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The Best of Car Talk

NPR

America's funniest auto mechanics take calls from weary car owners all over the country, and crack wise while they diagnose Dodges and dismiss Diahatsus. You don't have to know anything about cars to love this one hour weekly laugh fest.

Location:

Cambridge, MA

Networks:

NPR

WBUR

Description:

America's funniest auto mechanics take calls from weary car owners all over the country, and crack wise while they diagnose Dodges and dismiss Diahatsus. You don't have to know anything about cars to love this one hour weekly laugh fest.

Twitter:

@cartalk

Language:

English

Contact:

Car Talk Plaza, Box 3500 Harvard Square Cambridge, MA, 02238 888-227-8255


Episodes
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#2607: House Call

1/24/2026
David lives practically around the corner from The Good News Garage and he’s found a mechanic who not only has customers bring their cars to his house, but he makes them dinner, too! The customer service gauntlet has been officially thrown down on this episode of the Best of Car Talk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:36:15

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#2606: A Blended Car Family

1/20/2026
Nan just married her new guy and moved into his house but her car isn’t welcome. Hubby has an Audi and ‘his baby’ -a Triumph TR6 taking up both spaces in the two-car garage and he thinks that Nan should keep her’s in the driveway. Will Click and Clack suggest hubby join his cars in the garage, too? Find out on this episode of the Best of Car Talk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:34:36

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#2605: The Family That Parks Together

1/17/2026
Al and his brother are about to come to blows… over parking. He wants to know if it’s possible to navigate into a parking space that you can’t back out of, and Click and Clack want to use this opportunity to settle an old score on this episode of the Best of Car Talk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:36:12

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#2604: The Whoop Tube

1/13/2026
Lee’s Lincoln Town Car feels like it wants to brake on it’s own when cruising down the highway. His mechanic decided that it’s a problem with the “Whoop Tube”. Click and Clack and the rest of us hoping to find out what the heck a “Whoop Tube” is on this very episode of the Best of Car Talk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:36:27

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#2603: Back to Nature

1/10/2026
Holy ‘Mutual of Omaha’, Marlin Perkins! Spiders and Cats and cell phone calls from the top of a California Redwood on this episode of the Best of Car Talk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:32:44

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#2602: Lincoln Logs or a Lincoln Continental?

1/6/2026
Charlotte and her husband have woven a tangled web, indeed. They just adopted four kids between 10 and 6 years old and the little darlings are getting into everything! Charlotte wonders if they should buy a junk car for her little mechanics to while away their young days taking it apart in the driveway. Click and Clack relive their youth on this episode of the Best of Car Talk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:37:54

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#2601: Customer to Dealer Incentive

1/3/2026
Leslie’s family was about to upgrade in more ways than one. They were on the prowl for a minivan when Leslie, 9 months pregnant, had a sudden, urgent need to make a very memorable impression on everyone at the local Chrysler dealership parking lot. Was the birth of their daughter sufficient downpayment on a new ride or did she have to make her case to the service manager, too? Find out on this episode of the Best of Car Talk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:33:28

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#25104: Dang Skippy

12/30/2025
A merry melange of motor maladies on this end of the year episode of the Best of Car Talk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:38:30

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#25103: Bryology Anyone?

12/27/2025
Typically when arbiting marital car disputes, it helps to know what each spouse does for a living. Lawyers, for instance, are always right because lawyers can sue radio hosts. Physicists and other scientists are usually wrong because they’re know-it-alls. And then there are Bryologists -whatever they do. Click and Clack are just as clueless as the rest of us, so let’s all find out together on this episode of the Best of Car Talk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:34:09

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"What a Sled!" A Holiday Car Talk Bonus

