My goal is not necessarily to make this the biggest automotive site in the known universe, as size comes with its own shortcomings. I do want to make it the best and, therefore, the most valuable automotive website. That’s hard. But, in the immortal words of Jimmy Dugan, the hard is what makes it good.
If you watched the first few seasons of Drive to Survive, you’ve got some sense of how hard Formula One is. It’s more difficult than writing The Morning Dump… usually. For a time, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 was the best at being an F1 team. It’s not the best now, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still incredibly valuable. How valuable? Team boss Toto Wolff is selling a piece, and the number is eye-popping.
McLaren is another F1 company, though not quite as valuable. The intermittent success of McLaren F1 hasn’t resulted in its sibling car company skyrocketing in value, which is why the company is launching an SUV. It’s about time.
Where is the value in a car dealership? A lot of it comes from service, but dealers are losing out here as customers decide they want to go anywhere else. Also, anywhere else is where GM would like any suppliers building products in China to go.
Toto Wolff Might Be Cashing Out $300 Million
The math isn’t that hard. According to Bloomberg, Mercedes F1 CEO Toto Wolff is potentially going to sell some of the team that he owns to CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz. The amount being sold is reported to be somewhere in the realm of 5%, and if it goes through as planned, it’ll make the team worth about $6 billion.
That would be the highest valuation for any F1 team, ever.
If my math is correct, that would net Wolff–husband of racing exec and former driver Susie Wolff–about $300 million. That’s not bad. Also, as the show makes clear, he lives in Monaco, which means the taxes on that $300 million windfall probably won’t be bad, either. From Bloomberg:
A $6 billion valuation would mark a record for an F1 team, underscoring robust demand to invest in a sport growing in popularity in part through the success of the Netflix series Formula 1: Drive to Survive. A stake sale in September valued the championship-winning McLaren team at more than $4 billion.
As well as Wolff, British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos conglomerate and German automaker Mercedes-Benz Group AG each own a third of the team, which is officially known as the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team.
Nice work if you can get it. The difference between Mercedes and McLaren as automakers is pretty significant, but McLaren has a plan.
McLaren: Sure, Let’s Do An SUV
I like McLaren cars, but I don’t love most of them. I don’t know why. There’s something that’s missing. Perhaps what’s missing is a car that isn’t some variation of a supercar/hypercar.
An SUV? Sure, why not? Here’s how that might look, as dealers told Automotive News:
The coupe-like utility vehicle, code-named P47, is one of multiple new models McLaren will deliver in the next three years, the automaker said during a Nov. 11 global dealer meeting at the McLaren Creation Centre in Bicester, England, northwest of London.
According to a retailer who attended the meeting, the five-seater hybrid SUV has the side profile of a Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT but is bigger.
A clay model of the all-wheel-drive vehicle sat on 24-inch wheels.
“The SUV is sculpted and muscular,” a dealer told Automotive News while asking not to be identified because information on the vehicle is not public. “It has presence and won’t get lost in the exotic SUV segment.”
My least favorite term is “coupe-like utility vehicle.”
Dealers Have Lost About 12% Of Service Visits Since 2018
As cars get older, you’d think dealers would be making more money from service. You would not think that if you took a 12-year-old car to your average dealer.
Cox Automotive noted this in a recent service industry study:
Even though dealerships are making more money from service, they are losing customers to regular repair shops, quick oil change places, and mobile service companies. Dealerships handle 12% fewer service visits than they did in 2018. They are losing most business from cars that are five years old or newer. In 2025, only 54% of people with cars two years old or newer went back to the dealership where they purchased for service, which is down from 72% in 2023. This idea of “buying here but getting service somewhere else” is hurting long-term customer loyalty. Car owners who get their car serviced at the dealership are much more likely (74%) to buy their next car from the same place.
It’s hard, but again, the hard is what makes it good.
GM Wants To Avoid The Headache Of The U.S.-China Supply Chain
If we’ve learned anything this year, it’s that no supplier is safe from the whims of brands, who are not safe from the whims of governments, who are not safe from the whims of, uh, the Dutch.
General Motors, which is a company that enriched itself for the last couple of decades by selling cars in China, has reportedly decided not to hassle with the country when it comes to getting parts.
