It’s hard to take you seriously when you talk about integrity seeing as you white washed your last name from Martinez to martini. Not to mention you’ve spent years upon years Hawking products at figment. 👎🏼
Savagegeese is my favorite auto channel for reviews. They do the best job of reviewing from the enthusiast perspective and also the more common driver perspective as well.
That's why I really like Throttle House and Savage Geese. They are not afraid to rag on something and point out things they don't like. In total alignment with your take alex
This is so true you give people money they lose a lot of their integrity. You should always be honest especially with cars because it’s a big investment in a lot of peoples lives.
Totally agree. The automotive writers are just extensions of the marketing department’s for many of these companies. I can appreciate enthusiasm when you get paid to review a product or object, but be honest and authentic because your integrity is literally the only thing you have that is irreplaceable.
This is why I love throttle house, they are incredibly honest and will mention dealer markup. They even mention how they might not get another press car because they sometimes shit on cars
Definitely align with this take. There seems to be a lack of the unspoken responsibility one assumes on social platforms and on CZcams, in general, once you grow any consistent following. Transparency is huge and often comes with great respect as the lack there of has become more and more blatantly obvious.
Honestly every time I think about purchasing a car I watch the associated "So You Want.." and "Driver to Driver" videos. You, Gels, and Dakota have done a great job being honest and telling the pros and cons about each platform. Huge thanks for saving me from some questionable purchases (Mitsubishi Eclipse that "only needed a tune" and "muffler fell off but is included in price") and steering towards more reliable and fun cars like my previous is300 and my current 350z 👍. You guys rock and have the likability and knowledge to be this generation's car trio!
i think saying that not including dealer mark up when comparing value is inaccurate is not an argument that could really be made. considering dealer mark up isn't something that is out and 100% guaranteed for all vehicles and the only true way to compare is the msrp. so to summarize what i said you can't compare dealer mark ups because they're unpredictable and uncertain.
Smoking tire has addressed this in the past and I admire Matts conviction in telling his viewers the truth. But you can also see that his ability to work with brands has been heavily affected.
This is why I watch you man, you keep it so real in such a fake money hungry society. You always bring real talking points that applies to more than just cars as well.
Every time some new car comes out I can see this circle of praising new models and older models suddenly being criticized. It's ridiculous. People are getting into serious debt just to get a new shiny thing not even mention the carbon footprint that's associated with the production of every "better than ever" new car. Every car on the street used to be brand new and somewhat exciting for somebody. Maybe it's time to start taking better care of things that we already possess and manufacture more durable products if it's not sustainable and possible to flood the market with new iterations of the same thing each year anymore? Very few automotive CZcamsrs openly discuss this topic. Thanks Alex!
Totally agree. You know how Clackson got a job on top gear. He was brutally honest about what he was driving, no matter what he was driving! 🎉 that's why people listened to him, and car manufacturers won't let him behind the wheel of their cars. Ferrari, wops, did I say that out loud 🤔
Love the vid as always, I definitely think transparency is an issue with journalism as a whole today but it's nice to see ppl like you trying to talk about it more! Happy Wednesday!
Acura was egregious about this when the TLX Type S and Integra dropped. They brought a slew of people out to a resort, wine and dined them, and suddenly all those issues with weight, size, shifting, and acceleration disappeared. BMW/MB are just as bad too. If you read reviews for either brand the journalists get flown to Germany, treated like royalty, and the 3 series is still the best sports sedan ever. But put any other person in a 3 Series and a Giulia and 9 times out of 10 they’ll pick the Alfa Romeo.
Part of the problem may just be that some of these influencers don’t consider themselves to be journalists so journalistic integrity isn’t even considered.
There is something ironic about how companies want to pay influencers with a track record of being honest and having integrity to review something with implausible enthusiasm and positivity even when the product itself is meh or even outright garbage, only for people with no sense to go buy it and find out the hard way that the product isn't what the influencer claimed, which then tanks the influencer's credibility and causes people to not trust them anymore. This ends up being a net loss for everyone all around because the consumer loses money to buy something they didn't actually want, the influencer loses clout, viewership, and possibly their livelihood, and the company loses a marketing channel. It's incredibly shortsighted and yet it still keeps happening.
This is NOT unique to automotive journalists. As a former design engineer at a large Japanese OEM; Our suppliers would pull this shit all the time. 4 hour lunches before the Detroit auto show, box seats to Piston, Tigers, and Lions (well, tbh you couldn't give Lions tickets away even if you paid people to take them) games, annual Christmas lunches, etc. But not once did I ever decide to use a supplier based off all that BS. I ALWAYS considered how they were to deal with as well as how good the parts they produced were. If anything, I would use the size of their "positive reinforcement" expenses to gauge how much they were trying to buy me over whilst also letting their quality fall --> The more money they'd spend on us versus the parts --> The more likely I'd be to suggest they be black listed from an upcoming program. You need to be able to separate the BS from your job and make honest calls, that's my advice. You do that; I don't think your viewers really care how many Hawaiian vacations the tire companies take you on.
