The Best of Car Talk - #2541: It's Raining Cars

Episode Date: May 24, 2025

The freeways in Los Angeles are no place for the faint of heart. After surviving a multi-car pileup, Matt feels incredibly lucky to be safely ensconced in a tow truck heading home along with his wounded Volvo, until he notices that the Volvo has apparently taken a different route home. Will Matt and his 850 be reunited? 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

This is Ira Glass, the host of This American Life. So much is changing so rapidly right now with President Trump in office. It feels good to pause for a moment sometimes and look around at what's what. To try and do that, we've been finding these incredible stories about right now that are funny and have feeling and you get to see people everywhere making sense of this new America that we find ourselves in. This American Life, wherever you get your podcasts. Hello and welcome to Car Talk from National Public Radio with us clicking clack the tappet brothers and we're broadcasting this week from the Center for Criminal Stupidity here at Car Talk Plaza. Now this should cheer everyone up

this is a true story evidently. And it was in automotive news. It was reported by automotive news that's right. It's an automotive story. You ready for this? Yeah. A guy walks into Patrick Auto Sales. This is a used car dealership, uh, in, near Detroit. The guy whose name is Bobby James Webb Stokes the third. You're going to worry right away. Allegedly pulls out an Uzi style firearm and demands a car. The salesman fearing for his life hands over the keys to an 87 Chrysler LeBaron. You're a LeBaron or you're life? That's an easy choice.

No brainer. Anyway, this guy, Webb Stokes, takes off in the car and later on he calls the dealership to complain that the LeBaron is overheating. Salesman says, oh really? Why don't you bring it in? He does. He's arrested on the spot. Pretty good, huh? It had to be true.

You couldn't make up a story like that. You can't make up this stuff. There's a TV show, World's Stupidest Criminals or something, and it's full of guys like this. Well, I remember hearing a few years ago, there were a couple of guys that decided they were gonna steal an ATM, and they hook up the bumper of their pickup truck with a chain to this ATM machine, and they try to yank the thing out of its mooring,

and what happens is it rips the bumper off the truck, realizing that they're not gonna get the thing out. They take off, leaving the bumper with the license plate anyway if you'd like to call us with something stupid then you know i'll get a stupid answer from us the number is 1-888-CAR-TALK that's 888-227-8255 oh thank heavens hello you're on car talk hi this is adrian calling from beautiful sisters, Oregon. Hi, Adrienne. Beautiful sisters? Beautiful sisters. Is the name of the town sisters or beautiful sisters?

Sisters. Oh, I thought it was beautiful sisters. They missed the opportunity. Beautiful. Sisters, Oregon. Sisters, Oregon. Cool. No kidding.

Anyway, what's up, Adrienne? Well, my loved one, the love of my life, my husband has a birthday coming up. And I have, or thanks to my mother-in-law, I drive a 91 Mooseproof Saab 900S. And my husband and I, a couple months ago, passed a rock yard. And my husband is really into rocks. A rock yard? A rock yard. And so I want to surprise my husband for his birthday in a few weeks with some

Rocks and these weren't just any old rocks these I think were granite rocks, but we do get the wackos For you so look when you don't get any calls you gotta take So normal But I was gonna ask what's a rock yard, but I said, no, it'll come out. It'll surface. It'll surface somehow in the conversation. Yeah, they sell all sorts of rocks. Granite rocks, basalt.

Yeah, your basic igneous and sedimentary. Yeah, yeah. And so I want to drive back. I want to go over to Portland, just about hour drive, pick up as many rocks as I can safely carry in the sob. And I don't have a clue how much weight I can carry in the back of my sob given that I have a mountain pass to climb coming over. Boy oh boy. So I need your help. I mean you would buy like a lot of heavy rocks?

