Tired of car reviews that all sound the same? Here’s why I never read or watch other journalists’ takes
I don’t read car reviews. I don’t watch car reviews. Not because I think everyone else’s stuff is rubbish (well… maybe sometimes). But because I don’t want to be influenced, even subconsciously, by anyone else’s opinion on a car.
Admittedly, car reviews, apart from technical and performance spec, are largely subjective. They’re based on feel, experience, perhaps some engineering knowledge, often personal bias, and sometimes what you had for breakfast that morning, or if it’s raining.
Regardless, what they must not be influenced by is what someone else has said. If I’m going to tell you what a car is like, I want it to be my verdict, not a reheated casserole of other reviewers’ thoughts. If you soak up too many other takes, you’ll inevitably start echoing them – even subconsciously.
The only time I might glance at another review is right at the end of my process – once I’ve already formed my view. And that’s only if I need to fact-check some specs, or double-check a niggling stat.
If you’re a reader or a viewer who consumes a lot of automotive content, you’ll notice the same themes, the same phrases, sometimes even the same gags cropping up across reviews.
The trouble is that journalism can often become an echo chamber. Veterans set the tone, greener journos follow along. Sometimes reviewers forget who they’re actually doing the review for.
Instead of addressing the actual buyer, they start writing for each other. “Servos this, turn-in that, suspension geometry blah blah blah.” It’s an incestuous loop of journos outdoing each other with ever-more incomprehensible technobabble.
Before you know it, half the reviews of a new people carrier are talking about “quarter miles” and “plough-on understeer” as if you’re going to take your kids and the dog on a hot lap of Silverstone.
But that’s never been my way.
For me, reviewing a car has always been about answering a simple but vital question: is this the right vehicle, for the right person, at the right price?
Not whether I personally adore or despise it (I’ll happily tell you, though). Nor whether the steering is 0.2% sharper than its rival. But whether the car makes sense for the buyer who’ll actually live with it.
This is one of the reasons I wrote ‘How to be an Automotive Content Creator, Journalist & Influencer’. One of the key lessons in there is simple: find your own voice. If you’re just parroting other reviews, you’re not adding anything. And if you’re writing for the approval of other journalists instead of your readers or viewers, your output is pointless.
Reviews are meant to help people make choices. And opinions? They should be formed behind the wheel, not behind a YouTube playlist or under a stack of magazines.
So, if my reviews sometimes sound a bit different, now you know why. They are. And if they make sense to you. Even better. Job done!
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.
Support independent car journalism 🙏🏽☺️ grab my books on Amazon, take up membership to BrownCarGuy on YouTube, or join me on Ko-Fi or Patreon.
👉🏽 Channel membership: https://www.youtube.com/browncarguy/join
👉🏽 Buy me a Coffee! https://ko-fi.com/browncarguy
👉🏽 Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/BrownCarGuy
MY BOOKS ON AMAZON!
📖 Want to become an automotive journalist, content creator, or car influencer? Check out my book: How to be an Automotive Content Creator 👉🏽 https://amzn.eu/d/7VTs0ii
📖 Quantum Races – A collection of my best automotive sci-fi short stories! 👉🏽 https://amzn.eu/d/0Y93s9g
📖 The ULEZ Files – Debut novel – all-action thriller! 👉🏽 https://amzn.eu/d/d1GXZkO
Discover more from Brown Car Guy
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
