The Best of Car Talk - #2458: Who Gets the Mechanic in the Divorce?

Episode Date: July 20, 2024

Sarah Volvo and Mr. Mercedes shared everything -including a wonderful car mechanic- until Mr. Mercedes was caught looking under someone else's hood. Now that she and Mercedes are kaput, Sarah wants to know who gets to keep the mechanic? Oye, oye, Divorce court is now in session with the honorable Click and Clack presiding on this episode of the Best of Car Talk.Get access to hundreds of episodes in the Car Talk archive when you sign up for Car Talk+ at plus.npr.org/cartalkLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

When voters talk during an election season, we listen. We ask questions, we follow up, and we bring you along to hear what we learned. Get closer to the issues, the people, and your vote at the NPR Elections Hub. Visit npr.org slash elections. Hello and welcome to Car Talk from National Public Radio with us, Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers and we're broadcasting this week from the Department of Revealing Information here at Car Talk Plaza. Now, I have in my hand the results of the fourth annual mechanics poll. This is legit. This is conducted by Valvoline in conjunction with ASE,

Automotive Service Excellence Organization. Well, here's the news. 200 mechanics were surveyed and asked the following question. While working on your customers' cars, what items are you most likely to find? Here are the results. Yeah, I'll look at one here. 98% of mechanics mentioned dirty clothes. Well, I understand that. Tied with partially eaten food.

95% found money, 91% found personal letters, 88% found personal hygiene items, what in the heck would that be? 67% found a dead animal, and 55% found a live animal. Well, quite honestly, I was kind of disappointed that they didn't kind of follow up and go more in depth, you know. Sure, I mean, there's more to be learned here. There's much more to be learned. So I have some questions that I'd like asked in the next mechanics survey, the fifth annual,

when they do it next year. Yeah. These relate to those items mechanics find in our cars. Number one, did they at least try on the dirty clothes they found? I saw Ralph in a miniskirt next to a 72 Fiat the other day. That's a good idea. Number two, what percentage of the partially eaten food did they at least taste? Pete doesn't even bother bringing a lunch

anymore, you figure somebody's going to have something in his car. Number three, we know that they kept the money they found, so we don't need to ask anything about that. Number four, did they read the personal letters they found? Were they able to read the personal

letters they found? And my final question is about the personal hygiene items they found. Did they know what they were? Hey Vinny, what's this anti-purse-spy-rent stuff? Yeah. Well, I think you should be in the questionnaire development business. I mean, you've got a little knack for this, buddy. I felt a little, what it slighted you did? I wasn't asked to participate in one form either as a participant is one of the persons that answers the questions Or one of the ones that formulates the questions, but maybe next year though

Well now that they know that you're interested. They'll never call. I'm sure do I get a chance to read anything? No Fine My question for us you can call us at 1-800-332-9287 hello you're on car talk Erica Erica where you from Erica Birmingham Alabama so that's just er ICA uh-huh sure well yeah well don't mean her name I mean no I think it's fine I know you said it's just er IC, I didn't mean that in a derogatory- Just boring old E-R-I-C-A. Absolutely not, you misinterpreted my- Plane Brown Rapper.

No, if she were from some wacko place like Montana, it would be E-O-R-I-Q-U-E-A or something. I thought it was nice. Charming? She's just a charming, plain, straightforward woman. Thank you. What's up, Erica Erica I'll my car I'm 1989 Toyota Camry okay

and I know you like camera we don't know I'm planning to drive this I've got it at a hundred and thirteen thousand miles and I'm gonna get it to 200,000 sure you will and the past year so I've been having this problem and becoming more frequent that it's been down that happened when i turn up carl car and i like to describe it as if you've ever had a car running any of the key

yeah i think that it had on not paying attention that might already be on the being distracted or an automatic transmission yet that's what i like the sound that my wife makes when I get home from work at night. Exactly. Hi hon, I'm here. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH and this gets, I mean when it happens, yeah, well everyone around me thinks I'm doing this to the crime purpose. Right. Or something and it's just. Say I'm not, I'm just trying to start the beast. Well the sound you have is called gear clash. Gear clash. I mean, and it is almost exactly the sound that you hear when you turn the key and the

engine's running, because almost the same thing is happening. It's akin to what happens when my brother dresses himself, called color clash. And what's happening is that you have worn teeth on the ring gear or the flywheel and you're not getting a good mesh between that gear and the gear the pinion gear that's on the starter drive. In the old days, speaking of old days, the way you started the car, the way you get it started is you got to get the pistons moving up and down so that it so that it gets the idea and then you throw in some gasoline and a little spark and then it goes by itself but if the pistons aren't first moving up and down by themselves then nothing happens so the old days they had

a crank that they stuck in the front of the car and they actually turned the crankshaft but that got tiring I think you haven't gone back fighting you need to go back father for like when a man first stood erect you know you don't throwing out all these terms like ring gear opinion yes I'm trying to ban you out! I'm trying! I'm doing this so Erica can write it down. Huh? My name is Simple, so let's make the answer.

