The Best of Car Talk - #2506: A Friend Indeed

Episode Date: January 21, 2025

James, great friend that he is, has offered to drive his buddy's Lexus for him for a few years until his friend returns from Amsterdam. What a guy! But is this the best thing for the Lexus? 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

Donald Trump is starting his second term as president. What will his administration do and what policies will it promote? On the MPR Politics Podcast, we'll break down what the new administration does and explain why it matters. Listen to the MPR Politics Podcast every day. Hello and welcome to Card Talk from National Public Radio with us, Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers, and we're broadcasting this week from the disposal division here at Card Talk Plaza. I had an idea for you.

I was... You, I mean my dear brother, I was reading last week that the Russians are planning to scuttle the Mir space station in early 1999. What are they waiting for? By sending it crashing down, it may do it by itself, crashing down into the Pacific Ocean. And I realized that the Mir station is the dodge dart of the space age. It is. is the dodge dart of the space age. And it further truth to me, this leaves the entire Atlantic available for the dart. Can it make it that far?

I go right by the Atlantic Ocean almost every day. Does it beckon? It veers to the right. I mean, every time I go near, I have to pull that wheel back. Maybe it's like whales beaching themselves. It is. You think the dart is trying to commit suicide?

It's trying to euthanize itself. Itself. Yeah, it knows. How is the dart? I haven't seen it. The dart is great. It's alive. It's alive.

In fact, my son asked me to make an appointment with you to put seat belts in it so he can drive it because he ain't getting his own car, nor as we know. No. We don't know that that. We know he's not getting his own car. We don't. How many seat belts does he need? He needs just one. He told me he can't take anybody with him. No he's all by himself. All by himself. How about a beach ball? You know that would work. It might be good enough. If it were transparent you could just put it right up and look through it. There you go beach ball

Windshield I always do you we may have something I always do you See maybe I have a joke here I can read no I don't I don't have any All right. Look look I know we have a lot of people anxious to call. Yeah, three. Maybe one. Well, we'll get rid of them and then we'll do the puzzle. If you'd like to call us about your car, well, the Mears Space Station, the number is 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hi. Hi, who's this?

This is Linda from Red Bluff. Where's that? Wait, wait, wait, wait. Red Bluff. Red Bluff. Whoa. Where's that? Wait, wait, wait, wait. Red Bluff. Red Bluff. Sounds like a Montana place. Oh, no. Arizona. California.

Where? California. Oh, then it must be L-Y-N-D-A. Oh my God, how did you know? How did I know? I love you, you must be the cute one. L-Y-N-D-A from Red Bluff. Wait, wait, wait, what was that again?

You must be the cute one? Well, if he got my name right. Well, that implies that the other one of us isn't. No, he's the cute one. No, he's the cute one. No, he's the cute one. No, he's the cute one. No, he's the cute one. No, he's the cute one. No, he's the was that again? You must be the cute one? Well, if he got my name right. Well, that implies that the other one of us isn't. No, he's the cuter

one. I am the cute one, yeah. I am the cute one. And the smart one. The smart one? Yeah. Okay. Anyway, what's up? Okay, well basically, I'm having kind of a dispute with my dad. He's my neighbor and he takes care of my truck. I have a little 79 Chevy Love, so it's an older vehicle. And he and I do all the maintenance and the care on it. The thing is, is it does this weird thing when it rains. Only when it rains or it's real heavy fog, but whenever it's damp outside, it won't drive properly in the first two years.

I have to get over 45 miles an hour for it to run smoothly. It kind of, and I have to feather the gas to make it run, you know? And he says there's nothing wrong with it, and then I'm crazy. He'll do like a perfect tune-up and everything's great. Points are great, plugs are great, oil's been changed, timing's set, all the belts are okay,

but it still does this. He has never experienced it because he doesn't drive it, he just helps you do the work. Bingo. Bingo. Well, I mean, the symptoms that you describe are classic symptoms of secondary shorting out. Oh, really? Meaning not getting spark to the spark plugs.

