Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Driveway

It's time for our annual Future Classics episode! Which cars available today will eventually be considered a classic? Join us as we create a list of contenders!

Matt went on two trips recently, first he went to see the new Slate Truck, and then he travelled to the IIHS testing facility in Virginia to see the new Mazda CX-5 get crash tested. He's bringing back stories, information, and dare I say, a little bit of wisdom!

Happy 250th birthday America! In this episode, we look back at our most important, most crucial, and BEST American cars of all time. Did we miss your favorite? Let us know, we've got over a century of cars, we can't talk about them all!!

We gathered around the table, all in PERSON mind you, to build our perfect car–a chassis from this car, an infotainment screen from that car, an interior from over there–our ideal Frankenstein vehicle. Does the resulting car make sense? Maybe??

What we want to know is who did the best job, and why was it Elliot?

Summer is here! What are the best cars for all the versions of summer driving; a road-trip, a camping adventure, and an open-air experience that is quintessentially summer!

This week we've got two big pieces of news in the EV world, the Mercedes-AMG GT, and the Ferrari Luce. Let's just say that both of them are... divisive. After we dive into the news, we talk about the 5 signs that it's time to sell your car. Let us know what you think!

What are the best road trippers? Well first we need to decide what kind of road trip we're taking! Are we piling as many people with their stuff in as we can? Or is the road itself the destination?

Listen along and see where Dave and Elliot land on their favorite road trippers, as well as some of their favorite road trips!

Of course, you can use any vehicle to transport the furriest member of your family, but what makes a vehicle a truly GREAT option for your dog. Is it space, tech, load height, or a mix of all of those things? Watch along and see if you agree with our takes on this week's episode, and let us know what you think!

Come with us on a journey across the pond for the CarGurus Great European Car Draft of 2026. We're picking 4 of the countries in Europe that are tied to vehicle production (of cars that we can buy and drive in the United States) and picking one vehicle from each country to build our European Garage. Those countries are England, Italy, Germany, and Sweden. A few stipulations–all four vehicles must add up to less than $300,000 and no single vehicle can cost LESS than $40,000. Lastly, once a model is selected, that model is now off the board, but the automaker is still available.

We hope you enjoy the show, we had a great time recording this one, and let us know who YOU would pick as the winner in the poll for this episode.

Are you in the market for a luxury vehicle? What about a USED luxury vehicle? Elliot, Dave, and Natalie searched CarGurus and found some of their favorite luxury vehicles, and only brought the best deals they could find to the episode. What are your favorite luxury brands when you're looking for a deal? How many miles is too many miles? How old is too old? Let us know your thoughts!

Walk onto any dealer lot today and you'll find more choices than ever — EVs parked next to plug-in hybrids, trucks with interiors that rival luxury sedans, and three-row crossovers available with enough powertrain options to make your head spin. More choice is a good thing, but it also makes the question harder: which ones are actually worth your money?

Our editorial team backs that up by driving and reviewing hundreds of new vehicles every year, living with and testing each vehicle the same way its future owners will. We do everything from quick daily trips hauling kids and groceries, long summer road trips to the campground, slow drives through blinding snow or up dusty trails, and fast drives through winding canyon roads and around the track.

The CarGurus Confidence Awards put those two things together — pairing real-world market data with hands-on editorial expertise, to identify the best new vehicles on sale today across four categories.

These aren't aspirational picks. Every winner is a vehicle you can find at a dealership near you, at a price that makes sense, right now.

From car spotting on everyday streets to deep dives into enthusiast culture, this episode brings in Gail from Gail’s Garage (@gailsgarage296) for a fresh perspective on what makes cars worth loving. From her path into the auto world to the rise of her viral car-spotting videos, we cover everything from affordable enthusiast picks and dream garages to the gritty, fast-growing New York car scene. We hope you enjoy our conversation with Gail as much as we did!

This is a special episode, it's episode FIFTY, and it's roughly the one year anniversary of The Driveway! To commemorate the occasion, we found some other cars that have stood the test of time, but not for 50 episodes, at least 50 YEARS! In this episode we draft our dream garage from a pool of nameplates and vehicles that have lasted at least 50 years (that's since 1976!) The nameplates do not have to have been in continuous production, but the essence of the vehicle must be the same as it was when launched, so for example, the Ford Bronco would be a candidate, but not something like the Ford Maverick.

Listen along, and vote in the poll for who did the best job building their four car garage of classics. And as a side note, if you've been here for all fifty episodes, let us know, because you're a real one!