Well I was trying to make it simple by not embellishing you with all this historical background. Give me the facts, lady! I like history though. She's an art history major. Go ahead, tell her the story. I appreciate this. Yeah, yeah, I know.

So now, instead, we have an electric motor in there that does the cranking that people used to do with an actual crank. And in order for it to work, we're going to have gears that mesh together. And when they don't mesh together properly you get what you got how many times how often does this happen it's happening once or twice a day now yeah well how much money have you got how much need you may need several hundred gonna need a couple is this a v6. Yes They haven't created it that mean I suppose the good news is that It's not gonna Making it worse is not gonna cost you anymore. Okay, however at some point the cars not gonna start

Oh gosh, really? Well, because it's like every day that you do this, you knock out a couple of teeth and very soon you can't free every teeth, you know? And then it won't start at all. So you gotta, you oughta do it. There's no sense waiting. On the other hand, I mean, in the interest of science, you may want to see how long you can go without doing anything.

And you may be able to go another 50,000 or so. Nah, who's interested in science anyway? You might be able to go another 50,000. I mean, the damage is done. The die is cast. Yeah, but it could get worse. It can't get worse. The worst it can get is that it doesn't start, which is no worse than having run out of gas

some day or having your fuel pump fail. I mean, there are many ways... You many ways the circumstances under which it won't start I mean you're sitting in your house, and you decide you want lemonade All right, it's a little scenario obvious little scenario you get a lemon out of the refrigerator and you get some ice and water and You start to cut the lemon in half with the biggest knife that you have and you slice off your little finger. Right. You're bleeding profusely. You stick your finger in the lemon and you wrap it up with the towel and you run out

to the parking, to the drive where you turn the key and it goes nothing. Now is that what you want? No! That could happen. Alright, refrain from lemonade making. I wouldn't make any lemonade while this symptom persists. So I would do nothing. I would stay home and just stare out the window.

And just wait for the day. And wait for the day. All right, all right, I'm convinced. Get it fixed. No, get it fixed. True. I mean, you're shooting for 200,000. Yeah, you'll never make it to-

So why not make that couple hundred? You'll never make it to 200 like this. Why not get it fixed tomorrow and enjoy noise-free starting for the next 113,000 miles? That's how long the first will last. The second one will last just as long. So I do have to agree with my brother. I would fix it. Plus, if you adopt this attitude of waiting for things, pretty soon like a door handle

breaks and you don't fix it. A headlight breaks, you don't fix it. Someone taps you on the side, you got a big dent, you don't fix it. Someone taps you on the side, you got a big dent, you don't fix it. Next thing you know, and someday you'll walk out of the house. And you say, your tongue's visiting. And in your driveway will be a 63 dark.

That's what happened to him. See ya, Erica. Good luck. Bye. Guess what? The Puzzler Answer and more calls are coming up right after this. Support for this podcast and the following message come from Wise, the app that makes

managing your money in different currencies easy. With Wise, you can send and spend money internationally at the mid-market exchange rate. No guesswork and no hidden fees. Learn more about how Wise could work work for you at WISE.com. important stories and backstories from the campaign trail so you understand why it matters to you. Listen to the NPR politics podcast wherever you get your podcasts. In this country, some truths aren't self-evident. In NPR's Black Stories, Black Truths, the collection of stories is wide-ranging and As the people who tell them, we celebrate the Black experience for all its soul and richness.

Search NPR Black Stories, Black Truths, wherever you get podcasts. This election season, you can expect to hear a lot of news, some of it meaningful, much of it not. Give the Up First podcast 15 minutes, sometimes little less, and we'll help you sort it out. What's going on around the world and at home. Three stories, 15 minutes, Up First every day. Listen every morning, wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, Tommy, do you know what it's time for?

