‘Top Gear’ Recap: ‘Season 32, Episode 4’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 3204 of ‘Top Gear’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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We are definitely living in quite the unique time when it comes to car sales. For manufacturing shortages and the weirdness of the world, are leading to new car shortages in a world where the car is king. Which in turn is upping the price of used cars like never before and pushing people to really do their research on used rides if by chance they are in need of a car and can’t get the new one they want, courtesy of the shortage. Which really does beg some important questions from a market perspective. In that, with pricing out of whack, which used cars are worthwhile right now? And for that matter, what’s the right price to pay for one? Well as it turns out, the people to best answer those questions, are the hosts of Top Gear.

For the next episode in this magnificent series saw Freddie, Paddy and Chris, work to see if by chance people could find a reliable used ride at a cheap price to help our wallets in these trying times… after they took the time to do some quick supercar reviews. Because Maserati just brought out their first car in years, the MC20. Which Chris Harris absolutely had to take for a test drive, and despite some minor complaints, he still found joy in taking a brand-new ride from an iconic company out on the road. And Freddie… well he had the chance to test drive the Rivian R1T. Something that he had reservations in doing because he didn’t understand the obsession with trucks, much less how a quality electric one could exist. But their fine ride won him over, to the point where he might buy one.

Once that was done, it was onto the grand test. Wherein the lads picked up some used cards for dirt cheap and immediately went to test them out on a military range to see if they could hold up for the money they paid and uh… they didn’t. Because all three cars struggled to complete the first leg of the course, which involved towing a tire up a massive hill and it was all downhill from there. Since the suspension test left parts of these cars behind and one last push to just get through a nasty puddle… ended with all three cars dying. Meaning that the Mini Cooper, Volvo V70, and Mercedes-Benz C220 CDI that Paddy, Freddie, and Chris drove, respectively, had to be abandoned where they lie so that the trio could restart the search for the perfect value used car.

Which also ended in disaster. Because the next… slightly more practical reliability test for the Honda Civic, Mazda 323F and Toyota Celica the lads chose, which involved racing the Stig in equally cheap used cars… saw malfunction after malfunction take place. Alongside losses of power and that led to all three cards needing to be crushed for losing the race and that in turn… hammered home an important lesson. In that, while a cheap used car may seem appealing and helpful to one’s wallet, in this market, just jumping at price isn’t the key. One needs to really find the right ride for their daily requirements and make sure the car is in the right shape to get them from Point A to Point B. Otherwise, one might find themselves stuck in the middle of nowhere or worse, losing to the Stig when he is driving a supremely underwhelming ride.

If anything, it was just wonderful to find that kind of honesty in a show about cars. Since it would be easy to manipulate an audience for entertainment purposes over anything else. But the lads aren’t about that kind of storytelling and are always eager to tell it to us straight. And now we know what we need to know, plus we still were treated to some beautiful rides, because that Rivian Truck is indeed something to behold… and there were plenty of laughs to be found as well. Because watching these guys ram each other's cars to get to the next leg of the military course… made for some side-splitting comedy, as did their responses to losing to the Stig. And well… once again, this show reminded us of its value to audiences everywhere since this had to help prospective buyers out there, and this episode definitely leaves us eager to see what other lessons and fun await us, when we return to the road with these wonderful hosts, come next week.

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