podcast

Episode 36, New sales for old cars, vintage car passion

Lending Tree, a leading online exchange based in Charlotte, N.C., connects consumers with banks, credit institutions and other lenders to negotiate the best deals. It also releases studies to provide pertinent statistics to customers. A recent study, tabulated with thousands of transactions, details the top 50 metropolitan areas whose car buyers purchased the oldest used cars. The national average age for a used car purchase is six years old. Jen Jones, an autos writer for Lending Tree, is our first guest on episode No. 36 of The Weekly Driver Podcast. Responding to co-hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia, Jones provides insight into the survey. She explains why it was done, what the results mean and the surprises Lending Tree discovered

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Episode 35, Honda drives into the future with Clarity

William Lai of Fremont, California, and Chris White of West Sacramento, California, are among early adopters to the Honda Clarity. Lai, who has owned three electrics cars, drives the all-electric variety. Walker drives the hydrogen-powered Clarity Fuel Cell. The Honda Clarity is currently only available in California and Oregon. A pioneer in the alternative fuel vehicles (the original Insight debuted in 2000, a few months before the Toyota Prius) Honda has also equipped its new vehicles with Honda Sensing. It’s the carmaker’s “intelligent suite of safety and driver-assistance technologies designed to alert you to things you might miss while driving.” In Episode 35 of The Weekly Driver podcast below, hosts Bruce Alert and James Raia discuss with Lai and White

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Episode 34, Journalist Ryan Brutt: Will travel for barn finds

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (46.1MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoreRyan Brutt is a writer and photographer who exudes enthusiasm about muscle cars. His interest is overtly apparent in his new book, Muscle Car Barn Finds. It details the art of automotive scavenger hunts. Brutt, self-described as an Automotive Archaeologist, lives in Chicago. The contributing rider to Hot Rod Magazine is our guest on Episode 34 of The Weekly Driver Podcast. Hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia discuss the book and Brutt’s trials and tribulations as he travels through several states on his mission to discover hundreds of often abandoned rarities. Consider Brutt’s premise: You’re driving along a country road in Alabama and something bright orange in

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Episode 29, Stunning new Lexus, bad tires and RV woes

The 2018 Lexus LC 500 is arguably the most attractive car made in the past several years. It turns heads in parking lots and gets stared at on the open road. Strangers point at it and give a thumb’s up. The new Lexus belongs on the list of the 100 most attractive cars ever made. It would be among the few modern-day vehicles on the subjective selections automotive publications publish about every 10 years. Bruce Aldrich, co-host of The Weekly Driver Podcast, and I shared driving duties in the new Lexus from Sacramento to the Delta hamlet of Courtland and back last week. We were on assignment at Hemly Cider, the craft cider maker. We discuss the new top-of-the-line Lexus

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RV expert believes industry is in chaos

Chuck Woodbury, editor and publisher of RVTravel.com, the industry’s largest online publication, is a full-time RVer and a mobile lifestyle advocate. But Woodbury says the RV industry is in chaos. Buyers must beware, owners must be more considerate and manufacturers need to re-evaluate their responsibilities. According to the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) in Reston, Va., wholesale shipments of RVs increased 17.2 percent in 2017 from the previous year. Motorhome shipments increased 14.4 percent last year from 2016 totals. But while the sales highlight the industry’s boom, it’s also fostered growing concerns of decreasing manufacturing quality. Additionally, with traditional homes increasing unaffordable in metropolitan areas, including the Bay Area, more city dwellers are living in RVs, sometimes in parking lots.

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Episode 25, RV expert believes industry needs major repairs

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:53 — 46.5MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoreChuck Woodbury, editor and publisher of the RVTravel.com, the industry’s largest and most prestigious online publication, is a full-time RVer and an industry advocate. But Woodbury says RV buyers must beware. The RV industry, with record sales in 2017, needs to better protect the best interests of buyers. Woodbury, an author, internationally renowned RV industry expert and the host of the best-selling Better Business Bureau DVD, “Buying a Recreational Vehicle,” is the guest on episode 25 of The Weekly Driver Podcast. “There’s no international organization anymore that looks out for the interest of RVers,” says Woodury. “There’s nobody back in Washington, D.C., or in

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Episode 21, Rags to riches: The restoration of a rare Porsche 356

Leigh Rutledge, a real estate executive in Sacramento, California, owns a rare Porsche — a 1956 Porsche 356 Cabriolet. The car was made in the year Rutledge was born, and the model also corresponds to the month and year she was born. In Episode 21 of The Weekly Driver Podcast, hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia discuss with Rutledge her 27-year ownership of the unique Porsche. The car has had a hard-to-believe legacy. Rutledge purchased the Porsche in 1990 after noticing it for sale on a 3×5 index card. But the Porsche wasn’t much more than a collection of parts. The restoration began as a series of catastrophes, from unscrupulous “experts” to financial missteps. But through the care and concern

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Episode 3, Hybrid Hype

The 2000 Toyota Prius was the first nationally available hybrid vehicle in the United States. A few months earlier, Honda introduced the Insight, the so-called “Peanut Car.” But it’s never made much of an impact in its original edition or the current generation that debuted in recent years. Double click below to listen to the latest edition: But in the nearly 18 years since alternative fuel vehicles — gas/electric, electric only, natural gas, etc. — have been manufactured, has the technology made a difference? Environmental and green car advocates are likely to say “yes.” And every major manufacturer has at least one alternative fuel vehicle in its lineup. BMW to Mitsubishi and Ford to Lexus, manufacturers promote hybrid and other

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The Weekly Driver Podcast – Episode 2 – Cars We’ve Owned

Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoreEvery family has cars, some long gone, some inherited by children or found in grandpa’s garage decades later. A vehicle’s pedigree is at least half the fun when discussing family cars. It could be something rare or a just a favorite old station wagon the family took on a trip when you were a child. The Weekly Driver Podcast, Episode 2 – Cars We’ve Owned In episode 2 of The Weekly Driver podcast, co-hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia discuss our first cars and other vehicles we’ve owned through the years. We also discuss our families’ cars, old Volkswagen models to Ford Falcons, tough old Buick sedans

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The Weekly Driver Podcast #1 (Monterey Auto Week)

Welcome to the debut of The Weekly Driver podcast. Co-hosted by James Raia and Bruce Aldrich, the weekly podcast is an extension of the website, www.theweeklydriver.com. The latter has been published since 2004 and features new car reviews and articles on automotive trends. Click on the link below to listen to episode #1. The Weekly Driver Podcast #1 (Monterey Auto Week) James Raia is a syndicated automotive columnist for Bay Area News Group and Gulf Shore Business Magazine. He is also a freelance writer who contributes sports, business and lifestyle articles to many print and online publications. He lives with his wife and two cats in Sacramento. Bruce Aldrich is the editor and publisher of www.tahoetruckeeoutdoor.com. An avid endurance athlete

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