Car Stuff Podcast

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell kick off the show by discussing the worldwide microchip shortage, and how the auto industry is being affected by it. Randy Dale, Senior Manager, Product and Advanced Planning at Nissan, joins us to discuss the redesigned-for-2022 Nissan Frontier midsize pickup. Tom has a "name the fake trim level" quiz for Damon and Jill, and Damon runs dow...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start the show by discussing their test-drive experiences in the pure-electric 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E. Next, Sergeant Thomas Mason of the Chicago Police Department joins us to talk about the rise in carjacking thefts, and what you can do to keep yourself safe.  Tom has a "which vehicle is longer?" quiz on current-model vehicles for Damon...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell kick off the show by discussing the recently unveiled 2022 Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer large SUVs. Robby DeGraff, Industry Analyst with AutoPacific, joins us to talk about the rapidly evolving world of new-vehicle connectivity and infotainment systems.  Tom has a quiz on the home countries of foreign automotive brands for Damon and Jil...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell kick off the show by discussing the recently unveiled 2022 Kia Carnival "Multi-Purpose Vehicle" (don't call it a minivan). Anthony Novak, Toyota Brand and Growth Audiences Marketing Manager, joins us to talk about Toyota's marketing strategies and the expanding role of hybrids in the brand's model lineup.  Tom has a "where is it made?" quiz...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell kick off the show by discussing the passing of dune-buggy pioneer Bruce Meyers and the results of J.D. Power's most recent vehicle-reliability survey. Paul Strauss, publisher of the popular websites The Awesomer, Technabob, and the auto-themed 95octane, joins us to talk about the latest batch of brawny V8-powered vehicles--the Lexus IS 500...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing  the recently unveiled 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander compact SUV. Collectible Automobile magazine Editor-in-Chief John Biel joins us to chat about the great features in the April 2021 issue, including detailed histories of the 1980-83 Lincoln Continental Mark VI and 1970-76 Porsche 914. Tom has a "who owns what"...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start the show by discussing the recently unveiled 2021 Ford F-150 Raptor pickup and the forthcoming Raptor R. Mark Savino, Kia Product Strategy Manager, joins us to talk about the redesigned-for-2021 Kia Sorento 3-row midsize SUV. Tom has another "buzzer-style" name-that-vehicle quiz for Damon and Jill, and Damon runs down the latest artic...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start the show by discussing the recent unveiling of the 2022 Nissan Pathfinder midsize SUV and 2022 Nissan Frontier midsize pickup.  Todd Lassa, veteran automotive journalist and founding editor of The Hustings (thehustings.news), joins us to talk about some current auto-industry trends and fill us in on The Hustings--a news website that i...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start the show by discussing the recent reports of Nissan dealers asking Nissan to bring back its off-road-ready  Xterra SUV.  We also talk about the discontinuation of Kia's Cadenza large sedan and K900 flagship luxury sedan for the 2021 model year. Jeff Pope, Group Vice President, Infiniti Americas, joins us to talk about the new-for-2021...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell kick off the show by discussing the auto industry's sales results for the 2020 calendar year, and examining a few of the winners and losers. Sam Fiorani, Vice President of Global Vehicle Forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions, joins us to delve deeper into the year that was, and talk about what industry trends are on the horizon for 2021. T...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell kick off the show by discussing the recently announced winners of the 2021 North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year awards. Jonathan Buhler,  Communications Manager for Sports Cars and Sedans for Nissan USA, joins us to talk about the North American Nissan Heritage Collection and the past, present, and future of the Nissan Z sport...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing  the newly reported details of the General Motors/Honda electric-vehicle partnership. Jake Fisher, Senior Director of Auto Testing for Consumer Reports, joins us to talk about new-car reliability and CR's testing processes. Tom has a tricky quiz for Damon and Jill on 2011-model-year vehicles, and Damon runs...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing  their test-drive experiences in the Mercedes-Benz AMG E53 midsize sedan. Collectible Automobile magazine Editor-in-Chief John Biel joins us to chat about the great features in the February 2021 issue, including a profile on Bill Mitchell's Corvette Stingray racer and an overview of GM's cars of 1961. John s...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing  Elon Musk's recent tweet about his attempt to sell Tesla to Apple three years ago, and the reports of Apple's current plans to enter the autonomous electric-vehicle market. Instead of a guest this week, we share our automotive Christmas wish lists--vehicles we wish automakers would build (or start building...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing  their test-drive experiences with Kia's new-for-2021 K5 midsize sedan. Mark Bilek, Senior Director of Communications and Technology for the Chicago Automobile Trade Association, joins us to talk about the outlook for the 2021 Chicago Auto Show. Tom has a tricky quiz for Damon and Jill on new-vehicle base pr...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing  the outlook for the first auto shows of 2021, and Acura's redesigned-for-2022 MDX midsize SUV . Carl Lally, Senior Brand Manager for the Ram 1500 pickup lineup, joins us to talk about the wild new TRX high-performance model. Tom has a quiz for Damon and Jill on fake model names, and Damon runs down the late...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing  Hyundai's new Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) for battery electric vehicles. Patrick Olsen, Executive Editor at Carfax, joins us to talk about the ins and outs of Carfax Vehicle History Reports. Tom has a quiz for Damon and Jill on the entry-level engines in current vehicles, and Damon runs down th...

