Analysts, economists, and customers have been waiting for the moment when cars suddenly get more expensive in the face of tariffs. That hasn’t really happened yet, for various reasons, but it’s probably coming. Don’t worry! In the interim, automakers have found a new and exciting way to pass the increased costs onto you, the consumer.
The Morning Dump is going to be about tariffs, and what is and is not actually happening. Right now, the prices for cars in 2026 are probably going up, but the average MSRP has stayed relatively stable for the past few months. Automakers are starting to crack, and Volkswagen is the biggest so far.
That doesn’t mean automakers aren’t trying to recoup money where they can. There’s a new, not-so-obvious way that the buck is being passed to you (or, rather, from you to automakers). I’ll get into that, and then welcome our new NHTSA overlord.
Where Are The Tariff Price Increases?
I mentioned earlier this week that tariff price increases are likely coming, but haven’t fully hit yet. Tariffs are definitely real, yet automakers seem willing to swallow billions of dollars in increased costs in a way they haven’t in the past.
And it’s not just foreign-made cars that are being impacted. Even the most red-blooded, made-in-America truck is subject to tariffs on parts and materials (especially copper, steel, and aluminum). What’s so different now?
Some of this is related to the simple fact that automakers, like any retailer, are sensitive to the appearance of dramatically raising prices. Even during the pandemic, the average car price didn’t increase all that much, but the average transaction price did. Automakers simply stopped discounting and pulled back from advertising, while keeping MSRPs mostly stable.
As S&P Global Mobility points out, these levers still exist, and will start to be pulled once everyone else does it:
Pricing decisions are not made in a competitive vacuum. Any pricing set by an automaker, along with the levers which they use to support the price via incentives, advertising and inventory management, can impact the competitive landscape.
Competitive pressures can also impact the feasibility of passing the cost through. These aren’t consistent costs from one brand or model to another; if an automaker applies too large of a price increase, then price-sensitive consumers will simply not purchase the vehicle.
Still, a sale which has less margin than planned, or possibly at some level of loss, may be better than no sale.
There are still a lot of pre-tariff cars on the market, but even those numbers are starting to dwindle (my guess is about 25% of total dealer inventory are pre-tariff cars based on June’s inventory numbers). Something has to give, but that doesn’t really answer the question of why automakers are holding back.
Excluding specific cases where an automaker wants to make up market share (specifically Ford, which thinks tariffs will cost more than $1 billion this year, but keeps discounting to move cars), most automakers seem hesitant to raise prices in any obvious way. I think there are two specific factors that go beyond just not wanting to raise prices, and your weighting of these two factors probably relates to your perception of the current political moment.
The first is the economy. Automakers don’t want to raise prices too high if they think people feel bad about spending money and are worried about the future. Consumer sentiment, as measured by the University of Michigan, shows that Americans are starting to feel worse and worse about the economy. It is, sadly, political now to even suggest that the economy isn’t this perfectly-tuned, high-performance machine, but as Cox Automotive points out:
August brought a fresh wave of economic signals that suggest inflation is accelerating, driven in part by tariff-related pressures. New and used vehicle prices edged higher, while wholesale values held steady. Auto credit access tightened in August, even as approval rates improved. Loan performance was mixed last month with delinquencies increasing but defaults declining.
September has seen a slight setback in consumer sentiment so far, just as was seen in August. Both the University of Michigan and Morning Consult indices point to declining confidence, especially in current conditions. Inflation expectations remain elevated.
The other factor is harder to measure. There is likely some desire on the part of automakers not to be the first and most obvious manufacturer to raise prices, because doing so would make the President mad and, as we’ve learned recently, the President is willing to use his levers of power to avoid being critiqued or challenged.
It’s also worth remembering that earlier this year, the President, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, warned automakers not to raise prices in a call, and that those automakers were “rattled and worried they would face punishment if they increased prices.” Again, the politics you bring to this will probably guide how much credence you give to that threat, or how bad you think the threat of this is (or how reasonable you think the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942 was).
My gut tells me that automakers are legitimately fearful of the President, based on the way they seem more hesitant to be critical of his policies, and that does play a role in this. Will this last forever? Probably not. At some point, shareholders are scarier than The White House, and I think this mostly means that no one wants to be the first one to be called out. Once someone gets away with it, they’ll all likely follow suit.
Volkswagen Is Moving Quicker To Raise Prices
Wow, there’s a lot of Volkswagen news lately. The automaker doesn’t sell quite as many cars in the United States as it used to, and its emphasis on foreign production is likely to result in that trend continuing. With the exception of Porsche/Lamborghini/Bentley, it’s not like the problem with Volkswagen and Audi was that the cars weren’t expensive enough.
Brian wrote earlier about how the Volkswagen Golf R got more expensive, which makes sense because it’s a niche product with a built-in cap on demand. If you want a Golf R, you can’t really buy anything else other than maybe a Corolla GR.
