Wheel Bearings - Podcast Rankings and reviews

I heard Sam on This Week in Tech on the TWIT! network with Leo Laporte, and I immediately subscribed to his podcast. It was a breath of fresh air to hear honest, no nonsense evaluations of car technology, pricing, dealer behaviors, industry news, etc.

THEN — I discovered Rob and Nicole.

Rob is just goofy smart about cars. I mean that in a good way. He’s hilarious on the show, and it’s always fun to hear if he “fit” into his latest press car (he’s like 10.5 feet tall). Rob seems to be the most well traveled of the group — always hitting up Germany or Europe to review BMWs and Mercedes vehicles. He’s also a dog guy — very important to me. We know this because of his very vocal German Shepherds.

Nicole is just as funny — a car buff, mom and wielder of New England euphemisms, she will definitely let Chevy know that they need to move that pickup truck steering wheel over a “skosch.” (sp?) She drives a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited that I’d would want to to buy (4xe), and she always includes a family perspective on her car reviews that I appreciate as a dad with human and dog passengers.

Together, Sam, Rob and Nicole have a great rapport and breadth of auto industry knowledge. Want to hear about the latest features in an EV? CHECK! Want to hear why the Ford Bronco Sport is still “meh” because it’s basically a roid’d out Escape? CHECK! Want to get a fantastic one on one interview with the design team at Mazda so they can explain why their first EV barely goes like 80 miles? CHECK!

On top of all this, they spend anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes an episode answering YOUR questions. I know. I’ve gotten answers to mine about EVs, buying or leasing, etc. They are super kind to their listeners and really give each question serious thought, no matter how weird or off topic the questions might be, i.e. Rob — why were you a vegetarian at some point?

Bottom line — follow their podcast. You’re gonna love every episode. Especially if Rob’s dogs go nuts in the background.

I like the in-depth analysis of the cars Dan, Rebecca and Sam provide for their long term test drives. The podcast is a great source of information for all the latest technology in today's cars. They also comment on the automotive industry from a business perspective. I got a very detailed answer, for an email question I sent to them, with an on air response! Keep the podcasts coming!

extremely informative, detailed, thorough but also contains lots of practical advice and criticisms.

They’re not Gonzo racers. They’re not Top Gear. They’re not some advertising arm of of a failing automotive news site. (Well, in Sam and Dan aren’t *anymore*). They’re Wheel Bearings.

Let’s get this out of the way: Sam’s from Michigan. He says “you know” approximately 600 times an episode. You get used to it. People from Michigan do that.

The content is terrific, and for the true industry wonk, I haven’t found any better. Rebecca’s really the spark plug for the show, and it’s much better when she’s there.

I would love to listen to this podcast because the information is so good but I can’t get past Sam (I believe that’s his name) saying “you know” every five seconds. It’s a pitfall he’s probably too old to correct, which is sad because he’s one of most knowledgeable car people out there.

Sam should do the podcast on his own. Roberto and Nicole are wanna-be comedians who think they are doing a Comedy Central podcast. Too much stepping on each other, interruptions and useless bantering that is all over the place and having nothing to do with cars, not to mention frequent dog barking. I wanted to like and join/support this podcast but three is a crowd. Sam is smart, explains things in detail, is very well spoken and has the voice (and equipment) for a great podcast, but he needs to go solo and dump the other two dopes. until that happens, I will be passing on this podcast