We're Not Distracted Enough to Stop Podcasting About Driving

Car sales are rebounding this year, and that might be because there are more dealers. After a long slide, the number of dealers in the U.S. increased in 2011.

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Why would you skip this moment?

That might be a short trend because more buyers are skipping the test drive when buying a car.

BMW tweaked its sales in July using a questionable demo sales plan.

Other luxury cars didn't do well in a new IIHS crash test called the small overlap test.

Perhaps the new Porsche Panamera wagon will be designed to do better in the test, and look better.

One young man's horrible texting accident has turned him around. On the same topic, AT&T is launching an big campaign to fight teen texting and driving.

Finally, the smart folks a Rutgers University have come up with a way to determine where the phone is in the car to activate the distracted-driving prevention features.

Keep This Automotive Podcast in Your Portfolio

While we're a few days late in talking about May car sales, we dig deeper into the best- and worst-selling models for last month. The top selling vehicle is always the Ford F-150, which is getting a refresh and going even further upmarket.

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GM was once a top-seller, but not know for quality. That is changing as they change the corporate culture  and bonus. They are also working to remove some of the pension obligations that have been weighing down their balance sheet.

Mitt Romney has taken some credit for the auto industry bailout. Now he wants to unload GM shares. It's always tough to get anything done in an election year, and getting a big money transportation bill made in to law in Washington is about as easy as finding a parking garage in Manhattan for your Rolls-Royce. But the publishers of Consumer Reports are working to rip the scales of action for motorists this year.

A blurry, but beautiful Ferrari FF parked on the street.

Companies may soon ban you from texting while driving, well as least when you are on the clock or driving their car.

While out on the town, David saw his first Ferrari FF on the street, and then the reviews hit. Will the same happen for the Telsa Model S, which appears to be arriving ahead of schedule to buyers.

Finally, haphazard road repairs are common in this time of tight government budgets. But IndyCar doesn't usually have that issue with it's tracks, except in Detroit.

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:

Dude, Where's My Podcast ... About Cars

It's a particularly safe podcast this week, with a look at the record number of safe cars, the lowest number of traffic fatalities and the federal government's effort to ban all cellphone use by drivers. If you want to see where things haven't been so safe, check out this awesome interactive map showing where all road deaths have occurred in the U.S.

What does he drive?

While the Senate is looking to finally overhaul the regulations around vehicle recalls, Google is patenting a car that drives itself. That project has been a passion of Larry Page, but there are other powerful and rich people who have had just as interesting vehicles.

Young people aren't as interested in owning a car for various reasons, but if they did, we can guess what most of them would drive using this chart. There is a growing movement to discourage folks from buying cars, and now changing your oil. And we can look at what geezers prefer to tool around in, and it isn't a sexy list of rides.

Perhaps some folks will get a new car for Christmas while others will do some smart shopping now, usually one of the best times to buy a used car.

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