Like you have a crack in the coil tower or bad spark plug wires or a bad distributor cap, any one of those three things. And he may have tuned it up, he may have even changed the wires in the cap, but he may have overlooked the coil tower. Oh my goodness, I didn't think of that. I was just wondering if there was something weird about it

because it only happens when it's wet. Yeah, well that's why it's a classic symptom, because it only happens when it's wet. Because wet creates a conductive path, which otherwise isn't there. I'm not far-wise. Next time it rains, here's what you do, you open the hood and have him sit inside and you stand outside in the dark and rev the engine a little bit and you will probably see the sparks jumping. Okay. Yeah, you will see a a a veritable light show. Yeah, I think it's the coil myself. Okay. Me too. See you

Linda. Good luck. Love you. Good luck. Bye bye. Bye bye. 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk. This is Mike from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Mike. How you doing? Good. Cherry Hill. Cherry Hill, yes. That's no. That's nowhere near Mahwah, is it? I don't think so. I don't know, I'm a transplant here. You're a transplant. Yeah, I don't get around too much. You don't know, do you know where Mahwah is?

Honestly, I don't even know where it is. Well honestly, neither do I. We know it's in New Jersey. We know it's in New Jersey. Yeah, we also know. Yeah, we also know that it is the location of Jaguar of North America. Jaguar motor cars. And I'm just going on notice here to say that if I don't have an XK8 convertible in my

driveway in the next three days, I am going to publicly announce the phone numbers, names, fax numbers and email addresses of certain people at Jaguar Cars of North America and Mawah, New Jersey who are responsible for the withholding, who have been promising me this car since July when the the sun was out i should add i'm just going on notice saying that if i don't have that car in three days done the reason you don't have it is the a busy removing the truck the car before they send it to you they won't scratch it with your bike rack like you did the last one but that's

why anyway i might find out where it is is i'm not about her somebody for you what a guy like that i like that okay we can talk you have the dream sequence music you don't have to do that it all started when really uh... yeah all started when i had a hundred here at my wife at a subaru

well ninety one got eighty six thousand miles on now now I had a Honda CRX, my wife had a Subaru Loyale 91, okay? It's got 86,000 miles on now. Now, we since got married had two children and we got rid of the Honda, obviously, because you can only have two people in it at one time. So, we had to go out and get a new Plymouth Voyager van. So this is a 97? 96. 96 Voyager. Right.

So I become the owner of the Subaru and of course she gets the new van. So here's my question. I drive it like four miles up to the daycare place where I take these two little beautiful little kids. And dump them off for the day. And drop them off for the whole day. Yeah. And on the gas, it gets faster. Sometimes it does it, sometimes it doesn't do it. And it'll do this even if you're not moving. It's just when the engine's running, it does it.

Exactly. Okay, I got it. I got it. Okay, oh. I got it! Please tell me. Well, no, go ahead, give us more information, because I might not have it.

Oh, well, if you want more information, now... Make up something, Mike. My wife, God love her, she thinks that it's not going to hurt the car. I think that something needs to be done. As a matter of fact, I took it to the local Joe's Dairy Queen slash garage down the street. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He said to me, when I picked it up, he smiles at me with all four teeth and says, you need a new engine soon.

Well, you don't have many miles on it. I'm'm gonna bet that you have 70,000 miles in this 86,000 That's what I thought so all 70 Celsius. Yeah 86,000 that's not a lot. Yeah. Well, you know what I you know What you don't understand is my wife who I think is surely more down his daughter drove the car quite a while before I got Yeah, she so she took care of this car and is she pretty uh... good about changing the oil and stuff when put it this way her idea of car maintenance is

about the two soaking range we get here she drives it around the block to wash it well unfortunately in which case i the gas station may be right. My first guess is that you have sticky valves. You could have sticky valves due to deposits in the valve train. And that could cause that, that, that, that. What you're hearing is the valves being, you're hearing the camshaft whack against the lifters. I don't like it.

