The Best of Car Talk - #2654: Clean Underwear in a Can

Episode Date: July 7, 2026

Sometimes great ideas come out of nowhere. On this episode of the Best of Car Talk the brothers hit upon an invention nearly as great as the ‘Pocket Fisherman’ or the ‘George Foreman’ Grill. ��    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 Tapper Brothers, and we're broadcasting this week from the Neo-Nomenclature Division here in Car Talk Plaza. Well, if you haven't heard, Oldsmobile is out. Yeah. GM recently announced that over the next three years, it'll be putting Oldsmobile out of its misery. Well, it's about time. I'm going to take it out back behind the Roger Smith Memorial Barn, and it's going to put a bullet behind the left side of your mirror. Yeah.

Well, we told them to get rid of Oswald. You remember years ago, we said, why is there an Osmobile? And Osmobile sent us all kinds of nasty mail saying, what do you mean? Osmobile has a distinct image in the marketplace. People love it. And now they finally come around and they understand that we were right all the time. Well, for one thing, the name sounds old. And that's why we're at the neo-nomunculture division.

Because it's a 19th century name. And worse of all, it has the word old in it. It has the word old in it. As you know, it's named after Ransom E. Ols. Yes. And it's called the Olds Mobile, which sounded good at the time. But now it sounds old.

The Mobile part of it is okay. But the old part has to go. So we came up with some other names, and we realized that his GM, they meant, as usual, they have it wrong. They just have no concept of marketing. They think they have too many names. They got GM, they got Osmobile, they got Pontiac, they got Cadillac. Chevrolete. We think they don't have enough names.

Because you have to do, I mean, everyone knows this, target marketing. And we came up with names that they might want to use. They might want to reconsider this. Let's hear them, man. Here we go. I mean, this was just, don't forget, we just did this on the back of an envelope here. So it'll be painfully obvious in about a minute and a half. I mean, things like if you're going to target market,

you've got a target market to who the people are. Sure. What's wrong with like a bimbo-mobile? A mom-mobile. Mom-mobile, yeah, I like that. Yeah. For the teenage market, the testosterone-mobile. For those people who are looking for reliability, a Honda-Mobile.

The General Motors Honda-Mobile. And then, let's see, we had a couple of others here. The HondaMobile. Well, then we got like the Bar Mitzvahmobile. Sure. For special occasions, you can mark a segment on the basis of occasions. And for audio files, how about the Bose-O-Mobile? Boz.

The Bose-Mobile would have been enough. I like you. Oh, I like that in there. Well, there's a separate niche for that, I think. So, I mean, GM, who's the president now, or the CEO or the chairman of the board? What is it? Jack Smith. Another Smith?

One of the Smith brothers. Did they make cough drops, too? Porter Wagoner. Porter Wagoner. That's him. I mean, you might want to reconsider this decision. So give us a call, and we can help you out on... He did some great duets with Dolly, didn't he put it?

Oh, man. Never heard anyone play the banjo. Like the president of... General Motors. Well, if you have any suggestions or you'd like to just talk to us, we don't care what. You can call us at 888 Car Talk. That's 888-227-8255. Hello, you're on Car Talk.

Hi, this is Heather calling from El Paso, Texas. Out in the West Texas, town of El Paso. That's got to be the town anthem, right? Do people go around humming that in the streets? Of course. Every day. So what's going on, Heather? What kind of a suburban do you have, GMC or a Chevy?

Oh, close. Honda Civic. Yeah, very close. Yeah, so what's up? It's a 93, and it's a two-door. And about two months ago, I started noticing this strangest sound. It sounds like, well, it sounds like there's an opera singer under my car. No kidding.

Yeah. What focal range? Is it a baritone? Is it la don't immobile? No, definitely a soprano, I say. Oh, a soprano? Yeah, it started out to be a real high-pitched, almost a nice sort of sound,

but now it's getting a real kind of rough and squealy sound. Under what circumstances does the sound occur? Well, it happens usually after the car has been sitting, and maybe, you know, I start it and start to drive, and as I start to drive, the sound starts, and as I pick up to see... Not when it first starts. No, not as you... until actually maybe the wheels start turning.

