or paying with cash.
That's money not on the table.
The second way they make moneynormally is called the service
(24:37):
contract.
They want to sell you some sortof maintenance contract or free
.
You know, oil changes for lifeor something like that.
Here's my beef with that.
In most cases, it is almosttotal profit for the dealership
and, if you hadn't noticed, ifyou haven't bought a car lately
when I talk about these,suddenly those numbers are
(24:59):
extremely negotiable.
Yeah, anytime that happens, youshould be warned.
My take is very simple try tobuy the highest quality,
cost-effective price vehiclethat you can afford.
Do the research, check consumerreports, go out to the Google,
(25:23):
go out and find out what kind ofproblems, if any, that
particular make and model andyear may have that you need to
be aware of and you try to avoidthis.
Stuff is problematic.
Most vehicles today and I domean most, regardless of who
made them if you take care ofthem from the day you buy it.
If you buy a 2025, anythingtoday, there is no reason why
(25:48):
you can't still be driving it2040.
And I'm talking 250, 275, maybe300,000 miles on it and still
driving it and done, been paidoff for years.
Vehicles are exceptionally wellmade today.
Don't let anybody tell youdifferent.
Don't get scared by theseaftermarket service contract ads
that you see on TV.
(26:10):
It's a scam.
They want your money and,honestly, if the vehicle is that
defective, it may qualify for abuyback under a lemon law If
you're blowing an engine ortransmission, or there may be a
technical service bulletin,unless you are just hard on
vehicles.
Now here's the last one.
(26:30):
It's called gap insurance,guaranteed asset protection, now
gap insurance.
In case you don't know how thatworks, gap insurance is usually
for the first two to threeyears of your car payments.
You owe more than the vehicle'sworth On average, and we're
(26:50):
talking a five-year loan onaverage, it takes three years
for you to cross the line towhere what you owe is less than
what the vehicle's worth.
For the first couple of years,you're going to be what they
call technically upside down bybuying gap insurance.
What happens is if, a year anda half from driving it off the
lot, you're in an accident,vehicles total, your insurance
(27:14):
company pays actual cash value.
In other words, you had 25,30,000 miles on it and the
condition of the vehicle.
That's what they pay you, butyou can't replace it.
There's still a gap betweenwhat they paid you and what you
owe, and it could be $3,000,$5,000, $10,000 difference.
Well, guess what You're liablefor that, even though your
(27:37):
vehicle's been totaled and eventhough the insurance company
paid you.
If there's a gap between whatyou owe and what it's worth,
that's on you.
Here's something you didn'trealize.
The dealerships will gladlysell you gap insurance and I
love the principle of gapinsurance but here's something
they won't tell you.
(27:57):
I'm going to.
You can probably get it forless money Wait for it from your
insurance agent who is insuringyour vehicle.
If you're considering gapinsurance and if you're buying a
new car today, you should beget the price from the dealer,
get the price from yourinsurance agent.
Find out who's got the betterdeal.
Like I said, shop everything.
(28:18):
These are the typical threeitems that f and I typically
goes for.
But in addition to all of that,they will make a pitch for
prepaid maintenance.
Key, key, pair of replacementhere's one that's really popular
Tire and wheel protection andthis is over and above the
warranty that the tiremanufacturer gives.
(28:41):
And this kind of depends whereyou live.
If you live in a deep countryand you are way, way off road
and tires get beat up and rimsget tore up, that might be money
worth spending.
Get beat up and rims get toreup.
That might be money worthspending If you drive 12,000
miles a year on relativelydecent roads, then probably not.
(29:02):
But you have, that is onethey'll gladly sell you.
But you have to look at whetheror not it makes sense for you.
Really makes sense.
They'll scare you but you needto determine.
You know, if I'm driving onnormal roads, highways and stuff
, you know, and the potholesain't too bad, not so bad but if
I'm in Chicago or Boston Imight do this because the roads
(29:24):
are horrible and I bent a rim.
