The Best of Car Talk - #2465: The Dodge Dowry

Episode Date: August 13, 2024

Elysa and her boyfriend have been 'shacking up' for some time and her parents have just approached him to say that they are willing to give them a car as an inducement to tie the knot. Will Click and Clack hit the brakes on this arrangement? Find out 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

New from Embedded. Who gets to compete as a woman? This question came up in ugly form at the Paris Olympics. But it's not new. If she runs like a man and talks like a man, is she a man? Hear about the long history of sex testing women athletes on Tested, a new series from CBC and NPR's Embedded Podcast. Hello and welcome to Car Talk from National Public Radio with us, Cliff and Clark the Tappet Brothers, and we're broadcasting this week from the Center for English Language Studies here at Car Talk Plaza. Now, as you know, we have been trying in recent weeks to rid the English language of the unfortunate proliferation of French words.

Yeah. You might explain why we're doing that. Well, we're simply trying to level the playing field, as they say. Now, they declared, I guess a year or so ago, they declared war on all words, foreign words, especially English or American origin. And we simply suggested that in return, we de-Frenchify our language. Tit for tat, you might say. Yes, indeed.

I mean, why do we have to put up with these sorrys excuses for Americans? That's right. So for instance, we will no longer eat croissants. We will eat croissants. Here are several other excellent suggestions from two good old American listeners of ours, Dave and Joe. Hit it, Tommy. Well here it is. You're right. It's two guys, Dave and Thomas from Chapel Hill and plain old Joe, he says. We applaud your efforts to banish Frenchy words from our language. After all, if they won't accept perfectly good words like le shampooing,

le weekend, and le chewing gum, why should we put up with their mamby-pamby words full of degenerate elisions, sedillas, and circumflexes? Sedillas? What's a sedilla? One of those little marks that they put on their words? We notice we don't need any of those fancy little marks. We give you the letters and that's it! Right, it's your problem to figure out how it sounds. However, merely pronouncing croissant as croissant isn't enough.

I was afraid not. To help your listeners defrenchify daily speech. Defrenchify, I like that. French fry. To help your listener de-French-a-Fry daily speech, we offer this list of acceptable substitutes. For croissant substitute, wimp roll. For pate substitute, goose butter. For Maitre d'Is, I like this one the best, substitute, sneer merchant. For escapade substitute, whoop-de-doo yeah I'm Joe and Dave I'm with you guys and any other suggestions I mean we

don't know how much that those guys have we don't know to what extent the French language has infiltrated exactly ours we don't know what's going on. They're like saboteurs. Oh, another French word. They're everywhere. Lurking in a dark hallway. They're everywhere and if they think that they're going to de-Americanize their language and we're going to just sit here doing nothing, they've got another thing coming. If you have a question about your car, you can call us at 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk. This is Therese from Waterville, Maine. Therese. Hi. So what's on your mind, Therese? Well, I have a 1981 Mercedes wagon, a 300 TD, and it's got 180,000 miles on it. But the thing

is is that the brakes squeal. They make so much noise. And we had new brakes done about six months ago. You know, the front, the rear, we had shocks, struts. And my husband says, you know, cars squeak. You know, they squeal, you know, the brakes do that. But he's had like 67 cars, and I've had about 20 with him. And none of the others squeaked. None of them, you know, I mean, people turn around, you know, and none of them but you know i mean people turn around you know it's embarrassing you know i mean it's not in the Mercedes and then

everybody turned around you know looking at you what is that noise early warning system they know you're coming long before they can see you ha ha ha ha ha ha it's a safety feature that only Mercedes has now judging from the age of this car yeah you didn't have this breakwork done at the Mercedes dealer. No I didn't. In fact you may not even have a Mercedes dealer up from where it was. East Street, Trump, Maine. Yeah and you went, I don't, I don't want to guess where you went, but you you may have gone to just your local gas station. No it's a guy that works on cars all the time. Good, good. Good, good? He's not like a plumber or a gas spinner or something like that. He probably didn't use the right hardware and

he certainly didn't use genuine Mercedes pads. Is that what it really? Yeah, well those are all factors. I mean it doesn't mean that the brakes don't work as well. I'm sure the thing stops as well as it ever has. Right. Perhaps. Right. Probably. It might. But if you want the noises to go away, you're going to have to get all the hardware and the shims and all that stuff that the Mercedes company designed for this braking system. When you put all that stuff in there, the noises will go away. You might be able to buy it all for 50 bucks. Did you go back to the guy who put the brakes in and tell him about your problem? Well, you know, the thing is that he said that all brakes squeal too, right?

