“Larry Hall is the editor of Northwest Auto News Service and a freelance journalist based in Olympia, Wash. For more than 20 years, he’s covered the automotive industry for numerous trade journals, newspapers and business publications.” Who? The what? A Google search on “NWA” reveals plenty of interesting links, from Northwest Airlines to Niggaz with Attitude, The National Wrestling Alliance and The National Weather Association (“promoting excellence in operational meteorology and related activities”). A search of “Northwest Auto News Service” reveals… nothing. Which is sort of strange, as this attribution comes from MSN Autos’ review of the GMC Sierra Hybrid. Turns out ole Lar’ works for Newcartestdrive.com, the most corrupt group of automotive journalists money can buy. So that pretty much tells you all you need to know about MSN’s review of the GMC Sierra Hybrid. They love it! O.K., a taste… “Unlike Tahoe Hybrids I’ve driven [Ed: they made more than one?], this pickup could never reach the mid-20 mph range in electric-only operation. As for running just four cylinders at 50, 55 and 60 mph, unlike the Tahoe, it would do so only for very short times. Engineers are still calibrating the control system that optimizes the transmission for best performance and economy, and I was told this was an anomaly to the specific vehicle I drove.” And I love the strapline: “With a little practice, this pickup can go 500 miles between fill-ups.” Practice makes perfect, eh Larry?
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A quick look at newcartestdrive.com shows that they like the Chevy Aveo and the Chrysler Sebring. Couldn’t find a review of the most recent Yugo or the Chery.
newcartestdrive.com is hilarious! Such gems as:
We found very little to dislike about the the ’94 Chevrolet Lumina Euro Sedan. In fact, some characteristics-including impressive power-train response and credentials-pleased our test team a bunch.
The safety, ride and handling of the Compass are all excellent
The Compass is slightly bigger and light years better than the Cherokee was 10 years ago.
The Alero follows in the footsteps of its big brother, the Aurora. You may remember the Aurora. It’s that swoopy performance sedan with sea-creature styling that debuted in 1994 and led GM’s stagnant Oldsmobile brand into the rosy automotive future. That future includes vehicle platforms that are shared among many divisions yet offer definitive style that can compete in the global arena.
Stephan Wilkinson:
Couldn’t find a review of the most recent Yugo or the Chery.
You may be onto something. TTAC should consider a capsule review of the Yugo (or the Trabant!). RF could pimp it up with a Happy Editorial Tone and send if off to NewCarTestDrive dot com on April 1st.
I sniffed around a bit. The site is owned by a company called Internet Brands. I poked around and came up with this bio:
Gregory T. Perrier / CEO & President, Autodata Solutions Company : As President and CEO since 1993, Greg Perrier has built Autodata Solutions into one of North America’s largest software and services boutiques focused on the automotive industry. The company, which Internet Brands acquired in mid-1999, serves every manufacturer in North America from Acura to Volvo through its diverse suite of products and services. Autodata’s products and services help auto manufacturers throughout all stages of the selling-chain from market analytics, product planning, vehicle configuration management, order placement, in-dealership retail systems, and dealership personnel training, to consumer-facing web sites.
http://www.internetbrands.com/ib/management
“…and I was told this was an anomaly to the specific vehicle I drove.”Same old story. GM’s PR flacks always claim it’s a ‘pre-production issue that will be cleared up by the time the vehicle reaches regular production’. Never happens.
Huh. Poking around on newcartestdrive.com, it becomes obvious that they have never actually driven most of those cars. Just regurgitating press releases and clarifying trim packages.
i was not familiar with newcartestdrive.com until i read this article. to say they “like” the sebring may be a bit of an overstatement. here are a few quotes from their review:
“An antiquated four-speed automatic transmission hurts the performance of the base and Touring models (which come with the 2.4-liter and 2.7-liter engines). The four-speed automatic is more responsive in the sedan, but in terms of quality and sophistication, let alone absolute performance, it falls woefully short of what we expect in a 2008 model. Shifting lacks smoothness and precision. The transmission hunts endlessly for the proper gear on mild grades, whether up or down, often shifting up at exactly the wrong moment.”
“The quality of the materials is consistent with the car’s price range: good, not great, and it looks better than it feels.”
The review concludes: “The Sebring measures up well in terms of materials quality, available technology, and interior room and comfort. Handling, power, and fuel economy are not its strongest assets.”
i dunno, sounds like a fairly balanced review, with the kinds of observations that one might find in a TTAC review (but not of the sebring, which TTAC and most of its readers hate, hate, hate). if this one review is indicative, then the characterization of this site as “the most corrupt group of automotive journalists money can buy” may be a bit harsh.
@Stephan Wilkinson :
Thanks for the entertaining sleuthing. If one reads the Sebring review, it is interesting to note that several thoughts trail off mid sentence. The review itself is by “New Car Test Drive”, and only at the bottom does it indicate that two writers “contributed”. The other reviews I scanned had actual authors.
What a bizarre site!
“the most corrupt group of automotive journalists money can buy. ”
Ouch. Without supporting evidence, this is what we call at best “unprofessional” or at worst, a “flame.”
I would suggest more talk about the vehicle, and less unsupported criticism about the author from a competing website.
Now in its 15th year of operation, New Car Test Drive is not some pick-up group of Internet car junkies.
Oh…a wise guy, eh?
olivehead: The review concludes: “The Sebring measures up well in terms of materials quality, available technology, and interior room and comfort. Handling, power, and fuel economy are not its strongest assets.”
i dunno, sounds like a fairly balanced review, with the kinds of observations that one might find in a TTAC review
I donno, it sounds like they (rightly) pointed out many (but not all) below average attributes of the car and then somehow managed to not tell everyone its one of the worst cars in its class. Auto journalists are pretty good at pulling their punches, that’s for sure.
@TheRealAutoGuy :
Are you serious? Even a cursory examination of the website reveals it to be a marketing tool designed to sell every manufacturer’s product, even if major prevarication is required in order to do so.
As for substantiation, mcs did the legwork and provided us with the company mission statement. You can review it for yourself, it’s blatantly obvious who and what the site serves.
Read the Sebring review. Sentences are left incomplete. It reads like a cut and paste Frankenstein review, in which some authorship by two writers is grudgingly admitted. It would be interesting to see if the writers actually exist, or if as happens in bad Hollywood fare, these are ghost names to protect the reputations/credibility of those involved.
It’s a brutal site, and you are disingenuous not to admit it.
TheRealAutoGuy, are you kidding? Are you a real auto guy Or does your brother in law work for this outfit? It is an obvious hack site much like Tommy Kendall on the speed channel just loves every car he drives with his guest racer. They go on about how such and such a car is the greatest thing since sliced bread. You really dont believe that infomercial too, do you? Trust Stephan, he is a “real” car guy.