GLENDALE — A Glendale auto dealer's plan to build a private carwash about 100 feet from neighboring backyards is a step closer to approval despite opposition from neighboring residents.
City planners on Wednesday decided to recommend the Board of Aldermen approve the plan from Glendale Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership, at 10070 Manchester Road, but also set limitations meant to meet residents' concerns.
The five-member planning commission voted unanimously to recommend aldermen limit the car wash's hours of operation, require the facility's doors be shut for the entire time a car is being washed, and bar the facility from using loud speakers.
"I think with a certain amount of controls ... we can at least come to a compromise that would work," planning commission chair Jeff Fernhoff said.
The commission also cited the dealership's own noise study, which found the noise level for neighboring residents would, if the car wash doors were open, reach 50 decibels, about as loud as a refrigerator.
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The vote came after more than an hour of discussion during which a handful of residents who live right behind the auto dealer said the car wash study was only theoretical and the car wash would hurt property values.
"Please stand up for the residents of Glendale and please do not let the dealership build a car wash in my backyard," said Jay Galmiche, who was among seven residents to speak to the commission Wednesday.
About 200 residents had also signed a letter arguing the auto dealer's plans would cause noise disturbances and hurt property values, including by removing trees providing a buffer for the homes and for Glendale Gardens Condominiums.
The dealer, owned by Merlo Automotive Group, also plans to expand its service building to add 14 bays and build a storage facility on its property about 50 feet from the condominiums, which would require the removal of some of the trees providing a buffer. The dealer also wants to replace a current chain link fence in the buffer with a plastic vinyl one closer to residents backyards.
The planning commission also asked Merlo to consider moving the storage shed to the opposite end of its back lot, which would not require the removal of any trees, and asked that residents concerned about the plastic fence recommend an alternative to aldermen, who could discuss the issue at a June 18 meeting.
Kevin Kissling, a 29-year resident whose backyard abuts the auto dealership, said residents don't trust the dealership to abide by regulations and will take those concerns to aldermen.
"Is that a risk the board is wiling to take?" Kissling said after the meeting. "We hope not."
More young Americans are late to paying their car loans – approaching levels not seen since the Great Recession, according to a report from the New York Fed.
In the last quarter, 4.6% of borrowers under 30 transitioned into serious delinquency – meaning they were at least 90 days overdue on an auto loan payment. This figure is up from a year ago and is the highest percentage since the tail end of the Great Recession in 2009, when it was 4.7%.
Across all ages, the number of new auto loans and leases totaled $162 billion last quarter, down from last year, but an increase from the volume before the pandemic. Of all borrowers, 2.3% were at least 90 days overdue on making their auto loan payment.
The highest rate of serious delinquency was observed among younger Americans. Torsten Slok, the chief economist at Apollo Global Management, told Yahoo Finance that this age group was struggling because they are “more vulnerable” to the ongoing macroeconomic trends. (Apollo is the owner of Yahoo.)
For example, Slok said, the Fed's hike of interest rates is presenting a challenge. Because younger Americans have comparatively little savings, they are less prepared to afford the additional costs incurred by the higher rates. Americans are paying around $50 to $60 more on new car loans this year because of the higher interest rates alone, according to Ivan Drury, the senior manager of insights at Edmunds.
Drury said that the financial outlook for car financing will only worsen if the Fed hikes interest rates again at its June 14 meeting.
Cars will become less affordable if the Fed increases rates again: Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The Fed has been increasing interest rates in an effort by the Fed to cool down inflation. That's contributed to new car prices sitting at record highs at the end of last year. Bankrate.com’s chief financial analyst Greg McBride said that Americans do not have the cash on hand to afford those rising car costs up front, so their average loan payment is getting higher – and less affordable.
In other words, young Americans may be biting off more than they can chew when it comes to auto loans, making it harder to keep up.
“The payments are absolute budget busters,” McBride told Yahoo Finance. “The average car payment for new car buyers was $800 a month last year, [and] about one in seven buyers has a payment of at least $1,000 a month. There's no wiggle room there.”
Beyond the payment increase, Drury explained that more car dealers are forcing customers to finance their car in 36 or 48 months. These shorter financing options are less affordable for those whose financial situations are more unpredictable, many of whom preferred longer payback periods.