You'll be, you'll, trust me, you'll like it. Okay, now that could also be lifters. I don't like it. Trust me, you'll like it. Right now I don't like it. That could also be caused by low oil pressure, which would be the reason that this fellow at the gas station suggested you might need an engine. But we can certainly put his theory to rest by having an oil pressure test done. And you're sure that there's enough oil in the engine? Yeah, absolutely. The guy who, when I took it for the muffler, he actually changed the oil for me. And miraculously, it drove great for about a month, and then it just started coming back.

I don't know. Oh, say that again, though? He changed the oil when he fixed the muffler. And he said, he actually said my pressure pressure was good but you have to watch because it may get bad yeah i thought that i thought you need you need to during that in suing month the noise went away

it did almost completely all it was the sticky valve died or i didn't like that theory i know it jerry i didn't like it jerry well mike you're in trouble you're in trouble. You know what? I think you might need a new engine. Mike, good luck. Thanks a lot, guys.

Start saving for the engine. I think that's what you've been looking at. Really? Okay. See you, Mike. See you, Mike. Bye. Bye. The puzzler answer and more calls are coming up right after this. this. It's a new year and according to Pew, 79% of resolutions are about one thing, health. But there are so many fads around how to keep ourselves healthy.

On It's Been A Minute, I'm helping you understand why some of today's biggest wellness trends are, well, trending. Like why is there protein in everything? Join me as we uncover what's healthy and what's not on the It's Been A Minute podcast from NPR. Hey, it's Robin Hilton from NPR Music. Many years ago, I helped start the Tiny Desk Concert Series. And right now, NPR is looking for the next great, undiscovered musician

to perform behind the famous desk. Think you've got what it takes? Submit a video of you playing an original song to the Tiny Desk Contest by February 10th. Find out more and see the official rules at npr.org slash tiny desk contest. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have outlined their plans to slash the federal workforce with the help of a team of quote small government crusaders. What's in store for federal workers and how are they planning for change? This January, 1A's.gov series guides you through various government agencies and the people working for you. Listen to the 1A podcast from NPR.

This message comes from the Kresge Foundation. Established 100 years ago, the Kresge Foundation works to expand equity and opportunity in cities across America. A century of impact, a future of opportunity. More at Kresge.org. Hey, you'll never in a million years guess what it's time for. Break? Are we on break? No, it's time to answer last week's puzzler. No kidding.

Last week's puzzler. Boy, it's been a long time since I've... And here we are and I can't remember it. You mean the puzzler is back? The back. Back and front. It was back last week and you would think with such a momentous day as the return of the puzzler number one of the season that I would remember. Well the puzzle was sore it was very disappointed it was angry was sore because no flowers were here I mean there was nothing. No fanfare, no trumpets, no dancing girls, no nothing. And I don't remember it which means I guess no one takes it very seriously. I guess not except I take it seriously. Anyway here it is.

Yeah go ahead I'll remember it. You will in a second. A customer shows up at the garage the other day, first time in a long time we've had a customer. He's an elderly gentleman. He's got some old jalopy and he says, my car's running really lousy and I need some of that fuel system additive that you guys sell. Still don't remember it.

Still nothing, huh? And we sell this stuff. I don't know what it is, but it's composed of lizard lips and Aleppo galls. Aleppo galls, bruised Aleppo galls. By the way, I found out what an Aleppo gall is. I'll tell you later. Oyster shells, etc.

So I sell him a can of this stuff which he's going to put in his gas tank, and I'm not really listening to him, but he says, it's running lousy, I'm getting terrible mileage and I've got to do something it Diesel's when I shut it off, and I can't afford to really fix it so he says what do I do with this stuff? I tell him you put it in the tank you fill the tank up with gas and drive it I mean it won't work unless you drive it you got to drive it man because if it's gonna clean the carburetor You got to drive it He says

Will this work will my mileage improve I said no I don't think so, but he buys it anyway. Several hours later, he calls me up. He says, I've been driving around and stop and go traffic since I saw you last, since I bought the Aleppo gulls from you. And I say, yes, yes. Is the car fixed? He says, no, no. And furthermore, I don't have any brakes.