April 15th is Tax Day in the United States, and that means that you MAY have received or will be receiving a bit of a refund on those taxes, and many people use that sum of money to think about a downpayment on their next car. We're talking leases today, how they work, who they're right for, and some of the best deals we could find in April of 2026.

Today we're recapping the 2026 New York International Auto Show in New York City. This year, Natalie traveled to New York to attend the show in person and brought back her experience to share with us! All the biggest reveals from Subaru's new Getaway, Kia's refreshed Seltos and all-new EV3, The Hyundai Boulder concept, Chrysler's updated Pacifica, and more!

What was your favorite reveal of the show? Let us know!

These are the cars we can't wait to drive this year. Some are a bit more exotic than others, but we think all are interesting. What about you? Which cars are getting your attention? Which ones do you want to hear more about? Let us know, and have a fantastic week!

Most of us at one time or another need to offload a car to make way for a new one. How do you go about doing that? Do you trade in at the dealer? Sell privately or through a listing website? Once you've sold your car, how do you get your next one? In this episode, we'll help you navigate the sometimes confusing path about this process.

It's a new year, so we have a chance to reevaluate our favorite EVs in 2026. It's a new landscape for the electric vehicle market, we've had to say goodbye to quite a few models, but we've also been able to say hello to a few too! Let us know what you think, are you an EV owner? Which models are you interested in, and which ones are you sad to see leave us, if you're sad at all!? Thanks for listening, have a great week!

This week, we dive into our favorite features in modern cars. We also touch on a few features that we we wish would go away, and finish up with a few we wish would make their return. There's also some news–Lincoln may be ready to cash in on Ford's Bronco model! Hear our takes and let us know what you think!

Have you ever wondered how car reviewers on YouTube get so many cars, where are they coming from, and how did they land in these jobs? If you answered yes to any of those questions, this episode might be for you! After some industry news, Dave, Elliot, and Natalie dive into how the automotive journalism industry works.

They'll answer the common comment on YouTube, "Do they pay you for good reviews??" Spoiler alert... no, no they don't! Listen if you're curious, thanks for being here!

Presenters: Dave Undercoffler, Elliot Haney, and Natalie Harrington

We sat down at the table this week to have a little bit of fun. We're drafting our DREAM value garage... feels a bit like an oxymoron eh? We set a limit of $90,000 MSRP only to build a varied and practical 3-car garage. How do we want to spend the money, what do each of us value in a garage, and naturally, who won?

Listen to the show and then leave a comment or respond to the poll–who built the best dream value garage?

In this episode we go through everything we know about safety. What does IIHS and NHTSA stand for, and what do they do? What does ADAS mean, and what systems are most important to us and why? Dave comes prepared with head protection in case the conversation gets a bit too intense!!

This episode, we go back, back to cars that we think were ahead of their time. Some by a few years, some quite a bit longer. Did we choose well? Let us know!

We got some snow recently, you probably did too! So this week we talk all about winter driving–the different flavors of AWD, how does AWD differ from 4WD, and winter tires in addition to AWD. Of course, we go over what are our favorite cars for each category in crossover/SUV, pickup truck, and wrapping it up with cars.

For this week’s episode, we dug into the data for ALL of our written reviews on CarGurus.com from 2025, we crunched the numbers, and VOILA—out came our 2025 Test Drive Review Awards! Broken out into the most popular categories, we discuss which cars surprised us, which were our favorites, and what we would take home ourselves.

As always, thanks for listening, let us know if you agree with our takes!

To start off the year, we are diving in to Consumer Reports recently published reliability rankings for 2026. Which brands fared better than others, and which... not so much?

We also touch on the return of two vehicles, the Ram TRX and the Mitsubishi Montero!

For the final episode of the Driveway in 2025, we go through our end of year Superlative Awards. Which were our favorite vehicles that we personally drove this year? This is a fun one, so hopefully you enjoy!

Happy holidays to you and yours, we'll be back in January with new episodes!

Had a kid? Brought home a pet? Just want something bigger? Most of us have gone through a period of feeling like you just need a BIT more space. We're going to tackle that feeling in cars today, what if you need to size up from the most popular class of vehicle in the United States, the compact crossover. What's next? Midsize three-rows? Bigger two-rows? A fullsize Suburban or Navigator??

We talk about them all. Thanks for listening, let us know what you think!

These are the cars that were discontinued for the 2026 model year. We say goodbye to some vehicles that we really enjoy, and to some that were a bit of a surprise! Let us know if any of the cars surprise or sadden you in the comments!

This week, we catch up with Elliot about his roadtrip through the UK, Dave leads us through some LA Auto Show news, including the Hyundai Crater and Nissan's new Rogue PHEV. We finish out the episode by sharing what cars or what brands we're thankful for this year. Let us know what you're thankful for down in the comments!