It’s more widespread than that, however, with even the basest base trim Jetta S seeing a $1,050 (or 4.3%) increase. That’s a lot considering that most of the models seeing price increases haven’t been notably improved for the next Model Year, but that’s just part of the boil-the-frog strategy, as Automotive News reports:
Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume, speaking during a media roundtable at the IAA Mobility show in Munich on Sept. 8, said VW Group is being strategic in adjusting U.S. prices in response to the tariffs.
“We have to do it carefully,” he said. “We can’t push all that we are losing onto our customers and in one segment.”
This sort of bursts the illusion that only certain cars would be impacted. It’s clearly much easier to spread the costs around until production can be better aligned with tariffs. MSRP is one way to do it, but it’s tricky. What’s an easier way?
The Destination Charge Is Essentially A Bogus Fee, And It’s How OEMs Are Passing Costs Along
For most of automotive history, when you bought a car, the destination fee was a logical construct built on the price associated with actually delivering the car to your dealer. If you lived near the factory, the cost would be lower. If you were further away, the cost would be higher.
That went out the window sometime in the ’80s, and automakers started determining an average and applying it to all the cars, no matter your proximity to the factory. This is weird. If you walk into an Apple Store and buy an iPad, you’re likely to pay the same price for it anywhere in America. And if you order it online, the cost of shipping will vary based on how far away from a distribution center you are.
It’s extra annoying because these are, for many automakers, a below-the-line charge. This is to say that the price of the car is listed, and then the destination is buried lower on the window sticker. Many automakers also advertise the MSRP without the destination charge (GM is an exception here, because it does advertise pricing with the MSRP included, which is great).
You’ll likely not be shocked to find out that, in fact, these mandatory prices are increasing. A lot. Sam Abuelsamid looked at what’s been happening for Telemetry, and it’s worse than I realized:
At the beginning of 2025, the destination charge on an F-Series, Expedition, or Lincoln Navigator was $1,995. At some point in the spring of 2025, that fee climbed to $2,195 and within the last two months, it jumped again to $2,595. That’s a 30% increase in the delivery charge since the beginning of the year. Not all of that cost increase is directly attributable to tariffs, as there have been other factors, such as driver shortages, wages going up, and general inflation.
Ford is not alone in this trend. Stellantis was the first to start increasing destination charges several years ago, including raising the charge for full-size trucks to $1,995 and, more recently, $2,195. As of writing this article, Stellantis still hasn’t lifted its fee to the same level as Ford and GM, but that will likely happen soon. GM has also increased its destination fee on its largest vehicles to $2,595, but since those are included in the advertised price, at least consumers know what to expect.
As Sam points out, there are definitely increased costs with shipping things, so some of this was likely inevitable. But 30% since the beginning of the year? That seems extreme to me.
While MSRPs might not skyrocket, expect the industry to continue to boil the frog by increasing fees and decreasing discounts.
NHTSA Has A New Boss
The United States Senate pushed through a bunch of President Trump’s appointees, including Jonathan Morrison, to the position of Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This is the first permanent leader the agency has had in three years.
Who is this guy? From Reuters:
Morrison, a former lawyer at Apple and chief counsel at the NHTSA during President Donald Trump’s first term, will oversee a series of safety probes at the NHTSA, including an investigation opened this week into about 174,000 Tesla Model Y cars from the 2021 model year on reports that electronic door handles can become inoperative and potentially trap children inside.
“NHTSA cannot sit back and wait for problems to arise with such developing technologies, but must demonstrate strong leadership,” Morrison said.
He was approved in a party-line vote.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
On the recommendation of Thomas, here’s “Boiled Frogs” by Alexisonfire. Definitely a calm way to roll into the weekend.
The Big Question
Do you have a favorite fall drive? A place to go when the leaves change, if the leaves do change where you live?
Top photo: DepositPhotos.com
My favorite fall drive is one I discovered when I was forced to supercommute from upstate NY to the greater Boston area for a semester: the 59-mile stretch from Bainbridge to Ithaca. It has plenty of elevation changes, the occasional off-camber turn, and enough suicidal deer to keep you on your toes. The speed limit through most of it is a pretty generous 55 with minimal police presence outside of populated areas, so I found it fun enough to offset the braindead 4 hours of highway time that my “commute” also included.
Ugh, that’s an awful lot of having your spine rattled by I-88 I’d imagine.
You can say that again… A few weeks back, I got to drive through NY again on a road trip, but on the Thruway this time, and it was downright civilized in comparison.
Gays Mills, Wisconsin. It’s about four hours away and we used to load up the Ramcharger and go there every Fall when I was a kid. The town itself is another neat little slice of Wisconsin, but the main event was the apple orchards. Yes, exciting I know, but to a kid that didn’t get to get out much it was a road-trip destination that involved eating cheese curds and I am easily entertained.
I still try to haul the family there in the Fall as the trees are gorgeous to look at, there’s a little bit of nostalgia in revisiting a childhood destination, and the various river-valley roads we encounter on the way invite much more spirited driving in one of our Jaguars than anything The Old Man ever attempted in his Ramcharger.