I mean is your husband into big rocks? Well rocks, my definition, are heavy. They're big rocks. I mean again, I'm not a big rock person, but they have a great shape to them, and he wants, he's into rocks, and we have rocks around our two little weighting sized ponds outside,

and you know, he just loves moving and redecorating with his rock. Let me get the picture here. These rocks that you would be buying are they like seven or eight inches wide and bigger than a basketball? Yes. Watermelon? Yeah or watermelon and a half. You're looking at a watermelon and a cantaloupe. A watermelon and a kiss. You're looking at a hundred pounds of rock. Or more. Of of each by the each and then you might buy what how much are these rocks what are they going for they're twenty

nine cents a pound twenty nine cents a pound right what a wonderful idea huh huh I often wondered you know what if they sold other things by the pound like light bulbs yeah parakeets parakeets are going gonna be 2,500 bucks a pound. They cost more than anything. Parakeets and light bulbs are way, way up there. Oh yeah. But rocks. Rocks.

Cheap. Yeah. Well here's the issue. I mean you may be able to put seven or eight of these rocks in your trunk, but I will tell you a little story. Some years ago, I went to a local discount store that sold all kinds of things among them drill presses.

So I think it would be awfully nice to have a big drill press. Everybody needs one. Everyone needs a drill press. You never know what you're in your basement. In my basement. Or your living room if your wife will stand for it. So I buy this thing. It's made in Taiwan and it's all cast iron with a big motor. And I don't know what it weighs, but these two gorillas bring it out to the loading dock. And they very carefully place it in the trunk of my car. And as I'm closing the trunk, the two of them are walking away laughing. And one of them says, good luck getting it out. And that's the obvious, I mean, if you do get the rocks in,

you're never gonna get them out. You're gonna kill yourself. I mean, don't they deliver? No, well, it's a three hour drive from here, so no. Well, I mean, I would say, I mean, technically speaking, if in fact it were six or 700 pounds of rocks, you could do it. Really?

Sure, sure, I mean, think about two brothers-in-law in the back seat it was probably a piece that's that's a lot of time with the bottom books seven and a half so if the car were full of people i would i mean you can't go with anybody of course you gotta do this on your own right me my dog my trusty to dog yeah and i wouldn't put them all in the trunk, I would like scatter them around the car. Okay. A couple on the hood. On the floor of the back seat. Yeah, the floor of the front seat. Okay. So you don't have all the weight on those rear springs. Gotcha. Yeah, I mean you could rent or borrow,

preferably a car from somebody. That would be... No, you can't borrow a car from somebody. That would be... You can't borrow a car from somebody and then go fill it up with rocks. No? No. Why don't you rent a little U-Haul van? I could do that. Rent the smallest truck you can get and that will do it. And you can fill the thing up with rocks because what? It's not your truck. No you can't though because don't forget they're 29 cents a pound. Yeah but... You buy a thousand pounds of rocks man, you're 29 cents a pound. Yeah, but... You buy a thousand pounds of rocks, man, you're up to 300 bucks. 300 dollars! It's all your husband's.

But they're rocks! Well, I think you have rocks in your head, actually, but... Adrian, you've made my day. You guys are so good. You're the best. Good luck. But see if you can rent a van. Okay. And it'll save your sob. Okay. See you the best. Good luck. But see if you can rent a van. Okay. And it'll save your sob.

Okay. See ya, Adrienne. Thank you. Bye. I don't think it matters. I mean, you throw a couple of heavyweights in the back seat. What's the difference?

Yeah, but I have a feeling she's gonna end up buying 15 or 1,800 pounds of rocks. Yeah, then it would be a problem. Yeah, then she'll blow a head gasket on the sob. It'll be a disaster. Yeah. And you don't want to be constrained You don't want to go there saying I can only buy 700 pounds worth of rock you might you may find you might find Yeah, and you wouldn't want to say I can't buy it for my dear husband because my car won't handle it right and someone

Else will buy the rock. They probably don't even put rocks aside for you gonna Cash and carry so to speak of course. I don't know Seems nuts. They don't have a layaway plan one eight eight eight car talk. That's eight eight eight two two seven eight two five five Hello, you're on car talk. Hi. This is Dale from Masonville Dale Masonville Colorado yes about 70 miles north of Denver Masonville Colorado. Yeah about 70 miles north of Denver. Masonville, oh Europe near the Wyoming border. Windy Wyoming you bet. Yeah yeah yeah so what's going on man? I've got a 1970 Ford pickup that I inherited from my father when he passed away. Went out this spring to try to start it and it wouldn't start so I got a little looking a little further and discovered that flake corn was coming out of both of the glass pack exhaust What had happened my mother? Who lived there with my dad had fed her rabbits every day flake corn and unbeknownst to her?

