Such sad news. His laugh was infectious. It should be a ringtone.
Tom and Ray always seemed to be having SUCH a good time that you could not help but enjoy your time with them.
And they were wrong about half the time so you might have been right all the time (something they freely admitted to in a half joking way). Remember, a lot of what they were telling callers was often times just the first step in troubleshooting.
So it wasn’t just me who had their voices backwards. As others said, he was the tall guy who looked who sounded like a smaller guy. I always had them backwards until I saw the picture of him (just today) sitting in an MG and thought “wait, he doesn’t have an MG, that’s his brother”.
Go watch that clip I posted upthread.
It’s funny you say it like that. In that clip I posted earlier, the narrator says “Tom Mag-li-ozzi” which is just how it looks. Of course it’s pronounced Mah-li-otzi. I have some good friends who’s last name it Maglio, the same beginning as their name. My friends have a very prominent business in Milwaukee* so from time to time I’ll hear other people pronounce and they’ll always say Mag-li-o and I’ll have to correct it to Mah-li-o.
*They just branched out to the Twin cities and Boston. If you live around there and see semi trucks with giant tomatoes on them, it’s pronounced mah-li-oh, the g is silent, just like in Magliozzi.
Now for two questions I always meant to ask about the show.
1)What did they do with all the twenty dollar bills that were sent in? Surely people must have sent them in as a joke. I’d guess they were just donated to NPR, but you’d think they’d mention that on the air once in a while if that were the case. OTOH, maybe they didn’t want people to think you had to do that or that it was a charity drive all the time. Or maybe someone was just keeping them.
2)An awful lot of people at dirty throttle bodies. I understand that, my question is, how do throttle bodies get dirty? Isn’t it just air being pulled in past the plate? Where’s the carbon coming from? Back firing?
Rest In Peace, Tom. That was one cool radio show.
very sad to hear this, I always enjoyed their show.
I first listened to them when I was living in Cambridge & had just discovered public radio - I was probably 25 years old. Through the years, I would find myself listening to them Saturdays while I put makeup on. Lots of times, they made me laugh so hard I had to start over because my mascara was running down my face!
So sad!:(
I still listen every weekend. It never, ever got old for me. I made a game of it, to see if I could predict what they would say. Even my son loved listening to them. He’s somewhat of a car guy largely due to Tom and Ray.
RIP Tommy. You’ll be missed.
Sad news. I listen nearly every week.
RIP, Tom.
Pikup Andropov has one less passenger. I used to love their show.
Nice article in Slate: Car Talk Wasn’t Just Funny and Entertaining. It Was Close to Necessary
*
“They were a shelter in the storm for anxious car-owners. If you could not see their lantern, you could at least hear their cackling.”* 
Very sad to hear. A show that was knowledgeable, entertaining and treated people with respect. I always kid one of my neighbors as working for the law firm of Dewey, Cheetum and Howe.
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The “Praaaaaavit Magggleeeeozzzzi” reference is from a story Tom related about his Army experience, and how one time his DI let everyone have leave except for “Praaaaaavit Magggleeeeozzzzi” - and he just laughed (of course) which just pissed the DI off.
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Throttle bodies get dirty because they are sucking in dirty air all the time - air that comes from under the hood, with oil and gas vapors in it. Also, some fuel ends up on the back side of the valves, which will condense on the (relatively) cool throttle body when the engine is turned off. Eventually, if forms a varnish that can cause the throttle plate to stick.
I think he’d find it funny that I laughed really hard at that?
I needed the laugh. I’ve had the sads since I found out.
So long, Tommy, you made us all laugh and feel happy and sometimes even helped with someone’s car problem. May you ride through eternity at the wheel of the Sleek Black Beauty.
Tom has gone on to the 4th half of the show.
Tom died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease, according to NPR. In a statement, Ray joked, “Turns out he wasn’t kidding,” said Ray. “He really couldn’t remember last week’s puzzler.”
I’m glad he’s keeping a sense of humor about it. It must have been horrible to watch his brother’s decline.
I’m not a great big car fan, but I really enjoyed the show.
Tom has gone on to the 4th half of the show.
Another ‘not a car person’ who listened regularly.
Someone let the air out of your tires?
they don’t have tires.
I wondered the same thing. On the Car Talk website, the blog post about the announcement includes the following information about the Alzheimer’s diagnosis:
The obituary on Al Things Considered included an audio clip of him laughing on Car Talk. Some people might have hated their on-air laughiter but I enjoyed it. They had their mother on a couple of times, and she laughed in much the same way.