I think I blew a brake line. The pedal went down to the floor. Brakes, I remember this now. It's being towed in. Yeah. He says, it won't get there before you guys close, but it'll be waiting for you tomorrow morning. Yeah.

Sure enough, we arrived the next morning to find his car with the keys under the mat. And I told one of my guys, check out Ed's car, but be careful because I think he blew a brake line or something because he said he had what? No brakes. 20 minutes later, the mechanic hands me the keys and says, it's all fixed.

Of course I asked, what did you do? He said, I replaced the fuse. Which I said, you knucklehead, he had no brakes. He said, I replaced a fuse. The car's all fixed. The question was, how did replacing a fuse fix Ed's car? This is very good. I have no idea.

I remember it now. The car, I don't remember exactly the year of the car, but it was an old Pontiac T1000, which was also a Chevette. This car has an electric choke, which has a fuse. When the fuse blew, the choke wouldn't open. The car ran lousy. Got what? Lousy mileage? Diesel when he shed it off? Ran lousy. And because the thing was racing all the time because the choke was partially closed.

No vacuum to the booster. No. He had an automatic transmission car and he was working against the throttle every time he was riding the car in stop and go traffic. Boiling the fluid! Look back at page seven of the puzzler. He was in stop and go traffic. I remember that. Riding that brake, but it was tantamount to riding with one foot on the gas pedal and

one foot on the brake. And every time he went to slow down, he had to step extra hard on the pedal. The brakes got overheated, the brake fluid boiled, he lost his brakes. And of course when he towed it in and everything cooled off, the brakes came back. My guy pulls it in and says, there's nothing wrong with the brakes. But after running it for a while, he realizes that the choke ain't opening, the thing is racing at 2,500 RPM. He puts a fuse in, bingo. I mean, I will say that it's...

I mean, was that the most stellar of the first puzzler? Was that the best one of the season so far? It was the best one of the season, but it was a little bit arcane. I mean... Well, no, it was arcane. An electric choke with a fuse? A T1000 of which there are always there are many cars that had chokes with a with fuses I just happened to pick this one now if we have a winner here. We do have a winner Wait a minute. Yeah, my god. We do crusty who the winner the winner this week is Dale Gad

G-A-D-D from Corona, California, and for having his or her, we don't know, correct answer randomly selected by our distinguished panel of judges, Dale is going to win one of our brand new multicolored 10th anniversary, 10th anniversary, 10th anniversary car talk t-shirts, complete with a slogan, celebrating 10 years of bad car advice. Congratulations to you, Dale, the first winner of this, the new puzzle season. Of course. And I am happy for you.

Of course. Congratulations, Dale, whoever you may be. And whatever you may be. As always, we will have a, no, as always, but as you might expect, we will have a new puzzler coming up in the second half of today's show. As not always, as not usually. Sometimes we have...

So don't touch that dial. In the meantime, we'll take your calls at 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hi, this is James from Dallas. Hi, James. How are you? I'm doing well. Well, what's up?

Well, I have an interesting problem. One of my good friends is moving to Europe for a year and I've talked to him out of a lot of his Assets here locally. I can't seem to talk him out of his Lexus He's convinced that it would be better to either take it or leave it in storage rather than let absolutely wrong He's absolutely wrong. Jimmy boy. That's what i'm looking for and we got the twenty okay i think it's to be a little afraid of my two small children and what they might

do to his car and i don't mind what kind of animals i get that well i suspect they're just like everyone else's but how old are they there nine and six all right go there okay no nine, nine and six are good. Does it have leather upholstery? It does have leather upholstery, and he's a little upset that my upholstery has sand and jello in it.