Ah, huh. Okay, yeah, good, good. Anyway, and as I pick up speed, the sounds kind of, you know, picks up, seems to go faster and faster, and usually when I get between 30 and 40 miles an hour, the sound pretty much stops. Yeah. Is it like a very high screech? It is... Yeah, yeah.

It's punctuated, though. Is it continuous like that? Yeah. No, no, no. What? It would be monkeys. You have monkeys in El Paso? It's continuous.

Yeah. And does it... See, aren't you sorry you asked that question? I didn't ask. You did. You said, is it continuous like that? Yeah. And does it answer this question?

Okay. Maybe. And give us the right answer. Are we won't be able to give you one? If you step on the break while this is happening. Oh, nice question, baby. Does it change? I mean, I know it changes because you slow.

down, but can it actually even go away when you step on the break? Um, no. She's going to say no, I knew it. I knew she was going to say no. All right. I have a fallback position. I have one, too. Okay.

What do you think it is? You have any ideas? I'm working on a wheelbearing at the moment. You are? Yeah, what are you working on? Oh, I wasn't working on a wheelbarrow. I'm working on a stuck caliper on the right front wheel. You are?

Yeah. I was at Hedger's house last night to check this out. Even with her answer about the break, touching the brake, doesn't do nothing to it. Yeah. Really? Yeah, I decided that I could...

A yes or no answer would have been... Those are the best questions to ask? Those are the best. That doesn't matter what she says. I think what happens is you have a caliper that sticks, and then as you drive along, you make the noise, or it makes the noise, because the break is touching the disc and it shouldn't be, at least with that kind of intensity.

and then after you've worn away a little bit of the break material, the noise, in fact, will go away, or if you go fast enough, you just don't hear it. Yeah. And then it probably is all right after a while because you've worn away enough of the break so that it doesn't touch the discreet way. No, no.

Yeah. We have to go there. We have to. We have to ask. Okay. If that happens, and then you come to a stop, does the noise come back?

Not necessarily. Not necessarily. Sometimes it will. But sometimes. Just sometimes will be good enough. Yes. Okay. Sometimes.

Oh. No, sometimes is good enough. Yeah. I don't think you'll be on Stump the Chumps Heather, but I think you should take it into your shop, your mechanic, and have them checked to see if you have a stuck caliper. Okay. All right. Thank you. Good luck.

Hi-bye. Bye-bye. 1-888-car talk. That's 888-227-8-25-5. Hello, you're on Car Talk. This is Matthew from Boise, Idaho. Hi, Matthew from Boise. Yeah.

So my problem is, well, I have a 1993 geo-trakker, and it's a big piece of crap, pretty much. Well, it's a little piece. Yeah, very little. A tunk of toy almost. And it was expensive. Did you buy it new? No, I bought it used, unfortunately. I remember some years ago thinking that I wanted a vehicle like that.

I mean, everyone goes through that stage in his or her little. life. Yeah, because it is a nice kind of vehicle. Well, and it's an adventuresome kind of vehicle. It is. It makes you feel like you're on vacation or some kind of an adventure or safar. And you can take the top off where it can blow off all by itself. And I went to the local Chevrolet dealer in our town.

And I remember laughing out loud when I saw the sticker. When I saw the sticker price. Yeah. I don't remember how much it was, but it was as much as like a real car. And you said, you've got to be kidding. And I asked the salesman to explain it, and he shook his head, he said, We don't know. I can't explain it.

So when you go look at something else. Anyway, go ahead. All right. Pick out two or three things that are wrong with it. There's this, it's a high-pitched sound coming. Another one. Another sound. Coming from it sounds like the driver's side in the front from that wheel or something.

but it's usually when I'm obviously when I'm driving and about when I hit about, I don't know, maybe 35, it kind of subsides but it's not as high-pitched as maybe a specific one. But it's pretty high-pitched. It's kind of like a moan. Well, you heard all the questions we asked her. What are your answers to all those questions?

Doesn't happen until you start moving. It actually happens when you turn it on, though, too. Aha! So you don't have to be moving? No. Ah, good, good, good. That means it's a different answer. That's bad.

Yes, you don't have to be moving. You could have to be moving. And when you hit about 35, though, it does seem to kind of dissipate, but it comes back, though, too, once in a while. And if you do press on the brake, it doesn't change it. That doesn't change anything. And move, does moving, or have you ever tried revving the engine when the vehicle is stationary, like you leave it neutral, for example, and you rev it up? Does that change the noise?

