The Best of Car Talk - #2639: Honda Habitat

Episode Date: May 16, 2026

Kristen is moving to Kosovo for a couple of years and has to leave her beloved Honda behind. She’s apparently so sentimental about the car that she wants Click and Clack to help her develop a list of criteria for choosing an appropriate storage facility. Does she expect snacks and play time for this thing? Or will four walls and a guard sleeping at the door be enough? Find out on this episode of the Best of Car Talk.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Hello and welcome to Car Talk from National Public Radio with us Click and Clack the Tappertad Brothers, and we're broadcasting this week from Bugsys big and tall shop here at Car Talk Plaza. Yes, and we have clothing issues to discuss. You may recall that months ago, we announced that we needed a new Car Talk T-shirt. Oh, that's right. And the old one had yellow rings under the armpits. Yeah, that's true. And actually what we said was we needed a new T-shirt design.

So we asked all six of our listeners to send us ideas for the Car Talk T-shirt, the next generation. Man, did we get entries. Oh, yeah, we got how many? Must be what? Six. Actually, I don't know how this happened. We got hundreds, maybe thousands of submissions.

Some of them, if you don't forget, we said, you don't have to be an artist, just to send us a little sketch or give us an idea of what it should be. And we went through every single one of them, and after many hours of cappuccino, biscotti, quino, all that stuff, We picked what we consider the best five ideas.

And since like four of them with just descriptions of T-shirts, we had to commission our staff artists, Midi Van Gogh, to render them as art for us. And then you can view these finalists right now at our website, the Car Talk section of Cars.com. Well, more than view them. I mean, you can help us pick the best one. Yeah.

So if you want to help pick the next great car talk t-shirt, one that you're very old station. Be careful about using Luechard. word great. Well, if you want to pick the next car talk t-shirt, we have had some great ones, though. Man, we've had some stinkers. We've had some stinkers, yeah. But if you want to pick the next one, the one that your very own station may try to flog to you next spring in exchange for about a hundred bucks, just go to the car talk section of cars.com, check out the five finalists and cast your vote for the t-shirt idea that you like the best. Oh, hate the least. Vote early and vote often.

Indeed. And don't forget, this isn't just some little web pole. No. I mean, there's a lot at stake here. I mean, the winner of this contest is going to get it. You ready for this? It's a life-altering prize. A gross of Car Talk T-shirts.

Oh, that's life-altering. The old ones. Lots of them left over. No, you'll get, the winner will get a gross of his design, his or her design. And when he gets the package, you'll say, oh, that's gross. Anyway, you can vote at the Car Talk session of, Cars.com and may the least offensive shirt win. In the meantime, if you've got a problem with your car or anything else, your spouse, your boy or girlfriend, etc., you can call us at 1-888-8-8-8-8-2-8-2-5. That's 888.

Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hi, this is Paul from Canton, New York. Hi, Paul. Where in New York is Canton? Canton. Do you know where St. Lawrence University is? No, is it on the St. Lawrence Seaway? It's close. It's about 20 minutes from the St. So it's way, way up there. Way, way up. Oh, near Camp Drum. About an hour north of Fort Drum. An hour north?

Yeah, between Fort Drum and Malone, about halfway between. Oh, oh. I didn't think there was anything. There are roads north of Fort Drum. Well, there are things north of Fort Drum. I'm calling about my sleigh, really. You're calling about your sleigh. All right, what's up?

No, actually, it's my wife's car. She's wanted a, she's wanted a Volvo, an old one, for a long time. time, so we bought a 92-240. And often when you start it, just for a little bit after you start it, it acts like it's starved for gas. You know, you've got to put your foot on the brake in order to shift. It's an automatic. In order to shift, you've got to have your foot on the brake. And why you're doing that at stalls? While you're doing that, it stalls. And, you know, I'm quite often. I either started in neutral or started with my foot, one foot on the brake and one foot on the gas. And as soon as you get into, you know, you get it in gear and

back up and then go forward a little bit, it's gone. It's fine from then on. Live with it. Live with it, man. Live with it. Really? Why? Why spend money on a little problem like that? Well, I don't know. It's annoying. Oh, no. Save the money for like the trailing arm bushings and the control, all the other things that need to be done. You know, I'm sort of getting a little bit annoyed at the people who are looking for, for perfection. I mean, if I had a car that worked 99.9% of the time, I'd be so thankful I'd be downed my knees.

