I’m not sure if this would work well or not but tell me what you guys think…
When we get new models out and we are always debating about what people are writing about the cars/trucks why don’t we do it ourselves? We could have a few guys like myself (GM Guy), an import guy, etc all go to one of our stores for a while and we can drive the cars, write reviews and debate about it. We have a Toyota franchise, Ford franchise, and I have Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, GMC and Cadillac so we can cover quite a few new cars. I also know the owners of Northtown Auto and a few other dealers quite well so I could contact them and we would have almost every single make covered.
We would need:
people who are open to all vehicles but really like a certain make/style/etc. GM guy, Mopar guy, Import guy etc
These guys (or girls) would a very extensive knowledge of vehicles in their area and vehicles in general, sorry no newbies
Write reviews that are based on facts and a little bit of their own thoughts and post them up for a HEALTHY discussion.
I think if we could keep the discussion healthy we could really have a blast doing it. Obviously we wouldn’t be driving Ferrari’s and Lambo’s but everyone does that, very few writers actually review the cars 90% of us drive on a regular basis.
Sounds like an awesome idea. Could be great information for salesman to help push certain cars when they say our “test driving team says blah blah about this car.”
yeah, thats what I was thinking too. benefits us because we get to drive all the cars, have fun and the store gets a real world review. Thats why we need to have people who would take it seriously and know alot about the cars.
I think just having a car review section would be great.
Whether you just went and test drove something, or if you have had a particular car for years. It would be nice to be able to look up the review of certain makes of cars, etc
Pretty good idea, but how many NYSpeeders have the writing talent to write a decent review?
Also, I’m not a fan of having GM fanboys write GM reviews and Honda fanboys write Honda reviews. A quality review comes from someone who is objective.
Would this be a paid gig? It would take some time to drive a car enough to write a quality review. I know Car and Driver has a test loop that includes some highways and decent back roads near their office so they can see how a vehicle responds to a number of different road types. Add this driving to crawling around the car checking out legroom, headroom, trunk space, features and ergonomics and you’re talking about an hour plus per car.
If you get a high response of volunteers maybe have them “interview” by test driving a car and sending you a sample review. If it’s quality offer them a dollar amount per review. I’d definitely be willing to do this.
There, that should be enough jargon to ensure we’ve ditched the visitors, so now we can level with our core readership: This is probably the most disappointing all-new American car in a decade. Not only were all our editors put off by its numerous missteps of form and function, but even our Gen-Y road warriors and their friends found little to love in the Ion.
And they go on to continue tearing this car apart. I’ve driven several Ions and I can’t disagree with much of their very critical review, but if I was trying to move them from my lot I don’t think I’d have copies of that article anywhere near my showroom.
Knowing I was reviewing for a dealership I’m sure I would temper my criticism somewhat and never come right out and call a turd of a car a turd, but I would definitely list the positives and negatives.
I think you’re right here and wrong in some ways. I would handle the review fine because not everyone likes every car. Thats the point though. Get a GM guy to write an objective review of a Ford, Chrysler etc and put it here. Obviuosly I wouldn’t go handing out reviews that totally bash cars we are trying to sell. The point is to have people who know cars and can put most of thier bias aside and write a review of a car, good or bad. This is a car lovers website and I think it would work if its done right.
I think you would almost need to be a driver, every time we talk we are always debating something.
I can’t say I have any loyalty to any brand. I didn’t buy my GTO because I’m a GM guy, I bought it because of all the cars I drove it fit my needs and wants best. Had the G35 had a little more omph I’d probably be driving one of those.
For replacing the the Expedition I’ve considered another Ford (Edge), a Honda (Pilot), a Nissian (Murano), a Toyota (Highlander) as well as some other makes/models. No one manufacture gets bonus points because of a name with me. When it comes time for my next SUV I’ll drive all the ones in my price range and pick the one that fits me best.
I am not saying it has to be some 4 page break down of every little nuance of the car. But my personal experience I have just recently test drove the Speed3…I could easily write a page on what I saw/felt/liked/disliked after a 15 minute test drive.
This wouldn’t necessarily have to be to just test drives though, lets say you just bought a car and have had it for a couple of months or whatever, it is easy to do a simple write up.
For those that can’t write well, don’t do a review. Or if one is done by someone that we all know can’t write well (ahem Jeg) then just skip over their review.
Also it isn’t really about being a paid or time consuming gig, just something that us as a automotive community does for others.
I think this thread needs to be moved into site suggestions/feedback…