Mice had taken the flake corn and somehow and that is well question number one How did they get it in the exhaust? Exhaust is what, 10 inches off the ground, would they stand on each of their little backs and be up piece by piece? They may have, they may have built a ladder of OCA. Well, the bottom line is, I tried several things to get it unhooked. I went out and gunned it and I got the left side loose.

A bunch of smoldering corn came plowing out one exhaust. Luckily didn't hit anybody at the time. The other side is just hopelessly plugged. Oh, you know when they did this in the winter? Yes. They didn't have to build a ladder. They climbed up that ramp of snow. So that's what they did.

So the other side, when you say it's hopelessly plugged, you don't feel any exhaust coming out of it? Very little, very little. And a little flake corn comes popping out Yeah, see I I hate that I hate to think it but I think oh no no I don't think so I do think it went in the other way no no no I think that the reason it's plugged up is not that it's plugged up With corn, but it's plugged up with the people little creatures who delivered the corn the corn couriers little creatures who delivered the corn. Oh, you mean the corn couriers? The corn couriers are in there with their little backpacks, you know. Singing, I-ho, I-ho, it's off to the bustle we go, da-da-da-da. Do you hear any singing? No. You turn the engine off. If you listen really careful. Well actually, I took it down the road quite a ways and it died on me after I got one side

loose thinking that I could break the other one loose with acceleration and it died. Well what you need to do is you need to take off, this has dual exhaust, you need to take off the muffler on that side. Because the muffler is the only thing that is labyrinthal. That once they got into it, it's unlikely they got beyond it. Is it welded on, you know? No, it's probably clamped on, but you have to practically destroy it. If you can get it to a gas station, just have them cut that thing off with a torch or air

chisel it off. Well, that was my plan, cutting it off, but I thought I would wake the neighbors on my way down about 10 miles to the nearest gas station. No, no, no. Unless you gun it, it'll be pretty quiet, but you can cut that off with a hacksaw. Yeah, that I can do. And when you do that, you're going to notice it weighs about 95 pounds, and the thing will run like a dream. Because it has to be there. It's unlikely they got beyond the muffler. I mean, I would try to take it off delicately.

I wouldn't. You don't think so? I mean, you might might actually once you take the muffler out of there if you could get it off without Wrecking everything you might be able to like shake those little fellows out of you ain't gonna Know you you ain't gonna shake. You don't think so no If you could would you want to Saw the muffler off yeah with a hacksaw and try to get it as close to the muffler, cut that as, as you possibly can. You don't want to have to buy a front pipe.

So saw that muffler off at the point closest to the muffler, start it up, it'll run like a dream. Then you can drive to Midas and have them throw a new muffler on there. And get rid of the corn and the mice. Get rid of the corn and the mice. Good luck Dale. Thank you. Good luck is right. Bye bye. Bye. Hey don't go anywhere because we've got a lot more calls, well a few anyway, and the puzzler answer coming up right after this. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things and other currencies.

With WISE, you can send, spend, or receive money across borders, all at a fair exchange rate. No markups or hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit WISE.com. T's and C's apply. Great conversation makes for a great party. But how do you ask the questions that really make the room come alive? Well, here at LifeKit, we've got you.

What is a path you almost took but didn't? On our latest episode, how to ask the magical questions that'll make your party sparkle. Listen to the LifeKit podcast from NPR. Hi, we're back. Listen to the Life Kit podcast from NPR. Actually, this puzzle was emailed to us recently. Was emailed to me too. By Julie. Oh, you got it too, huh? Catherine, you devil you. Yeah, see if I drop that melda thing from the credits this week. Well anyway, here it is. Two men are found dead in a cabin in the woods.

There is no evidence of their being shot, stabbed, strangled, poisoned, burned, drowned, starved or bored to death from listening to car talk. The cabin did not burn down, a tree did not fall on the cabin, they were not attacked by animals and they did not die of natural causes or old age. And I've pretty much covered all the bases. Pretty much everything. Both men had been healthy in their late 20s or early 30s and were married, and their wives were hundreds of miles away at the time and alive. The question is, how did the two men die?