Yes, it's time for the puzzler answer. Well, actually- Or the puzzler. Which? The puzzler answer, you're quite right. Puzzler answer. Wow. Took your pills this morning, eh're quite right. Puzzle and answer. Oh, took your pills this morning, eh?

Took my pills. Let's see now, and the question is going to be, what is the puzzler? And I should remember, because it was the very first one of the season, was it not, last week? Yes. Then I don't know what it is. Yes, it was the fall premiere of the puzzler. Here it is, I'll try to shorten it as much as I can. The toilet. The toilet.

Our friend Ronnie was asked to take care of his brother's house while the brother was on vacation. What's his brother's name? Walter. Walter said, look, I'm going to be gone for a couple of weeks. So go over and water the plants, make sure no one is broken in. And Ronnie says, don't worry. You can trust me, man. I'm your brother. Right. How many times have I heard that? I'm not heavy. I'm your brother. So his brother takes off and Ronnie goes over the first day, checks it out, waters the plants.

They look all right. And as he's on his way out, he says, need a haircut. So he goes and uses the bathroom and he leaves. He returns about 11 days later to water the plants, which are now what? So he says, so what? And as he's getting ready to leave, he thinks he hears water running. He follows a sound and ends up in the bathroom that he had used five weeks earlier. Yeah.

And indeed the toilet has been running for 11 straight days. You know, when you, the flap, the flap doesn't come down. Yeah. So he jiggles the handle a few times and everything is fixed and he's ready to leave again. When he notices, when he notices that there's

water on the floor, lots of water on the floor. And he's ready to leave. And he's ready to leave. And he's ready to leave. And few times and everything is fixed and he's ready to leave again when he notices that there's water on the floor. Lots of water on the floor. Really? Apparently the toilet has not only been running, but it's also been leaking. Maybe that's why it's been running, he surmises. He estimates that there are several gallons of water on the floor, so he looks around. He can't find any leak from the toilet or anywhere else, so he does what? Leaves. Runs out. Of course.

A couple of days later, his brother gets home and calls a plumber, and the plumber actually confirms Ronnie's diagnosis that there's nothing wrong with the toilet or the plumbing. The question is, where did the three or four gallons of water that were on the floor come from? Yeah. Yeah. My brother figured this out. Well I actually did, but I didn't, you had to give me a hint because I said condensation

and you said what do you mean? You got condensation on your toilet and you don't have three gallons of water on the floor. Oh that's when you were stymied. Oh no, and that's when I mean you had to tell me that, you had to point that out to me and then I said, aha, cold water. Cold water, when the toilet is stuck like that, when the handle is stuck, you have a constantly renewed supply of cold water coming into the tank which serves as a fresh vessel, so to speak, no pun intended, for condensation.

Because it was summer and the air in the house was hot and humid, moisture from in the room would continually condense on the cold tank. If you had just filled up the tank and it doesn't keep getting replenished, it would reach equilibrium with the room. And there'd be no more condensation and the few drops of water that had been on it would have fallen to the floor perhaps and dried up and disappear that beret they would have joined the moisture in the rest of the room but with the thing stuck in that water going all the time that tank was icy cold baby Wow pretty

good huh excellent do we have a winner who we have a winner our first winner of the season wait a minute we need about a trumpet here we have a winner? Of course we have a winner. Our first winner of the season. Wait a minute, we need a trumpet. Here we are. First winner of the season, Brad Myers. Where? Oh, from Mililani Town, Hawaii. He sent in his answer via the internet when his boss wasn't looking, and for having the correct answer selected at random as our winner this week, Brad gets fired!

Fired! Actually, actually Brad gets a brand new, actually Brad gets a brand new Chad's House of Croissant car talk t-shirt. This was the winning shirt from our t-shirt contest which ran for 10 months. It's got the Chad's House of Croissant's logo on it which is X'd out with a big red X and then Car Talk and NPR is written in

its place. It's not Croissant's. Croissant. I'm sorry, did I interrupt? Uh, yes. I just wanted to add that this is a high class t-shirt worthy of the Car Talk name. Hey, look, we'll have another new puzzle coming up during the second half of Car Talk, so stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, you can call us at 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hi, this is Sarah. Sarah, is there an H at the end of it? Yes, there is. Good. Hi. Where are you from?

