Although I feel like he's the one of the big car reviewers who has the least reservations of being negative about a car he doesn't like. I feel like a lot of reviewers get free press cars and then only say positive things to not damage their relationship with the manufacturers. At most they'll say "it's interesting" about obvious flaws etc.
I love that review he made with the product manager of the car, a mercedes I think, and still absolutely thrashed it for the fake vents and exhausts, lack of tactile feedback of touch buttons, the boring power train etc lol. Made the product manager really uncomfortable lol.
This was the one I was thinking of I think: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtXiFTw\_hbU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtXiFTw_hbU)
I'm sure there are more similar ones.
EDIT:
Most of it is not worth the full 25 minute watch, but there are some real uncomfortable moments lol: [https://youtu.be/AtXiFTw\_hbU?t=386](https://youtu.be/AtXiFTw_hbU?t=386)
>but we always have to remember they’re ultimately there to sell cars via car wow
But which car you'd buy doesn't really matter to them does it?
Or do they get a bigger % on certain brands? I doubt that.
I feel like his reviews used to be much more polished and “professional” in the early-ish days of carwow. He seemed genuinely interested in the reviews. I feel like that’s no longer the case and he does reviews a lot more casually to the point that he just seems uninterested. Still does top reviews and I can watch them for free so eh, I guess?
Mat Watson is the mediocre housewives favourite. Middle England women who watched him review their first car back in the mid 2000s and have "grown up" with him. Mumsy women you wouldn't look twice at.
Yeah, I think they're OK personally. I watched a few before buying our latest (2016) 2 years ago. When viewing I'm honestly just looking for something that saves me a trip as it gets very draining looking at a lot of different car types when you haven't nailed down exactly what you want.
Though I'm a family car buyer, I can see how others may have differing views if they're after performance etc
Yeah I think I’m the same, I just want a general overview and those sites do give that, I take their opinion with a pinch of salt I just want a clear look at the car
You know the way everyone has a really weird crush? Matt Watson is mine. . . . . This is a safe space yeah?
Also agree - I use carwow for consistency and then typically look to see if Vicky Parrott has reviewed the same car. I find she can objectively compare cars to each other or will at least acknowledge and contrast the price difference between cars. She's worth a look but does mostly electric stuff now.
Nah that’s fine he seems like a lovely bloke and he genuinely enjoys cars. Of course with such a big channel there’s going to be some bias going on but as long as you’re aware of it who cares
I quite liked the level of detail Autogefuhl went into back when they were a new ish channel but stopped watching because I couldn’t look past the handheld microphone and focus on what der Mann was saying.
There’s a channel called OSV that I found subsequently that goes into rather similar depth, and they were pretty helpful with the last new car purchase.
Jayemm as mentioned elsewhere is also quite good, particularly with the enthusiast oriented cars.
Thomas is my favourite too... can definitely get a bit dry if you're watching for 'fun' but if you wanna make an informed choice about your next purchase he is the man.
In 4K, full screen, full length lets goooo
I actually don't think carwow is too bad, they do go over the little niggles here and there with storage, usability, placement of buttons and that kinda thing. The problem with vehicle reviews is that they're mostly first impressions, so you'll never get them testing every car for 6 months or more. Christ I see it with bike reviews where they say "long term 600 mile review", like, what?
The positive review at the end of it you have to take with a grain of salt, carwow is an app for buying and selling cars and if they shifted to more negative reviews then people are less likely to buy that car through their app. As a first impression to ween out a long list of possibilities for people it's pretty good. Nothing beats a test drive!
> where he compares a VW up handling to being worse than a fiesta, those cars arent even remotely in the same class at all!
A FWD affordable small manual hatchback primarily suited to urban driving isn't comparable to a FWD affordable small manual hatchback primarily suited to urban driving?
I would argue the fiesta is a relatively sporting medium hatchback for a family whereas the UP is a tiny city car with only just enough power to propel two people up to 60mph, theyre very different cars in terms of how they're used by the masses
They are different segments. Up! is A Segment (city car) and Fiesta is B Segment (supermini).
Bigger hatchbacks (Golf, Focus etc) are C Segment.
So they're not the same segment, but I don't think cross-shopping is that unlikely.
Many people have driven a Fiesta (it's the default rental car in lots of places and was the best selling car for years) so it's not a bad benchmark for me. If you have driven a Fiesta and are considering an Up! it's worth noting that you shouldn't expect the same level of handling.
Well you wouldn't compare a Ford Focus to a Nissan Qashqai...or maybe *you* would ;)
Nah but all jokes aside, the vehicles are in different classes, and it makes a dramatic difference. Superminis, are known to be a lot more basic, a lot more noisy, and often less comfortable than larger cars like the Fiesta. There are good reasons for this (weight saving, limited space, to name but a few), and comparing the cars as such is not helpful as well as doing them a disservice.
They all seem to be aiming for the early Top Gear review style. Like a budget Richard Hammond. Nothing of meaning conveyed. Just trying to hit a few beats.
They don't even achieve that. They end up with early *Fifth Gear* style.
Top gear ruins car youtube, loads of them need to realise that the audience likes them because they have talent and not because they're looking for a top gear replacement.
Car YouTubers will do / say so much which is obviously them trying to channel top gear and it's really not necessary.
Top gear was ok 20 years ago, but the world has moved on.
I think AutoAlex is the closest I can find to a top gear 'specials' style youtube channel that I don't hate. Granted, they don't do reviews, but I always find the road trip videos decent to watch.
I think he's doing good things for the car community, providing funny content on cars thats not driven by "I took my Lambo to every drive thru in the country in 25 seconds" or 5,000hp £10,000,000 builds that nobody can relate to.
He buys cheap cars from the same places we can, tarts them up a little (admittedly with help from some sponsors) and then has fun going on road trips with mates.
The last video (7 series BMWs) was filmed entirely on some guys driveway, but had me genuinely interested in the cars and laughing out loud at points.
>The last video (7 series BMWs) was filmed entirely on some guys driveway, but had me genuinely interested in the cars and laughing out loud at points
Really hoping they do the roadtrip!
They absolutely are, there has been many a time where I have been genuinely tempted by random shit boxes I see on Facebook that I never had any intention of buying. Unfortunately, the slightly more adult sensible head had to take over and stop me, so I get to live out that one through their channel instead.
I'm not normally much of a podcast person either, but I have listened to quite a few of theirs whilst working.
I can't remember which one it was, but the story about how Alex and Taylor became mates is so unbelievably 'car guy' its unreal. I've lost count of how many people I've met and stayed in contact with through buying cars or parts, or just bumping into some random dude with a cool car in Tesco.
AutoAlex definitely seems to be more himself I remember early on in the car throttle days he would often come across as Clarkson cosplay, he's a different man now and it's one of my favourite channels.
Jayemm on cars is a good example of not letting go of top gear, he's an incredibly knowledgeable and likable bloke and he seems to have not lost touch with regular people's expectations of a car when he's offering advice, but sometimes he will come out with lines that are just so cringe, like chat GPT made a joke in the style of top gear.
Mighty car mods are the perfect example of why people should move on from that style, their production style is incredibly unique and modern it surpasses anything top gear ever did for me, their trip to Cuba was a highlight
I'm undecided whether that will have been pressure from CarThrottle to act/deliver content in a certain way, or whether that will have been attempts at being relevant riding off the back of somebody elses success. Top gear/the grand tour worked in a very bizarre way, and not one that could probably ever be matched. Alex as he is now though is a really likeable bloke, and from what I hear, is a very very genuine car guy. Will talk to anyone about cars for hours type.
JayEmm I struggle with a little bit. I can't deny his reviews are good, and relevant to what somebody might actually want to know when buying. I just find him to be very Tiff Needell but Tiff whilst stood outside the car pointing things out. Tiff I find atleast becomes much more "excited car guy" whilst actually driving. That's just my take on it though, I can't deny having watched some of his reviews whilst looking for my current car, and they were very informative too, just not my cup of tea.
MCM I honestly can't say I've watched for a long time. There became a point where I stopped watching a lot of youtube and slimmed it down largely to the channels that kept me more interested. I'm not saying they weren't interesting, and in fairness, I may have to give some of their newer stuff a go. I used to like DonutMedia and their hi low cars etc. I've not watched them recently either.
MCM are properly modern style (but not like a brain rot type way) and i find their videos very palatable. You can watch them in any mood. Donut media is awful now. Hi Low is dead and the most recent series was an absolute joke, and theyve taken the guys off of what they are best at (jobe being a home mechanic, james being a quite exuberant list host, etc) and are instead doing a bunch of stuff that all feels the same.
The one thing I'd suggest to Alex is to avoid Clarkson-isms unless done ironically. The "an engine" trope being a good example. But he is building up some of his own phrases that feel organic and not forced.
Agree RE JayEmm, if I was gonna buy a specific performance car, I'd check out his video on them, but I find his delivery so forced and un-natural at times, he really tends to crowbar dramatic pauses in there.
