Fake Reviews. Paid Posts. Welcome to Car Content 2025

Some car content aims to inform you. Some is just glorified advertising. Can you tell which is which?

Have you ever watched a car review and thought, “Gosh, they really love this car… is it really that great?” You’re not wrong to wonder. In 2025, the world of automotive content has become a slick, hyper-polished, monetised machine. The videos. The reels. The “reviews”. The ones where the creator is beaming, the lighting is flawless, and every car is apparently “amazing”. But beware – here’s what you may not know: many of these creators are being told what to say (or not say) and being paid to do so!

Please don’t misunderstand – this isn’t a bash at influencers. Many of them are fantastically talented, hardworking individuals who know how to build audiences, craft compelling visuals, and engage with people.

However, it is necessary to understand the distinction – as subtle as it might be these days – between influence and journalism.

What’s Really Going On?

Recently, I was accidentally invited to a car launch event as an influencer. Instead of being treated like a journalist, I inadvertently became privy to deliverables and guidelines given to influencers. 

Instructions even included the line: “Please refrain from intentionally negative or defamatory remarks about the brand,” and later “Avoid featuring other EV brands in the same frame or making direct comparisons.” Wowsers!

I left the event. No content was produced. My day was wasted. I’m still seething. 

But it served to illustrate the point of this piece: much of what you’re watching online now isn’t car journalism – it’s branded content in disguise. 

Carefully curated, PR-filtered, monetised messaging. Manufacturers love this, of course. Being able to control the messaging, rather than waiting on tenterhooks to see what the journalists will say. 

So what’s the Big Deal?

You might ask: “Well, if the car’s good, what’s the problem?” The problem is, you’re being sold to, not informed. And honestly, even that wouldn’t be a problem if it were transparent. But it’s not. Not always. 

Slowly but surely, this oven-ready, cut-and-paste content is warping what we expect from car content. Even worse, it’s undermining the work of hard-working jobbing journos and independent journalists – people like myself – who aren’t being paid by the brands, who aren’t being controlled, and who are trying to give you an honest, experienced take.

Let me be absolutely clear:

• I don’t get paid to create car content.
• I don’t get told what to say.

So How Do Independent Journalists Make a Living?

We don’t. Not really.

Like most independent automotive journalists today, I only just manage to scrape by through freelancing, some miniscule YouTube revenues (you need to be pulling in a million views a month to make even viable money), trying to sell some books, the kindness of my channel sponsors and viewers who support via Patreon, Ko-Fi, or YouTube channel memberships.

The reality? Every launch, review, shoot, and edit costs us time, money, and energy. But we do it because we care. Because we believe that real car journalism matters.

What Should You Do as a Viewer?

You don’t have to stop watching influencers; in fact, you absolutely MUST continue to support all your favourite content creators. Believe me, they need you! 

But you should consume digital content with awareness.

A key thing to keep in mind when trying to discern what kind of content you’re consuming, is to dig a little deeper into who the content creator is, what is their experience and career credentials. That’s why I have a whole page on my website about this!

The world of automotive media is changing – actually, it has been for a while now. There’s a place for all kinds of content, but if you are after informed content that you can use to gain automotive knowledge and make car buying decisions, you need credible content. Stuff that’s backed by honesty, integrity, and passion for the product. 

If we let the fake stuff dominate (which it admittedly already is), we lose trust, transparency, and frankly, the point of the whole thing.

So if you value honest, independent, enthusiast-driven content – support it. Subscribe, share, buy the book, grab a T-shirt, fuel the tank (Ko-Fi and Patreon links below!) – do whatever you can to help keep the real voices in this game.

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If you found this useful, interesting or fun, consider supporting me via Patreon, Ko-Fi, or even grabbing a copy of one of my books on Amazon. Every bit helps me keep creating independent automotive content that actually helps people.

Order my books now!

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