I mean, I don't know, there are people who just can't live with any imperfection. I guess that's okay. Paul is willing to live with imperfection. Well, I don't know whether that's me or not. No, no, obviously, you don't have a great car. My wife is not like that. Thank God. I'd be out in the street in two seconds.

You'd be sleeping in the garage. Oh, you are. Oh, I am sleeping in the garage. Well, just for curiosity. Let's just discuss from the academic standpoint, not that you're going to fix it, because I strongly recommend that you're not fix it. Okay.

This car has an electronic device called the idle air control, which is in this car located under the intake manifold. And its job is when the engine is cold, that it basically allows more air to come in and bypass the throttle and makes the injection throw in. more fuel. It makes it think that it wants more fuel because it sees more air.

And this coupled with the other sensors on the car, like the cool and temp sensor, actually increased the flow of fuel from the injectors, increases the pulse to the injectors, and makes the engine race. Yeah. It's the equivalent of a choke. In the old days, you pump the gas a couple of times,

you set the choke, you turn the key, and the engine ran at like 2,000 RPM, so that when you did put it in gear, it didn't stall out. So it sounds like yours is lazy. Yeah. Right. Yeah. It sounds like yours is lazy. It may be dirty. You may have to have someone take it off and clean it.

Yeah. But like my brother said, I don't think I'd go look out for trouble. That's what it is. Okay. See you, Paul. Good luck. All right. Thank you. Hi, bye. Bye.

One triple-eight, 22-8-225. Hello, you're on car talk. I'm Wendy Ingalls. Hi, Wendy. Where are you from? I'm calling from East Hampton, Mass. East Hampton. Where would that be? It's out near Amherst, Massachusetts. way out of the western part.

Oh, yeah, the Outback, as we call it. That's right. Well, you know, I'm beginning to see the wisdom in living in the boondocks like you, because I'm so sick and tired of the city. Well, you know, it's interesting that you should mention that because your neighbors are also interested in seeing you live in the boondocks,

and they've taken up a collection. To send Tommy away. Send Tommy to the Outback. Only five households have been canvassed so far, and they've managed to raise a mere $100,000. But anyway, Wendy, what's happening? Well, I have a 91 Toyota pickup, and it's two-wheel drive, and the problem is it's that in the front wheels started about a month ago.

It sounds like it comes with front wheels. There's a vibration noise, basically only when I first start up in the morning, but that's not the only time it happens, and it goes with the wheels. It kind of goes Wong, Wong, Wong. So is it a vibration and a noise? Well, no, it's the same. I mean, it's not, it's just the vibration is the noise. And I started up and like when I drive out of the, it doesn't happen to reverse,

but when I go forward, I'm driving out of my driveway. And it happens for probably 200 yards and it goes away. And it happens if I'm going straight. It happens if I turn the wheel. And then about two or three weeks after it started happening, I was going 40 or 50 miles an hour on a road. And as I turned the wheel, it happened, and as I straightened it, it went away. But it didn't stay.

But do you feel anything, or do you just hear something? I just hear it. I don't feel it. You just hear it. Yeah. Okay. And that's the noise. That's the noise.

That's it. That's it. This is a new dance. So if you speed up, it goes, wah, wow, wow, wow,

you slow down. Yeah. And I had my brother listen to it because it used to be his truck, and of course it didn't happen when he was with me. And of course you haven't anyone look at it except for your brother.

Right. Well, I had that, well, near the end of June, I had the brakes done on it, and they turned the rotors and put new brake pads on. And my father said, well, I think it's your brakes. But I'm not sure that's what it is.

I haven't taken it in. And have you experimented with this thing? For example, can you tell us if you can change or make the noise go away by touching the break? It does go away when I touch the brakes. Oh. Yes. Well, is that a good question? That was an extraordinary question because it saved us the embarrassment of suggesting that it was a wheelbearing.

Oh. Right. Who was that brilliant? who suggested it might be your brakes. That was her father. Is dad suggested that? Dad could be right. He's right.

I think you have a sticky caliper. Ah. And I think the fact that they put new pads in may be worse than the problem. Uh-huh. Or the caliber may have been marginally, you know, acceptable when they put the pads in. Maybe it was just starting to stick and they didn't notice it. Have them check. If it turns out the caliper's not stuck, have them rough up the pads and the disc rotors.