This is unfortunately the standard in "access media" journalism, for small outfits like CZcams channels. It's an unwritten understanding that automakers won't give you loaner cars to review, won't give you access to key engineers/employees to interview, won't give you perks or free goodies, if you lodge criticism against their vehicles. Without those things, your channel dies. And this is not limited to automakers; you see the same pattern in YT videos reviewing pre-release video games, TV shows, watches, boats, planes, etc., where the reviewers get access to the content from the brands with the implicit understanding that the channel will provide only positive feedback (as it's always understood, the brand may revoke your access in the future if you're critical). The result is that even technically "unsponsored" videos are almost always slanted positive. You only see truly honest reviews from channels that are absolutely HUGE and thus can't be controlled (millions of subscribers), or from those reviewers who procure review cars from owners, etc., and don't rely on the brands.
Als one thing i absolutely hate is these youtubers not mentioning prices. Say what you want about Tommyfyeah, love how he puts everyone under the bus by throwing the prices and part number out. Shoutout to Juicebox too for being transparent af and showing us the realities of how much shit costs lol
I think something that I would love to see, but would never happen because of how expensive it would be, is to see car reviewers legitimately test cars to their absolute maximum limit. Like when donut media would test tools of varying price ranges and quality to their absolute breaking point. I love watching automotive journalists, talk about cars, but for more obtainable everyday cars, I would much rather talk to people. I know that owned them. And sometimes going to car meets, is the best form of "automotive journalism" The people who talk about their cars at meets, will tell you the pros and all the cons of their car. And they still speak about it with a lot of passion, and you know it's something that they're not getting paid to talk about, it's literally the exact opposite
I love working in the detailing department at my dealership because I get to see the absolutely maddening markups, they were selling a VW Tiguan R-line which retailed for 34l=k but then they marked it up to 55k, 10k of which were unaccounted for on the dealer sticker. Don't ever let a dealer tell you their "market adjustment fee" is a real reflection of the world, every vehicle's manufacturer sticker is printed and calculated day of shipment, it is ALREADY market adjusted, and additional fees the dealer may charge you that are "valid" are detailing, state inspection, and security systems if that specific dealer has locked themselves into a certain security ecosystem (That one being the least justifiable out of all of them)
As someone who would love to get into automotive journalism, I completely agree. Marketing divisions of companies, not just automotive but any company, dish out so much money to make sure their brand is viewed in the most positive light possible, which often leads to that money being given to journalists in ludicrous amounts so they can highly promote a shit product. The responsibility of a journalist is to be in as much neutral ground with the customer as possible, and when companies try to inhibit that by giving you a pretty cheque for your favouritism, lines are blurred and lies are sold. I hope to put myself in a position where this doesn't happen, and honesty is taken into consideration when a company (hopefully) chooses me to review a car or something along those lines.
Automotive journalism is the #1 reason many good cars from the past have become terrible in the future. My biggest gripe is the trend that every single car has to be sporty. Is it sporty? You'll have some journalist driving the newest npc every day car, talking about the improvements from the last model, then complain that it's not sporty enough. IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE!. It's a GD npc point a to point b appliance of a car. No real person cares how sporty it is. Then the manufacturer sees all of the journalists complaining about how that car wasnt sporty enough and I'll be damned if the next version isnt sportier. It's our sportiest minivan ever! Or I'm just getting old. That could be it too.
On a podcast episode I did I mentioned something similar about the LIghtning Lap, more so about the metric used for the whole test not really being applicable to what 99% of these cars end up doing in real life. You are spot on... great video!
absolutely right! i recently researched a Lexus IS F that was very well reviewed... the video said low 40s for price, but no dealer had one for less than 50! a 10 year old platform rehashed this year! absurd! 2000 more and you can get a brand new, modern mercedes! complete fraud
Alex, you were the first youtuber I saw who is my age, relatable, funny, intertaining, and knowledgeable, but above all, I respect the integrity of your O-pinion. Keep that, and I will forever be your fan. 💯
Lets not confuse two things. If you are accepting money or gifts for reviews, you dont get to call yourself a journalist. No matter how transparent you are about your relationship with the producer . There is nothing wrong with being an actor. Just dont call it journalism, ok?
You make an incredibly good point in this video and It's a serious issue with a lot of "content creators" on this platform. Integrity is PARAMOUNT and I'm glad you agree. But when it's something like Michelin at least and you are proud of their brand and use them (I have Michelin tire stickers on TWO cars) I think at least that kind of sponsor is one that makes sense rather than ones that have nothing to do with the channel or your personal interests. Do what you need to, Alex. This channel is going to be huge.
Didn’t anybody notice this About the new Type R… go back to the release of the FK8 nobody called it ugly when it first debuted somewhat 6 years ago, but when the FL5 came around a few months ago literally EVERY journalist had become an expert on automotive styling and IMMEDIATELY dissed the FK8’s appearance over the FL5…now all of a sudden the FK8 is shockingly offensive in the way it looks and all because the new FL5 had come… don’t tell me nobody else had notice this?…this trend amongst the reviewers and so called automotive journalists…
"...just a CZcamsr..." Yeah, I would argue that IS automotive journalism these days. I am sure someone is still buying Car&Driver, but I don't know who.. Nice video!
I have more joy watching you and the boys review 90s jdm cars versus an overpaid uk person giving a 1inch deep review on a car that we can all see isn’t the greatest
Reminds me of the Viper reviews. I always wondered if there were some marketing $'s from Dodge where reviewers were incentivized to repeatedly highlight how 'brutal, violent, and unpredictable' the cars are to further associate masculinity with danger in typifying their product.