Coming out of the pandemic, McBride said that delinquencies for car loans have increased “sooner” and “faster” compared to other loans, which he attributed to more lenient lending standards for borrowers with subprime credit scores.These lower scores are more common among younger Americans, according to Experian.
“If the economy weakens and goes into a recession, we're going to see a level of auto loan delinquencies that hasn’t been seen in a very long time, if ever,” McBride said.
Officers from the Cortez Police Department on May 12 responded to a report that eight vehicles had been stolen from TruWest Auto, 333 South Broadway. (Shylee Graf/The Journal)
Eight vehicles, five sets of keys reported stolen May 12
On May 12, police were called to respond to TruWest Auto in Cortez regarding property damage and the theft of eight vehicles and five sets of keys.
According to the police report obtained by The Journal, employee Arturo Reyes reported that the gate to the back lot “had been pulled out of the ground,” appearing to have been driven through. The washroom bay door was also open when Reyes arrived at work around 6:45 a.m.
According to the police report written by officer Koltan Guttridge, those eight stolen vehicles are:
2019 Nissan Titan pickup.
2019 Dodge Ram 1500 Classic pickup.
2015 GMC Sierra pickup.
2020 Jeep Renegade.
2019 Dodge Ram 1500 ST pickup.
2020 Mitsubishi Outlander SUV.
2023 GMC Acadia SUV.
2019 Ford F150 pickup.
The 2019 Ford F150 was recovered in the parking lot of Mesa Elementary School, and the 2023 GMC Acadia was “recovered in the 22000 block of Road G,” Guttridge reported.
According to a different police report written by officer Ryan Hancock, the GMC Acadia was found with “rear-end damage” and a blown out “rear driver’s-side tire.”
A key belonging to a Jeep Compass Latitude was also found near the Acadia, Hancock reported, with elaboration.
Employees of TruWest Auto also discovered that a 2006 PT Cruiser and a 2018 Chevy Silverado had been damaged, according to the report.
Five sets of keys were also discovered to be missing after an inventory by TruWest employees, Guttridge wrote. The keys were for the following vehicles:
2019 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup.
2019 Ford F150 pickup.
2016 Chevy Trax SUV.
2018 Chevy Silverado pickup.
2023 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup.
In an interview with a Journal reporter, owner and General Manager Geno Trujillo said the vehicles that have been returned sustained minimal damage, with the exception of one car that seemed to be driven through the locked gate.
“Cortez Police did a great job. They were proactive and communicated well,” Trujillo said. “It’s still under investigation,” he added.
Things were put into perspective for Trujillo and the business.
“It could have been a lot worse,” he said. “We are proactive in protecting our business.”
Trujillo was cautious about sharing additional details, saying it could jeopardize the investigation.
A rise in auto thefts in Buffalo over the first third of the year is sharper than the increase that hit when a wave fueled by a national social media trend first reached the region last year.
Over the first four months of this year, the average number of vehicles reported stolen per day was 9.8, according to Buffalo Police Department statistics. Last year, that daily average from January through April was 3.7.
According to police figures, Buffalo has seen an astounding rise in thefts of Kia and Hyundai vehicles.
In January 2022, eight Kias and Hyundais were stolen in the city. This January, that figure was 250.
Year to year, that's an increase of more than 3,000%.
So far this year, about two of every three vehicles stolen in Buffalo is either a Kia or a Hyundai. The rise in Kia and Hyundai thefts first began in Buffalo last August.
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"The problem is significant to the point that our stolen cars are just continuing to show very high numbers," Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said.
Buffalo is far from alone when it comes to the uptick. The number of stolen cars reported through the end of April in Amherst was 114 – up from 71 over the same period last year. That's a 60% increase, according to data released by the Amherst Police Department.
Kias and Hyundais make up about a third of all stolen vehicles in Amherst this year, compared to 12% and 6% in the last two years, respectively.
In Cheektowaga, more Kias and Hyundais have been stolen so far this year than all of last year, according to data released by police.
An Associated Press analysis of data from eight cities, including New York, Cleveland and Grand Rapids, Mich., published earlier this month showed "substantial year-over-year increases in Hyundai and Kia theft reports through April."
