Automotive Edge Radio Show Host Kurt Chase Straight-Talks about K&N & Automotive Misinformation
- 6 mar 2014
"Be not afraid of greatness - some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them." With that quote Mr. Shakespeare was referring to those who fearlessly embrace their fates, regardless of the twists and turns, and then help to make things a little better than before they got here.
When Kurt Chase started selling cars 25 years ago consumer advocate or do-gooder for school kids was nowhere near his crosshairs, yet today it proudly sits atop his resume. Chase is the straight-shooting, trusted voice of the radio show "The Automotive Edge," which helps to enlighten folks throughout Texas about all things car related. Somewhere along the line it seems, Chase had enough with seeing people get ripped-off at dealerships, body shops and parts stores. With all the misinformation that was being passed around about products like K&N, he decided to do something about it. Today, before people head out to car shop, sign car related paperwork, or seek the truth about products, they contact him first. In his role as the voice of honesty and good sense, Chase has also helped over 700 teachers with school supplies. Multiply that by 25 kids per teacher and you get some idea of the impact he's made, and will continue to make. We caught up with the very busy Chase to see what's under his hood powering him at full speed. Your radio broadcast is in part about advising people regarding buying and leasing cars, what other subjects do you discuss, and what are some of the questions you hear most often?
"The Automotive Edge works with consumers all the way through the process of buying and leasing with no charge at all to the consumer. The most asked questions are about finance options and all the many products that are sold in the F&I office. There are also questions about credit scores, most consumers either don't know their score, or they don't know how the bank looks at each report in order to determine the rate, or which report they use to decide on the financing." What are some of the most common mistakes people make regarding the purchase of a car and in dealing with things like body shops? "On the purchase side consumers don't read their paperwork, they focus solely on the payment without back tracking to see how the payment was created and if the payment was 'loaded' with stuff." "The body shop side of the industry is really mindboggling because consumers see a shiny repaired car, sign the release form and drive off, not knowing what parts were used or knowing what to look for in the repair. Then they go to sell the car or trade it in and find out what was really done or not done to the damaged vehicle. By then it's too late for the consumer to have any recourse."
What is your automotive background and how did you get from there, to where you are today? "I started selling cars and worked my way up to Director of Operations. My first job was with a Ford Dealership selling trucks, it was very interesting because the trucks didn't have pricing on them and consumers just believed what we told them was the list price. Times have really changed!" "I was helping a Leasing Company with their advertising and I stopped by 100.7FM to meet with a talk show host about getting on his show with some spot ads. I was invited to do the commercials live and talk about the industry on the show one afternoon, and all of a sudden the phones started to ring with questions. I was invited back to do a show called the 'Consumer Magazine,' and once again the phone lines lit up and listeners seemed to take to what I was talking about. Then ten years ago I did a 30 minute show called 'The Texas Car Clinic,' and I went out and did a few seminars on 'how to buy a car' and things just took off from a 30 minute show, to now a three hour show on six stations called the Automotive Edge." You also reach out to local schools in your area and your efforts are receiving a good deal of positive attention, can you tell us how that came about? "I stopped in one day to ask my son's teacher for a copy of his homework assignment and the teacher told me it was not her copy day. I couldn't believe what she said, knowing what I paid in school taxes so that my three boys could get a better education. So I went to an office supply store and bought four cases of copy paper, and thinking I would be funny, I brought it back to the school right into the classroom to get my copy. I had no idea or intention of creating the reaction from the teacher that I received. My son's teacher started to cry and told me that I had no idea how much the paper was appreciated and that she would be glad at that time to make me a copy of the homework." "After visiting with her my heart sank as I found out what was going on in the classrooms with a huge lack of supplies. That's when I decided to start my new project, getting school supplies right into the hands of the teachers. Then it hit me one day that if my son's school was in this condition with such a need for supplies, what is going on in the areas of lower income. That's when we started our 'Adopt a Teacher' program. We went on air and asked the listeners to tell us what their school and or teacher needed and WOW what a response. The first year we took care of a little over 700 teachers and it has continued on from there for the last 7 years. Now we try to do it twice a year, two weeks after school starts we get our lists and usually after Christmas break they are in need again. My wife and I take care of most of the deliveries in order to see what's really needed in our schools. You've recently become very active about getting out the truth regarding K&N products and combating negative misinformation towards our products, how did that start and how did you first discover K&N? "I was contacted by Rich Dweyer one morning out of the blue to talk about K&N. I had never heard of your product before, and actually, I thought a couple of my buddies were pulling a prank on me once again. I then flew out on my dime to Riverside and met Rich and Shannon and spent two days learning about the product, the company and the warranty process, and out of this came a great relationship between K&N and The Automotive Edge Radio Show." "There is a lot of misinformation about replacement filters coming out of the mouth of the repair/service side of this industry. Once I went out and started asking about K&N without telling anyone that I was involved with the company, I was shocked at the things I was being told, and about what the product would do to the vehicle. The most common misinformation is about what it did to the 02 sensor (oxygen sensor) if you put a K&N filter on your vehicle. Those people were wrongly saying that the sensor would need to be reprogrammed (372.00 on average). One consumer was told her Corvette needed over $6200.00 in repairs because of the codes that came up due to the fact it had a K&N Filter on it." "The list has really grown over the last year with crazy reasons why you shouldn't put anything but factory replacement filters on, and not chance voiding your cars warranty, and it's just not true. One of the first things I did was have four of my friends that drive a lot put K&N filters on their cars and trucks. All four have driven well over 30k so far this year, and all were pleasantly shocked at the results of both the air and oil filters. Oh, and by the way, all four are skilled mechanics." |
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