Maybe they didn't get a good cut on the discs. Okay. You're getting the sound from that. But it doesn't sound like anything too serious. Oh, that's good. See you, Wendy. All right, thank you. Thanks for call.

Good luck. Bye. Okay, look, this is it. For a gross of Car Talk T-shirts, think hard now. Yeah. Do you remember last week's puzzler? Did it have to do with sleeping

while standing up drooling and withdrawing stock options? No, no. That was Berman's last performance. Hi, we're back. We're back listening to Car Talk with us, click and collect the Tappert Brothers, and we're here to talk about cars, car repair and elevators.

Vertical transportation, he calls it, actually. Rich Elling sent us this. He says, okay, so this question isn't about cars, but rather a more stationary mode of transportation, the elevator. Now, get this. Now, I couldn't understand this letter. Why do elevators work backwards?

Stick with me here. We all know how an elevator works. You get on at the bottom, along with everybody else, and the elevator rises and stops at each floor where someone wants to get on or off. Of course. Of course, the opposite is true on the way down. This works out fine unless you're the poor Schmoe who works on the top floor.

Then you have to waste all your time on the elevator. But who owns the elevator? The building owner owns the elevator. And who's on the top floor? The most important tenants. Of course. These are not the people the owner should keep waiting in the elevator. Sure.

I didn't think of this before. The obvious problem is that elevators work backwards. Instead of starting at the bottom and making stops on the way up, the up elevator should zoom from the lobby to the top of the building. Of course. And then descend, dropping off workers on the lower floors on the way down. The down elevator should start on the second floor and pick up workers on the way up. Once it reaches the top floor, it would express

From the top floor to the lobby. Of course. This way, the important tenants at the top of the building would not have to wait. Yeah, Rich must be on like the 87th floor or somebody. He's getting ticked. This is going to take some getting used to. For instance, the fastest way, this is the part I didn't get. For instance, the fastest way to get from the third floor to the sixth floor

would be to hit the down button and catch the elevator as it collects passengers on the way up. But the best part of this plan is that the goof on the second floor who's too lazy to take the stairs will have to spend an eternity on the elevator. I love it. See, I mean, this is the kind of thinking that goes on. Outside the box. And as soon as they get this guy back on the box, we'll all be better off.

Did you get it? Of course I got it. It's actually brilliant. I think it is brilliant. I've thought of it myself, actually. If you're the guy in the penthouse, you want to get in, all the riffraff that live on the second third and eight, four, 20th floor are in there. You want to be able to press the top floor and it prioritizes the top floor. And they all say, what the hey?

And you say, it's me. I pay more rent than anybody. There you go. Shut up. There you go. And similarly, when he wants to go down, he shouldn't have to be picking up people all the way down. He presses down. So if you want to go up, you go down.

If you want to go down, you go up unless you're in the pendos. You go up and down in the way. Now, look, if you have something this interesting that might distract, just kept my brother busy for two weeks, this letter, that might distract my brother in a similar manner. He'd love to see it, obviously. Just send it to us, send it to him specifically, not me. Car Talk Plaza, Mail for Tommy,

box 3,500, Harvard Square, Cambridge, Our Fair City, Matt 0-2238, Or, of course, you can email us stuff from the Car Talk section of Cars.com. In the meantime, if you have a question about your car... I love it, actually. It's brilliant. If you have a question about your car or anything else, give us a call at 1-888-Cartalk. That's 888-227-8-8-25.

A lawyer on Car Toll. Otis is working on this right now. They're saying, why didn't we think of this? Hi, this is David Leicester from Youngstown, Ohio. Hi, David. How are you? Youngstown. There's a big steel mill there, right? Used to be, yeah. Used to be, they're all in Korea now.

Yeah, there you go. There are no steel mills anymore. No, you know why? We don't need steel. Too dirty. Okay, so, David. Yes, sir. What's up?

All right, I have a 91 Buick Regal. Yeah. And a couple weeks ago, it started making some funny noises. What it was doing is, as I was slowing down, I would start to hear this grinding noise, and it would, as you'd slow down, the grind would get slower. We'd go, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. Now, let me just ask.

