Milo Ventimiglia teams up with Kelley Blue Book and spills on the emotional significance of finding the right car

Updated

There are a few things probably worth thoroughly researching before purchasing — It goes without saying that a car is definitely one of them.

With dozens of conflicting and not exactly user-friendly websites and review sources, figuring out where to get the most accurate and straightforward data about a vehicle you plan to purchase can feel like a separate project in and of itself.

Kelley Blue Book, which has been around for 92 years, is still the standard when it comes to finding a trusted reference source — and 'This is Us' actor Milo Ventimiglia is helping getting the word out.

Watch this hilarious video of Ventimiglia doling out all the car advice in true Jack Pearson (from 'This is Us') fashion:

Ventimiglia is partnering up with the company again upon the release of the Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Awards for 2019:

“For me, I’ve trusted Kelley [Blue Book] for years, so being invited to speak about the work that they’re doing and what they’re giving back to the consumers that get confidence in their car-buying or selling on the site and also to highlight the 2019 Best Buy Awards was an easy ‘yes.’ They’re a company that has been around forever — 92 years. Just last week my mom and dad and I were having a conversation — they didn’t even know that I was working with Kelley Blue Book again this year — and they’re selling two of their cars, they went on Kelley Blue Book and started looking at values and whatnot … I kind of look at [Kelley Blue Book] as an American institution — everyone has a Kelley Blue Book story, I’ve got several. So this year, with the 2019 Best Buy awards, they’re back with different categories for different models, everything from full-size SUVs to luxury to light SUVs and everything — they really take all the homework that they’ve done and give it to the consumer for them to make an informed decision, be confident in that decision in purchasing a new car.”

The 2019 Best Buy Awards winners showcase the top vehicles chosen across 14 categories including this year’s brand new category, Best New Model.

With over 300 new models that will hit the market in 2019 up for the honor, here were the cars that took away the top spots:

Not everyone knows exactly what car and what model they want when it comes to purchasing their first car — most people usually don’t get that choice. And even though Ventimiglia knew exactly what he wanted when it came to purchasing his first car on his own, Kelley Blue Book was still his go-to for any questions that popped up:

“My first car that I bought for myself was a hand-me-down from my sisters and I had about two more cars that my mom and dad were responsible for, but the first car that I bought for myself I definitley wanted a Chevy Tahoe — I knew I wanted a Chevy Tahoe — and I drove one, but the biggest consult that I went to Kelley Blue Book for when I was in my early ‘20s was ‘What’s the resale value? What’s the Blue Book saying about the car that I want?’ It’s still very much the authority on that.”

As a company that’s been around for nearly a century, it’s wild to imagine that Ventimiglia’s character on ‘This is Us’, Jack Pearson, would probably have been using Kelly Blue Book when trying to buy a new car for the family.

In fact, so many transformative and iconic seasons in the show take place in or around cars — from long talks to first dates to heartbreaking meltdowns of grief at its purest form, the cars in the show have almost become secondary characters in their own regard:

“There is so much travel that happens in a car and so much weight that gets put on the responsibility of getting us to and from life events. And I think the episode … called ‘The Car’ where the [Pearson] family is buying this now iconic Jeep Wagoner might be the best representation of what an automobile means to a family. That [Jeep] was a car that Jack couldn’t afford but seeing his kids in it, he saw the life that that car could live. And especially with Jack meeting his end in his early 50s, there’s a lot of reverence that happens knowing that his family is going to be okay and safe in this car.”

But this season of ‘This is Us’ has placed Pearson in much more intense driving seasons than ever before — through the jungles of Vietnam to be specific. Viewers have been tuning in to episodes that flash back to Pearson’s days abroad during the Vietnam War.

For Ventimiglia, who is no stranger to shooting hard-hitting and tough-to-stomach scenes, the focus on the War in this season has been particularly challenging on an emotional level. But in true Jack Pearson form, Ventimiglia has taken the experience and crafted it into something that’s become both teaching and poetic:

“[Shooting] was heavy, It was very, very heavy. War in and of itself is a horrible thing. And to know that the Vietnam War (or the American War as the Vietnamese call it) changed so many lives in not a great way, knowing that we were there walking the ground where that had actually happened was heartbreaking, Very heavy. And to know that the atrocities of war are still very present, in my current life it makes me want to be more positive, to be more loving, to be more compassionate, to be more understanding, to listen to the other side so that maybe we can find commonality. But it has been challenging going backwards in Jack’s life and playing the notes that we’ve played through the Vietnam storyline.”

And thought the Vietnam storyline may be coming to an end, it's one very important character that's come out of that plot line that will set up what's to come for the rest of the season:

“We do wrap up the Vietnam storyline. There’s of course the discovery of Nicky Pearson still being alive so there’s a lot to unpack there. But beyond that, we just continue to go deeper into the lives of the Pearsons, seeing their highs and seeing their lows and everything else in between.”

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