Thread: Where do motoring journo's get off?

Sad isn't it ...

I was looking at a hybrid Sport while standing around MLR's yard earlier this week..... nice looking bit of kit... but my wallet shrivelled up and dropped off when I looked at the price

Originally Posted by Bytemrk

Sad isn't it ...

I was looking at a hybrid Sport while standing around MLR's yard earlier this week..... nice looking bit of kit... but my wallet shrivelled up and dropped off when I looked at the price

Yeah agreed, pricing is off the show, more than a Porsche!

..what has happened to Land Rover? From being the everyman's pragmatic, capable, affordable vehicle of simple, spare, design perfection, that became an icon : to the urban folly, seeking only the superficial 'look of nature', the fake nature bling fashion accoutrement, for fantastical elitist urbancentric escapeism.

All spin, no substance. Hybrid good for the environment? Pffffttttt... Even the motoring journo's have succumbed to the illusion. It's pure advertorial fluff. Who will ever believe a vehicle review again?

This is just about across the board in journalism now I reckon. I deal with so called journo's who write for various 2-wheel magazines on a regular basis and have done for nearly twenty years.

Most, not all, wouldn't know which end of a motorbike has handlebars let alone have any real product or important industry knowledge. Scary really, they usually come into the job based on some form of passion but with few other skills.

There are exceptions but very few and I guess for what they nearly all get paid we shouldn't grumble to much. This I reckon is the same with 4 wheel journo's, apart from massive (look at me) ego's I reckon most I have met over the years are even worse then their 2-wheel cousins in lack of product knowledge.

There's a reason for this. Less and less money can be made from content leading to less money to pay for it leading to lower quality. Which means fewer eyeballs and less money....a vicious circle.

Where do they get off?

Most of them were never "on" in the first place......

I wonder if I should post up a letter I wrote some years back to a 4WD magazine where I complained about one of their issues and how the contents did not match the cover nor were the photos inside of much value.

More rubbish from motoring journo...

Car Sales review comparo between Ford Everest & Toyota Prado:

"Proper 4WDs were seemingly a dying breed until the arrival this year of a bevy of new, ute-based models including Ford Everest, Toyota Fortuna and Mitsubishi Pajero Sport (nee Challenger). Of these, the new Everest with its upmarket positioning stands out as a real alternative to the Toyota LandCruiser Prado, the undisputed king of large off-road wagons in this country."

Yes proper 4WD's are certainly a dying breed, however none of these listed above are large off-road wagons. They are medium sized SUV's.

No mention of Land Rover Discovery either, which is clearly the leading competitor for Prado! But they do reference 'Land-Rover style off-road modes'... hmm

"Both have Land Rover-style electronically-controlled off-road modes for tackling different surfaces including 'sand?, ?rock?, 'mud? and 'snow?. However, unlike the Prado only rock mode is available in low range in the Everest. Both have hill-descent control for tricky descents."

...And to top it all off, the wrap up says:
"If it's on the bitumen, towing a caravan or carting the family around, the Everest is a good choice." Which means it's not an off-roader at all!

Ridiculous.

Another quality bit of motoring journalism can be found in I think Caravan World (?) They rate the top 10 tow vehicles. The Land Rover brand s does well but they pick the supercharged petrol RRS and Discovery. No mention of the TDV6 or SDV6 where you get superior grunt and remarkable fuel economy. They also seem to only look at the rated towing capacities and simply forget the real world towing abilities and matters such as principles like trying to keep the towed weight less the the towing vehicle. They would be laughed at in Chermany with this. And I really doubt that a 90 series defender would be that good towing a caravan at 3500kg, really!!

Simmo