The Avants Podcast

By AvantsComedy Society & Culture Leisure Comedy Interviews Automotive

The Avants Podcast episodes

March 23 Overland Updates, Snow Wheeling Hitchhikers, and Boring F1
Brian Dallas drops in to give us some updates on the Overland scene for 2026, Nick goes snow wheeling and picks up hitchhikers, and Dan thinks F1 is boring now.
Our Avants community question of the week, what is the most beautiful car ever made? Post a pic of your favorite!
The Avants Podcast is brought to you by our friends at STEK USA and Carter Seattle!
Not an Avants member? https://www.avants.com/member-plans
Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!
Leave us a voicemail or send us a text any time at 425-298-7873!
We're doing give aways! Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and we'll pick a random name every 25th review!
48 min
March 11 Consumer Reports Bombs the New 4Runner
Consumer Reports has launched there worst of 2025 and much to our surprise, the new 4Runner made the list! We love the new 4Runner, but CR did have some good points about the underwhelming engine choice as well as it's ride quality on the road. While the other choices were somewhat expected, we were surprised to see the beloved 4Runner make the list, but what do you think?
And for our question this week, where are you most excited to travel to in the upcoming driving season?
The Avants Podcast is brought to you by our friends at STEK USA and Carter Seattle!
Not an Avants member? https://www.avants.com/member-plans
Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!
Leave us a voicemail or send us a text any time at 425-298-7873!
We're doing give aways! Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and we'll pick a random name every 25th review!
41 min
March 02 Analog Opportunities
With several emissions rollbacks already taking effect, the automotive industry finds itself at a rare and timely crossroads—one that opens the door for genuinely exciting cars once again. Horsepower figures are now pushing past the 1,000 mark from multiple manufacturers, signaling that the long-running horsepower war is rapidly reaching its natural conclusion. As that race winds down, there’s hope that automakers will redirect their energy toward what truly defines a great car: delivering a more engaging, rewarding, and memorable driving experience.

Speaking of memorable driving experiences, what automotive related destinations have you felt called to go back to? For us, it's clearly Moab, Idaho, Colorado, and the hidden roads of Sierra Nevada's. What place has you itching to come back and drive? The Tail of the Dragon, the Alps? Let us know!

The Avants Podcast is brought to you by our friends at STEK USA and Carter Seattle!
Not an Avants member? https://www.avants.com/member-plans
Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!
Leave us a voicemail or send us a text any time at 425-298-7873!
We're doing give aways! Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and we'll pick a random name every 25th review!