Okay. You're slowing down with your foot on the brake? Yes. Would your foot not on the break or both? On the break. Excellent. That is the right answer. Okay.

And then as I would speed up, it would start to do it again. I would go, uh-uh-uh-uh. And then stop. Yeah. And also as I turned, I would get that same noise. Like from a stop and you make a turn. And you say the noise goes away at higher speed. Correct.

But it might not really go away. Mm-hmm. Uh, I have a suspicion what it could be. Okay. Oh, is it from your channel? No. What's channel? I've got no stinking channels.

Playboy channel? Uh, you, when it did make the noise, and you were stepping on the break and slowing, you, you had to have been stepping on the break, it wouldn't make the noise unless you stepped on the brake. Well, the car wouldn't slow down unless I stepped on the break. But, but, but, but, but, was there ever an instance where you took your foot off the brake? gas and didn't step on the break and got the noise. Okay, if I was, yeah, if I was like coasting to a stop? That was my question.

Okay, yeah, I would still get it. That's the better answer. Yeah. I think we can establish now that moving causes the noise. Moving. That's right. How long have you lived in that house? So whether you were applying the break or not, you got the noise, and when you got to

zero speed, the noise went away, and when you got to some higher, speed accelerating, the noise also went away, but may have not gone away, may have been just undetectable. And I think you have a bad tire. Really? Yeah, I think you have a classic case of tread separation. Oh. Yeah.

He's on firestones, are they? No. I'm just checking. But if you have the tread coming apart, what will happen is that the plies of the tire will rub against one another, and you'll get this noise. Every time you hit that bad spot, you'll get that er. Mm-hmm. Take the thing on a very quiet road.

Mm-hmm. And drive it at five or ten miles an hour, holding the steering wheel only with your two index fingers. And I think what you'll notice is every revolution of the wheel, of the tires, that you will get a... A little back and forth motion of the steering wheel. And as you begin to pick up speed, you'll notice that that comes more frequently. So initially, you'll get an er. Every time you get the er, you... You'll feel the wheel, just the steering wheel, that is, move between your fingers.

Okay. And that's going to tell you that you have a bad tire. And get it fixed immediately because it could be dangerous. Okay. Good luck, David. All right. Thank you very much. Thanks for your call.

Good luck. Bye-bye. 1-888. What is this number? 8-88-8-8-8-2-7-82-55. Hello, you're on car talk. Hi, this is Kirsten. K-I-R-S-T-E-N?

Ian. No, E-N. You're right. First time. Where are you from, Kristen? Sweden. No, I'm calling from Bethesda, Maryland. Bethesda.

Bethesda. Yeah. So what's up, Kristen? Well, I'm about to move to Kosovo in a couple weeks, and I'm going to need to store my car for two years while I'm over there. What kind of a car is? I have a driveway. Thanks.

It's a 1986 Honda CRX. I don't have a driveway. And it has 153,000 miles on it. And I want to know what kind of questions I should be asking the storage guys so that I know that my car will work when I get back from Kosovo in two years. Where are you going to store it? Well, the government has a storage facility up in Baltimore. Ah, the government is going to store it. Yeah.

Oh, so they know what to do. You don't have to ask them anything. Ask them, what now is you open when I come back? Is it like a nine to five deal? Can I come on weekends? Got plumbers coming in morning? Why are you going to Kosovo for two years? You're some kind of a state department person?

Sort of like that, yeah. Spy? No, not a spy. Well, she wouldn't be able to tell us. I work in international development. It's a national development. Yeah. Spy.

Anyway. Like weightlifting? No? Are you going to visit like Sylvia Pajoli or one of that crowd? I'm sure I'll run into her, actually, because my job will be as public affairs. officer. No, see that? Say hello for us.

I will. She won't admit knowing us. No, no. But she does. You work for the same company. We work for the same company, right. Exactly. And we met at the water cooler many times and talked about the game last night.

Oh, man. Sylvia's really into hockey, you know, when you see her, ask her about the Rangers. Anyway. In 86, Honda. In 86 Honda, yeah. So are you going to Kosovo for the money? Is that it? No, we do good work over there.

We do. Yeah. And so the government has this facility. Do you know where they're going to store it? I mean, is they going to just park in the street? They're going to store it in Kosovo. Put quarters in the meat for three years. I mean, what does it mean?

