00:40
This is our glass on this American life.
00:42
We tell stories about when things change, like for this guy, David,
00:45
his entire life took a sharp, unexpected and very unpleasant term.
00:50
And it did take me a while to realize it's basically because the monkey pressed the button.
00:55
That's right, because the monkey pressed the button.
00:59
Surprising stories every week, wherever you get your podcasts.
01:20
Hello and welcome to Car Talks from National Public Radio with us,
01:23
Click and Collect the Tapper Brothers, and we're broadcasting this week
01:26
from the Consumer Complaint Department here at Car Talk Plaza.
01:29
Now, there are some people you just can't please.
01:31
You can go out of your way.
01:33
You can do everything you can to improve a product.
01:35
And there are some people you're going to just tick off.
01:37
We have been getting hundreds and hundreds of phone calls from people saying,
01:41
what are the automobile manufacturers trying to do to us?
01:44
And when we're just trying to make a living like honest people,
01:47
well, we're just trying to make a living.
01:48
And what they're talking about is the fact that the automobile manufacturers
01:52
have almost all agreed to produce cars in the future that have a release inside the trunk.
02:02
And the people who've been calling us are all connected, you know,
02:06
with a certain kind of, I don't know what they all sound like.
02:10
The Gibroni crime family.
02:14
How's the guy supposed to make a living?
02:16
You know what I mean?
02:17
I mean, I throw a guy in the trunk.
02:19
He's going to just hop right out again.
02:20
What am I supposed to do?
02:22
Now we have to tie him up.
02:23
It's going to slow us down.
02:26
And I suppose that's true.
02:28
I mean, here's a guy trying to make a living and all of a sudden.
02:32
And you couldn't say honest living.
02:37
So, I mean, it just goes to show you can't please everybody.
02:41
And, you know, and I can understand that dismay, but they're going to have to tough it out.
02:45
I mean, I don't know why they're bothering to put the release in there anyway.
02:49
In case you lock your keys in.
02:54
Then you're going to get in the trunk to open the trunk.
02:57
But if you get into, find the keys and the trunk closes on you.
03:00
Then you can get out again.
03:02
If you can find the little thing.
03:03
But is it is it worth that to put people out of work?
03:11
If you'd like to put us out of work, you can call 1-888-CAR-TALK.
03:16
That's 888-227-8255.
03:19
Hello, you're in car talk.
03:20
You know, I thought about 15 years ago that we would have answered all the questions
03:24
that could ever possibly have been asked and we'd have to stop doing the show.
03:29
15. I thought like 19.
03:33
Well, it's interesting because the questions just keep on coming
03:37
and we keep giving different answers.
03:40
I mean, the question, we probably have answered all of the questions,
03:44
but never the same way twice.
03:45
Oh, never correctly, once.
03:48
Hello, you're in car talk.
03:50
Hey, this is Lisa from Bloomington, Indiana.
03:53
That's just plain O-L-I-S-A, isn't it?
03:57
None of that boofy spelling for us.
03:59
What's going on, Lisa?
04:01
Oh, you guys, my knight in shining armor, I swear.
04:04
Okay, I have a problem.
04:06
I drive a 1984 Oldsmobile Omega and maybe that's the problem in and of itself, right?
04:13
So anyway, the emergency break about a month ago,
04:16
I go to push it down and it flops to the floor, okay?
04:19
It won't go click, click, click, click, click.
04:21
When I put my foot on it, it just flops to the floor.
04:24
So I take it into my local garage and they call back and they tell me that it's frozen.
04:28
The emergency break cable is frozen, whatever that.
04:32
Yeah, there are several cables on this car.
04:35
So they tell me they're going to have to replace these cables.
04:38
I say no problem, they're telling me about $150 and I'm like, cool.
04:43
So far, everything sounds absolutely right.
04:45
Well, yes, now the drama begins.
04:49
So anyway, they call me back when the parts have come in and they say,
04:52
Lisa, we're mystified.
04:54
The cables that we ordered that are specified for your car, they don't fit.
05:00
So we could try to get the parts from the dealer, but that's going to cost you a bunch.
05:04
So what our guy did and he's really good with breaks, he heated the break cables
05:09
and he tightened them and it's going to cost you $10.
05:13
Can I ask him if it's safe?
05:15
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, it's safe.
