The cartalk.com TIME KILL WEEKLY Special "What's Burning?" Edition ______________________________________________ Killing Time, Unencumbered by the Work Process ______________________________________________ Maury Maille, Editor
What's new at Car Talk Plaza? The pungent odor of burning clutches, that's what. In our newspaper column this week, we got a letter from Marj who-- get this-- smoked the clutch on her brand-new, 2004 five-speed turbo VW Bug in a mere *68* miles. Well, Marj didn't do it all by herself-- her daughter did the heavy lifting, learning to drive stick on Mom's new Bug. That prompted more than a few clutch-conflagration memories from Tom and Ray. You can read the column at http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns/latest.html All of which prompted us to wonder... has anyone toasted a clutch in *less* than 68 miles?! Is it even be possible? If you have-- or if you know someone who has-- we'd love to hear your story! (Don't worry. We're not taking names. Your secret's safe with us and our four million listeners.) You can post your tale of woe on our Web site at a special area we've set up by clicking on "How Fast Can You Burn Up A Clutch" at http://www.cartalk.com Meanwhile, our staff attorney, Hugh Louis Dewey, has just handed us something very interesting: documents showing that Ford Motor Company ignored its own engineers and avoided a recall on substandard door latches. And, although we don't have any hard evidence, we've suspected this was the case all along. That's just our opinion, of course, and we're sure Ford's attorneys have a different view of the matter. The whole story is rather interesting-- and it's no small matter, involving up to 4.1 million vehicles. You can read all about it on the left rail of http://www.cartalk.com There is some good auto news, however. There's a great new trend of which we wholeheartedly approve: car sharing. It's coming to cities all around the country, and we think it's an excellent way to save boat payments, reduce headaches and generally use cars more efficiently. Is car sharing right for you? Check out the car-sharing story in the middle of the page, at http://www.cartalk.com Got to run to the bathroom window. Ford's attorney is knocking on the front door. Maury Maille Chief Clutch Burner Car Talk Plaza P.S. Here's this week's Lame Joke Of The Week, courtesy of John Hogan: A man was driving through Maine one spring evening, the road was deserted and he had not seen a soul for what seemed like hours. Suddenly his car started to cough and splutter and the engine slowly died away leaving him sitting by the road in total silence. He popped the hood and went to see if there was anything (with his limited knowledge of cars) that he could do to get it going again. As he peered by the gradually fading light of his torch, he cursed that he had not put in new batteries, like he had promised. Suddenly, through the inky shadows, came a deep voice, "It's your fuel pump." The man jumped up quickly striking his head on the underside of the hood. "Who said that?" he demanded. There were two horses standing in the field alongside and the man was amazed when the nearest of the two horses repeated, "It's your fuel pump, hit it with the torch and try again." Confused, the man hit the fuel pump with his torch, turned the key and the engine roared into life. He muttered a short thanks to the horse and screeched away When he reached the next town, he ran into the local bar. "Large whiskey, please!" he said. A farmer sitting at the bar looked at the man's ashen face and asked, "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost!" "It's unbelievable," the man said and recalled the whole tale to the farmer. The farmer took a sip of his beer and looked thoughtful. "A horse you say, was it by any chance a white horse?" The man replied to the affirmative. "You are very lucky," said the farmer "because the black horse knows nothing about cars." ******************* Doing some car research? Via our lousy, little homepage you can... *Check important safety recalls *See what your car is worth right now *Check rebates and incentives on new cars *Search your town for new or used cars for sale *Place an ad to sell your car that'll actually be seen by people in your area *Research and compare new vehicles *Get the latest car news *Kill time until 5:00 pm rolls around and you can pack it in *It's all at http://www.cartalk.com ******************** Got more time to kill? This past weekend's new, lousy Car Talk show is now on the Web site, at http://www.cartalk.com/Radio/Show/ ******************** Miss the puzzler? Losing sleep over it? Add your e-mail to our Car Talk Puzzler Psychic Friends Network and we'll personally hand deliver Ray's new puzzler to your inbox every Monday. http://www.cartalk.com/ct/maillist.jsp?puzzler_list=subscribe#psychic ******************* Embarrassed by having e-mails from Car Talk in your inbox? Can't say that we blame you. Unsubscribe any time, via http://www.cartalk.com/ct/maillist.jsp?mailing_list=subscribe
