Podcasts by The Best of Car Talk
America's funniest auto mechanics take calls from weary car owners all over the country, and crack wise while they diagnose Dodges and dismiss Diahatsus. You don't have to know anything about cars to love this one hour weekly laugh fest.
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#23104: The Cow Tipping Capitol of the World from 2023-12-12T08:00
What could be worse than having a Dodge Colt Vista that won't run? How about two Plymouth Volares that will? And if all that isn't enough excitement, Alison from upstate New York schools Click and ...
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#23103: The Full Rhino Package from 2023-12-09T08:00
Susan and her husband are anthropologists preparing for a junket- er,'expedition', rather- to study the Maya culture from the vantage point of Mexico's most luxurious tourist destinations. They hav...
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#23102: Electric Brakes for Dummies from 2023-12-05T08:00
Paul needs help with the electric brakes on his cattle trailer. Click and Clack have lots of ideas but only one question for Paul: "How do electric brakes work, exactly?" Enlightenment ensues on th...
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#23101: You're Done For! from 2023-12-02T08:00
Joy's Cadillac has been making a cute little noise for a while and she called Car Talk for a little reassurance that it wasn't anything major. Click and Clack, customer service professionals that t...
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#23100: Mechanics vs Lawyers from 2023-11-28T08:00
On this episode of the Best of Car Talk, Dorothea wants to sue her mechanic. Now you might expect Click and Clack to stand up for a fellow professional, but instead they take a few swings at a prof...
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#2399: A Few Bad Leasing Strategies from 2023-11-25T08:00
Kathleen commutes 100 miles per day in her leased Chrysler and the excess mileage charges are going to clobber her when she returns the car in a few years. She wants to know how likely would it be ...
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#2398: Autocide from 2023-11-21T08:00
Leslie from Washington parked her crummy Chrysler K car on a hill one day only to return later and watch it rolling backwards and into a tree. She's sure that she had placed the car in park when sh...
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#2397: The Golf Widow from 2023-11-18T15:27
Of the two kinds of 'golf widows', Linda is the happy kind -more than willing to let her husband waste hours smacking a little ball around a field while she enjoys some time of her own. But Linda's...
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#2232: Donna's Theft-Proof Pontiac from 2022-04-19T08:00:07
Donna's Pontiac is giving her problems. Instead of being the prototypical 'Donna Pontiac' of Car Talk lore -a Firebird, she's stuck with a lowly Pontiac 1000 -a Chevy Chevette in disguise. And if t...
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#2231: The Tale of the Two Wheeled Tailgater from 2022-04-16T08:00:04
On a recent show the brothers flatly stated that no one ever gets cited for tailgating on the roads nowadays. Christopher, a humble student from St. Louis begs to differ. He was going down the road...
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#2230: Relevant Inexperience from 2022-04-12T08:00:12
Kevin's Pontiac is outfitted with an early version of a modern digital dashboard and it's giving him trouble. But his mechanic won't work on it because he's never worked on one before. Click and Cl...
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#2229: Sarah's Ford Taurus IHOP from 2022-04-09T08:00:25
You may know that for a few years Ford produced a testosterone-poisoned version of their popular Taurus sedan that they labeled the 'IROC'. Well, it seems that Sarah from nearby Brookline, MA someh...
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#2228: Hockin' Loogies from 2022-04-05T08:00:47
Robert from Los Angeles has just about had it with the traffic on his local, bumper-to-bumper, take-no-prisoners highway and he's begun jousting with aggressive tractor trailer drivers to vent his ...
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#2227: Bovine Auto Elixirs from 2022-04-02T08:00:02
Did you know that 'cow magnets' -which keep our bovine friends from digesting too much metal- can also improve your car's(and perhaps the cow's)gas mileage? Neither did we. Listen, learn and laugh ...
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#2226: The Klutz and the Clutch from 2022-03-29T08:00:39
Carol was heading back to school in her Corolla and managed to knock the shifter out of 5th gear and into neutral twice and now it won't go into 5th anymore. Her mechanic is certain that she broke ...