05:17
So anyway, I go downstairs and one of the girls downstairs at my job,
05:20
her husband's a mechanic and he is an old mobile mechanic in a town north of here.
05:25
So he's on vacation, of course.
05:27
So she calls his buddy Ed and he says, oh no, oh no, don't do that.
05:32
That's a death trap.
05:33
So at this point, you know, I'm driving around and I'm just done the $10 gig and everything,
05:39
but I mean, I need to know, you know, am I going to die a fiery death in my Omega?
05:43
Well, you probably are, but not for this reason.
05:46
I mean, if you don't ever use the emergency break, it can't ever cause you harm.
05:53
Is this an automatic transmission?
05:56
Because all it does is holds the car once you've stopped and have what?
06:02
It's called the parking brake.
06:03
And it's there in the event that the thing should not be fully engaged in park, that is the shifter,
06:08
or it should pop out for any reason.
06:10
This is kind of a backup.
06:11
When the transmission is in park, the car can't roll at all unless it malfunctions.
06:17
So this is a backup system.
06:19
If you had a stick shift, it would be a little bit more responsible for holding the car on a hill.
06:25
So you're not going to die a fiery death.
06:27
First of all, what they did, I think, was they heated up the cables and the cables were rusted.
06:32
They weren't frozen with ice.
06:34
I mean, it is almost summer.
06:37
Frozen is the term that mechanics use to mean rust.
06:42
And those cables are braided steel cables that run through a sheathing.
06:46
And the sheathing is often metal.
06:48
And what happens is the metal rusts and as it does, it begins to build up and it will
06:53
grab the cable and prevent it from moving because the inside diameter of the sheathing
06:58
gets smaller as rust builds up.
07:01
So what they did probably is they took the cables out, they heated them up,
07:05
they soaked them in penetrating oil, and they freed them up and got them to move.
07:09
They may be perfectly okay.
07:10
So I wouldn't be too worried about it.
07:12
Yeah, and also getting them from the dealership.
07:14
I mean, we're not talking about a thousand dollars here.
07:17
I mean, if this really bothers you and you park on steep hills all the time,
07:22
I would just go to the dealer and get the cable.
07:25
Well, the left rear evidently is no longer being manufactured.
07:29
And that's probably the one that doesn't work anymore.
07:31
What you can do alternatively is to travel around with a chalk block.
07:36
You know what that is?
07:38
It's a hunk of wood that you use to chalk the wheel.
07:44
The only things you have to remember to remove it before you take off.
07:48
Well, you can attach it.
07:51
You attach it with a rope and you keep it in the trunk.
07:54
No, you keep it in the front seat right next to you.
07:56
Reel it in so you get in the car.
07:58
No, if you ever forget it and you drive away, you're always going to be driving up.
08:08
Yeah, that's not going to work.
08:10
You need to tie it to a rope and tie it around the steering wheel.
08:12
Well, so you can't forget it if you're driving down because you have to go over a big bump.
08:17
But if you're going the other way and it's behind the car, you'll just drag it.
08:23
Yeah, I'd get a chalk block.
08:25
You figure out how you don't lose it.
08:27
Oh, well, no, those are really common in Southern Indiana.
08:31
Oh, yeah, there you go.
08:32
Oh, you'd be amazed.
08:34
Good luck to you because you have a really easy thing to worry about here.
08:39
And I would stop worrying about it.
08:42
If you do find yourself still thinking about it, go and do something.
08:45
But if you forget about it, that's okay.
08:47
Yeah, and you're more likely to die of fiery death by having a fuel leak on this,
08:51
which these cars tend to have.
08:52
But I didn't, I didn't, I didn't mean to say that.
08:55
You didn't mean to.
08:55
No, he didn't mean to.
08:56
We'll instruct the jury to disregard that last statement.
09:03
That was the least of our problems, huh?
09:09
That's 888-227-8255.
09:12
Hello, you're on Car Talk.
09:13
Hi, this is Matt Bear.
09:15
Where are you calling from?
09:16
I'm calling from Dearborn, Michigan.
09:18
Just outside of Detroit.
09:21
Which, what's shaking, man?
09:23
What do they make in Dearborn?
09:25
Well, they make fords.
09:27
This is Ford country.
09:29
They make rear ends in Dearborn, don't they?
