The Car Guys
As it enters its 32nd year on the air, The Car Care Clinic on WSYR continues to attract thousands of loyal listeners
By Tim Bennett

Terry Bish, owner of North Syracuse-based Terry’s Transmission in May of 1993, was literally minding his own business when he got a call from his friend, Ed Swank, at WSYR (106.9 FM, 570 WSYR AM), the local radio station in Syracuse.
The friend got right to the point: “How would you like to replace the guy who had a car repair show at our station?”
Bish was stunned, speechless. Swank continued, “The guy we had just left and we’d like to keep the program going. You know cars, Terry, whatta ya say?”
At first, Bish was hesitant. Yes, he’d been doing repairs on cars since he was a teenager; had worked for AAMCO Transmissions for 13 years as a manager and now had his own business for six years. But answering calls from random people on live radio? He was non committal.
Ed pressed on: “Terry, you answer calls all day at your office about car repairs. Just respond the way you always do.”
Bish reluctantly agreed knowing it would be a stretch, but he liked risk and adventure, so why not?
He said the first day in the studio was nerve-wracking, especially when the red “LIVE” light went on, but after he fielded a few questions his confidence grew.
After a year, however, Bish felt he needed a partner who could help cover all the bases. With two people there would be less pressure to come up with a diagnosis on the spot. While one of them was shooting from the hip, the other could be thinking about other possibilities.
John Metzler, a master mechanic Bish had recently hired to manage his shop, immediately came to mind. Metzler had an encyclopedic knowledge of cars and had years of experience working on most makes and models. Metzler was thrilled with the opportunity. The gregarious Metzler and the soft-spoken introvert Bish were a perfect match.
This year marks The Car Care Clinic’s 32nd year on the air, the No. 1 rated local radio show for many years boasting 70, 000 to 90,000 listeners every Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m. from all over New York state, Canada and beyond.
Bish said he once got a call from a guy in Hawaii at 3 a.m. HST time (Hawaiian-Aleutian Time).
I met Bish and his wife, Charlene, in the parking lot of the radio station at 500 Plum St. in Franklin Square and then Metzler inside the iHeart Radio station. I was surprised not to see any logo whatsoever for WSYR on the walls or on the outside of the building.

When I mentioned that to Bish he said, “Oh, that’s because they’re rebranding.”
The office was almost vacant at 8:45 a.m. except for two young women from WSYR who would be managing the sound board. Along with making sure everything ran efficiently, their role was to keep Metzler and Bish current as to the names of the callers on the line and how much time was left between ad breaks. Usually, there was only one WSYR staffer, but today a new tech was being trained. During the hour of The Car Clinic, 12 minutes are allotted for the ads of sponsors of the program, which pays for the show. Bish’s company TD Bish Productions, now owns the program and pays WSYR for the hour time slot.
At the entrance of the spacious office was a room with walls completely in red with a reception counter and the words iHeart Radio on the wall in large letters. I followed Metzler and Bish toward the studio in the right corner of the room. I fully expected to wait for them outside of the studio until they were done.
“Oh, no, Tim. C’mon in,” Bish said.
The room was maybe 12 x 15 feet with a large octagonal type table in the center with a slew of microphones mounted on it. Bish handed me a set of headphones to put on so I could hear the callers’ questions and their responses. Bish sat to my right, Charlene next to him, and Metzler at the other end. The two technicians sat across the table from us. There was a large digital clock on the wall facing us with the seconds changing quickly.
When the show started, Metzler and Bish chit-chatted informally on various topics like Bish trying to sell some of his vintage cars. As a spectator I felt like I was privy to light banter between old friends and I could understand why the program had such a loyal listener base. You felt comfortable listening to them. They both had pleasant and natural-sounding voices and they treated every caller with respect and appreciation. I marveled with how Metzler seamlessly eased into a commercial break or how he could fill in non-caller time flawlessly. Bish added depth and weight to the conversations by either confirming Metzler’s perspectives or suggesting other possible scenarios from his many years in the car industry. Both of them knew of common car problems or recalls with various years, makes and models.
Metzler continues to do the show every week while Bish, now retired, only comes in once a month.
“The three weeks Terry isn’t here we bring on the sponsors of our show. This helps listeners to get to know and support local businesses in the area,” Metzler said.
Bish said they only allow sponsors on the program who have a high level of integrity and a solid reputation in the area for doing quality work and honoring their promises.
“After you are in the industry for 30 years you learn who does good work and who doesn’t,” Bish said.
Over the three decades The Car Care Clinic has been on the airways, both Bish and Metzler have seen dramatic changes in the car industry and the listeners calling in.
“It was a lot easier to diagnose car problems 30 years ago than today where everything is computerized,” Metzler said. “Now you have to connect your car to a computer to diagnose a problem. It also used to be maybe two or three issues. Today it could be a dozen different things. So we have to be more general in our answers now. A car today could also have three different engine options with one built in Italy, another in Tennessee and another in Canada,” Metzler said. “It makes things complicated.”
“The callers today are also better educated and knowledgeable about the cars,” Bish said. “Their questions are more precise and focused. They call in after they have Googled the problem or gone to some of the online forums.”
When Bish was asked why their program resonated so much with people he said, “One thing that we do differently from other car radio shows is we don’t make fun of people. Some guys crack jokes at the expense of the callers. We don’t do that although we do rib each other occasionally. We respect everyone and take every question seriously. We also talk about our lives, our families and things we do over the weekend. We let people get to know us a little bit and I think listeners like that.”
To Listen to The Car Care Clinic
The Car Care Clinic can be heard at 106.9 FM and 570 WSYR AM every Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m. and from their pod cast.
Their website is www.carcareclinicradio.com.