Are new-car mags completely worthless????

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Are new-car mags completely worthless????

July 09, 2009, 11:30:09 PM

Now I dont wanna make claims without having read anything myself...seeing as I dont subscribe to MT C&D or any others...but a new black camaro SS showed up to the cruise-in my friend and I started at the ice cream joint near me...and he made a point to comment that C&D marked, as a "negative" that the camaro "looks too angry"......W......T.....F!!!!!????? Id like to slam the face of the guy who wrote that article right into the fender of said vehicle. I havent had a subscription to either magazine for a long time (mom used to get em for me before I could even drive because I loved reading up on what I couldnt even legally operate LOL) and Im glad I don't. IMO that's about the biggest waste of ink I've ever heard of.

Are new-car mags completely worthless????

Reply #1 – July 09, 2009, 11:50:43 PM

Worthless? Pretty much. I really wish they were better. I'd buy them instead of just occasionally looking and sighing with disappointment.

Are new-car mags completely worthless????

Reply #2 – July 10, 2009, 12:16:18 AM

Car mags are all in someone's pocket somewhere along the line. There's definitely an agenda with everything they do. Look no further than the Motor Trend Car of the Year, which has essentially turned into a highly-distributed dog-and-pony show for the winning car company. It used to be a sought-after award...now it's just advertising.

What is funny is how thin the magazines have become now. The economy had wreaked havoc on the advertising industry, and ads are always the first expense to get cut. Just like automakers used to depend on SUVs for profits, so did magazines with advertising. MM&FF was at least twice as thick just over a year ago than it is now.

Oh well...what goes around comes around. The economy will weed out the weak and unnecessary mags.

As for the opinions, I usually take them with a grain of salt anyway. One person's "rubbery steering" might be another person's "precision steering". Styling is always a matter of opinion anyway. It's rare when a vehicle is universally panned for styling (coughcoughAztekcoughcough).

Are new-car mags completely worthless????

Reply #3 – July 10, 2009, 01:16:27 AM

you can blame the internet for the lousy advertisments in todays magazines(i abolutely hate that cengenics one with the old guy with the abviously fake ripped body)
im all but certain that car magazines have done buisness in the same way since the first issue of "the wheel, what is it and what can i do with it?" debued on a cave wall in 12000 b.c.
my focus on car magazines is the eighties, since basically everything i want or owned is from that period. the only newer magazines i will stomach is grassrootsmotorsports(for range of coverage),mopar action(for cars i cant afford and the humor),hemmings muscle macines/classic/antiques/ect.(more cars ill never own but like to look at) and the occational british or puppiesanese car mag.
all of which are NOT primedia publications :toilet:
one of these days someone will come out with a magazine dedicated to that period of time and ill be ready with my $$$ for a subscription.

Are new-car mags completely worthless????

Reply #4 – July 10, 2009, 07:30:13 AM

I get "Auto Restorer" more like a 40 page newsletter of tips, tricks and tool reviews. No adds at all. If your into restoration, this is a nice little magazine and site
http://www.autorestorermagazine.com/ar/

Are new-car mags completely worthless????

Reply #5 – July 10, 2009, 08:17:56 AM

Well, that's Car and Driver for you. Grain of salt, man. I've got subs to MT, R&T, and CnD. The last is definitely the worst of them for making no sense whatsoever. The winners so often don't add up to the comparison that you get the feeling that first place spot was bought and paid for long before the press fleet cars showed up.

Are new-car mags completely worthless????

Reply #6 – July 10, 2009, 08:46:01 AM

I subscribe to C&D, R&T, MT, Automobile, and Popular Mechanics. Every one of them are becoming more worthless because of the internet. When I open a "new" magazine there is not a single news story I haven't read about a month earlier online. Even the articles that appear in the mags often aren't complete, with a little "For more info go to our website" tagline.

The ONLY reason I continue my susbscriptions is that it's not practical to keep the laptop in the bathroom, and not wise to read a laptop in the bathtub. If somebody came up with a full colour version of the Kindle and it was wifi enabled and water resistant (for bathtub reading) I'd be all over it and would never buy another magazine.