09:30
They make everything in Dearborn.
09:32
The whole business, huh?
09:34
This is where the power plant blew up a couple months ago.
09:38
They make shebangs, the whole shebang.
09:43
So what's up, Matthew?
09:45
Well, I'm here in Ford country, but I happen to drive a 96 Intrepid.
09:52
And I had an incident the other day driving on the road,
09:55
air condition blowing away because it's hot out here,
09:59
and had what my wife called a death fog come out of the air vents.
10:07
She wanted me to pull over.
10:08
She was afraid that it was something poisonous.
10:12
And I assured her in all confidence that it wasn't anything poisonous.
10:15
You had a ready explanation, did you not?
10:19
I have no clue what it was,
10:20
but you did say, don't worry, hun.
10:23
And you gave her an explanation of some kind.
10:25
Oh, it's just water vapor.
10:28
It's nothing to worry about.
10:28
This stuff happens all the time in cars like this.
10:30
It's just hot heat.
10:32
I have no clue what it was.
10:34
But did she buy you a little story?
10:38
Well, she's known me long enough to keep questioning me.
10:41
So you thought it was a fog created by excessive water vapor
10:46
that was somehow being condensed and getting blown out the vents.
10:50
Is that what you so told her?
10:53
I would say it was probably because of the humidity.
10:56
Man, you're 100% right.
10:58
That's exactly what happened.
11:05
And it was due to the excessive humidity.
11:09
Because, I mean, think about it.
11:11
Clouds were forming right there in your car.
11:15
And it had the humidity been a little higher.
11:18
Had it been a little higher,
11:18
you could have actually gotten lightning bolts, too.
11:21
That would have been the next step.
11:24
I mean, if you got a lot of humidity in the air and you
11:27
cooled the air down, which was happening through the vents,
11:30
right, then what happens to the vapor?
11:33
It turns into droplets.
11:37
And you got a death fog.
11:42
You were right again, Matt, and congratulations.
11:46
I don't know why she keeps questioning me.
11:49
She ought to just go along with it.
11:51
Or at least preface everything by saying, I know you're right,
11:55
hun, but could you just explain it to me when you say, of course.
12:01
Good luck, man, and watch for the dope slap.
12:08
Thank you very much.
12:11
Okay, Tommy, do you remember last week's puzzler?
12:14
Do I remember last week's puzzler?
12:16
Do I remember last week's puzzler?
12:19
Well, it's about a very odd little paragraph.
12:23
And I'll have the whole paragraph in just a minute.
12:30
What if public radio stopped sounding like this?
12:33
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rom.
12:37
And started sounding like this.
12:41
NPR is doing everything possible to keep this trusted and free public service going.
12:46
With your support, we will not be silent.
12:48
Please give today at donate.npr.org.
12:54
This holiday season, the team at a first is still hard at work with all new episodes,
13:00
but the news does not take a holiday.
13:03
And we know it's harder than ever to keep up this time of year.
13:06
Listen for three essential stories in under 15 minutes.
13:10
Get caught up and get on with your day.
13:13
Up first, listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
13:48
You're listening to Car Talk with us.
13:49
Click and Clack the Tapper Brothers.
13:50
And we're here to talk, of course, about cars, car repair, and the answer to last week's puzzler.
13:56
And this puzzler was sent in by Robert Skidmore.
13:59
He says, and I quote, this paragraph is odd.
14:03
What is its oddity?
14:05
You may not find it at first, but this paragraph is not normal.
14:10
It's just a small thing, but an oddity that stands out.
14:13
If you find it, what is it?
14:15
You must know your days will not go on until you find out what is odd.
14:19
You will pull your hair out.
14:20
Your insomnia will push you until your poor brain finally short circuits,
14:24
trying to find an oddity in this paragraph.
14:32
The answer, of course, is that the letter E, one of the most commonly used letters in the English
14:38
According to Articone and Doyle, it is the most commonly used letter.
14:43
Oh, it's not anymore?
14:50
Does not appear once in this entire paragraph.
14:54
And just to show you how odd this is, this paragraph that I just read to you has 19 E's in it.
15:03
Did we have a winner this week?
15:05
The winner is Jennifer Hellier from Thornton, Colorado.
15:10
Boy, you learn more town's names just by looking at the winners.
15:15
Every week, it's somebody from some place that I've never heard of.