In this episode, we're combining Matt's love of sports (fantasy or otherwise) and the team's love for cars! Instead of drafting athletes to our team, we're drafting cars to fill out our dream garage. This episode is focused on Toyota's lineup from the last 25 years. Let us know which member of the team built the best garage, and have a great week!

Welcome to the show!

Thinking about buying an electric SUV? The CarGurus experts look at some of the best-selling EV crossovers on the market and pit them against each other in a March Madness-style tournament.

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0:00 - Welcome to the Show

2:49 - Hyundai Ioniq 5 vs Subaru Solterra

8:04 - Kia EV6 vs Chevrolet Blazer EV

14:04 - Volkswagen ID.4 vs Hyundai Kona Electric

19:38 - Nissan Ariya vs Kia Niro Electric

23:13 - Second Round!

41:55 - Final Four!

49:00 Championship Round!

Welcome to the show!

After full-size pickup trucks, compact crossovers are the most in-demand vehicle class currently on sale in the United States. We look at all of them, from the Jeep Compass to the Toyota RAV4, and decide which one is the best.

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0:00 - Welcome to the Show

1:08 - Rules of the Game

5:30 - Ford Bronco Sport vs Jeep Compass

9:30 - Mazda CX-50 vs Mitsubishi Outlander

14:15 - Volkswagen Tiguan vs Chevrolet Equinox

19:50 - Hyundai Tucson vs Nissan Rogue

25:15 - Second Round - Wild Region

32:40 - Second Round - Mild Region

40:00 - Final Four

47:00 - Championship Round

Welcome to the Show!

In the spirit of spooky season, the team discusses the various cars and trucks they'd like to raise from the dead. These discontinued models are cool and feel more relevant today than they did at the time of their demise. Which ones would you bring back to life?

0:00 - Welcome to the Show

1:17 - We love fall

6:05 - AMC Eagle Sundancer

11:33 - Mitsubishi Delica

14:30 - Pontiac Aztek

17:28 - Subaru Baja

25:54 - Acura Legend

30:32 - An electric DeLorean

32:45 - Honda Element and Toyota FJ40

35:52 - BMW Z8, Subaru WRX STI

What better way to fall in love with a car than to take it on a long road trip? Of course, the wrong car can lead to a tiring, uncomfortable trip--so here are our picks for the best vehicles for long drives.

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0:00 - Welcome to the Show

3:08 - Our favorite road trips

15:44 - Chrysler Pacifica/Voyager

20:55 - Chevrolet Suburban

26:00 - Ford F-150 Hybrid

28:30 - Toyota Land Cruiser

31:00 - Honda Civic Hybrid

33:00 - Hyundai Ioniq 6

36:15 - Genesis GV70

40:45 - Audi RS 6 Avant

42:20 - Ford Mustang

45:00 - GMC Sierra EV

47:15 - Kia Sorento Hybrid

48:35 - Volkswagen Golf GTI

Everybody loves a good tailgate! We're talking about burgers and brats in the parking lot, not those jerks who drive to close to your bumper. These are our picks for the best vehicles for tailgating, whether at a football game, a concert, or anywhere else you deem fit.

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0:00 Welcome to the Show

2:07 Dave Roots for the Bills

2:41 Dave Doesn't Know the Patriots Beat the Bills

6:40 Best Trucks for Tailgating

13:07 Best Audio Systems

15:50 Spacious Vehicles

20:05 Honda Element

21:00 Interesting Tailgates

25:25 Minivans

27:33 Toyota 4Runner

29:40 Cadillac Escalade IQ

31:00 Flush floors

31:50 Lincoln Navigator

This week we're going outdoors! We talk about two new Subarus that we were able to test a few weeks ago–the all-new Forester Wilderness and the Crosstrek Hybrid! After giving our thoughts and impressions on those vehicles, we talk about what many owners of these vehicles will do, we talk camping! What are the best cars to take to a campsite, a campground, whatever kind of camping you're into. Let us know what you think, and thanks for listening!

#subaru #crosstrek #forester

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0:00 Welcome to the Show

0:56 Forester and Crosstrek Trip

13:44 The Crosstrek Hybrid

25:17 Best Cars for Camping

25:56 Honda Ridgeline

29:51 Honda Element

34:21 The Tesla Block

41:09 Subaru Options

43:25 Toyota Sienna and Ford Transit

48:20 F-150 Hybrid

50:10 Subaru Outback

51:48 Mazda CX-50

52:55 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV

55:48 The List in Review

This week we dive into a few announcements with the Toyota Corolla Cross mid-cycle refresh and Hyundai's exciting truck announcement. We chat about some exciting cars that have been gracing OUR driveways, and answer some listener questions. It's a true hodgepodge episode, we hope you love it!