Oh, okay. That was my question. Oh, I know. I went out with his wife and he said... Don't bother going back to him then. No, no. I was just trying to decide whether you should go back to him and have him take another shot at it or go someplace else, and it's clear that you don't want to go back to Well if you do, if you do, that's his attitude. Well he's got an attitude, you know what I mean? It may be in fact that he doesn't know of the existence of these shims or the availability of them and you might want to enlighten him. He's probably making his own pads in the back of the shop.

Right. What's so hard about it? Go back, tell him you talked to us. No you don't have to tell him you talked. Tell him you talked to somebody. Right. Well don't have to tell them you talked. Tell them you talked to somebody. Right. Well, you read an article in Popular Science. Yeah.

And in this article, they described the problem. The very problem. You said, I couldn't believe it. It was like they had read my mind. The symptoms were exactly the same as what my car is doing. And here's what they said, hardware, original equipment stuff, and all that. The shims, the special paste, and all that, all available from the Mercedes dealer. And volunteer to buy the stuff if he'll install it for free. And when he does, the noise will go away. Really?

Yep. Guarantee it. Oh, no kidding. And while you're at it, tell your husband that he's nuts. Thank you. Sanceries. She probably tells him that every day anyway. Hey, the puzzler answer and more calls are coming up right after this. Support for this podcast and the following message come from Wyse, the app that makes

managing your money in different currencies easy. With Wyse, you can send and spend money internationally at the mid-market exchange rate. No guesswork and no hidden fees. Learn more about how Wyze could work for you at Wyze.com. Here at Shortwave Space Camp, we escape our everyday lives to explore the mysteries and quirks of the universe. We find weird, fun, interesting stories that explain how the cosmos is partying all around us. From stars to dwarf planets to black holes and beyond, we've got you. Listen now to the shortwave podcast from NPR. Do you want to maximize your summer? Well, life gets gotcha covered with tips on staying

safe in the heat, planning your big vacation, becoming a grill master, and exploring your neighborhood on a budget. Make the most of every day this summer. Listen to the LifeKit podcast from NPR. They're all over the internet and bumping out of people's cars. They're the songs of the summer, and this year includes the domination of Charli XCX and Brat Summer.

She's really tapping into this moment where we are all chronically online but also chronically outside. We are talking about the songs of the summer and why they're so catchy and inescapable. Listen to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. All right, look, for double or nothing, on the C note that I owe you, on the spelling of varmint, what was last week's puzzler? Last week's puzzler?

Uh... Doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do He's probably been listening to us for like 105 years. I don't know. Murray calls me all the time and with, I guess he must feel that the puzzler is really slipping. I wonder what makes him think that. Great. Murray. You need help. Here it is. One of our former employees at the garage, our old buddy Krusty, was finishing up work one day and I see him over next to his 55 Chevy pickup truck and he's trying to pry off the pulley for the generator. Oh, that one. And I ask him what he's

doing and he says, I'm sick and tired of having a dead battery all the time. This generator just doesn't turn fast enough, he complains, and as a result it doesn't charge the battery when I'm running at low speed, which is all I ever do. I drive around town, I've got the headlights on, the radio, the heated seats, the CD player, the mini fridge, all this stuff. And the generator just doesn't produce enough electricity. And every couple of days, or maybe every week or so in the winter, the battery is kaputsky. As we know, generators are lousy at low speed.

They're lousy generators of electricity. And I'm sick of it, consarnate! He says. Yeah. And I'm going to replace it with a pulley of about half the size so that when this thing is running at idle speed or around town, it'll turn twice as fast and charge my battery. Excellent idea, you say. He says, yeah, he says, what do you think? I said, go for it, man.

Excellent. About a week later, he had to take a trip on the highway to visit his mother in prison. In Erie, Pennsylvania. The state pen. And on the way back, something happens to his generator that he should have been able to predict. As should you. Oh, yeah, I should have been able to predict, too.