In Chicago I came around acorner, hit a pothole, bent the
rim.
By the grace of God it stillheld air, but bent the rim.
The rim was no good.
When I got it to where it wasgoing and they took a look at it
, they said, ken, you bent therim.
What you bent the rim?
What Blew my mind.
(29:45):
I haven't done that in years.
Security, all kinds of security,extra systems, extra protection
, cybersecurity stuff.
Again, check with yourinsurance agent.
Here's a thing that they maytry to get around this and
they'll use colorful names.
You know the Patriot package,the Freedom package, the, you
(30:08):
know bumper-to-bumper protectionpackage.
They like bundling which wouldcontain several of these
different products all in abundle.
But let's be real here.
What you're talking about per.
These contracts are thousandsof dollars.
Now the way they'll try to easethe pain for you oh, we can
roll that into your car loan andup your payment.
(30:29):
You don't feel the pain as muchand they walk away with big
time profit because these arenew profit streams for them.
I'm not saying the products arenot worth considering.
I'm saying get all the factsand maybe shop them too.
Or, if you feel the dealer'sgot the best deal, guess what?
All of those, all of them Ijust mentioned, are negotiable,
(30:51):
all of them.
So if you want to do it at thedealership, don't be afraid to
negotiate Just because they tellyou it's X.
You might press them a littlebit.
You might find you could savetwo, three, $400, $1,000 on the
package at the dealership.
If it's something you feel youwant and it has certain
attributes, you feel it worthyour time.
(31:13):
So how do you like your coffee?
Gen Z is flipping the script onhow coffee is consumed.
We are the Tech Mobility Show.
To learn more about the TechMobility Show, start by visiting
our website.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host ofthe Tech Mobility Show.
(31:34):
The website is a treasure troveof information about me and the
show, as well as where to findit on the radio across the
country.
Keep up with the happenings atthe Tech Mobility Show by
visiting techmobilityshow.
That's techmobilityshow.
You can also drop us a line attalk at techmobilityshow.
You can also drop us a line attalk at techmobilityshow during
(32:09):
my weekly radio program.
I've designed these videos tobe informative and entertaining.
It's another way to keep up oncurrent mobility and technology
news and information.
Be sure to watch, like andsubscribe to my channel.
That's the Tech Mobility Showon YouTube.
Check it out.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
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Social media is the place to bethese days, and we're no
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I'm Ken Chester of the TechMobility Show.
If you enjoy my program, thenyou will also enjoy my weekly
Instagram videos, from thelatest vehicle reviews to timely
commentary on a variety ofmobility and technology-related
topics.
These short features aredesigned to inform and delight
(33:17):
you Be sure to watch, like andfollow us on Instagram.
You can find us by typing theTech Mobility Show in the search
bar.
Coffee, regular, decaf, black orwith cream and or sugar, hot,
(33:38):
iced my word, frou-frou or not.
First, full disclosure my nameis Ken.
I'm a coffee snob, but I'm anold school coffee snob.
While my daughters and my wifelike some of the frou-frou stuff
, my wife hasn't wrapped hermind around iced coffee.
My daughters, however, have.
(33:59):
I can't.
I mean, iced coffee for me isright up there with decaf.
Like why, just why?
No, no, no.
And as far as creamer, I lovemy creamer, but keep the
hazelnut, keep the Frenchvanilla, keep all that other
weird stuff you got.
I just want half and half, halfand half.
(34:19):
I do like a lot of sugar.
My kids will say oh my God, yes, I do so, as you can tell with
me and we won't even talk aboutthe different coffees I have at
home everybody's got apreference and I just spoke with
mine.
And speaking of preference, itseems that Gen Z is on a totally
different page.
(34:40):
These kids just weren't raisedright as a group.
They like it cold, sweet andloaded with creamer.
I got a question Is nothingsacred?
I got a question.
Is nothing sacred?
Coffee, really.
This is Topic C.