#automotive #podcast

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0:00 Welcome to the Show

6:20 Toyota Corolla Cross

15:08 Hyundai's Truck Announcement

23:33 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS

34:15 Honda Civic Hybrid Hatchback

36:19 The Beauty of a Rental Car

40:49 Dodge Charger Daytona

44:15 Why Do Always Test the Top Trim

45:54 If We're Critical, Will They Hold Cars

49:00 Why Aren't Comparisons Apples to Apples

In this episode, the crew sat down to talk through the biggest announcements form a North American lens from the IAA Mobility show in Munich, Germany. We go through some big announcements from BMW's Neue Klasse, to Mercedes-Benz' Sensual Purity, with some good Ferrari, Porsche, and Lexus discussion in there as well. Hope you love the conversation, and thanks for being a listener!

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0:00 Welcome to the Show

1:28 The Big 5 Auto Shows

2:10 Dave's Experience in Germany

5:01 BMW's Announcements

16:11 Ferrari Testarossa

24:22 Lexus IS Sedan

30:24 Mercedes-Benz Electric GLC

40:44 Mercedes' Magawatt Charging

45:13 Porsche's Inductive Charging

50:25 Porsche 911 Turbo S

56:07 Closing

This week we're diving into the off-roading world. We talk about the difference between off-raoding and "soft-roading", some favorite off-road focused vehicles, our favorite off-roading experiences, and what we would take home!

#offroad #offroading #podcast

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0:00 Welcome to the Show!

4:39 Off-Roader vs. "Soft-Roader"

7:33 Jeep Wrangler

9:46 Ford Bronco

12:29 Land Rover Defender

15:29 Toyota Lander Cruiser

22:49 Toyota Tacoma

26:51 Our Off-Roading Stories

34:06 Mercedes G-Wagen

37:41 Our Favorites

Natalie is BACK from maternity leave, so we have a parent & family focused conversation about the cars we love, the cars we used to bring our kids home from the hospital, and our future car plans for our growing families. There is also a brand new Nissan Leaf to talk about, so we lead off the episode with some Leaf news before getting into the family conversation.

Join along, and let us know if we missed any GREAT options for a young and growing family!

#familycar #nissan #leaf

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0:00 Welcome to the Show!

2:26 The New Nissan Leaf

12:43 Natalie is BACK

15:52 The First Drive With the Baby

26:14 The Merits of a Minivan

31:23 Our Recommendations

Summer 2025 saw a lot of announcements from the automotive industry, so we sat down at the table to talk through what we think are some of the biggest ones! Headlining the show is Honda's reintroduction of the Prelude to their lineup. Additionally, we talk about Ford's "Model T Moment", the Acura RSX, the Hyundai IONIQ 6 N, Subaru's Uncharted, the Hyundai Palisade, Audi's releases, and a new Jeep Cherokee. PHEW!! That's a lot of news!

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0:00 Welcome to the Show

2:55 Ford's Big Announcements

6:56 Honda Prelude

17:02 Acura RSX Prototype

24:25 Hyundai Ioniq 6 N

31:14 Subaru Uncharted

36:53 Hyundai Palisade

37:40 Audi's Releases

40:22 Jeep Cherokee

46:02 Thanks for Watching!

Boxy cars, from the $20,000 Kia Soul up through the nearly $200,000 Mercedes AMG G63 G-Wagen we talk through some of our favorite box-shaped cars in today's market. We're seeing a resurgence in this type of styling, for example the Santa Fe, why is that and what are our favorites?

#automotive #podcast

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0:00 Welcome to the episode

4:15 Topic of the Show: Boxy Cars

11:03 Kia Soul

13:06 The off-roaders

13:51 Toyota Land Cruiser

19:23 Jeep Wrangler

25:25 Kia EV9

26:30 Hyundai Santa Fe

31:51 Luxury: Defender, G-Wagen, GX

This week we are diving into our favorite tiny cars. These are not our favorite cheap cars, but our favorite tiny ones! We're running the gamut from the Renault Twizy in Europe to the Jeep Wrangler and up to the GR Corolla, with a few diversions along the way–of course we have to talk about the Venue and the Soul!