The question is, what was his mother in for, anyway? No, the question is, what happened to Krusty's truck? Because the generator was never meant to turn at very high speed, what he did was okay around town because by making it run faster, he did indeed charge up the battery by making the generator think that the truck was going at 50 miles an hour. Except when he got it up to 50. Thought it was going 100. Thought it was going 100. Thought it was going 100.

And the commutator, which is that part of the generator with all the little slits of copper that send the electricity through the brushes and ultimately to the battery, flies apart from centrifugal force. The generator, self-destructed. He came back with this box of melted mush. But hey! Well, you know, he could have used that commutator to get his mother's sentence commuted.

Okey-dokey. All right, who's our winner, man? The winner is Gordon Spear from Sterling, Illinois. and for having his correct answer chosen at random as our winner this week, our pal Gordy, will get a copy of the brand new, second best of Kartalk CD. The new album features 70 minutes of Kartalk classic moments including, Vols to Bosnia, Max and the Schnauzer, and many many others plus three bonus laugh tracks. These are just brief tracks of my brother and me laughing, which you can put on your computer, your answering machine,

or if you're sadistic, you can put it on a tape loop next to your cat's litter box, drive the lid and twerp nuts. Anyway, we have a new automotive puzzler. Ah. Coming up during the second half of car talk today. Hey, you know what time it is? Let's see, Mickey's little hand is on.

Never mind forgetting Mickey. It's time to play Stump the Chumps! Once every couple of shows, our associate producer Kenny Rogers tries to reach a previous car talk caller. I might add, against the strong advice of our lawyers. After a few weeks of trying, he eventually turns up a live one, literally a live one. And then he invites that person back onto the show so we can find out if our advice was actually helpful. So who's this week's chump stumper, Tommy? Well, according to the notes here, the chump stumper is Cal Partee Jr. from Magnolia, Arkansas.

Cal called us about three months ago complaining that his 1996 Cadillac Concorde, oh yeah, had trouble making it through big puddles. Really? A boat like that? Should be perfect in the water. Come on, don't you remember Cal? Oh yeah, I remember now. Cal, Magnolia, Arkansas. Really?

No, but choose the dream sequence. Is that it? I don't know, I made it up. I don't either. And I'll be driving in the rain. I mean, I'm talking about when I have a torrential rainstorm, I'll be coming down the road and I'll fix it, take a turn. And the car locks up. I mean mean i could be driving a log truck and it just like the power steering just goes out

but it's worse than going out i mean it won't turn i know what it is so do i uh... you mean y'all really know what it is? you are the lucky man, you get the one right answer of the show i've got one right answer of the show. I've got a right answer. You're gonna get a right answer. Wow, we really stuck our necks out telling me he was going to get a right answer. What did we say? It was easy. We told him that the next time he stalled after going through a big puddle, he should

get out, open the hood, and clean all the catfish that got stuck in the intake manifold. Now actually, we told him it was water alone that was causing the serpentine belt that drives the power steering pump on Cal's caddy to slip long enough to interrupt the steering. Problem solved? Well, let's see. Cal, are you there? Hey, guys. Hey, Cal.

Hi there. Well, hey. Cal, Cal, before... I'm trying to catfish right now. So anyway, were we right? Come on, we can take it. Tell us, man. You were right, guys.

You were right. Holy cow. When do we take our victory lap? Hey, hey, hey. But Cadillac is having a problem. They really are. They're right. But the first ones they sent, the belt was too large.

Ah! The splash guard didn't fit. The numbers were wrong. No kidding. No kidding. So you still have the problem? Oh yes, and my great dealership, you know, Magnolia Cadillac is of course the greatest in the world.

I remember you said that before. I'm sure they're paying you handsomely for this. And then they, no. So then we get another one in. The splash guard fits, but the belt is too small. And y'all were exactly right. There was an engineering or what, you know, a bulletin deal that came out. GSB.