Store? Well, I don't really know. I mean, I haven't seen the warehouse myself. This is the government that is doing. something for you. Right. Right. And you're going to ask them if they're doing it right. Exactly. And if they're not, you're expecting them to change it? The government? Well. Do they do anything right? No. And do they change it? No. And they're going to do it for 86 Honda with 153,000 miles on it? What are you nuts? Okay, let me put it this way.

If they don't answer my questions, right, then I'll have to find alternative arrangements. Oh, there you go. A different country to move to. I can't see that. I've already signed a contract. All right, so let's find out. Okay. Is the facility, this is laughable, is the facility,

is the facility humidity controlled? Okay. Is it secure? Uh-huh. Is it patrolled? Will they have the car up on block? Or will it sit on the tires for five years? How long are you going to be gone?

Two years. Two years unless she's kidnapped. Will they remove the battery? Okay. Will they plug the intake and the exhaust? Uh-huh. Will they shrink wrap the car? The answer to all these questions is going to be one giant guffaw.

And will they allow my brother to sleep in the car because his wife throws him out? It's a really small car. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, my suspicion is that they're going to park it. Yeah. They're going to do none of those things. Mm-hmm.

What you should do is ask them what they're going to do and get the list. They must have a published list. It must be document number NB-713-4. You have to write to Pueblo, Colorado, to get it. Yeah. So when you get that document, send us a copy. Yeah, it would be interesting to know. What the government regulations are.

for storage of vehicles. Yeah. I bet you they don't have any. Oh, I bet they do. They do. They do. Don't forget, they store jet planes in the desert. They store jeeps.

They own that stuff. But they have the expertise. This is Kirsten's car. They could care less, as the Army says. Oh, no, they're going to park. I could care less, private maglius. They're going to park this on the street. They're going to park on the street.

Oh, yeah. And you're going to come back and get how many, 700, 50 tickets on it. Oh, man. What if they actually turn it on and keep it running? How often should they do that if that's their option? For the whole two years. No, that's one of the worst things you can do,

and this is one of the myths about cars that are sitting, is to start the thing up for five minutes and shut it off. It's the worst thing you can do. Well, how long should, if they do that? They've got to drive it around and all that. You want it driven every week. You want it driven five miles a week. Yeah, fat chance.

Let us find out the regs because I'd really like to know what they do. They must have something printed. Okay. But if they don't, at the very least, write it down and call us back, because I'm dying to know. Okay. I'm curious, too. All right. Yeah, call us next week.

Okay. We'll talk next week. Thanks, guys. Bye. Bye-bye. Okay, Tommy, it's time to do what we do every week at this time. I pray for a fall of video. No, that's what our listeners do.

We take a break. And when we come back, are you going to have a brand new, better-than-ever puzzle for a change? How about a better than nothing, Puzzler? So, back in a minute. Ha! We're back. You're listening to Car Talk with us, Click and Clack the Tappert Brothers. And we're here to discuss cars, car repair, and the new. The new.

The new. Folklore. Historic, high-caloric, metaphoric, and sophomoric, and sophomoric, puzzler. Really? All of the above, yeah. But is this the first new puzzleer of the new... Pre-pricie.

Oh, this is a preseason, a warm-up. A warm-up game. And bear with me because... Hey, of course, I mean... Because it's my first at bat of the season. Exactly. We can't expect any home runs. We can't expect much...

We never can expect the home run. No, maybe a walk. A walk would be good. Because don't forget, the other team is also first time, right? All right. The listeners, they won't even notice if it's crud. That's right. Not puzzlers sensitized.

It's okay. Go for it, man. Here it is. My wife and I was sitting at the kitchen table the other day, and she noticed there was a deck of cards on the table. And it was because the night before I was teaching the boys how to play poker, trying to win back some of the money that you keep borrowing from me. And she says, oh, she says, I'd like to learn how to play poker.

Will you teach me? So I said, sure. So I explained to her the ranking of the hands, i.e. a straight flush, or royal flush, rather, being the best hand than going all the way down to the deuce. the low reduces the lowest. Well, the lowest hand, I guess you could have is no pairs. No pairs. No pairs.

And the lowest cards. And the lowest cards. Anybody else. Yeah. So she says, well, that's interesting. So I've got all the cards face up on the table. And she says, let's play a game. And she says, you pick five cards.