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#2225: I Have the Answer! Now Where Did it Go? from 2022-03-26T08:00:16
Kris from Washington has a Subaru that 'thunks' around corners. After the boys ask a few probing and insightful questions they seize upon an answer -and promptly forget it in the excitement. Will K...
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#2224: Breaking the Curse from 2022-03-22T08:00:12
Jill from California has a dilemma. Her family's habit is to drive their cars into the ground -past the point of usefulness(do not pass 'Go', do not collect $200). But Jill is having thoughts of se...
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#2223: Everything's Bigger in Texas from 2022-03-19T08:00:32
Melissa from Roseville, Texas has a car on it's last legs. Her mother has kindly offered to sell Melissa her Pontiac Grand Am, but Melissa's husband, 'Tex' -he of the Nissan Pickup with multiple ro...
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#2222: When Your Mechanic is Either Honest or Competent from 2022-03-15T08:00:49
Politicians aren't the only ones in DC that come in just two types. Allen from Washington, DC is facing a dilemma regarding his local mechanics and humbly asks the boys a very profound question: Wh...
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#2221: Calling Dr Cheapskate from 2022-03-12T08:00:58
Linda from Ambler, PA has a boyfriend who is a medical doctor AND a cheapskate. We know he's a cheapskate not just because he drives an old Ford Escort Wagon, but Linda says it moans constantly whe...
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#2220: A Little R and R from 2022-03-08T08:00:48
In the wider world, 'a little R and R'(rest and relaxation) is a good thing. But here at Car Talk Plaza, 'R and R' stands for 'Rant and Rave' and that means that it's time to duck and cover while T...
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#2219: Too Cool for School from 2022-03-05T08:00:58
Alberto is a sociology professor in Utah teaching his students about issues of societal inequality. His old, banged up VW is consistent with his self-image as a hip college prof. But his wife is de...
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#2218: That OLD Car Smell from 2022-03-01T08:00:51
That 'new car smell' has long been part of American automotive lore. Following distantly behind is the more familiar 'old car smell': a noxious blend of dust, dirt and whatever mysterious goo has b...
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#2217: A Haircut in Horsetown from 2022-02-26T08:00:51
With this installment of the Best of Car Talk we bring you a classic puzzler. On a cross-country drive a traveler is gripped by a sudden, irrepressible need to get a haircut. We've all been there, ...
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#2216: One Sure Fire Way to Test a Car's Airbag from 2022-02-22T08:00:47
David from Texas has a newish Mazda Miata that's coming off its warranty soon. He wants to be sure that the airbags are functioning properly. The boys have ideas. Not particularly good ideas, but i...
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#2215: Working with Lexan from 2022-02-19T08:00:29
Georgia really loves her Fiat Spider but years of driving it in the hot California sun have baked the dashboard to the point that it looks like puff pastry. She's tried finding a new dash locally w...
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#2214: Diagnosis by Intimidation from 2022-02-15T08:00:16
Luis from Shreveport is having power problems with his Ford Escort. After they remind him that the Escort didn't have any power to begin with, the boys roll out two perfectly reasonable diagnoses. ...
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#2213: A Real Mickey Mouse Operation from 2022-02-12T08:00:09
Having cemented their reputations as America's preeminent purveyors of questionable car advice, the brothers would occasionally get invited to do the show from some semi-exotic locale like Alaska, ...
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#2212: Listen to Your Wife, George! from 2022-02-08T08:00:50
George has a problem with his Honda Civic that won't start. George also has a bigger problem in that his wife insists that he take the car to the Honda dealer who is sure to charge big bucks. Tom a...
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#2211: Click and Clack's Car Repair and Croissant from 2022-02-05T08:00:13
Bill's shift lever on his Ford Ranger Pick Up is constantly rattling. The boys, realizing immediately that this is a case of a problem too minor to actually spend money to fix, cast about for a mor...