Now, the one, you know, I said I covered all the bases, but I didn't. There was one thing that was omitted. Well, you probably, there are was one thing that was omitted. Well, you probably, there are lots of things that you omitted. Well, when I said they didn't die by starvation or stabbing or strangulation or poisoning or whatever, but they did die by accident because the cabin they were in crashed.

The cabin was the cabin of a plane. Oh, come on! I love your ringing endorsements! Oh, I guess it's alright. Well, do we have a winner this week, please? Yes, we do have a winner. The winner is Ann Maddox from Kingston Springs, Tennessee. Yeah, big deal.

Ann, for having your correct answer chosen at random from among the thousands of correct answers that we've gotten. I don't think he should get a prize. I mean, if the puzzle's that lousy, does she deserve a prize? No, she doesn't. Forget it. Anne, I'm sorry, I made a mistake. For having your correct answer chosen this week, you will get absolutely nothing because

the puzzler stank. That's probably better than getting the CD. No, no, she'll get a prize that is appropriate for her response. We gotta get rid of this. We got these CDs. Men are from GM, women are from Ford, lawyers are from Chrysler. Daimler Chrysler. Daimler Chrysler. And we'll send one to Ann Maddox and that's it. Anyway, we have a brand new quasi-automotive puzzler coming up at the third half of today's show, so don't touch that dial.

In the meantime, we'll take your calls at 1-888-CARTALK. That's 8888227-825. Couldn't help myself. Hello, you're on Car Talk. This is Liz in Scottsdale, Arizona. Hi, Liz. How are you? I'm fine.

I have to sort of change gears here because I'm at work and I'm a nurse and this is gonna be talking about cars I'm not used to doing this all at work. You're not neglecting any patients. Are you no? I'm not any weasers Huh? No, I work in a long-term care facility. I'm assistant director of nursing. So I do a lot of paper-pushing So, you know, that's good. Yeah, you're just part of the expense for the hospital. That's right. That's it Okay, you don't actually take care of anybody must save any lives yet i do ok alright well good

so what's up with well i have uh... ninety three when the claim who can i love that car uh... and it hasn't really given me any trouble uh... but intermittently i get gas dripping out of that from around the gas tank we took it in

uh... the filler you mean of the gas no underneath the car yeah i think the car it's a good sell all of you know where you put the gas in that it's dripping now it's it's not only for the gas tank is and where I understand the fuel filter or fuel pump is good Okay, and we have a new fuel pump put in and a fuel filter I believe the fuel pump is inside the tank in this yes it is so you had this done Just prior to the leak starting or No, I had it done when we noticed this leak okay it's still doing

it yeah it's intermittent though I went for quite a while without doing it well the things that I told me was to not let it get too close to empty because I'm going to be sucking up more dirt to clog up that fuel filter sucking up more dirt to clog up that fuel filter. Oh. Wait, no one... Let's forget about that. When he had the tank out and when he was underneath the car, did he not see any evidence of the leak? I guess not, huh? Well, I'll tell you. I don't know if he saw it. We just told him what was happening.

And they told us what it was and they supposedly fixed it. I think this vehicle has a funny kind of quick disconnect fitting on the gas filter. In other words, it has, you know, the old days gas filters were attached to the fuel line with a rubber hose and a worm style clamp, like a radiator clamp that's tightened with a screwdriver. But that was too easy. And for whatever reason, many manufacturers, or most actually, have changed over to a quick

disconnect. And that is a misnomer if there ever was one, because you can never get these things apart. It's a fitting that's designed to be squeezed or pried on and it just pops off so there's no clamp to tighten. It makes assembly cheaper. It's cheaper because it's quick to assemble. The assembler just takes a thing and snaps it together, much like a seatbelt snaps on, you understand? And it's possible, that thing has a little neoprene or some some Vitan rubber seal That is supposed to keep the gas from leaking out and I've seen these things Be perfectly okay for days and days and days and then just leak like crazy for no obvious reason

