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S2 Ep32: I BROKE The Top Gear Suzuki Liana (& Help Pick A NEW Colour For My Clio Williams!)

S2 Ep32: I BROKE The Top Gear Suzuki Liana (& Help Pick A NEW Colour For My Clio Williams!)

The AutoAlex Podcast Mar 31, 2026 64 min
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About this episode

A chaotic, car-nerd catch-up episode: both Suzuki Lianas they tried at Top Gear’s Dunsfold test track blew up, with one car losing power and the other dumping coolant. The hosts dive into real buying mistakes and wins—CarVertical flags a Fiat 500C’s mileage rollback, while Taylor and Rory debate what to buy next (including a possible cheap Bentley Continental for £6k). Project updates include RS4 headliner/ozone/coilovers, a Porsche gearbox rebuild, and Rory’s barn-find 9-11 G-body. The show ends with a “how much that?” pricing game and an “extreme car buying disorder” email.

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Technical Too Afraid to Ask
Car

BMW E60

"...yan removing shitty black wrap from a set of BMW E60 kidney grills. Good man. Sean Burbridge listening..."

The BMW 5 Series is a comfortable, mid-size sedan. The episode talks about the E60 generation and its front grille design. They mention it because it’s a popular BMW model people notice and sometimes modify.

Car

Maserati Ghibli

"...rtugal, Lewis Morgan loving life in his Maserati Ghibli, David on a train to Edinburgh, mechanic Tom weld..."

The Maserati Ghibli is a luxury sedan, meaning it’s built to feel comfortable and premium. It’s also meant to be more exciting than a typical family car. They mention it because it’s a stylish car people enjoy driving.

Concept

Crufts

"That's like crufts, isn't it? Yeah, it's when you get bad dogs. No, it's when you make them do tricks"

Crufts is a big UK dog show. The hosts are comparing the dog training event they mentioned to that kind of competition.

Company

CarVertical

"onto the podcast sponsor, which is CarVertical. [375.3s] We use CarVertical every single day, every single hour... [386.8s] And the man on the phone to you said that it wasn't a Cat D. [390.6s] And we CarVertical'd it, and it came up as it was."

CarVertical is a website/app that checks a car’s history using records from different databases. It can help you spot things like whether a car was written off, so you don’t get surprised later.

Concept

scrapyard

"Well, I say selling. It's, it's going to the unfortunate scrapyard. Yeah."

A scrapyard is a place that breaks old cars apart for parts and recycling. If someone says it’s going to the scrapyard, the car is basically being written off.

Concept

welding

"didn't I say mechanic Tom welding a transit? ... can you weld our transit?"

Welding is a repair method used to join or replace damaged metal sections—often required when rust has eaten through panels or structural parts. It can restore strength, but the underlying cause (corrosion) still needs to be addressed with proper cleaning, treatment, and protection.

Term

rusting

"And obviously those transits are, those generations are known for rusting. They're really bad."

Rusting is when the metal starts to corrode and weaken. On vans, it can get worse fast because of salt and weather, and eventually it can mean the van isn’t worth fixing.

Term

ozone machine

"You can get ozone machines on Amazon for what you also like 40 quid... it just stinks and just buys up by an ozone machine and just blast it for 15 minutes."

An ozone machine is a device that makes a special gas that helps kill bad smells in a car. You don’t want to breathe that gas, so you usually run it while nobody is inside the vehicle.

Term

headliner

"So if bought some more bits for the RS4, so headliner, because we're going to do the headliner ourselves... You can get the headliner out through the..."

The headliner is the material on the inside of the roof. If it’s sagging or damaged, you have to remove it and fit a new one, usually by taking off some interior trim.

Term

coolant

"Were they knocking? Just exhaust should know. So one of them was coolant. It went everywhere."

Coolant is the liquid that keeps the engine from getting too hot. If it leaks out, the engine can overheat fast.

Concept

doing laps

"Either way, I did some laps and it was fun. So it wasn't you then? What? Shit. No, Mike didn't get to have a go."

“Doing laps” just means driving around a track over and over. People do it to see how the car handles and how fun it is to drive.

Term

metallic

"It's got a lot of metallic in it, a bit more of a modern color. I think it looks great."

Metallic paint contains tiny metal flakes that reflect light, which can make colors look deeper and more dynamic—especially in sunlight. The speaker notes Alpine Racing Blue has “a lot of metallic,” implying it will look more modern and vivid than a flatter classic blue.

Concept

spray up a few little swatches

"[1123.1s] So I need to chat to our painter, Chris, just down the road. [1126.5s] And then he's going to spray up a few little swatches, and then we can have a look. [1130.6s] That's very exciting."

A swatch is a small test paint sample. They spray a few options so you can see which color looks right before painting the whole car.