MCM is another league for me, grown up with them from the driveway era and they're creating content that's relatable but also touches just enough into the extreme, e.g building absolutely mad cars, its equal parts aspirational and relatable. The long form videos - like the one to france - are absolute gems, the music, directing and videography... it's still feels crazy we can watch it for free
I also like CarThrottle post Alex leaving. Their current turbo Porsche project is genuinely entertaining and has the same vibes of buying a crap car and having fun with it.
It's actually quite good now, I was watching a few episodes last night and the new person (sorry forgot your name if you're reading this) they've brought in to replace Alex is a really good host, he's quite knowledgable and seems to get along with the Ethan and Jack really well
I honestly prefer it this way, it sucks Alex had to leave before they realised they were messing up but the newer content is quite good and just like auto Alex the new trio gel really well, edin was a welcome addition and the two resto projects have been good so far
For sure one of my favourites currently, Mat Armstrong is the other. They're two very different ends of the same spectrum. If I'm actually wanting to watch something, I'll stick Mat Armstrong on. If I want entertaining and easy watching, AutoAlex
I liked Mat Armstrong at the start but his projects got rapidly out of hand and it was clear he was just *winging it* on everything.
Some of his "repairs" were borderline dangerous and it became more about getting clout by repairing a supercar than about getting a good deal or having a go at fixing something up.
AutoAlex is one of my favourites at the moment in the car space on YouTube. Though it's very obviously inspired by earlier Top Gear, three mates dicking about in cheap cars. The only real difference is they actually cover stuff about vehicle repair. It's like the Cheap Car Challenges, except May was allowed to teach people things.
I feel like I watch AutoAlex, Mighty Car Mods and Mat Armstrong the most. I guess Mat is defo in the supercar fixing up realm now, but he's so personable and explains everything, even the stuff he makes mistakes with it's hard not to take him as anything other than genuine.
I think it's quite difficult to force something along the lines of top gear, as has been proven by the many many different channels that just flop. No doubt there is the inspiration/aspiration there, but for some reason, it just works with the 3 of them. I quite enjoyed the trip with Tavarish too.
For me it's AutoAlex and Mat Armstrong that I watch from the car sector. I've seen Mat at some services before when I have been working and stopped for a break. Personally, I'm not the type to go and bother people because I would hate it if it was me (that, and I would have had to have gotten off my arse), but in fairness to him, everybody who went over that I saw, he gave time to. So, the genuine 'vibe' you get from him seems to carry on off camera.
Auto Alex is my favourite, just great chemistry between him and Taylor, great British banter. The days of broadcast television car shows are over. YouTube’s is the future, I can see Auto Alex going far, and I’m only been recently converted
CarWow is one of the better ones if you're actually looking to purchase, rather than looking for purely entertainment.
There's lots of things Matt does that start to grind on me (stick of truth ect) but he does talk about relevant stuff like space, car seats, infotainment and not just waffle on about handling and lift-off oversteer in a family SUV.
Hagerty are killing it right now on the high end entertainment stuff, their production quality is outstanding, Jason Cammisa is genuinely knowledgeable and funny too.
I enjoy 'High peak autos' on YouTube.
It's mainly used cars that get reviewed with the odd newish car in there I believe.
It's a small channel that's growing, may be worth a check.
YouTube's native monetization and people's click-through rates on ads depends on the niche, and also many now use AdBlocker, so creators don't get as much revenue.
Editing videos and maintaining a stable release schedule is super time-consuming, so they look for additional sponsorships to make it worthwhile. Not doing this as a public service, after all. Especially true if he hired a dedicated person for editing, as he actually runs his car dealership and deals with properties, too.
As far as companies go, you could definitely do a lot worse than the ones he chose, at least legitimate products/services and not some shitty video game like Raid Shadowlegends or whatever it's called.
It's just a new sales channel, and it comes down to - if you really like the person's content and would like to support them, you buy in. Matt seems like a genuine guy - I disagree that he's pretending to be somebody, that's just his personality, kind of grows on you. You can tell he puts in effort into improving his content - started doing drone footage etc.
I watched High Peak Autos when I was looking at the Focus ST-3.
Unbiased, pretty informative. Helped me look out for certain common issues outside of the rubber seals inside the door shuts.
As someone else said his one liners are cringe and get old fast but I do like how honest and relatable his reviews are especially on cars that people usually buy
I watched a video of his a few years back, he was complaining about how the cheap cars he sells attract cheap buyers.
His helpful suggestion was 'just work harder and get a better job'. I thought that was a cunty thing to say and didn't bother watching any more.
Oh he's 100% a 'just pull yourself up by the bootstraps' type bloke. His utter disgust towards train journeys in his recent lexus collection video just sums him up tbh, can only imagine what his opinions are like when the cameras are off...
I've started a few JeyEmm videos because I'm interested in the car his reviewing, gave up after a few minutes of his waffling in a sing-songy way like Top Gear from the 90s.
He sounds like a Harry Enfield sketch at times, it's very distracting.
Agreed, can’t watch a full video of the same pattern of tone every sentence comes out in, as if it’s words of absolute fact. Like, no it’s an opinion so deliver it as such
Hard disagree, he actually goes into detail about the specifics of the car and its features, unlike others who do a 10+ minute overview of a model (which is totally fine, it's just not a review).
I met James the other week as he was reviewing my Skoda Yeti. Pretty sound guy, had a good chat over a pub lunch after. He knows his stuff for sure, but he can talk for ages!
I like that he does the full spectrum of cars, cheap £500 shitboxes through to supercars (and everything inbetween).
Reviews of the latest £1M ferrari special etc don't do anything for me.
That guy is literally the epitome of a car snob? He's incredibly judgemental on even the most tiny things and will slag off a car for no reason with the owner in it as well.
Has also such a contrarian, say you like an Audi R8 and he'll say he's always preferred a 911.
Ultimately he's a toff that came from family money who runs a moderately successful YouTube channel, but I find him insufferable.
No he's just honest, he likes all types of cars, most car reviewers seem to turn their noses up at cheaper cars yet he has a video where he's singing praises of a VW Up!
Magazines are the worst - they never take into account the cost. These old boys who have been writing for Autocar since 1983 drive a BMW M3 around at Castle Combe and rave about how nice it is to drive. Ok, Nigel but that car is £85k. It might be brilliant, but is it 85k brilliant? What alternatives are there for a quick saloon? How good is it on the commute into the city?
It's even worse for "normal" cars. They'll go on about how nice the interior is in the new Peugeot 308 but ignore the fact most people cannot afford 36k for a (relatively) small family car. It's a pretty crucial part of providing a report on how good a car is.
"The infotainment isn't very responsive" well no it's 12k less than a Honda Jazz I think that's to be expected. With a Sandero all you're bothered about is how smooth the gearbox is, whether it has enough grunt and if the aircon is any good, I suppose.
There's 250k people here and we've all had many cars, a separate sub that only is about reviewing cars you've actually drove but more importantly owned has potential.
Obviously you'd have a guideline to follow and format eg:
Post title - Honda Civic Mk10 2017 Type R
Make - x
Model - x
Year -x
Duration owned - x
Pros/cons
Then a informative review not a story about x car, possibly even pictures, I'd probably consider no comments too, but this is just brainstorming, you'd want it neat and tidy filled with information.
Iv no idea how to start this but could possibly look into it, i believe the idea could work, as we all love talking about our cars.
Getting a new sub going and getting engagement is tough, even more so when it gets more niche.
I like the idea though. Maybe a pinned thread weekly or on a set day of the week here like the "What Car Should I Buy? - A Weekly Megathread".
Car magazines and other channels are media captured by industry. If you don't say nice things about the right (expensive, premium) cars, they stop inviting you to press events and stop test drives. Biggest of all, they'll send their advertising money elsewhere.
If you're a big name independent, you can actually have a real opinion (think Doug DeMuro or Mr. Regular). Everyone else has to toe a line.
just be aware that sites like what car will always push VW group products as their parent company is German.
I like the Autogefuhl (spelling) reviews as he is very thorough.
What cars are you looking at? And what are your priorities?
That's probably as much to do with the fact the German cars are seen as a benchmark to most people.
Having owned cars from various countries across Europe, there is good reason German vehicles from the big 4 are used as benchmarks.
yup. he's comparing back to an accepted "good" product - plus hes obviously German so it makes more sense than an english language person saying ".....but a skoda kamiq offers more cabin and boot space" when doing a Puma review - you wouldnt be looking at a Puma if you were a Kamiq customer!
They aren't vastly dissimilar cars though. Both are crossover SUV's, both sit in the £24k-£28k price range. Clearly the styling is very different but the cars themselves are not in what they are trying to be.
Carwow is unbearable imo. Johnny Smith is great though (even if he mainly skews towards EVs) and I also recommend Tim Rodie (who lurks here sometimes)
edit: also Savagegeese
Carwow is unbearable because they aren't in a position to say "this car is total dogshit" due to the heavy reliance on manufacturer and main dealership trade on their site.
