Also, sometimes I save money with a smaller car. Other times I spend more, like the Aspen & F-150 that both cost me $150 a week in gas. I figure it evens out in the long run.

The level of information that is available in the US relating to the automotive industry at large, compared to the information that is disseminated in Canada.

Its no wonder that the average Canadian consumer is skeptical about the automotive industry in Canada.

One example JD Power in the US makes the US PIN information readely available on their site, the Canadian PIN information was available for a time, now its no longer available.

And yes, on a big SUV, I sometimes end up with $50 in my pocket for a week, after I’ve spent for the gas and car wash.

In any business, there will be people who take advantage of a situation; the big problem here is that we’re supposed to be above that, and I wish we all were. But we aren’t. There are journalists who only write advertorials, and I get tarred with that brush. I was on a press trip with one who loudly described the vehicle in question to the rest of the journalists there as “undriveable”, and spent most of the day outlining everything that made this the worst car he’d ever been inside.

I read the resulting article a couple of weeks later. It was one of the best vehicles that automaker had ever produced. There wasn’t an unkind word about it anywhere in the story.

I wish I could say I made that up, but I didn’t.

I heard a little rumor the other day that I’m not very well-liked at one automaker because I don’t praise every vehicle I drive from them. I think that’s the best compliment I’ve ever been paid.

Gary, do I really have to explain why I spent more time with Lesley than with you

Anyway, back to the topic… I totally agree with Lesley, there are a lot of us out there working our butts off for a paltry paycheck every few weeks which hardly covers the gas that we burn.

Obviously there are some who do rather well out of the business. The name Jeremy Clarkson tends to spring instantly to mind. However, we have to remember that the world of auto journalism not only deals with people who are interested in purchasing cars, it also involves a certain amount of reader entertainment. There are a lot of people out there who are simply passionate about all things automotive and like to spend their time finding out more about cars and the auto world in general. That’s why we have the likes of Jeremy.

Actually, that’s not strictly correct, after all, Mr. Clarkson’s is a class of his own nowadays. He’s a worldwide celebrity, and why not I say? After all, we pay our tv and film stars ridicules amounts of money to entertain us, and then they get paid handsomely on top of that to sell us everything from dishwasher liquid to toilet rolls. Blimey, even David Suzuki does that nowadays. Does that make him any less of an environmentalist?

I guess what I’m trying to say here, is that I sometimes wonder what my job is all about!

I see it this way…If someone wants to purchase a new vehicle then they should do some homework themselves. Trust me, I wouldn’t spend thousands of dollars on a new car simply because some old hack like me told me it was worth buying. I’d read several reviews to get the general feel of the vehicle, then I’d ask any friends I knew who owned them, and finally, I’d pop into the local dealership and drive the vehicle for myself. After doing all that, I’d decide if I actually wanted one. it’s as simple as that!

Think about it for a moment. we all write for publications which come out daily, weekly or monthly. Out of all those readers do you honestly believe that every one of them is scanning the pages eagerly waiting to run out and purchase a brand new vehicle. Of course not! Most are there for purely entertainment reasons. They either want to keep up to date with what’s happening in the auto world, maybe they’re daydreaming about a future purchase, or possibly they’re just killing time before going into the dentists chair. Who knows, but whatever the reason, it is our job, or at least as I see it, to try and keep them entertained, and thereby encouraging them to re-purchase our publications, or to regularly visit our websites. In my eyes, that’s our main job.

Unless we are covering a particular automotive news story where people truly want the full story, we are not like the guys that you see on BBC news night. Now they’re Journalists!

In my mind, there is far to much emphasis put on technical specifications in a lot of stories nowadays. After all, that stuff is fed to us by the manufacturer, then we regurgitate it and plop it back out there. In my opinion, if readers want to know every little specification about a vehicle, then walk into a dealership or go onto the manufacturers website and read it there.

I know that there are a lot of writers out there who won’t agree with me on that, which is basically good, because then we’ll enjoy a good balance of tech stories and entertainment. Or as one of my colleagues termed my stuff “Fluff”!

I see it this way… An auto journalist can either take the technical track, appealing to the true gear heads, or they can try and entertain the mases. It’s kind of hard to do both. Now, I write for both automotive websites and lifestyle magazines. Because of that, I have to run the entertainment route. After all, a lot of my readers wouldn’t recognize a limited slip differential if it came out dancing across the floor in a hat with its name on embroidered on it!

As far as car sales go, if somebody reads one of my stories and it inspires them to go out and take a closer look at that particular vehicle, great awesome! I’ll even chat to people in the street and point them in the direction of the dealership if I like the car. However, that’s not my real job.

I’ll admit that I try not to trash products unless I truly need to. After all, I wouldn’t want somebody coming into my house and pointing out my bad taste in wallpaper, and a lot of writing is down to personal taste. How I handle that is simple…if I’ve heard a few bad things about a certain vehicle, then I won’t jump over fences to review it. That’s not a problem for me because I know that a lot of other journalists will.

When writing stories, I try to put myself in the mind of the type of person who would actually go out and purchase the vehicle. What bugs me is when writers take a little base car, or a minivan say, then complain about its quarter mile times. That’s just bloody ridicules and makes us all look like utter morons.

Another thing which really gets me is the writers who read the manufacturers literature, then shake it up a down a little, and then spit it back out again. Come on now, you’re either a writer, or a copying machine, your choice, make it! I also don’t think that this does the car companies any favors, because anybody with half a brain can see straight through it!

The funny thing about that is that some of the major newspapers often carry that kind of stuff, and the car companies absolutely adore them.

I believe that there are a few problems in our industry, but nothing which couldn’t be sorted out.

Anyway, I could go on forever about this industry, perhaps that why I’m in, because I’m so passionate about it, However, to me, it’s all about one thing at the end of the day, and that’s getting the readers to read down to the bottom of the page, and hopefully you just done that!

That means I’m a success, so where’s my big fat paycheck like Jeremy’s!!

That said, from what I’ve seen over the past couple of years, most of the auto journos I’ve met are freelancers who are working hard to build themselves a career in a fun but competitive niche.

Thanks for joining in!

Anyway, I wasn’t trying to attack anyone personally. I’m sure that many auto journos take their jobs very seriously, and the fact that y’all are posting and discussing this topic here proves that you do too. Thanks for the insights.

Back to the topic at hand.
As someone who isn’t, and most likely, will never be in Clarkson’s realm, I’ve never experienced having a car delivered to my home full of “petrol”. Rather, my routine test car experience involves several hours travel to pick up the car, before my day job at the local paper. I then work late to make up my time. All expenses incurred are paid by me: gas, cleaning supplies, car washes during the week spent with the car.
As far as press trip swag goes – I admit to having received gifts from car companies. These were usually t-shirts, jackets, vests, pens and such. Nothing lavish. When I was new at this, I donated most of them to my newspaper’s annual United Way Auction. One, such as a nice leather Roots bag from a Mazda launch, I kept as a gym bag.
To think that these gifts are going to sway my opinion of a vehicle is laughable – in order to attend a press launch, I’ve got to use three of my vacation days, drive two hours to the airport on my own gas, and pay to pick up my car on my return. A review will generally earn a writer from $100-$250. Anyone who doesn’t genuinely love cars and writing about them, won’t last in this business.
In many cases, I’ve actually lost money driving a car – particularly if it’s a large truck or gas guzzling sports car.

I never talk cars do I?