1. Home
  2. Our Show
  3. #1335: The Fraternity of Teenagers

#1335: The Fraternity of Teenagers

Aug 31, 2013
This week on Car Talk, Terri's trying to convince her teenaged son not to buy himself a 1960's muscle car. Tom and Ray are ready to back her up with a trunk full of reasons why he's more likely to meet girls if he's driving a 1986 Volvo (with mis-matched hubcaps). But their efforts may all be undone when they turn to Tom's son Alex to back them up. Elsewhere, Deena's hoping a horn transplant will cause other drivers to mistake her Chevy Nova for a diesel truck; Thomas is wondering if his local Quickie Lube guy was just trying to clean out his wallet when when he offered to clean Thomas' fuel injectors; and should Roe tell the friend who loaned her his Civic for three months that she spent a good portion of that time driving with the parking brake on? All this and more, this week on Car Talk.

Show Open Topic

Can't men be right at least once?!

As Read on Car Talk

Listen to another episode

Show archives

6 Comments

the key that won't turn

I've had a similar problem with a Toyota Avalon. I found that one key, the one on my keychain, would sometimes not turn the lock, but the spare key worked all the time. It turns out that the edge of the key was worn - not the top where the lock pins fit, but the side of the key near the tip. I bought a new key, which then had to be 'mated' to my car.
Favorite Moment: 
Rating: 

comments on truck drivers

Hey, no fair! Your description of truck drivers was very inaccurate. Sure, there's some slobs behind the wheels of big rigs (and perhaps Car Talk included??) but I have met an awful lot of good-looking, clean-cut male drivers, with PhD's who chose the freedom of the road over boring jobs; men who were extremely intelligent, family men or single. I know quite a few women driver's, including myself, now retired, who take care of themselves and drive trucks because they LIKE DRIVING TRUCKS! So you should think twice before making such old-fashioned stereotype remarks about truck drivers.
Favorite Moment: 
The kid who made the horn "sound"; that really made me laugh.
Rating: 

Camaros

The guys missed the point completely. Camaros are not about girls. Camaros have a power all their own over men. My husband has had his 68 SS since he was 19, completely rebuilt it from the frame out. When we drive it, women do not look at it. Men's heads turn. If it is visible in the garage for any length of time, men offer money for it. When he went to sold the 'parts car' men would get this dreamy look as if imagining all the hours they would spend fixing it up. Then they would snap out of it and realize they didn't know anything about fixing cars. And it wasn't a car - it was a frame, some wheels and some loose parts thrown in the passenger compartment. But they could imagine the Camaro. It has the power to cloud men's minds.
Favorite Moment: 
Rating: 

Advice to Rowena about Brakes

I disagree with your advice that Rowena does not need to disclose to her friend that she had misused the parking brake on his car. She should confess and offered to pay for a brake inspection and new pads if they are needed. Honesty IS the best policy toward a person who has trusted someone with his or her car. However, if Rowena cannot summon the nerve to confess, the least she should do is that when she borrows the car again, take it to a mechanic then and have the brakes checked and repaired, if need be. She had enough of a conscience to call with her moral dilemma, and I bet she will find that her conscience will rest easier if she does the right thing.
Favorite Moment: 
Rating: 

The guys are retired

Just a note to James the Geo guy, Tom and Ray retired officially last October. Since then, *all* calls are reruns. Still very enjoyable, but when you hear a caller asking about his/her 1986 Yugo with 25k on it, you know that something's amiss. Just sayin'...
Favorite Moment: 
Rating: 

wonderful show

Wonderful show again. Thanks for doing it, as a mechanic I really enjoy their humor, such as the wallet-vac. I do often notice, having listened to Car Talk for a while now, that there are rerun calls. For example the call about the dilemma of the woman's son wanting to buy an old camaro and the sudden appearance of Alex. This was an obvious re-run call. A good call but a re-run none the less. I do think the volvo is a good idea for a 16 year old boy. Because if he wants a fast car, he could build one out of a volvo or any other car for that matter. It would teach him a lot about the car along the way too. I built my first car, a 1994 geo prizm to be as fast as a 5.0L fox body mustang and of course there was still more to be had.
Favorite Moment: 
The moment when the impression of the horn was offered by the son of the caller.
Rating: 

Get the Car Talk Newsletter

Recent Articles

Pros and Cons of Diesel Engines Have Changed over Time
Blogs

Pros and Cons of Diesel Engines Have Changed over Time

Is High Octane Gas Really Needed?
Blogs

Is High Octane Gas Really Needed?

Mind the Gap When Changing Out Spark Plugs
Blogs

Mind the Gap When Changing Out Spark Plugs