GM executives have been telling suppliers they should find alternatives to China for their raw materials and parts, with the goal of eventually moving their supply chains out of the country entirely, the people said. The automaker has set a 2027 deadline for some suppliers to dissolve their China sourcing ties, some of the sources said.
GM approached some suppliers with the directive in late 2024, but the effort took on fresh urgency this past spring, during the early days of an escalating U.S.-China trade battle, the sources said. GM executives have said it is part of a broader strategy to improve the company’s supply chain “resiliency,” the sources added.
Geopolitical tensions between the two superpowers have left car executives in triage mode throughout 2025. U.S. President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs and bouts of industry panic over potential rare-earth bottlenecks and computer-chip shortages have auto companies rethinking their ties to China, a long-important source of parts and raw materials.
As the head of the association that represents suppliers mentioned in the piece, these supply chains go back decades, so suddenly undoing them might not be as easy as it sounds.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
I chose “APESH*T” by THE CARTERS today, both because them trapesing through the Louvre is a lot funnier post-robbery, and for this line:
Gimme my check, put some respek on my check
Or pay me in equity (Pay me in equity)
Watch me reverse out the debt (Skrrt)
Beyonce famously performed at an Uber party in exchange for pre-IPO company equity, which, if you can do it, is nice!
The Big Question
Which sports car company would have made the best SUV in the ’60s or ’70s?
Top photo: DepositPhotos.com
I understand the dealer thing. My local dealer was kind enough to put in the legwork to get a key made that was compatible but not technically listed for my vehicle.
Then I saw them on the news for not putting a plate on test drivers.
Before I bought my car (used), I did the rounds at a handful and got different batches of (admittedly minor) lies from sales but ultimately the prices they wouldn’t budge from made going used easier.
A Kia dealer once recommended a service as a solution for my problem – the reasoning defied physics however.
My friggin’ dealer is constantly annoying me for petty BS maintenance even though I’ve replied multiple times that I do all my own normal maintenance. There’s an open recall they keep bugging me about, too, but they won’t just hand me the parts so I can do it myself in 10 minutes and keep the old ones as backups (tailight swap—indicator will rapid-flash if the sun hits it at just the right angle and a rooster lays an egg that’s incubated by a serpent, something that’s happened probably twice in 90k miles. It rapid-fires, but still works, so WGAF) rather than waiting around for an hour or more for them to get to it and worry they’ll f-up my trailer wiring harness extensions that are fit in there a certain way and wondering if they’ll do something else to f-up my car (Focus ST: free oil change resulted in a new front bumper cover because the tech reportedly “slipped off the clutch”, WTF that means—I think they lowered it onto something and GR86: 4 dents in the hood near the latch that looked very much like knuckle marks because some knuckle-dragger must have punched the aluminum hood shut, fixed after a speeding Civic spun out on the highway, resulting in a whole new front end). Why go to the dealer when you can get hack work cheaper from an independent?
Dealer service nowadays is like playing whack-a-mole with newly invented service offers. My daughter has a 2022 CPO Prius and I warned her off such dealer offers as “A/C disinfection service” and wheel alignment every 10K miles. Last service, they wanted to perform a “hybrid battery ventilation fan cleaning” for $400. They also wanted $400 to replace her conventional 12v battery. Fortunately, daughter is now very good at saying “No thank you. Factory recommended scheduled service only.”
My trusted independent mechanic told me from day one, “I’ll never recommend a service you don’t need. But if I do recommend something, you definitely need it.”
Admittedly, there is a HV Battery Vent fan in the rear of Priuses, maybe even the newest ones. They do clog, and cause hotter battery running temperatures since the pack is air-cooled. I think it gets a mesh or mesh-and-foam screen.
I don’t remember if they pull from the outside or the cabin air and it might change between years but it does exist, it’s not BS.
As for cleaning the evaporator, I think a few companies make a dedicated foam disinfectant spray that costs at most $50. That and the low-voltage battery you can definitely do yourself, though.
(e: clarity on disinfectant)
Which sports car company would have made the best SUV in the ’60s or ’70s?