I think the rise of influencers on one hand, and the realization that Top Gear was straight up lying about a lot of cars back in the day on the other made us all very careful and even a bit numb to it all =/ I unsubcribed from a lot of CZcams channels recently because of that. Good thing I discovered Jason Cammisa and Throttle House ^^
The only honest thing you said was Top Gear is fake and nobody liked it, people are all the same they don't really know what they do and don't like... They're just waiting for the crowd to say what's cool
It would be nice if at least one automotive journalist would acknowledge in their reviews that cars have become completely unaffordable. Most of the people you see driving new cars are suffering because of their car payment.
Time and money show peoples true colors. We all find out who become sellouts. Some people stay with them and others leave. So far you're one of the good ones 😂👍
It’s the reason why I mostly watch pov Binaural Audio car videos. Only occasionally watch everyday driver, Throttle House, and savagegeese. Imo one of the few content creators giving opinionated reviews… a lot of car reviewers obviously and painfully try to give the most neutral review possible.
I feel like Doug DeMuro, RCR and people like them are kind of carrying the true car jouralism and reviews. Doug will say what he is thinking and what he truley feels and RCR is RCR. If we had more people like them I feel like we would be in a much better place
I think the difference with those guys is they can separate their own interests from the masses, and understand what makes a car enjoyable from one type of person to another. They see the flashiness and pomp of a car, and can make fun of them while also enjoying what they represent, when I think most average people are just thinking about how they’re going to be seen in that car.
I'll never forget when Doug ripped Honda a new one when they invited him to the press release in Montreal for their new Type-R LOL. that was fantastic, everyone else was saying they loved the car, and he was like, meh, I don't like it.
Great video Alex! I'm thinking...can we even do something about this? Because it's not a simple issue...the blame doesn't just lie with influencers or journalists or companies, everyone is responsible for a portion of the issue. Especially now with everything getting more expensive by the second, I can see why people will put aside their integrity for a bigger paycheck. I don't support it but I get it. Talking about dealerships and their markups...you can't control which means reporting on it is very difficult. Dealer A might have a $50,000 markup while Dealer B has a $500,000 markup. Which one do you state as fact? You can't because the goalposts keep moving. The only concrete number they can state is the MSRP. Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending all the crap that occurs in this industry. I repeat, I don't support or condone any of this happening in the industry. I'm just saying the dozens of us who are frustrated by this behaviour what can we do? Until the people with the money actually listen to the common person and act on our wishes, I doubt anything will change. There is a chance if hundreds of thousands or millions of people come together and hit the industry where it hurts, change might occur but knowing how pacifist everyone here in North America is... it's a pretty slim chance that anything will happen.
I’m late on this video for sure, but this is why i like reviewers like Doug Demuro, or like TheSmokingTire (Matt Farrah and Zach Clapman). They’ll say “this is a great car, this is an amazing drivers car…. Unless you have to pay markup” or something along the lines of “If you can get an allocation for one which most people cannot.” It’s giving a fair review including all the ancillary things like markup and availability.
This is why ferrari always wins group tests, because they bully these journalist into giving thr ferrari a good review so the journalist get first pick when the next ferrari car drops. But chris harris said fuck them and that and got black balled and HAD TO APOLOGISE TO FERRARI for giving an honest review
Definitely one of my biggest turnoffs when looking at stuff and reviews, unless someone is being really honest while reviewing a sponsored review I will almost always click off because they always say it’s the best and has no integrity to what I’m trying to figure out
I like when car journalists keep emphasizing a car like a Corvette is so affordable. The average MSRP is $85,000-$95,000. How is a two seater sports car at that price affordable for a middle class family? Or when they tell you you need to buy the version of a car that is astronomically high priced.
I don’t believe in automotive journalism. It’s is automotive advertising, journalism is dead. No body ever says this is a junk product or don’t buy it. They disguise it as it fits certain people or other things along that line. The fact is you won’t be called to review a new car if you are honest so it’s a double edge sword. All reviews are just advertising and they should be required to state that. It’s like watching the news, facts are constantly mixed with opinions. That at its heart is not journalism, journalism should be unbiased.
These days you are a fool if you don't take EVERYTHING you read or see from anyone with a grain of salt. Even those that are not intentionally being deceptive, there are still biases and variables that can and do skew their perceptions. It is best to treat each as a data point and realize that it is fine to have an opinion, as long as you always keep in mind that you (and even many others), could be wrong.
I know the Manufacturers Retail Price is not the Dealership Price. I just serviced my 2022 Roush Mustang for the 1st Oil change. There was a Black F150 Raptor R 700 hp for $230,000 In the same show room the was a Shelby Super Snake F150 for $141,000. 750 hp Not lifted and for $89k less that would be better bang for the Buck I agree... some are one sided or are sell off. I am not like that . I am a Ford guy and admit the C8 Z06 has an awesome engine, but to me it is worth less than my Roush due to the C8 only being Automatic Transmission Paddle Shifters. I prefer the 2019 C7 with 7 Speed Manual Transmission 👦👍🏎🏁🚩
My thoughts are: only listen to journalists that have proven to be damn good drivers (Chris Harris, etc), or that understand the mechanical design of the products at an extremely deep level (Jason Cammisa, etc). Savagegeese on CZcams is one of my favorites because of the "in the shop" segments and all of the engineering info they try to provide.
