Commentators/reporters/journalist reviews without researching.

[CanberravRS]

I'm really quite amazed recently, as i decided to go have a look at the last 6 months of reviews of Skoda in general. And I have been noticing so many reviews where the reviewer has not spent time with the car, or asked a dealer a question, and finally the stupid and narrow minded comments about resale value shocks me.

One article recently a journo said there where no cup holders in the rear of a Superb Wagon, WTF?? did you ask? there are a pair of self adjusting cup holders in the rear center arm rest.
Then you read articles where on the cons they go on about possible resale value issues, which i know for a fact is utter ****e from my own experience in selling my 1z vRS.

I think many of the jounos are not interested in actually being factual and usually have made up their minds before reviewing the car on its merits.

All up though.. when you look at the press all up, the smaller writers and those who actually do a proper car review rave about Skoda.

[Jake02]

I think many of the jounos are not interested in actually being factual and usually have made up their minds before reviewing the car on its merits.

I'll try to not to do that in my career years .

[CanberravRS]

I'll try to not to do that in my career years .

LOL.. well we shall have to keep you on your toes then!

[Jake02]

LOL.. well we shall have to keep you on your toes then!

Lol, I'm pretty sure you know I'd appreciate it muchly!

[K1W1]

I think many of the jounos are not interested in actually being factual and usually have made up their minds before reviewing the car on its merits.

That's absolutely correct and has been going on since probably the second printed car review was published in the early part of the 20th century.
Most but not all auto journalists are journalists first and auto people second. Early in their careers they had a choice between writing the local lost cat and dog stories or putting together half a page on some car or other and they chose the car and stayed with it. Having said that auto reviews are really no different from reviews in any specialist subject people interested in the subject will always pick holes in most reviews over sometimes minute omissions that to them are important to most readers aren't noticed.
Reviewers always have biases that's human nature. There was one Melbourne reviewer who used to think that Mercedes Benz made in his mind perfect cars and would compare every single vehicle he tested against the equivalent Benz always in a negative way. The secret as a reader is to digest several reviews and other soures of information about any subject and then make up you own mind based on that. Nobody should be swayed by a single review of anything.

[mikinoz]

The only true independent australian auto journalism is on AUSmotive.com

[PassatB6]

I am willing to bet many 'reviews' are by journalists who don't actually drive the car but read overseas reviews and perhaps have a quick look. Laziness. Lack of real interest in cars. I have rarely seen a poor review of a Skoda though.

[K1W1]

I am willing to bet many 'reviews' are by journalists who don't actually drive the car but read overseas reviews and perhaps have a quick look.

I am be willing to bet that you are wrong on that as far as the driving is concerned. One of the perks of being the car reviewer is that you get new cars to drive. The issue though is twofold. Many reviewers have no real technical skill to evaluate what they are driving so the number of cup holders or the ease of programming the stereo sometimes outweigh in their eyes braking performance or handling or NVH but in fairness the average buyer probably thinks the same in many respects. The second issue is that many of these tests are not really tests at all as the reviewers may only have the vehicle for a short period sometimes less than a day. They do drive the cars but they also place an enormous weigh on the technical information provided to them by the manufacturer. If the manufacturers tech sheet talks about the new improved gearbox with microsecond fast totally smooth gear changes you can almost guarantee very similar words will appear in a large proportion of reviews for the vehicle.

[PassatB6]

I am be willing to bet that you are wrong on that as far as the driving is concerned.

I've seen reviews on cars describing engines and other features which don't even exist in Australia. I've also read reviews which almost quote word for word sections of other reviews. Its hard to believe they even had a look. Its only a perk if you are a car enthusiast and some (a small minority) do not seem to be all that interested. Its true what you say about lack of knowledge though. Some engineering background would definitely help.

[thejack72]

I think something similar could be said about a lot of car sales-people...

'Selling vehicles without knowing anything about your product'

Please note that I do know there are some very diligent sales people that research the vehicles they sell. I especially take my hat off to both Phillip(VWDealer) and TRIVETT that they've taken the time to find this site and post.

I guess I just don't understand how somebody can conscientiously spruik a product with the total lack of knowledge some sales-people show. When test driving while looking for the Mrs car we drove the diesel Passat wagon at a dealer near Sydney Airport... Two basic questions I posed to him and the responses;

Q. How large is the fuel tank and what range do they get?
A. Not sure but you can drive from Sydney to Melbourne and back with the diesel.