There was a bulletin on it. Yeah. Came out and it was on that specific problem and We're waiting on another belt now. Well, thanks a lot for calling and Thanks for playing stump the chumps Cal. Hey guys. Thanks for your help. All righty attention. Good luck Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye Good luck. Bye bye. 1-800-332-9287. Boy, I always feel kind of, you know, bored when we do a stomp the chumps

and we don't turn out to be chumps. I have to say, I'm beginning to think it's fixed. We've been right almost half the time. No, we've only been wrong once. That can not be true. Three times. Yeah, we've been wrong at least half the time. Four times?

Yeah, in fact, I feel safe in saying that we're wrong most of the time. Oh, I feel better now. Yeah. I feel much better. We'll be right back with more calls and the new puzzler after these messages. This summer on Planet Money, we're bringing you the entire history of the world, at least the economics part. It's Planet Money Summer School. Every week we'll invite in a brilliant professor and play classic episodes about the birth

of money, banks, and finance. There will be rogues and revolutionaries and a lot of panics. Summer School, every Wednesday till Labor Day on the Planet Money podcast from NPR. On this week's episode of Wild Card, author Tathi Brodesser-Akner talks about the strange places we can find peace. I've always felt safe when I was in motion. I think that being in transit is actually the only time you can stop. I feel very safe. I'm Rachel Martin. Join us for NPR's Wild Card Podcast, the game where cards control

the conversation. I just don't want to leave a mess. On Bullseye, the great Dan Aykroyd talks about the Blues Brothers, Ghostbusters, and his very detailed plans about how he will spend his afterlife. I think I'm going to roam in a few places, yes. I'm gonna manifest and roam. All that and more on the Bullseye Podcast from MaximumFun.org and NPR.

On this week's episode of Wild Card, soccer legend, Abbie Wambach says the transition from professional athlete to normal person can be tough. There's this innate narcissism that is almost required in order to be a high level athlete. I'm Rachel Martin. Join us for NPR's Wild Card Podcast, the game where cards control the conversation. Hi, we're back. You're listening to Car Talk on National Public Radio with us clicking clack the tappet brothers and we're here to discuss cars, car repair and our peril warranty my foot. Well because Charles Keller sent us

this email and he's confused about something that I thought we ought to be able to help him with. Dear Tom and Ray of CNC, recently when I went to buy tires at discount tire in Ann Arbor, Michigan the salesman informed me that the tires came with a quote, three-year lifetime warranty. I asked him to repeat that. I asked him to repeat that and noticed that his lips seemed to be moving, yet three-year was barely, barely if at all audible while the words lifetime warranty came through loud and clear. I asked him to explain what a three year lifetime guarantee or warranty was, but he seemed not to grasp my confusion. So I would appreciate if you would take the time to help me understand this wonderful

warranty. Oh, I've got it. It's obvious. It's as plain as the nose in your face. A three-year lifetime Oh, I've got it. It's obvious. It's as plain as the nose in your face. A three-year lifetime warranty. The warranty is a three-year lifetime. I mean, you got a problem with this? There's a three-year lifetime warranty. I have to say, I mean, I was talking... The three-year... The lifetime is obviously unnecessary. That word is unnecessary. Three-year warranty would be sufficient. Well, no.

But lifetime has the aura of confusion. The lifetime word is more important to the salesman than the three-year word. Exactly. I mean, for the legality of it, the word lifetime has no meaning. But for the ability to sell it, the word lifetime is one of those words that you're looking for. In these busy times where you're so preoccupied with coordinating all the different things you have to do during a day, most people don't have time to listen or read the fine print. What you're listening for is the key word.

Exactly. And the key word here was what? Lifetime. Lifetime. All warranty. And the combination of those two things. Right. That phrase, lifetime warranty.

Perhaps somebody from Discount Tire in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It would be nice if you guys could tell us. I mean, we'd be really interested to know just what is a three-year lifetime warranty. And second question, how sleazy are you guys? I mean, how sleazy? And it's going to be Tire. I mean, I think I have to say. First of all the warranty does not come from what are these guys names?

Discount Tire of Ann Arbor Michigan. They're not giving you the warranty. The manufacturer of the tire. They ain't making the tires. Well let's not just pick on poor little Discount Tire. They're pawns. Pawns I say in this great scam of the entire I mean we've always said that everyone vaguely involved with the automotive industry is a sleazeball it's a given but I would have to say that tire manufacturers dealers retailers they have to be the absolute scum of the earth when it comes to sleaziness. That was inappropriate and we shouldn't have said it. We apologize.

