Flash Your Headlights If You Just Podcasted About a New Car

Those of you who are avid listeners to our podcast know that David is perpetually car shopping. But after this week, he'll be taking a break for at least a few weeks after trading in the big Benz for a VW GTI.

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More images of the new ride to come.

It may not have been a graduation gift, but many parents and grads are out car shopping right now and Joe White offers some ideas that are more interesting than a Toyota Camry.

The Facebook IPO didn't make as many millionaires as folks thought, but there are apparently enough wealthy car collectors that the high-end classic car market remains strong.

The rest of us working stiffs are at least getting to work faster thanks to the weak economy, which may have helped clear the roads of enough cars to make traffic less of an issue in most cities last year.

GM is hoping to save money next year by skipping the Super Bowl. We think it's a penny wise and pound foolish plan.

Finally, we enjoy the right of free speech, especially with this podcast, and now so do Florida drivers. A judge ruled that flashing your brights to alert other drivers is protected under the Constitution.

You Can't Sue Us If You Don't Like This Podcast About Cars

GM is hoping that you don't sue them, especially for anything that might be wrong with the cars that it made before it went through bankruptcy.

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Hyundai might get sued for this questionable unintended acceleration (check out the video below), but we agree there is something fishy going on.

Putting premium fuel instead of regular might save you some money in the short term, but the long-term effects on your engine remain unclear.

On a scary note, a fake police officer is terrorizing drivers in Mississippi and another is scaring police officers in Florida.

In Atlanta, efforts to add more lanes have created confusion and led police to arrest a former NFL player.

GM has decided it doesn't like Facebook anymore, at least for advertising -- and Ford is mocking its cross-town rival.

Finally, one man has taken a dead and crushed Ferrari and turned it into a coffin-like coffee table.
It made us wonder what kind of car you'd like to be buried in.

A Podcast Full of Oddball Rides and Rich, Corinthian Leather

Things continue to look rich for the auto industry, with new estimates putting overall car sales up near $14.3 million, capping 3 years more than 10% growth.

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Who's buying all those new cars? Baby boomers, who mostly likely still have a little equity in their homes.

Along with the millions of new cars being sold are millions of terrifyingly dangerous drivers. And a new study says that the number of auto-related deaths around the world has reached epidemic proportions.

Someone is always to blame, and in one case, lawyers are going after the woman who sent a driver a text that distracted him.

Mathew is driven to distraction by the transformers and this amazing model is on his wish list.

This crazy Nissan Juke is not likely to be on many wealthy folks lists, but at least a few people will want a monster mini-crossover.

Finally, we spend some time reminiscing and wishing we had the means and the creativity to rent an oddball vehicle for our proms. What would you take to your prom. Tweet us at @GTSOTR and #sweetpromrides.

Here is what David wishes he could have driven in:

We Hope This Podcast Has Better Brand Perception Than Saab

Sales are down but profits are up for car makers and car dealers. We discuss why that could be happening because it doesn't make much sense.

Dealers are so desperate for low mileage cars that some are offering drivers who come in for service a deal for their ride. But Mathew thinks that is just crass.

Do you care what kind of car your going to buy next? Well, more people don't see much difference between the big brands, according to a new study by Consumer Reports.

Does Kansas hate electric cars. No, but they are unhappy they can't collect gas taxes for them and may find a way to change that.

Cellcontrol offers an even more powerful way to prevent drivers -- probably young ones -- from using their phone to talk to text while driving. But it's still limited.

We have a deep discussion of the recent Supreme Court ruling around the use of GPS devices by the police to track people. Unfortunately, the media botched their reporting and the ruling actually meant something else. Read more about it on the Scotus Blog. 

VW gets us excited for the Super Bowl ads

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Balancing This Podcast on One Wheel

It's election time, and voters in several cities expressed their displeasure with red-light cameras, voting to either stop using them or prevent their installation.

Ryno is one-wheel of weird.

At the same time, the Supreme Court is debating the legality of placing GPS tracking devices on vehicles. Is it Big Brother or just normal observation using new data gathering devices?

