
America's funniest auto mechanics take calls from weary car owners all over the country, and crack wise while they diagnose Dodges and dismiss Diahatsus. You don't have to know anything about cars to love this one hour weekly laugh fest. Support public media by joining NPR+ at plus.npr.org. You’ll get perks for over 25 NPR podcasts, and Car Talk's perks include full archive access, new(!) call-in ... more
| Publishes | Twice weekly | Episodes | 764 | Founded | 20 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Categories | ComedyAutomotiveLeisure | |||

Lee loves his Chevy Cavalier, and while there’s no accounting for taste in automobiles, Lee is undeniably one of the best car noise mimics we’ve come across. Check out his rendition of a malfunctioning V6 engine on this episode of the Best of Car Tal... more
A few years back Berle had just successfully won her hubby’s prized ’79 Mercedes in a divorce settlement and she wanted to know if she should restore it. With their vast experience with angry ex-wives, Click and Clack counseled Berle to never restore... more
Kelly from Phoenix has a peculiar palate. And as part of her investigation into some goo that was dripping onto her foot from under her car’s dashboard, she decided that she should taste said goo. The pros and cons of imbibing petrochemicals on this ... more
On this episode of the Best of Car Talk we ponder whether your favorite cola is also a suitable corrosion cutter, what to do when Fido is afire and what to make of the USPS selling 3 year old minivans for peanuts.
Support public media with NPR+ and e... more
People also subscribe to these shows.




So I paid to get Car Talk podcasts and suddenly they are no longer available. Not GOOD NPR. Stopping any support because of this issue.
I paid fot a year subscription of npr podcast + to listen to npr cartalk that was behind pay wall, it worked for a couple months. Then I was getting blocked with needing to subscribe again popup. There is no tech support to speak of or how to contact anyone on website about this issue.I never realized all these years supporting public radio, when I needed help its non existent. So I dont recommend subscription. There is plenty of free more current youtube content and web alternatives now with vi... more
I love this show!! Why did Apple send me an email that you are discontinuing it as a subscription?
Cannot say enough how much of a joy this show is - decades long fan along with my family! Just don’t tell me a 21 year old Land Rover is a bad investment. Ugh…
I happily subscribed to CarTalk+ for a long time and love this show. Today, I was not able to access the CarTalk episodes that I subscribed to because NPR now requires an NPR+ subscription even though my CarTalk+ subscription is still active. Very disappointing.
Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.
How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.
Apple Podcasts | #55 | |
Apple Podcasts | #221 | |
Apple Podcasts | #227 | |
Apple Podcasts | #42 | |
Apple Podcasts | #53 | |
Apple Podcasts | #83 |
Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.
Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.
| Listeners per Episode | |
|---|---|
| Gender Skew | |
| Location | |
| Interests | |
| Professions | |
| Age Range | |
| Household Income | |
| Social Media Reach |
Humor-infused call-in automotive Q&A with practical diagnostics, wordplay puzzles, and light-hearted banter. Episodes blend hands-on car repair tips with puzzler segments (often featuring a guest like a famous puzzle editor), witty stories, and sponsor reads, delivering accessible, family-friendly entertainment that also informs on common automotive issues. Notable is the enduring format: approachable hosts, real-world vehicle problems, and a playful NPR identity that keeps conversations light yet useful for everyday drivers and DIY enthusiasts.
Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for The Best of Car Talk. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to The Best of Car Talk and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.
Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for four million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for The Best of Car Talk, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.
Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for The Best of Car Talk, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.
To see how many followers or subscribers The Best of Car Talk has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.
These podcasts share a similar audience with The Best of Car Talk:
1. Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
2. Under The Hood show
3. Science Friday
4. A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all over
5. Radiolab
The Best of Car Talk launched 20 years ago and published 764 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.
Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for The Best of Car Talk from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.
View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.
Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of The Best of Car Talk. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.
Recent guests on The Best of Car Talk include:
1. Jim Davis
2. Jack Williams
3. Dr. Ralph Armstrong
4. Frederick (Rick)
5. Will Shortz
6. Martha Stewart
7. Mark Osmers
8. Rush Hamilton
To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.