No, I think the noise is still there. The noise doesn't increase in frequent? Is it a continuous sound? Actually, it does. No, no, it is not a continuous sound. Sometimes it'll go, woo-woo, it'll do that. Really? And then once you start moving, it stays there.

It's there until I hit about 35, and then 35 or 40 right around there, and then I can't hear it anymore. And then it goes away. And then you come down to slow speed again. The noise comes back. It does come back. And is it there the whole time the car is running? It seems to be, yeah, I've begun to ignore it, so I'm not sure anymore. And it's been there how long?

Oh, boy. Probably about two or three weeks. Yeah. I think you have a bad water pump. A bad water pump. A stuck brake caliper. You could have that, too. No, we're going to eliminate the brakes and bearings and the like because you've told us to...

Obviously, not in the wheels, it's in the engine. Oh. It's something that's turning when the engine's running. Okay, so that's not good. The wheels aren't. And a loose belt, for example, would make more of a screeching sound. It would probably go away after the thing warmed up. Yeah, it's not a screeching.

And I think you have a bad water pump. You're hearing the bearing, and it'll make a moaning kind of rattling kind of scraping sound. Oh, you covered all the bases there. Whist-whistling? No, no matter what sound is that. Mowing, rasking, scraping. How about thumping? You want to throw a thumping in this?

No, no thump. But I think you should get this looked at soon, because if the water pump blows, you could ruin the engine. Okay. Even more than it's ruined already. Let's say if it was the water pump, are those expensive? No. No, no, a few hundred bucks, I think.

Holy moly. Holy moly. The cars are not even worth a few hundred bucks. Doesn't matter. That explains your reluctance to have it looked at. Remember, some people have the theory that you shouldn't spend more in the car than the car is already worth. And I have pointed out many times that if that were the case, I would never be able to put gas in any of the cars I've ever owned.

Say it, Matt. All right, Tommy. I'm going to give you a hint about last week's puzzler. All right, give it to me. I am ready for a hint. Ten inches is not always longer than six inches, grasshopper. Hmm. Let me see what's in that coffee.

We'll be back in a minute. Hi, we're back. You're listening to Car Talk with us, Click and Clack the Tapper Brothers, and we're here to talk about cars, car repair. But first, the answer to last week's puzzle. And a good one, it was. You didn't think so last week.

I did. This is from our exhaustive series of insect puzzles. The entomology division? Yes, indeed. And here it is. Two grasshoppers are hanging around or maybe jumping around one day, and each is boasting that he is faster than the other one. To settle the argument, they decide, of course, to have a race.

The larger of the grasshoppers, Throck Morton, or Throcky. Throcky, as he's known. can jump 10 inches in a single bound. The other grasshopper, Rocky, can only jump six inches at a shot. So the larger grasshopper says, we're going to set up a race course that's 24 feet long, 12 feet out and 12 feet back. Yeah. So they're each at the starting point.

Vindigumbatshopper shoots the gun and they take off. Now, even though Throcky, the bigger guy, can jump 10 inches at a shot, the little guy, Rocky, jumps more often. So when they get to the five footmark, for example, which is 60 inches, the big guy has jumped six times, six times ten. And the little guy has jumped ten times, but they're dead even, neck and neck, antenna to antenna. Wow. The question is which one wins the race and why? Well, unfortunately, for Trocky.

Yeah. This was immediately apparent. This was a very easy puzzle. Well, you've got to give an easier once in a while. Even I got it. Berman. Berman worked. Berman got it.

Berman worked on it and he got it too. He cheated. He probably asked Louis. Louis, how can you tell who was? Because the course is 12 feet or 144 inches, the little guy jumping six inches at a shot. Admittedly, they're even at 5 feet and they're even at 10 feet too. But when they get to 12 feet, trouble breaks out. Because the little guy happens to land right on the turnaround point.

Exactly. With 24 jumps. Yeah. after 14 jumps. Taraki. Throcki. He's gone over. Is it 140 inches?

