“When my answering machine was dropping these four computer generated calls, could it have been a Car Talk computer in fact that was trying to arrange a time for a member of the staff to talk to me on the phone?”
I doubt it. It seems to me that the number of calls they are likely to make is low enough that a person will make them. The good news is that you missed calls for some super-PAC trying to separate you and your money. The bad news is that you are concerned about it.