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#2210: In Search of an Honest Mechanic from 2022-02-01T08:00:55
How to find an honest mechanic? Call AAA? The BBB? Or see if you can devise your own method? Listen while Tom and Ray try to help Bruce from Phoenix come up with a test to vet his local grease monk...
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#2209: More Good News from the Tappet Brothers from 2022-01-29T08:00:24
Like a lot of callers, Kasey from Minnesota is hoping for some good news about her problem Honda Civic. Hard to imagine that a car that sprays oil all over the engine compartment at a rate of a qua...
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#2208: How Safe is Too Safe? from 2022-01-25T08:00:22
Carolyn lives just around the corner from 'our fair city' and is married to a former automotive safety engineer who apparently can't let go of his old job. He wants Carolyn to wear a bike helmet wh...
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#2207: The Italian Tune Up from 2022-01-22T08:00:27
Lisa from Washington, DC was told by her mechanic that she doesn't drive her VW Golf often enough and that this will lead to all sorts of mechanical malfunction in the car's future. Tom and Ray try...
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#2206: Click and Clack's 40 Weight Cleanse from 2022-01-18T08:00:16
Most of us have had that family member who went off the deep end with some cockamamie diet or exercise or other 'miracle cure' for something. But the health and wellness industry has nothing on the...
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#2205: The Hitchhiker Test from 2022-01-15T08:00:42
Reggie from South Carolina noticed an odor coming from her car's air conditioning that smelled suspiciously like the stink of the kids in her car pool. Will the dealer's remedy for the problem work...
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#2161: Picking the Best Post Divorce Car from 2021-12-14T08:00:42
Any old car salesman can talk a young and enthusiastic car buyer into an appropriate new vehicle. It takes a special skill set -honed by many trips to one's divorce attorney- to help the soon-to-be...
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#2160: Two Losers Try to Pick a Winner from 2021-12-11T08:00:54
To add excitement to the annual Car Talk Sock Hop listener party held at the Good News Garage, Tom and Ray run a contest that promises free airfare and accomodations to one lucky entrant. Pretty ex...
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#2159: Honey I Shrunk the Car from 2021-12-07T08:00:35
Susan fr Florida has to put her beloved 1960 Austin Healey 'Bugeye' Sprite into storage for 3 years. According to Click and Clack there are two schools of thought on how to put a car into storage p...
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#2158: Donna Drives a Datsun? from 2021-12-04T08:00:45
Back 'in the day' Click and Clack observed that there were many species of peculiar drivers around their 'fair city'. Older men wearing hats were feared only slightly less than young women named Do...
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#2157: Stop in the Name of Love from 2021-11-30T08:00:37
Suzanne from San Diego always downshifts when coming to a traffic stop. Her husband David coasts in neutral with his foot on the brake. Will Tom and Ray declare one of them to be right and thus doo...
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#2156: Son of Oinga Boinga Boinga from 2021-11-27T08:00:53
On a recent show, the boys had to figure out what could possibly be the source of a car noise that went 'Oinga, Boinga, Boinga'. No sooner do listeners leap to their aid with the answer than they a...
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#2155: Shake Rattle and Roll from 2021-11-23T08:00:16
As the boys near the date for their '3rd Annual Car Talk Sock Hop' Tamsen calls in from California with a VW Superbeetle that Shakes, Rattles and Rolls down the highway. Robin has a rotten exhaust,...
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#2154: Being Right vs Being Married from 2021-11-20T08:00:51
After several wives, Tommy came to the realization that within the spousal universe you can either be right or you can stay married. So when Warren fr IL called looking for help in settling a disag...
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#2153: Save the Skeets Foundation from 2021-11-16T08:00:58
Somewhere between 'Save the Whales' and 'Save Our Planet' Click and Clack took up the cause of the endangered North American Skeet. Contrary to popular opinion, it was the desperate plight of these...
