#1401: Love (and a Mazda) in Ashes

Jan 04, 2014
This week on Car Talk, Brent tried to start his girlfriend's Mazda, and wound up with the car, and his relationship both burnt to a crisp. Can Tom and Ray tell him where he went wrong, with the car or the girlfriend? Elsewhere, Ellen's very generous neighbor keeps giving her cases of undrinkable home-made wine. Can she put it to use as windshield wiper fluid? Also, Shelly's bad day at a casino got even worse when her car died on the drive home; and loyal delivery man Steve is suffering a severe case of "New Parcel Truck Envy." Will Tom and Ray help sabotage his old reliable truck? All this and lots more, this week on Car Talk.

Show Open Topic

A new Puzzler category?

This Week's Puzzler

Four and Five: Which mathematical symbol should you add?

Last Week's Puzzler

Rocco & Throckmorton Locked in the Trunk: How could Throckmorton possibly have survived for hours?


1 Comments

Vodka, not Wine

Comment for the woman who asked about using wine as a windshield washer fluid (show #1401): When we were assigned to the US Embassy in Moscow back in the late 1980s we couldn't easily get washer fluid, but local vodka was very cheap. The Russians used dirt and not salt to prep the roads after a snowfall, so dirty slush was always fouling our windshield. We went through bottles and bottles of vodka every winter, and it worked just fine - except for the sweet smell that took some getting used to. /s/ L'amerloque
Favorite Moment: 
Rating: 

Get the Car Talk Newsletter