Car Talk

This week on The Best of Car Talk, the best prank ever in Magliozzi history, as Ray's family vacation is interrupted by the unfortunate news that his beloved Ford LTD has "burned to a crisp." Elsewhere, grad student Erica hopes her Celica's rattle is serious enough to get Mom and Dad to buy her a new car; Jodi's oil burning may put her Cavalier well ahead Erica's car on the path to heapdom; Unitarian Minister Carol is being tempted by a shiny Jetta; and can Vince put the leftover gas from his weedwacker in his car without destroying it? Also, if you keep taking a car apart and putting it back together, will you eventually wind up with two? All this and more, this week on The Best of Car Talk.

This week on The Best of Car Talk, two preteen kids present "Car Talk: The Video Game," and prove they're a lot more creative and have better marketing skills than anyone in our office. But, they probably can't beat Tom and Ray on car questions, right? We won't test that, but, the brothers will try to figure out why Martha's van stops moving and acts like it's run out of gas; what made Karl's horn start blaring early Sunday morning; and which heap Cass and her newly reunited husband should keep. Also, should Lee listen to a retired mechanic's advice and run his car for 15 seconds with a pint of kerosene and no oil? And, our listeners weigh in on whether or not to name a car. All this and more, this week on The Best of Car Talk.

This week on The Best of Car Talk, Matt needs a car that can handle his annual 100,000 mile commute, and no, we didn't add too many zeros there. Matt is looking for reliability and good gas mileage, but Tom and Ray think he should be a bit more self-centered, particularly on the body part that will be chained to the seat for all those miles. Elsewhere, Marc is wondering if add-ons like the "Crap-a-Chip" will really improve his SUV's horrible mileage. Also, Mary Anne's air conditioning is cooling her passengers but not herself; Chip is wondering what fried his van's exhaust manifold; and Tom and Ray's efforts to help Becky deal with a film on her windshield are derailed by the Car Talk Studio Pranks department. All this and more, this week on The Best of Car Talk.

This week on The Best of Car Talk, one listener undertakes a bold, yet reckless experiment to find the correlation between drinking iced tea and needing to take a haircut. Is the real question "if", or "how fast"? Elsewhere, Robert bought a used truck and thinks its previous owner misnamed it. Can he re-christen it without changing its identity? Also, the only way to get into Paul's $200 car is by climbing over the hood, which, to nobody's surprise, has fried the battery; Maxine's mechanics 'fessed up to putting the wrong fluid in her brake reservoir, but maybe not so much about which fluid; Christine's Accord has become home to an ant colony; and Ray shows off his deep understanding of dew dynamics. Or is that "doo doo dynamics"? All this and more, this week on The Best of Car Talk.