# How do callers get to appear on Car Talk? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Show\ **Created:** [February 12, 2012, 4:40am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-get-to-appear-on-car-talk/70906 "2012-02-12T04:40:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 4:40am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-get-to-appear-on-car-talk/70906/1 "2012-02-12T04:40:21Z")
One time about a year or two ago I phoned up Tom and Ray’s Car Talk telephone number they give on the program. An answering machine took the call, and I briefly explained what I wanted to ask about and my telephone number in case they were interested in me appearing on the program. Nobody ever called back to talk to me in person, but a month or so later I started getting calls when I wasn’t home, which my answering answered, which appeared to be auto-dialer calls (not a real person on the other end of the line), seeming to be asking me about something, but my answering machine always cut these calls off before the auto-dialer was able to explain who they were and what they wanted to ask. Something about the way the auto-dialer worked confused my answering machine, and those calls were cut off prematurely. I got three or four of those calls. I just ignored them because I couldn’t figure out who was calling or what they wanted. I figured it was someone selling something. Then I remembered I had called Car Talk earlier, and maybe it was someone from the Car Talk staff trying to schedule a time to interview me as a candidate for the show. So what is the procedure one goes through to appear on the Car Talk radio show? Anyone here have that experience? Just curious. Oh, this isn’t the first time. I tried to be on “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire” but never got on that show either! At least there was a reason in that case. I’m not very bright! ---
**Author:** ![Nevada\_545](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/nevada_545/32/41232_2.png) [@Nevada\_545](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Nevada_545)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 4:56am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-get-to-appear-on-car-talk/70906/2 "2012-02-12T04:56:17Z")
I think you’ll need a way to go back to 1994, most of the calls are quite old. ---
**Author:** ![meaneyedcatz](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/meaneyedcatz/32/692_2.png) [@meaneyedcatz](https://community.cartalk.com/u/meaneyedcatz)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 6:54am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-get-to-appear-on-car-talk/70906/3 "2012-02-12T06:54:16Z")
This is what I believe happens, forgot how I learned it. 1. you call and tell them your story 2. they screen the call and determine if it is something they want on the show based on the problem and the entertainment value of the caller and other factors. 3. if chosen they call you back to tell you to stick by the phone at a certain time. 4. they call during the show if they have time. ---
**Author:** ![littlemouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@littlemouse](https://community.cartalk.com/u/littlemouse)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-get-to-appear-on-car-talk/70906/4 "2012-02-12T15:11:52Z")
What’s an answering machine? 1. Sound like a girl with a name that can be spelled more than one way. Extra points for foreign. 2. Phrase your question as a spousal or parental conflict if possible. No need to be brief. 3. Give your phone number at the beginning of the message, and then again at the end. Why not? Nobody’s listening at that point. 4. They will never call you during the show. All calls are taped on Wednesday for use in the show as much as ten years later. You never hear a live call on the show. ---
**Author:** ![hybrid314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/bb73d2/32.png) [@hybrid314](https://community.cartalk.com/u/hybrid314)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 7:34am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-get-to-appear-on-car-talk/70906/5 "2012-02-13T07:34:46Z")
Call about a problem with a vehicle from the late eighties to early nineties. Those seem to be popular lately. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hirnbeiss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hirnbeiss](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Hirnbeiss)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 6:04am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-get-to-appear-on-car-talk/70906/6 "2012-02-21T06:04:07Z")
1. Have a problem that is as tangentially related to cars as possible. 2. The more guffaws you can extract from the duo, the better. 3. Imitate a car noise. 4. Ask about taking a death-trap cross-country. 5. Say you come from somewhere near Unadilla. 6. Weave in the topic of brownies for the mechanic somehow. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 6:44am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-get-to-appear-on-car-talk/70906/7 "2012-02-23T06:44:47Z")
I guess the question I was trying to ask is this: 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? In other words. Once the Car Talk staff listens to the message you leave them, and decides you might make a good caller, what do they do next? Do they have their computer phone you up and schedule a time for a real person-to-person conversation? Or does an actual person phone you up? It seems like the callers on the show – unlike callers on most radio talk shows – are almost universally very comfortable talking on the phone about their car problem, and are usually very friendly and witty, and they almost never ask rude questions, make accusations, etc. I mean by this the callers seems to be well screened and at least a little rehersed before they actually talk to the show’s hosts Tom and Ray. ---
**Author:** ![meaneyedcatz](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/meaneyedcatz/32/692_2.png) [@meaneyedcatz](https://community.cartalk.com/u/meaneyedcatz)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 7:19am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-get-to-appear-on-car-talk/70906/8 "2012-02-23T07:19:46Z")
In other words. Once the Car Talk staff listens to the message you leave them, and decides you might make a good caller, what do they do next? Do they have their computer phone you up and schedule a time for a real person-to-person conversation? Or does an actual person phone you up?.. Thats already been explained from the above post. Computer or person? That we don’t know but really it does not matter. In a different matter but still related, why did you not answer the phone? You claim you thought it might be a salesperson. How many people get po’d from missed calls that came but they did not bother to answer the phone? A ton! I am not being crass but next time answer and if it is a salesperson simply tell them no thanks and hang up. ---
**Author:** ![littlemouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@littlemouse](https://community.cartalk.com/u/littlemouse)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-get-to-appear-on-car-talk/70906/9 "2012-02-23T13:35:40Z")
Sounds like there’s something wrong with your answering machine. ---
**Author:** ![DfromSD](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/dfromsd/32/1669_2.png) [@DfromSD](https://community.cartalk.com/u/DfromSD)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-get-to-appear-on-car-talk/70906/10 "2012-02-23T22:38:59Z")
Some of your questions can be answered on this site’s FAQ section also. [http://www.cartalk.com/content/car-talk-faqs-26](http://www.cartalk.com/content/car-talk-faqs-26) ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 6:29am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-get-to-appear-on-car-talk/70906/11 "2012-02-25T06:29:00Z")
“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. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 6:14am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-get-to-appear-on-car-talk/70906/12 "2012-02-26T06:14:54Z")
Meany-eyed: Perhaps you didn’t read the OP. I wasn’t home at the time. That’s the “why” of the answering machine. ---
**Author:** ![meaneyedcatz](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/meaneyedcatz/32/692_2.png) [@meaneyedcatz](https://community.cartalk.com/u/meaneyedcatz)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 12:08pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-get-to-appear-on-car-talk/70906/13 "2012-02-26T12:08:57Z")
GeorgeSanJose…My apologies. I did read the entire post but I goofed. Sorry