And I'll pick five cards. And let's see who is the best hand. And she says, and I said, well, that's pretty stupid because I'm going to pick the royal flush. And you're going to pick a royal. flesh and we're going to be tied. Oh, pick five cards face up. We're looking at them.

Yeah. And she says, well, she said, after you pick your cards and you can draw cards, you can throw away as many cards as you want up to, including five, and you can replace them all or replace one, two, three, whatever number. Okay. And so I go first. I pick my royal flush, and I said, we do whatever you want to do. We're going to be tied.

He says, well, we don't always have to be tied. I can beat you. Really? That's what I said, really. And she says, let me go first. Oh. And she picks five cards. Yeah, I got it.

I think. Okay. Yeah. She picks five cards. And she beats me. Mm-hmm. What cards, what hand does she draw? I like it.

Now, if you think you know the answer. That's very good. I think I do know the answer. write it on a postcard or weave it into a hand-knotted 10-15 New Zealand wool Oriental run and send it to. Actually, I think it's 10 by 18. Well, it's going to be in meters because of New Zealand. No, I think the Aussies, well, the Aussies use the metric system.

Oh, yeah. New Zealanders use the metric system. Yeah. Are we the only ones? We're the only holdouts. On the planet. Yeah. What arrogance.

What ignorance? Even the English on which our system. It's called the English system. It's called the English system. They don't even know it. It's now the American system. Everyone else is abandoned it. Anyway, send it to Puzzler Tower, Car Talk Plaza, Box 3,500, Harvard Square, Cambridge.

Our Fair City. Matt 02238. Or, of course, you can email your answer from the Car Talk section of Cars.com. If you'd like to talk to us, or if you wouldn't like to talk to us, the number is 1-888-car talk to us. That's 8-8-2-2-78-25. Hello, you're on car talk. This is Ginger. Ginger.

I'm in Portland, Oregon. What's on your mind, Ginger? Hey, I have a 97 Honda Civic, four-door, and I got really scared last weekend driving in the car because about every other month, when I'm driving down a hill and turning to the right, I hear this very loud noise from the back, like strong, boing,

And the car doesn't do anything different, but this huge noise comes out. Ah-ha. You're sure it's coming from the back? Well, I think so, and so does my husband. Has anyone ever sat in the back to compare? Only because noises can be elusive, you know, the origin of noises can do. Seaving. No, because it's so intermittent.

You know, you can't predict it. Yeah, it just sneaks up on you. All of a sudden, what was that? Yes. Also, if you were to drive down this same hill and negotiate the turn at the same speed, you wouldn't necessarily get it every time. Right. Oh, she just said it happens every couple of months. Well, maybe she only drives down this every couple of months.

Well, I've taken it into the Honda dealer now twice just for this particular issue. And they say, well, sorry, ma'am, unless we can hear it ourselves. There's nothing we can do. And they say they've checked, and it's fine. Oh, really? So you're not going to go for any of their hair brain dancers that we might come out with. No, I called you guys because I figured you could really fix it. It's a nice big loud, boing! Yeah, very loud.

Sounds like a spring noise, doesn't it? Yes, it does. You know why? Why? That's what it is. Well, it could be. That's what I thought. It could easily be a broken coil spring.

Broken coil spring. Yeah, and they're hard to detect, and on Hondas, we found that they almost always break right at the very end, at the very last coil. So unless you're really looking for it, and you would think they would be looking for it, especially if you told them that it sounds like a, what, broken spring? Yeah. Maybe you didn't tell them that. Can they see it when they just look under the car?

Well, they wouldn't necessarily see it because you've got to be really looking for it. Well, I'll tell you, most Honda techs are pretty well versed in spotting Broken Springs because Honda's break springs quite a bit. Yeah, but they did a suspension check last week. Tell them to do it again. They didn't do it right. Well, assuming that they did it right, and I'm going to assume that they did because I think any Honda Tech is going to know to look for a broken spring. Any in the world in Portland, Oregon, don't forget, they hardly have electricity out there. Oh, come on.

We are an urban city. Come on. A beautiful urban city at that. Yeah? Oh, it's beautiful. I can see three mountains today. And it's just... And I know which three they are. And tell me. Mount St. Helens. Yeah.

