Better Than New

How My Dumb Mistakes And Failures Can Save You Money, Time And Headaches On Your Next Automotive DIY Project 00:00 - OPEN In my experience, the best way to learn what to do (and what not to do) on any DIY project is to get advice from those who have actually done it before, and today you’re going to hear about a major DIY project I did on my 2008 Audi that dragged on for more than 5-months because...

00:00 - OPEN: Preview of Cars, Trucks and SUVs We Will Cover in 2024 In today’s episode, we’re looking toward the future and revealing some of the cars, trucks, SUVS, cross-over’s, sports cars, sedans, hatchbacks and more that you can expect to hear about on the Better Than New podcast in 2024.  01:00 - INTRO Last year, I did a similar show talking about what you could expect in 2023 and whil...

00:00 - Counting Down The Top 10 Better Than New Episodes From 2023 01:50 - INTRO - Happy New Year and welcome to Better than New - the podcast that helps you find a cool used car, truck or SUV. This episode is all about the top ten episodes, based on downloads, from the previous year. Past episodes of this podcast are evergreen because the cars won't change - only the prices and even through ther...

00:00 - OPEN - Electric Vehicles Are Less Reliable Than Gas Cars According To Consumer Reports Latest Member Survey Which do you think is more reliable?  An EV or a Conventional gas-powered car?  Well in moment I’ll tell you about some surprising, and maybe not so surprising reliability results for Electric Vehicles from Consumer Reports. 00:50 - INTRO - Are EVs Really Less Reliable? Eac...

00:00 - Show Open - Do Tires Have An Expiration Date? So how long do tires last, even if they still look new and have a lot of tread left?  Well that’s a great question and one we’re going to explore in today’s episode.   00:50 - INTRO Imagine a scenario where you buy a set of tires for your car, fully intending to use them, but life happens. There's a pandemic, you end up work...

00:00 - We Review The Automotive Things we Are Thankful For This Thanksgiving Day. Be Well, Drive Safe And Enjoy The Holiday Season!

00:00 - OPEN - Why Your Next Used Car Should Be a Cockroach: AKA - A Survivor If you are looking for a bargain-priced used vehicle, stick around because in today’s episode I’ll tell you why you need to consider buying a cockroach for your next used car or truck.  01:00 - INTRO - Cockroaches - Are They Cool or Gross? My first experience with Madagascar cockroaches in a college biology class wa...

00:00 - OPEN It may not seem like you can reduce the cost of buying a new or used car or truck, but there are legitimate things that you can do about the high cost of purchasing vehicle.  You may not like some of these solutions, but you do have more control than you think, so let's dig into that 00:45 - Intro - Cars And Trucks Are Expensive - Here's What You Can Do About It When it comes to...

00:00 - A Compact SUV That Is Versatile, Affordable and Surprisingly Fast With Its V6 Engine Sold in the US from model years 2006-2012, the third generation Toyota RAV4 was a compact SUV that offered buyers a wide range of features, drive modes and engine options to suit almost any buyer 01:00 - INTRO - The Third Generation Toyota RAV4 - What It Is It’s the go-to recommended compact SUV option fro...

00:00 - The Top Five Most Popular Better Than New Episodes In this episode I take a look back at the top five more popular episodes on Better Than New based on downloads. These five episodes are just a small fraction of the over sixty episodes posted so far and all the content is evergreen, meaning it's relevant now and a year or two from now since the used cars we cover won't change, other than p...

00:00 - Why Do People Hate On Their Cars? On a recent road trip to Oregon, I saw enough vehicle damage from unforced driving and parking errors to make me want to cry. But rather than shed a tear, I decided to morph my pain into an episode. 00:50 - OPEN We have two cars, a 30-year old Miata and a 15-year old Audi, but we have kept their exteriors in good condition, simply by being careful when we...

00:00 - To EV or To Not EV... That Is The Question So is it the right time for you to buy a new or used EV or are the prices still too high? We explore that question in this episode. 00:55 - Used and New EV Prices Have Dropped, But They Are Still Expensive The average price of a new EV has dropped 20% from June 2022 to June 2023, but new US electric vehicles are on average about $5000 more than in...

00:00 - OPEN - The 2002-2003 Mazda Protege5 Today’s show is about a used car that would be perfect as a first car for a new driver, or would make an ideal second or third car for your family to run errands or take you, a friend and a full load of gear on a weekend adventure.  I like to think of it as the classic Swiss Army Knife of personal vehicles, but it’s so much more than that.  &nb...

