Car Stuff Podcast

The hosts opened the show by acknowledging the birthday of one of the program’s most-loyal fans, Tom’s mom. Tom briefly noted the new administration’s enactment of tariffs on both Canada and Mexico. Tom shared his concern that any long-term disruption of regular free trade between North American nations would critically wound the American auto industry.  Tom talked briefly about his time in the 20...

The hosts opened the show discussing an article recently posted by Tom called, The Cybertruck is a Flop . Though the article covers the failures of the Tesla pickup truck from a number of angles, Tom primarily discussed the slow-selling vehicle’s financial impact on Tesla’s future.  Still in the first segment, the hosts covered news of a potentially huge recall which would affect all of General Mo...

Tom opened the show by acknowledging Jill’s birthday. Per Jill, she is 39 years old. Again. Jill and Tom welcomed Jennifer Morand of the Chicago Auto Show for a preview of the event which opens February 8. Jennifer shared several highlights of this year’s show, including craft-beer night, the Family Zone, plus Ford, Jeep, and EV tracks, and a number of debut models, including a couple of all-new C...

Jill and Tom opened the show recapping the North American Car of the Year winning vehicles. Awards were presented in the car, utility, and truck categories. The conversation turned to a number of news stories, including Afeela’s decision to distribute vehicles in the U.S. outside the traditional dealership system. Afeela is a joint venture between Honda and Sony, which is schedule to begin selling...

For the first show of 2025, Jill and Tom opened the conversation discussing a few news item, including a New York City plan to curb midday traffic by instituting a “congestion fee” toll on drivers entering parts of Manhattan. The hosts also discussed Tesla 2024 global sales—which were down—and the demise of a diesel option in General Motor’s half-ton trucks and SUVs.  Still in the first segment, J...

Jill and Tom open the show discussing Tom's troubling Diet Pepsi habit, rolling into a discussion of EV startup companies that may or not be on the edge of collapse. Sadly, EV commercial-vehicle startup Canoo--which had been processing a large van order for Walmart--has slipped into receivership. Is Rivian next? Listen in.  Next Tom gripes about his Bluetooth issues, which seem to border on the pa...

Jill and Tom opened the show by addressing the bombshell announcement that Honda and Nissan are merging. The hosts share their thoughts on one of the largest corporate mergers in automotive history.  Also discussed was Ram’s decision to delay launching the all-electric Ram REV pickup, and push up introduction of the Ramcharger extended-range electric truck. The Ramcharger operates on electric powe...

Jill and Tom opened the show noting that legendary Car and Driver / Automobile Magazine writer Jean Jennings had died. Formerly Jean Lindamood, she had, per Tom, helped define the tone and personality of Car and Driver at a time when the magazine was most influential.  Tom went on to question the profile of a LinkedIn user who self describes as, “Gen Z Career Coach, Content Creator, and TikTok Con...

 Jill and Tom opened this week’s show hitting briefly on a number of topics, including melting EV charging adapters, Jaguar’s perplexing marketing reboot, the electric Dodge Charger Daytona, the high-mileage Ram 1500 HFE, and the consolidation of Infiniti and Nissan dealer stores.  Still in the first segment, Jill recapped her time in the all-new Volkswagen ID. Buzz electric minivan. Jill found mu...

Jill and Tom opened the show noting that Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares stepped down from his position over the weekend. The surprise move sent company stock down steeply early Monday. The hosts also discussed one of Tom’s X polls, this one ranking the most prestigious car brands. Listen in for details.  Still in the first segment, Jill shared her review of the 2025.5 (yes, 2025.5) Volvo XC90 midsi...

Jill and Tom opened the show discussing the L.A. Auto Show, which is currently open to the public. Jill, who attended the event, shared what she learned on the show floor.  The hosts went to discuss the interiors of select Stellantis vehicles. Tom decided—contrary to a suggestion of his from last week’s show—that Stellantis deserved to be considered among the carmakers producing the best-finished...

 In this special crossover episode of the Car Stuff Podcast, Tom rides along with Robert Colangelo of the Green Sense Show to experience Subaru's first all-electric vehicle, the Solterra small crossover.  Robert and Tom share their takes on the likable little EV, and take note of a few drawbacks in the process.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about ou...

Jill is back in studio this week. The hosts opened the show discussing Jill’s recent travels, and noting that she had driven the all-new Volkswagen ID. Buzz electric minivan to the studio. A full review of that vehicle is due in a week or two.  Tom shared an interesting experience. A fellow health-club member of Tom’s sought him out to share her terrible rental-car story. She had been upgraded to...