I used to subscribe to Maximum PC (one of the most expensive magazines I've ever seen, with a cover price of $12) but let that sub expire when the company started offering full issues in PDF format for free on their website (and not only free, but with all ads removed!). Reading a car magazine full of two-month-old news is bad enough, but a computer magazine with two-month-old news is just silly. Not only is it old news, but the newsmaking hardware is already obsolete!

I also let my sub to MM&FF slide when I got tired of reading the same stuff over and over. If they'd focus more on the FF's than the MM's I might lik eit a bit more, but there are only so many things you can do to a Mustang.

Are new-car mags completely worthless????

Reply #7 – July 10, 2009, 08:56:20 AM

I get Legendary Ford, its a bi-monthly and is a pretty well put together magazine. It is a pretty high quality mag but it also costs a bit more. Of course they only deal with Ford

Are new-car mags completely worthless????

Reply #8 – July 10, 2009, 09:58:56 AM

Quote from: daminc;281595

I get "Auto Restorer" more like a 40 page newsletter of tips, tricks and tool reviews. No adds at all. If your into restoration, this is a nice little magazine and site
http://www.autorestorermagazine.com/ar/

Ditto! Been getting every one since the mid-1990's.

Are new-car mags completely worthless????

Reply #9 – July 10, 2009, 10:30:04 AM

I'm letting my subscription to Car & Driver run out this year. If it's not a BMW, they're going to find faults with it - one way or another.

I quit reading Automobile Magazine in 2004 when I read Robert cumberford's design buttstuffysis on the '05+ Mustang prototype. He ripped the thing apart, from the wheels (which made it to production) by stating "big, brash, perfect... for a truck." There was very, very little positive opinion in that buttstuffysis. However, give him some bloated, overweight Mercedes sedan and he's drooling. Whatever, dude.

These guys seem to have an elitist, overly esoteric and pretentious view on automotive design, usually favoring anything import over domestic.
For example, C&D claims the Cobalt has "a plasticky interior." Dude... it's a Cobalt, e.g. an entry-level car not that far removed from the Cavalier and Sunfire. Is it supposed to have true wood inserts like the 5 series?
I've lost interest in car mags.

Are new-car mags completely worthless????

Reply #10 – July 10, 2009, 10:38:55 AM

I let ALL my car subscriptions expire probably five years ago, haven't missed them...

Are new-car mags completely worthless????

Reply #11 – July 10, 2009, 01:01:45 PM

I hate hearing about how big of an upgrade the 165 AFR's are. Even though every trickflow almost would out do them and cost around the same to the same. But in FF&MM they are the end all to cylinder heads.

And the European's are the reason why they hate plastic interiors. Ever watch the top gear on the Cadillac CTS? out performs and audi that cost 2 to 4 times as much. Both in the corners and straight line, but its not good enough for Europe because it has a plastic dash.

Are new-car mags completely worthless????

Reply #12 – July 10, 2009, 05:45:46 PM

To be honest, the only reason I got CnD is because of a 2 for 1 deal on subs to CnD and R&T (still excellent, if you ask me). I gave up Automobile for it, and I'm really regretting it. Ezra Dyer is one of the great new talents there, and the mag is progressing really well. Motor Trend still has some really nice photography, but their writing is nearly as stale as Car and Driver's.

nailed it

Reply #13 – July 10, 2009, 09:27:43 PM

Quote from: EricCoolCats;281586

Car mags are all in someone's pocket somewhere along the line. There's definitely an agenda with everything they do.

..

As for the opinions, I usually take them with a grain of salt anyway. One person's "rubbery steering" might be another person's "precision steering". Styling is always a matter of opinion anyway. It's rare when a vehicle is universally panned for styling (coughcoughAztekcoughcough).

Exactly. Everybody's got an opinion, some people's opinions are insightful and revealing, others just stupid. That's not the problem.

The problem is there is a fine, but distinct, line between informing the reader and schilling for the advertiser.

Are new-car mags completely worthless????

Reply #14 – July 10, 2009, 10:04:55 PM

Quote from: cougarcragar;281622

I'm letting my subscription to Car & Driver run out this year. If it's not a BMW, they're going to find faults with it - one way or another.

The worst of it is that they often acknowledge that the competition is better (ie CTS) but end the article giving the prize to BMW because hey, it's a BMW.