And his next jump brings him to, and he has to make a 10-inch jump. Yeah, he can't make little jumps. No, he doesn't know how. Brings him to 150 inches from which he can never recover. So the little guy, as you suspected, wins the race. Do we have a winner? Good guy's always always. finish last.

Yeah, we got a winner. The winner is Sue Spooner from Estes Park, Colorado, and for having her answers selected at random, from among all the correct answers that we got, Sue will get a $25 gift certificate to the Shameless Commerce Division at the Cart Talk section of Cars.com. You go to Cars.com, you go to Car Talk,

you go to the store. And with that $25 gift certificate, you can get the better part of a Car Talk Navy Twill cotton work shirt. We just take off one sleeve. This is so good. I mean, this is the most brilliant marketing idea we've ever come up with. We give people a $25 gift certificate.

Nothing costs $25. It's just the same. It's exactly the same as the puzzler. Either you can't hit the mark. Either you come up short or you have to overshoot. You can't come up short. That means you're throwing away a $25 gift certificate. So you always have to buy that extra five inches of shirt.

How can we lose? How can we be so broke? That's the question I was going to ask. Why isn't it working? It was so brilliant. Well, Sue Spooner from Estes Park, Colorado. Good luck to you, kid. Congratulations.

Of course, we'll have a new puzzler coming up in the third half of today's show, and what a puzzler it is. Hey, jerk. Do you know what time it is? Time to wake Bugsie from his pre-winter hibernation? No, no, no. It's time to play. Stump for Chops!

This is the part of the show. Well, we revisit a previous call to see if the advice we gave was darn good, darn bad. Or down to final. So who's our lucky contestant this week? Well, the little card here says it's David from Missouri. Do you remember him? Neither do I. No, I can't remember what time to show up for the show.

I mean, come on. All right, I'm going to refresh both of our memories from this little note. David called us because he thought his car was trying to kill him. I think they have medication for that. No, no, no, this was different. Every time he put on the fan, he got a terrible. cough. He thought he was getting legionnaires disease. We told him there were probably moles scores growing in his air conditioning vents.

One of the things I thought was if I could shoot some disinfectant into this thing, it might do it. Trouble is, I don't know where to put it. Well, you'd put it in the fresh air scoop, which is right where your winchie wiper blades are. You might have to do it a few hundred times. Not to mention, the health risk associated with inhaling all. Well, you're not going to be in the car when you do this. But you will be inhaling that stuff. I mean, I'm always questioning, messing with nature.

Yeah. It's like spraying for West Nile virus mosquitoes. Right. So we save seven lives and kill, we give 25 million people brain lesions. See, that's why the quality of our answers is going down. Brain lesions from all that West Nile spraying. I mean, we used to be good at this. Well, let's find out how we did.

David, are you there? I am. Before we find out, we find out, what would happen, we need to verify that the answer you're about to give here on Stump to Chumps has not been influenced by our staff, the staff of National Public Radio, or the two dozen medical malpractice lawyers that are lining up outside your house as you speak. Not at all. Did you take our advice and spray the liceol?

Well, I took your advice. I went to my friendly Walmart store to the disinfectant section, and they had an amazing array of this stuff, all at different prices. So I began reading the labels, and I all promised to do the same. thing, which has killed 99.9% of the... And caused brain lesions. They didn't say that. No, they don't mention that.

I bought the least expensive one, which I think was the Walmart, you know, in-house. Great value brand. And clean linen, incidentally, was the bouquet, the flavor of the... Oh, yes, all yes. Clean linen. Clean linen. She's out of this. They should have something called clean underwear.

Hang up your shorts at night and give them a spray to be off the next day. Look at all the money you'd save on soap. So anyway. Sorry. Yeah, so you did it. Okay, so I sprayed it into that intake port. And then I let the fan run for, oh, 10 minutes or so. And it worked.

I have not had the problem since. It was like night stay. Wow. David, have you noticed that you're getting worse? My hair didn't fall out, but I took on my teeth. Yeah. But you don't, you still understand people and your memory hasn't gotten bad or anything like that. So far, and it's been a couple of weeks.