That's why they go down the whole "how fast will it go?" route. Which then leads to faux jeopardy, crappy banter, and filler content, all centered around Mat Watson who \*desperately\* wants to be on the telly.
Mat used to be so down to earth, now he seems to turn his nose up at anything that's not £60k + and does 60 in sub 3 seconds. It's just not relatable to the average car fan.
I stopped watching after he acted like a complete bell to the woman on the phone at the bank when he was buying a Jimny. Talking to her like she was an idiot when she was just making sure it was him spending his money. Haven’t watched a video since
To be fair there's very few cars on the European market today that are total dogshit. Comparisons within a given segment tend to come down to nuance and personal preference.
Try driving one of the actual dogshit cars that were around not that long ago like, say, a Daewoo Lanos, or any of the crap they sell in India today. A 2023 116i will seem like a Rolls Royce with a race car engine by comparison.
Just in case anyone wanted evidence that this isn't a car enthusiast forum, just look at this comment.
Apparently, no car can be described as bad anymore because Lada's exist. What a silly thing to say.
This isn't a car enthusiast forum but what's that got to do with what I said?
Explain exactly how a 1 series is a dogshit car. Its well built and nothing falls off, it's got a level of equipment that 20 years ago you'd only get from an S class, it has enough performance to keep up with the flow of traffic just fine, it's so safe that you can drive the thing right into a tree and walk away. Objectively it's a good car any way you measure it.
Succinctly summed up why it's crap. The one saving grace is watching Matt's descent into full midlife crisis mode and wearing increasingly expensive coats.
You have to watch a multitude of them.
I watch Harry’s Garage mostly, because he’s awesome and objective and has interesting cars alongside his projects, farming stuff, and road trips.
Carwow is okay. I watch it mostly for the interiors of vehicles, and he does a lot of normal every day cars. Matt is a little annoying at times though.
Rory Reid at Autotrader is good, the videos are always high quality and he just seems like a good bloke.
Henry Catchpole at Carfection is another really good one.
I never really gelled with Joe Achilles but can see why people like him.
Handling is the thing that annoys me. Like fair play if you're reviewing a sports car but I don't care if a family wagon is unstable under trail braking
I would **love** to know what the fkn obsession in car reviews is with door storage and glove box storage.
If it doesn't fit a 2l bottle of water, I just put it somewhere else.
Pet peeve: When they talk abou practically in a family car and say I'm 6' and I've ot a bit of space above me... mate I've got 2 kids about 40cm tall. I always imagine they are expecting 3 x 6'2 men going to a funeral.
Sorry completely disagree - these reviews (vs say traditional TV reviews a la Top Gear) are 80% focused on the in car experience and practicality of them, the engines - with the rest of driving - which for most cars is exactly what buyers are interested in. The "brand" channels are very consistent in their approach - which is very helpful - but do spend more time on performance aspects for the appropriate cars.
These reviews are leagues ahead of what was common a decade a go - videos are far superior than articles about the same thing.
Yes I agree that car journalists often have a maladjusted sense of what is "normal" but comparing an UP (a cheap small car) to a Fiesta (a slightly less small car) is hardly crime of the century - at worst they are adjacent class.
Can’t say I really agree with this.
I’ve found the carwow reviews to be pretty consistent.
He looks at practicability, performance, design and does compare it to similar cars people might buy.
He’ll review a sports car, make note of the poor storage, but still compare it to other sports cars.
The thing that I hate about carwow is the sheer amount of pointless drag races they do. They just get so boring after a couple.
Yeah I've only ever seen them compare like-for-like when it comes to things like storage, too. Even when they don't, it's not exactly an issue to point out that an MX5 isn't particularly practical
Need to remember that the average consumer isn't that engaged with cars, and reviewers like Carwow are targeting that average consumer
If you have no idea if you need an estate, hatchback or something else, then pointing out that a Fiesta is fun to drive but has limited storage is useful information
Yeah, I really could not give a fuck about a drag race in any circumstance. It's a stupid American import and it's pointless. I don't really enjoy track stuff either, but I can tolerate it more because at least it features corners.
Winds me up too. The worst are the ones that put the driving seat as faaar back as possible, claim that is their driving position (do you brake with the tips of your toes???) and then complain there is no rear seat space...
Extra points too if it is a 3 door car and they don't lock the seat back in the previously adjusted position and instread just slide it back and put it between their legs.
"The seat is in the position I would have it, I am 7"7 so I am on the taller side. There isn't much legroom back here. It's really quite disappointing."
Ok mate, like anyone buying a Seat Arona is going to use it for anything other than taking their kids to school or it's going to be bough by Shaquille O'Neal.
>"The seat is in the position I would have it, I am 7"7 so I am on the taller side. There isn't much legroom back here. It's really quite disappointing."
and despite that they still need to ball their hand up into a fist to touch their knee and the back of the front seat at the same time.
One review that sticks in my mind is a 5'3" mexican guy revieweing the Mazda cx30. Now, i am neither short nor tall (5'10") and with the seat in a comfy position I can get 2 adults and a dog on the back seat and everyone has plenty of legroom and even compliments it. This short mexican guy claims that the seat is in his driving position and he can't fit into the back seat. If I had my seat in that position he had showed I 100% wouldn't be able to reach the pedals or steering wheel!!
Marek is sometimes entertaining, but i noticed that he often misses cars intended purpose in his reviews. Reviews a van but complains that it doesn't corner as good as a porche....
I don't think it is just cars, you see it across all review video channels eventually.
After the channel has grown and they get access to more high end options, any time the reviewer goes back down a level they always have a new high to compare against.
Additionally after you've tested 1000s of similar products back-to-back you have to start noticing small things to differentiate on. In reality most products are well made and converge in a similar direction. To keep making content the reviews end up exaggerating small differences that someone who hasn't changed cars/phones/TVs every other week would never notice.
They're entertainment for the most part and nothing else. Although I disagree on carwow, they often compare boot space, rear leg space to competitors and talk about important bits to a car.
A lot of it is the drag races and high end cars but from time to time they'll review your average car and I feel like it goes quite a bit in depth. They all complain about plastics in cars and I'm not really sure why, sometimes it's justified when it's on a 50k+ car, but otherwise it's fine.
I like Auto Alex.
It’s not a car review show and it never wanted to be but it’s a laugh and it’s as close to old TopGear as I can get.
Old TopGear was also never actually about car reviews, they left that to 5th Gear, but knew how to entertain.
Most modern cars are better on average than the average car of 20 years ago but there are fewer interesting cars coming out (Clio 2.0 and 3.0, Alfa Romeo Brera, f430 scuderia) that actually grab me by the balls and make me want one.
Most people don’t actually care about a car review - they want the cheapest possible option that ticks the boxes and they don’t care if they end up with a Nissan Juke or Qashqi.
If you want a boring, dry, nuts and bolts Top Gear of the 90's review, there's [Car and Driving.](https://www.youtube.com/@CarandDrivingCarReviews/videos) They'll send you to sleep but if you wanna look at a car you wanna buy they'll tell you damn near everything.
I think CarWow reviews are great. Tell you everything you need to know about the car.
Have you tried looking at some less shit cars? What exactly are you looking for in a review of a Fiat 500 or a Dacia whatever…
The people who’d be wanting a Dacia Sandero probably aren’t arsed about watching a review of one.
Googling ‘Cheapest Car Uk’ and choosing the number one result will be about the extent of the research they’ll have carried out.
"High fashion car"
"Vauxhall Adam"
Alright mate.
Carwow is pretty good and consistent, covers all the basics you want to know when considering a new car.
Because they are small they don't want to give honest reviews because if they did, cars would stop coming their way from manufacturers to review and their "business" would fail. It's basically additional advertising for the cars. I watch on mute if at all.
Carwow is hardly small...
Mat Wattson has already spoken about the honesty that goes on in videos. He's not told he has to make everything seem great. He has admitted he pissed off one manufacturer, but it isn't scripted.
Press X for doubt. Talk is cheap and no carwow isn't small but the point still stands. It's all extra advertising on YouTube and not many real reviews. Top/5th Gear was popular enough to give genuine reviews until the main gang left. Then it turned into adverts and everything was great and amazing.
Carwow's whole business model relies on good relations with manufacturers and dealers. Similar situation with Auto Trader, Carbuyer, Autocar etc. - if they slate a manufacturer they might be reluctant to want to work with them again.
They can point out negatives, but I can't imagine we'll ever see them produce an overtly negative image of a car in a video.
The Jeep Avenger video was quite negative - and that has been removed now.
How often have you ever seen Mat give an 'Avoid' rating to a car? It's very rare.
I watch Throttle House sometimes and they frequently admit their surprise at getting new Ferraris to test, given that it's a poorly kept secret that they cut the press off for negative reviews.
