Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell kick off the show by discussing the passing of dune-buggy pioneer Bruce Meyers and the results of J.D. Power's most recent vehicle-reliability survey. Paul Strauss, publisher of the popular websites The Awesomer, Technabob, and the auto-themed 95octane, joins us to talk about the latest batch of brawny V8-powered vehicles--the Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance, Land Rover Defender V8, and Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392. We also discuss the effe...
Feb 26, 2021•54 min•Season 1Ep. 70
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing the recently unveiled 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander compact SUV. Collectible Automobile magazine Editor-in-Chief John Biel joins us to chat about the great features in the April 2021 issue, including detailed histories of the 1980-83 Lincoln Continental Mark VI and 1970-76 Porsche 914. Tom has a "who owns what" quiz on automotive brands for Damon and Jill, and Damon runs down the latest articles on the Consume...
Feb 19, 2021•54 min•Season 1Ep. 69
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start the show by discussing the recently unveiled 2021 Ford F-150 Raptor pickup and the forthcoming Raptor R. Mark Savino, Kia Product Strategy Manager, joins us to talk about the redesigned-for-2021 Kia Sorento 3-row midsize SUV. Tom has another "buzzer-style" name-that-vehicle quiz for Damon and Jill, and Damon runs down the latest articles on the Consumer Guide Daily Drive blog, including a First Spin test-drive review of the 2021 Maz...
Feb 12, 2021•55 min•Season 1Ep. 68
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start the show by discussing the recent unveiling of the 2022 Nissan Pathfinder midsize SUV and 2022 Nissan Frontier midsize pickup. Todd Lassa, veteran automotive journalist and founding editor of The Hustings (thehustings.news), joins us to talk about some current auto-industry trends and fill us in on The Hustings--a news website that is designed to deliver straight news and non-partisan political analysis, with liberal and conservativ...
Feb 04, 2021•54 min•Season 1Ep. 67
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start the show by discussing the recent reports of Nissan dealers asking Nissan to bring back its off-road-ready Xterra SUV. We also talk about the discontinuation of Kia's Cadenza large sedan and K900 flagship luxury sedan for the 2021 model year. Jeff Pope, Group Vice President, Infiniti Americas, joins us to talk about the new-for-2021 Infiniti QX55 crossover SUV, and the Infiniti brand in general. Tom has a tricky fuel-economy quiz fo...
Jan 29, 2021•53 min•Season 1Ep. 66
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell kick off the show by discussing the auto industry's sales results for the 2020 calendar year, and examining a few of the winners and losers. Sam Fiorani, Vice President of Global Vehicle Forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions, joins us to delve deeper into the year that was, and talk about what industry trends are on the horizon for 2021. Tom has a sales-results quiz for Damon and Jill, and Damon runs down the latest articles on the Consu...
Jan 22, 2021•54 min•Season 1Ep. 65
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell kick off the show by discussing the recently announced winners of the 2021 North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year awards. Jonathan Buhler, Communications Manager for Sports Cars and Sedans for Nissan USA, joins us to talk about the North American Nissan Heritage Collection and the past, present, and future of the Nissan Z sports car. Tom has a quiz for Damon and Jill on the Ford Mustang Mach-E, and Damon runs down the latest a...
Jan 14, 2021•53 min•Season 1Ep. 64
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing the newly reported details of the General Motors/Honda electric-vehicle partnership. Jake Fisher, Senior Director of Auto Testing for Consumer Reports, joins us to talk about new-car reliability and CR's testing processes. Tom has a tricky quiz for Damon and Jill on 2011-model-year vehicles, and Damon runs down the latest articles on the Consumer Guide Daily Drive blog, including test-drive reviews of the ...
Jan 08, 2021•54 min•Season 1Ep. 63
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing their test-drive experiences in the Mercedes-Benz AMG E53 midsize sedan. Collectible Automobile magazine Editor-in-Chief John Biel joins us to chat about the great features in the February 2021 issue, including a profile on Bill Mitchell's Corvette Stingray racer and an overview of GM's cars of 1961. John sticks around for the third segment to help us review the top automotive stories of 2020, such as the ...
Jan 01, 2021•54 min•Season 1Ep. 62
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing Elon Musk's recent tweet about his attempt to sell Tesla to Apple three years ago, and the reports of Apple's current plans to enter the autonomous electric-vehicle market. Instead of a guest this week, we share our automotive Christmas wish lists--vehicles we wish automakers would build (or start building again). Tom has a quiz for Damon and Jill on fake trim-level names, and Damon runs down the latest ar...