Mount Rainia. No. And Mount Everest. Uh, no. Close. Oh, oh, I forgot. Kilimanjaro. Before Mount Everest was discovered, what was the tallest mountain in the world?

The tallest mountain in the world. Oh, Mount Everest was discovered. Oh, Mount McKinley. No, it was Mount Everest. They just hadn't discovered it. It was still the tallest mountain. Excellent. All right, look, have them check the springs, but I'm going to suggest that the springs are okay.

Okay. And what you should ask them to do is to lubricate the bushings with a penetrating lubricant. Deeply penetrating. Yeah, deeply penetrating, like our questions. We use the stuff made by Worth. Worth. Okay. Called HHS 2000.

Well, can we do this at home? You can, but you can't buy the stuff. Oh. Only sold to professionals. It's very dangerous stuff. You have to get a prescription for it from your mechanic. I can't do that. You can't buy it yourself.

And there are other penetrants, I'm sure, which is just as good. I just don't know the names of any of them. Okay. But ask them if they have something that's like this, and it's great stuff. Okay. And that's going to solve your problem. Thank you so much. See you, Ginger.

Okay, bye-bye. Hey, that brings up an issue. Why aren't there certain things that only a mechanic can buy with a prescription? Well, there are certain things. Like what? Like HHS 2000. and 44K. You know, they all have secret letters.

See, the thing is, they would all, it would lend more suspense. Exactly. To what, I mean, you go to the doctor and he takes out that little pad and he shrivel some crap on it. Yeah, and you know what? Whatever he writes, the druggist decides what to give you. The druggist looks at you say, let me see. You look a little pale.

You look a little pale. You need some erythromycin. You can't read this guy's writing anyway. You look like your thing. Some are ethromycin. Yeah. Well, it's happened again. You've totally depreciated another perfectly good hour listening to Car Talk.

Our esteemed producer is Doug the subway fugitive, not a slave to fashion. How long is he going to get away with this? Pump and lips, Berman. Subway fugitive thing. Oh, they're going to get him. Oh, man, we're going to get him. Our social producers are Louis Cronin, the Barbarian, and David, don't call me Dave Green. Our engineer is Tad Curry.

Our senior web lackey is Doug the old gray mayor and our technical, spiritual, and menial advisor. just back from his triumphant slam dunk at the Cape and donut toss is John Bugsie Lawler. A slam dunk! Yes, dunk, get it, dunk, donuts. Get it, man, cool, huh? Our public opinion pollster is Paul Murky of Merkey Research, assisted by statistician Marge and Overa. Our customer care representative is Haywood Jabuzov. Our director of new product repair is warranty.

My Foot. Our shop foreman is Luke Busy, and our director of Firestone Tire recalls is Ivana Michelin. Our pseudonym consultant is Norm De Plume. Our dermatologist for teenagers is Don Pickett. Our emergency room physician is Henrietta Bad Clam. The Carthoc musical director is Donna Imobilay. Our divorce attorney is Carmine Not Yours. Our staff mediator is Sue First.

Our Russian chauffeur is Bikoffendropov. The banker at Car Talk Plaza Poker Games is Nikolai Putin. And our seat cushion tester is Mike Easter. Our chief counsel from the law firm of Dewey Cheatham and Howe is Uluis Dewee, known to the obnoxious mimes in Harvard Square as Thanks so much for listening. Quick click and clack the Tapper Brothers. Don't drive like my brother.

Don't drive like my brother. We'll be back next week. Bye-bye. Now, here is Card Talk Plaza's chief mechanic, Mr. Vinnie Golda's. Thank you very much. Now, if you want information on how to get a copy of this year show,

which happens to be number 38, just head on over to the online store at the Card Talk section at Cars.com. And what if I wanted information about something else, Vincent, like the best of car. Talk CD. Would I go to the same site? Know you more one. You go to www. janet Reno does

Pilates.com. Of course you go to the same site. What are you stupid or something? You go to the Car Talk section of Cars.com you call 888 Car junk. All right. Thank you, Vinny. That was pretty well delivered. Hey, deliver this, will you, pal? Car Talk is a production of Dewee Cheatham and Howe and WBUR in Boston. And even though Joe Lieberman says, whatever he is. I'll say it. This is NPR National Public Radio.