Maybe it's change in temperature Something and it'll leak for a day and then boom stop and leave no trace and when it's leaking when I notice it I pull away and I can see this little puddle and it was just dripping dripping dripping When I got to where I was going it wasn't doing it anymore. Here's what you need. You need a jumpsuit Exactly. I haven't worn. I haven't worn a jumpsuit since the 60s Yeah, well, you're gonna have to wear one. You need to go to a store that sells work clothes. Yeah. And you need to when this when you smell the gas, which you may smell, you need to jump out of the car, throw, in fact you might want to just drive to work with the jumpsuit on. You need to jump out and stick your noggin underneath there and I bet

you will see that it is coming from the fitting that connects to the fuel filter Well, it does seem to be that area my husband's right in front of the right rear wheel Yes, it is once you find the leak you've got to tell this guy exactly where it is And he'll repeat order that line from the dealer and replace it. It's probably 20 bucks You're saying you think it's this quick disconnect. Yeah, that hooks to the filter. Ah Good luck Liz. Thank you very much guys I really enjoy your show. Thanks for your call. Good luck, get back to that nursing. I will. Bye bye. Oh it's Alice again, what a pain in the neck. Turn off her IV. Crank up the oxygen. Give her a cigar to smoke.

One 888 Car Talk, that's 888-227-8255. Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hi there, this is Jim from Norman, Oklahoma. Norman! Norman from Jim, Oklahoma! That is correct. What's up, man? Well, you know, I was going to call in with a car problem but i i really have a car talk problem yeah you know a lot of other people yeah i know i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i ier puzzler you know and you you said that i think last week that he was a dead and he couldn't

to end and and i was kind of a bit taken back in and literally shocked i am a big fan of the admire of martin gardener and i thought i would have known before you guys so that's it s what i decided you know i called my dad because he's fairly up on this information and in after we talked for for a while but i was thankfully a hundred percent convinced that he was still alive who's

your dad well my cat martin gardener and i was about to say that i think we received email from the son that that's what i mean I was about to say that I think we received an email from his son. That would be you, huh? I can say that he is both alive and still in the puzzle business. I apologize for that faux pas. We are both big fans of your father's mathematical puzzles for many years. Boy, my hero.

My hero is Martin Gordon. Yeah, he's my hero too. So I can... So what does he do these days? my hero is martin godwin i hear a kid so i don't like him uh... so what do you know these days well you know he he wrote a column in scientific american for twenty five years we read every one of the case and and he worked hard from that

but he's still been writing so he's been editing uh... a lot of his his old columns and added new information well tell dad that we're glad he's all alive and well yeah i'm i'd made this mistake many times in the past when i discovered that laurence welkin died it was apparently in my estimation for the second time but but before time and in fact if if you guys are interested i i spoke to my dad and and when the time comes uh...

he he has a puzzler for you. No! Kidding! The time is coming in about five minutes! Oh well, what do you know? So do you have the puzzler at your disposal? I have the puzzler at my disposal. Well it may be one that I've already stolen from him.

Well, you know, my sense is it probably is. Alright, well hold on Jimmy, here's what we're going to do. I will hold on. We're going to take a short break and when we come back you'll well hold on, Jimmy. Here's what we're going to do. I will hold on. We're going to take a short break, and when we come back, you'll give the new puzzler. How's that? I will be happy to do that, guys. So we'll have an authentic Martin Gardner

puzzler coming up. Right from the horse's son's mouth, so to speak. I mean, this is really a treat for us. And I get out of having to come up with a puzzler. 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. Ha! We're back. You're listening to Car Talk with us, click and clack the Tabard Brothers, and we're here More at Kresge.org. puzzler yes and you'll get all the hate mail Jim. Martin Gardner is the father of puzzlement and Jim is his son so Jim must be puzzlement. Jim called because I I guess I said dad had left us dad hasn't left us and he has no intention of leaving. So Jim what is this puzzler? There are three on and off switches are on the wall on the first floor of a building. You can tell when

they're switched on or off. They've got things that say on and off. One switch controls a bulb in a lamp on the third floor of the building. The other two switches are dummies. they're not connected to anything you are allowed to toggle the switches as many times as you please and then you were allowed to walk just one to the third floor to check the light bulb