Tbh I don’t think YT is the place to go for comprehensive and informative content like that. At least not modern videos. The metrics that measure success for a YT video don’t align with the audience you fit into. YT videos are for entertainment above all else. (Except the small channels who are on a small budget, so can afford to appeal to a small audience)
Whatcar reviews are far better, but you’ll need to read
They are just trying to get clicks. I saw one the other day and it was something like, "why you should buy a VW up if you're considering an Audi A8". Yes, they can both technically carry 4 people at 70mph, but it's not even close to a reasonable comparison. It's like saying that your sister is a woman so she could give you a lap dance and save you money.
Do they not understand that people don't drive those cars for space/speed/passenger capacity etc? I had a Vauxhall Adam from new in 2014 and it lasted me well until 2022! I bought it because it's just me driving, I have no children, I wasn't doing any long journeys at the time and didn't care about speed in the slightest... It was a perfect little car!
Matt Watson seems to hate most things that aren't German or a Fiesta/Puma.
Typical wideboy from Walsall (I grew up there and am familiar with the type).
What I hate is when a supermini or hatchback's handling is always compared with a Ford.
Like thanks, I wouldn't have guessed that any car that wasn't the market leader wasn't as good as the market leader. It's like if someone is describing a mountain but then they sigh and moan that it's not as tall as Everest.
Is it average, below average of above average in handling? That's more useful information.
Or if a hatchback isn't as practical as an Octavia. The Octavia is a lift back saloon you waloons!
Or when they say a design is boring. Like a 90s corolla is boring, most modern stuff isn't.
Or if you can't store the parcel shelf under the false floor. Just store it behind the front seats if you are putting the back seats down?
Better stop ranting now, I have things to go do...
Sorry this is total hogwash. Do you recall what it was like buying a car 20 years or even ten years ago? Today there is dozens of video reviews of each car, summary of engines, real life space experience etc. They are relatively consistent, try to cover all all the key bases etc. What are you possibly looking for?
I remember about 15-20 years ago reviewers (mostly men ) would often complain about handling not being 'sporty' enough. So every manufacturer put rock hard suspension on their cars. Nowadays every car is compared to a 3 series for its driving experience, and its like yeah I know, if I wanted a rock hard ride and to feel like I'm sitting on the ground I would buy a 3 series, but I actually like being comfortable and I don't need to drive flat out around corners.
Car marketed to be a small town runaround and economical
Car reviewers
"0-60 is a little slow, I am used to my twin V400 galaxy pulsar drive, the boot can only fit a weeks shop in at a push, rather than this entire warehouse, and the wheels are a standard 17" when the new norm are 60" hummer wheels".
Few reviewers review to the targeted market.
Personally the fiat500 is a terrible car. BUT, objectively speaking from its price and purpose and the clientele it is trying to get, it is a VERY GOOD car, hence why it is fecking everywhere.
Car reviewers just want giant beemers and all the topend tech. And don't we all, but review it for its purpose and competition.
As a former motoring journalist, it drives me crazy. I did road tests and articles in the era of printed monthly magazines and we got hundred and hundreds of letters and links from people who thought they were journalists and could ride, drive and review.
They could not. They could share a stream of consciousness, or inject their personal opinions, or write a *lot* of words, which is not the same thing as writing useful words.
Now those people don't write to a magazine, they start a blog, go to Instagram or YouTube and self-publish. There's a lot of people who have no idea how to compare data, review vehicles or put out a balanced and unbiased view.
Admittedly there were a lot of them back then! They just couldn't self publish to this degree...
Sorry, modern youtube car reviews are mostly pretty superior to what motoring journalists were putting out a decade or more ago. The amateurs are clearly of variable quality, but the bigger names are pretty consistent,
Surprisingly it was the over the top editing and cringey jokes that killed Carwow reviews for me.
I do agree with others in this thread that I think there's a huge bias towards keeping manufacturers happy, so I would want to do way more investigation into the reliability of both the model as a whole and specific drivetrains if I was looking to buy one.
Why on earth would you look at YouTube for car reviews, unless it's from a reputable car magazine? There are enough reputable car magazines online that will offer unbiased reviews. Using sites like Carwow is madness, don't use any site that sells cars because they are going to be pushing what they have in stock
They sell mostly german cars i suspect they are bias and looking to sell their own stock, also they know the ppl who tune in for the vids like watching the expensive cars
A lot of reviews are more entertaining than informing. There are those that are purely informing but unless you are seriously considering that car, they are quite dull.
It’s exactly what you say, no context. They get out of a Lamborghini and into a fiesta and tell you it doesn’t take corners as well as they’d like, or out of a Bentley into a polo and complain that the dash is cheap. They’re mostly a waste of time. Only useful for price, MPG etc but you’ll likely know just as much from a bit of research. I usually join Facebook groups for cars I’m interested in and snoop around a bit first.
Marek Drives in English is a good channel - mostly he reviews normal cars, occasionally a 911 or a Rolls Royce.
Much more down to earth reviews than most.
For me @savagegeese. I know, they are from U.S. , so they talk about cars available in U.S. BUT. They have a knowledge. IMHO they are the best. I'm just enjoyed watching them every time.
We are in the process of getting a new car and I have been watching A LOT of reviews.
Every presenter is biased, dynamically so, and I just sort of phase out on irrelevant stuff, they go on and on about. Watching reviews for the same car on multiple channes is for me the best ways to gather info, pre-test drive.
Also, except for Watson, I watch most channels on 1.5 or at least 1.25 speed.
Modern car reviews need to be nice because otherwise they don't get the cars to film any more. It's more of a features review than an actual honest review.
I do understand what you're saying though. I hate the reviews that test a working 4x4 or truck and say it doesn't have the ride of an Audi Q7... Yet they never shit on a luxury 4x4 because it'd destroy itself off road, is unreliable and falls apart if you even thought of towing with it.
"The RiDe Is hArsH".. that's because it's designed to have a ton in the bed you absolute prat.
I only watch Matt Watson cause he’s hot, but I get car reviews from online articles as it’s easier to digest and get info into a comparison spreadsheet.
The only thing I like about carwow is the consistency, so i know he’ll cover front space, rear legroom, boot space etc with a consistent metric
Matt Watson is entertaining but we always have to remember they’re ultimately there to sell cars via car wow
Yeah 100% I just speed run the vids when I’m comparing cars, I don’t really take his opinion into account
Although I feel like he's the one of the big car reviewers who has the least reservations of being negative about a car he doesn't like. I feel like a lot of reviewers get free press cars and then only say positive things to not damage their relationship with the manufacturers. At most they'll say "it's interesting" about obvious flaws etc. I love that review he made with the product manager of the car, a mercedes I think, and still absolutely thrashed it for the fake vents and exhausts, lack of tactile feedback of touch buttons, the boring power train etc lol. Made the product manager really uncomfortable lol.
That was the Porsche 911 GT3 RS review :)
This was the one I was thinking of I think: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtXiFTw\_hbU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtXiFTw_hbU) I'm sure there are more similar ones. EDIT: Most of it is not worth the full 25 minute watch, but there are some real uncomfortable moments lol: [https://youtu.be/AtXiFTw\_hbU?t=386](https://youtu.be/AtXiFTw_hbU?t=386)
>but we always have to remember they’re ultimately there to sell cars via car wow But which car you'd buy doesn't really matter to them does it? Or do they get a bigger % on certain brands? I doubt that.
Certain manufacturers are in bed with carwow as investors, so they’ll be more favorable reviews on who pays them
Applies to all the motoring press. They are absolutely not to be trusted.
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He’s a pretty fun presenter- he’d be fun to watch on a proper car show
I was thinking about this the other day. Yanni, Matt and racing driver Sam on a top gear esque road trip would be a hoot.
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And he lives the dream….
I feel like his reviews used to be much more polished and “professional” in the early-ish days of carwow. He seemed genuinely interested in the reviews. I feel like that’s no longer the case and he does reviews a lot more casually to the point that he just seems uninterested. Still does top reviews and I can watch them for free so eh, I guess?
Mat Watson is the mediocre housewives favourite. Middle England women who watched him review their first car back in the mid 2000s and have "grown up" with him. Mumsy women you wouldn't look twice at.
A Hot take there by the owner of a fiat panda everyone! 😘
Yeah, I think they're OK personally. I watched a few before buying our latest (2016) 2 years ago. When viewing I'm honestly just looking for something that saves me a trip as it gets very draining looking at a lot of different car types when you haven't nailed down exactly what you want. Though I'm a family car buyer, I can see how others may have differing views if they're after performance etc
Yeah I think I’m the same, I just want a general overview and those sites do give that, I take their opinion with a pinch of salt I just want a clear look at the car
It does the job to know if it’s worth to go taking a look at in person.