It's a special episode this week: the "sneak peek" announcement of our annual Consumer Guide Best Buy awards. Jill Ciminillo has the week off, as Tom and Damon run down the entire list of 2021 Best Buy award winners in each of our 21 vehicle categories. We discuss the winners in each category, from subcompact cars to premium large SUVs--and everything in between.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing  four just-unveiled new vehicles: the 2022 Honda Civic Prototype, 2022 Infiniti QX55, 2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392, and 2022 Subaru BRZ. Brian Bell, Marketing Manager for the Ford F-150, joins us to talk about the all-new 2021 F-150 . Tom has a quiz for Damon and Jill on important auto-industry dates, and...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing  the radically redesigned 2022 Hyundai Tucson compact SUV. Harvey Briggs, Editor and Publisher of Rides & Drives (ridesanddrives.com), joins us to talk about his brand-new book--Rolls-Royce Motor Cars: Making a Legend. Tom has a tricky quiz for Damon and Jill on vehicle-name spelling and punctuation, and Dam...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing  their test-drive experiences in the refreshed-for-2021 Lexus IS compact sport sedan, and Damon's recent appearance on the Cars Yeah podcast. Collectible Automobile magazine Editor-in-Chief John Biel joins us to chat about the great features in the December 2020 issue, including a profile on the novel 1941 S...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start the show by discussing Toyota's all-new, hybrid-only 2021 Sienna minivan, which is set to go on sale soon. Ed Kim, Vice President, Industry Analysis at AutoPacific, joins us for a talk about California's recently announced electric-vehicle mandate for 2035. Tom has a quiz on tires for Damon and Jill, and Damon runs down the latest art...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell kick off the show by discussing the recent unveiling of the genre-bending, new-for-2022 GMC Hummer EV truck. Joost De Vries, VP of Global Sales and Customer Experience for Karma Automotive, joins us for a talk about how the company started and where it hopes to go in the future. Tom has a surprisingly tricky "When was it introduced?" quiz f...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell kick off the show by discussing Volkswagen's recent unveiling of its new-for-2022 Taos compact crossover SUV. Ash Hack, Manager, Vehicle Marketing and Communications for Toyota Motor North America, joins us for a talk about the revived-for-2021 Toyota Venza midsize SUV. Tom has a Toyota-themed quiz for Damon and Jill, and Damon runs down th...

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start the show by talking about Jaguar's recent decision to discontinue its XE compact sedan and the station-wagon version of its XF midsize car, before moving on to Damon's press-preview test drive of the redesigned-for-2021 Nissan Rogue. Freelance auto writer Cherise Threewitt joins us for a fun chat about her informative article on LEGO'...