how can you know then which control the ball the martin gardener public that's very very good okay this is a test of your memory can you state it again are you asking me or your brother? i've got it written down in front of me see no wonder it was so smooth

should i do that? No, don't. Spoil everything. All right, yes, a second time, Jim. A second time, just to make sure that the slower among us have an opportunity to jot down whatever little clues. I got lost with the three switches. I, I, go ahead. Three switches on the wall. One of them is attached to a light on the third floor and the other two are dummies that's correct okay like switches around the wall on the first floor of the building and you can tell when they're on or they're off but only one switch controls a bulb in a lamp on the third floor the other two switches are dummies

they're not connected to anything you can toggle the switches on and off as many times as you please but then you're allowed to walk to the third floor just one time to check the light bulb how can you know which switch control the bulb okay

i got him it's an honor to have spoken to you please give bob a very very best to your father and more importantly great please give us the answer uh... not now i have to do that no you don't know you can email it to us yeah i i think i have the answer i'd be told but i i have to work out the idea i have it

jim it's a pleasure well good luck in a pleasure talking to you to gentleman thanks thanks. Thanks for calling. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Now, if you think you know the answer to Martin Gardner's puzzle, or you're basically a shut-in and you just want to communicate with anybody, send your answer to Puzzler Tower, Car Talk Plaza, Box 3500, Harvard Square, Cambridge, Our Fair City, MA two two three eight or you can email us your answer from our website Cartok dot MSN calm just click on the talk to car talk section, you know, I I kind of like this guest puzzler thing. It would kind of oh take the heat off me. So to speak Oh, in fact, why don't we get?

Why don't we get Martin Kahn there every other week? Yeah, and we'll get Marlon Vos Savant the other week. They're about it, right? There's no one else to go to. No, except us and everyone knows how lousy our customers are. I'm sure Daniel Pinkwater can come up with a couple. Yeah, a couple a year anyway, you know. Yeah, a guest puzzler. Cool. Good. Anyway, if we choose your correct answer,

at random from among all the correct answers we receive, you'll get one of our crummy CDs called Men Are From GM, Women Are From Ford. It's a CD about couples and cars and God knows what else. If you'd like to call us, the number is 1-888-CAR-TALK. That's 888-227-8255. Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hi, it's Matt. I'm from Los Angeles. Hi, Matt. How you doing? Good. What you doing? Good. What's up?

Well, here's my story. I drive a Volvo 850 Turbo. One evening, I live here in LA, as I said, and I was driving home on the freeway, and all of a sudden, a shrapnel or something just starts flying all around the car. That's LA for you. Was I driving in front of you? It's like it's like a war zone and We're all all these cars in the freeway are trying to avoid this stuff And it's just blowing all over the freeway and I hit kind of glancing blow on the right side of what looked like some sort of car part laying on the freeway and

Immediately had flat would appear to be a flat tire and immediately had flat what appeared to be a flat tire pulled over onto the side of freeway get on my car and I look up and down the freeway there must have been turned out the police told me about 45 cars pulled over by all this debris what had happened was a big flatbed truck loaded up with crushed cars was loaded up a little too high and when it went under the underpass all of us here off the top cover cars that uh... completely disintegrated on the freeway grace the amazing thing is that no one was hurt no one collided with anybody

else just everybody had a lot of damage from run into these you know car parts what was amazing what what what incredible was that I got my police report in, got my car loaded up onto a flatbed, and it's 11.30 and I'm heading home. Cool. I'm thinking I'm one of the luckiest guys in the world, right? Yeah. And it looked like the only thing that really happened to my car was that I had these two flat tires,

plus my rims had been pretty badly, you know, damaged and broke from them. Sounds like there's more to the story, however. there's more to the story however this isn't it so I'm talking to the guy we're going home we're having a very nice conversation I really think this is one of the nicest tow truck drivers I've ever met and we get near my house we turn a corner and I'm just talking a nice conversation the car the truck kind of bounces as we go around the corner I I turn around and look behind at my car to see if it's okay and it's not there. FOT! FOT! And you never noticed?