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#2152: Oinga Boinga Boinga from 2021-11-13T08:00:10
Today's show starts out with a listener communique from the future spelling out Click and Clack's fate, and it ends with the boys repeating the words, 'Oinga, Boinga, Boinga' like some lost explore...
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#2151: Mothbalderdash from 2021-11-09T08:00:38
Jim from Oklahoma was driving with his buddy through a torrential rain when his Nissan pickup stalled due to water in the fuel tank. Buddy walked off in the rain to the general store and came back ...
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#2147: Diogenes Auto Repair from 2021-10-26T08:00:11
Jeff, who has just moved to Pittsburgh, has a problem with his Toyota and Tom and Ray want him to make like the ancient Philosopher Diogenes and use the opportunity to test the honesty of the local...
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#2146: The Clink and Clunk Compendium of Car Noises from 2021-10-23T08:00:42
You would think that two guys named after noises would know their rattles and shimmies pretty well, but Click and Clack spend much of this week's show consulting the Ford Motor Company Official Lis...
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#2145: To Form a More Imperfect Union from 2021-10-19T08:00:23
Nothing succeeds like secession! Or at least that's the thinking as Tom and Ray plan for Car Talk Plaza's imminent secession(from what exactly, we're not sure). But the crazy car problems will of c...
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#2144: What Transmission Trouble? from 2021-10-16T08:00:37
In today's show Click and Clack are confronted with two callers whose car's transmissions are in really bad shape but the boys tell them to do NOTHING! Now, why would they risk their good standing ...
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#2143: Have You Lived a Good, Clean Life? from 2021-10-12T08:00:17
Broadcasting again this time from their new think tank -The Bushings Institute, Tom and Ray advise Cynthia that the fate of her beloved 1980 Chevy Citation is inextricably linked up with her person...
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#2141: Greetings from the Bushings Institute from 2021-10-05T10:45:45
The important think tanks tackle global peace, poverty and the really deep problems facing humanity. Tom and Ray's 'Bushings Institute' set their sites a bit lower: Where is Stacey's oil leak comin...
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#2140: When Yugos Roamed the Earth from 2021-10-02T08:00:10
This week's show starts a new/old chapter for Car Talk as we go back to the show's beginnings to try and figure out where such a simple concept -giving nice listeners useful car advice- went so hor...
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#2139: Thirty Four Years of Wasting Perfectly Good Hours from 2021-09-25T08:00:22
This week on Car Talk, we wrap up our 34th Anniversary celebration/apology, with our all-time favorite laughs. We've got the infamous electric brakes call and the philosophical breakthrough it insp...
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#2138: Thirty Four Years of Listener Retaliation from 2021-09-18T08:00:45
This week, Car Talk's month long 34th Anniversary Celebration/Apology continues, with an all-listener request show. We've got the Bosnian Vowel Drop, Arup Gupta, the original Melissa Peterson lette...
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#2137: Thirty Four Years of the North American Wacko from 2021-09-11T08:00:04
This week, we continue celebrating (and apologizing for) Car Talk's 34th Anniversary on NPR, with some of our all-time favorite "out there" calls. Our roster includes space shuttle astronaut John, ...
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#2136: Thirty Four Years of Lousy Marital Advice from 2021-09-04T08:00:24
Believe it or not, Car Talk is celebrating its 34th Anniversary on NPR. We know we should mark the occasion with a sincere apology for wasting all those hours, but instead, we're celebrating with a...
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#2135: The Camaro Contretemps from 2021-08-28T08:00:59
Who better than Tom and Ray to solve a dispute between two brothers over a vintage Camaro? Well, lots of people, actually. But Cynthia wasn't able to reach any of them, so this week on The Best of ...
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#2134: My Dog Still Hates You from 2021-08-21T08:00:08
This week on the Best of Car Talk, we hear from Tom and Ray's all-time #1 nemesis, Melissa Peterson. Years after her first missive, Melissa wants to remind the guys that she (and her dog) still hat...