I'm calling from Cambridge. Massachusetts? Massachusetts. I just moved here a year and a half ago colorado what's up here's my by problem it's kind of a little story i moved here a year and a half ago with my nineteen

eighty-two volvo four door which i love you have a hundred thousand miles on it and i take very good care of it so here i am and i'm looking for a mechanic and i take very good care of it so here i am and i'm looking for a mechanic and i find this have to click an excuse so great

good to my car he's on it it's an old car something need to be that let us know where he is will draw the notes well i'm not on the rail well lynching tonight is this guy and that's a key that in jamaica plane at uh... west cork auto he's great who he was very perfect protect protective of me when i first moved here patrick from west cork auto no we don't know him

kind of a long story short i met a really nice guy and i think that he also had an older car he from massachusetts and he had a seventy two mercedes and i introduced him to my mechanic if he was having some problems yeah and my mechanic gave him great deals because my mechanic really like me and he knows that i'm good to my car and he cuts me

some slack on the oil change in the filters and he just he cuts me a deal every now and again mhm this is i see a triangle coming here it's coming yesterday and now here we go i'd like to take a look at the young man that man that i'm dating and they he starts getting all the work done in the car really good deals and we've broken up who you are the mechanic and i'm not going to have to have a message so i can't get married me in the mercedes mckinley broke up he did something very bad

and so he is history and now my question is and after we broke up listen to the yeah wait whoa whoa whoa if he if you if you were willing to divulge the fact that he did something very bad you've got to tell us what it was he was seen kissing another woman in public oh that's bad very bad and he was seen by by a third party evidently by a number of third parties really yeah Patrick wasn't one of them was he no Patrick may be trying to bust you to a I have suspected that from the very beginning I did too I mean I mean if Patrick is giving you all these deals on the oil changes now you sure he's not putting the moves on you Patrick's married I'm sure he's nice

very nice Catholic Irish Catholic mechanic he died very nice catholic irish catholic mechanic is very nice now repeat but i think that that uh... uh... but here's my question just because he did something bad yeah i think that that the god for not blessing him and he got into a car accident after we broke up. And I know that his car is being fixed.

This is Mercedes now, what's on that one? The Mercedes is being fixed. And I just heard this through the airwaves and now Patrick is working on the car and Patrick doesn't know what a little rat think. Also, you don't even have to ask the question that he was in his there do you tell patrick that you've broken up so you can charge in the regular price right or do you not tell patrick and allow him to get the great deal right at the petro was willing to pass out is the question is

the question well i would certainly drop a dime on him right don't you think you've gotten enough pain from one, losing me, getting caught, and getting in a car accident? That's three bad strikes all in August. Okay, here's what you gotta do. Give us Patrick's number.

If you don't want to call, we'll rat on him. You will? Sure. Oh, I'll definitely give it to you. Want me to give it to you off the air? Off the air, yeah. Five, five, one, nine. Okay, Sarah. Talk to me. sure i'll definitely give it to you want to give it to you off the air off the area five five one nine became sarah

happening hang on a minute we're gonna call patrick right now you hang on and we'll come right back to you don't go away i won't go away you'll be on the boat the with cargo Right. Where's Calgado? Is Patrick there please? This is me.

Hmm. Hi Patrick. You probably don't know us Patrick. This is, my name's Tom and my brother is Ray and we're talking to you from the studios of WBUR in Boston. We do a call in car radio show. We just had a call from a woman named Sarah, whom you know. Sarah? She's a customer of yours.

82 Volvo? She's a sweetheart. Well, she had kind words for you too. She said you were the best mechanic in the Boston area. Oh, I doubt that. I doubt that very much. Well, we told her too. We doubted her also. But she said you were kind and considerate and protective of her.

Oh my God. I'm married. Well, she also said that and we didn't believe that either. So here's the deal. She said that she introduced a guy to you who has a 72 Mercedes. Oh, he must be her boyfriend. Yeah, he's her boyfriend. That's why she called. You used the wrong tense of the verb. must be her boyfriend. Yeah he's her boyfriend. Well that's why she

called. You used the wrong tense of the verb. He was her boyfriend. Oh really? Yeah and that's why we're calling because she's always felt that you've given her a very good deal in her car and on the repairs and had passed that along to this fellow with the Mercedes figuring that they were an item. You know they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Yeah. And now that they're no longer together because he was caught kissing another girl. Oh, ha ha ha. She wanted to call you and tell you that you should jack up the price on him and charge him the regular price and certainly not give him any discount because...