The only way it’s not coming is if the Supreme Court finds a spine and upholds the multiple lower court findings that Trump’s tariffs are illegal because a trade deficit is not, as it turns out, a national emergency. But I think we all know how likely that is.
For reference, the numbers I’ve seen say that up to now US companies have been eating 86% of the tariff costs* to avoid further spooking already spooked consumers. That’s not sustainable, so either the tariffs go away or our buying power does.
*Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GzsSoE7OiI
I live in the Adirondacks, so it’s basically top tier fall driving most everywhere around here. Route 73 through Keene to Lake Placid is incredible this time of year, though it can get a little busy at times.
My personal favorite choice though is NY313 from Cambridge, NY to Arlington, VT. It’s a valley drive along the Battenkill River, past covered bridges and other classic fall shit. It’s practically all maples and the assortment of colors in October is wild. This year probably won’t be a great year for color though, as it’s been extremely warm (high 70’s/low 80’s is freaking weird for us in mid-late Sept) and it’s rained in a significant way once in the past 6 weeks here. It’s dry as hell.
I am in the Virginia Highlands and it is about the same here. All drives are pretty great.
But it is so so dry. Our lawn’s crunchy.
I’m not complaining yet because normally the weather here is wet and pretty crappy. But it is getting a little concerning.
I don’t think that’s what NHTSA stands for…
For anyone in the Atlanta area, the drive up to Highlands, NC is a spectacular Fall drive. Great twisty mountain roads and several scenic view spots. There are at least 3 routes up the mountain and all offer great early-Autumn foliage (go early because the higher elevation results in earlier color change).
This year my area may be a mixed bag since we have had on/off drought all summer. But the weather should be quite nice with the lower humidity at least.
+1 on Highlands. Grew up in WNC and drove through Highlands/Cashiers from upstate SC last weekend to see friends and go autocrossing a few towns over.
I was charged $67.00 for the dealer advertising rear license plate frame. I know that is not from the MFGR, but still another brick in the wall.
HAHA, goddamn is that bold.
Talk about ballsy!
I would see that and leave immediately. No way would I do business with anyone trying that BS. Man, that should make every potential customer get up and leave. Shooting themselves in the foot, Jesus.
I’m a BIG fan of just getting up and leaving in negotiations. They have my info, they can call me.
My fav was my mom, she was in negotiations back & forth over a car (’09 Mazda 6, still on the lot mid-2010) for nearly 2 weeks.
The final call went like this:
“If I agree to comp these fees, will you come and sign TODAY?”
“Yes, I will.”
“Fine, but when you get here, don’t even ask me for rubber floor mats. I have NOTHING left in this deal.”
I’ve never enjoyed the sales experience and I’m not here to make friends.
Did this getting my STi. Gave the salesman my offer, he said I was being unreasonable. Told him that’s his opinion but if he’d like my info he could call me back after talking to the sales manager. Said he didn’t want it, there was no way he’d be calling me back.
I got up, stopped at the finance managers desk, told him my number and gave my info and walked out. Got a call back 2 hours later accepting.
When I was picking it up, saw the same sales guy and jiggled the keys while looking dead in the eyes.
Also, no. I will NOT be posing for a photo for your dealer’s social media. The fewer people know I was ever here, the better.
Same with the implication of a mandatory Google review.
You can always tell the dealers whose salespeople beg their customers to leave a 5-star google review. Sorry local CDJR dealer, I have trouble believing your 4.9 star rating on Google being legit, unless somehow you’re the most beloved car dealership of all time. Spoiler: They are not.
The local ice cream place that’s an institution around here has a lower score.
I had this happen when I bought a new car about a year ago. The salesman was strongly encouraging me to leave a review, but emphasized repeatedly that anything less than 5 stars is counted as a failure, so a 4 is as good as a 0. Basically, leave a review if you’re going to give me 5 stars, but if its less than that no review is better. He seemed kinda freaked out by the whole thing.
When the review thing is brought up to me, the salesperson suddenly shifts their tone like they’re secretly being held hostage, with the vibe that the walls are listening, and if anything other than absolute satisfaction is communicated, they’ll be flogged mercilessly.
I can absolutely empathize being in that position, but this is once again one of those situations where the dealer model only seems to create awkward (at best) interactions.
I have had the same thing happen. I left what amounted to a 4.9 review and the salesperson called me up a few days later saying no review would have been better and I cost him a month’s bonus.
A customer gets made to feel guilty and a salesperson who initially did a perfectly fine job loses their bonus.
A wonderful system where everyone wins!
I’d take it off and throw it in their trash can in front of them. Bending it first so they can’t get use it twice!
But, I’m petty.
Not petty, charging ME to advertise for THEM is obscene. One reason why I refuse to wear baltently branded clothing (Autopian tee’s excepted). A high school teacher once pointed out that a branded shirt was actually advertising and the lesson stuck with me.