15:18
Some odd ball place.
15:20
The winner is Jennifer Hellier from Thornton, Colorado, and for having her correct answer
15:25
chosen from among the thousands of correct answers that we had this week, Jennifer is
15:30
going to get a copy of our new book of puzzlers, A Haircut in Horsetown.
15:35
Which, by the way, is now available in all bookstores everywhere in the entire world.
15:45
And we would appreciate it in no small way if everybody within the sound of my voice would
15:50
run out and buy just one copy.
15:54
Just buy one copy of a haircut.
15:56
If you all bought one.
15:57
If even half of you bought two.
16:02
If half of you bought two, we wouldn't have to be here next week.
16:06
You could be rid of us forever.
16:07
You could be rid of us forever.
16:09
So you go out and if the book is not there, we can give you John Duff's phone number if you need it.
16:16
But it'll be there in your local bookstore.
16:19
You buy the book and we promise we will never.
16:21
And this will be a great demonstration of the power of the masses.
16:25
I mean, one person buying a book doesn't do much.
16:27
Ten people, not much.
16:28
A hundred, a little bit.
16:30
But if everybody that hears us goes out and buys one copy.
16:35
And somebody will want it.
16:36
Someone will want it.
16:37
You'll give it to somebody.
16:38
You just leave it on the table.
16:40
Someone else take it.
16:42
And they'll bring it back the next day.
16:47
And we promise never to darken your radio again.
16:51
Boy, that's a promise that you can't get it from everybody.
16:55
Hey, do you know what time it is?
16:57
Time to apologize to MIT for ruining their commencement.
17:01
Time to play Thumbs to Chunk.
17:14
Every once in a while, we invite one of our past callers back onto the show in order to what?
17:19
Kill time when I think up a new puzzle.
17:22
And to see whether the advice that we gave that person was any good at all or even possibly
17:27
So who's this week's contestant, Johnny?
17:30
This week's Chump Stumper is Bob from Greensboro, North Carolina.
17:35
Now, you may remember.
17:36
And I'm reading this from a piece of paper because I don't remember.
17:38
Bob called us in December.
17:41
Because the heat wasn't working on his 85 Chevy Cavalier.
17:45
And oh, he must have one frozen, took us by now.
17:48
And he was desperate because the temperature was threatened to fall below 60 any day.
17:55
Good, good, good, good.
17:59
Here's what I've replaced so far.
18:03
Good, lower radiator hose.
18:08
He needed that anyway.
18:10
Upper and lower heater hoses.
18:20
I had to cover off of the heater core.
18:25
I checked to make sure that the baffle was moving.
18:30
Well, he didn't leave us much room to work with now, did he?
18:37
He replaced everything.
18:38
Well, basically, yeah.
18:39
So as a fallback position, we told Bob that during one of these numerous repairs,
18:44
he likely trapped a considerable amount of air in his cooling system.
18:51
So we instructed him to tip the car up on its front end and burp it.
18:55
Actually, we told him how to remove the heater hoses and top off the cooler and run it with the
18:59
radiator cap off and all that stuff so that any remaining air in the system would be allowed to escape.
19:05
And we'll find out right now if that helped.
19:12
What's the average temperature been in Greensboro this week?
19:16
So are you warm enough?
19:22
It's going to blister the paint.
19:25
You didn't tell us how we had to get you heat.
19:28
We just invoked it.
19:29
We just did our sun dance here.
19:32
I knew you were going to have some bogus solution.
19:36
So tell us what happened, Bob.
19:38
We're dying to hear.
19:40
Put it up on the ramp and ran it that way.
19:44
So while it was up, I pulled the hoses off.
19:48
Filled them with water, put them back.
19:52
Went a step farther.
19:53
Took the hose back off.
19:55
The one that goes to the intake manifold is higher.
20:00
I put a T-fitting in it.
20:02
I ran the hose up to where I could pull it.
20:05
Pull the vacuum on it by sucking on it.
20:08
It was disgusting, but.
20:13
So nothing has worked.
20:14
Nothing has worked.
20:17
Well, this is sadder for you than it is for us.
20:20
I mean, let's get off our noses.
20:22
It's not bad for me until December rolls around again.
20:24
Yeah, it might get down to 70 degrees down there.
20:27
Occasionally, yeah.