@@beautyisontheinside note the herd mentally when people pridefully mention who they watch, hoping for peer/stranger adulation for an unoriginal thought...
The solution may have to be the same as with games. Take no reviews seriously until a model has been out long enough for people to get ahold of them without manufacturer sanction. Drive it, try some basic maintenance, do the things you would normally do, and film all your honest impressions. The waiting for the hype to die down may be critical for the honesty
So my take may be a little bit of a hot one. Yes you are absolutely right in that stuff like this needs to be disclosed/people need to be made aware of. I can't remember which journalist it was (probably Jason Cammisa or Matt Farah) highlighted on one of the events they attended over half the group were influencers who had no idea how to drive stick. To the point of lightning lap and that whole situation, I'd make the argument that those who blindly buy the car without doing the research behind it and pay the mark up, are the ones at fault, less so than the journalist on that one. Yes the whole mark up situation is tipping the scale and perhaps they need to reevaluate things when there are mark ups across the board but the point of lightning lap is to make things as apples to apples as possible with a set of known variables (it is hard to quantify a fair way to do a mark up on all vehicles received). Which is why I place any blame on that on the dealerships and the end line consumers who buy things at the marked up prices (because you are saying this car is worth this mark up). Long rant and open to debate on this subject.
I want auto journalist to go to dealerships. Then they can shut up about how affordable cars are. The prices the journalists talk about aren’t reality after mark ups and dealer fees
I'm here for transparency. I think a lot of the world look to youtube for answers but popular influencers aren't giving honest answers. For instance people sing praises to the Lexus LS430 which i was looking to buy this year until a buddy of mine told me how one of his friends works on these cars for a living and how they have problems. I'm not saying its true but why just this one person. For some reason I'm more interest in in the bad reviews two out of a million people have to say.
He wants to rag on it while still collecting the check, his integrity is the same as all the others he just found a different angle to do it at. This is to reestablish some credibility his data analytics has told him he is loosing
I saw the same guilty-ish mentality from another cute CZcamsr a few months back. It was superfastMatt reviewing the new Honda civic type-r. I loved just how transparent and honest he was.
Yeap pre Clarkson.... Although Clarkson would admit to needing hyperbole for entertainment value and that's why they do not qualify as a legitimate car reviewers
I think this is general in every niche sadly, everywhere you go, you clearly see a bunch of ''influencers'' getting paid to say/promote any stupidity. Blend this, with a devolving society that is getting dumber and you have recipe for chaos.
How did Lexus not get mentioned and 2jz smfh 😤 are definitely overhyped I've even seen them in a donk. The LS also people see ls and automatically assume you got 800 hp when most of the time you could have bout a 350 built it with more hp and 10k cheaper.
Automotive journalism integrity has always been kind of a joke. Everyone has they're own bias. Reviews should be taken with a grain of salt. Doug Demuro and Jason Camisa are absolute jokes when it comes to their actual reviews. The only good things about Doug's reviews is that he gives a good overview of the cars and its features but his Doug score is BS.
Can we get a "Happy Wednesday" ya'll in the comments below?! It'd mean a lot
It’s hard to take you seriously when you talk about integrity seeing as you white washed your last name from Martinez to martini. Not to mention you’ve spent years upon years Hawking products at figment. 👎🏼
SavageGeese is a great CZcams channel for car reviews because they're brutal and it's honestly surprising they still get cars sent to them lol
They are good, but I don’t think Alex watching them.
They are the most premium reviewers. Mr Regular is great about reviewing the owners of cars.
Savagegeese is my favorite auto channel for reviews. They do the best job of reviewing from the enthusiast perspective and also the more common driver perspective as well.
Regularcarreviews is the best
except of course when they post GM Corvette Propaganda or honda dealership propaganda
That's why I really like Throttle House and Savage Geese. They are not afraid to rag on something and point out things they don't like. In total alignment with your take alex
Been loving Throttle House for years, really fun personalities and honest reviews! Their Audi RS5 video got me wanting to take out a loan!
I'll need to watch Savage Geese. I haven't heard of it just yet but that could be my problem!
@@AlexMartini. They're Chicago-area too so another midwest-based channel!
They do not hold their punches. Even if they like a car they’ll still be brutally honest about it’s faults.
@@AlexMartini. they are pushing HYUNDAI &KIA.
Hyundai KIA is the most spending on social media & youtube,
This is so true you give people money they lose a lot of their integrity. You should always be honest especially with cars because it’s a big investment in a lot of peoples lives.
And I love/need the support from brands. It's just a careful line I think a lot of people should be more aware of :)
Totally agree. The automotive writers are just extensions of the marketing department’s for many of these companies. I can appreciate enthusiasm when you get paid to review a product or object, but be honest and authentic because your integrity is literally the only thing you have that is irreplaceable.
This is why I love throttle house, they are incredibly honest and will mention dealer markup. They even mention how they might not get another press car because they sometimes shit on cars
Definitely align with this take. There seems to be a lack of the unspoken responsibility one assumes on social platforms and on CZcams, in general, once you grow any consistent following. Transparency is huge and often comes with great respect as the lack there of has become more and more blatantly obvious.
Totally agree.