I’ve always dreamed about inserting a clause in the sale agreement stating that if there is any dealer badging at all on the vehicle at delivery, then they owe me an advertising fee equal to the payment and term of the loan. I’ll promise to keep the badging in place and legible until they miss a payment.
I’ve ordered 2 vehicles new from stealerships. Both times I told them I did not want any dealer stickers or emblems on the vehicle. I told them I had no problem with them personally, I just did not want those on the vehicles.
Surprisingly, they were okay with it.
Damn. Those (and any other dealer advertisement stickers or badges) are my pet peeve. It’s your car, tear that shit off.
My sister-in-law’s van still has the dealer plate/surround on the front….. in a state that doesn’t require front plates. I would have been pissed they drilled the bumper for it if I was buying it new.
That wouldn’t be a particular Toyota dealer in Dallas, would it? They had $6000 worth (allegedly) of add-ons I neither wanted nor needed and claimed they couldn’t take them off.
Do you pronounce it Alexis On Fire or Alex Is On Fire? I’ve never known. Anyway I was a teenager and casually gigging musician when a lot of this stuff was big (screamo, post hardcore, etc) but I can’t really say that any of it was my scene. I was always more of a metalhead, and the NWOAHM/metalcore at the time were my main interest. Bands like Avenged Sevenfold, Killswitch Engage, Trivium, etc.
Obviously going to and playing a lot of DIY shows in DC I was also exposed to the DC style of hardcore, which is a little different from the more well known New York style and was a little less tight/more punk oriented. Anyway this was still a very fun time for rock and metal and there’s definitely an argument to be made that it was all downhill from here.
I also listened to some of the mall emo stuff in secret. It was cringe back then (or “gay” used in a derogatory way, which fortunately we don’t do as much of as a society anymore) to do so but scene girls were hot and dam it I wanted one. I got one too, she played in a local band and was way out of my league but I won her over with my guitar skills and persistence.
Anyway I grew to like some of those bands and am no longer ashamed to admit it. The Used and MCR are amazing and while they sort of fit under the punk/hardcore umbrella AFI is an S tier band and always has been. Anyway what are we on about again?
Alexis-On-Fire, said as one word, is the correct way.
I liked a LOT of weird stuff (and still do) cause it was the style of the time. It was “uncool” to like the more mainstream acts. I’ve however grown to embrace them, since after becoming an adult, I no longer cared about being “cool”.
You an After The Burial fan?
I have a 7 string baritone that I play Lost In The Static on often. It’s a good song to practice your chops on because those ascending interludes are a lot of legato notes. But suffice to say, yes, I do enjoy After The Burial.
hell yeah.
Man, your comments are always a breath of fresh air around here – hell of a taste in both cars and music.
Growing up in the aughts in, uh, deep Serbia by the Bulgarian border, I was already a weird outcast for liking metal so I didn’t feel as much pressure to only like the “good”/trve kvlt shit, it just kinda shook out that way. However…
but scene girls were hot and dam it I wanted one
…is exactly what made me give what my MySpace friends and the girls they followed on Tumblr listened to enough of a chance. Whether it’s Hollywood Undead, Escape the Fate, Fall Out Boy, or MCR, I’ve got at least a couple of songs by each that I listen to to this day.
A good chunk of my horizon-broadening also happened by way of Guitar Hero III before I ever picked up the actual instrument, and that’s my “AFI is an S-tier band” origin story right there. It started with Miss Murder and went from there.
P.S. My hot take is that Vengeance Falls / Silence in the Snow was peak Trivium; would love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks man! Interesting that we had so much overlap despite being on opposite sides of the world! I agree with regard to gatekeeping. I thought it was cool…when I was 15. Now I just listen to whatever I want without shame and it’s very freeing. I can’t get over the fact that even in this day and age grown ass men waste time arguing over what’s metal and what isn’t. Just peep the comments whenever Ghost (who are amazing and very much metal) is mentioned. It’s nuts.
A lot of those bands you’ve mentioned have songs I’ll come back to. Radke sure seems like a turd of a human being but his era of ETF had some bangers and very good guitar playing that no one ever seems to bring up for some reason. I always liked The Webs We Weave and Situations, which I was introduced to by…you guessed it, my high school scene sweetheart lol. Of course Black Parade is pretty timeless and I love Three Cheers as well. I can’t say I’d ever throw on an entire Fall Out Boy album but a lot of their early singles definitely aged surprisingly well. Hollywood Undead was the soundtrack to a lot of college partying for me (and let me tell you, we were some of the most elite partiers on campus lol) so they’ll always have some nostalgia value.
Your Trivium take is indeed a spicy one but I don’t think it’s out of line. My favorite Trivium record will always be Ascendancy and my second favorite might be Shogun…but what people don’t realize is there are great songs on every one of their albums. I feel like they always release the poppiest stuff as their singles, everyone gets mad, and they don’t bother to check out the whole record.