Maybe not work for him at all. Or maybe not work for him at all. Right, you might want to tell him to get his junk heap out of there. Oh my God. Or fix his car and really tuck it to him Good but she was embarrassed that she was embarrassed to call you and so but we told her we have no shame whatsoever So what are you gonna do are you gonna just tuck it to him are you gonna just tell him to take Well, you know something that's not my needs to talk to anybody see that my

could you do it i know you know i would just probably tell them that uh... i don't do that welcome to see it is anymore there you go home right exactly good for you we don't do those oil changes anymore not anymore it is a couple of stuff is not available to can walk out of the wrong color yeah the wrong so friendship is more important to you than money I will friendship is everything sure how long you've been in this car repair business oh I've been in it for about 18 years how the heck did you last with a stupid philosophy like that good personality well the next time

mr. Mercedes comes in tell him to take a hike. Well, I gotta give him a sock force between the eyes. She's the best thing that came into his life. Yeah, she sounds like a very nice person. She is a real nice girl. Except she's very vindictive here, isn't she? She's rather vindictive. Have you know any woman who wasn't? Alright, I think you've said enough Patrick.

Your wife may be listening. Sorry to bother you. All right, can we get Sarah back? I'm right here. Oh, you are? I'm right here. And you couldn't hear our conversation with Patrick, I presume? I did hear it. You did hear it? I heard the whole thing. Oh, good! Well, how do you think we did? Give us a rating on a scale of 1 to 10. On a scale of 1 to 10, I thought you guys were great. I didn't like the vindictive part because I'm not. We didn't say that. That was Patrick. Oh, it was Tom.

That's right. Oh, yeah, it was me. I'm not vindictive. I was calling for advice. Right. I was calling for your advice, and I wouldn't have told him if you told me no don't do it Well, isn't it surprising though that Patrick? Is gonna choose not to work on this guy's car? Oh, isn't that sweet?

Well, I have found whenever I have couples that take their cars to us Then when they break up or lose both customers really because they're both afraid to have a chance meeting well I mean, how would you ever know? I can't keep track of who broke up with whom and make sure I scheduled them for different days. What if I had Joe's car a day longer than I thought I was going to have it and Sally came in to pick up her car on Wednesday and Joe happened to come in to pick up his car, which should have been done on Tuesday, but didn't get done till Wednesday and they met and there was a big incident.

Well, you know, that's what surprised me when you said that Mr. Mercedes here was taking his car back to Patrick. Right. I was surprised that he would do that because of the chance of bumping into you. He obviously knew that you still went there. No, he still wants to talk to me. Oh, okay, so that's the reason. Yeah.

He didn't think he did anything wrong. He didn't. Well... He really doesn't. And you don't want to give them a chance no more chances because he's already gotten a few chances all i have a lot we don't know where to prove to that information that they will get a little bit leave it at

and now it now it's just history okay is history and that you did the right thing sarah michael and patrick is backing you up right by calling us patrick is a good man. He seems to be. Yes, he is. Well, I thank you guys very much. And if I ever need, I think the only way that Patrick will ever lose me is if I go back to Colorado.

So we're together here. Well, that's good. Glad we could help. Thanks for calling. Bye. Bye-bye. We'll be right back with more calls and the new puzzler after these messages.

This is my voice. It can tell you a lot about me. And I'm not changing it for anyone. In NPR's Black Stories, Black Truths, you'll find a collection of NPR episodes centered on the Black experience. Search NPR Black Stories Black Truths wherever you get podcasts. Black perspectives haven't always been centered in the telling of America's story. Now we're taking center stage. Introducing NPR's Black Stories, Black Truths, a collection of black-led stories from NPR's

podcasts. Search NPR Black Stories, Black Truths wherever you get your podcasts. On the Inheriting Podcast, if you ask a Filipino-American or Asian-American who is Patrick Salver, they have no clue. Pat Salver was a Filipino civil rights hero, but his activism came at a cost. The FBI labeled me as a troublemaker. Now his niece unearths his legacy. Listen to Inheriting from LAistudios and the NPR Network wherever you get your podcasts.

Christian nationalists want to turn America into a theocracy, a government under biblical rule. If they gain more power, it could mean fewer rights for you. I'm Heath Drizen, and on the new season of Extremely American, I'll take you inside the movement. Listen to Extremely American from Boise State Public Radio, part of the NPR network. Hi, we're back. You're listening to Car Talk on National Public Radio with us, Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers, and we're here to discuss cars, car repair, and further inroads by Big Blue. This has to be from the onion. Kabinda Zaire. In a move IBM offices are hailing as a major step in the company's ongoing worldwide telecommunications revolution, Mwany Ndeti used an IBM Global Uplink network modem yesterday to crush a nut.