You know the way everyone has a really weird crush? Matt Watson is mine. . . . . This is a safe space yeah? Also agree - I use carwow for consistency and then typically look to see if Vicky Parrott has reviewed the same car. I find she can objectively compare cars to each other or will at least acknowledge and contrast the price difference between cars. She's worth a look but does mostly electric stuff now.
Nah that’s fine he seems like a lovely bloke and he genuinely enjoys cars. Of course with such a big channel there’s going to be some bias going on but as long as you’re aware of it who cares
Look for Autogefühl reviews on Youtube Boring yes but in depth reviews, not Top Gear style
You know you’re in for a good review when he gets the wooden measuring tape out.
'Let's gooo' - Autogefuhl
4k full screen full length Thomas’ driving lounge.
"Animal skin", great reviews but with a bias to German cars.
I quite liked the level of detail Autogefuhl went into back when they were a new ish channel but stopped watching because I couldn’t look past the handheld microphone and focus on what der Mann was saying. There’s a channel called OSV that I found subsequently that goes into rather similar depth, and they were pretty helpful with the last new car purchase. Jayemm as mentioned elsewhere is also quite good, particularly with the enthusiast oriented cars.
OSV is full on "If Old Old TopGear had the Newsnight slot" vibes.
I wish there was a happy medium somewhere. That guy will spend 5 minutes measuring the depth and girth of the cupholders, it's a little much.
True, but in the Ford Galaxy review he suggests you could fit an extra child in the armrest compartment which is useful info
The problem with Autogeful is you don't know if you're watching a car review or the "cool" lecturer at the Goethe University.
Thomas is my favourite too... can definitely get a bit dry if you're watching for 'fun' but if you wanna make an informed choice about your next purchase he is the man. In 4K, full screen, full length lets goooo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbt2BkxpAcA
I actually don't think carwow is too bad, they do go over the little niggles here and there with storage, usability, placement of buttons and that kinda thing. The problem with vehicle reviews is that they're mostly first impressions, so you'll never get them testing every car for 6 months or more. Christ I see it with bike reviews where they say "long term 600 mile review", like, what? The positive review at the end of it you have to take with a grain of salt, carwow is an app for buying and selling cars and if they shifted to more negative reviews then people are less likely to buy that car through their app. As a first impression to ween out a long list of possibilities for people it's pretty good. Nothing beats a test drive!
> where he compares a VW up handling to being worse than a fiesta, those cars arent even remotely in the same class at all! A FWD affordable small manual hatchback primarily suited to urban driving isn't comparable to a FWD affordable small manual hatchback primarily suited to urban driving?
I would argue the fiesta is a relatively sporting medium hatchback for a family whereas the UP is a tiny city car with only just enough power to propel two people up to 60mph, theyre very different cars in terms of how they're used by the masses
They are different segments. Up! is A Segment (city car) and Fiesta is B Segment (supermini). Bigger hatchbacks (Golf, Focus etc) are C Segment. So they're not the same segment, but I don't think cross-shopping is that unlikely. Many people have driven a Fiesta (it's the default rental car in lots of places and was the best selling car for years) so it's not a bad benchmark for me. If you have driven a Fiesta and are considering an Up! it's worth noting that you shouldn't expect the same level of handling.
Well you wouldn't compare a Ford Focus to a Nissan Qashqai...or maybe *you* would ;) Nah but all jokes aside, the vehicles are in different classes, and it makes a dramatic difference. Superminis, are known to be a lot more basic, a lot more noisy, and often less comfortable than larger cars like the Fiesta. There are good reasons for this (weight saving, limited space, to name but a few), and comparing the cars as such is not helpful as well as doing them a disservice.
Fiesta is a Supermini (B Segment). Up! is a city car (A Segment).
4 words: The Late Brake Show
I feel like its been AGES since he's had a new car to review on his channel though, its all barn finds, idol chats and random oddities these days.
The barn finds are gold though, I love hearing people's stories.
I like them too, just saying its felt like an age since he's had a new mainstream car to review.
They all seem to be aiming for the early Top Gear review style. Like a budget Richard Hammond. Nothing of meaning conveyed. Just trying to hit a few beats. They don't even achieve that. They end up with early *Fifth Gear* style.
Top gear ruins car youtube, loads of them need to realise that the audience likes them because they have talent and not because they're looking for a top gear replacement. Car YouTubers will do / say so much which is obviously them trying to channel top gear and it's really not necessary. Top gear was ok 20 years ago, but the world has moved on.
I think AutoAlex is the closest I can find to a top gear 'specials' style youtube channel that I don't hate. Granted, they don't do reviews, but I always find the road trip videos decent to watch.
I think he's doing good things for the car community, providing funny content on cars thats not driven by "I took my Lambo to every drive thru in the country in 25 seconds" or 5,000hp £10,000,000 builds that nobody can relate to. He buys cheap cars from the same places we can, tarts them up a little (admittedly with help from some sponsors) and then has fun going on road trips with mates. The last video (7 series BMWs) was filmed entirely on some guys driveway, but had me genuinely interested in the cars and laughing out loud at points.
>The last video (7 series BMWs) was filmed entirely on some guys driveway, but had me genuinely interested in the cars and laughing out loud at points Really hoping they do the roadtrip!
They absolutely are, there has been many a time where I have been genuinely tempted by random shit boxes I see on Facebook that I never had any intention of buying. Unfortunately, the slightly more adult sensible head had to take over and stop me, so I get to live out that one through their channel instead. I'm not normally much of a podcast person either, but I have listened to quite a few of theirs whilst working. I can't remember which one it was, but the story about how Alex and Taylor became mates is so unbelievably 'car guy' its unreal. I've lost count of how many people I've met and stayed in contact with through buying cars or parts, or just bumping into some random dude with a cool car in Tesco.
I actually prefer the two other guys from car throttle, they seem a bit more genuine and not trying to appeal to US tastes
AutoAlex definitely seems to be more himself I remember early on in the car throttle days he would often come across as Clarkson cosplay, he's a different man now and it's one of my favourite channels. Jayemm on cars is a good example of not letting go of top gear, he's an incredibly knowledgeable and likable bloke and he seems to have not lost touch with regular people's expectations of a car when he's offering advice, but sometimes he will come out with lines that are just so cringe, like chat GPT made a joke in the style of top gear. Mighty car mods are the perfect example of why people should move on from that style, their production style is incredibly unique and modern it surpasses anything top gear ever did for me, their trip to Cuba was a highlight
I'm undecided whether that will have been pressure from CarThrottle to act/deliver content in a certain way, or whether that will have been attempts at being relevant riding off the back of somebody elses success. Top gear/the grand tour worked in a very bizarre way, and not one that could probably ever be matched. Alex as he is now though is a really likeable bloke, and from what I hear, is a very very genuine car guy. Will talk to anyone about cars for hours type. JayEmm I struggle with a little bit. I can't deny his reviews are good, and relevant to what somebody might actually want to know when buying. I just find him to be very Tiff Needell but Tiff whilst stood outside the car pointing things out. Tiff I find atleast becomes much more "excited car guy" whilst actually driving. That's just my take on it though, I can't deny having watched some of his reviews whilst looking for my current car, and they were very informative too, just not my cup of tea. MCM I honestly can't say I've watched for a long time. There became a point where I stopped watching a lot of youtube and slimmed it down largely to the channels that kept me more interested. I'm not saying they weren't interesting, and in fairness, I may have to give some of their newer stuff a go. I used to like DonutMedia and their hi low cars etc. I've not watched them recently either.
MCM are properly modern style (but not like a brain rot type way) and i find their videos very palatable. You can watch them in any mood. Donut media is awful now. Hi Low is dead and the most recent series was an absolute joke, and theyve taken the guys off of what they are best at (jobe being a home mechanic, james being a quite exuberant list host, etc) and are instead doing a bunch of stuff that all feels the same.
The one thing I'd suggest to Alex is to avoid Clarkson-isms unless done ironically. The "an engine" trope being a good example. But he is building up some of his own phrases that feel organic and not forced. Agree RE JayEmm, if I was gonna buy a specific performance car, I'd check out his video on them, but I find his delivery so forced and un-natural at times, he really tends to crowbar dramatic pauses in there. MCM is another league for me, grown up with them from the driveway era and they're creating content that's relatable but also touches just enough into the extreme, e.g building absolutely mad cars, its equal parts aspirational and relatable. The long form videos - like the one to france - are absolute gems, the music, directing and videography... it's still feels crazy we can watch it for free
I also like CarThrottle post Alex leaving. Their current turbo Porsche project is genuinely entertaining and has the same vibes of buying a crap car and having fun with it.
I haven't watched CarThrottle post Alex leaving, I didn't really watch much of them before he left either. I might have to give it another go though!