Q. Is this car fitted with any options or is it the base model?
A. No, if you order this is what you get… (NB: Bi-Xenon’s, Sat-Nav, sunroof, reversing camera, privacy glass, and auto-tailgate all fitted to demonstrator)

I hadn’t done any homework at that stage as it was very early in the looking phase, but I’m not stupid either – Even the Mrs knew all the options on the demo wouldn’t be standard equipment.

He also tried to tell me the V6 4x4 was available in diesel (I wish!) and, when asked about the size of the Tiguan interior (we hadn’t seen one yet) that they were the same size as the Passat.

Suspecting by now that he really didn't have a clue, I asked him what orientation they received on new cars to which he responded that they got a briefing about details of the car & then drove them, often at a company track-day type event… I then asked: ‘Did you actually go to it?’.

He stopped talking to me after that.

[CanberravRS]

I think something similar could be said about a lot of car sales-people...

'Selling vehicles without knowing anything about your product'

Please note that I do know there are some very diligent sales people that research the vehicles they sell. I especially take my hat off to both Phillip(VWDealer) and TRIVETT that they've taken the time to find this site and post.

I guess I just don't understand how somebody can conscientiously spruik a product with the total lack of knowledge some sales-people show. When test driving while looking for the Mrs car we drove the diesel Passat wagon at a dealer near Sydney Airport... Two basic questions I posed to him and the responses;

Q. How large is the fuel tank and what range do they get?
A. Not sure but you can drive from Sydney to Melbourne and back with the diesel.

Q. Is this car fitted with any options or is it the base model?
A. No, if you order this is what you get… (NB: Bi-Xenon’s, Sat-Nav, sunroof, reversing camera, privacy glass, and auto-tailgate all fitted to demonstrator)

I hadn’t done any homework at that stage as it was very early in the looking phase, but I’m not stupid either – Even the Mrs knew all the options on the demo wouldn’t be standard equipment.

He also tried to tell me the V6 4x4 was available in diesel (I wish!) and, when asked about the size of the Tiguan interior (we hadn’t seen one yet) that they were the same size as the Passat.

Suspecting by now that he really didn't have a clue, I asked him what orientation they received on new cars to which he responded that they got a briefing about details of the car & then drove them, often at a company track-day type event… I then asked: ‘Did you actually go to it?’.

He stopped talking to me after that.

Mate that last sentence is gold... And yes i have dealt with other dealers who have been as bad as that ( canberra volvo ) , but im also lucky to have a great Dealer now who knows the product and has been selling it for 4 years since it arrived in the country, knows his clients well, and that with the quality of the car bought me back again.

[spellbound]

So correct jack72 , it simply amazes me when i go to buy the complete lack of knowledge of car sales peoples , cant they google , its embarrassing when you answer for them .

Then again in my industry the standard answer now days is " its on sale " , or its " 30% off" , please dont ask me any tech questions , pathetic .

[thejack72]

...I'm also lucky to have a great Dealer now who knows the product and has been selling it for 4 years since it arrived in the country, knows his clients well, and that with the quality of the car bought me back again.

Very lucky mate, would be nice if there was more like him.

We also went to Ford @ Sutherland and looked at a Modeo wagon. Two awesome quotes from the saleswoman there;

- "It is the best car on the market, far superior in build quality to any European vehicles... because it was designed and built in Australia.", and

- "The diesel Modeo is more powerful than the XR6 or XR8 Falcon but more economical, but the head office doesn't like us saying that because it would take sales from the Falcon."

I was so awestruck by her stupidity I had no comeback to either statement.

Another recent one, and bringing the thread back to topic, did anybody else hear the 'Motoring Expert' on the Today show last week talking about Skoda and saying they were a Russian vehicle?

[woofy]

I once asked a sales guy at one of the best Mazda dealers in melba some very basic qs to which he couldn't answer. When I asked why he said there are a lot of cars and it's hard to keep up with them all. They had 5 models with 3 or less variants of each and all had been around for at least a year if not more.

I work for a company that sells 3000 intricate kits and assays, I need to know what each one does and more often than not, also know how to provide technical support or see how it will fit into scientists work, sometimes in a space of 10min or less. I told him that and said surely for his work 15min spent reading and looking at the cars might be well spent.

[dArK5HaD0w]

i was ringing around to try and get some quotes to powercoats the rims of rs (when i get it), and boy was i having a hard time trying to explain what car i have - soda? who? how to u spell that? huh?

unfortunately with dealers - they're either geniuine sales people with a passion/interest for cars, or their on the other end of the scale - tools just doing it cause they couldn't get another job!!