I thought, with everything goingon, we could kind of use a
(35:00):
topic as kind of a mind cleaner,kind of get away from some of
the typical tech mobility stuffwe talk about.
I wanted to do something fun.
I love my coffee and I got intothat habit in college and yeah,
I'm one of those.
I need my cup in the morning.
I don't drink a lot of coffee.
I drink maybe one cup a day,two at the most.
(35:24):
I've got friends of mine thatif they could get it inveniously
, if somebody could start acoffee drip directly in the vein
, they're all in.
And I've got some of my friendsthey drink it black, they drink
a lot of it.
I'm not that way.
My stomach would rebel if Itried to drink it black and
tried to drink too much, but Ido love the taste of coffee.
(35:45):
Still do not understand decaf,I'm sorry, and half-calf.
Why, why, please, why, why,please, why, makes no sense.
This article is, I believe, fromFast Money, and let me get to.
(36:06):
Yes, it is Fast Company, I'msorry.
And it starts with if you wantto instantly reveal your age,
just order a hot black coffee.
It talks about how Gen Z isflipping the script.
For a lot of young drinkers,that very first cup of coffee
was just as likely to be iced asit was hot.
(36:28):
And here's the thing 85% of GenZ coffee fans are adding
creamer, compared to just 70% ofcoffee drinkers overall.
That shift in taste is makingwaves in the industry.
Nestle, for example, has beenrolling out new products just to
keep up, from cold-dissolvinginstant coffee to liquid
(36:49):
espresso concentrates and allkinds of flavored toppings.
Let me stop you.
If it ain't half and half, I'mnot interested.
I'm not down with all the fruit.
In fact, I get frustrated.
Go to a restaurant and they gotall these single servings.
All I want is half and half.
I don't want hazelnut, I don'twant French vanilla.
Can I get some half and half,please?
And in a perfect world.
(37:14):
If you had straight cream, I'deven be there.
Nestle spent $675 million tobuild and open a new plant just
to make creamers and right nowthey're grappling with grocery
stores because grocery storesoften have creamer in one place
and coffee in another place.
Now, full disclosure.
(37:36):
If you are buying a liquidcreamer, chances are, if it's
dairy based, it's in the dairydepartment and it is chilled.
Meanwhile your coffees aregoing to be in your breakfast
aisle.
So I don't know how Nestle isgoing to make that conversion.
Now, if they want to dry, likenow, your dry creamers or your
(37:58):
non-dairy creamers are therenext to the coffees.
But where Nestle is going, theywould have to develop a
shelf-stable non-refrigeratedcreamer if they're going to do
liquid.
But what they're talking about,gen Z is even going back.
Instant coffee is enjoying arenaissance and instant coffee
(38:20):
for those of you that may notknow what it is is actually
freeze-dried coffee, which was abig deal, and one of the big
names back in the day wasTaster's Choice.
They talked about.
It was Taster's Choice,freeze-dried coffee.
But your average coffee snobtoday would turn their nose up
at freeze-dried coffee.
Nestle's embracing it becausethey can add flavors to it.
(38:40):
They can manipulate it, like wetalked earlier cold-dissolving
instant coffee, liquid espressoconcentrates.
I've had espresso in Italy.
I was up for three days.
No, I'm good, I'm good, do notneed that.
No, I don't do lattes, that'smy wife, I don't do that.
I don't do all this crazy stuffwith a pump of this and dash
(39:03):
almond milk and two pumps ofthat and, yeah, I will take a
nice, smooth cup of coffee, dashof creamer, lot of sugar.
I'm good, it's all I need.
But they're not building thesefactories for me.
(39:25):
They're saying Gen Z's takingthe whole industry into a
different direction.
And the article goes on to saywe've done a lot of things in
cold coffee the last two yearsto really meet this need of Gen
Z and young millennials.
And this is Daniel Jehung,president of Nestle's USA
Beverage Division.