37 min
February 23 Circumstantial Nostalgia, Chinese Motorcycles, and Rebuilding Bugattis
For almost all of us out there, affording a new car means selling the old one. As we get older and more settled in life, sometimes the idea of a project car or buying a replacement for that vehicle you wish you still had becomes more obtainable. Which vehicle would you repurchase and why? Which project car is right around the corner for you? We also talk about the rise of the Chinese automakers that we can't get in the States, but Chinese motorcycles have already snuck in and they're actually good! Will the Chinese motorcycle market direction be an indicator of the upcoming automotive market?
The Avants Podcast is brought to you by our friends at STEK USA and Carter Seattle!
Not an Avants member? https://www.avants.com/member-plans
Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!
Leave us a voicemail or send us a text any time at 425-298-7873!
We're doing give aways! Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and we'll pick a random name every 25th review!
45 min
February 16 We Don’t Really Do Car Reviews
We talk about cars all the time, but we’re not out there test driving them very often so we don’t really consider ourselves “car reviewers”. Reporting in general has changed significantly over the years, and the latest “review” on the F250 by Dan Neil in the WSJ shows how even car reviews aren’t safe from bad taste and political soap boxes. In better car review news, the real car reviews on the new Rivian R2 have started to drop and we all seem to think it’s a great step in the right direction EVs as a whole, but we would love to hear your thoughts on it. Dan is more excited for the Scout and Rivian R3, and we both think the new Slate is unfortunately doomed due to increasing costs. Who do you think was the biggest brand loser of 2025? We give our vote to Ford for having more recalls than we didn’t think possible and the huge failure of the Lightning, which should have been an easy win. In really good consumer news, the Michelin and BF Goodrich discount is renewed for 2026 and you can save more than ever by buying from our partners at Discount Tire! Considering how warm it has been in the PNW, it’s getting close to time to get those new summer tires anyway!
The Avants Podcast is brought to you by our friends at STEK USA and Carter Seattle!
Not an Avants member? https://www.avants.com/member-plans
Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!
Leave us a voicemail or send us a text any time at 425-298-7873!
We're doing give aways! Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and we'll pick a random name every 25th review!
44 min
February 09 Listener Follow Ups and the Ford Seat Debacle
On this episode we respond to a helpful listener voicemail, a great suggestion from Juan on the one car that just needs one change, and Brian Dallas swings by to talk about the Ford seat issues that plague their vehicles equipped with Recaros.
The Avants Podcast is brought to you by our friends at STEK USA and Carter Seattle!
Not an Avants member? https://www.avants.com/member-plans
Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!
Leave us a voicemail or send us a text any time at 425-298-7873!
We're doing give aways! Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and we'll pick a random name every 25th review!
54 min
February 02Bring Back Stereo Dolphins!
Bring back stereo dolphins! We think there's a market for simplified vehicles that will outlast you with proper maintenance, and we think diesel, non-hybrid, trucks with no built-in infotainment, and manual options would be just the thing. Doug DeMuro disagrees, but do you? It turns out about 1/2 a million Washington drivers have expired tabs. In a surprise to no one living in the area of constantly increasing taxes and costs, more drivers than ever are skipping tab renewals. We often forget the tabs on our motorcycles and trailers, but what about you? Did you hear this episode then suddenly realize your tabs are still from 2021? Living in that RTA zone and it just doesn't make sense to renew them for you? Tesla pulls the plug on the Model S and Model X; is it a sign of decreasing demand for EVs?
Questions for the audience this week!
Is simplicity something you want and would actually pay for? Is there an actual market for vehicles like the 70 series or is it just a nice idea?
What vehicles is close to perfect, except for 1 or 2 glaringly obvious flaws like the Prelude?
What other manufacturers are obviously missing the mark on their models besides the Honda Prelude?
Did you "forget" to renew your tabs? Is it just too expensive now?
The Avants Podcast is brought to you by our friends at STEK USA and Carter Seattle!
Not an Avants member? https://www.avants.com/member-plans
Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!
Leave us a voicemail or send us a text any time at 425-298-7873!
We're doing give aways! Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and we'll pick a random name every 25th review!
52 min
January 26 Good As New!
"Good as new!" "...Yeah... good as new..." This week we talk about rebuilt and salvaged titled cars. There are good deals to be had buying rebuilt titled cars and rebuilding salvaged title cars, but you really need to know what you're looking and when to know you're getting scammed. Episode spoiler alert, you're almost always getting scammed. Also, we're mourning the loss of the local white 250 GTO that sold at auction for a $38.5 million; we will miss seeing it's surprise appearances at Exotics and other local events. Do you think it sold for the right price? Is any car worth that much to YOU? We go back and forth on it. Dan doesn't think any cars is, but Nick wishes it was in his garage.
The Avants Podcast is brought to you by our friends at STEK USA and Carter Seattle!
Not an Avants member? https://www.avants.com/member-plans
Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!
Leave us a voicemail or send us a text any time at 425-298-7873!
We're doing give aways! Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and we'll pick a random name every 25th review!
43 min
January 19 Using Your Car For More Than Intended
We love it when our audience gives us feedback about a topic, so we want to hear how you have used your car for maybe more than its originally intended purpose. The big stories are always fun, but we would love to see and share some of your moments of your car being used to it's fullest. Camping out of your supercar? Towing your track bike with your track car? Converted your Smart car into a tank? Used your Hilux to help overthrow annoying government regime? Let us know in the comments, or send us a voicemail or text message!
The Avants Podcast is brought to you by our friends at STEK USA and Carter Seattle!
Not an Avants member? https://www.avants.com/member-plans
Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!
Leave us a voicemail or send us a text any time at 425-298-7873!
We're doing give aways! Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and we'll pick a random name every 25th review!
41 min
January 12 2026 Starts Off Strong for Avants, but Weak for Honda
We here at the Avants Podcast welcomes Kevin Nielsen and Daniel Piker to the crew! Kevin has just started the new San Diego chapter of Avants and is a car person through and through. Daniel joined us back in October and you have probably noticed all the upgrades on the Avants social media. Honda's new Prelude has bombed in the US market, selling just 126 units in the last 2 months. Probably because it's a rebodied Civic with better suspension and brakes and they're asking an insane $40+ thousand dollars for it. Want to see something cool though? Check out this story from VinWiki on the Ganassi racing "secret" tunnel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJR8Ke6Tw6A
The Avants Podcast is brought to you by our friends at STEK USA and Carter Seattle!
Not an Avants member? https://www.avants.com/member-plans
Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!
Leave us a voicemail or send us a text any time at 425-298-7873!
We're doing give aways! Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and we'll pick a random name every 25th review!
44 min

About The Avants Podcast

From the publisher's feed

Join hosts Dan Putnam and Nick Bergeron as they get to know industry leading guests beyond just what they drive. The Avants Podcast is never scripted and never predictable, but it’s always a good time…