Nationally, an increase in the thefts of Hyundais and Kias began in late 2021 thanks to videos on TikTok and other sites that showed how to start and steal those vehicles.
Most of the stolen vehicles wind up abandoned, but not all.
"We have some of these thieves that are also using them to commit other violent crimes, gun crimes, shots fired, robberies and even other crimes," Gramaglia said. "And they're quickly ditching the cars. We don't even have information on these cars being stolen until the next morning when people wake up and find their cars are gone."
There have been two high-profile incidents locally involving stolen Kias: an October crash that killed four teens in Buffalo and a February hit-and-run crash that severely injured a Cheektowaga police officer.
The City of Buffalo filed a federal lawsuit in March against Hyundai Motor America and Kia America Inc. accusing the automakers of creating a public nuisance by failing to install industry-standard anti-theft devices in their vehicles.
In Amherst and Buffalo, police say the thieves generally tend to be younger, often juveniles.
"I think this is just simply, for some of them, a form of entertainment, a game, something for them to do and this is what they do," Gramaglia said. "They just go out and chalk it up to how many they can steal in a night."
But the activity is not confined to youths, police said, and many engaged in thefts don't stop after one.
"These are generally not one-off type crimes," said Amherst Police Capt. Christopher Meyer. "The young people we see doing this are doing it repeatedly."
Amherst police take vehicle theft cases seriously, said Meyer, noting detectives are assigned to pursue the culprits.
"It's important that our citizens know we still investigate these crimes thoroughly," he said.
Though not every case leads to an arrest or prosecution, detectives can obtain evidence valuable in future investigations, he said.
Meyer, a 29-year-veteran of the department, said the number of vehicles being stolen is more than at any other point in his career.
At present, Cheektowaga police are averaging about four stolen vehicle calls a week, said Capt. Brian Coons.
Most of the vehicles wind up being abandoned but sometimes they are used in other crimes, Coons said.
The department has added additional patrol details in neighborhoods because of the rise in vehicle thefts, he said.
As for curbing the thefts, police agencies encouraged all vehicle owners to take steps to make their vehicles less of a potential target. Car owners should lock their doors and not leave their keys inside the vehicle. Park in a garage, if possible.
If your household has more than one vehicle, park a Kia or Hyundai in the driveway first, and park another vehicle close to it.
Kia and Hyundai owners whose vehicles were made in the years that have the manufacturer's security flaw should obtain an anti-theft device, like a wheel lock.
Those steps won't assure that your car won't be stolen, but you will "make yourself a more difficult target," said Meyer.
Reach Aaron at abesecker[at]buffnews.com or 716-849-4602.
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Florida, The Sunshine State.Home to alligators, Disney World and ‘The Florida Man...’
Uniquely positioned between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, Florida offers over a thousand miles of coastline; sandy beaches and beautiful weather make it a dream destination for many a holiday-goer.
Warm, sunny climates often lead to relaxed attitudes and a more zen approach to life. Such open-mindedness can be seen in the population, and this certainly extends to the Floridian car scene where absolutely nothing is off the cards. The team over at Ultimate Auto (UA) are on the forefront of this wave, having spent the past 30 years turning customers’ wildest dreams into running, driving realities.
This is the upper echelon of car modification we’re talking about today. Mercedes-Maybach GLSs on 28-inch Forgiato wheels, wide-bodied Novitec Ferrari 812s, and Rolls-Royce Cullinans. When your boutique supercar just isn’t boutique enough, you bring it to Ultimate Auto.
Yet Ultimate Auto stems from humble roots, which General Manager Chris Labon was keen to explain to us.
“(UA) Started with my father doing audio installs in my grandfather’s garage when he was 15 years old. He spent years in a variety of shops, then opened Ultimate Audio solely doing car audio,” Chris explained.
As is the way in the land of excess, following the American dream often means expanding your horizons and striving for more. More success, more reputation, and in Chris’s father’s case, more expertise for Ultimate Audio to bring to their customers.
“Over time we expanded our scope of capabilities, and over the past 30 years we’ve added additional processes and team members to specialise in those departments,” Chris says.
A quick look around the Ultimate Auto headquarters is all it takes to see that audio installs are no longer their bread and butter, but are part of far more comprehensive and often completely bonkers builds.