Honestly every time I think about purchasing a car I watch the associated "So You Want.." and "Driver to Driver" videos. You, Gels, and Dakota have done a great job being honest and telling the pros and cons about each platform. Huge thanks for saving me from some questionable purchases (Mitsubishi Eclipse that "only needed a tune" and "muffler fell off but is included in price") and steering towards more reliable and fun cars like my previous is300 and my current 350z 👍. You guys rock and have the likability and knowledge to be this generation's car trio!
i think saying that not including dealer mark up when comparing value is inaccurate is not an argument that could really be made. considering dealer mark up isn't something that is out and 100% guaranteed for all vehicles and the only true way to compare is the msrp. so to summarize what i said you can't compare dealer mark ups because they're unpredictable and uncertain.
I definitely think it's hard to trust any journalist let alone car journalists lol
Me when the "affordable entry level sports car" that's so amazing for the price has a 50k markup: 🗿
just buy an old 86
Smoking tire has addressed this in the past and I admire Matts conviction in telling his viewers the truth. But you can also see that his ability to work with brands has been heavily affected.
That’s why I quite like Alex On Autos. Always felt like he was super balanced, and tears up a vehicle when they deserve it.
This is why I watch you man, you keep it so real in such a fake money hungry society. You always bring real talking points that applies to more than just cars as well.
Every time some new car comes out I can see this circle of praising new models and older models suddenly being criticized. It's ridiculous. People are getting into serious debt just to get a new shiny thing not even mention the carbon footprint that's associated with the production of every "better than ever" new car. Every car on the street used to be brand new and somewhat exciting for somebody. Maybe it's time to start taking better care of things that we already possess and manufacture more durable products if it's not sustainable and possible to flood the market with new iterations of the same thing each year anymore? Very few automotive CZcamsrs openly discuss this topic. Thanks Alex!
Totally agree. You know how Clackson got a job on top gear. He was brutally honest about what he was driving, no matter what he was driving! 🎉 that's why people listened to him, and car manufacturers won't let him behind the wheel of their cars. Ferrari, wops, did I say that out loud 🤔
Love the vid as always, I definitely think transparency is an issue with journalism as a whole today but it's nice to see ppl like you trying to talk about it more!
Happy Wednesday!
Acura was egregious about this when the TLX Type S and Integra dropped. They brought a slew of people out to a resort, wine and dined them, and suddenly all those issues with weight, size, shifting, and acceleration disappeared. BMW/MB are just as bad too. If you read reviews for either brand the journalists get flown to Germany, treated like royalty, and the 3 series is still the best sports sedan ever. But put any other person in a 3 Series and a Giulia and 9 times out of 10 they’ll pick the Alfa Romeo.
I thought those Type S commercials resembling a drifting anime were funny considering they designed those cars to be impossible to drift.
Part of the problem may just be that some of these influencers don’t consider themselves to be journalists so journalistic integrity isn’t even considered.
There is something ironic about how companies want to pay influencers with a track record of being honest and having integrity to review something with implausible enthusiasm and positivity even when the product itself is meh or even outright garbage, only for people with no sense to go buy it and find out the hard way that the product isn't what the influencer claimed, which then tanks the influencer's credibility and causes people to not trust them anymore.
This ends up being a net loss for everyone all around because the consumer loses money to buy something they didn't actually want, the influencer loses clout, viewership, and possibly their livelihood, and the company loses a marketing channel. It's incredibly shortsighted and yet it still keeps happening.
This is NOT unique to automotive journalists.
As a former design engineer at a large Japanese OEM; Our suppliers would pull this shit all the time.
4 hour lunches before the Detroit auto show, box seats to Piston, Tigers, and Lions (well, tbh you couldn't give Lions tickets away even if you paid people to take them) games, annual Christmas lunches, etc. But not once did I ever decide to use a supplier based off all that BS. I ALWAYS considered how they were to deal with as well as how good the parts they produced were. If anything, I would use the size of their "positive reinforcement" expenses to gauge how much they were trying to buy me over whilst also letting their quality fall --> The more money they'd spend on us versus the parts --> The more likely I'd be to suggest they be black listed from an upcoming program.
You need to be able to separate the BS from your job and make honest calls, that's my advice. You do that; I don't think your viewers really care how many Hawaiian vacations the tire companies take you on.
This is unfortunately the standard in "access media" journalism, for small outfits like CZcams channels. It's an unwritten understanding that automakers won't give you loaner cars to review, won't give you access to key engineers/employees to interview, won't give you perks or free goodies, if you lodge criticism against their vehicles. Without those things, your channel dies. And this is not limited to automakers; you see the same pattern in YT videos reviewing pre-release video games, TV shows, watches, boats, planes, etc., where the reviewers get access to the content from the brands with the implicit understanding that the channel will provide only positive feedback (as it's always understood, the brand may revoke your access in the future if you're critical). The result is that even technically "unsponsored" videos are almost always slanted positive. You only see truly honest reviews from channels that are absolutely HUGE and thus can't be controlled (millions of subscribers), or from those reviewers who procure review cars from owners, etc., and don't rely on the brands.
Als one thing i absolutely hate is these youtubers not mentioning prices. Say what you want about Tommyfyeah, love how he puts everyone under the bus by throwing the prices and part number out. Shoutout to Juicebox too for being transparent af and showing us the realities of how much shit costs lol
I think something that I would love to see, but would never happen because of how expensive it would be, is to see car reviewers legitimately test cars to their absolute maximum limit.