20:29
I wish I had some new ideas, but we covered everything
20:35
Well, I will tell you a little story
20:37
that I might not have told you
20:38
when we spoke to you the last time,
20:42
I don't remember what it was,
20:43
but it was one of these GM little junk boxes.
20:46
And this guy also had no heat,
20:49
but he had a blown head gasket coincidentally.
20:53
And when we fixed the head gasket,
20:56
i.e. when we put a new head gasket on,
20:58
we didn't even realize it,
21:00
but we had inadvertently fixed his heat.
21:02
Did you forget to charge him for that?
21:04
When he called back to tell us it had been fixed.
21:10
But he said, you know,
21:11
the heat hasn't worked in this thing for two years.
21:14
And since you replaced the head gasket,
21:18
Now, I had no ready explanation,
21:20
and therefore I couldn't present them with a bill.
21:22
I just wanted to tell you that in the event
21:27
that you're grasping for straws
21:29
or looking for a long project for the summer.
21:32
I'm willing to bet it's the head gasket.
21:35
Bob, we're going to be talking to you again soon
21:37
after you do the head gasket.
21:39
So you're going to have to,
21:41
if you want to be on stomp the chumps again.
21:46
It's getting very questionable.
21:48
If you want to be on stomp the chumps again,
21:50
you're going to have to do the damn head gasket.
21:51
All right, here's the deal.
21:53
All right, we'll do it.
21:54
No, if he does the head gasket,
21:57
and it's not the head gasket,
21:59
you'll pay him for the head gasket job.
22:02
Doug Berman will pay you.
22:03
Doug Berman will pay you.
22:04
I can do a head gasket myself in a weekend
22:06
and charge you what, 500 bucks?
22:08
Is that the going rate?
22:12
Can we agree on 200?
22:17
We could be setting a dangerous precedent.
22:22
We'll go as high as four.
22:24
We're not a penny over six.
22:25
We're going over four.
22:27
Good Lord, you just made my life complicated.
22:30
Get those wrenches out, baby.
22:35
Thanks for playing Stump the Chumps.
22:37
Chump the Stumps, whatever.
22:42
We'll be right back with more calls
22:44
and the new puzzler after these messages.
22:52
AI data centers use a lot of electricity,
22:56
and you may be paying for it.
22:58
I think it's almost inevitable
23:00
that ordinary people are going to end up
23:03
subsidizing the wealthiest industry in the world.
23:06
On the latest Planet Money podcast,
23:09
how data centers might be hijacking your electric bill.
23:12
Listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
23:17
On Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me,
23:19
famous actors remember their days of obscurity,
23:22
like when Pedro Pascal remembered the stress of being a waiter.
23:25
The logistical labor of meeting everyone's needs
23:30
in the right manner, you know, the act one, the water,
23:34
act two, the drink.
23:36
Listen to Wait, Wait, and the NPR app
23:38
or wherever you get your podcasts.
23:42
As we say goodbye to 2025,
23:45
our reporters are looking back
23:46
at some of the most memorable international stories
23:49
they covered in the last year.
23:51
From a city in Africa emerging from war
23:53
to resilient Indian turtles,
23:56
liberated refugees to defiant Austrian nuns,
24:00
global favorites from the last year.
24:02
Listen to State of the World on the NPR app
24:04
or wherever you get your podcasts.
24:07
This holiday season on the StoryCorps podcast,
24:10
we're casting our eyes north.
24:12
We have checked and rechecked our tracking screens.
24:14
I hate to bring you and all your good listeners the bad news,
24:17
but it doesn't appear just a minute.
24:19
We have a sighting, Santa is on his way.
24:22
Hear tales of the fears, hopes, and joys of Christmas past
24:25
on a special holiday edition
24:27
of the StoryCorps podcast from NPR.
24:33
How we're back and listening to car talk with us,
24:36
click and clack the tappet brothers,
24:37
and we're here to discuss cars, car repair,
24:39
and the new puzzler.
24:41
This is another of the very famous matchstick puzzles.
24:45
In a long series, the matchstick puzzle series.
24:50
Most of the kids are out of school,
24:52
are closer being out of school,
24:53
and I thought that before their minds get too dull,
24:56
this would be a good little puzzle to just, you know,
24:59
keep them going a little longer, maybe.