I actually did enjoy a lot of their 20 teens output specifically because of how much they streamlined their sound. Obviously early Trivium was very proggy and super showy as far as the musicianship went. They were super ambitious with their songwriting and performances and Matt Heafy has said that part of that is that they felt like they had something to prove, which makes sense for a young band.
The fact that they managed to strip so much of that away in the 20 teens and still sound like Trivium is no small feat. Going from writing super proggy stuff to writing more digestible music is actually really hard and very few bands pull it off. A perfect example of that is of course Metallica. Yeah I know, they’ve had some great songs after The Black Album, but come on. Their initial 4 album run is where 95% of the good stuff is.
Anyway always happy to chat music here, it’s one of my biggest passions other than…well, cars lol.
even in this day and age grown ass men waste time arguing over what’s metal and what isn’t
When one doesn’t have an identity outside of external validation and the sense of belonging to an in-group, this sort of thing tends to happen… Outside of music as well; needn’t even look past this comment section for it.
Anyway, 100% with you on early ETF; I’ll also throw My Apocalypse onto the list, despite arguably being the third-best song with that title. Third-best is debatable, of course: I am biased as the Arch Enemy / Grand Magus / At the Gates / Amon Amarth show at Hammerstein Ballroom back in 2019 remains the best show I’ve ever been at, and I consider Death Magnetic to be a bit of a return to form for Metallica (more on this later).
I’ve always been a bit torn on separating the art from the artist, but metal has always had enough very talented shitheads – from relatively tame ones like Tuomas Holopainen, to people like Varg and Euronymous – that I’ve just come to accept it.
Funny you’d mention Three Cheers – I am presently looking at a pennant with the song title that constitutes a part of what my better half calls her “trash wall”, a collection of random mementos like flyers, ticket stubs, inspirational quotes, etc. that she has put up on one of our living room walls to counter my extreme minimalism.
My college partying days were quite a bit different, though – most of the parties I went to, I was on duty as a security guard (best on-campus job ever, if I’m being honest; came with the perk of my supervisor – an exception to ACAB, as far as I’m concerned – walking into any unregistered party my friends did throw and walking out with an “Oh, Sparky, you’re here; good, just keep’em safe”). Fortunately, I had lovely dormmates who were okay with me getting the metal out of my system by using every watt of the Logitech Z623 system I was rocking at the time. You know I’ve grown up since, as I’ve toned it down to the Klipsch ProMedia… or a 15 W Monoprice tube amp whenever I want to pretend I’m half-decent at guitar.
My favorite thing about Trivium is precisely that they have managed to evolve while maintaining a sound signature that is still distinctly their own. I think what sold me on their mid-teens stuff is that the streamlining you describe fits my somewhat contradictory tastes perfectly: I love a Motorhead-esque wall of sound, quick-dirty-and-straight-to-the-point-ness of punk rock, but also the really technical stuff (so I listen to lot of symphonic, melodeath, neoclassical – Yngwie Malmsteen is a favorite – progressive, etc.). More recent Trivium seems to check the most of those seemingly mutually exclusive boxes for me.
As far as Metallica goes, I’m a fan and my second-favorite show I’ve been to was their 2011 Black Album anniversary tour, which saw the return of the Snake Pit. I think a lot of the shift in their style post-Black Album was forced by James absolutely obliterating his voice through improper technique, and with that in mind, I think they’ve adapted about as well as they could have… minus the complete and utter disaster that was St. Anger. (What the fuck was that?) That said, I fully agree that the early days were the best. Listening to Kill ’em All and Ride the Lightning, I often find myself wondering what direction their music would have taken if Cliff hadn’t passed.
Always happy to chat music and cars as well!
P.S. If you’re still based in DC – check out Ambar. It’s a little yassified, but as a Serbian dude, I can say with confidence it’s by far the best Balkan restaurant on the east coast. (It’s basically a pilgrimage spot for me, and I’m planning to go back next weekend, as I’ll be in the area for All Things Go.)
Ambar is one of my wife and my favorite date spots! We’ve been going there for years. Anyway your S/O seems rad, I love stuff like that. I think we’re on the same page with pretty much all of the music stuff. I actually do like Death Magnetic. I saw them on that touring cycle with The Sword and Machine Head. It was an amazing show overall but Metallica were obviously the stars and their set did not disappoint.
So DM is kind of a time and place album for me, which makes me like it even more. I think most of the songs are pretty great and I’d actually say All Nightmare Long is a top 15, maybe even top 10 Metallica song for me. Really my only gripes with that record are the bad production (which was very much intentional, but I still don’t like it) and some of Kirk’s solos. He wrote a few really good ones on that record (Cyanide comes to mind in particular) but that was when he really started to phone it in.
Curiously enough the best solo on that record is Suicide And Redemption, which is played by Papa Het, who I’ve always contended is the better guitarist in the band. But if I want thrash solos I’ll just listen to Megadeth. Poland and Friedman are two of the best to ever do it. I listen to Metallica more for the songs. I do agree re: Cliff. He brought a level of melody and musicality to their compositions that’s been absent ever since.