Like when donut media would test tools of varying price ranges and quality to their absolute breaking point.
I love watching automotive journalists, talk about cars, but for more obtainable everyday cars, I would much rather talk to people. I know that owned them. And sometimes going to car meets, is the best form of "automotive journalism"
The people who talk about their cars at meets, will tell you the pros and all the cons of their car. And they still speak about it with a lot of passion, and you know it's something that they're not getting paid to talk about, it's literally the exact opposite
I love working in the detailing department at my dealership because I get to see the absolutely maddening markups, they were selling a VW Tiguan R-line which retailed for 34l=k but then they marked it up to 55k, 10k of which were unaccounted for on the dealer sticker. Don't ever let a dealer tell you their "market adjustment fee" is a real reflection of the world, every vehicle's manufacturer sticker is printed and calculated day of shipment, it is ALREADY market adjusted, and additional fees the dealer may charge you that are "valid" are detailing, state inspection, and security systems if that specific dealer has locked themselves into a certain security ecosystem (That one being the least justifiable out of all of them)
I’d call myself more of a car reviewer than an auto journalist. I’m not really breaking any stories. Mostly filming fun car vids with my buddy
Redline reviews seems to do a good job
As someone who would love to get into automotive journalism, I completely agree. Marketing divisions of companies, not just automotive but any company, dish out so much money to make sure their brand is viewed in the most positive light possible, which often leads to that money being given to journalists in ludicrous amounts so they can highly promote a shit product. The responsibility of a journalist is to be in as much neutral ground with the customer as possible, and when companies try to inhibit that by giving you a pretty cheque for your favouritism, lines are blurred and lies are sold. I hope to put myself in a position where this doesn't happen, and honesty is taken into consideration when a company (hopefully) chooses me to review a car or something along those lines.
Automotive journalism is the #1 reason many good cars from the past have become terrible in the future. My biggest gripe is the trend that every single car has to be sporty. Is it sporty? You'll have some journalist driving the newest npc every day car, talking about the improvements from the last model, then complain that it's not sporty enough. IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE!. It's a GD npc point a to point b appliance of a car. No real person cares how sporty it is. Then the manufacturer sees all of the journalists complaining about how that car wasnt sporty enough and I'll be damned if the next version isnt sportier. It's our sportiest minivan ever! Or I'm just getting old. That could be it too.
On a podcast episode I did I mentioned something similar about the LIghtning Lap, more so about the metric used for the whole test not really being applicable to what 99% of these cars end up doing in real life.
You are spot on... great video!
You not going to last bro.. your speaking too much truth
absolutely right! i recently researched a Lexus IS F that was very well reviewed... the video said low 40s for price, but no dealer had one for less than 50! a 10 year old platform rehashed this year! absurd! 2000 more and you can get a brand new, modern mercedes! complete fraud
Alex, you were the first youtuber I saw who is my age, relatable, funny, intertaining, and knowledgeable, but above all, I respect the integrity of your O-pinion. Keep that, and I will forever be your fan. 💯
REally apprecaite your integrity and honesty! One of the many reasons why I continue to watch your vids!
Thank you so much man!
Lets not confuse two things. If you are accepting money or gifts for reviews, you dont get to call yourself a journalist. No matter how transparent you are about your relationship with the producer
. There is nothing wrong with being an actor. Just dont call it journalism, ok?
The cat is framed perfectly for the video for the last 1/3 of it.
Its true though I have been noticing that almost all the cars nowadays get a ‘it’s the best car’ tone of words in the end
You make an incredibly good point in this video and It's a serious issue with a lot of "content creators" on this platform. Integrity is PARAMOUNT and I'm glad you agree. But when it's something like Michelin at least and you are proud of their brand and use them (I have Michelin tire stickers on TWO cars) I think at least that kind of sponsor is one that makes sense rather than ones that have nothing to do with the channel or your personal interests.
Do what you need to, Alex. This channel is going to be huge.
Didn’t anybody notice this About the new Type R… go back to the release of the FK8 nobody called it ugly when it first debuted somewhat 6 years ago, but when the FL5 came around a few months ago literally EVERY journalist had become an expert on automotive styling and IMMEDIATELY dissed the FK8’s appearance over the FL5…now all of a sudden the FK8 is shockingly offensive in the way it looks and all because the new FL5 had come… don’t tell me nobody else had notice this?…this trend amongst the reviewers and so called automotive journalists…
My biggest annoyance with car reviewers is the overuse of the word “refined” lol
I absolutely just found your channel! Thank you for finally stating what many people are thinking!
"...just a CZcamsr..." Yeah, I would argue that IS automotive journalism these days. I am sure someone is still buying Car&Driver, but I don't know who.. Nice video!
I have more joy watching you and the boys review 90s jdm cars versus an overpaid uk person giving a 1inch deep review on a car that we can all see isn’t the greatest
Reminds me of the Viper reviews. I always wondered if there were some marketing $'s from Dodge where reviewers were incentivized to repeatedly highlight how 'brutal, violent, and unpredictable' the cars are to further associate masculinity with danger in typifying their product.
