Car Stuff Podcast

Paul Herrold of the Sons of Speed sits in for Jill this week, as she participates in the Trinitē Road Rally . Follow the link here for details. The hosts open the show with a number of topics, including blue-dyed diesel fuel, and Tom's one-mile test drive of the Mitsubishi Outlander SEL. Paul and Tom go on to discuss Stellantis's "Four Core Brand" strategy, which prioritizes a few of the...

Car guy Dave Piluski of RTM Engineering Consultants sits in for Jill this week. Tom opened the show by complaining about contemporary country music, especially someone named Luke Combs. This because Tom did not have time to Bluetooth connect with his new test car prior to recording. Dave and Tom discuss two major news items: Ford's constricted F-150 pickup supply, and Nissan's newly revealed turna...

The hosts open the show by discussing Tom's new refrigerator, and his inability to keep Subaru's suite of new electric vehicles straight. Jill agrees to help him remember the names of the Subaru EVs. Jill and Tom go on to cover a number of news items, including the discontinuation of the Volkswagen ID.4 electric crossover, Chinese vehicles being built in Austria, and Kia's plan to build a midsize...

Tom opens the show with news regarding Stellantis' joint venture with China's Leapmotor. Stellantis currently distributes Chinese Leapmotor-built electric vehicles in Europe, and may be looking to build Leapmotor models in its idle Brampton, Ontario factory. Listen in for more details. Jill gives a quick rundown of the new-product reveals seen at this week's New York Auto Show. A number of notewor...

The hosts open the show noting that the power-seat recall affecting the Hyundai Palisade has expanded to include the mechanically similar Kia Telluride. Listen in for details. As predicted in a previous episode, Tom shares news of the dissolution of the Afeela electric-vehicle brand. Afeela was a Honda/Sony joint venture nearing production of a premium midsize sedan built in the U.S. Tom also disc...

Jill opens this week's show with a correction. Listen in for her begrudging mea culpa. The hosts go on to discuss briefly Tom's time in the Toyota Corolla Hybrid SE AWD . Toms's review of the car is live now on ConsumerGuide.com. Tom shares a few details of the coming redesigned Lexus ES midsize sedan. New for 2026 is an EV variant of the popular model, while other examples of the ES will be hybri...

Jill and Tom open the show again sharing word of electric-vehicle cancellations. This time EVs from Honda and Volvo are being dropped. Tom discusses a new Texas DMV law which makes it difficult for undocumented shoppers to register a new or used vehicle. Though the regulations are relatively new, some area dealers are reporting small but measurable downturns in sales. Tom notes having recently rev...

Jill and Tom open the show discussing the sudden resignation of Chrysler CEO Chris Feuell . Tom thinks Feuell's departure prefaces the end of the Chrysler brand. Jill is not so sure. Listen in for details. The hosts go on to share news of two car models that will disappear after the 2026 model year. One is no surprise, the other a little bit sad. Still in the first segment, Jill and Tom review the...

Jill is back in the co-host seat this week, having spent some time in Canada intentionally driving Volvo vehicles in snow and on ice. Tom opens the show with a mea culpa. Listen in to see what he got wrong last week. The hosts discuss a number of news items, including some reported delays in the delivery of Tesla's newly discounted Cybertruck , Lamborghini backing away from electric vehicles, and...

Brendan Appel of the Sons of Speed sits in for Jill this week. Brendan and Tom open the show talking about the changing character of car engines, and how small turbocharged examples lack the character—especially exhaust note—of older, larger engines. Tom shares news regarding deep price cuts on the Tesla Cybertruck . Per Elon Musk, the new, cheaper Tesla pickup may not be available for long, so in...

No donuts today as Jill isn't feeling well (listen to her voice) and Tom says he's on a diet. The hosts open the show by discussing big Toyota news: The Highlander is going EV only for 2027. Listen in for Jill and Tom's take on this announcement. Also discussed is Jeep's new lower-cost V8 Wrangler model. Next, Tom shares a brief take on the very-affordable Chevrolet Trax in topline Activ trim. Sho...

Jim Obrill of the Chicago Auto Show drops by for a quick update on the show. The show includes a number of surprise displays including the $400,000 Cadillac Celestiq electric sedan. Tom owns up to an error in last week's show, listen in to find out what he got wrong. Jill and Tom continue to share several news items, including the return of the rugged Nissan Xterra SUV. Still in the first segment,...