My spicy Metallica take is that I think you can combine Load and Re-Load into one very good album. The best songs on those records are great, but the low points are….well, only a small step up from St. Anger lol. But I’ll always love Metallica regardless.
I play as well! My gear collection is a bit of an embarrassment of riches for someone who doesn’t currently play anything but basement concerts to themselves….but hey, it’s good to have hobbies. I just had a custom Aristides built for my 35th birthday and it’s out of this world.
I don’t think I agree with Used and MCR fitting under the punk/hXc umbrella. It sat bad enough that I made this comment. Though I had to google ‘S tier’ so I guess I am a touch older. I started with AFI’s ‘Answer That and Stay Fashionable’ and loved it. I listened through Black Sails but had started to write them off as music for the mall goths. Two fun Davey Havok memories, though:
At my first Warped Tour (~1995 or 6) he was walking through the crowd all smiles. Some dude was about to take a pic and Davey held up his hand signaling for him to wait a second. He pulled his hair into a Devil Lock and made his face into a scowl. Once the camera was down he was all smiles again.A year or two later AFI was on tour opening for Sick of it All. AFI ripped, and none of the hardcore bros seemed to mind Davey’s glam/goth stylings. When SOIA came on he was out in the pit hXc dancing* with all the meatheads and throwing down in those same leather pants.* shoving in the pit is of course for cretins. The kids are dancing as illustrated in the Step Down video by Sick of it All.
Oh I meant they fit under the mall goth/mainstream emo umbrella. They’re not punk or hardcore and I understand that people are super defensive of those genres. Really the only band out of the bunch I listed that has some credibility on that front is in fact AFI. Sparky did mention Fall Out Boy though and those guys absolutely got their start in the hardcore scene.
The weird thing with AFI is that everyone seems to have their favorite era and most people don’t seem to like anything they’ve done outside of their favorite era. The folks who were into them when they were a hardcore punk band usually swear off anything after Black Sails or Art Of Drowning. I mean…there’s absolutely no one who’s harder to please than a punk fan, so that makes sense.
But the people that got into them during the Sing The Sorrow (amazing, no skips album) to Crash Love era don’t usually like the punk stuff OR their more recent straight up post punk/goth and more or less just want them to stay the mall goth/emo band forever…although I think lumping them in with the other bands star are being discussed is perhaps a disservice because I think they’re more than that.
But me, the enlightened AFI guru (said sarcastically)? I appreciate all of their eras and the fact that they’ve never just stuck to one sound. They could easily have kept releasing the same album in any of the subgenres they’ve experimented in but they keep trying new stuff and taking risks instead. As a musician I really respect that and I think they’re going to be remembered as an all time great band.
Davey and Jade also did some more synth/darkwave/Depeche Mode worship type stuff as Blaqk Audio. My sister, who has forgotten more about AFI than I will ever know, says it’s an integral part of their legacy. I haven’t given it a go in a long time so I can’t speak on it/I feel like “oh I’m doing a dark synthy side project” has become kind of cliched in heavy music.
Why did we wait until 2025 to investigate the 2021 model Y and their stupid electric door handles. They have been out for 5 years now. Better late than never I guess.
Why?
Probably because Trump and Musk are fighting .
Like everything else right now Trump is using the government to extract revenge on those he perceives are his enemies.
Oh, huh in a strange way I guess this is good.
I feel like the author is disappointed that the tariffs aren’t causing new vehicle prices to increase.
Yes but Matt is allowed to have his own feelings. Plus if they increased significantly he could get another news story out of it.
The problem is that we all know that tariffs are going to raise prices by a significant margin, and it’s starting to feel like this is going to happen.
Mr. Hardigree struggles to keep his political biases from showing on occasion. Which is fine- he’s allowed to have his opinions, as are we all. I just wish he’d be a little more self-reflective on it, like his line about how it’s political now to suggest the economy isn’t doing great. Which is true, but it was true last year too and he was pretending it wasn’t.
What was the political part of commenting negatively on the economy last year? Cause this year, we’re getting blatant statements that are directly opposed to the real numbers.
Maybe that’s why it’s suddenly being suggested to move away from quarterly earnings postings. Hard to report bad numbers if there aren’t any.
I don’t think Matt needs any of us to defend him, but I think he doesn’t really try to hide this for the most part and a large part of what he does (rather transparently) is ask the questions about what is going on.
The point of all this is we know that manufacturers are feeling the effects of tariffs. We also know that these have not resulted in significant price increases yet.
We also know that people, officials have come out showing data of negative economic results over the last few months and quarters that have resulted in the president trying to get people fired, actually firing people (with mixed results) and throwing tantrum-level tirades at people that report negative findings.
Could the motivation of the manufacturers be related to this fact? I think that is an excellent question to ask.
If there’s anything to criticize, it’s that perhaps the piece today doesn’t explore other causes enough, such as manufacturers already took advantage of inflation to raise prices so there’s more room in the margins to absorb some of this and really inflation and competitive pressure possibly won’t get you anywhere since buyers are more scarce.