Well, see, the jello is easily removed. Yeah, that's nothing. He thinks that if he takes it to Amsterdam that it'll actually be a nice car over there and he'll get the attention of a lot of women even single guy doesn't have any kids and you know i really need that telling that he needs to get a local car and leave that with me i think so how long you know this is what women are talking about a guys love life here uh...

this is the that really throws a crimp into it what we can talk but technical aspects of this he doesn't want to put it in storage. Okay, good. I mean, you certainly don't want to take a car and for a year, lock it up somewhere. That's a crazy thing to do. Okay. The car would be much better served by having someone drive it in a reasonable manner for

that year. Especially a wonderful and caring friend. A wonderful and caring friend wonderful and caring friend look after this car. Maybe It's possible even better than he would have Yeah, that's possible and be more protective and caring. Yeah, but that person couldn't do it. So now I'm trying to Yeah, he was out of town. Oh, yeah Now we bring up the second issue So the technical aspect is you don't want it to be in storage

but now the issue of if he takes it with him and So now we bring up the second issue. So the technical aspect is you don't want it to be in storage. But now the issue of if he takes it with him and drives it around Amsterdam and then becomes quite a man about town in Amsterdam because he's driving this Lexus that no one else has and the women are flocking. Whew. I can see it. He should take the car. Yeah. I can't think of any compelling

reason why I should leave it with you yeah yeah he'd have the babes all over him oh and you and you want to deny him this so so you can take your snotty kids around in the car and make a mess of it nah I think you're out of luck Jimmy so you're not gonna give me any help I was on your side into the abroad for the slap stitch uh... yeah he said you have a shit find out what it cost to ship the car that's gonna cost a fair amount well i want to keep working on it but i can keep working on it but we're not on

your side james and i'm terribly sorry all right well i knew that love life might might cause it and you know i i do appreciate the fact that you were brutally honest about this. And you did mention that. Yeah, if you hadn't mentioned that, we would have been all on your side. I wasn't this honest. I didn't tell him I was going to call you.

Oh, that's good. Well, keep working on it, James. Okay. See you later. Good luck. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Don't move because more calls in the new puzzler are coming right up.

On the Embedded Podcast from NPR, what is it like to live under years of state surveillance? So many people have fear of losing their families. For years, the Chinese government has been detaining hundreds of thousands of ethnic Uyghurs. This is the story of one family torn apart. Listen to The Black Gate on the embedded podcast from NPR. All episodes are available now. Americans are living longer than ever before.

On the Sunday story from up first, we look at a growing number of people using these extra years to find new meaning. You get to the point where you start asking, what did you do in your life that was significant? A look at the transformative power of human passion and finding your purpose in the third act of life. Listen now on the Up First podcast from NPR. Do you make resolutions in January?

We do. Specifically, we make pop culture resolutions. We also check in on what we resolved to do this last year. Did we catch up on all those classic movies or finally write that novel? Hi, we're back. You're listening to Car Talk from National Public Radio with us, Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers, and we're here to discuss cars. Of course, cars. I mean, it's almost unnecessary to say it.

Car Talk. Right. Discuss is even unnecessary. Called car talk. Right. I mean what would we be... Discuss is even unnecessary. It's talk. Right. Yeah. Cars, car repair, and the... what was I... And the state of education... Oh, the state of education in America today and tomorrow.

And maybe tomorrow. Get this. The Missouri Assistant... or is it Missouri? Missouri Assistant Attorney General Eric Vieth got a court order to bar the International Commission for Schools for issuing any future college accreditation in the state. I don't know what this International Commission for Schools is, but evidently they issue, they say that colleges are accredited to do certain things. For issuing any future college accreditation in the state after it granted one to a fictitious school created by the Attorney General's office. Aha!

So the Attorney General's office makes up a school. Got it. Here it is. Viet's office had asked the Commission to accredit Eastern Missouri Business College, a college they described as granting doctorates through the mail in fields such as marine biology Genetic engineering and aerospace science even though it's called a business college Get this though. Now. Here's the good part the college faculty included Arnold Ziffel

Which is the name of the pig on the Green Acres TV show? Eddie Haskell, we know any of & Beaver, and get this, the faculty, M. Howard, Jerome Howard, and Lawrence Fine, otherwise known as... Molleriot Curly. Molleriot Curly. The college's seal in Latin read, solum pro avibus est educatio, which loosely translated is education is for the birds. And these guys, the International Commission for Schools, accredited them. Well, they fell for it.