And wait, in my opinion, does that get me out of it? It gets me out of it though. And Andre Kodresky apologizes and so does my mother. And all of NPR apologizes. But you have to admit that if you could get a straight answer out of a tire dealer anywhere in the world, on the planet, I would be surprised. I would be surprised. Really?

I tell you. Do you realize the monster that you have just unchained? I am. That's nothing. Are you ready to defend yourself? I am. I am. By yourself?

Oh, come on. I'm your brother. I know, but even that only goes so far. Back me up. Back me up. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. You're on your own. I didn't.

Well, it is true, though. And-and-and what's his name? You gotta start wearing underwear that's the right size. Charlie Keller. I'm telling you, you wear those jockey shorts that are too tight in. Well, you know, I didn't even know I felt this way until I read this letter. Almost... It just came out of me.

Almost anything can launch you into a ranting rave. All right, look, it's time for the new puzzler. This is very important. You promised that this would be spine tingling. Oh, it will. The other day, I was on a test drive and I ran into my buddy, Larry Donoffrio. I didn't hit him that hard, actually. They call the ambulance anyway. And he said to me, he said, I was awaiting anxiously the return of the puzzler from its summer hiatus. He said, and imagine my disappointment when the puzzler was about toilet sweat. He said, and I thought, he said, I never

thought that I'd be able to help you with a puzzler, but I have one that's a heck of a lot better than that one. And I'm going to share it with you. Yeah. And I said, go for it. Now I had to revise it a little bit and improve it, obfuscate it. Of course.

He says, he said to me, he said, when I was in college, I had a Volkswagen Beetle. And he said, that was, you know, what is it called? Unmechanically inclined, mechanically uninclined. Uninclined. Disinclined. Undisinclined. He was mechanically disinclined. Challenged.

He was, he was a, he was a, a klutz. A klutz. I got it. He said, but he was encouraged by the John Muir book, you know, the Volkswagen book for the idiot, complete idiot, and he went out and bought this. He said, and I was amazed at how much I was able to do and the repairs and maintenance things I was able to do to my car over the years that I had it. And I even went so far, he said, is to even replace the clutch once. I actually took the engine out and replaced the clutch.

And I drove this thing very happily for several years with this book by my side. He said, in one summer while I was home for vacation from school, I did a repair that involves something as simple as loosening a couple of nuts and bolts and tightening them up. That's basically, he said it was that simple. He said there were three bolts that I loosened and three bolts that I tightened. I did the repair and everything was fine for weeks. The car ran just great. I returned to school in the fall and a couple of buddies and I decided to go out one night

to the movies. Actually, I changed go out one night to the movies. Actually, I changed this. It wasn't the movies. He said, we were going to go out and scoop some babes and have some brews. In a Volkswagen, beat lots of luck. So he said, four of them pile into the car and they're driving off to their favorite watering

hole when all of a sudden the car bursts into flames. And the question very simply is what repair did he do that enabled the car to run perfectly okay for the six weeks that he, that he did it for the for the six weeks after he did the repair and then burst into flames when he got back to college. Yeah. Wow. This is great. This might put... This is good. This might put Larry into the Hall of Fame, the Puzzler Hall of Fame with Murray. Yeah, no, this is very good. If you think you know

the answer, send it to us at Puzzler Tower, plaza box 3500 Harvard Square Cambridge our first city math 0 2 2 3 8 or you can email us your answer from car talk comm by clicking on the talk to car talk section and if we choose your correct answer at random as the winner next week and you catch us we'll send you a second best of car talk cassette or record don Don't you mean CD? No! What do you call those things you put on? What do you call that thing? An album player? It was a record player!

I called it a record player. We call them stereos, man. Oh, cassette. We'll send you a cassette or CD. Yeah, you can put a player on your hi-fi. If you'd like to talk to us about your car, car our numbers 1-800-332-9287 hello you're on car talk hi this is Elisa calling from Charleston South Carolina Elisa is that with one s or two that's with one s A-L-Y-S-A

E-L-I-S-A Elisa oh E-L-I-E-L-I Elisa like Fuehr Elisa. Oh, E-L-I. Elisa. Elisa. Like, Fuehr Elisa. That's right. Fuehr Elisa. You know, Elisa is my mother's name? Well, she must be a wonderful woman. No, she's not. She is the finest woman. The finest.