This is a big trend that we'repushing into and, whether you
(39:48):
know it or not, right now,according to the industry, the
coffee world is booming and theopportunity to innovate while
still providing value for abroad spectrum of consumers
makes it a fun time.
They say to me in the industryNow, I do have my own coffee
grinder and, yes, I do use Curegcups and in fact I have
(40:11):
reusable ones with disposablefilters.
That's how much of a coffee snobI am, and I have three
different kinds of regularcoffee sitting on my shelf in my
kitchen that I will drink fromregularly, and my favorite one
is actually minority roastedhere in Des Moines, called Black
(40:31):
and Bold.
That is my number one go-towhen I want a smooth cup of
coffee, and it's amazing.
If you haven't had it, you needto try that.
And no, they're not paying me,so that's just an unsolicited
endorsement.
One of the reasons it made sensefor Nestle to unite coffee and
creamer under one team isbecause there's such a natural
(40:51):
connection between theseproducts.
Now, or, as the president ofNestle USA likes to quip, what's
more Americana than peanutbutter and jelly or milk and
cereal?
It's actually coffee andcreamer and, according to the
article, data from an industrycompany backs this up.
Coffee and creamer arepurchased together 60% of the
(41:15):
time, versus 40% of the time formilk and cereal and 20% of the
time for peanut butter and jelly.
Be still my heart.
Peanut butter and jelly onlygets bought together 20% of the
time.
Where have we gone wrong?
While it's easy to offer coffeeand creamer bundles to online
shoppers in bricks and mortarand we just talked about this.
Grocery stores.
(41:35):
Coffee and creamer offeringsare often found in far-flung
aisles.
This is the point of frictionbetween Nestle's heard about
from consumers.
Okay, nestle, what you need isto do something else.
We've come to the end of ourvisit.
Be sure to join me again nexttime, right here.
This has been the Tech MobilityShow.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
The Tech Mobility time right here at this had been
the tech mobility show.
The tech mobility show is acopywritten production of tech
mobility productionsincorporated.
Any rebroadcast, retransmissionor any other use is prohibited
without the written consent oftech mobility productions
incorporated.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
For those of you that listen to podcasts, we have
just the one for you.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester.
Tech Mobility Topics is apodcast where I upload
topic-specific videos each week,shorter than a full show.
These bite-sized programs arejust the thing, particularly if
you're interested in aparticular topic covered on the
weekly radio show.
From Apple Podcasts toiHeartRadio and many podcast
(42:39):
platforms in between, we got youcovered.
Just enter Tech Mobility Topicsin the search bar.
Wherever you listen to podcasts, social media, it's the place
to be.
We're no exception.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host ofthe Tech Mobility Show.
Several times a week, I post toTikTok several of the topics
that I cover on my weekly radioshow.
(43:00):
It's another way to keep up onmobility, technology news and
information.
I've built quite a library ofshort videos for your viewing
pleasure, so be sure to watch,like and subscribe.
That's the Tech Mobility Showon TikTok.
Check it out.
Watch, like and subscribe.
That's the Tech Mobility Showon TikTok.
Check it out.
To learn more about the TechMobility Show, start by visiting
our website.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host ofthe Tech Mobility Show.
(43:23):
The website is a treasure troveof information about me and the
show, as well as where to findit on the radio across the
country.
Keep up with the happenings ofthe Tech Mobility Show by
visiting techmobilityshow.
(43:44):
That's techmobilityshow.
You can also drop us a line attalk at techmobilityshow.
Do you listen to podcasts?
Seems that most people do.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host ofthe Tech Mobility Show.
If you've missed any of ourweekly episodes on the radio,
our podcast is a great way tolisten.
You can find the Tech MobilityPodcast just about anywhere you
can enjoy podcasts.
Be sure to follow us from ApplePodcasts, iheart Radio and many
(44:06):
platforms in between.
We are there.
Just enter the Tech MobilityPodcast in the search bar
wherever you listen to podcasts.
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