Not really sure it’s fully a sports car company…but Jensen. They had an AWD system, used Mopar V8s. I think it would have rocked.
Oh yeah, a stretched-out and lifted Interceptor would rock!
I work in Parts at a dealership and get a commission, but the service manager wants us to mark stuff down every single day for someone, which really adds up (or technically subtracts down) on my paycheck over the month. I kinda wish our customers had the overcharging horror stories y’all are sharing so I could get paid lol
Most of us all said no never to return lol
If the goal is to be the “best auto site,” asking stupid questions should be off the list.
Also, if you try to make it the most valuable auto website, then someone will buy it and proceed to make it crap.
Also, “best” and “most valuable” cannot be done simultaneously. “Best” gives the viewer what they want and need in terms of information. “Most valuable” uses gimmicks to get the most eyeballs per page, like slide shows, asking questions that effectively make viewers the content providers, etc.
I don’t understand how car dealers are surprised when their customers actively hate them. Dealers have been lying and swindling their customers for years and it is somehow shocking that people choose to go elsewhere? If only we could replace dealers when it comes to purchasing new cars. I’ve heard decent things about the Costco car buying program, but only 3rd hand. Anyone have experience with Costco or similar?
Yes, I did th buy through Costco program. While it did go well as a process, the dealer swapped cars on me. I had to go back to the dealer, prove that what I asked for through Costco was not what they sold me. I (apparently) got a good deal on trading in the wrong new car for the correct new car. Same exact color, just a variation on the model that I didn’t notice immediately.
I took our CRV we bought used back to the dealer for the complimentary first oil change, and the dealer thanked us by leaving all the lugs less than finger tight on one of the wheels.
I once had a friend explain to me that he prefers going to a quick lube place instead of doing his own oil because he “likes the peace of mind knowing a professional did it.” I didn’t have the heart to break it to him.
Bless the heart of that sweet summer child…
Maybe because they peaked with their first car and it’s been whatever since then? Having never driven one, they seem to lack a strong emotional connection that Porsche and Ferrari have had for decades. Also all their cars look too similar (with a couple exceptions), and their naming scheme is German-levels of boring.
So that explains it, right? Despite losing market share, they’re still increasing revenue. So price-wise, they’re probably not competitive.
True. My favorite McLaren is, quite sincerely, the M1A.
A freind had an MP12-4C (I think that’s right, it was an orange one). And he loved it. I loved it too, it was brilliant and fun and engaging and the only two tiny downsides were the eye watering cost of fixing it and the constant attention from random dreadful people.
He’d had Porsches and Ferraris before and since, and has settled on 911s because they are also brilliant but absolutely no one talks to you about your car every time you stop. Also no one is sure what the latest McLaren is, or why they should care.
Porsche somehow get away with launching extremely similar cars every few years by keeping the badge the same, maybe if McLaren just stuck with a couple of names people would keep buying the new version?
De Tomaso comes to mind as a 70s sports car company that could have done some interesting SUVs. Jensen could have done something interesting too. I suspect neither would be particularly good but interesting and maybe ok to goodish for the time.
I take my Ford to the dealer for oil changes because they aren’t any more expensive than the quick change place and I usually have to get a recall repaired, so I’m there anyway.
You also see too many horror stories about the sloppy work at quick-change places, since they’re incentivized to be quick and not good.
This is true, though not all of them are real. One quick change owner I know of said that things happen, but claims that they ruined cars tended to go up in November and December. He thought it was because people wanted a settlement to pay for the holidays. I know I keep an eye on things after I leave the dealership just to make sure they didn’t forget the oil.
Yeah, that’s the Ford experience. I’ve seen recalls for incorrectly repaired recalls, too.
The only parts of my Volvo I’ve had to change in my time are all stamped with FoMoCo.
Hope the ownership/user experience for you outweighs any issues it might have!
Thanks, so far so good.
The local Chevy dealer is notoriously bad but I took my auction Impala cop car there for recall work (leaking valve cover gaskets) because it was closest. Well, I learned the hard way that you should pop the hood and take a look after having work done. They forgot to put the engine cover back on and installed one of the front engine mounts upside down so that water pools in it.