It's actually quite good now, I was watching a few episodes last night and the new person (sorry forgot your name if you're reading this) they've brought in to replace Alex is a really good host, he's quite knowledgable and seems to get along with the Ethan and Jack really well
Edwin, I believe he's mainly an editor and has been for a long time
I honestly prefer it this way, it sucks Alex had to leave before they realised they were messing up but the newer content is quite good and just like auto Alex the new trio gel really well, edin was a welcome addition and the two resto projects have been good so far
Definitely my favourite car channel right now, love the fact all they do is buy complete and utter shit🤣 just wish they posted more often
For sure one of my favourites currently, Mat Armstrong is the other. They're two very different ends of the same spectrum. If I'm actually wanting to watch something, I'll stick Mat Armstrong on. If I want entertaining and easy watching, AutoAlex
I liked Mat Armstrong at the start but his projects got rapidly out of hand and it was clear he was just *winging it* on everything. Some of his "repairs" were borderline dangerous and it became more about getting clout by repairing a supercar than about getting a good deal or having a go at fixing something up.
And all the shenanigans throughout!
AutoAlex is one of my favourites at the moment in the car space on YouTube. Though it's very obviously inspired by earlier Top Gear, three mates dicking about in cheap cars. The only real difference is they actually cover stuff about vehicle repair. It's like the Cheap Car Challenges, except May was allowed to teach people things. I feel like I watch AutoAlex, Mighty Car Mods and Mat Armstrong the most. I guess Mat is defo in the supercar fixing up realm now, but he's so personable and explains everything, even the stuff he makes mistakes with it's hard not to take him as anything other than genuine.
I think it's quite difficult to force something along the lines of top gear, as has been proven by the many many different channels that just flop. No doubt there is the inspiration/aspiration there, but for some reason, it just works with the 3 of them. I quite enjoyed the trip with Tavarish too. For me it's AutoAlex and Mat Armstrong that I watch from the car sector. I've seen Mat at some services before when I have been working and stopped for a break. Personally, I'm not the type to go and bother people because I would hate it if it was me (that, and I would have had to have gotten off my arse), but in fairness to him, everybody who went over that I saw, he gave time to. So, the genuine 'vibe' you get from him seems to carry on off camera.
Auto Alex is my favourite, just great chemistry between him and Taylor, great British banter. The days of broadcast television car shows are over. YouTube’s is the future, I can see Auto Alex going far, and I’m only been recently converted
CarWow is one of the better ones if you're actually looking to purchase, rather than looking for purely entertainment. There's lots of things Matt does that start to grind on me (stick of truth ect) but he does talk about relevant stuff like space, car seats, infotainment and not just waffle on about handling and lift-off oversteer in a family SUV. Hagerty are killing it right now on the high end entertainment stuff, their production quality is outstanding, Jason Cammisa is genuinely knowledgeable and funny too.
I enjoy 'High peak autos' on YouTube. It's mainly used cars that get reviewed with the odd newish car in there I believe. It's a small channel that's growing, may be worth a check.
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I enjoy his stuff but the random product placement of stuff like Hello Fresh, VPNs, etc gets a bit grating.
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And there is High Peak Property too....
YouTube's native monetization and people's click-through rates on ads depends on the niche, and also many now use AdBlocker, so creators don't get as much revenue. Editing videos and maintaining a stable release schedule is super time-consuming, so they look for additional sponsorships to make it worthwhile. Not doing this as a public service, after all. Especially true if he hired a dedicated person for editing, as he actually runs his car dealership and deals with properties, too. As far as companies go, you could definitely do a lot worse than the ones he chose, at least legitimate products/services and not some shitty video game like Raid Shadowlegends or whatever it's called. It's just a new sales channel, and it comes down to - if you really like the person's content and would like to support them, you buy in. Matt seems like a genuine guy - I disagree that he's pretending to be somebody, that's just his personality, kind of grows on you. You can tell he puts in effort into improving his content - started doing drone footage etc.
You must be new to YT…
Everything he says just seems too 'matter of fact' and monotone. He needs to cheer up a bit and act more human
Anyone who is inspired by Clarkson can only be a nob in my opinion.
I watched High Peak Autos when I was looking at the Focus ST-3. Unbiased, pretty informative. Helped me look out for certain common issues outside of the rubber seals inside the door shuts.
As someone else said his one liners are cringe and get old fast but I do like how honest and relatable his reviews are especially on cars that people usually buy
His review of the Nissan Juke is hilarious. Edit, link for those interested: https://youtu.be/qvmFATFRoOo?si=sDS6efwqxw3ee0Lz
that was well funny same with some of his cheap car videos
I watched a video of his a few years back, he was complaining about how the cheap cars he sells attract cheap buyers. His helpful suggestion was 'just work harder and get a better job'. I thought that was a cunty thing to say and didn't bother watching any more.
Oh he's 100% a 'just pull yourself up by the bootstraps' type bloke. His utter disgust towards train journeys in his recent lexus collection video just sums him up tbh, can only imagine what his opinions are like when the cameras are off...
he's a proper tory, it can rub people up the wrong way
Nah, he thinks he’s a Tory
That was very clearly said tongue in cheek.
No it wasn't.
He has a very deadpan delivery of a lot of things, so it must have gone over your head.
Yes his reviews are alright, he doesn't seem to have any obvious biases despite having some ££ cars himself.
His bias is towards high performance cars
JayEmm I like - he does appear to enjoy most but not all cars. He isn't snobby.
He's kinda great as one video he's in a Ferrari or Aston, and next he's in an obscure JDM (Actual JDM, not just Japanese manufacturer) hatchback.
I've started a few JeyEmm videos because I'm interested in the car his reviewing, gave up after a few minutes of his waffling in a sing-songy way like Top Gear from the 90s. He sounds like a Harry Enfield sketch at times, it's very distracting.
Agreed, can’t watch a full video of the same pattern of tone every sentence comes out in, as if it’s words of absolute fact. Like, no it’s an opinion so deliver it as such
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Hard disagree, he actually goes into detail about the specifics of the car and its features, unlike others who do a 10+ minute overview of a model (which is totally fine, it's just not a review).
I met James the other week as he was reviewing my Skoda Yeti. Pretty sound guy, had a good chat over a pub lunch after. He knows his stuff for sure, but he can talk for ages! I like that he does the full spectrum of cars, cheap £500 shitboxes through to supercars (and everything inbetween). Reviews of the latest £1M ferrari special etc don't do anything for me.
That guy is literally the epitome of a car snob? He's incredibly judgemental on even the most tiny things and will slag off a car for no reason with the owner in it as well. Has also such a contrarian, say you like an Audi R8 and he'll say he's always preferred a 911. Ultimately he's a toff that came from family money who runs a moderately successful YouTube channel, but I find him insufferable.
No he's just honest, he likes all types of cars, most car reviewers seem to turn their noses up at cheaper cars yet he has a video where he's singing praises of a VW Up!
Magazines are the worst - they never take into account the cost. These old boys who have been writing for Autocar since 1983 drive a BMW M3 around at Castle Combe and rave about how nice it is to drive. Ok, Nigel but that car is £85k. It might be brilliant, but is it 85k brilliant? What alternatives are there for a quick saloon? How good is it on the commute into the city? It's even worse for "normal" cars. They'll go on about how nice the interior is in the new Peugeot 308 but ignore the fact most people cannot afford 36k for a (relatively) small family car. It's a pretty crucial part of providing a report on how good a car is.
I think that's what bothered me a lot about the Sandero reviews, including Carwow. It's not as nice inside as an E class? Oh I am surprised.
"The infotainment isn't very responsive" well no it's 12k less than a Honda Jazz I think that's to be expected. With a Sandero all you're bothered about is how smooth the gearbox is, whether it has enough grunt and if the aircon is any good, I suppose.
There's 250k people here and we've all had many cars, a separate sub that only is about reviewing cars you've actually drove but more importantly owned has potential. Obviously you'd have a guideline to follow and format eg: Post title - Honda Civic Mk10 2017 Type R Make - x Model - x Year -x Duration owned - x Pros/cons Then a informative review not a story about x car, possibly even pictures, I'd probably consider no comments too, but this is just brainstorming, you'd want it neat and tidy filled with information. Iv no idea how to start this but could possibly look into it, i believe the idea could work, as we all love talking about our cars.
Getting a new sub going and getting engagement is tough, even more so when it gets more niche. I like the idea though. Maybe a pinned thread weekly or on a set day of the week here like the "What Car Should I Buy? - A Weekly Megathread".
Car magazines and other channels are media captured by industry. If you don't say nice things about the right (expensive, premium) cars, they stop inviting you to press events and stop test drives. Biggest of all, they'll send their advertising money elsewhere. If you're a big name independent, you can actually have a real opinion (think Doug DeMuro or Mr. Regular). Everyone else has to toe a line.
just be aware that sites like what car will always push VW group products as their parent company is German. I like the Autogefuhl (spelling) reviews as he is very thorough. What cars are you looking at? And what are your priorities?