They fell for it. I love it. M. Howard, Jerome Howard, and Lawrence Meyers. It's good to know that a lawyer, which the attorney general might be, has a sense of humor. Well, I consider it entrapment I complain I I think entrapment is fine you don't mean if people are supposed to be doing

a job and you contrive a way to find out if they are in fact doing their job yes that's entrapment like hidden cameras they're not doing their job clearly I mean these guys are credit they said this is an accredited school Yes, that's entrapment. Like hidden cameras? But they're not doing their job, clearly. I mean these guys are credit... They said this isn't a credited school. I think entrapment is good in all cases. I'm with you, man. Always good.

Alright, look. And anyone who doesn't like it is a crybaby. That's what I say. I'm with you. Okay. Until they catch you. And I'll be on the other side. Okay, look, it's time for the new puzzler. That's what I say. I'm with you. Okay. Until they catch you. Right.

And I'll be on the other side. Okay, look, it's time for the new puzzler. Oh. And I have a plethora of puzzlers' automotive at my fingertips. Yeah. So you're going to use a non-automotive one. I am. Good.

Only because I didn't want to use two stellar automotive puzzlers in a week. No. Pro, rather. Yeah. You know, why waste them? That's right. Gonna scatter them, save a couple for the next decade. That's true. Well this was sent to us via email from Adrian,

whose gender I don't know, but I assume it's a woman. Adrian. Adrian. No, well Adrian's could just as easily be a man's name, or a woman's name. Hey, the portrait of Adrian Gray. A list of Adrian Messenger. Oh, that's what it was.

Yeah, that was a guy. Adrian Low from something.edu. I'll just read it because I'd be hard pressed to improve it, but I may add a little bit here and there. Mostly in the form of obfuscation. The beautiful young princess had a dilemma. She was in love with Igor, the blacksmith's son and a hunchback. And she wanted to marry him. Reminds me, she was having him for tea one day.

And she said, Igor, do you take sugar in your tea? And he said, yes. She said, one ump. Oh. Is that in there? No, that wasn't. No. No.

No. However. Yes. No, that wasn't. However, she knew that her father, the king, would not approve. Furthermore, if the king knew of their love, he would surely have the young man executed. Yeah, or killed. Better still, they devise a plan. They will elope. Sadly, their plan is foiled, and they are stopped at the castle gates by the guards, who spotted Igor's hump. And they are brought before the king.

Now the king was indeed furious, but decided to offer Igor a sport in chances, they say. He said he would write the word princess on one piece of paper and death on another. And the young lad could decide his own fate by selecting one of the slips of paper from a jar. Two slips are crumbled up, thrown into a jar. An olive jar. An olive jar. Yes.

With no olives in it. Right. And young Igor, his fate in his own hands, as we realize. So if he picks out princess, he gets the princess, picks out death, boom, that's it. However, the king was sneaky. No middle ground here. No middle ground. No, pretty binary. No, like banishment. No. How about Elba? No Elba. I'll take Elba. Even if she's ugly, I'll take her. I really wanted the princess but I'll take Elba. I'm not going to bother me. Your sister Elba.

It is you I realize who drags out there. I'd be done 20 minutes ago with this damn puzzler. I'm just asking questions here. All right. All right. So the young man has his fate in his own hands. He has to draw a slip of paper. He has to draw a slip of paper.

He has to draw a slip of paper. drags out there. I'd be done 20 minutes ago with this damn puzzler. I'm just asking questions here. Alright. Alright, so the young man has his fate in his own hands. He has to draw a slip of paper from the jar. However, he knows the king is sneaky and writes death on both slips of paper. Oh! King Furious the First! King Furious the First. Sadly, sadly King Furious the First is a sneak. Is a sneak. He writes death on both pieces of paper. Despite this, despite this, Igor manages to win the princess's hand.