Toyota still can't catch a break, and is now having to recall almost 500,000 vehicles.

There is always some pain in being an early adopter. Portland, Oregon, has learned that with it's electric car and charging efforts.

Now electric cars are efficient and so are motorcycles, but they aren't as clean as you might think, MythBusters found out.

Cadillac is rolling out a new infotainment system, and we think it's awesome.

Finally, we like everything with wheels, even if it's only one. The Ryno is like a combination of a motorcycle and a Segway.

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Podcasting Your Every Move

GM has annoyed drivers by changing their policy about tracking vehicles using it's OnStar technology. The auto maker also plans to sell the data, which is anonymous.

September is the height of the end-of-year car sales, and TrueCar has come out with its list of the best deals and the best day to buy.

Suzuki and Volkswagen have been linked together for the last couple of years, but the tie-up has gone sour and now Japan's Suzuki wants out. But VW won't sell.

It will cost you.

Car sales in the U.S. have been hampered by the effects of the earthquake in Japan which damaged factories. Well, car sales in Japan are now taking off -- particularly for used cars -- as drivers replace damaged vehicles.

Why do we have carpets in cars? We have a feisty debate, sparked by the fact that some car carpet factories in the U.S. were damaged by floods and it might affect auto production.

Subaru has an interesting new model coming for the Los Angeles show and revealed a transparent version that shows everything but nothing about the sporty car.

Massachusetts's Supreme Court ruled this week that drivers who fight a ticket and win can still be charged court fees, which are often almost as much as the original ticket.

Finally, did you see Drive yet? Any good? Let us know.

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This Automotive Podcast Would Be Cheap to Fix

Auto sales are rebounding in June as economic concerns eased and the tight supply caused by the earthquake in Japan. The Korean car makers look to gain, along with Ford, GM and a rejuvenated Chrysler. Those U.S.-based, but not entirely American, auto makers could grab more than 50% of the U.S. market.

Are flats going away?

We have debated whether driving is a right, and now another group of Saudi Arabian women have been arrested for taking to the streets: behind the wheel of a car.

A allegedly nefarious character is taking issue -- legally -- with law-enforcement efforts to track his driving by placing a GPS device on his vehicle. Is that right?

Car repairs are even more expensive in hot and dry climates like California and Arizona. David shares a costly experience that came out of an oil change.

One thing that could be a cost savings, but perhaps a greater risk, for cars not to have spare tire. But that is an increasing trend with new vehicles for some very good reasons.

Tires are getting really expensive due to higher costs, reduced capacity and a diversity of demands from auto makers.

Finally, Google won big in Nevada by getting approval for it's driverless cars.

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Everything Fits Better in a Hatchback, Especially This Podcast

Baby come back. Hatchback that is. According to Ford, 60% of the first Fiesta buyers are choosing hatchbacks. While the small-car segment has always been a haven for three- and five-door designs, it's surprising to see such a strong preference for hatchbacks, particularly with a vehicle Joe White says represents the future of the American car.

Ford is benefiting from the strong buzz and sales of its new designs and says it expects a strong profit this year.

In France, small cars rule the roads, but at the Paris Auto Show this week there will be some dramatic and large models getting shown off. Among them a redesigned Bentley, VW's revamped Passat and a radical Lamborghini concept.

Peugeot-HR1 from the Paris Auto Show

NHTSA and Ray LaHood claimed this week that 72,000 lives over the last years. A huge number. Some of that might be attributed to safety features trickling down from the luxury segment to more pedestrian vehicles like Chevrolet's.

Speaking of pedestrians, Volvo had a little oops when showing off its new pedestrian-avoidance system. Just be thankful your not Bob the dummy.

Another dummy? A Maryland judge corrected a ruling that the stock taillights on a Pontiac G8 were illegal.

And finally, like this blog, want be a car blogger too? Enter Jalopnik's latest competition to be a blogger for them.

GetThisShowOnTheRoad Sept 30, 2010.mp3