That money can buy. Does she spell it the same way? Well, we don't know how she spells it. Well, I'll tell well, we don't well, you know, I'll tell you this is a we have relatives that have more than one first name And they have documents yeah, yeah About Vinnie, I mean about Jimmy You might as well. I don't think you should have told us.

I'll leave out any incriminating stuff. But when I was a little kid, we had a family friend whose name was Vincent O. I won't give his last name because he might have relatives now who still carry guns. His name was Vincent O. And everyone called him Jimmy. I mean, I remember dozens of times saying to my dear mother, but I didn't know that Jimmy was a nickname for Vincent. Yeah, why don't they call him Vinny? Why don't they call him Vinny? Why don't they call him Vinny? And you'd receive, I remember asking the same question

myself, a pat on the head. And a boot in the butt. Anyway, I mean this went on and pretty soon I forgot. I just assumed that okay, Jimmy is a nickname for Vinny. And a couple of years ago When my mother had had a half a glass of wine and was floating around I happened to bring this up because that's been bothering me for 50 years and I got the real story all the sorted

Sorted details. Well, the reason that Vinnie is called Jimmy is because Vincent Ohl was not his real name. Jimmy V. His real name was Jimmy V. And Jimmy V had come to Boston in a flight to avoid prosecution. He was caught in Washington D.C. in the subway, trying to eat a donut. Trying to eat a donut. And he was trying to elude, capture. But Vincent O. was really Jimmy V. and was in fact in hiding. Didn't, I mean, actually it was not, it was not a criminal activity, I must say.

No, no, it was not. It was actually an interesting story, which I can tell someday when all the characters Including me I'll be able to tell it maybe In any event my mother claims that her name is Elisa, but it's not what is it Elizabeth? Oh, my name is really Elisa. Okay well she claims it's but we've never seen a birth certificate I don't think she has one. Jimmy V. Jimmy V. Wow wow anyway from Charleston, South Carolina what's your question Elisa now that we've bored you with all

this unnecessary storytelling. Well actually my question is part automotive and part relationship yeah that's that that's the perfect and well i know that you to our not only experienced in the automotive field but quite the matrimonial yeah geniuses well i i i won't claim any matrimonial genius i've only had one matrimonial well defer to my brother in the matrimonial department has had multiple exposures. Go ahead.

Well, the thing is, I have been living with a man for a while now. We are in a committed relationship, although we are not married. Yeah, we call that what? Living in sin? Living in sin. Okay, just want to set the record straight. Okay, well, I like this is a committed, I like that term, a committed relationship. Yes. When you say quite some time, are we talking more than two years?

Well, we've been together for more than two years. We've been living together about a year and a half now. Okay. So, the problem is my parents... But you share no matrimonial vows, my child. That's right, and my parents want us to get married. We're ministers, by the way. We can do this on the air.

Well, they want us to get married badly enough that they've offered to buy us a new car if we do it. Really? Do you think that I should do it? That's why I'm calling you, for advice. Whoa! Do you think you should hold up your parents? Wait a minute now.

Are they doing it because they're embarrassed to tell their friends and neighbors? Of course. No, I think that, well maybe a little bit of that there, you know, from the old school, but I think they just want me to be happy. But what if they had never made you this offer? Would you and Mr. Wright have in fact gotten married or are you perfectly happy to continue in this quote committed relationship? Well we probably would have eventually gotten married

but my car's really been acting up a lot lately. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. So you don't want your parents to know that we were gonna do this anyway mom but as long as you wanna come across with a new car, fine. Is that the deal? Well, that's why I'm calling you. I don't know, is that what I should do?

Well, I don't know. If you wanna know if this is ethical. I mean, this is deception. This is deception, pure and simple. Well, no, no, I don't think they're deceived. I mean, they don't think that my car's in perfect order. They know that it's not. They know that you need a car,

and they're trying to Drive incentivize. Yeah incentivize. That's good. You how old are you now? Lisa? I'm in my early 30s. Oh Oh, yeah, take the car. Yeah I mean, how was your relationship been with your parents late of all all these years? Oh, my parents have been wonderful to me They've always been very loving, giving people. Loving, giving people. And they live in Michigan. Are they loving?