12/25/2025
Happy Holidays from the Best of Car Talk! We had our eye on a really ugly holiday sweater for you, but they didn’t have your size. Instead, we thought you might like to take a break from all the holiday hustle and bustle and revel in the merry misery of someone else’s car trouble. Ray has been taking car questions of late and Kyle and Chloe were lucky enough to catch him in the studio. These calls are usually for NPR+ supporters only, but in a very uncharacteristic moment of magnanimity, we decided to spread the schadenfreude around and let everyone listen in. If you have a car question for Ray, call 888 522 5478, and have a wonderful holiday season. Get access to occasional new calls like these and other prehistoric Car Talk gems, as well as about 1000 episodes of Car Talk, by heading over to plus.npr.org Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:12:15

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#25102: Happy Camper

12/23/2025
Katie is a hiker and camper but she called the least ‘outdoorsy’ guys possible to find out if it’s safe to pour her old camp stove fuel into her car’s gas tank. Click and Clack the Wilderness Brothers ‘break camp’(and a few other things) on this episode of the Best of Car Talk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:36:34

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#25101: Diana's Dodge Biohazard

12/20/2025
Diana’s dyin’ to ditch her Dodge unless our dummies can decode her dilemma: a smell so bad that it almost defies description. Hold your nose and open your ears for this episode of the Best of Car Talk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:36:26

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#25100: Parts and Labor

12/16/2025
Eric has a modest proposal: Shouldn’t the cost of the $4 part that his mechanic is replacing on his car also bear some resemblance to the cost of the labor to do the job? Afraid not, piston puss! How would mechanics ever pay for their boats if that were the case? Click and Clack expound upon various schemes- uh, theories!.. on this episode of the Best of Car Talk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:39:23

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#2599: The Lincoln Lawyer

12/13/2025
Bruce’s son is a lawyer in Orlando, Florida who, like most of the other lawyers in the area, drives a Lincoln Town Car. Except this one is not really helping his image. Instead of looking stylish and high class, paint is falling off in sheets leaving Bruce wondering whether repainting it would even work. Grab a brush or a can of spray paint and check out this episode of the Best of Car Talk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:37:25

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#2598: The Not-So-Itsy-Bitsy Spider

12/9/2025
Gina was tooling along a local country road when an humongous spider descended in front of her eyes and into her lap. She doesn’t have any questions about removing stains from upholstery but there is the matter of the hedges and lawn furniture she wiped out as she careened down the embankment towards the waterfront. Brace for impact and check out this episode of The Best of Car Talk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:35:10

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#2597: We're Part of the Solution

12/6/2025
Ivan was enduring an attempt to upsell him on a special oil treatment when he heard this doozy from the mechanic-turned-salesman: “We’re not the problem. We’re part of the solution.” We agree, if the solution he’s referring to is a sleazy soup of grease and jargon. Click and Clack wade through this and other messes on this episode of the Best of Car Talk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:38:12

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#2596: Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On

12/2/2025
Karen from Virginia has two problems: Her Ford Taurus wagon shakes something awful from time to time. The second problem is her physicist husband’s theories about the source of the shimmy. We ain’t Fakin’, Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ on in this episode of the Best of Car Talk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:41:36

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#2595: The Big Hair Problem

11/29/2025
Jessica and her mom both drive their VW but every time Jessica goes to start it she gets a shock. Is this some kind of anti-Fahrgvergnugen that only Jessica has to endure, or is their another possible answer? Find out on this episode of the Best of Car Talk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:32:04

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#2594: Having Fun with a US Census Agent

11/25/2025
Paula from Virginia mostly wanted help with her Toyota Camry but, as a US Census agent she couldn’t resist wagging her finger to remind all of us to cooperate with the upcoming census collection. Fun ensues on this episode of the Best of Car Talk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:38:35

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#2593: Driving Blind

11/22/2025
Lori’s man is acquiring old vehicles at an alarming rate. He loves working on them but, since he’s blind, he can’t drive them. Should Lori be putting the brakes on this hobby or practice kickstarting the Harley instead? Find out on this episode of the Best of Car Talk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:37:06