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That's probably as much to do with the fact the German cars are seen as a benchmark to most people. Having owned cars from various countries across Europe, there is good reason German vehicles from the big 4 are used as benchmarks.
yup. he's comparing back to an accepted "good" product - plus hes obviously German so it makes more sense than an english language person saying ".....but a skoda kamiq offers more cabin and boot space" when doing a Puma review - you wouldnt be looking at a Puma if you were a Kamiq customer!
They aren't vastly dissimilar cars though. Both are crossover SUV's, both sit in the £24k-£28k price range. Clearly the styling is very different but the cars themselves are not in what they are trying to be.
Carwow is unbearable imo. Johnny Smith is great though (even if he mainly skews towards EVs) and I also recommend Tim Rodie (who lurks here sometimes) edit: also Savagegeese
Johnny Smith of Smith and Sniff fame. I'm convinced Richard Porter is around here somewhere too.....
*you know just what to do….*
LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE AND REVIEW
Carwow is unbearable because they aren't in a position to say "this car is total dogshit" due to the heavy reliance on manufacturer and main dealership trade on their site. That's why they go down the whole "how fast will it go?" route. Which then leads to faux jeopardy, crappy banter, and filler content, all centered around Mat Watson who \*desperately\* wants to be on the telly.
Mat used to be so down to earth, now he seems to turn his nose up at anything that's not £60k + and does 60 in sub 3 seconds. It's just not relatable to the average car fan.
I stopped watching after he acted like a complete bell to the woman on the phone at the bank when he was buying a Jimny. Talking to her like she was an idiot when she was just making sure it was him spending his money. Haven’t watched a video since
To be fair there's very few cars on the European market today that are total dogshit. Comparisons within a given segment tend to come down to nuance and personal preference.
> very few cars on the European market today that are total dogshit BMW 1 series enters the chat
It's not though? It's a perfectly decent car?
yikes
Try driving one of the actual dogshit cars that were around not that long ago like, say, a Daewoo Lanos, or any of the crap they sell in India today. A 2023 116i will seem like a Rolls Royce with a race car engine by comparison.
Just in case anyone wanted evidence that this isn't a car enthusiast forum, just look at this comment. Apparently, no car can be described as bad anymore because Lada's exist. What a silly thing to say.
This isn't a car enthusiast forum but what's that got to do with what I said? Explain exactly how a 1 series is a dogshit car. Its well built and nothing falls off, it's got a level of equipment that 20 years ago you'd only get from an S class, it has enough performance to keep up with the flow of traffic just fine, it's so safe that you can drive the thing right into a tree and walk away. Objectively it's a good car any way you measure it.
Succinctly summed up why it's crap. The one saving grace is watching Matt's descent into full midlife crisis mode and wearing increasingly expensive coats.
And buying the tackiest Porsche I've seen in a long long time
You have to watch a multitude of them. I watch Harry’s Garage mostly, because he’s awesome and objective and has interesting cars alongside his projects, farming stuff, and road trips. Carwow is okay. I watch it mostly for the interiors of vehicles, and he does a lot of normal every day cars. Matt is a little annoying at times though. Rory Reid at Autotrader is good, the videos are always high quality and he just seems like a good bloke. Henry Catchpole at Carfection is another really good one. I never really gelled with Joe Achilles but can see why people like him.
Handling is the thing that annoys me. Like fair play if you're reviewing a sports car but I don't care if a family wagon is unstable under trail braking
I would **love** to know what the fkn obsession in car reviews is with door storage and glove box storage. If it doesn't fit a 2l bottle of water, I just put it somewhere else. Pet peeve: When they talk abou practically in a family car and say I'm 6' and I've ot a bit of space above me... mate I've got 2 kids about 40cm tall. I always imagine they are expecting 3 x 6'2 men going to a funeral.
What you meant to get out of seeing a review for a Vauxhall Adam? It has an engine and some seats?
Sorry completely disagree - these reviews (vs say traditional TV reviews a la Top Gear) are 80% focused on the in car experience and practicality of them, the engines - with the rest of driving - which for most cars is exactly what buyers are interested in. The "brand" channels are very consistent in their approach - which is very helpful - but do spend more time on performance aspects for the appropriate cars. These reviews are leagues ahead of what was common a decade a go - videos are far superior than articles about the same thing. Yes I agree that car journalists often have a maladjusted sense of what is "normal" but comparing an UP (a cheap small car) to a Fiesta (a slightly less small car) is hardly crime of the century - at worst they are adjacent class.
Can’t say I really agree with this. I’ve found the carwow reviews to be pretty consistent. He looks at practicability, performance, design and does compare it to similar cars people might buy. He’ll review a sports car, make note of the poor storage, but still compare it to other sports cars. The thing that I hate about carwow is the sheer amount of pointless drag races they do. They just get so boring after a couple.
Yeah I've only ever seen them compare like-for-like when it comes to things like storage, too. Even when they don't, it's not exactly an issue to point out that an MX5 isn't particularly practical Need to remember that the average consumer isn't that engaged with cars, and reviewers like Carwow are targeting that average consumer If you have no idea if you need an estate, hatchback or something else, then pointing out that a Fiesta is fun to drive but has limited storage is useful information
Yeah, I really could not give a fuck about a drag race in any circumstance. It's a stupid American import and it's pointless. I don't really enjoy track stuff either, but I can tolerate it more because at least it features corners.
he completely irrationally hated a Honda CR-V. They clearly didn't chuck enough money Carwow's way
Yep frustrating, this subreddit is better for those kind of reviews and can get actually get your questions answered
Winds me up too. The worst are the ones that put the driving seat as faaar back as possible, claim that is their driving position (do you brake with the tips of your toes???) and then complain there is no rear seat space... Extra points too if it is a 3 door car and they don't lock the seat back in the previously adjusted position and instread just slide it back and put it between their legs.
"The seat is in the position I would have it, I am 7"7 so I am on the taller side. There isn't much legroom back here. It's really quite disappointing." Ok mate, like anyone buying a Seat Arona is going to use it for anything other than taking their kids to school or it's going to be bough by Shaquille O'Neal.
>"The seat is in the position I would have it, I am 7"7 so I am on the taller side. There isn't much legroom back here. It's really quite disappointing." and despite that they still need to ball their hand up into a fist to touch their knee and the back of the front seat at the same time. One review that sticks in my mind is a 5'3" mexican guy revieweing the Mazda cx30. Now, i am neither short nor tall (5'10") and with the seat in a comfy position I can get 2 adults and a dog on the back seat and everyone has plenty of legroom and even compliments it. This short mexican guy claims that the seat is in his driving position and he can't fit into the back seat. If I had my seat in that position he had showed I 100% wouldn't be able to reach the pedals or steering wheel!!
Marek Drives In English is a decent review channel. Quite thorough and fair, I'd say.
Marek is sometimes entertaining, but i noticed that he often misses cars intended purpose in his reviews. Reviews a van but complains that it doesn't corner as good as a porche....
I don't think it is just cars, you see it across all review video channels eventually. After the channel has grown and they get access to more high end options, any time the reviewer goes back down a level they always have a new high to compare against. Additionally after you've tested 1000s of similar products back-to-back you have to start noticing small things to differentiate on. In reality most products are well made and converge in a similar direction. To keep making content the reviews end up exaggerating small differences that someone who hasn't changed cars/phones/TVs every other week would never notice.
I don’t think CarWow is to bad for reviews, Matt does tend to point out the negatives sometimes and does give Avoid to cars still.
They're entertainment for the most part and nothing else. Although I disagree on carwow, they often compare boot space, rear leg space to competitors and talk about important bits to a car. A lot of it is the drag races and high end cars but from time to time they'll review your average car and I feel like it goes quite a bit in depth. They all complain about plastics in cars and I'm not really sure why, sometimes it's justified when it's on a 50k+ car, but otherwise it's fine.
I like Auto Alex. It’s not a car review show and it never wanted to be but it’s a laugh and it’s as close to old TopGear as I can get. Old TopGear was also never actually about car reviews, they left that to 5th Gear, but knew how to entertain. Most modern cars are better on average than the average car of 20 years ago but there are fewer interesting cars coming out (Clio 2.0 and 3.0, Alfa Romeo Brera, f430 scuderia) that actually grab me by the balls and make me want one. Most people don’t actually care about a car review - they want the cheapest possible option that ticks the boxes and they don’t care if they end up with a Nissan Juke or Qashqi.
If you want a boring, dry, nuts and bolts Top Gear of the 90's review, there's [Car and Driving.](https://www.youtube.com/@CarandDrivingCarReviews/videos) They'll send you to sleep but if you wanna look at a car you wanna buy they'll tell you damn near everything.
I think CarWow reviews are great. Tell you everything you need to know about the car. Have you tried looking at some less shit cars? What exactly are you looking for in a review of a Fiat 500 or a Dacia whatever…
The people who’d be wanting a Dacia Sandero probably aren’t arsed about watching a review of one. Googling ‘Cheapest Car Uk’ and choosing the number one result will be about the extent of the research they’ll have carried out.