Paul Herrold of the Sons of Speed fills in for Jill this week. The hosts opened the show taking note of Cadillac’s decision to end production of the XT4 compact crossover. What is General Motors building in its Fairfax assembly facility instead? Listen in.  Paul and Tom turned their attention to Jeep's 2025 Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer price cuts. Both hosts agree that Jeep’s big SUVs, launched for...

Jill and Tom opened the show talking about EV range and Jill’s recent trip from Chicago to Indianapolis in an electric test car with only about 200 miles of promised range. Listen in on her story. The hosts acknowledged a couple of friends-of-the-podcast birthdays, and discussed how cheap gas has become locally and nationally.  Tom shared a tribute to his dad, who died about a week ago. It’s a fun...

 Jill and Tom opened this week’s show discussing the all-new 2025 Porsche Macan EV, an electric version of the maker’s popular Macan small crossover. The new electric Macan is offered in four trim levels and starts around $75,000.  Still in the first segment, the hosts discussed the media launch of Volkswagen’s all-new electric-truck brand Scout. VW will launch the brand with a pair of EVs, includ...

Jill is back in the studio this week, and opened the show by recapping her Rebelle Rally exploits. Visit the Car Stuff Podcast Facebook page for a link to pics from her trip.  Tom shared august electric vehicle sales as reported by S & P Global Mobility. While Tesla still dominates the list, a few new vehicles are doing better than expected.  Jill and Tom discussed the coming Ferrari F80 hyper car...

Paul Herrold of the Sons of Speed sits in for Jill again this week. Jill returns for the next episode. Paul and Tom opened the show discussing large pickup-truck sales. Tom had heard that the Chevrolet Silverado was outselling the Ford F-150 this year, which was inaccurate. Tom went down the list of the top pickup sellers in the third quarter.  The hosts also noted General Motors’ decision to drop...

Paul Herrold of the Sons of Speed sits in for Jill this Week. Paul and Tom opened a topic-packed first segment discussing the coming off-road ready Ford Explorer Tremor. That conversation was followed up by news that Kia vehicles were recently compromised by a group of white-hat hackers, using the maker’s app. More on this story as news is released.  Still in the first segment, Paul recounted the...

Jill and Tom opened the show quickly covering a number of topics, including the death of legendary Mercedes-Benz designer Bruno Sacco, the folding of General Motors’ electric commercial-van unit into Chevrolet, and Tom’s weekend long-trip drive in the electric Subaru Solterra small crossover.  Still in the first segment, Jill shared her take on the redesigned-for-2025 Buick Enclave large, 3-row cr...

Jill and Tom opened the show noting that elements of the media have been misusing the term “mild hybrid.” Listen in for details. The hosts ran down a questionable list of the “most-patriotic brands,” which included Ford and Jeep. What other carmakers made the list? Listen in.  Still in the first segment, Jill and Tom reviewed the new, likable, Fiat 500e electric coupe. Fiat’s new subcompact electr...

Jill and Tom opened the show addressing a couple of future topics: Federal incentives for used electric vehicles, and the number of Chinese-built models sold in Mexico by Chevrolet. Next, Tom apologized to Sam Fiorani for making yet another model-year mistake. Tom also shared his preliminary take on the updated-for-2025 Ford Explorer midsize crossover.  Still in the first segment, Jill shared news...

Sitting in for Jill this week is Tom’s friend, engineer and car guy David Piluski. Dave and Tom opened the show addressing a mistake Tom made—called out by Tom’s mother—last week. Tom misidentified the longtime singer of the classic “See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet” ad/song as Doris Day, though as noted by his mom, the song was sung by Dinah Shore. Listen in to hear a clip of the song.  Dave and...

Jill and Tom are Joined in-studio by Brendan Appel this week. In the first segment Jill and Brendan respond to Tom’s impressions of the updated Genesis GV80 midsize crossover. The trio also discussed the pending engine-replacement recall facing owners of all 2022 and 2023 Toyota Tundras. The recall is reportedly going to require up to 24 hours of labor per vehicle.  Still in the first segment, Jil...

Jill and Tom opened the show covering a couple of news stories, including how Mazda used substantial incentives to boost recent U.S.-market sales performance, and a how Volvo is extending its embargo of drive impressions of the 2025 EX90 electric midsize crossover, pushing back Jill’s official review.  Still in the first segment Jill shared her impressions of the GMC Cayon midsize pickup truck in...