I could not crush the nut by myself, said the 47-year-old Ndeti. With IBM's help, I was able to break it. Ndeti discovered a nut-breaking 28.8 baud modem yesterday when IBM was shooting a commercial in a Southwestern Zaire village. During a break in the shooting, which shows African villagers eagerly teleconferencing via computer with Japanese school children, Ndedi snuck into onto the set and took the modem, which he believed would serve well as a smashing utensil. It's a smashing utensil!

The daddy was impressed with the motor, was so impressed with the motor that he purchased a new state of the art IBM workstation. The tribesman has already made good use of the computer system, fashioning a gazelle trap out of the wires, a boat anchor out of the monitor, and a crude but effective weapon from the mouse. I am using every part of it. I will cook this gazelle on the keyboard. Hours later, the daddy capped off his delicious gazelle dinner by smoking the computer's

200 page owner's manual. I think that's wonderful. It's got to be the onion. They're the only ones screwy enough to write stuff like this. All right, talking about screwy. It was suggested to me that I use this puzzle against my judgment by our esteemed producer, Duggee Berman. Yeah, I know which one it is too. And I think it's okay. You think it's okay?

Well, this was sent to us by Thomas Dobson, and I can deduce, I think, from his email address at OHSU Ohio State University, I would say he's from. I'm just guessing. Old Honolulu State University. It could be that. Right? Old Honolulu would be good. Old Honolulu.

All right. Here it is, without further ado. Yeah this isn't worth much. Yeah oh no it's worth plenty of ado. You have all the ado I can muster up. Question. Yeah. What man-made object first broke the sound barrier? Yeah now the real issue is do you give a hint or not? Well, I don't think you should she was it no hint the plane that Chuck Yeager flow Well, I was a made man-made object was it not it was not that it was not that it was prior to that That's all we'll say. I think if you say any more You're giving it away, man. You're giving it away. What are we you're not giving away much though, right?

away. What are we? You're not giving away much though, right? No, I'm giving away a crummy t-shirt. What's a giveaway? Okay. All right, if you think you know the answer, I'll have a clever wrong answer. Or you want to email... Sometimes they're just as good. Tom Dobson at Old Honolulu State University. Send it to us at Puzzler Tower, Car Talk Plaza, Box 3500, Harvard Square, Cambridge, Our Fair City, Math 02238, or you can email us your answer from CarTalk.com by clicking on the Talk to Car Talk section. And if we choose your correct answer as the winner next week and you catch us, we'll send you a Chad's House of Croissant Car Talk T-shirt. We should mention that we don't pick the answers

that come in first. So if you are sending us snail mail, meaning like the post office, you have just as much a chance of winning as the person who zaps us the answer electronically. You will not be under any kind of disadvantage by sending it to us the old fashioned way. That's right. Now, if you'd like to call us you can do that the old-fashioned way by dialing 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk.

Oh, yeah. Hello. My name's Bill. I'm from Dearborn, Michigan. Hi, Bill. Hi. My question involves my career change. I'm an electrical engineer and I'm focusing in the liability engineering. I've has been hired by one of the big three and let's see now who would that not be the liability engineering i don't want to open my mouth and i was just one of his i'll just the quiet

okay after a minute uh... uh... well my issues involving warranty uh... we have a great warranty problem with the company about five billion dollars a year and other liability engineer and

cast with helping the design engineers especially with the electrical area with reducing that warranty so i thought i'd call you guys and ask for your advice on what should be tackled in terms in those in those terms. So in the areas of electrical and electronic things, you want to know which ones of them need the most work in the way of improvement of reliability? Yes. That's the question? Yes. Isn't this what they're paying you for you yeah I mean you're going to be sending us part of

your salary I'm going to the ignorant of car haha gmi I've been I've been in microelectronics my whole life ah ok automotive and I see I can I can go through the warranty data and pick out the high cost items, but I'm actually more interested in the most interesting problems than the most costly, but I'll be dealing with those as well. Sure. My guess would have to be the area of

sensors. Sensors, yep. But I have no basis for that whatsoever. None. Well, I mean, only because we see a lot of sensors go bad whatsoever. None. Well, I mean only because we see a lot of sensors go bad later. Later or later on. Yeah, and they may. Because of the poor quality of manufacture. Yeah. And the sensors themselves, the electronics? Yeah, they're like, you know, like things like throttle position sensors, coolant temp sensors and the like. And we just see a lot of, fortunately, they're relatively cheap for most cars, although on some cars they're expensive. And I forget the technical term.

