Auto Journalist: Trust them or Dont believe them

**OTO** · April 13th, 2005 02:13 AM

I think there has been a few threads of late concerning the trusthworthyness & integrity of local auto journalist. What I'd like to know how much you trust what they have to say.

**ILuvDetailing** · April 13th, 2005 02:28 AM

I'm a regular reader of C-Mag. I like their writting style, its pretty objective but sometimes I find myself dozing off while reading... don't know why must be lack of coffee or they're focusing sometimes too much on the scenery instead of the car but thats just me

. Top Gear is also good. Glad that the Philippines' has a couple of car mags worth buying.

**GlennSter** · April 13th, 2005 02:31 AM

the ed-in-chief of top gear visits this site occassionally..herhehrehr

**afrasay** · April 13th, 2005 02:50 AM

OT

Glenn,

Checkout the April issue of TG. Nandun si Kitty in our last 4x4 clinic in Tanay.

**Hero** · April 13th, 2005 03:39 AM

C! mag dont "review" cars that much..the "review" articles contain 90% backgrounders and a lack of a better word "rubbish"..but i dont know why i still buy the mag at P150 its expensive na (half of it is F1 pa).. I swore not to buy top gear since the 3rd issue because of the irritating cam phone quality of the pics (up to now ganon pa rin..upgrade na kayo ng Phone! gumamit naman kayo ng instamatic o disposable camera man lang!..) pero i browse through it at National..i think their articles have more content kaso it feels like im reading a back issue kasi yung cars na feature nila, na feature na sa C! considering nahuhuli ang C! sa paglabas ng mag nila! wait am i still on the topic?..

do i trust what i read? mostly yes, pero alam mo naman kung press feed lang ang nakasulat and certain biases lumalabas naman also it helps na meron boards like tsikot (isingit daw ba?) at least straight from the owners yung mga experiences about the cars..and in the end, during this era of available test drives..its better to judge for yourself, than to listen to others.

**ILuvDetailing** · April 13th, 2005 04:06 AM

I hate it when some local journalists do the "copy and paste" method...

**Elroi** · April 13th, 2005 04:14 AM

mapapansin mo naman sa mga articles nila if they're giving u the real thing..

yung iba naman kasing journos ay "silent" PRO ng mga auto companies...

**Elroi** · April 13th, 2005 04:19 AM

sorry... double post...

**airshaq20** · April 13th, 2005 05:17 AM

I subscribe to several car magazines (car and driver, motor trend, road and track, automotive). Since they all deal with new cars - we would expect good qualities from just about any new car - but thats not the reason why I subscribe to these magazines. I like reading the bad and the negative sides....i like reading about how bad the suspension, how bad the ergonomics....the switches and odd buttons....the transmission feel....the brakes.......steering.....the quality of the interior materials.....is it glossy or matte.....the sound of the door closing....squeeks and creaks....anything and everything....

Most of us (including me) get excited when we drive a brand spanking new car....and these journalists are human too....they get excited and they get high (with the new car scent which is actually composed mostly of glue and paint - according to an article i've read).....so most of the time, we would say mostly good things about it....Heck, i can give good praises on any new car.....but...thats not what i wanna read.....

Praises can lead to bad buying decisions - which is something i dont wanna happen to me...Buying a car is a major purchase and as much as i want a perfect car, well....i wanna know what to expect without expecting too much....

Knowing the bad and the negatives can balance things out.....

**empy** · April 13th, 2005 07:23 AM

can't comment on the philippine mags, but...

before you read, look at how the publication makes money. do they depend on advertising revenue from car companies? also, do they depend on cars to provide test units for free? that will automatically make them biased. not saying that they will flat-out lie, but they will be more reluctant to completely trash a car no matter how much it's deserved.

however, the numbers in instrumented testing don't lie, so you can use those to judge the size, room, fuel economy and performance of the car you're looking at. also, in general it's easier to trust comparison testing (parang good, better, best kumbaga).

if you want more unbiased reviews, look at publications like edmunds.com, which doesn't depend so much on automaker ad revenue.