Take this bright orange Ford F450 Super Duty for example. Yes, it may well be hiding an array of Kicker car audio equipment under its mile-long tonneau cover, but there’s more to it than that.
Six enormous custom wheels, a mega lift kit, the very obvious colour change and enough LED lighting to illuminate a city are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to custom modifications at UA.
The F450 is the definition of ‘go big or go home’ when it comes to customer requests at Ultimate Auto. I doubt many other shops would be willing to tackle a full Goyard fabric-trimmed interior.
“We changed our name to Ultimate Auto over a decade ago as a sign of us adapting to changes; not only in the automotive modification industry but also in our clients’ desires for their custom vehicle builds,” Chris says.
Paint and bodywork, custom wheels, upholstery, fabrication, tint, paint protective film, ceramic coating, radar installation, suspension and performance. The list of in-house departments at UA is extensive.
Whilst the F450 lies at one end of UA’s modifying spectrum, this Miami Blue Porsche 992 Turbo S is firmly at the other.
With their in-house facilities and a Techart GTstreet R conversion package, UA are at hand to turn your plain-Jane 911 Turbo into a totally different beast.
Carbon fiber is everywhere to be seen, with wheel arch extensions and deeper bumpers exaggerating the already aggressive shape of the 992 Turbo. Staggered in both width and height, 21/22-inch Alpha One A1-11 wheels – UA’s in-house wheel brand – fill the carbon wheel arches. A power upgrade pushes the Porsche’s output to nearly 800hp and 950Nm, whilst the top speed is now 217mph. Hold on to your hats.
Ultimate Auto have already completed three Techart 992 conversions, with another just about to begin. Roof down, white leather and in a dazzling shade of blue; this particular 992 has me picturing Need for Speed: Heat in the real world.
It’s not just the latest and greatest that Ultimate Auto chooses to put their expertise to, with two of their in-house projects showing the variety of cars they work on.
This E36 BMW M3 is yet another example of leaving no stone unturned in the pursuit of a complete build. The spec list is comprehensive, with highlights including a full respray in Nardo Grey, custom interior re-trim, OEM+ upgrades from BMW Motorsport and the BMW M catalog, Air Lift Performance suspension, CSF cooling upgrades, and of course a set of bespoke Alpha One wheels.
For all the modern features and upgrades, it’s nice to see a set of period-correct Porsche 996 brake calipers on the E36 too.
Proud of their history, you can find magazine features of UA and their cars stretching back nearly three decades, and the ‘Ultimate Bug’ is the subject of a lot of these copies.
“The Ultimate Bug is one project that put us on the map back in the day, debuting at SEMA with numerous magazine cover features and awards that followed,” Chris explained. “The Bug was used for displays and demos after that, until we decided to re-do the car. It was around then it was stolen and lost for five years.”
“We got a call one day. The Bug was sitting in someone’s warehouse, and when they discovered that we owned it they wanted to get it back to us.”
“The plan is to rebuild it in a far more classic, period-correct style than the show car of its heyday. It will be fully restored, painted in Nardo Grey to match the rest of our collection, and used as a local cruiser. A reminder of our history.”
Ultimate Auto is Chris’s pride and joy, having grown with the brand over his lifetime. “I personally grew up in this business, spending all of my time after school and on weekends with the guys at the shop for as long as I can remember.”
“I started getting more involved throughout high school, working full-time throughout college. I transitioned into taking over the company immediately after graduating, almost two years ago now.”
“My main goal in taking over is to narrow our focus down to building fully in-house, complete projects. Combining almost unmatched fitment, bodywork and paintwork on our ‘kitted’ projects along with other aspects to take these builds to the next level. Less like a car with a kit on it, more like a completely different spec car in its entirety.”
“Details designed and styled in such a way that the cars look more like a car the manufacturer would build and less like a car that has been customized after the fact.”
There’s bound to be a certain level of pride with maintaining a family business, but it’s harder to keep pushing forwards than it is to rest on one’s laurels and ride on reputation. Chris Labon and the UA team appear to be doing no such thing, honoring their heritage whilst striving for more.
I’m grateful for outfits such as Ultimate Auto catering to the 99th percentile of the bell-shaped car culture curve. Aspirations are important in life. Builds and companies like these remind people that no matter where life takes you, there’s still room to have fun with cars.
