The Avants Podcast

Consumer Reports has launched there worst of 2025 and much to our surprise, the new 4Runner made the list! We love the new 4Runner, but CR did have some good points about the underwhelming engine choice as well as it's ride quality on the road. While the other choices were somewhat expected, we were surprised to see the beloved 4Runner make the list, but what do you think? 

And for our question this week, where are you most excited...

For almost all of us out there, affording a new car means selling the old one. As we get older and more settled in life, sometimes the idea of a project car or buying a replacement for that vehicle you wish you still had becomes more obtainable. Which vehicle would you repurchase and why? Which project car is right around the corner for you? We also talk about the rise of the Chinese automakers that we can't get in the States, but ...

We talk about cars all the time, but we’re not out there test driving them very often so we don’t really consider ourselves “car reviewers”. Reporting in general has changed significantly over the years, and the latest “review” on the F250 by Dan Neil in the WSJ shows how even car reviews aren’t safe from bad taste and political soap boxes. In better car review news, the real car reviews on the new Rivian R2 have started to drop an...

On this episode we respond to a helpful listener voicemail, a great suggestion from Juan on the one car that just needs one change, and Brian Dallas swings by to talk about the Ford seat issues that plague their vehicles equipped with Recaros.  

The Avants Podcast is brought to you by our friends at STEK USA and Carter Seattle!

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Bring back stereo dolphins! We think there's a market for simplified vehicles that will outlast you with proper maintenance, and we think diesel, non-hybrid, trucks with no built-in infotainment, and manual options would be just the thing. Doug DeMuro disagrees, but do you? It turns out about 1/2 a million Washington drivers have expired tabs. In a surprise to no one living in the area of constantly increasing taxes and costs, more...

"Good as new!" "...Yeah... good as new..." This week we talk about rebuilt and salvaged titled cars. There are good deals to be had buying rebuilt titled cars and rebuilding salvaged title cars, but you really need to know what you're looking and when to know you're getting scammed. Episode spoiler alert, you're almost always getting scammed. Also, we're mourning the loss of the local white 250 GTO that sold at auction for a $38.5 ...

We love it when our audience gives us feedback about a topic, so we want to hear how you have used your car for maybe more than its originally intended purpose. The big stories are always fun, but we would love to see and share some of your moments of your car being used to it's fullest. Camping out of your supercar? Towing your track bike with your track car? Converted your Smart car into a tank? Used your Hilux to help overthrow ...

We here at the Avants Podcast welcomes Kevin Nielsen and Daniel Piker to the crew! Kevin has just started the new San Diego chapter of Avants and is a car person through and through. Daniel joined us back in October and you have probably noticed all the upgrades on the Avants social media. Honda's new Prelude has bombed in the US market, selling just 126 units in the last 2 months. Probably because it's a rebodied Civic with better...

Are you giving your insurance and law enforcement everything they need to ruin your fun drive? If you've opted in to driving monitoring apps, or even just your cars infotainment system user agreement you just might be. We talk a little about the inevitable use of your data against you, yet another Corvette variant coming around the corner, and more on this weeks show!

The Avants Podcast is brought to you by our friends at STEK USA ...

The ZR1 and Mustang GTD finally have gone head to head and the ZR1 proves it's almost impossible to beat, not just by the GTD, but by basically anything on the market. We can't wait to see the ZR1X and what numbers it's going to put down. If you're willing to wear the jorts, the Corvette is likely going to be king for a long time. In other good news, Porsche has finally back peddled on the full EV Cayman/Boxster that no one wanted....

Carvana came to the used car market with big promises and a unique buying experience, but loose spending habits took them to the brink of bankruptcy. Now seemingly out of nowhere Carvana is back and has a market value exceeding Ford and even GM! Will this change the way dealers sell used cars so they can compete? Have you bought or sold a car from Carvana? Let us know! 

The Avants Podcast is brought to you by our friends at STEK US...

This week we talk about the real cost of those pesky speeding tickets, the controversial rollback of the emissions standards and what good news that may bring for enthusiasts, and Jaguar finally realizes that their customers aren't interested in pink and blue toasters being sold by interpretive dance and fires their former design chief, Garry McGovern. We wish him not well. 

The Avants Podcast is brought to you by our friends at ST...

We're dropping this one early because it's time to shop for holiday shopping! Obviously the first thing on your list should be an Avants membership of course, but we've got a great list of things you or someone you know probably wants! 

None of these links are affiliate links; we just love this stuff and think you will too! 

1. An Avants Membership!
2. Griots Products
3. A quiet compressor
4. The DeWalt Stealthsonic Vac (Dan has this one...

This week Niko Pagones, owner and founder of Amaxi Autosport joins us in the studio to talk about how he started his shop, the excitement and challenges that came with that, and how he's using the latest tech to solve the problems of restoration in older cars. We talk 3D printing, 3D scanning, 3D printed metal, and a whole lot more. If you want to get a hold of Niko to do some work on your ride, you can find him over at Amaxi Auto!...

Our friend and neighbor Brian Dallas swings by the show to join us again this week! If you're in the area and would like to join us for a show, send us a message! We don't open the studio every week, but we always enjoy good company. 

On this weeks episode, Koenigsegg randomly decided to take their Sadair’s Spear, which is a more track focused Jesko, over to Laguna Seca and break the lap record! Of course to do that they had to put...

Karissa Haydon and Trista Smith join us to give us all the details on their 2025 Rebelle Rally Adventure. Spoiler alert; they did AWESOME! They give us all the dirt on (ba-dum-tiss) on their 2025 Rebelle Rally adventure, how the move to the Ranger Raptor went, those amazing dresses, and why you don't turn at the dead badger. Follow Team Velocity at https://team-velocity.com

The Avants Podcast is brought to you by our friends at STE...

Porsche profits dropped a whopping 99% this year. And as usual, this was extremely easy to predict. They already pulled back on the full electrification of the Boxster and Cayman, but add in weakening sales in China, tariffs, and people just plain tired of paying ridiculous ADMs and Porsche had an easy to see plan to fail. Car companies need to fire their bean counters in our opinion. Nissan brings back cool SEMA cars with their 1,...

From CVTs with Paddle Shifters to that radio you pretty much forgot existed, we go down the list of features we're wondering why still exist. We can't remember the last time we actually used the factory GPS, when it even worked, and self parking is a great way to lose a spot to the person behind you and cause a small traffic jam as a bonus. What features do you forget your car has? Which ones can't you live without? Which one is un...