Oh, you're all set, I think. She, that's great. One little techet's 10-second spray, did it? That did it? Yeah, and it cleaned, it just running the thing for as long as I did cleaned it out. There was hardly any odor of a clean linen at all. Well, you know, we're going to have to have you back in a year or so to see if you're still coherent. Yeah. Say hello, Dave. Hi there, boys. Thanks for playing stumped chumps. See you later, Dave. Bye, bye. Look, if you hear someone you'd like us to have on stump the chumps ofcumps, email us your suggestion from the car talk section of cars.com. Or you can call right now, and you can stump us right now in all likelihood. The number is 8888-8-8-8-2-7-82-55.

Hello, you're on car talk. Hey, this is Eddie from California. Eddie! You're just like a man about town? You're all over the state? That's me. Eddie from Cali. What's shaking?

Do you have a convertible? No. You don't drive a convertible. So you don't live in Southern California. I do live in Southern California. Do you? You should have a convertible, man. Oh, man.

You don't want to have a convertible around here. The smogs do you think, you know? Yeah, you wind up with a black forehead. And 114 degrees in the summer. I was test driving a convertible. You know, we get cars to test drive. And there I was driving through Harvard Square, looking for a place to park. And I drove around, drove around, drove around a block about 28 times.

Top down, beautiful day. Top down, beautiful day. I mean, all was right with the world. Yeah. And I knew a parking space was awaiting me any second. And out of nowhere, a hand comes and gives me a dope slap on the forehead. I mean, the force of which almost knocked my head off. Really?

And I spun around looking for who it administered this dope slap. Only to discover it wasn't a dope slap. There's bird poop. Falling from a considerable distance. And how did I discover it? When I used my right hand to soothe my pain, it was disgusting. That's never happened to me. And as you know, I've had many, many convertible.

many things that could fall into that head of yours, and you wouldn't know it. Anyway, Ed, now we've discussed the merits or lack of owning a convertible. What do you call them about? Well, I've got a 85-325-2-E BMW. Yeah. And about a month ago, or since a month ago, I've been driving using the emergency break, because if I touch the brakes at all, I got about two miles or even less than that, and the car will just decide to break on its own,

and I'll have to pull over, and the thing will just stop. Great. So, yeah, about a month ago, I was on the freeway, and I realized that I was slowing down, and I were going slower and slower. I stepped on the gas, and I realized there wasn't anything left, and the car was exponentially slowing down, so I had to, within about two blocks, I had to pull over,

and the thing just locked up. And? I sat there for about a half. half hour before it unlocked and allowed me to take off again for another two miles. This is no way to drive in. I'll tell you what, I'm mechanically inclined. I've never come across anything like this. I was stumped.

So what do you drive from like San Bernardadena to L.A. every day? On the freeway at 75 miles an hour, using the handbrain to stop. At first, I was going as fast as I could when I'd start out. Yeah, then you realize. Then you realize how lousy the handbrake was at stopping you. Oh, man. And then it would start, you know, smell that asbestos or whatever the brakes are messed. Sheepers.

Well, just take it somewhere and they'll fix it. It's obvious what it is. Is that right? Oh, sure, man. We think it's the booster, the power brake booster. And if you want to do an experiment? What I've been doing is I've been popping the hood, and I've just been taking an 11-millimeter wrench and loosening the line. Loosing the area next to the master cylinder, letting it drain out a little bit and then going in.

Right. I'm going to give you one better experiment to do it. Okay. You're ready. You're going to love this. Because it could be any of three things. Yeah. You could have a stuck caliper, but I'm guessing that it's either the booster or the master cylinder that's faulty. And here's how you're going to determine which it is. The next time it happens, instead of loosening up the hydraulic line that comes off the master cylinder,

what you're going to do is actually take off the two nuts that secure the master cylinder to the booster. So you can now separate the booster from the master cylinder. Without opening any of the hydraulic lines, you're just going to bend the lines. Okay. At that point, you're going to see if you can move the car. Okay. If you can't, then the problem is the master cylinder. If you can, the problem is the booster.

Okay. How did this come about? And it was just, you know, and decide to lock up my brakes. No, I don't know. We don't know how things break. All right. Things happen. There are cosmic energies at work here

We can't hope to understand They're way beyond us I mean we have enough trouble Simply figuring out what to do with them So the vacuum booster, huh? Yeah, it's probably the booster But if you do this little test It's a sure-fire test

Can't miss I really appreciate this Good luck and fix it before you drive anymore Eddie because it's nuts to be driving like this Yeah, I've had a few close calls already Yeah, you're going to hurt somebody You may hurt somebody and you'll be really sorry.