I think the rise of influencers on one hand, and the realization that Top Gear was straight up lying about a lot of cars back in the day on the other made us all very careful and even a bit numb to it all =/
I unsubcribed from a lot of CZcams channels recently because of that. Good thing I discovered Jason Cammisa and Throttle House ^^
Throttle House is not transparent at all. They are hugely depended on car manufacturers providing them with the newest models.
The only honest thing you said was Top Gear is fake and nobody liked it, people are all the same they don't really know what they do and don't like... They're just waiting for the crowd to say what's cool
Be the change you want to see.
Been enjoying these videos on every lunch break. Happy Wednesday everyone!
Happy Wednesday my dude!
It would be nice if at least one automotive journalist would acknowledge in their reviews that cars have become completely unaffordable. Most of the people you see driving new cars are suffering because of their car payment.
Time and money show peoples true colors. We all find out who become sellouts. Some people stay with them and others leave. So far you're one of the good ones 😂👍
It’s the reason why I mostly watch pov Binaural Audio car videos. Only occasionally watch everyday driver, Throttle House, and savagegeese. Imo one of the few content creators giving opinionated reviews… a lot of car reviewers obviously and painfully try to give the most neutral review possible.
I feel like Doug DeMuro, RCR and people like them are kind of carrying the true car jouralism and reviews. Doug will say what he is thinking and what he truley feels and RCR is RCR. If we had more people like them I feel like we would be in a much better place
I think the difference with those guys is they can separate their own interests from the masses, and understand what makes a car enjoyable from one type of person to another. They see the flashiness and pomp of a car, and can make fun of them while also enjoying what they represent, when I think most average people are just thinking about how they’re going to be seen in that car.
I'll never forget when Doug ripped Honda a new one when they invited him to the press release in Montreal for their new Type-R LOL. that was fantastic, everyone else was saying they loved the car, and he was like, meh, I don't like it.
Great video Alex!
I'm thinking...can we even do something about this? Because it's not a simple issue...the blame doesn't just lie with influencers or journalists or companies, everyone is responsible for a portion of the issue.
Especially now with everything getting more expensive by the second, I can see why people will put aside their integrity for a bigger paycheck.
I don't support it but I get it.
Talking about dealerships and their markups...you can't control which means reporting on it is very difficult. Dealer A might have a $50,000 markup while Dealer B has a $500,000 markup. Which one do you state as fact? You can't because the goalposts keep moving. The only concrete number they can state is the MSRP.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending all the crap that occurs in this industry. I repeat, I don't support or condone any of this happening in the industry. I'm just saying the dozens of us who are frustrated by this behaviour what can we do? Until the people with the money actually listen to the common person and act on our wishes, I doubt anything will change.
There is a chance if hundreds of thousands or millions of people come together and hit the industry where it hurts, change might occur but knowing how pacifist everyone here in North America is... it's a pretty slim chance that anything will happen.
I’m late on this video for sure, but this is why i like reviewers like Doug Demuro, or like TheSmokingTire (Matt Farrah and Zach Clapman).
They’ll say “this is a great car, this is an amazing drivers car…. Unless you have to pay markup” or something along the lines of “If you can get an allocation for one which most people cannot.” It’s giving a fair review including all the ancillary things like markup and availability.
Wow Alex almost 200k already!?! Man you are killing it!
I think the Lightning Lap should have an asterisk with the “real” price on unobtainable cars and their opine at that price.
This is why ferrari always wins group tests, because they bully these journalist into giving thr ferrari a good review so the journalist get first pick when the next ferrari car drops. But chris harris said fuck them and that and got black balled and HAD TO APOLOGISE TO FERRARI for giving an honest review
Definitely one of my biggest turnoffs when looking at stuff and reviews, unless someone is being really honest while reviewing a sponsored review I will almost always click off because they always say it’s the best and has no integrity to what I’m trying to figure out
I PROMISE TO TELL YOU WHEN I THINK THINGS ARE BIG POO POO.
I like when car journalists keep emphasizing a car like a Corvette is so affordable. The average MSRP is $85,000-$95,000. How is a two seater sports car at that price affordable for a middle class family? Or when they tell you you need to buy the version of a car that is astronomically high priced.
Shout out Doug DeMuro
I don’t believe in automotive journalism. It’s is automotive advertising, journalism is dead. No body ever says this is a junk product or don’t buy it. They disguise it as it fits certain people or other things along that line. The fact is you won’t be called to review a new car if you are honest so it’s a double edge sword. All reviews are just advertising and they should be required to state that. It’s like watching the news, facts are constantly mixed with opinions. That at its heart is not journalism, journalism should be unbiased.
Michelin and Continental do make some baller tires even if i'm all about them Bridgestones
These days you are a fool if you don't take EVERYTHING you read or see from anyone with a grain of salt. Even those that are not intentionally being deceptive, there are still biases and variables that can and do skew their perceptions. It is best to treat each as a data point and realize that it is fine to have an opinion, as long as you always keep in mind that you (and even many others), could be wrong.
This is why your my go to for anything auto, you say what’s up and arnt fake. Keep it up, thanks for the inside info about this topic. I was unaware
I know the Manufacturers Retail Price is not the Dealership Price. I just serviced my 2022 Roush Mustang for the 1st Oil change. There was a Black F150 Raptor R 700 hp for $230,000
In the same show room the was a Shelby Super Snake F150 for $141,000. 750 hp Not lifted and for $89k less that would be better bang for the Buck
I agree... some are one sided or are sell off. I am not like that .