Junk, I think. Junk is cheap junk. Yeah. Yeah. I think it boils down to so- The liability guideline, I should suggest no more junk. If they start making cheap junk and stop trying to shave a tenth of a penny, or maybe a hundredth of a penny, off the price of every single component that goes into the

car. I mean, I understand that their objective is to make cars and sell them at a profit. On the other hand, if they have $5 billion a year in warranty claims, they might do a little cost analysis and determine that. Well, sure. I mean, that's exactly why they hired Bill, because they want to make sure that everything lasts one day after the warranty there and that's what they're in business for right well that's okay

that's actually a little bit broader than that because we would like things to people to buy new cars because they're exciting and interesting new cars out there and not because they're all one more out because if they if they're all one more out they're not gonna buy the same make problem plate no of course well i'll let you in on a little secret no one buys the same make probably. No, of course. Well, I'll let you in on a little secret. No one buys the same make the second time anyway. Oh, no one. They always either go up or...

It's rare. Yeah. And that's why the big three, as well as the big Japanese three and the big European three, know that it doesn't matter. Because no matter what you do, and this is part of the reliability problem, they know that no matter what you do and and that's this is part of the reliability problem they know that no matter what you could have a car that ran perfectly for 250,000 miles and the person finally trading it in would go for another model unless that person was an accountant Accountants would buy the same car. There is very little loyalty buying

So any choices everyone wants a different kind of a car the next time you say well i had a tourist and it was great rent perfectly for a hundred fifty thousand miles but i'm buying a camera this time and i've seen this time and time again so i think you'll do well your job is a sham you're wasting your time yeah i'd quit if i were you they'll come to some money you know why they hired you they hired you just to make it look good public relations that's it your job is really a

public relations just another pretty face bill exactly they don't want you to improve any damn reliability they don't care about it right they know it doesn't matter no one will be reading your memos you'll probably hang yourself in desperation after 18 months go back back to Silicon Valley. Thanks for calling. See you Bill. Woo, you started ranting there for a minute. I did what? It's alright. I didn't even notice. What happened? Did I start growing hair on my knuckles? Well you've wasted another perfectly good hour listening to Card Talk. Our esteemed producer is Doug the Subway Fugitive, not a slave to fashion, Punk and Lips Berman.

Our associate producer and dean of the College of Automusicology is Ken Babyface Rogers. Our assistant producer is Katherine Cathode Patootie Ray. Our engineer this week is Keith Shields. And our technical advisor is John Bugsy, Sebastian Mr. Height, Sweet Cheeks, Free Lunch, Twinkle Toes, Donut Breath, Hoola Hips, Two Gigabyte Make That Treat, Triple Cheeseburgers, and a Partridge, and a Pear Tree, LOLER!

Our public opinion pollster is Paul Murky of Murky Research, assisted by statistician Margin O'Vara. Our automotive medical researcher is Dr. Denton Fender. Our marriage counselor is Marion Haste. Our director of new product repair is Warren T. Myfoot. Our director of staff pay increases is Xavier breath assistant Tony Vaughn think it Director of gender studies is a man to be reckoned with our director of pedestrian operations is Carlos Castaneda The chairman of our joint chiefs of staff is John Shalai Papa Wheely our timing director is Benjamin not yet

You Yahoo and mr. Gigi does our hair Yes, he does and our chief counsel from the law firm of Dewey Cheatham and Howe is you Lewis Dewey, known to the other bums in Harvard Square as Yuri Louis Dewey. Thanks so much for listening. We're Click and Clack the Tapper Brothers. Don't drive like my brother. Don't drive like my brother. We'll be back next week, we hope.

Bye bye. If you want a cassette copy of this week's show, which is number 37, you can order it electronically on the World Wide Web through the Shameless Commerce Division of Chartalk.com. Or if you'd rather interact with a real human, you can call 303-823-8000 and ask for anyone but John Burke. You can also order the best of Chartalk and all the other useless Chartalk junk the same way. You click on the Shameless Commerce Division at Chartalk.com or call 303-823-8000 car talk is a production of Dewey Cheetahman Howe

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