Oh, that's good. Yeah, that's the best part. What you have to worry about is other people controlling your life. And if you allow other people to control your life, even from a distance, then how different is that from any other kind of criminal activity? Have they bribed you at any other time in the past?

Well, obviously they have. She said they're very giving people, and it sounds to me like they're giving to control you. Ooh, you're a genius. Time to let go here. No, my therapist has never mentioned that. Well, you haven't been going to a good therapist and have you uh... i hope you're not listening i mean these parents are obviously trying to

control your life forever well i think they they like they like to feel a little bit more security in my future i believe that i don't know about this it would be that would be that security elisa it's it's two years down the road. They say, Alisa, it's very nice that you're driving around in your nice Toyota Tercel, and I hope everything's fine, but isn't it time that you and Mr. Wright had some kids? And moved to Michigan? And you say, well, what's it worth to you, Mom?

Dad? And they say, well, I think we can go up to a Camry. Are you saying I'm opening a can of worms if I can't just open a can of worms? On the other hand, you may be lining yourself up for a lifetime supply of cars. I mean, if you're willing to be controlled or manipulated in this way, then for a lousy car, then fine. Well, I don't know if I'm being manipulated because like I said, we'll probably end up getting married eventually anyway. Oh, but I know, but we'll probably end off of ultimately getting married anyway.

It's not the same as you'll get married on June 7th when we hand you the title to the Tercel. Elisa, this is quite an interesting question. So does he know of this deal with the car? Yes my mother approached him with it. Oh she approached him. She told him and then she told me. Oh I understand now. What a tangled web we weave. I understand it all now. Oh yeah. Have you been married before? No Wow, and this is my first living in sin adventure as well first living

Fun though, isn't it? I don't think there's so much worried about your living in sin as the as the Prospect of you're not getting married. They don't want me to be an old maid? There you go. Yeah, I mean, they're afraid that this guy might escape. They're afraid that he may hang around for a few years and then fly the coop, at which point you'll be too old and nobody will want you.

And you'll have to move in. You'll have to move in with them. And you'll be able to get there because you'll have to move in with them and you'll be able to get there because you'll have a brand new car so they basically are trying to put the ring through this guy's nose from Michigan well if you want to put it that way well do you do you do you well thing a little bit, I think. I mean, do you think that they're really trying to control you? Or him? Well, then you're just telling me that I shouldn't get married at all.

I think you should dump him. I think you should get married if you feel like getting married, and Mr. Wright wants to get married too, but jeez, they could be bribed? Well, no, I didn't really think of it as a bribe. I thought of it more as an incentive. You didn't think of it as a bribe. I thought of it as one of those things. You didn't think of it as a bribe? But it isn't a bribe for her. No. He's the one being bribed.

Yeah, it's clear to me now. No, no, it's a baby. He has a car. Well, I know, but more important than anything, he's going to want to marry you for you. That's what he says. And not the car. That's what he says. Unless it's a Q45. But if he doesn't love you enough to marry you without any incentives, then you don't

want him. Yeah. That's what it boils down to. And tell your parents that they should stay out of it. Any chance that we could talk to Mr. Wright one of these days? Yeah, I guess so, if you'd like to. I mean, I'd like to know how he feels about this. Well, he doesn't know that I called you. Well, can he call us next week, maybe?

I don't know if I'd like to sound like that. Hey, let's get serious. Do you love this guy? Yes. Cool. Very much. Then that's it. And I presume he loves you too. I... Well, we don't know that. And the 300ZX had nothing to do with it. We'll find out. Tune in next week. What's his name?

Tracy. For at least an episode of Elisa and Tracy. Tell him to call us next week. I will. We'll talk. All right, thank you. We may have to talk to your parents too. Uh oh. But that'll be the week after. will. We'll talk. All right, thank you. We may have to talk to your parents too.

Uh oh. But that'll be the week after. See you later, Lisa. See you, Lisa. Aren't you happy you called us? Bye. Bye bye. Well, you've wasted another perfectly good hour listening to Car Talk.

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