25:01
Kids, so is that a hint?
25:04
Everything's a hint.
25:05
Everything is a hint.
25:06
Everything's a hint.
25:06
From the time you say the word puzzler,
25:09
and maybe even prior to that,
25:11
every word is a hint.
25:14
All right, get a bunch of matches, matchsticks.
25:17
Matches, wooden matches, preferably.
25:20
You don't want kids playing with matches?
25:24
We don't need no stickin' matches.
25:30
See, it covered a mile.
25:33
Get a bunch of toothpicks.
25:36
And make the following equation with Roman numerals.
25:46
And then the small matchsticks or toothpicks.
25:49
Plus one, then an equal sign, X.
25:54
So you have X, I, plus I, or 11 plus one.
25:59
11 plus one equals 10.
26:04
And the question very simply is,
26:05
what is the fewest number of matches you can move
26:08
to get an equation that's correct?
26:12
And you can't throw away any matches.
26:14
You got to, you got to move one or two or three.
26:19
Oh, I asked what's the fewest number.
26:21
What's the fewest number you can move?
26:22
Now, I want to give a hint.
26:25
Can you use the plus sign or the equal sign as well?
26:29
Well, you could take, for example,
26:30
you could take the vertical piece of the plus sign
26:32
and take that away.
26:33
So you would have 11 minus one equals 10.
26:36
But what would you do with the thing you took away?
26:38
Stick it in your ear?
26:40
You've got to use them all.
26:42
Oh, I would make it,
26:43
I would put it into on top of the equal sign.
26:49
Then it would be 11 minus one absolutely equals 10.
26:55
Now, I'll give you the hint.
26:56
So you could do that.
26:57
You can move those things around
26:59
as long as you don't lose any.
27:00
I presented this to my son the other day, my younger son.
27:05
And he looked at it for a minute.
27:08
And we had it set up on the kitchen table.
27:11
With matches or toothpicks?
27:18
He leaves the room and as soon as he reenters,
27:23
So if you think you know the answer,
27:25
write it on the back of a $20 bill
27:27
and send it to Puzzler Tower,
27:30
Car Talk Plaza, Box 3500,
27:33
Harvard Square, Cambridge,
27:37
Matt02238, or waste some electrons by sending us...
27:42
I want to invest in electrons.
27:43
What is the least...
27:44
How did you phrase this again?
27:46
What is the least number of...
27:47
The fewest number of matches you...
27:48
The fewest number of matches and or toothpicks
27:51
that you can move and make this into a legitimate equation.
27:56
A valid, a true equation.
27:58
I mean, why doesn't it need an adjective?
28:01
Equation needs no modifier.
28:07
So email your answer from the Car Talk section
28:11
And as always, if you have what you think
28:12
may be a usable, inspiring, folkloric, historic...
28:21
Challenging, non-pathetic puzzler
28:24
that we might be able to use
28:26
in the upcoming puzzler season,
28:28
feel free to send that in
28:30
also to Puzzler Tower, Car Talk Plaza,
28:34
Harvard Square, Cambridge.
28:35
Well, how does Dear Abby do it?
28:40
and attention puzzle editor, Eugene T. Moleska.
28:45
If you'd like to talk...
28:49
No, I want to know how Dear Abby and her sister,
28:52
what's her name, Ann Landers.
28:54
You notice they aren't doing any heavy lifting.
28:58
They haven't for a long time.
28:59
People send them letters, big, long letters.
29:04
And then Ann Landers says,
29:07
boy, I couldn't have said it better than you.
29:09
Thanks for sending it in.
29:10
And she's done for the day.
29:12
What's wrong with us?
29:17
That's 8-888-227-8282-255.
29:21
Hello, you're on Car Talk.
29:22
Hi, I'm Ann Will from Beaver Creek, Ohio.
29:28
Ann Will, you got it.
29:33
That's just your first name.
29:34
Actually, it's my middle name, but it's the one I use.
29:41
Where are you from?
29:43
I'm from Beaver Creek, Ohio.
29:45
Beaver Creek, Ohio.
29:49
Now that we've squandered a whole minute of your allotted time,
29:53
hurry it up and tell us what's on your mind.
29:56
Well, my husband and I own two Saturns.