Dec 25, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 61
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing their test-drive experiences with Kia's new-for-2021 K5 midsize sedan. Mark Bilek, Senior Director of Communications and Technology for the Chicago Automobile Trade Association, joins us to talk about the outlook for the 2021 Chicago Auto Show. Tom has a tricky quiz for Damon and Jill on new-vehicle base prices, and Damon runs down the latest articles on the Consumer Guide Daily Drive blog, including a tes...
Dec 18, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 60
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing the outlook for the first auto shows of 2021, and Acura's redesigned-for-2022 MDX midsize SUV . Carl Lally, Senior Brand Manager for the Ram 1500 pickup lineup, joins us to talk about the wild new TRX high-performance model. Tom has a quiz for Damon and Jill on fake model names, and Damon runs down the latest articles on the Consumer Guide Daily Drive blog, including a test-drive review of the 603-hp Merce...
Dec 11, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 59
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing Hyundai's new Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) for battery electric vehicles. Patrick Olsen, Executive Editor at Carfax, joins us to talk about the ins and outs of Carfax Vehicle History Reports. Tom has a quiz for Damon and Jill on the entry-level engines in current vehicles, and Damon runs down the latest articles on the Consumer Guide Daily Drive blog, including test-drive reviews of the 2020 Ki...
Dec 04, 2020•55 min•Season 1Ep. 58
It's a special episode this week: the "sneak peek" announcement of our annual Consumer Guide Best Buy awards. Jill Ciminillo has the week off, as Tom and Damon run down the entire list of 2021 Best Buy award winners in each of our 21 vehicle categories. We discuss the winners in each category, from subcompact cars to premium large SUVs--and everything in between.
Nov 25, 2020•54 min•Season 1Ep. 57
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing four just-unveiled new vehicles: the 2022 Honda Civic Prototype, 2022 Infiniti QX55, 2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392, and 2022 Subaru BRZ. Brian Bell, Marketing Manager for the Ford F-150, joins us to talk about the all-new 2021 F-150 . Tom has a quiz for Damon and Jill on important auto-industry dates, and Damon runs down the latest articles on the Consumer Guide Daily Drive blog, including our Consumer Gu...
Nov 16, 2020•55 min•Season 1Ep. 56
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing the radically redesigned 2022 Hyundai Tucson compact SUV. Harvey Briggs, Editor and Publisher of Rides & Drives (ridesanddrives.com), joins us to talk about his brand-new book--Rolls-Royce Motor Cars: Making a Legend. Tom has a tricky quiz for Damon and Jill on vehicle-name spelling and punctuation, and Damon runs down the latest articles on the Consumer Guide Daily Drive blog, including a road-test re...
Nov 13, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 55
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing their test-drive experiences in the refreshed-for-2021 Lexus IS compact sport sedan, and Damon's recent appearance on the Cars Yeah podcast. Collectible Automobile magazine Editor-in-Chief John Biel joins us to chat about the great features in the December 2020 issue, including a profile on the novel 1941 Studebaker Champion Coupe Delivery and an overview of the cars of 1960. Tom has a quiz for Damon and J...
Nov 06, 2020•52 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start the show by discussing Toyota's all-new, hybrid-only 2021 Sienna minivan, which is set to go on sale soon. Ed Kim, Vice President, Industry Analysis at AutoPacific, joins us for a talk about California's recently announced electric-vehicle mandate for 2035. Tom has a quiz on tires for Damon and Jill, and Damon runs down the latest articles on the Consumer Guide Daily Drive blog--including our Consumer Guide First Spin reviews of the...
Oct 29, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 53
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell kick off the show by discussing the recent unveiling of the genre-bending, new-for-2022 GMC Hummer EV truck. Joost De Vries, VP of Global Sales and Customer Experience for Karma Automotive, joins us for a talk about how the company started and where it hopes to go in the future. Tom has a surprisingly tricky "When was it introduced?" quiz for Damon and Jill, and Damon runs down the latest articles on the Consumer Guide Daily Drive blog--i...
Oct 22, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 52
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell kick off the show by discussing Volkswagen's recent unveiling of its new-for-2022 Taos compact crossover SUV. Ash Hack, Manager, Vehicle Marketing and Communications for Toyota Motor North America, joins us for a talk about the revived-for-2021 Toyota Venza midsize SUV. Tom has a Toyota-themed quiz for Damon and Jill, and Damon runs down the latest articles on the Consumer Guide Daily Drive blog--including a test-drive review of the incre...