I did get serious entertainment out of my courtesy ride to work from them. These 2 clowns had to drop off a car for someone and forgot to leave the keys. It was like the 4th time the dealership tried to fix a sunroof leak and he was livid as it was. Guy was screaming at them when we returned the keys. Afterwards the two clowns were saying to each other “You’re gonna get fired. No YOU are gonna get fired!”
“Which sports car company would have made the best SUV in the ’60s or ’70s?”
Ferrari, of course.
Enzo screaming Noooooo like Darth Vader.
Mohs, with its Model F Funster:
https://motor-car.net/pics/97/i/1976-Mohs-Funster-Microcar.jpg
Oh, wait, I should finish reading the question first.
Ah, I was right. The Mohs Safarikar is the best SUV and it was made in the ’70s:
https://live.staticflickr.com/1104/801829567_52e8020015_c.jpg
I avoid the dealers I know their game. I’ll take in warranty stuff to them for warranty only and maybe a free service. I’ve had them put the wrong oil and filter on and try to gaslight me many times on different things. I have a decent tire and alignment shop I use sometimes and I’ve been lucky with Walmart plus they aren’t in business of up selling. I once needed a new tpms sensor after a road Hazzard and the guy apologized that if I wanted it, would be $30 installed. Another time at a different one the guy apologized because it took them an hour to mount Ballance and install 4 tires. There have been times when I don’t have time or a real place to do a oil change on the road and same thing. They don’t seem rushed and aren’t making a commission. I’ve seen them tell people they had a problem they don’t deal with there and told them where to go locally too. The dealers I’ve dealt with would have added every single little thing wrong with the car and totaled it with their prices and upcharges. The only time I’ve had good outcomes at dealers.is when I knew someone in their service or parts department. I suspect many people with older vehicles know this. The last time I was in a dealer service department it was almost all older people who had been going there for years and just trusted they weren’t getting ripped off. Ownership and management changes and they get ripped off.
I have a local place within walking distance that does work and oil changes on my older cars. They will also work with you if you call them out on labor charges. I once had a CV shaft changed while I had a wheel bearing replaced on the same side. Their initial estimate included the labor for each operation independently, but after I pointed out the overlap in the procedure, the manager ran it by the mechanic and they agreed they could just charge me the parts price on the CV shaft assembly since the labor was basically redundant. A dealership would probably figure out a way to upcharge both operation somehow. Once I’m done with warranty period, the dealer doesn’t see me.
Exotic car companies making SUVs is dumb, all of the. At least all the current ones. They all end up as something vaguely SUV shaped doing it’s best impression of a supercar with the result being something that isnt going to be great at either thing. The only thing they are good at is giving people with too much money the ability to flex and say they drive a Lambo, Ferrari,, McLaren without actually having to/getting to experience one of their proper cars.
Imagine if you tried this the other way around with Land Rover or Jeep announcing they were going to build a sportscar. I don’t think they would produce a very compelling offering.
The one exception to this is the Lamborghini LM002, the Urus could never.
I think we can all agree that the Urus is vapid, meaningless, reskinned garbage for the more money than brains/social media brainrot crowd and that the LM002 is a gift from the automotive gods.
But actually, like…how stupid do you have to be to buy a Urus? An RSQ8 is the exactly same everything and it literally starts at half the price. If the Audi badge simply isn’t shouty enough for you a Cayenne Turbo GT can be had in the absurd coupe body style and assorted in your face colors starting at $40,000 less…and knowing how good the Porsche engineers are it’s almost certainly better to drive.
Yes but you can buy a Urus and you can say you drive a Lambo, without having to deal with all the downsides that come with having to drive a low 2 door wedge shaped car. It’s about showing off to people who don’t actually care. This has to be it. I can’t think of another possible reason to want or buy one.
Which is ironic, because every time I see one I laugh my ass off. They’re a gaudy, bloated, ostentatious microcosm of everything that’s wrong with modern cars. I just see someone that was stupid enough to pay double the price for a badge engineered RSQ8.
On the flip side though they’ll probably be worth nothing in a few years and become so uncool as a result that they become cool to own ironically….
They do bear a rather strong resemblance to the Aztec