But this daily feature is, transparently, Matt’s analysis of the news with his views, experience and yeah, maybe some spin on it. I can’t agree that he is somehow hiding where he’s coming from or even trying to all that hard other than attempting to be impartial and cover multiple angles of the stories.
Calling it: Head scratching, condescendent comment / advice.
Matt is grown ass man with well informed opinions and disagreeing with his facts or conclusions is how critique should be be structured. That is why we read his stuff.
“It is a well known fact that reality has liberal bias.”― Stephen Colbert
The economy was better in almost every measurable way last year. Hell, the WORLD was in better shape a year ago.
As a person who would like to retire one day and buy a bunch of stupid stuff, I’d love to see all of this magically work and cause:
It would be great if that happened. I want America to kick ass and build the best cars in the world, and I want them to be affordable to the average person. I am not the one saying that tariffs will cost companies billions of dollars, it’s the companies saying that. We are in a capitalist system with publicly listed companies that have a responsibility to shareholders. You cannot continue to lose billions of dollars without doing something. The delay is newsworthy because automakers were very quick to cut discounts during the pandemic.
No return of the Merkur. We ain’t gonna have no Kraut-built machine in our country BROTHERR. Gobbless.
Right on, borther!1!!
You do realize the only thing in the cupboard to put a Merkur name on is the Puma?
Let me have my dreams! Also… a fancier Mustang?
Whoops, I forgot about the new electric Capri. There’s that.
Oh dear, that’s a sad fact.
There, fixed that for you.
I second your opinion, good sir!
Vermont is my favorite fall drive, last fall I did a loop that was primarily dirt roads, I barely saw another vehicle.
Western PA here, just drive on up into the Laurel Ridge. Visit towns and cities like Ligonier, Altoona, Johnstown, Farmington. All have plenty of fall festivals, winerys, brewery, etc… to visit. The drive up to Fallingwater in autumn is sublime by any route.
I am amused and annoyed by how dealers use the destination fees. I recently purchased a cheap car from the cash-only lot from the biggest dealer in my area. I wandered around and looked at some of the new vehicles they had on the lot and noticed that the destination fee was higher on a special trims than it was on the basic trims of the same model lines, all if which had stickers on them proudly annoucing they were all made in the same factory.
The dealer then tried to hit me with a destination fee on a used car, which they crossed out when I pointed it out the car was a local trade-in from a different manufacturer that they have never transported anywhere since they took possession of it.
When do we see ‘service fees’ for selling us new cars. Ooooh, the famous ‘convenience fee’ too.
Don’t forget to tip your salesman!
Lol, lmao even. Matt, you were blowing this smoke during the last admin, so acting off-put when the shoe is on the other foot is a little immature. News flash: the economy was shit for the average Jane and Joes in 2020-2024 (if you disagree go look at the FRED data for household incomes and buying power, a nice, flat, perhaps even slightly negative line after decades of rise), and surprise surprise it’s still shit now in 2025.
What I’d like to see out of you is maybe some more detailed reporting on what automakers are doing to reduce the impact of tarrifs, more domestic sourcing, etc. The headline snippets grabbed from various outlets are not really useful or all that accurate.
I think the economy has been shit for the average person for at least two decades now. The reality is that the economy is not designed to work for the average person.
I would agree with that sentiment. I would also agree with the sentiment that the tarrifs are at least an attempt to break out of the mold, but whether or not they will work remains to be seen.
(Yes, I am aware many economists are screeching they will absolutely be the deaths of us all. But the same economists also said globalization will lift all boats and not say, completely undermine the blue collar working class in this country, so I don’t give them much deference on this call).
Will not disagree the economy during the last admin was very polarized. I saw a lot of capital investment and construction from the big companies, as mom and pops struggled to survive. Some sectors were booming, others barely getting by. Agree the middle class and below have been left high and dry for a long time, as the rich get richer. The stock market is NOT the full economy, but gets too much focus (as we all are invested in it now with 401K and such).
That said, I think current policy is going to hurt the majority of us.
I’m with you there, but honestly things haven’t been going good for the average guy for a long time at least two decades since I’ve been paying attention. The least 5 years have just made it worse and more apparent.
I look at the wages of my former job and the pay has only gone up 10% since 2019, there is no way that is keeping up with inflation. Something has to change.
I don’t get the impression that anything Matt is going to report on is going to make you happy.
I don’t think that anyone has argued that the economy had been good for normal people for… well ages really. The difference here I would assume, is that two years ago if one was to say that the economy was faltering, that opinion would be legitimate given some sort of evidence explaining the stance. And I would have agreed.
Now if you claim the economy is about to go in the shitter (it is, by basically any and all metrics) you’re setting yourself up for a particularly long sentence in the Gulag.
I don’t particularly remember this. I remember explaining why I thought we might get above 16 million car sales in 2024 if supply stabilized, but that’s coming off the pandemic.