No kidding, and the question is? How did he thwart the king? Now if you think you know the answer, let's just have nothing better to do this week. And you wanna take a guess, send your answer to Puzzler Tower, Car Talk Plaza, Box 3500, Harvard Square, Cambridge, Our Fair City, MA 02238. Or if you prefer, you can email us your answer from our website, cartalk.msn.com. Just click on the Talk to Car Talk section. And if we choose your answer, that-a-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da balance out on his last name was a pleasure to hear

started i'm not a cop i missed when you were from i'm in from south port north carolina southport so are you alan with two l's in the e all one l and another l and a who to l's at a l and a all through l l l l a m all she what are my parents now uh... spell that

so what's what's your problem today i have a four dwindling star ninety seven winstar it runs fine i love it everything is fine except for one thing it blocks itself automatically does it not making me crazy make in me crazy till i hate that i do except for one thing, it locks itself automatically. Doesn't that make you nuts? Making me crazy. Making me crazy too, I hate that. I do too.

I, in fact, not only does it make me crazy, but it attacks me. If my wife is driving, and down here, you know, you don't live your life except in t-shirts and shorts. So you always have bare flesh sewing somewhere. My elbow is on the side of the car where that little thing pops up. And every time she starts to drive,

it goes down and grabs my arm with it. Oh! Makes me nuts, because I wind up with a quarter size black and blue mark. And this happened three times. Ha ha ha! I mean, does it at least unlock when you put it into park or do something?

No, no, no. Once it locks, it locks. You have to unlock it. In fact- Yeah, a lot of the GM cars that have this feature at least they have had the decency they didn't used to they didn't used to but people complained a lot I guess literally and at least some time some of them now maybe even all of them will disarm the locks when you've stopped and put the thing into mark this

thing but that's a pain it locks and that's it you may as well stay in the car until you unlock it So the first I guess the first thing is why do these people do it? We know what a leak can we disarm the stupid thing? That's what I'm calling about. I think so I asked Ford. Yeah, and they will do it the dealer looked through their little booklet and said they don't have any information so they called Ford Ford and They said if you do it, but they didn called Ford Ford and they said if you do it but they didn't say how but they said if you do it it will invalidate the warranty. On what the transmission?

On the electrical system. Bull. Tell them try to prove that one in court. Yeah well that's what they said. I would say go ahead and do it and if Ford won't do it somebody can figure it out. I mean if you have the wiring diagram you can figure it out. Yeah it's doable isn't it? It's of course it's doable. Some place there's a relay and all we have to do is find out where that relay is and the wiring diagram will tell us that. Yeah I've never been asked to disconnect one. Really? I can't

wait. Well you want to take a trip to South Port, North Carolina for the weekend? Come down here in November, December. It is certainly doable though Alan. Good. Well I know that I would not buy any car that had this no matter how much I liked it. You know I was never aware. I was never aware I never had a car that did this no matter how much I liked it because it drives me nuts. I was never aware, I never had a car that did this so when I bought it I never thought twice about it. I figured, I wasn't aware, it surprised me. Especially when it went down the first time and caught my arm, I nearly died. Oh yeah, that's even worse. Well plus the fact I don't wanna be told

when to lock the door. If I wanna lock all the doors, I'll lock the damn doors myself. That's the way I feel. Yeah, power to the people baby? Power to the baby people Good luck Alan, let us know you get arrested He was up in arms there wasn't he well the things pinching his arm I mean, it's the guys in pain that guy's in pain. Well, it's happened again. You've frittered fritter

That's an interesting word. Well frittered away another hour listening to car talk There any relationships like corn fritters. Absolutely. I'm sure there is that's entirely where it comes from. Yeah Our esteemed producer is Doug the subway fugitive not a slave to fashion Berman our Associate producer and Dean of the College of Automusicology is Ken babyface Rogers Our assistant producer is Catherine Crystal. Crystal. Crystal. Are you a country singer on the other days of the week when you're not working for us?

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