Jill and Tom sift through an enormous amount of news this week, including the announced deaths of four car models, including two from Tesla. Other news items covered include a name for Ford’s new electric small truck, BMW’s new electric-car architecture, and the unexpected comeback of the minivan. Still in the first segment, Jill reviews the 2026 Mitsubishi Outlander small crossover. Listen in for...

Jill and Tom open the show acknowledging a few foreign cities in which there are Car Stuff Podcast listeners. Listen in for the list. Stories this week include news that Mercedes-Benz is dropping its Drive Pilot semi-autonomous driving system in the U.S., and Buick is moving production of the U.S.-market Envision small crossover out of China. Tom also shares the results of his very unscientific “M...

Jill and Tom open a topic-packed show acknowledging the winners of the 2026 North American Car of the Year voting. Listen in for complete list. Moving on, Tom noted that General Motors CEO Mary Barra said publicly something he had long feared regarding plug-in hybrids. Barra suggests the news will impact future product development. Subsequent to last week’s Zeekr conversation, Tom shared some inte...

Jill is back in the co-host seat this week for a topic-packed episode. Tom opens the show asking if $61,000 seems like a lot for a Hyundai—any Hyundai. The hosts discuss the Korean maker’s luxury/value equation, and note that Tom’s test car, a 2026 Palisade Calligraphy Hybrid is, without question, a luxury vehicle. Listen in for more of the conversation. Tom goes on to share his frustration with S...

For the first show of 2026, Paul Herrold of the Sons of Speed sits in for Jill who is traveling. Paul and Tom address a number of topics to open the show, including annoying helper AI bots on dealership websites, the death of the Karma Revero (once known as the Fisker Karma), and the return of the Hemi engine to the Ram 1500 lineup. Still in the first segment, Tom reviews the 2026 Nissan Kicks. To...

Jill and Tom open the last show of 2025 by discussing how Christmas gift expectation change with age. Tom, for example, noted how happy he was to receive a Brita water filter. The hosts went on to process the biggest auto-related stories of 2025, including tariffs, tax credits, Ford recalls, and the return of the Hemi V8 engine. In the second segment, Jill and Tom welcome Sam Fiorani, AutoForecast...

Jill and Tom open the show addressing two high-profile electric vehicle cancellations announced this past week. First the hosts discuss the end of production for the Ford F-150 Lighting, which came as something of a surprise to both Jill and Tom.  Also covered is news that Volkswagen will not be importing a 2026 edition of the spunky ID. Buzz electric minivan. Will the ID. Buzz be back for 2027? J...

Jill and Tom open this week’s show acknowledging that Vietnamese EV startup VinFast is likely to cease U.S. operations in the very near future. The hosts also note that another EV startup, Bollinger Motors, has called it quits.  Tom discusses his time in the Jeep Wrangler, this example powered by the available 2.0-liter turbocharged engine, instead of the popular 3.6-liter V6. Tom prefers the smal...

Jill and Tom open the show by discussing the recently rolled-back federal fuel-economy standards, and the implication for carmakers in the near term.  Tom then shares—to his great amusement--the long, complicated, and multinational route by which the Polestar 4 crossover arrives in the United States. Hint: Five countries are involved. The hosts also discuss massive Polestar discounts currently bei...

Jill and Tom open the show acknowledging a listener’s concerns regarding recent donut selections by Tom. This involves an apology to Producer Randy. (See the Car Stuff Podcast Facebook page for pictures of recent donut selections.) Tom discusses some issues he had driving the excellent 2026 Nissan Leaf EV crossover. Tom’s issues include getting snowed in, and understanding the available charging o...

Jill and Tom open the show accepting the challenge of a listener. Tom was tasked to purchase more exciting donuts than the usual collection of double chocolates and powdered cinnamons. Listen in for this week’s expanded options list.  Tom shares some interesting Jeep news. The updated 2026 Grand Cherokee will be optionally powered by Stellantis’ new Hurricane 4-cylinder engine. Though based on the...

Tom opens the show by recapping briefly his time in the Lucid Air Touring electric luxury sedan. Tom is impressed by the Lucid, but does have one (big) complaint. The hosts go on to discuss rumors that Tesla will be ADDING the Apple CarPlay feature to some or all of its models in the near future.  A huge new Honda recall will affect the owners of certain late-model Civics. Listen in for details. ...

To celebrate the 300th episode of the Car Stuff Podcast, Jill and Tom are joined by Jennifer Newman and Damon Bell of Cars.com. Jennifer was the podcast’s first guest, and Damon was co-host for the first three years of the show.  Jennifer and Damon share the Cars.com picks for the best vehicles under $30,000. That conversation dovetailed nicely with Jennifer’s research into new-vehicle affordabili...