I am a Ford guy and admit the C8 Z06 has an awesome engine, but to me it is worth less than my Roush due to the C8 only being Automatic Transmission Paddle Shifters. I prefer the 2019 C7 with 7 Speed Manual Transmission
👦👍🏎🏁🚩
My thoughts are: only listen to journalists that have proven to be damn good drivers (Chris Harris, etc), or that understand the mechanical design of the products at an extremely deep level (Jason Cammisa, etc). Savagegeese on CZcams is one of my favorites because of the "in the shop" segments and all of the engineering info they try to provide.
Savagegeese is standing under a car while reading press material, but people love it
@@beautyisontheinside note the herd mentally when people pridefully mention who they watch, hoping for peer/stranger adulation for an unoriginal thought...
He's exactly speaking about the straitpipes !
The solution may have to be the same as with games. Take no reviews seriously until a model has been out long enough for people to get ahold of them without manufacturer sanction.
Drive it, try some basic maintenance, do the things you would normally do, and film all your honest impressions. The waiting for the hype to die down may be critical for the honesty
I am a pretty little pineapple, swish!!! - my thoughts on nothing in particular, I was told to comment my thoughts
Only car journalists I watch are Regular Car Reviews
Just courious! Why is The Maserati with its Not Good on top!
If you reference a video you did in the past please put the link in the description for newcomers like us who are interested
That's why integrity is almost always important.
Throttle house always gives there honest opinion
i wonder if raiti’s rides & thetopher feel the same way about other journalists
Thanks 4 the heads up
Shout out to the cat. It's a car cat!
If they don’t give cars a glowing review then their supply and revenue dries up.
They’re not Siskell and Ebert.
So my take may be a little bit of a hot one. Yes you are absolutely right in that stuff like this needs to be disclosed/people need to be made aware of. I can't remember which journalist it was (probably Jason Cammisa or Matt Farah) highlighted on one of the events they attended over half the group were influencers who had no idea how to drive stick.
To the point of lightning lap and that whole situation, I'd make the argument that those who blindly buy the car without doing the research behind it and pay the mark up, are the ones at fault, less so than the journalist on that one. Yes the whole mark up situation is tipping the scale and perhaps they need to reevaluate things when there are mark ups across the board but the point of lightning lap is to make things as apples to apples as possible with a set of known variables (it is hard to quantify a fair way to do a mark up on all vehicles received). Which is why I place any blame on that on the dealerships and the end line consumers who buy things at the marked up prices (because you are saying this car is worth this mark up). Long rant and open to debate on this subject.
I want auto journalist to go to dealerships. Then they can shut up about how affordable cars are. The prices the journalists talk about aren’t reality after mark ups and dealer fees
make a video on the cheapest auto insurances for the enthusiasts lol
I'm here for transparency. I think a lot of the world look to youtube for answers but popular influencers aren't giving honest answers. For instance people sing praises to the Lexus LS430 which i was looking to buy this year until a buddy of mine told me how one of his friends works on these cars for a living and how they have problems. I'm not saying its true but why just this one person. For some reason I'm more interest in in the bad reviews two out of a million people have to say.
This makes me feel a lot better about my decision to buy Goodyears.
When I was younger I wanted to become an automotive journalist. Just never ended up happening
He wants to rag on it while still collecting the check, his integrity is the same as all the others he just found a different angle to do it at. This is to reestablish some credibility his data analytics has told him he is loosing
Nailed it and the sycophants are eating it up in the comments...🤦♂️
Yeah, ive noticed this a lot. Thank you
I saw the same guilty-ish mentality from another cute CZcamsr a few months back.
It was superfastMatt reviewing the new Honda civic type-r. I loved just how transparent and honest he was.
I get the feeling that this has always been an issue. Only influential CZcamsrs get the benefits without having to essentially be brand spokespeople.
Love the dedication to post a video a day!
old top gear was really honest. Worked great for them.
Yeap pre Clarkson.... Although Clarkson would admit to needing hyperbole for entertainment value and that's why they do not qualify as a legitimate car reviewers
Another common Alex W, put some respect on this man’s name
5:45 what song is this please
Another problem is with every cars reviewers is that they want all the new and flashy stuff and talk like they are going to buy the car
I think this is general in every niche sadly, everywhere you go, you clearly see a bunch of ''influencers'' getting paid to say/promote any stupidity. Blend this, with a devolving society that is getting dumber and you have recipe for chaos.
This man is an absolute G
keeping it Real, Alex!
How did Lexus not get mentioned and 2jz smfh 😤 are definitely overhyped I've even seen them in a donk. The LS also people see ls and automatically assume you got 800 hp when most of the time you could have bout a 350 built it with more hp and 10k cheaper.
Trust is important.
Sounds like to me these journalists need some Tegridy!
Automotive journalism integrity has always been kind of a joke. Everyone has they're own bias. Reviews should be taken with a grain of salt. Doug Demuro and Jason Camisa are absolute jokes when it comes to their actual reviews. The only good things about Doug's reviews is that he gives a good overview of the cars and its features but his Doug score is BS.
What integrity? What journalism? Automotive reporters just way way way below tabloid reporters. It's just entertainment, after all.
For me if it's a sponsor review I already lower my expectations but there some that stays honest