29:59
And when I took Margaret, which is our 95 Sport Coupe,
30:04
in for her oil change the last time,
30:07
the Saturn guys tried to sell me this thing called,
30:11
are you ready for this?
30:12
The Envirollution Engine Lifeguard System,
30:16
which is a power flush for the engine.
30:21
I'm not making that up.
30:22
That's what it's called.
30:24
Envirollution Engine Lifeguard System.
30:29
And basically it is, they say.
30:31
They put a heated detergent in to clean out the sludge
30:35
and the used oils that they can't completely drain.
30:37
And they say that it'll extend engine life,
30:41
improve fuel economy, restore engine efficiency,
30:44
reduce harmful emissions, and improve engine performance.
30:48
They make it sound like the best thing since bi-
30:50
And make you a baloney sandwich for lunch tomorrow.
30:53
And how much do they want for this E-E-L-S?
30:56
I can't remember, but it was pretty expensive.
30:58
It was like around $100 plus.
31:01
Oh, sounds like a $295 job to me.
31:05
And I didn't go for it,
31:07
because I wanted to hear what you guys thought.
31:11
Well, I'll tell you, I'm impressed.
31:13
I haven't seen any of these machines in the flesh,
31:15
but I've seen the ads for them.
31:17
And we have two similar machines.
31:23
They're called customer fleecing systems, one of them.
31:29
And the wallet vac.
31:31
The wallet vac is the other one.
31:35
And the credit card cleaning device.
31:39
We have two machines, which are sold by Snap-on Tools.
31:47
One is the thing called a motor vac,
31:50
which cleans the fuel injection system,
31:52
which actually works pretty well.
31:53
And then we have another one that cleans the transmission,
31:57
automatic transmission.
31:58
And what it does is it actually takes all the transmission oil out,
32:01
runs it through a filter, takes all the crud,
32:03
and puts in new fluid.
32:05
And then puts the crud back in.
32:07
And then puts the crud back into the next guy's transmission.
32:09
But this thing actually does flush out the torque converter,
32:12
which you can never drain in any car.
32:15
And it does do a remarkably good job.
32:17
However, these engine things,
32:19
I mean, don't forget,
32:20
you're changing the oil every 3,000 or 4,000 miles in the filter.
32:23
Which we do faithfully.
32:26
I mean, I think if you had,
32:27
if you had neglected many oil changes.
32:30
You know, if you had forgotten to do a bunch of oil changes.
32:33
Which I would say you might want to do it.
32:35
On the other hand, there's the theory that says,
32:39
let sleeping dogs lie.
32:40
Yeah, the cars both run great.
32:42
It's good enough reason for me to say, don't do anything.
32:47
I may tell my husband I did it.
32:50
And then like, you know,
32:51
use the money to go out to dinner or something.
32:55
Engine lifeguard system.
32:58
Engine lifeguard system.
33:00
Boy, it's awfully catchy.
33:02
Just rolls right off the tongue.
33:04
Not as good as the wallet back though.
33:11
Well, I'm sure I would like these guys that make this thing,
33:15
maybe to give us a demonstration.
33:16
I would love to know on what they base their claims.
33:22
You have to do some pretty serious testing.
33:25
You'd have to have a whole bunch of cars.
33:27
Half of which you do this and viral lution thing too.
33:30
Half of which you don't.
33:31
They'd have to drive the same way, the same number of miles.
33:36
A controlled experiment.
33:37
Well, how else can you make a claim like that?
33:40
You can't just say, here do this and it'll extend engine life.
33:43
It'll improve economy.
33:44
I mean, how can they say that without some kind of proof?
33:47
I would love to know what the proof is.
33:50
I'm sure they'll be calling us tomorrow.
33:53
You're like actually assuming that they would necessarily tell the truth.
33:56
Well, of course, this is General Motors.
33:58
They never lied to us.
33:59
No, I don't think General Motors has anything to do with this.
34:01
This is something, this is an independent thing.
34:03
I know, but Saturn is General Motors and they're selling it.
34:07
Well, no, they didn't succeed in selling it.
34:09
Well, they're trying to.
34:11
Yeah, but I'm not so sure this is something that's done
34:13
by all General Motors or Saturn dealerships.
34:15
This may be just this particular dealership.
34:17
Oh, that could well be.
34:18
That got into this mumbo-jumbo.
34:22
Maybe the snap-on guy went to see them.