Hey, as long as I'm not driving in a convertible, right? Right. We're a hat. See you, Ed. Good luck, Eddie. Hi, bye. His name was not Ed. It was Eddie.

Hey, stick around for more calls and the new puzzler coming right up. Ha, we're back. You're listening to Car Talk with us, Click and Collect the Tappert Brothers, and we're here to discuss cars, car repair, and the new... Hmm? Hmm? Hmm? I would have to say, uh, mathematical and indeed challenging puzzler. You think?

This could be the puzzler of the millennium. Well, you know, it could be the puzzler of this millennium. I mean, I think the Monty Hall puzzler was the puzzler of the previous. Previous millennium. This could be the one that stands out as the puzzler of maybe all time. Well, I don't know. But here it is. I would say this is better than Monty Hall.

You think so? Oh, more abstruse. We're going to play a little, imaginary little game. Yeah, go ahead. Imagine there is an imaginary hat sitting on the table. There were going to be two contestants. Is the table imaginary? No, table's real.

You, Tommy, will be one of the contestants, and we'll call the other one Vinny. Yeah, gotcha. So you reach into the hat, Tommy, and you pull out a number, and Vinny does the same. Now, the reason this hat is magical is that no matter what number you pull out, Vinny will always pull out a number that is either one above or one below your number. So if you pull out a two, Tommy, for example, you know Vinny has pulled out either a one or a three. And to make it simple, we'll limit the numbers to between one and, say, I don't know, infinity. Why not?

So each of you pulls out a number. Let's say you pick three and Vinny picks two. I'm the moderator and I ask Tommy, do you know what number Vinny has? Tommy looks at his number, which is three, and says, no. That's right. I'd say, I don't know. So I ask Vinny, do you know what number Tommy has? He looks at his number two and says, yes.

Oh. Okay. Now, regardless of the numbers that are picked, assuming that both contestants answer truthfully, if I keep asking the question of both of them. In other words, I ask one contestant first, then the next contestant, and then if I keep getting, if I get a no from the second guy, I go back to the first guy and ask him again. And when I finally get sick of that, I'll say, okay, one of you's got 20 and the other moron is 21. So I will keep doing this.

Eventually, one of them will know, without a doubt, the other contestants number. And the question is, how come is that? Wow. Now, if you think you know the answer, write it on a postcard or tape it, better still, to the top of a La Pauvone Romantica, PG-16 espresso maker with brass boiler and solid mahogany handles. And sent it to Puzzler Tower, attention, Ramey, Car Talk Plaza, Box 3,500, Harvard Square, Cambridge. Our Fair City. Matt 02238, or you can email your answer, of course, from the car talk section of Cars.com,

which, by the way, will have a detailed explanation of the whole puzzle. I'm telling you. So if you're really confused by the verbal answer, you'll be able to go to the website. I don't think the servers at Cars.com are going to be able to handle the volume of people who are going to come to see this. I mean, stay away. Stay away for a while until the rush. The frenzy.

The frenzy is over. The frenzy is over. If you'd like to call us, the number is 888 Car Talk. That's 888-225-5. A lawyer on Car Talk. Hi, I'm Megan from Atlanta, Georgia. Hi, Megan, from Atlanta, Georgia. How are you?

How are you? Good. How are you? Good. I have a 92 Toyota Corolla, and I took it to my mechanic, and I've been going to him about six months or so, and I'm not sure if I can trust him. We are.

Does he have a boat? There's an ocean there in Atlanta, isn't there? Far away. Yeah. You can trust him then. Well, he works kind of for himself, kind of in like a backyard situation. Don't we all?

Under the shade of a tree? Yes. Okay. And anyway, he told me that my CV joints were dirty. And that he needed to boot them. Otherwise, my axle would go bad. Well, reboot is more like it. Reboot them, yeah.