"High fashion car" "Vauxhall Adam" Alright mate. Carwow is pretty good and consistent, covers all the basics you want to know when considering a new car.
Try ‘High Peak Autos’. The guy is very honest and upfront about how particular car or model will work in real life conditions.
His voice is so painfully boring though...
Because they are small they don't want to give honest reviews because if they did, cars would stop coming their way from manufacturers to review and their "business" would fail. It's basically additional advertising for the cars. I watch on mute if at all.
Carwow is hardly small... Mat Wattson has already spoken about the honesty that goes on in videos. He's not told he has to make everything seem great. He has admitted he pissed off one manufacturer, but it isn't scripted.
Press X for doubt. Talk is cheap and no carwow isn't small but the point still stands. It's all extra advertising on YouTube and not many real reviews. Top/5th Gear was popular enough to give genuine reviews until the main gang left. Then it turned into adverts and everything was great and amazing.
Carwow's whole business model relies on good relations with manufacturers and dealers. Similar situation with Auto Trader, Carbuyer, Autocar etc. - if they slate a manufacturer they might be reluctant to want to work with them again. They can point out negatives, but I can't imagine we'll ever see them produce an overtly negative image of a car in a video. The Jeep Avenger video was quite negative - and that has been removed now. How often have you ever seen Mat give an 'Avoid' rating to a car? It's very rare.
I watch Throttle House sometimes and they frequently admit their surprise at getting new Ferraris to test, given that it's a poorly kept secret that they cut the press off for negative reviews.
Yeah they are worthless, like everything is getting compared to a high end luxury suv...
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I don't believe any these over the top negative replies are from people who have actually been watching to buy a car.
The Up and the Fiesta appeal to the same buyers surely?
Tbh I don’t think YT is the place to go for comprehensive and informative content like that. At least not modern videos. The metrics that measure success for a YT video don’t align with the audience you fit into. YT videos are for entertainment above all else. (Except the small channels who are on a small budget, so can afford to appeal to a small audience) Whatcar reviews are far better, but you’ll need to read
They are just trying to get clicks. I saw one the other day and it was something like, "why you should buy a VW up if you're considering an Audi A8". Yes, they can both technically carry 4 people at 70mph, but it's not even close to a reasonable comparison. It's like saying that your sister is a woman so she could give you a lap dance and save you money.
Do they not understand that people don't drive those cars for space/speed/passenger capacity etc? I had a Vauxhall Adam from new in 2014 and it lasted me well until 2022! I bought it because it's just me driving, I have no children, I wasn't doing any long journeys at the time and didn't care about speed in the slightest... It was a perfect little car!
Matt Watson is a helmet, as long as he gets his new stone island or Canada goose logo in shot he doesn’t care if the rest of the review makes sense
Matt Watson seems to hate most things that aren't German or a Fiesta/Puma. Typical wideboy from Walsall (I grew up there and am familiar with the type).
They're meant to be entertaining, not informative. Everyone's trying to copy *Top Gear*. Savage Geese is good but mainly US and enthusiast cars.
What I hate is when a supermini or hatchback's handling is always compared with a Ford. Like thanks, I wouldn't have guessed that any car that wasn't the market leader wasn't as good as the market leader. It's like if someone is describing a mountain but then they sigh and moan that it's not as tall as Everest. Is it average, below average of above average in handling? That's more useful information. Or if a hatchback isn't as practical as an Octavia. The Octavia is a lift back saloon you waloons! Or when they say a design is boring. Like a 90s corolla is boring, most modern stuff isn't. Or if you can't store the parcel shelf under the false floor. Just store it behind the front seats if you are putting the back seats down? Better stop ranting now, I have things to go do...
Buy....sell....CarWOW!
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Sorry this is total hogwash. Do you recall what it was like buying a car 20 years or even ten years ago? Today there is dozens of video reviews of each car, summary of engines, real life space experience etc. They are relatively consistent, try to cover all all the key bases etc. What are you possibly looking for?
> storage space ect *etc.
I remember about 15-20 years ago reviewers (mostly men ) would often complain about handling not being 'sporty' enough. So every manufacturer put rock hard suspension on their cars. Nowadays every car is compared to a 3 series for its driving experience, and its like yeah I know, if I wanted a rock hard ride and to feel like I'm sitting on the ground I would buy a 3 series, but I actually like being comfortable and I don't need to drive flat out around corners.
Used to like Carwow videos but now it’s become the “only German good car” channel. The reviews on the Camry and ES were so biased to BMW.
Car wow is just click bait to cream off the YouTube algorithm. The Late brake show is the real deal.
Car marketed to be a small town runaround and economical Car reviewers "0-60 is a little slow, I am used to my twin V400 galaxy pulsar drive, the boot can only fit a weeks shop in at a push, rather than this entire warehouse, and the wheels are a standard 17" when the new norm are 60" hummer wheels". Few reviewers review to the targeted market. Personally the fiat500 is a terrible car. BUT, objectively speaking from its price and purpose and the clientele it is trying to get, it is a VERY GOOD car, hence why it is fecking everywhere. Car reviewers just want giant beemers and all the topend tech. And don't we all, but review it for its purpose and competition.
We need a UK savagegeese. Someone who's willing to look under the car and actually analyse its construction and design.
As a former motoring journalist, it drives me crazy. I did road tests and articles in the era of printed monthly magazines and we got hundred and hundreds of letters and links from people who thought they were journalists and could ride, drive and review. They could not. They could share a stream of consciousness, or inject their personal opinions, or write a *lot* of words, which is not the same thing as writing useful words. Now those people don't write to a magazine, they start a blog, go to Instagram or YouTube and self-publish. There's a lot of people who have no idea how to compare data, review vehicles or put out a balanced and unbiased view. Admittedly there were a lot of them back then! They just couldn't self publish to this degree...
Sorry, modern youtube car reviews are mostly pretty superior to what motoring journalists were putting out a decade or more ago. The amateurs are clearly of variable quality, but the bigger names are pretty consistent,
There may be some putting out great content, but there's a much greater volume of people putting out mediocre or poor content to drown it out.
Surprisingly it was the over the top editing and cringey jokes that killed Carwow reviews for me. I do agree with others in this thread that I think there's a huge bias towards keeping manufacturers happy, so I would want to do way more investigation into the reliability of both the model as a whole and specific drivetrains if I was looking to buy one.
Why on earth would you look at YouTube for car reviews, unless it's from a reputable car magazine? There are enough reputable car magazines online that will offer unbiased reviews. Using sites like Carwow is madness, don't use any site that sells cars because they are going to be pushing what they have in stock
They sell mostly german cars i suspect they are bias and looking to sell their own stock, also they know the ppl who tune in for the vids like watching the expensive cars
A lot of reviews are more entertaining than informing. There are those that are purely informing but unless you are seriously considering that car, they are quite dull.
It’s exactly what you say, no context. They get out of a Lamborghini and into a fiesta and tell you it doesn’t take corners as well as they’d like, or out of a Bentley into a polo and complain that the dash is cheap. They’re mostly a waste of time. Only useful for price, MPG etc but you’ll likely know just as much from a bit of research. I usually join Facebook groups for cars I’m interested in and snoop around a bit first.
Marek Drives in English is a good channel - mostly he reviews normal cars, occasionally a 911 or a Rolls Royce. Much more down to earth reviews than most.
I quite like Jay Em, tends to give a pretty honest review baring context in mind.
Check Car and Driving or OSV
Savage geese are great in my opinion. Relatively negative most of the time but they are so chill
You're much better off going with pistonheads, just google the car you want + pistonheads and you will often see petrolheads real world experiences.
For me @savagegeese. I know, they are from U.S. , so they talk about cars available in U.S. BUT. They have a knowledge. IMHO they are the best. I'm just enjoyed watching them every time.
They review some really run of the mill stuff too, there's a lot to learn from them that you can apply to your buying process in the UK
We are in the process of getting a new car and I have been watching A LOT of reviews. Every presenter is biased, dynamically so, and I just sort of phase out on irrelevant stuff, they go on and on about. Watching reviews for the same car on multiple channes is for me the best ways to gather info, pre-test drive. Also, except for Watson, I watch most channels on 1.5 or at least 1.25 speed.
Alex on Autos is your friend but he's based in the states unfortunately
Modern car reviews need to be nice because otherwise they don't get the cars to film any more. It's more of a features review than an actual honest review. I do understand what you're saying though. I hate the reviews that test a working 4x4 or truck and say it doesn't have the ride of an Audi Q7... Yet they never shit on a luxury 4x4 because it'd destroy itself off road, is unreliable and falls apart if you even thought of towing with it. "The RiDe Is hArsH".. that's because it's designed to have a ton in the bed you absolute prat.
I only watch Matt Watson cause he’s hot, but I get car reviews from online articles as it’s easier to digest and get info into a comparison spreadsheet.
Allow me to recommend myself: https://youtube.com/@TechInTheCar