Term

scrapping

"So the question is, is what are you doing with the old version of this vehicle? I'm scrapping it. It's already scrapping."

“Scrapping” means the car is basically being taken apart and recycled instead of being kept or sold. It usually happens when it’s not worth repairing.

Car

BMW M2

"Or the other one is a BMW M2. Sorry, I switched off there... The M2, if it is a great looking car, do you know what? I drove one at the weekend."

The BMW M2 is BMW’s smaller, sportier “M” car. People like it because it drives like a proper performance car without being as big as some other BMW M models.

Concept

Shopify

"Now, Chris, you've been using Shopify for quite a while. Why is it so good? Why has it actually helped supercharge the growth?"

Shopify is a website builder for selling things online. It helps you list products, take payments, and track sales so you don’t have to set up all the tools yourself.

Term

engine bay

"I cleaned inside and out. I put a trim shine on it. I cleaned all the engine bay."

The engine bay is the space under the hood. People clean it to keep it looking good and to make it easier to see leaks or worn parts.

Term

supercharger

"I cleaned all the engine bay. I polished my supercharger. Okay."

A supercharger is a device that forces extra air into the engine. More air usually means more power, but it needs proper care so it keeps working reliably.

Term

burnouts

"Were there lots of burnouts? There was a few. Excellent. There was, I turned around actually, I was talking to someone."

A burnout is when someone revs and spins the tires to make smoke and noise. It’s mostly for show, but it can wear out tires quickly.

Brand

Alpina

"Excellent. With Alpina stripes on the side of it. Nice."

Alpina is a company that takes certain BMWs and makes them more special—faster and more refined. The stripes are a recognizable Alpina look.

Part

spoiler

"And all the little touches of the like the ductile little spoiler that we put on, the rear diffuser, the front lip."

A spoiler is a piece on the back (or sometimes the front) of a car that helps the air flow better. It can make the car feel more stable and also changes the look.

Concept

costs thousands of pounds

"And it's going to cost thousands, literally thousands of pounds,"

They’re saying the repair bill will be in the thousands of pounds. That’s a big deal because it can change whether it’s worth fixing or not.

Term

mint

"I did everything I wanted to do with that car. It's absolutely mint. Yep."

“Mint” just means really good condition. If someone says a car is “mint,” they mean it’s clean and looks/feels like it’s been cared for.

Term

LED headlights

"So... He wants to get those LED headlights from... "

LED headlights are a type of car headlight that uses LED bulbs. People upgrade to them because they often look better and can light the road more clearly.

Concept

dream car

"Because as it turns out, Rory, that's my dream car. [2377.5s] Not so much in green. [2378.5s] No, green. [2383.0s] I'm not going to say dream car because we overused that."

“Dream car” is the enthusiast term for the specific vehicle someone most wants to own, often regardless of practicality. The speaker also notes they’re trying not to overuse the phrase, but the concept is still central to the conversation.

Term

straight swap

"Straight swap. A straight swap? Straight swap. Yeah, I would straight swap it."

A straight swap is a direct trade: you give your car and get the other car back, without adding money. It usually means both cars are considered similar value.

Term

91,000 miles on the clock

"Yeah, and it's only got 91,000 miles on the clock, which for one of those is actually really low."

“Miles on the clock” just means the odometer reading. Lower mileage can mean the car has been driven less, which can be a good sign for wear. But you still want to make sure it was maintained properly.

Concept

barn finds

"Oh my God, this was like, you know when you dream of those barn finds? Yeah, when we got there, the door was half open, you just see half of it."

A barn find is a car that’s been sitting somewhere for a long time—like in a barn or garage—and then gets discovered. It can be exciting because it might be rare or low-mileage, but it may need work after sitting.

Concept

full respray

"it needs to go for a full respray. And I don't mean full respray."

A full respray is repainting the entire car, typically after body repairs and surface preparation. It’s more expensive and time-consuming than spot repairs, and it’s often done when the paint is mismatched, faded, or the bodywork would look uneven without a uniform new coat.

Term

road legal

"If we're going by that, mine's running and dry. Okay. So yours is road legal because mine is."

“Road legal” means the car is allowed to be driven on public roads. It usually requires registration and passing any required checks. Here, they’re saying one car can legally be driven, while the other can’t.

Concept

cheap luxury

"It's just cheap luxury, isn't it? It's a bit of fun."

“Cheap luxury” means getting a fancy brand for less money than you’d pay new. The catch is that repairs and maintenance can cost more than you’d expect.

Concept

daily driver

"That's why I've been daily in my 540i. Do you know, actually, that comes to a point that I just worked out the other day, it's now cheaper for me to drive my Aston into work than it is to drive the Land Rover."

A “daily driver” is the car you use for everyday commuting and errands. The segment uses this idea to show how fuel prices and efficiency matter most in real, repeated use—not just when buying the car.

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