#smallcars #podcast #cargurus

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0:00 Our favorite tiny cars

2:56 the Renault Twizy and Kei Cars

7:51 The list itself

8:35 The Kia Soul and Honda Element

13:44 Hyundai's Design and the Venue

19:54 The Volkswagen GTI and Golf R

20:39 The Mazda Miata

25:45 The Mini Coopers

33:38 The Nissan Kicks

37:25 The GR Corolla and Jeep Wrangler

September 30, 2025 is the end of the federal EV tax credit. We gathered around the the table to talk what it means for consumers, the EV industry, and our favorite EVs.

Since we filmed this episode, the IRS has clarified that EV buyers don't have to have taken delivery of the vehicle by the Sept 30 deadline, but they do need to have signed a contract to buy it and made some sort of payment towards it, whether that's a down payment, or a trade-in of a vehicle

*This is a fluid topic and this episode was recorded on August 4, 2025, so forgive us if anything has changed since then!*

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0:00 Welcome

3:34 The Escalade IQ

15:00 Topic of the Show: Goodbye EV Tax Credit

21:30 Slate's Future

32:54 Buying a Model Y

42:50 What Would We Buy Today?

51:06 Closing

What is the market for a NEW diesel SUVs? Well, in the United States, there is a single engine option, and it powers GM's full-size SUVs; the Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon, and Yukon XL, that's it. We talk through the new, but also used options available to you, what dieselgate did to the industry, and what the future of diesel SUVs might look like in the US.

Oh, and Dave went to Dad camp at McPherson college, hear about his experience!

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0:00 The Diesel Episode

4:04 Dave Went to Dad Camp at McPherson College

12:04 Dieselgate

20:08 Diesel SUV Market

28:02 The Mazda CX-5

32:53 The Jeep Wrangler

37:20 The Porsche Cayenne

42:47 The Future of Diesels in SUVs

A few weeks ago, we talked about "cheap cars" and that metric was $40,000 and below. Now, we know that's not really cheap. It's cheaper than the average new car in the US, but not "cheap" by most definitions. This week however, we are talking about the truly cheap cars, the ones in the low $20,000s, and the single car new car available in 2025 under that figure! Oh, and Matt really loves the Hyundai Venue, and makes some BOLD claims about it!

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0:00 The Best and Cheapest Cars

0:55 The Market Today

2:08 The Subcompact Sedan

7:03 Subcompact Crossovers

16:26 Sedans

26:15 The Hatchback

32:24 The Question of Theft

37:23 Wrapping Up

Old money. Stealth wealth. Country club cars. This week we dive into the category that we're defining as 'old money style'. No, you're not going to find a Bentley, or a Rolls Royce, or a hypercar like a McLaren or Lamborghini, we're keeping this list to an "attainable" level. Listen along, and which cars would you add (or take away!) from this list? We're happy you're here, thanks for listening!

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0:00 Hello and Welcome!

3:01 The Topic

6:52 The List

7:35 Cadillac CT5

15:07 Infiniti QX60

18:42 Toyota Land Cruiser

22:29 Matt's Logo Rant

27:43 Genesis G80

32:19 Land Rover Defender

34:24 Polestar 3 and Volvo XC90

40:07 Lexus LS

43:31 Mercedes-Benz GLS

46:49 Porsche 911

49:47 Which One for Us?

Affordable. Inexpensive. Cheap. Whatever you call it, we all want a car that's nice that doesn't blow our budget. This week, we talk through the list "The Best Cheap (But Nice) Cars for 2025". Dave has thoughts on a few he would replace on this list, do you agree? Thanks for listening!

#podcast #affordable #automobile

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0:00 Welcome!

1:34 Cheap But Still Nice Cars

5:06 The List

6:22 The Destination Fee

10:44 Electric Car

15:38 Compact Sedan

22:18 The Crossovers

31:59 Midsize Sedan

34:46 Sports Car

37:42 Pickup Truck

44:32 Midsize Crossover

49:27 Off-Roader

56:13 Minivan

Let's talk about reliability! A brand's reputation for reliability is going to be at the top or at least very near the top of many car buyer's checklists–some brands are known for it, and others are known for... other reasons. Today we're talking about the top 10 most reliable vehicle brands.

The author of our list calculated the average reliability score from the two leading authorities: Consumer Reports and J.D. Power, in addition to research published by RepairPal and CarComplaints. They took these numbers and weighted it into the ten brands that we talk about in this episode. Is number 1 a surprise? What about number 4? Listen to find out!#reliability #automobile #podcast

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0:00 Welcome!

3:27 We're Talking Reliability

5:49 The Methodology

7:03 The #10 Most Reliable Car

9:14 #9

11:35 #8

18:13 #7

21:01 #6

24:12 #5

29:03 #4

31:09 #3

32:47 #2

37:14 The #1 Most Reliable Car