Let’s see, I did write about how automakers found ways to increase prices during the Biden Administration: https://www.theautopian.com/trimflation-explaining-why-automakers-raised-prices-so-much-in-the-pandemic/
That insurance rates are rising:
https://www.theautopian.com/why-cheaper-new-cars-arent-making-car-ownership-more-affordable/
And that a new administration may try to threaten Fed independence:
https://www.theautopian.com/concerns-over-the-presidential-election-is-having-a-strange-impact-on-car-sales/comment-page-1/#!
If you’ve got some examples, I’d love to see them.
I’m expecting crickets.
In the Mid Atlantic states it has to be Skyline Drive/Blue Ridge Parkway and surrounding areas… the DMV is beautiful in the fall!
We drove all of it last September, so pre-peak, but it was a magnificent week.
Wet leaves are really slippery. Be careful during that fall drive.
These destination fees are just plain ridiculous. They are clearly unmoored from the actual costs involved. At some point it crosses (already crossed?) into fraud territory.
I’m not 100% sure, but there may be (in some states, at least) sales tax implications on goods vs. fees. In some states, sales tax is only charged on physical goods. In those states, a $28,000 car with a $2000 “destination fee” causes less of a tax on buyers than a $30,000 car with “free delivery”.
Excellent point!
Some states charge registration tax based on MSRP too.
For Michigan to see leaf colors the move is to go “Up north”
It’s time they learnt from cereal box companies.
Just make the box slightly smaller, depth-wise, and it doesn’t change the shelf-appeal despite having 20% less inside it.
Cut out some of that sound insulation for the passengers, have even-worse OEM tires, move the sunroof further up the option-chain, raise prices of higher volume trim models but leave the base (the sticker-model) lower…
What’s the automotive equivalent of adding sawdust to food?
Whatever Stellantis does.
COTD
Saw this in the 90s with the imports making the domestic companies do whatever to offer a lower starting price. Jeep Wranglers were offered with no back seat, rear seatbelts, side mirror, no radio, no ABS, no carpets, etc. to stay as low as the Trakker and Samurai prices.
We’ve been really dry here for the last couple of months, so our leaves are likely to go from green to brown skipping any colors. Still a great time to go for a drive.
We should be far more worried about the rate of extortion in this country than tariffs or inflation.
The unhinged censorship is working against you.
We don’t get the fall colors here in Colorado like they do in the northeast or northwest, but during the golden aspen time, the Peak-to-Peak Highway between Estes Park and Evergreen is a wonderful drive (and has some nice curves as well).
We drove through the San Juans last year about this time, and the aspens were beautiful.
Guanella Pass
Lariat Loop goes through Evergreen, not the Peak-to-Peak which has its southern end in Black Hawk. But the two byways aren’t far apart, so linking the two would make an even better drive.
Good point – that’s what we always did when we lived in Evergreen, so I kind of associate the two in my mind.
There isn’t much I miss about living in EG, but being able to hop onto a motorbike and do Morrison Canyon or Echo Mountain between work and dinner is definitely one of them.
For longer rides I’d go down the hill to Golden, ride up Golden Gate Canyon and then use the Peak to Peak to connect to Coal Creek Canyon. Then I’d stop at Coors for a free beer. Good memories.
Wait, trees change colors? (looks up what trees are) -Phoenix, AZ resident.
Head on up to Flagstaff for shade and color that isn’t orange.
Around here, driving pretty much anywhere during leaf season is beautiful. However, a quick jaunt on the Blue Ridge Parkway is exceptional. You just gotta time it right to avoid everyone else.
You should have the legal right to pick your car up at the factory or port of entry and pay $0 destination (if domestic) or reduced destination (if foreign).
The fact that no one allows this (Corvette museum delivery still requires destination for example) puts proof to the lie of what that fee really is.
It’s also a little disingenuous for pricing, as the OEM often lists the price in ads without the destination fee. 2022 Ford Maverick! 19,999! (adds almost 2k in destination, dealer adds a bunch of document fees, emissions fees, state fees and taxes, and MARKUPS turns the 20k truck into a 27-29k truck real fast).
at least with Volvo you get a trip to Gothenburg
https://www.volvocars.com/us/l/osd-tourist/
This is especially true now that nearly every dealer in my area lists over half of their inventory as “build phase” or “in transit”.
I would gladly drive/fly down to Baltimore or to Boston to pick up a new car, especially if it meant I was saving a bullshit 2k+ destination fee.
[DELETED DUE TO LANGUAGE USE]
I don’t know what you said, but I will give you a smiley face just because I assume it was good.
[Deleted for using ableist language]
I mean, use some fuckin’ bad words, I don’t care, but ableist language and language designed just to get people mad is something we try to discourage. Get your jibs in, please.
Its great we have priorities!
“Ableist language” (whatever the fuck that is supposed to be) is awful, terrible, unbelievably bad.
Extra taxes from a pedo-fascist? Not so bad, apparently.