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#2133: Joys of Family Car Trouble from 2021-08-14T08:00:33
This week on The Best of Car Talk, Vern's sister-in-law's husband accused him of wrecking the engine in his Windstar by adding too much oil. On a scale of 1 to 10, how guilty should Vern feel? And ...
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#2132: Choosing the Right Vehicle from 2021-08-07T08:00:44
This week on The Best of Car Talk, Amanda is getting married in a few days, and has one last item on her To-Do list—convincing her fiancé to get rid of his truck. Should she just throw the keys ins...
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#2131: Adventures in Bogosity from 2021-07-31T08:00:07
This week on the Best of Car Talk, Ray takes Male Answer Syndrome to a whole new level, trying to explain why Dave's keyless remote works better when Dave points it at his chin rather than the car....
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#2130: Til Death Do Us Park from 2021-07-24T08:00:25
This week on The Best of Car Talk, Katherine's new job got off to a bumpy start (literally!), when she rear-ended her boss' shiny new car on her first day. Katherine has been eyeing a new car herse...
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#2129: We Don't Recommend the Hot Wax from 2021-07-17T08:00:28
This week on The Best of Car Talk, we've all been there. You're in the midst of a long drive when nature calls but doesn't provide a venue for you to answer that call. If the only urgent haircut op...
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#2128: Geek Camp from 2021-07-10T08:00:32
This week on the Best of Car Talk, got a pencil neck and an empty summer calendar? Tom and Ray are here for you, with the first (and probably last) Geek Week Summer Camp. Elsewhere, Shelly thinks s...
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#2127: Perspicacity and the Sundance Kid from 2021-07-03T08:00:16
This week on The Best of Car Talk, after years of ranting and raving about bad drivers, Tommy makes a shocking confession. What previously unthinkable driving sin did he commit, and why? Meanwhile,...
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#2126: The Secret Male Handshake from 2021-06-26T08:00:52
This week on The Best of Car Talk, Katie's roommate's pseudo-scientific explanation for getting her Civic's door stuck on a sidewalk struck her as bogus, so she's turning to two pseudo-MIT grads. C...
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#2125: The Spark of a Bad Idea from 2021-06-19T08:00:11
This week on The Best of Car Talk, Steve left a fresh turkey in his car for a week, and well, things don't smell so fresh anymore. Will any combination of soap, air freshener, and bad cologne get t...
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#2124: Empathic Shared Meaning 101 from 2021-06-15T09:51:08
This week, The Best of Car Talk kicks off with some of our favorite Country song titles. Can anything top, "I'd Rather Pass a Kidney Stone Than Another Night With You?" Then it's off to Maui, where...
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#2123: But it Drives Pretty Good from 2021-06-05T08:00:53
This week on The Best of Car Talk, Ellen's Civic has been in three crashes, vandalized nine times, and had a tree fall on it, all of which has somehow convinced Ellen the car is cursed. If she trie...
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#2122: Automotive Marital Wagering from 2021-05-29T08:00:30
This week on The Best of Car Talk, Cynthia is so convinced her gas mileage improves when she gets her oil changed, she bet her boss 100 bucks. If she can't win on technical grounds, might Tommy the...
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#2121:All's Well in Endwell, NY from 2021-05-22T08:00:28
Slackers of the world, unite! Ah, never mind, that's probably too much effort. But this week The Best of Car Talk pays tribute to those dedicated to avoiding the rat race. In matters automotive, Li...
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#2120: Garage Camping from 2021-05-15T08:00:15
This week on The Best of Car Talk, is there a better Mother's Day gift than a kid helping his mom work on her car? Well, Anne might have done better with breakfast in bed. Her four-year-old son Mat...
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#2119: The Scrape Theory from 2021-05-08T08:00:56
You're driving down a long hill in San Francisco. Your brakes fail and there's a stop sign at the bottom. What do you do, aside from uttering every prayer in the book? This week on The Best of Car ...