So I tell the guy, I finally go, you know, I think you dropped my car somewhere back behind us here. And you know, I've never seen a guy turn so white in my entire life. I mean, he's turning it around. So you turn around, how far did you have to go before you found a quarter mile he dropped in the intersection where we were i felt that balancing out with obviously from the car taken it actually fell off the truck today it did a belly flop right in the center of a major intersection and man and manhattan beaches which is where i live

it and we went back there sure enough it was sitting there. It literally had landed right on its belly. It hadn't, it didn't flip over. It didn't prepare to do anything other than that. It just came right off the truck. How new a Volvo 850 is this? It's a 96. Oh man. Like late, you know, I mean. Yeah. Yeah, like almost a 97-seven almost nine hundred i've got a lot about it yes worth thirty grand yeah not not now

yeah not not not at this particular moment so for a time for the fact that this is what would be a great law school question for who's really responsible which insurance company is responsible for all the damage uh... you know my my question is and what i'm trying to deal with, I'm an insurance company hill right now, I'm trying to get the insurance company to total this thing because from my way of thinking, when a car

takes a five-foot drop off a flatbed, I mean how can the car ever be expected to drive properly? I can speak from personal experience. You've dropped a lot of them. But I have dropped a car from five feet. Yeah, five feet is a lot. Five feet totals them. From my experience. No, no, but you dropped it on its head. This thing landed on its feet. Well, that was the first one landed on the side. Some of the ones have landed belly down. Belly down. Yeah, no, your five feet's bad. Think so. I mean, you're gonna have to get it to a frame shop. Right.

Because what will determine whether or not it's been totaled is whether or not the frame is bent beyond the point where it can be straightened. And because they're really not set up to straighten frames that have been bent from the bottom like this, they may have a difficult time getting the thing to the point where it's alignable. Frames usually bend left to right, or right to left, but not down to up. Yeah, you need to take this thing to the Volvo dealer and get a letter from them that says,

Matt's car is done for. Send them a check. Now, is the Volvo dealership, or is a typical dealership, do they have a frame shop or do they... They'll send it out. What they will do is they will have their guys look at it first. And then if they have any doubts, they'll send it out. And they'll be the most credible too. But if you take it to Joe Blow's frame shop, they may not believe him.

They may believe you paid him off. And about the insurance, obviously the tow tow truck drivers insurance is covering this well No, you know actually what I will tell you this what's amazing is I won't mention the name of the insurance company What's amazing to me is there almost all the bunch of no good unscrupulous sleazeballs in my brother's my opinion What they're trying to do they're trying to pin most of the damage on the truck on the truck that blue yeah that with the the lot that car on the freeway well i right if that is a dance

bolson it is a car on the consul coronado because if you hadn't come from spain that will explore the whole area and stake that out for the spaniards california would be called Spaniards. California wouldn't be called California and you wouldn't live there. That's right. I mean how far back can you go? No, it's the fault of the guy that hooked up the truck incorrectly. Of course. It's clearly his fault. What did I just say? In my opinion, there's a bunch of no good unscrupulous sleazeballs.

My feeling about this is you sue everybody. That's it. You know what to do? Tell them either they give you a check tomorrow or you're going to start having personal injuries. You're going to start getting nervous about the nightmares that you've been having. I've been having nightmares about the car falling off and I'm in it. Right ever since this has happened. Oh you're ready for this? I've had the nightmare, recurring nightmare that I'm driving my car off a cliff I can't sleep anymore I can't even drive anymore I can't go to work anymore you're in fat city man you are in fat city this is it I told you you guys were great and that will work

I'm telling you you'll never have to work another day in your life this is the best thing that ever happened to me I can retire yeah you'll be driving a Lincoln, man. See you later. Thanks, thanks guys, bye bye. Bye bye, man. Bye bye.

Bye bye. Bye bye. Bye bye, man. There's a silver cloud. There's a silver cloud. There's a silver cloud to every line. There's a silver cloud. There's a silver cloud to every line.

There's a silver cloud to every line. Whew! Well, you've wasted an otherwise perfectly good hour listening to Car Talk. Our esteemed producer is Mr. Doug Berman. Our associate producer is Mr. Ken Rogers. Our assistant producer is Catherine Ray. Our engineer is Jonathan Marston, and our menu advisor is Mr. John S. Lawler.

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