Oct 16, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start the show by talking about Jaguar's recent decision to discontinue its XE compact sedan and the station-wagon version of its XF midsize car, before moving on to Damon's press-preview test drive of the redesigned-for-2021 Nissan Rogue. Freelance auto writer Cherise Threewitt joins us for a fun chat about her informative article on LEGO's various automotive building sets, and the design processes that bring them to market. Tom has a tr...
Oct 09, 2020•54 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start the show by sharing their test-drive impressions of the Chevrolet C8 Corvette. Matt Edmonds, Executive Vice President at The Tire Rack, joins us for a talk about buying tires online, what to look for when tire shopping, and The Tire Rack's extensive tire-testing processes. Tom has a groan-worthy quiz on car/movie-title puns for Damon and Jill, and Damon runs down the latest articles on the Consumer Guide Daily Drive blog--including ...
Oct 02, 2020•54 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start the show with our test-drive review of the redesigned-for-2021 GMC Yukon--specifically, the top-of-the-line Denali model. Dave Sloan, President of the Chicago Automobile Trade Association and General Manager of the Chicago Auto Show, calls in to give us the scoop on the 2021 Chicago Auto Show and the 2020 USO Barbecue for the Troops fundraising events. Tom has a Chicago Auto Show-themed quiz for Damon and Jill, and Damon runs down t...
Sep 25, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 48
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start the show by talking about Nissan's just-unveiled Z Proto concept vehicle, which heralds the forthcoming introduction of a new-generation production Z sports car. Yuval Steiman, Director of Product Strategy for Hyundai Motor America, joins us to fill us in on the details of Hyundai's IONIQ electric-vehicle sub-brand. Tom has a base-prices quiz for Damon and Jill, and Damon runs down the latest articles on the Consumer Guide Daily Dri...
Sep 18, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start the show by talking about General Motors' plan to team up with upstart automaker Nikola to build the Nikola Badger electric pickup truck. We also discuss Cadillac Live, an online showroom that provides personal guided tours of Cadillac's current products. Enrique Ramirez, Director of Business Services at the famous Road America race course in Elkhart Lake, Wiconsin, joins us to talk about a few of the many attractions the Road Ameri...
Sep 11, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell kick off the show by discussing Jeep's revival of its Grand Wagoneer name on an all-new premium large SUV. Sam Fiorani, Vice President of Global Vehicle Forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions, joins us to talk about the GM and Honda's recently announced partnership, the Jeep Grand Wagoneer concept vehicle, and the proper way to make a PB&J sandwich. Tom has a "front-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive" quiz for Damon and Jill, and Damon r...
Sep 04, 2020•51 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing the recent unveiling of the 2021 Ram 1500 TRX, a ultra-performance off-road pickup truck with a 702-hp supercharged Hemi V8 engine. Collectible Automobile magazine Editor-in-Chief John Biel joins us to chat about the great features in the October 2020 issue, including a profile on GM designer John Schinella (one of the creators of the Pontiac Trans Am "screaming chicken" hood graphic) and an overview of th...
Aug 28, 2020•54 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing Hyundai's launch of IONIQ, its dedicated EV brand. We also discuss our test-drive experiences with the new-for-2020 Cadillac CT4 compact sport sedan. Tim Esterdahl, founder and executive editor of Pickup Truck + SUV Talk, joins us to chat about vehicle reliability and innovative features. Tom has a quiz for Damon and Jill on various pickup-truck facts, and Damon runs down the latest articles on the Consume...
Aug 21, 2020•54 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by talking about Cadillac being on the cusp of charging a subscription fee for its Super Cruise hands-free-driving system. We also discuss Ford Motor Company's recently announced CEO switch, as Jim Farley steps in to take the the reins from Jim Hackett. Buick Marketing Manager Rob Peterson, joins us to talk about the 2020 Buick Encore GX subcompact SUV, and Buick's transition to an all-SUV lineup. Tom has a quiz for Dam...
Aug 14, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Host Tom Appel and co-host Jill Ciminillo (Damon Bell is out this week) start off the show by discussing Consumer Reports' and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's list of safe and reliable vehicles for teenage drivers. We also share our test-drive experiences with the relaunched-for-2021 Toyota Venza midsize SUV, which now comes exclusively as a hybrid. Pete Milo, Chief Engineer of the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator, joins us to talk about the 2020 Jeep Gladiator Mojave and Wrangler Rubico...
Aug 07, 2020•54 min•Season 1Ep. 41