00:00 - OPEN: The 1992-2000 Lexus SC400 Coupe - The Ultimate Escape Pod In this episode, you'll hear about an early 90’s car that I like to think of as the ultimate escape pod.  It was a sport coupe from an emerging Japanese luxury brand that featured silky smooth V8 power and a uniquely designed exterior that set the bar so high, that car magazine editors fell in love with it, along with the...

00:00 - OPEN: Serendipity And Craiglist Can Help You Find A Perfect Used Car - Part II It’s time to take another look at some of the fun, interesting used vehicles you can find when you let Serendipity and a quick local Craigslist search be your guide.  00:55 - INTRO - Serendipity Search Explained This Serendipity search idea is really simple, and it goes like this.  Open up your local C...

00:00 - OPEN - Murphy’s Law Can Turn Routine DIY Car Maintenance Into Chaos Doing your own car maintenance can save you time and money and it helps you learn about your car. However, you have to plan your repairs wisely or Murphy's Law may stop by to derail your next DIY project. 01:20 - INTRO - How Long Will It Take To Catch A Fish? With used cars, no matter how much you plan, no matter how much...

00:00 - OPEN Today is the fourth and final episode of our month-long "Little Weirdo’s" 4x4 Edition podcast special featuring four small, fun-to-drive and affordable used 4x4s from the 80s and 90s.  01:45 - INTRO - 1987-1989 Dodge Raider Today’s small, affordable 4x4 SUV is the Dodge Raider, which was sold in the US from model years 1987 to 1989.  03:30 - By The Numbers The Dodge Raider o...

00:00 - OPEN - Little Weirdos 4x4 Edition Special - PART 3 Today is the third episode of our month-long Little Weirdo’s 4x4 Edition podcast special here on Better Than New - featuring four small, fun-to-drive and affordable used 4x4 SUVs from the 80s and 90s. 01:10 - INTRO - 1986-1995 Suzuki Samurai 4x4 This week’s “Little Weirdo” small 4x4 is the Suzuki Samurai, which was introduced to America in...

00:00 - SHOW OPEN - 1990-1992 Daihatsu Rocky Today is the second episode of our Little Weirdo’s 4x4 Edition month-long special featuring four small, fun-to-drive and affordable used 4x4 SUVs from the 80s and 90s, and today's small SUV is the Daihatsu Rocky, sold in the US from model years 1990-1992 01:25 - INTRO - The Rocky The Daihatsu Rocky was an outstanding example of the small 4x4’s sold in t...

00:00 - Show open - Little Weirdos 4x4 Edition Series Today is the first episode of our Little Weirdo’s 4x4 Edition month-long special reviewing small, affordable used 4x4 SUVs from the 80s and 90s. over the next four weeks, I will review four different mini SUVs, including the Daihatsu Rocky, the Suzuki Samurai, the Dodge Raider and the subject of today's episode, the Geo Tracker, which was also...

00:00 - Paintless Dent Repair (PDR) Saves Money & Time on Dent Repairs vs. Traditional Body and Paint Repair Shops When it comes to fixing dents and dings on your car, if you haven't tried PDR or Paintless Dent Repair, you should because it can save you money and time compared to traditional body and paint shops. 01:10 - Introduction - Guest Ryan Snider, Paintless Dent Repair Specialist Ryan i...

00:00 - SHOW OPEN (Show Notes Pending)

00:00 - SHOW OPEN 00:40 - INTRO - BMW 323Ci - An Affordable E46 3-Series Coupe The motivation for this episode (other than the fact that the E46 BMW 3-series is a great car) was a 2000 BMW 323Ci with the sport package and a 5-speed manual that I found on my local Craigslist. This is definitely a fun-to-drive, but under-appreciated version of that era's 3-series BMW. That's because many enthusiasts...

00:00 - OPEN - Rev-up You Car Maintenance Game to Save Money and Increase Value New and used cars are more expensive than ever, so if you don’t want to spend a lot to replace your current vehicle, the strategies and tips in this episode will help you keep it in good running condition longer and looking its best. 00:50 - INTRO - Keep Your Current Used Car in Top Shape so It's Worth More When You Ev...

00:00 - OPEN - The Last Non-Turbo Inline 6-Cylinder Coupe from BMW Today’s car definitely falls into the category of “fantastic driving machine” and it’s one I highly recommend.   It’s a 2-door coupe with a hydraulic steering rack that provides excellent feedback through the steering wheel, an outstanding suspension for those who love balanced handling, and it has the last normally aspir...