Yeah, he had to shut the car down and restart. Does he work from Microsoft? So they were dirty, and did he determine that the boots, in fact, were torn? Evidently, that's what it sounds. He didn't say anything like that to me. But he said that he needed to reboot them. Yes. And that would mean that the boots, which are covering up the grease.

of the CV joint, are torn or broken, and dirt is getting in, and he wants to replace the boots. Right. Yeah. And you don't believe him. Sounds bogus to you. Well, sort of, because I work downtown,

and I park on the street, and when I leave at night, instead of going all the way down, I just make a U-turn. It's a really sharp turn, and my car makes a clicking noise. Oh, how unfortunate. Jeez.

Now, see, you were questioning whether you should trust this guy, Right. And the truth of the matter is, you could trust him, and it's too late. Yeah, when he first told you of the condition, which may have been months ago. Right. You should have done something about it. I told him to go ahead and replace to do it.

Oh, he did it? Yes. Oh, it was too late then. He found it too late. Oh, no. Yeah, because what you're hearing is the noise from the constant velocity or CV joint. When the joint wears out, it will make this clicking. noise, especially when you make sharp turns, and it's exacerbated by a turn through which you

were accelerating. For example, if you were stopped at a dead stop and you cranked the wheel all the way to the right, and you took off, you would get a click, click, like, like, out of the left front wheel. Which is what it's doing. What it's doing, yeah. So you need to replace that joint. But the good news is you've already spent the money on the boot. That's the good news for him.

That's good. Yeah, that's good, because he's going to replace him again. Well, and I would just wait until the noise gets a lot worse. I don't think you're in any imminent danger. Okay. Wait, man. You're always advising people. Why wait?

Why wait? Fix it right now. Why worry about it? You're going to spend the money anyway. That's what you're always telling people. I was trying to allay her fears. How do you know that she doesn't want to just run out and spend a few hundred bucks? I don't have a few hundred.

Then wait. Yeah, you should wait. Okay. On the other hand, you can go back to him and say, gee, you know, you put that boot on, but now I need an axle. And, you know, now if I buy an axe. I'm going to get a new boot with it, and I feel like I've thrown the money away on the boot that you just did, so can you cut me a deal? Right, because he charged me $300.

To do both boots? Yes. Some tree. Three hundred. Some tree he's working under. I need a tree like this. That's a big tree. Well, he may have to hold the car up with one hand while he does it.

He's probably got a rope over. That may explain the high cost. So I would go back and ask him to cut you some kind of a deal. Okay. Yeah. See you, Megan. Good luck. Thank you.

Bye-bye. Bye. Well, it's happened again. You've wasted another perfectly good hour listening to Car Talk. Our esteemed producer is Doug the subway future. I should be asking you questions. Like, who is our esteem producer? Doug Bongo Boy Berman.

And who are the associate producers? Well, Louis Crono Barbarian and David Tight Lips Green. Who's the engineer? Do we have an engineer? Tad Masamon Curry. Do we have a senior web lackey? Well, we had one. You don't know what happened to him. He won.

Who is he and where is he? Doug the old gray mayor, aka sheep boy. And, of course, do we have a technical speech? spiritual and menu advisor. Yes, we do. He's currently recovering from his polar expedition to reintroduce the Eskimo Pie. And that is John Bugsie Lawler.

Our public opinion pollster is Paul Merkey of Merkey Research, assisted by statistician Marge and Overa. Our customer care representative is Haywood Jubbuzzoff. Our new truck reviewer is Zibig. The Car Talk liaison to the British Isles is Isaiah, old chap. Our staff bodyguard is Liam Malone. Our divorce attorney is Carmine Not Yours.

Our director of genealogical research is Manny Cousins. Our sexual harassment investigator is Hank Panky. Tommy's personal marriage coach is live to regret it. The Car Talk used car salesperson is Sasha Deal. Our Russian chauffeur is peak off and drop off. 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 Cheatheman Howe is U.

Lewis Dewey, known to the ex-Vice presidents handing out their resumes in Harvard Square as Ui Louis Dewey. Thanks so much for listening. We're clicking and clack to Tappert Brothers. Don't drive like my brother. And by the way, don't drive like my brother. We'll be back next week. We hope. Bye-bye.

Car Talk is a production of Dewey Cheeterman Howe and WBUR in Boston. And even though the executives at NPR take another listen to that demo tape for the fishing show, cop talk, whenever they hear us. Say it, this is NPR National Public Radio. Hey, it's only one more letter.