The Best of Car Talk

By NPR

Comedy Automotive

What's The Best of Car Talk about?

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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#2137: Thirty Four Years of...

09.11.2021

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, whose government vehicle had a slight hesitation problem at 17,000 ...

The Best of Car Talk episodes:

09.11.2021 #2137: Thirty Four Years of the North American Wacko 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, whose government vehicle had a slight hesitation problem at 17,000 ...
09.04.2021 #2136: Thirty Four Years of Lousy Marital Advice 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 series of special shows featuring ...
08.28.2021 #2135: The Camaro Contretemps 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 Car Talk, ...
08.21.2021 #2134: My Dog Still Hates You 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 hate them, but would ...
08.14.2021 #2133: Joys of Family Car Trouble 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 does their ...
08.07.2021 #2132: Choosing the Right Vehicle 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 instead ...
07.31.2021 #2131: Adventures in Bogosity 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. Is the ...
07.24.2021 #2130: Til Death Do Us Park 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 herself, but should ...
07.17.2021 #2129: We Don't Recommend the Hot Wax 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 option ...
07.10.2021 #2128: Geek Camp 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 she's killing a ...
07.03.2021 #2127: Perspicacity and the Sundance Kid 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, Tommy's erstwhile soulmate Rob drives like a ...
06.26.2021 #2126: The Secret Male Handshake 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. Can Tom and Ray separate truth from bogosity? ...
06.19.2021 #2125: The Spark of a Bad Idea 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 the stench ...
06.15.2021 #2124: Empathic Shared Meaning 101 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 Jeff would be ...
06.05.2021 #2123: But it Drives Pretty Good 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 tries to ...
05.29.2021 #2122: Automotive Marital Wagering 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 Philosopher King ...
05.22.2021 #2121:All's Well in Endwell, NY 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, Liz's husband really wants to celebrate ...
05.15.2021 #2120: Garage Camping 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 Matthew "helped" ...
05.08.2021 #2119: The Scrape Theory 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 Talk, ...
05.01.2021 #2118: The Rhinestone Sundance 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 wacko by asking Tom and Ray ...
04.24.2021 #2117: Inter-Species Commnication 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 problem through song. Elsewhere, Marni wants ...
04.17.2021 #2116: Alas, Poor Wobble Butt 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 from further embarrassment? Elsewhere, ...
04.10.2021 #2115: The Floral Belvedere 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, so the car ...
04.03.2021 #2114: Click and Clack Defined 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 answer the most-asked question: How did these jerks get ...
03.27.2021 #2113: Nature Vs Nurture 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's ...
03.20.2021 #2112: Love and an Automotive Weenie 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 dump ...
03.13.2021 #2111: Miles Per Mothball 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 ...
03.06.2021 #2110: The Evil Twin 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 Montero? Who better ...
02.27.2021 #2109: The Roof Snow Theory 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 stopped working after she filled up her gas ...
02.20.2021 #2108: Book This, Rebecca 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 a Datsun 510, and what ...
02.13.2021 #2107: My Tire Passed Me 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 tale. Can Tom ...
02.06.2021 #2106: Book This, Dad 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, tell Dad what you really ...
01.30.2021 #2105: They're All Jerks 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 the car, the traffic, or ...
01.23.2021 #2104: Oh, Shut Up This week on The Best of Car Talk, might three simple words be Cathy's best response to her dealer's accusation that she was lax in changing her Camry's oil? Elsewhere, Martin's love for his Cadillac has him concerned that he ...
01.16.2021 #2103: Acute Tirophobia This week on The Best of Car Talk, Peterson is afraid to put air in his tires. Is he doomed to depending on the kindness of strangers with pumps, or can Tom and Ray help cure him—or at least outfit ...
01.09.2021 #2102: The Roadmonster That Ate Cambridge This week on The Best of Car Talk, is Phil's Buick Roadmaster making noise because of a steering problem or because he needs to make 20-point turns to navigate the narrow streets of Our Fair City? Elsewhere, Fred doesn't know ...
01.02.2021 #2101: The Mustang Compost Bin This week on The Best of Car Talk, Mary loaded her Mustang's trunk with compost two months ago. Her husband says it's rotting the floor, but Mary wants to keep the compost all winter for ballast. One added wrinkle: Mary ...
12.26.2020 #2052: Untowed and Unbowed This week on The Best of Car Talk, Steve moved to Chicago for a job and a girlfriend. He lost both, but he's kept his sense of humor, and is just kinda confused about why his Acura was the only ...
12.19.2020 #2051: Predestination of Lightning This week on the Best of Car Talk, Evelyn wants to know why a bolt of lightning spared her car and struck the road 20 feet away instead. Tom and Ray think Evelyn should just say a few kind words ...
12.12.2020 #2050: Stop the Snort This week on the Best of Car Talk, can Ray grant one listener's Christmas wish by snorting less? And why can't Bob stop laughing about his Geo's starting problem? Elsewhere, Alan's Lincoln is starting to sound eerily like his mother; ...
12.05.2020 #2049: The Brake Stomper This week on The Best of Car Talk, Diana has a new boyfriend, and a Stanza that's begun chewing up brake pads at an alarming rate. What are the chances these two facts are not a coincidence? Oh, maybe 100%? ...
11.28.2020 #2048: The Black Hole of Auto Metaphysics This week on the Best of Car Talk, one listener postulates that a non-essential repair on an old car creates a parallel universe where everything else starts to break. Sorry, but for proof, you may have to tune to the ...
11.21.2020 #2047: The Shrink Wrapped Land Rover This week on The Best of Car Talk, Mike and his sons are about to embark on a two-year around the world sailing voyage, but the vintage Land Rover Mike's been restoring won't be much use at sea. Should he ...
11.14.2020 #2046: The Exercise Diaries This week, The Best of Car Talk kicks off with the tale of one man's descent to Dante's supplemental Circle of Hell, the local health club, where he is at the merciless hands of his personal trainer, Tanya. Then we're ...
11.07.2020 #2045: The Bionic Bug This week on The Best of Car Talk, Rita's VW won't start after being flooded during a hurricane. Does it have a future on the road or just as a saltwater aquarium? Elsewhere, Bob discovered an unusual feature in his ...
10.31.2020 #2044: You Sap This week on The Best of Car Talk, Yousef's quickie oil change place recommended that he use special high mileage/high price oil in his Saturn. Yousef swears the car is performing better, but his fiancee is convinced that Yousef got ...
10.24.2020 #2043: Clickonomics This week on Car Talk, how many thousands of dollars can one hour of lousy car advice pump into an ailing economy? Well, when that hour starts with a Saab owner who's going to be transmission shopping, we may be ...
10.17.2020 #2042: Don't Start This week on The Best of Car Talk, Rich inherited a Buick that's been napping for four years. Can he start it right up without destroying it,or being enveloped in smoke? Elsewhere, Patrice's VW bus won't start, John Mark's backseat ...
10.10.2020 #2041: Exorcist or Arsonist This week on The Best of Car Talk, Robin and our hosts have different approaches for ger VW's devilish steering problem. Elsewhere, Sue's boyfriend is afraid to get in the car with her due to her long history of accidents, ...
10.03.2020 #2040: Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures This week on The Best of Car Talk, Andy's car overheated in the desert. With no water on hand, his girlfriend convinced him to use the only liquid available. We're bordering on TMI here, so we'll just say that Andy ...

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