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#2118: The Rhinestone Sundance from 2021-05-01T08:00:12
This week on the Best of Car Talk, Savannah wants to decorate her Plymouth Sundance with rhinestones because, well, they couldn't make it look worse, could they? Is she going to appear even more wa...
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#2117: Inter-Species Commnication from 2021-04-24T08:00:33
This week on the Best of Car Talk, thanks to modern research we can decipher what your mechanic is trying to tell you through his grunts. Meanwhile, Liz can only communicate her Volvo's steering pr...
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#2116: Alas, Poor Wobble Butt from 2021-04-17T08:00:54
This week on the Best of Car Talk, Laurie's Pathfinder earned the unfortunate nickname "Wobble Butt" because its rear end rocks from side to side. Can Tom and Ray calm Wobble Butt down and save it ...
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#2115: The Floral Belvedere from 2021-04-10T10:00:03
This week on The Best of Car Talk, Chris has flowers growing in his Belvedere, after birdseed got into his fresh air vent. To make matters worse, a kid stuffed chunks of blue cheese in the vents, s...
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#2114: Click and Clack Defined from 2021-04-03T10:00:08
This week on The Best of Car Talk, Merriam-Webster helps answer the second most-asked question in Car Talk history: which brother is "Click" and which is "Clack." Unfortunately, they can't the answ...
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#2113: Nature Vs Nurture from 2021-03-27T09:00:34
This week on The Best of Car Talk, if Art passes his AMC Concord onto his 16-year-old son, is he setting the kid on a life path of collecting junk cars? In other words, Art wants to know what Tommy...
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#2112: Love and an Automotive Weenie from 2021-03-20T09:00:45
This week on The Best of Car Talk, Darlene loves her husband but his ignorance about cars has left her at the mercy of a mechanic she doesn't know if she can trust. Meanwhile, Susan may need to to ...
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#2111: Miles Per Mothball from 2021-03-13T09:00:04
This week on The Best of Car Talk, Jim thought he had a disaster on his hands after he left his gas cap off during a rain storm, but his pal came to the rescue by pouring mothballs into the gas tan...
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#2110: The Evil Twin from 2021-03-06T09:00:33
This week on the Best of Car Talk, Stella bought matching Monteros for her kids but dumped one because it spent more time in the shop than on the road. Should she be worried about the second Monter...
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#2109: The Roof Snow Theory from 2021-02-27T09:00:29
We kick off with a proposal that could revolutionize snow measurement, if it wasn't completely bogus. Later, the bogosity continues as Tom and Ray try to explain why Anne's dashboard gauges all sto...
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#2108: Book This, Rebecca from 2021-02-20T09:00:14
Remember Rebecca from a few weeks ago, whose anal retentive dad insisted she keep detailed records of her gas mileage in his book? This week, Dad has his say. Topher explains the book's origins in ...
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#2107: My Tire Passed Me from 2021-02-13T09:00:57
You've no doubt heard Tom and Ray warn callers about the danger of wheels falling off their cars. Well, this week on The Best of Car Talk, Mike's wheel fell off—twice! Happily, he lived to tell the...
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#2106: Book This, Dad from 2021-02-06T09:00:51
This week on the Best of Car Talk, how do you handle a slightly anal retentive dad who insists on keeping verrrry thorough car records? If you're Rebecca, you ignore Dad's beloved gas mileage book,...
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#2037: Latent Junkman Syndrome from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
This week on The Best of Car Talk, Joe's brother-in-law collects heaps. Why is this Joe's problem? The cars wind up in his backyard. And to make things even more complicated, Joe's brother-in-law o...
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#2105: They're All Jerks from 2021-01-30T09:00:38
This week on The Best of Car Talk, Joyce's mild-mannered husband teaches meditation by day, but when he gets behind the wheel, he turns into a cross between Mario Andretti and Tony Soprano. Is it t...
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