34:24
Yeah, well, we haven't seen him for a few weeks.
34:27
He may be out in Beaver Creek, Ohio right now.
34:31
Looking for a new batch of suckers.
34:34
My advice is stay away from it.
34:37
Keep Margaret away from this thing.
34:39
And if we run across any new information,
34:41
you'll be the first to know.
34:44
We have your number.
34:48
Thanks for calling.
34:49
That was interesting.
34:52
Well, I have heard of these machines.
34:54
I mean, it almost makes sense.
34:57
Everyone's looking for that slight edge.
35:00
It's the kind of thing that has appeal, you know.
35:03
You do this and you can just visualize all those little tiny crevices.
35:07
Well, these are the same people that would go for this
35:10
or the ones that put Rizzlone in.
35:19
Well, it's happened again.
35:21
You've squandered another perfectly good hour listening to car talk.
35:24
Our esteemed producer has dug the Subway Fugitive,
35:27
not a slave to fashion Berman.
35:29
Our social producer is Ken the Diaper Slayer Rogers.
35:32
Our assistant producer is Catherine Kiki Ray.
35:34
Our engineer is John Marston because Dennis the Menace Foley
35:36
is off menacing someone.
35:38
And our technical, spiritual, and menu advisor is the bugster,
35:41
Mr. John Bugsy Lawler.
35:44
Our public opinion pollster is Paul Murky of Murky Research
35:46
who's done some stellar research from my brother recently.
35:50
Assisted by his able...
35:53
The lovely statistician.
35:54
The large and over.
35:55
And our customer care representative is, as always,
35:58
Heywood Jabuzoff, our daylight savings time manager,
36:00
is a comrade at an hour.
36:02
And the director of our Latin American shameless commerce operation
36:12
Our swing dance consultant is Antonio Band Era.
36:15
And our director of Japanese cooling system technology
36:17
is Emperor Overhido.
36:19
Of course, our chief counsel from the law firm of Dewey Chida
36:21
and Howe is Uluwis Dewey,
36:23
known to the local constabulary as Yui Louie Dewey.
36:26
Thanks so much for listening.
36:27
We're clicking Clack the Tapper Brothers.
36:28
Don't drive like my brother.
36:30
Drive like my brother?
36:31
We'll be back next week.
36:45
And now, here is Cart Talk Plaza's beach activity coordinator,
36:51
Mr. Vinnie Gombats.
36:53
Thank you very much.
36:54
Now, you're looking for something to do
36:56
while you're waiting for your friends to get back from the beach.
36:58
If you are, you can listen to a copy of this week's very program,
37:02
just called the Shameless Commerce Division at 888-Cott Junk.
37:06
And ask for show number 25.
37:08
That's not a beach activity, Vinnie.
37:10
Waiting for other people to get back from the beach?
37:12
Is it a beach activity?
37:13
Well, how do you personally define work activity?
37:18
Now, if you want any other Cart Talk stuff,
37:21
these shirts, you'll see these books.
37:23
You can also call the Shameless Commerce Division
37:27
Or order online at the CartTalk section of COS.com, you know.
37:32
You have been most enlightened.
37:33
And enlightened this crowd.
37:40
Cart Talk is a production of Dewey Cheetahman Howe and WBOR in Boston.
37:44
And even though Justice Department attorneys converge on NPR
37:48
with cease and desist daughters every time they hear us say it,
37:51
this is indeed NPR National Public Radio.
37:55
This holiday season on the StoryCorps podcast,
37:58
A Christmas Memory from the Cold War.
38:00
I remember this red phone on his desk.
38:02
If it rang, there was a national emergency.
38:05
One time the red phone rang, he answered it.
38:08
And there was a small voice that asked, is this Santa Claus?
38:12
Cozy up under the tree and listen to a special holiday edition
38:15
of the StoryCorps podcast from NPR.
38:20
As you prepare for the ball drop on 2025,
38:24
listen to NPR Music's All Songs Considered podcast
38:26
as we look back at the biggest songs and albums of the year.
38:30
From the unmissable hits to the fascinating other stuff
38:33
you might not have heard, Search for All Songs Considered,
38:36
wherever you get podcasts to hear us run back
38:39
some of the best of the best of 2025.
39:00
Listen to the State of the World podcast from NPR.
